1And now that the land was under Israelite control, the whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there. 2But seven Israelite tribes still had not yet received their inheritance. 3And Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long are you going to wait before you go and seize the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you? 4Appoint three men of each tribe from among you; and I will send them, and they shall go through, survey and describe the land, and report back to me. 5And they shall divide it into seven portions; Judah shall live in their border on the south, and the tribe of Joseph shall abide in their borders on the north. 6After you have written descriptions of seven portions, bring them here to me, so that I may cast lots for you before the LORD our God. 7But the Levites will have no portion among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have already received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them.” 8And as the men started on the way to map out the land, Joshua charged those who were to describe the land: “Walk through the land, and describe it, and return to me, so that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.” 9And the men went, surveyed, and described the land, city by city and broke the land into seven portions in a book (scroll), and returned to Joshua and the assembly at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them before the LORD in Shiloh; and there Joshua divided the land to the Israelites according to their shares. 11The first lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph: 12On the north side, their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and ran west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz (Bethel) and went down to Ataroth Addar on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon. 14From the hill facing Beth Horon on the south, the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (Kiriath Jearim), a town belonging to Judah. This was the western side. 15The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary ran to the spring of waters of Nephtoah. 16Then it went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim. It continued down the Hinnom Valley along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and on to En Rogel. 17It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth, across from the Pass of Adummim, and then down to the Stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. 18It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah and then down into the Arabah. 19Then it went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was its southern boundary. 20The Jordan formed the eastern boundary. These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides. 21The tribe of Benjamin, by its clans, had the following towns: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba—twelve towns and their villages. 25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages. This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans. Reader-Friendly Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2024 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |