Joshua 13

EasyEnglish Bible

The land that remained for Israel to take

13 Joshua had become a very old man.^[a] The Lord said to him, ‘You are now very old. There is still a lot of land that you have not yet taken. ² This is the land left for you to take: All the land of the Philistines and the Geshurites. ³ Their land goes from the Shihor river on the east side of Egypt, to the border of Ekron's land. That part belongs to the Canaanites. The land of the Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. There is also the land of the Avvites in the south.^{[b] 4} You must take all the land of the Canaanites, which goes from Arah in Sidon region, and continues to Aphek, as far as the border of the Amorites. ⁵ There is also the land of the Gebalites, and all of Lebanon in the east. That land goes from Baal Gad at the side of Hermon mountain, to Lebo-Hamath.

⁶ I myself will chase out all the people of Sidon in front of the Israelites. I will chase them out of the hill country, from Lebanon as far as Misrephoth Maim. You must give this land to the tribes of Israel, as I have already told you. ⁷ Each of the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh, must receive its own part of the land.’^[c]

How Moses had given land to some tribes

⁸ Moses had already given land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the other half of Manasseh. Their land was on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, the Lord's servant, had given a piece of land to each tribe.

⁹ Their land went from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley. It included all the flat land of Medeba, as far as Dibon. ¹⁰ It included all the towns of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. It went to the border of the Amorites' land. ¹¹ It included the land of Gilead, and the land of the Geshurites and Maakathites. It included all of Hermon mountain, and Bashan as far as Salecah. ¹² (That was the kingdom of King Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was one of the last of the Rephaites.) Moses had won a fight against them and he had taken their land. ¹³ But the Israelites did not chase out the Geshurites and the Maakathites, so they still live there among the Israelites.

¹⁴ Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi. This was because God had made the Levites a promise. He had made a rule that they would receive their food from the sacrifices and offerings that the other tribes gave to the Lord God of Israel. The Levites received that, instead of land for themselves.

Land for Reuben's tribe

¹⁵ This is the part of the land that Moses gave to the clans of Reuben's tribe.

¹⁶ He gave them the land from Aroer by the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley. ¹⁷ And he gave them all the flat land past Medeba in Heshbon. It included Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz and Kedemoth. It also included Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah and Zereth Shahar. Zereth was on a hill in the middle of the valley. ²⁰ Their land included Beth Peor, and the sides of Pisgah mountain, and Beth Jeshimoth town. ²¹ Moses gave them all the towns on the flat land. He gave them all the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites. Sihon had ruled from Hebron. But Moses had won the fight against him and the Midianite kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. These kings had ruled with Sihon and they lived in his land. ²² The Israelites had killed the prophet Balaam, son of Beor, when they killed soldiers in the battle.^[d] He had used magic to help Balak fight against Israel. ²³ The border of Reuben's land was the Jordan River.

Moses gave these towns and their villages to the tribe of Reuben, family by family.

Land for Gad's tribe

²⁴ This is the part of the land that Moses gave to the clans of Gad's tribe.

²⁵ He gave them the land of Jazer, the towns of Gilead and half the land of the Ammonites. Their land went as far as Aroer, a town which was near Rabbah. ²⁶ It went from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the land of Debir. ²⁷ Moses gave Gad these towns in the valley: Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon. He gave them the rest of the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon. This was on the east side of the Jordan River, up to the edge of the sea of Galilee.

²⁸ Moses gave these towns and their villages to the tribe of Gad, family by family.

Land for half of Manasseh's tribe

²⁹ This is the land that Moses gave to half the tribe of Manasseh, clan by clan.

³⁰ He gave them the land from Mahanaim, the land of Bashan, all the land ruled by Og, king of Bashan. It included all the 60 towns of Jair in Bashan. ³¹ It included half of Gilead, Ashtaroth and Edrei. (These were the cities that belonged to King Og in Bashan.) This land was for half the descendants of Makir, Manasseh's son, to live in, family by family.

³² Moses gave all that land to those tribes, while they were still on the east side of the Jordan River. They were in Moab, on the flat land near Jericho. ³³ Moses gave no part of the land to Levi's tribe. The Lord himself, Israel's God, would be their part, as he had promised them.