Joshua 18

The Remainder of the Land Divided

1 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together *Josh. 19:51; 21:2; 22:9; Jer. 7:12at Shiloh, and *Judg. 18:31; 1 Sam. 1:3, 24; 4:3, 4set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. 2 But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance.

3 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: *Judg. 18:9"How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? 4 Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. 5 And they shall divide it into seven parts. *Josh. 15:1Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the *Josh. 16:1—17:18house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. 6 You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring thesurvey here to me, *Josh. 14:2; 18:10that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 *Num. 18:7, 20; Josh. 13:33But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lordis their inheritance. *Josh. 13:8And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them."

8 Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to survey the land, saying, "Go, walk *Gen. 13:17through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh." 9 So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Then Joshua cast *Acts 13:19lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there *Num. 34:16–29; Josh. 19:51Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

The Land of Benjamin

11 *Judg. 1:21Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12 *Josh. 16:1Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz *Gen. 28:19; Josh. 16:2; Judg. 1:23(which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side *Josh. 16:3of Lower Beth Horon.

14 Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and it ended at *Josh. 15:9Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.

15 The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to *Josh. 15:9the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before *Josh. 15:8the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to *Josh. 15:7En Rogel. 17 And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to *Josh. 15:6the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 Then it passed along toward the north side of Arabah, and went down to Arabah. 19 And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then the border ended at the north bay at the *Josh. 15:2, 5Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages; 25 *Josh. 11:19; 21:17; 1 Kin. 3:4, 5Gibeon, *Jer. 31:15Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Eleph, *Josh. 15:8, 63Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.