Joshua 18

¹ The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, and the Tent of Meeting was set up there;the whole country had been subdued for them.

² But among the Israelites there were still seven tribes left who had not received their heritage.

³ Joshua then said to the Israelites, 'How much more time are you going to waste before you go andtake possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, has given to you?

⁴ Choose three men from each tribe for me to send al over the country so that they can make a surveywith a view to their inheritances and then come back to me.

⁵ They wil divide the country into seven portions. Judah wil remain in his territory in the south, andthose of the House of Joseph wil remain in their territory in the north.

⁶ You must survey the country in seven sections and bring your findings to me here, so that I can castlots for you here, in the presence of Yahweh our God.

⁷ The Levites, however, wil have no portion with the rest of you; the priesthood of Yahweh wil be theirheritage. As regards Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they have received their heritage on thefurther, eastern side of the Jordan, the one given them by Moses, servant of Yahweh.'

⁸ The men stood up and set off. To those who were to survey the country Joshua gave this order, 'Startout, then, go al over the country, survey it, and then come back to me; and I shal cast lots for you here, in thepresence of Yahweh, at Shiloh.'

⁹ The men left, went al over the country and surveyed it by towns, in seven sections, writing down theirfindings in a book, and then went back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰ Joshua cast lots for them in Yahweh's presence at Shiloh, and there Joshua divided the countrybetween the Israelites, share by share.

¹¹ A portion fell first to the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, by clans: the territory of their portion laybetween the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

¹² Their northern frontier began at the Jordan, went up the flank of Jericho to the north, climbedwestwards through the highlands and came out at the desert of Beth-Aven.

¹³ Thence, the frontier went on to Luz, on the southern flank of Luz -- now Bethel-and then down toAtaroth-Arach, on the mountain south of Lower Beth-Horon.

¹⁴ At this westerly point, the frontier curved round and turned south, from the mountain facing Beth-Horon from the south and came out at Kiriath-Baal, now Kiriath-Jearim, a town of the sons of Judah. That wasthe western side.

¹⁵ This was the south side: from the tip of Kiriath-Jearim, the frontier went to Gasin and came out nearthe spring of the Waters of Nephtoah,

¹⁶ it then went down to the edge of the mountain facing the Val ey of Hinnom, in the Valley of theRephaim to the north; it then went down into the Val ey of Hinnom, past the southerly flank of the Jebusite, andwent down to En-Rogel.

¹⁷ It then curved northwards, coming out at En-Shemesh, and came out at the stone circle opposite theAscent of Adummim, then went down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

¹⁸ It then went on to Cheteph on the flank of Beth-ha-Arabah northwards, and went down into theArabah;

¹⁹ the frontier then passed round the northern flank of Beth-Hoglah, and the frontier came out at thenorthern bay of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. Such was the southern frontier.

²⁰ The Jordan itself formed the frontier on the east. Such was the heritage of the sons of Benjamin asdefined by their frontier, by clans.

²¹ The towns of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, by clans, were:

²² Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz;

²³ Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel; Avvim, Parah, Ophrah;

²⁴ Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, Geba: twelve towns and their vil ages.

²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth;

²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah;

²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah;

²⁸ Zela-ha-Eleph, the Jebusite -- that is, Jerusalem -- Gibeah and Kiriath: fourteen towns with theirvil ages. Such was the heritage of the sons of Benjamin, by clans.