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18 And all the company of the sons of Israel are assembled [at] Shiloh, and they cause the tent of meeting to tabernacle there, and the land hath been subdued before them.

And there are left among the sons of Israel who have not shared their inheritance, seven tribes,

and Joshua saith unto the sons of Israel, `Till when are ye remiss to go in to possess the land which He hath given to you, Jehovah, God of your fathers?

Give for you three men for a tribe, and I send them, and they rise and go up and down through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance, and come in unto me,

and they have divided it into seven portions -- Judah doth stay by its border on the south, and the house of Joseph do stay by their border on the north --

and ye describe the land [in] seven portions, and have brought [it] in unto me hither, and I have cast for you a lot here before Jehovah our God;

for there is no portion to the Levites in your midst, for the priesthood of Jehovah [is] their inheritance, and Gad, and Reuben, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses servant of Jehovah gave to them.'

And the men rise and go; and Joshua commandeth those who are going to describe the land, saying, `Go, and walk up and down through the land, and describe it, and turn back unto me, and here I cast for you a lot before Jehovah in Shiloh.'

And the men go, and pass over through the land, and describe it by cities, in seven portions, on a book, and they come in unto Joshua, unto the camp, [at] Shiloh.

10 And Joshua casteth for them a lot in Shiloh before Jehovah, and there Joshua apportioneth the land to the sons of Israel, according to their divisions.

11 And a lot goeth up [for] the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, for their families; and the border of their lot goeth out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

12 And the border is to them at the north side from the Jordan, and the border hath gone up unto the side of Jericho on the north, and gone up through the hill-country westward, and its outgoings have been at the wilderness of Beth-Aven;

13 and the border hath gone over thence to Luz, unto the side of Luz (it [is] Beth-El) southward, and the border hath gone down [to] Atroth-Addar, by the hill that [is] on the south of the lower Beth-Horon;

14 and the border hath been marked out, and hath gone round to the corner of the sea southward, from the hill which [is] at the front of Beth-Horon southward, and its outgoings have been unto Kirjath-Baal (it [is] Kirjath-Jearim), a city of the sons of Judah: this [is] the west quarter.

15 And the south quarter [is] from the end of Kirjath-Jearim, and the border hath gone out westward, and gone out unto the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah;

16 and the border hath come down unto the extremity of the hill which [is] on the front of the valley of the son of Hinnom, which [is] in the valley of the Rephaim northward, and hath gone down the valley of Hinnom unto the side of Jebusi southward, and gone down [to] En-Rogel,

17 and hath been marked out on the north, and gone out to En-Shemesh, and gone out unto Geliloth, which [is] over-against the ascent of Adummim, and gone down [to] the stone of Bohan son of Reuben,

18 and passed over unto the side over-against Arabah northward, and gone down to Arabah;

19 and the border hath passed over unto the side of Beth-Hoglah northward, and the outgoings of the border have been unto the north bay of the salt sea, unto the south extremity of the Jordan; this [is] the south border;

20 and the Jordan doth border it at the east quarter; this [is] the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, by its borders round about, for their families.

21 And the cities for the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, for their families, have been Jericho, and Beth-Hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22 and Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, and Beth-El,

23 and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

24 and Chephar-Haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities and their villages.

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26 and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

27 and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

28 and Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi (it [is] Jerusalem), Gibeath, Kirjath: fourteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, for their families.

Division of the Rest of the Land

18 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh(A) and set up the tent of meeting(B) there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it,(C) according to the inheritance of each.(D) Then they will return to me. You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south(E) and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north.(F) After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots(G) for you in the presence of the Lord our God. The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the Lord is their inheritance.(H) And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the Lord gave it to them.(I)

As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it.(J) Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh(K) in the presence of the Lord.” So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua then cast lots(L) for them in Shiloh in the presence(M) of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.(N)

Allotment for Benjamin

11 The first lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness(O) of Beth Aven.(P) 13 From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz(Q) (that is, Bethel(R)) and went down to Ataroth Addar(S) on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14 From the hill facing Beth Horon(T) on the south the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim),(U) a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15 The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.(V) 16 The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim.(W) It continued down the Hinnom Valley(X) along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.(Y) 17 It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth,(Z) which faces the Pass of Adummim,(AA) and ran down to the Stone of Bohan(AB) son of Reuben. 18 It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah[a](AC) and on down into the Arabah.(AD) 19 It then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah(AE) and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,(AF) at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side.

These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides.(AG)

21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah,(AH) Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah,(AI) Zemaraim,(AJ) Bethel,(AK) 23 Avvim,(AL) Parah, Ophrah,(AM) 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba(AN)—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon,(AO) Ramah,(AP) Beeroth,(AQ) 26 Mizpah,(AR) Kephirah,(AS) Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah,(AT) Haeleph, the Jebusite city(AU) (that is, Jerusalem(AV)), Gibeah(AW) and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.(AX)

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.(AY)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew slope facing the Arabah