Towns for the Levites

1While Eleazar the Supreme Priest and Joshua and the leaders of all the Israeli tribes were at Shiloh, the leaders of the clans of the tribe of Levi went to them and said, “Yahweh commanded Moses that you should give us towns where we can have pasture/fields/grassland for our animals, but you have not done these things yet.”

3So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.

4First they allotted some cities to the Kohath clans, who belonged to the tribe of Levi. To those who were descendants of the first Supreme Priest Aaron, they allotted 13 towns in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5To the other members of the Kohath clan they allotted ten cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lives on the west side of the Jordan River.

6The people from the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lives on the east side of the Jordan River.

7The people from the Merari clans were allotted twelve cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8So the Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.

9These are the names of the cities and surrounding pasturelands that were allotted to them, that were in the areas where the tribes of Judah and Simeon lived.

10First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.

11They allotted to them Kiriath-Arba (which is now named Hebron), in the hilly area of Judah. Arba received its name because Arba was the ancestor of the giants of the Anak people-group.

12But the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.

13They allotted to them Hebron, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected. They also allotted to the Kohath clan the cities of Libnah,

14Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15Holon, Debir,

16Ain, Juttah, and Beth-Shemesh. Altogether they were allotted those nine cities which were located in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah and Simeon.

17The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,

18Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.

19Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.

20The other members the Kohath clan were allotted four cities and the surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Ephraim.

21Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,

22Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon.

23They were also allotted four cities and surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Dan. Those cities were Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

24Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.

25They were also allotted two towns and surrounding pastureland that had been allotted to the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lived on the west side of the Jordan River. Those cities were Taanach and Gath-Rimmon.

26Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.

27They also allotted towns and the surrounding pastureland to the Gershon clans. Those clans were also descended from Levi. They were allotted two cities from the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Manasseh that is on the east side of the Jordan River. Those cities were Golan in the Bashan region, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, and Be-Eshtarah.

28From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath,

29Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.

30From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Asher they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Mishal, Abdon,

31Helkath, and Rehob.

32From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Naphtali they were allotted three cities. Those cities were Kedesh in the Galilee region (it was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan.

33So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.

34The other descendants of Levi, the ones who belonged to the Merari clans, were also allotted towns and their surrounding pasturelands. From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Zebulun they were allotted four cities. They were Jokneam, Kartah,

35Dimnah, and Nahalal.

36From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,

37Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

38From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Gad they were allotted four cities. They were Ramoth, which was one of the cities in the Gilead region to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, Mahanaim,

39Heshbon, and Jazer.

40Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.

41So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,

42and each city had surrounding pastureland.

43In that way Yahweh allotted to the Israeli people all the land that he had promised to give to their/our ancestors. The Israeli people took control of most of those areas and started to live there.

44Just like he had promised our ancestors, Yahweh allowed them/us to have peace with the enemies that surrounded them/us. Yahweh enabled the Israelis/us to defeat their/our enemies.

45Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.