18
The Second Stage in Dividing the Land
1 The whole congregation of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land was under their control.
2 There were still seven tribes in Israel who had not yet received any land as their inheritance.
3 So Joshua asked the Israelites, “How long are you going to waste time conquering the land which the Lord God of your ancestors has given you?
4 Choose three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They will survey the land and write a description of it which shows ⌞the borders of⌟ their inheritance. Then they will come back to me.
5 They will divide the land into seven parts. Judah will stay within its territory in the south, and Joseph’s descendants will stay within their territory in the north.
6 You must describe the seven parts of the land and report to me here. I will draw lots for you here in the presence of the Lord our God.
7 Levi’s tribe has no separate region among you, because their inheritance is to serve the Lord as priests. The tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh have received the inheritance that the Lord’s servant Moses gave them on the east side of the Jordan River.”
8 As the men got ready to go, Joshua ordered them to write a description of the land. He said, “Go survey the land. Write a description of it, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you in the presence of the Lord here in Shiloh.”
9 The men surveyed the land. They described it in a book. The land was divided into seven parts according to its cities. Then they returned to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh.
10 So Joshua drew lots for them in the presence of the Lord in Shiloh. There Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel.
Benjamin’s Land
11 The lot was drawn for the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Their territory lies between Judah’s and Joseph’s.
12 Their northern border starts at the Jordan, goes up the slope north of Jericho, west through the mountains, and ends at the desert of Beth Aven.
13 From there the border goes to the south slope of Luz (now called Bethel). Then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar over the mountains south of Lower Beth Horon.
14 The border turns and goes around on the west side, south of the mountain that faces Beth Horon, and ends at Kiriath Baal (now called Kiriath Jearim), a city of Judah.
15 The southern border begins just outside Kiriath Jearim and goes west, to the springs of Nephtoah.
16 Then the border descends to the foot of the mountain that overlooks the valley of Ben Hinnom, in the north end of the valley of Rephaim. It descends to the valley of Hinnom, to the south slope of the city of Jebus, and down to En Rogel.
17 Then it turns north and goes to En Shemesh and from there to the region opposite the Adummim Pass. It descends to the Rock of Bohan, son of Reuben.
18 Then it continues on to the north side of the slope facing the plains and down into the plains.
19 The border continues to the north slope of Beth Hoglah and ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea at the south end of the Jordan River. This is its southern border.
20 The Jordan River is its eastern border. These are the borders surrounding the inheritance given to Benjamin for its families.
21 These are the 12 cities with their villages that belong to the tribe of Benjamin for its families: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,
22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
24 Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba.
25 There were 14 other cities with their villages: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
27 Rekem, Ir Peel, Taralah,
28 Zela, Eleph, Jebus (now called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath. This is Benjamin’s inheritance for its families.