Joshua 18

1Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

2Seven tribes remained among the Israelites that had not yet been allotted their inheritance.

3So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

4Choose three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to set out and go through the land, write a description of it according to their inheritance, and then come back to me.

5They are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south, and the house of Joseph is to remain in its territory in the north.

6You are to write a description of the land in seven portions and bring it here to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.

7For the Levites have no share among you, because the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”

8So the men set out. As they went, Joshua commanded those who were going to describe the land, “Go and travel through the land and write a description of it, then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in Shiloh.”

9So the men went and passed through the land and described it on a scroll, town by town, in seven portions. Then they came back to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

10Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh, and there Joshua divided the land among the Israelites according to their divisions.

11The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin by their clans, and the territory of their lot lay between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph.

12On the north side their border began at the Jordan, went up along the slope north of Jericho, went up westward through the hill country, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

13From there the border passed along to Luz, to the slope south of Luz (that is, Bethel), and went down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain south of Lower Beth-horon.

14Then the border curved and turned south on the western side, from the mountain that faces Beth-horon on the south, and it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15The southern side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim. The border went out westward and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

16Then the border went down to the edge of the mountain that faces the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, on the north in the Valley of Rephaim. It went down the Valley of Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city, and down to En-rogel.

17Then it curved northward and went out to En-shemesh, went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and went down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

18It passed along to the northern slope facing the Arabah and went down into the Arabah.

19Then the border passed along to the slope north of Beth-hoglah, and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

20The Jordan formed its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the people of Benjamin by their clans, with its borders all around.

21The towns of the tribe of Benjamin by their clans were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

22Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba: twelve towns with their villages.

25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath: fourteen towns with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin by their clans.