1 Then came the principall fathers of the Leuites vnto Eleazar the Priest, and vnto Ioshua the sonne of Nun, and vnto the chiefe fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, 2 And spake vnto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord commanded by the hande of Moses, to giue vs cities to dwell in, with the suburbes thereof for our cattell. 3 So the children of Israel gaue vnto the Leuites, out of their inheritance at the commandement of the Lord these cities with their suburbes. 4 And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron ye Priest, which were of the Leuites, had by lot, out of the tribe of Iudah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Beniamin thirteene cities. 5 And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the halfe tribe of Manasseh, tenne cities. 6 Also the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of ye tribe of Naphtali, and out of the halfe tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteene cities. 7 The children of Merari according to their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelue cities. 8 So the children of Israel gaue by lot vnto the Leuites these cities with their suburbes, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. 9 And they gaue out of the tribe of the children of Iudah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeo, these cities which are here named. 10 And they were the childrens of Aaron being of the families of the Kohathites, and of the sonnes of Leui, (for theirs was the first lot) 11 So they gaue them Kiriath-arba of the father of Anok (which is Hebron) in the mountaine of Iudah, with the suburbes of the same round about it. 12 (But the lande of the citie, and the villages thereof, gaue they to Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh to be his possession) 13 Thus they gaue to the children of Aaron the Priest, a citie of refuge for the slaier, euen Hebron with her suburbes, and Libnah with her suburbes, 14 And Iattir with her suburbes, and Eshtemoa, and her suburbes, 15 And Holon with her suburbes, and Debir with her suburbes, 16 And Ain with her suburbes, and Iuttah with her suburbes, Beth-shemesh with her suburbes: nine cities out of those two tribes. 17 And out of the tribe of Beniamin they gaue Gibeon with her suburbes, Geba with her suburbes, 18 Anathoth with her suburbes, and Almon with her suburbes: foure cities. 19 All the cities of the children of Aaron Priests, were thirteene cities with their suburbes. 20 But to the families of the children of Kohath of the Leuites, which were the rest of the children of Kohath (for the cities of their lot were out of the tribe of Ephraim) 21 They gaue them the citie of refuge for the slaier, Shechem with her suburbes in mount Ephraim, and Gezer with her suburbes, 22 And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbes: foure cities. 23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbes, Gibethon with her suburbes, 24 Aiialon with her suburbes, Gath-rimmon with her suburbes: foure cities. 25 And out of the halfe tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbes, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbes: two cities. 26 All the cities for the other families of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbes. 27 Also vnto the children of Gershon of the families of the Leuites, they gaue out of the halfe tribe of Manasseh, the citie of refuge for the slaier, Golan in Bashan with her suburbes, and Beeshterah with her suburbes: two cities. 28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbes, Dabereh with her suburbes, 29 Iarmuth with her suburbes, En-gannim with her suburbes: foure cities. 30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbes, Abdon with her suburbes, 31 Helkah with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbes: foure cities. 32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, the citie of refuge for the slaier, Kedesh in Galil with her suburbes, and Hammoth-dor with her suburbes, and Kartan with her suburbes: three cities. 33 Al the cities of the Gershonites according to their families, were thirteene cities with their suburbes. 34 Also vnto the families of the children of Merari the rest of the Leuites, they gaue out of the tribe of Zebulun, Iokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbes, 35 Dimnah with her suburbes, Nahalal, with her suburbes: foure cities. 36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Iahazah with her suburbs, 37 Kedemoth with her suburbes, and Mephaath with her suburbes: foure cities. 38 And out of the tribe of Gad they gaue for a citie of refuge for the slaier, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbes, and Mahanaim with her suburbes, 39 Heshbon with her suburbs, and Iazer with her suburbes: foure cities in all. 40 So all the cities of the children of Merari according to their families (which were the rest of the families of the Leuites) were by their lot, twelue cities. 41 And all the cities of the Leuites within the possession of the children of Israel, were eight and fourtie with their suburbes. 42 These cities lay euery one seuerallie with their suburbes round about them: so were all these cities. 43 So the Lord gaue vnto Israel all ye land, which hee had sworne to giue vnto their fathers: and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44 Also the Lord gaue them rest rounde about according to all that hee had sworne vnto their fathers: and there stoode not a man of all their enemies before them: for the Lord deliuered all their enemies into their hand. 45 There failed nothing of all the good things, which the Lord hath sayde vnto the house of Israel, but all came to passe.
The Cities of the Levites
1 The leaders of the Levite families went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of all the tribes of Israel. 2 There at Shiloh in the land of Canaan they said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we were to be given cities to live in, as well as pasture land around them for our livestock.” 3 So in accordance with the Lord's command the people of Israel gave the Levites certain cities and pasture lands out of their own territories.
4 The families of the Levite clan of Kohath were the first to be assigned cities. The families who were descended from Aaron the priest were assigned thirteen cities from the territories of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The rest of the clan of Kohath was assigned ten cities from the territories of Ephraim, Dan, and West Manasseh.
6 The clan of Gershon was assigned thirteen cities from the territories of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and East Manasseh.
7 The families of the clan of Merari were assigned twelve cities from the territories of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 By drawing lots, the people of Israel assigned these cities and their pasture lands to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 These are the names of the cities from the territories of Judah and Simeon which were given 10 to the descendants of Aaron who were of the clan of Kohath, which was descended from Levi. Their assignment was the first to be made. 11 They were given the city of Arba (Arba was Anak's father), now called Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture land surrounding it. 12 However, the fields of the city, as well as its towns, had already been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 In addition to Hebron (one of the cities of refuge), the following cities were assigned to the descendants of Aaron the priest: Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, with their pasture lands: nine cities from the tribes of Judah and Simeon. 17 From the territory of Benjamin they were given four cities: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth, and Almon, with their pasture lands. 19 Thirteen cities in all, with their pasture lands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
20 The other families of the Levite clan of Kohath were assigned some cities from the territory of Ephraim. 21 They were given four cities: Shechem and its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim (one of the cities of refuge), Gezer, 22 Kibzaim, and Beth Horon, with their pasture lands. 23 From the territory of Dan they were given four cities: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gathrimmon, with their pasture lands. 25 From the territory of West Manasseh they were given two cities: Taanach and Gathrimmon, with their pasture lands. 26 These families of the clan of Kohath received ten cities in all, with their pasture lands.
27 Another group of Levites, the clan of Gershon, received from the territory of East Manasseh two cities: Golan in Bashan (one of the cities of refuge) and Beeshterah, with their pasture lands. 28 From the territory of Issachar they received four cities: Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their pasture lands. 30 From the territory of Asher they received four cities: Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath, and Rehob, with their pasture lands. 32 From the territory of Naphtali they received three cities: Kedesh in Galilee, with its pasture lands (one of the cities of refuge), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, with their pasture lands. 33 The various families of the clan of Gershon received a total of thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
34 The rest of the Levites, the clan of Merari, received from the territory of Zebulun four cities: Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah, and Nahalal, with their pasture lands. 36 From the territory of Reuben they received four cities: Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath, with their pasture lands. 38 From the tribe of Gad they received four cities: Ramoth in Gilead, with its pasture lands (one of the cities of refuge), Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon, and Jazer, with their pasture lands. 40 So the clan of Merari was assigned a total of twelve cities.
41-42 From the land that the people of Israel possessed, a total of forty-eight cities, with the pasture lands around them, was given to the Levites.
Israel Takes Possession of the Land
43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he had solemnly promised their ancestors he would give them. When they had taken possession of it, they settled down there. 44 The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies. 45 The Lord kept every one of the promises that he had made to the people of Israel.