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JOSHUA 21
page 211
48 The homeland allocated to the clans of the
tribe of Dan included these towns and their
surrounding villages.
The Land Given to Joshua
49 After all the land was divided among the
tribes, the Israelites gave a piece of land to
Joshua as his allocation. 50 For the Lord had
said he could have any town he wanted. He
chose Timnath-serah in the hill country of
Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and lived there.
51 These are the territories that Eleazar the
priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders allocated as grants of land to the tribes of
Israel by casting sacred lots in the presence of
the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle*
at Shiloh. So the division of the land was
completed.
The Cities of Refuge
The Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now tell the
Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed Moses. 3 Anyone who kills
another person accidentally and unintentionally can run to one of these cities; they will be
places of refuge from relatives seeking revenge
for the person who was killed.
4 “Upon reaching one of these cities, the one
who caused the death will appear before the
elders at the city gate and present his case.
They must allow him to enter the city and give
him a place to live among them. 5 If the relatives of the victim come to avenge the killing,
the leaders must not release the slayer to them,
for he killed the other person unintentionally
and without previous hostility. 6 But the slayer
must stay in that city and be tried by the local
assembly, which will render a judgment. And
he must continue to live in that city until the
death of the high priest who was in office at
the time of the accident. After that, he is free to
return to his own home in the town from which
he fled.”
7 The following cities were designated as
cities of refuge: Kedesh of Galilee, in the hill
country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah. 8 On the east
side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho,
the following cities were designated: Bezer,
in the wilderness plain of the tribe of Reuben;
Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of the tribe
of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the land of the
tribe of Manasseh. 9 These cities were set apart
for all the Israelites as well as the foreigners
living among them. Anyone who accidentally
killed another person could take refuge in one
of these cities. In this way, they could escape
being killed in revenge prior to standing trial
before the local assembly.
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19:51 Hebrew Tent of Meeting.
The Towns Given to the Levites
Then the leaders of the tribe of Levi came
to consult with Eleazar the priest, Joshua
son of Nun, and the leaders of the other tribes of
Israel. 2 They came to them at Shiloh in the land
of Canaan and said, “The Lord commanded
Moses to give us towns to live in and pasturelands for our livestock.” 3 So by the command
of the Lord the people of Israel gave the Levites
the following towns and pasturelands out of
their own grants of land.
4 The descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of
Levi, were allotted thirteen towns that were
originally assigned to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The other families of the
Kohathite clan were allotted ten towns from
the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe
of Manasseh.
6 The clan of Gershon was allotted thirteen
towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The clan of Merari was allotted twelve towns
from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 So the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s command
to Moses and assigned these towns and pasturelands to the Levites by casting sacred lots.
9 The Israelites gave the following towns from
the tribes of Judah and Simeon 10 to the descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, since the
sacred lot fell to them first: 11 Kiriath-arba (that is,
Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, along with
its surrounding pasturelands. (Arba was an ancestor of Anak.) 12 But the open fields beyond the
town and the surrounding villages were given to
Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 The following towns with their pasturelands were given to the descendants of Aaron
the priest: Hebron (a city of refuge for those
who accidentally killed someone), Libnah,
14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these
two tribes.
17 From the tribe of Benjamin the priests were
given the following towns with their pasturelands: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth, and Almon—
four towns. 19 So in all, thirteen towns with their
pasturelands were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
20 The rest of the Kohathite clan from the tribe
of Levi was allotted the following towns and
pasturelands from the tribe of Ephraim: 21 Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone),
Gezer, 22 Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four towns.
23 The following towns and pasturelands were
allotted to the priests from the tribe of Dan: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—
four towns.
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