Joshua 21 - 24 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Cities of the Levites

21Then the heads of ¹households of ^athe Levites came near to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of ²households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “^aYahweh commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.” ³So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the ¹command of Yahweh. ⁴Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, ¹received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵Now the rest of the sons of Kohath ¹received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶And the sons of Gershon ¹received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The sons of Merari according to their families ¹received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸So the ^asons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses.

⁹They also gave from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon these cities which are here mentioned by name; ¹⁰and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, for the lot was theirs first. ¹¹So ^athey gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the ^bfather of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands all around it. ¹²But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³Thus ^ato the sons of Aaron the priest they gave ^bHebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, ^cLibnah also with its pasture lands, ¹⁴^aJattir with its pasture lands, ^bEshtemoa with its pasture lands, ¹⁵¹Holon with its pasture lands, and ^aDebir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶and ¹Ain with its pasture lands, and ^aJuttah with its pasture lands, and ^bBeth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes. ¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin, ^aGibeon with its pasture lands, ^bGeba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸Anathoth with its pasture lands and ¹Almon with its pasture lands; four cities. ¹⁹All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

²⁰Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the ^afamilies of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath. ²¹And they gave them ^aShechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands, ²²and Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities. ²³From the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, ²⁴Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities. ²⁵From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities. ²⁶All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten.

²⁷^aNow to the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities. ²⁸From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, ²⁹Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities. ³⁰From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities. ³²From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave ^aKedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities. ³³All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴Now to the families of ^athe sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands. ³⁵Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities. ³⁶From the tribe of Reuben, they gave ^aBezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands, ³⁷Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities. ³⁸From the tribe of Gad, they gave ^aRamoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and ^bMahanaim with its pasture lands, ³⁹Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all. ⁴⁰All these were the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

⁴¹^aAll the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. ⁴²These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; thus it was with all these cities.

⁴³^aSo Yahweh gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and ^bthey possessed it and lived in it. ⁴⁴And Yahweh ^agave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and ^bno one of all their enemies stood before them; ^cYahweh gave all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵^aNot ¹one promise of the good promises which Yahweh had ²promised to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.

Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh

22^aThen Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ²and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you ^aand have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. ³“You have not forsaken your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the responsibility of the commandment of Yahweh your God. ⁴“And now ^aYahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; so now turn and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan. ⁵“Only keep yourselves very carefully to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to ^alove Yahweh your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and cling to Him and serve Him ^bwith all your heart and with all your soul.” ⁶Then Joshua ^ablessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷Now ^ato the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but ^bto the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, ⁸and spoke to them, saying, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; ^adivide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” ⁹Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the ^aland of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they had possessed, according to the ¹command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

An Altar Called Witness

¹⁰And they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance. ¹¹And the sons of Israel heard it ¹said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have ^abuilt an altar at the ²entrance of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.” ¹²Then the sons of Israel heard of it, and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at ^aShiloh to go up against them in war.

¹³Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, ^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, ¹⁴and with him ten leaders, one leader for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and ^aeach one of them was the head of his father’s household among the ¹thousands of Israel. ¹⁵So they came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying, ¹⁶“Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following Yahweh this day, by ^abuilding yourselves an altar, to rebel against Yahweh this day? ¹⁷‘Is ^athe iniquity of Peor too small a thing for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there was a plague on the congregation of Yahweh? ¹⁸Yet you are turning away this day from following Yahweh. Now it will be that, if you rebel against Yahweh today, ^aHe will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹‘If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then ¹cross into the land of the possession of Yahweh, where the tabernacle of Yahweh dwells, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us by ^abuilding an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of Yahweh our God. ²⁰‘Did not ^aAchan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things devoted to destruction, and indignation fall on all the congregation of Israel? But he was not the only man to breathe his last in his iniquity.’”

²¹Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel. ²²“The ^aMighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh! ^bHe knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion or if in an unfaithful act against Yahweh, do not save us this day! ²³“If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from following Yahweh, or if to ^aperform a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may Yahweh Himself require it. ²⁴“But truly we have done this out of concern, ¹for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our ²sons, “What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel? ²⁵“And Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing Yahweh.’

²⁶“Therefore we said, ‘Let us ¹build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; ²⁷rather it shall be ^aa witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to ^bperform the service of Yahweh before Him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ ²⁸“Therefore we said, ‘It will also be that if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of Yahweh which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you.”’ ²⁹“Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh and turn away from following Yahweh this day, by ^abuilding an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of Yahweh our God which is before His ¹tabernacle.”

³⁰So Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke. And it was good in their sight. ³¹And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that ^aYahweh is in our midst because you have not committed this unfaithful act against Yahweh; so then you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand of Yahweh.”

³²Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³And the word was good in the sight of the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel ^ablessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in war to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living. ³⁴And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad ^acalled the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”

Joshua Calls All Israel

23Now it happened after many days, after Yahweh had given ^arest to Israel from all their enemies ¹on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years, ²that ^aJoshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years. ³“And you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you, for ^aYahweh your God is He who has been fighting for you. ⁴“See, ^aI have allotted to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun. ⁵“And Yahweh your God, He will thrust them out from before you and ^adispossess them before you; and ^byou will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God ¹promised you. ⁶“^aBe very strong, then, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, ⁷so that you will not go along with these nations, these which remain among you, and you will not ^amention the name of their gods, and you will not ^bmake anyone swear by them, and you will not ^cserve them, and you will not bow down to them. ⁸“But you are to cling to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. ⁹“^aFor Yahweh has dispossessed great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, ^bno man has stood before you to this day. ¹⁰“^aOne of your men will pursue one thousand, for Yahweh your God is ^bHe who fights for you, just as He ¹promised you. ¹¹“So keep your souls very carefully to love Yahweh your God. ¹²“For if you ever turn back and ^acling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and ^bintermarry with them, so that you go along with them and they with you, ¹³know with certainty that Yahweh your God will not continue to dispossess these nations from before you; but they will be a ^asnare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you.

¹⁴“Now behold, today ^aI am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that ^bnot one word of all the good words which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. ¹⁵“And it will be that just as all the good words which Yahweh your God spoke to you have come upon you, so ^aYahweh will bring upon you all the calamitous words, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. ¹⁶“^aWhen you trespass against the covenant of Yahweh your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of Yahweh will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”

Joshua Gathers Israel

24Then ^aJoshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ²And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the ¹River, namely, ^aTerah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. ³‘Then ^aI took your father Abraham from beyond the ¹River and led him through all the land of Canaan and ^bmultiplied his seed and gave him ^cIsaac. ⁴‘To Isaac I gave ^aJacob and Esau, and ^bto Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but ^cJacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵‘Then ^aI sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt ¹by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. ⁶‘And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and ^ayou came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the ¹Red Sea. ⁷‘Then they cried out to Yahweh; He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And ^ayou lived in the wilderness for many days. ⁸‘Then ^aI brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. ⁹‘Then ^aBalak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ¹⁰‘But I ^awas not willing to listen to Balaam. So he blessed you repeatedly, and I delivered you from his hand. ¹¹‘^aAnd you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and ^bthe Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus ^cI gave them into your hand. ¹²‘Then I ^asent the hornet before you, and it ¹drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but ^bnot by your sword or your bow. ¹³‘^aAnd I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

We Will Serve Yahweh Our God

¹⁴“So now, ¹^,^afear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and ²truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the ³River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. ¹⁵“If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or ^athe gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”

¹⁶And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh to serve other gods; ¹⁷for Yahweh our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who did these great signs in our sight and kept us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸“And Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve Yahweh, for He is our God.”

¹⁹Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve Yahweh, ^afor He is a holy God. He is ^ba jealous God; ^cHe will not forgive your transgression or your sins. ²⁰“^aIf you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” ²¹And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” ²²And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ^ayou have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³“So now, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and ^aincline your hearts to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” ²⁴^aAnd the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to His voice.” ²⁵^aSo Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and a judgment in Shechem. ²⁶And Joshua ^awrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. ²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, ^athis stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which He spoke ¹to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” ²⁸Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

²⁹Now it happened that after these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being 110 years old. ³⁰And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in ^aTimnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.

³¹^aAnd Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who ¹survived Joshua, who knew all the work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel.

³²Now ^athey buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the portion of the field ^bwhich Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred ¹qesitah; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. ³³And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him ¹at Gibeah of ^aPhinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.