Joshua 18

The Allotments of the Remaining Land

18Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle

.H5712H1121H3478H6950H7887H7931H168H4150H776H3533H64402But there remained seven tribes who had not yet been allotted their grants of land.H3498H1121H3478H7651H7626H2505H51593Then Joshua asked them, "How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given to you?H3091H559H1121H3478H7503H935H3423H776H3068H430H1H54144Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to explore the land and map it out. They will then return to me with a written report of their proposed divisions of their new homeland.H3051H7969H582H7626H7971H6965H1980H776H3789H6310H5159H9355Let them divide the land into seven sections, excluding Judah's territory in the south and Joseph's territory in the north.H2505H7651H2506H3063H5975H1366H5045H1004H3130H5975H1366H68286And when you record the seven divisions of the land and bring them to me, I will cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD our God to assign land to each tribe.H3789H776H7651H2506H935H3384H1486H6440H3068H4307"The Levites, however, will not receive any allotment of land. Their role as priests of the LORD is their allotment. And the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh won't receive any more land, for they have already received their grant of land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them on the east side of the Jordan River."H3881H2506H7130H3550H3068H5159H1410H7205H2677H7626H4519H3947H5159H5676H3383H4217H4872H5650H3068H54148As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua commanded them, "Go and explore the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will assign the land to the tribes by casting sacred lots here in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh."H582H6965H3212H3091H6680H1980H3789H776H559H3212H1980H776H3789H7725H7993H1486H6440H3068H78879The men did as they were told and mapped the entire territory into seven sections, listing the towns in each section. They made a written record and then returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.H582H3212H5674H776H3789H5892H7651H2506H5612H935H3091H4264H788710And there at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD to determine which tribe should have each section.H3091H7993H1486H7887H6440H3068H3091H2505H776H1121H3478H4256

The Land Given to Benjamin

11The first allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. It lay between the territory assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph.H1486H4294H1121H1144H5927H4940H1366H1486H3318H1121H3063H1121H313012The northern boundary of Benjamin's land began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven.H1366H6828H6285H3383H1366H5927H3802H3405H6828H5927H2022H3220H8444H4057H100713From there the boundary went south to Luz (that is, Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar on the hill that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.H1366H5674H3870H3802H3870H1008H5045H1366H3381H5853H2022H5045H8481H103214The boundary then made a turn and swung south along the western edge of the hill facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.H1366H8388H5437H6285H3220H5045H2022H6440H1032H5045H8444H7154H7157H5892H1121H3063H3220H628515The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it ran

to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,H5045H6285H7097H7157H1366H3318H3220H3318H4599H4325H531816and down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of Ben-Hinnom, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From there it went down the valley of Hinnom, crossing south of the slope where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel.H1366H3381H7097H2022H6440H1516H1121H2011H6010H7497H6828H3381H1516H2011H3802H2983H5045H3381H588317From En-rogel the boundary proceeded in a northerly direction and came to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is across from the slopes of Adummim). Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben's son.)H8388H6828H3318H5885H3318H1553H5227H4608H131H3381H68H932H1121H720518From there it passed along the north side of the slope overlooking the Jordan Valley

. The border then went down into the valley,H5674H3802H4136H6160H6828H3381H616019ran past the north slope of Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea

, which is the southern end of the Jordan River. This was the southern boundary.H1366H5674H3802H1031H6828H8444H1366H6828H3956H4417H3220H5045H7097H3383H5045H136620The eastern boundary was the Jordan River. These were the boundaries of the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.H3383H1379H6924H6285H5159H1121H1144H1367H5439H4940

The Towns Given to Benjamin

21These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,H5892H4294H1121H1144H4940H3405H1031H6010H710422Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,H1026H6787H100823Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,H5761H6511H608424Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their surrounding villages.H3726H6078H1387H8147H6240H5892H269125Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,H1391H7414H88126Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,H4708H3716H468127Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,H7552H3416H863428Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath

—fourteen towns with their surrounding villages. This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.H6762H507H2983H3389H1394H7157H702H6240H5892H2691H5159H1121H1144H4940