These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:

Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—14 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the portion of Judah’s descendants.

And there will be to them in their inheritance the Well of the Oath, and the oath, and Moladah,

and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the south).

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans.

The third lot came up for Zebulun’s descendants by their clans.

The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid;

and turned back from Sarid eastward, at the sun-rising, by the border of Chisloth-Tabor, and gone out unto Daberath, and gone up to Japhia,

This was the inheritance of Zebulun’s descendants by their clans, these cities, with their villages.

The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans.

And their bound will be Jezreel and Chesulloth, and Shunem,

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans, the cities, with their villages.

The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans.

And their bound will be Helkath and Hali, and Beten and Achsaph,

and the border turned to Ramah, and to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea by the region of Achzib;

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their villages.

The sixth lot came out for Naphtali’s descendants by their clans.

And their bound will be from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb and Jabneel and Lakum; and its outgoings Jordan.

And then the border turns westward to Aznothtabor, and goes from there to Hukkok, and reaches to Zebulun on the south side, and reaches to Asher on the west side, and to Judah by the Jordan toward the sun rising.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants by their clans, the cities with their villages.

The seventh lot came out for the Danite tribe by its clans.

And the bound of their inheitance will be Zorah and Eshtaol, and the city of the Sun,

And the border of the sons of Dan goeth out from them, and the sons of Dan go up and fight with Leshem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and possess it, and dwell in it, and call Leshem, Dan, according to the name of Dan their father.

This was the inheritance of the Danite tribe by its clans, these cities with their villages.

When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:

by the command of Jehovah they have given to him the city which he asked, Timnath-Serah, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and he buildeth the city and dwelleth in it.

These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country.

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:

That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

And if anyone goes in flight to one of those towns, and comes into the public place of the town, and puts his cause before the responsible men of the town, they will take him into the town and give him a place among them where he may be safe.

And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.

And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.

And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.

So, {by command of Yahweh}, the {Israelites} gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands from their inheritance.

And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

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 half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

And 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 the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name,

And it will be to the sons of Aaron from the families of the Kohathites, from the sons of Levi: for to them was the first lot.

But the country that pertained to the city and the villages thereof, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, to be his possession.

Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,

And to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites remaining from the sons of Kohath, and there will be the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim.

For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities.

And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammothdor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities.

All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the Gershonites by their clans.

And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,

So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

The Levites received within the land owned by the Israelites forty-eight cities in all and their grazing areas.

These cities were each surrounded by pasture lands, as was the case with all of these cities.

So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.

You have not abandoned your fellow Israelites this entire time, right up to this very day. You have completed the task given you by the Lord your God.

Only, be very watchful to do the command and the law which Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded you, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and to cleave to Him, and to serve Him, with all your heart, and with all your soul.'

Now Moses had made an allotment in Bashan to one half-tribe of Manasseh, but Joshua made an allotment west of the Jordan River to the other half-tribe of their relatives. So when Joshua sent them on their way back to their tents, he also blessed them by saying

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.

And news came to the children of Israel, See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have put up an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the country by Jordan on the side which is Israel's.

And the sons of lIsrael will hear, and all the assembly of the sons of Israel will be gathered together at Shiloh to go up to war against them.

He was accompanied by ten leaders, one from each of the Israelite tribes, each one a family leader among the Israelite clans.

Thus said all the company of Jehovah, What is this trespass which ye have trespassed against the God of Israel, to turn back to-day from after Jehovah, by your building for you an altar, for your rebelling to-day against Jehovah?

Isn't the evil that happened at Peor enough for us, from which we have yet to be completely cleansed even to this point, and because of which a plague came upon the community of the LORD?

But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.

Didn't Zerah's son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God, and as a result God became angry at the entire community of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.'"

The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering tokens of peace on it, the Lord himself will punish us.

The LORD has established the Jordan River to be a territorial border between us and you. Descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad have no allotment from the LORD." So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the LORD.'

And therefore we said, 'Let us cause an altar to be made, not for burnt offerings, nor sacrifices,

But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah, and turn away this day from following Jehovah, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meal-offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of Jehovah our God that is before his tabernacle.

And Phinehas the priest will hear, and the chiefs of the assembly, and the heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spake, and it will be good in their eyes.

And the word will be good in the eves of the sons of Israel; and the sons of Israel will bless God, and they said not to go up against them to war to destroy the land which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad dwelt in it

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.

And it will be from many days after that Jehovah caused Israel to rest from all their enemies round about, Joshua was old, gone in days.

Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.

The Lord your God will send them away by force, driving them out before you; and you are to take their land for your heritage, as the Lord your God said to you.

Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:

But be true to the Lord your God as you have been till this day.

So be very careful and watchful of yourselves to love the Lord your God.

because if you ever turn back and cling to those who remain of these nations by intermarrying with them and associating one with another,

Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

Behold, I walk this day, by the way of all the world: call ye to mind in all your hearts and in all your souls, that nothing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God promised you. All are come to pass, and nothing hath failed thereof.

But it shall be that, as all the good things have come unto you, which Yahweh your God spake unto you, so, will Yahweh bring upon you all the evil things, until he hath destroyed you from off this goodly soil, which Yahweh your God hath given unto you.

When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

“‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron; I plagued Egypt by what I did there and afterward I brought you out.

And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

So now, go in fear of the Lord, and be his servants with true hearts: put away the gods worshipped by your fathers across the River and in Egypt, and be servants of the Lord.

And if it seems evil to you to be the servants of the Lord, make the decision this day whose servants you will be: of the gods whose servants your fathers were across the River, or of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living: but I and my house will be the servants of the Lord.

And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;

And the Lord sent out from before us all the peoples, the Amorites living in the land: so we will be the servants of the Lord, for he is our God.

But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins.

And the people said to Joshua, No! But we will be the servants of the Lord.

And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have made the decision to be the servants of the Lord. And they said, We are witnesses.

"Then put away," said he, "the strange gods which are among you, and bow your hearts unto the LORD God of Israel."

And the people said to Joshua, We will be the servants of the Lord our God, and we will give ear to his voice.

And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.