Joshua 13

The Land That Remained to Be Taken Over 1Joshua was now very old. The LORD said to him, “You are very old. And there are still very large areas of land that have not yet been taken over.

2“Here is the land that remains to be taken over. “It includes all the areas of Philistia and Geshur.

3Those areas begin at the Shihor River in the eastern part of Egypt. They go to the territory of Ekron in the north. All that land is considered Canaanite even though it is controlled by five Philistine rulers. They rule over Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. The Avvites

4live south of them. The rest of the land of Canaan that remains to be taken over reaches from Arah all the way to Aphek. Arah belongs to the people of Sidon. The land that remains to be taken reaches the border of Amorite territory.

5It includes the area of Byblos. It also includes all of Lebanon to the east. It reaches from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon all the way to Lebo Hamath. 6“I myself will drive out all the people who live in the mountain areas. Those areas reach from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim. They include the area where all the people of Sidon live. I myself will drive out those people to make room for the Israelites. Make sure you set that land apart for Israel. Give it to them as their share, just as I have directed you.

7Divide it up among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Give each tribe its share.”

Land for the Tribes East of the Jordan River 8The other half of Manasseh’s tribe had already received the share of land Moses had given them. Their share was east of the Jordan River. The tribes of Reuben and Gad had already received their share too. Moses, the servant of the LORD, had given it to them. 9That land starts at Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley. It includes the town in the middle of the valley. It includes the high plains of Medeba all the way to Dibon.

10It also includes all the towns of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. That area reaches to the border of Ammon. 11It also includes Gilead. It includes the territory of Geshur and Maakah. It includes Mount Hermon and the whole land of Bashan all the way to Salekah. 12So it includes the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan. Og had ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was the last of the Rephaites. Moses had won the battle over Sihon and Og. He had taken over their land.

13But the Israelites didn’t drive out the people of Geshur and Maakah. So they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.

14Moses hadn’t given any share of the land to the tribe of Levi. That’s because the food offerings are their share. Those offerings are presented to the LORD, the God of Israel. Moses gave the Levites what he had promised them.

15Here is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, according to its family groups. 16Their territory starts at Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley. It includes the town in the middle of the valley. It includes all of the high plains near Medeba. 17It includes Heshbon and all its towns on those plains. Those towns include Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 18Jahaz, Kedemoth and Mephaath. 19They include Kiriathaim, Sibmah and Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley. 20They also include Beth Peor, Beth Jeshimoth and the slopes of Pisgah. 21All those towns are on the high plains. The territory includes the whole kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. Moses had won the battle over him and over the chiefs of Midian. Those chiefs were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They were princes who helped Sihon fight against Israel. They lived in that country.

22The Israelites killed many of them in battle. They also killed Balaam with their swords. He was the son of Beor. Balaam had used evil magic to find out what was going to happen.

23The border of the tribe of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan River. All those towns and their villages were given to the tribe of Reuben as their very own. Each family group received its share.

24Here is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, according to its family groups. 25Their territory includes Jazer and all the towns of Gilead. It includes half of the country of Ammon all the way to Aroer, which was near Rabbah. 26Their territory reaches from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim. It reaches from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir.

27In the valley their land includes Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Sukkoth and Zaphon. It also includes the rest of the kingdom of Sihon. He was the king of Heshbon. His kingdom included the east side of the Jordan River. It reached up to the south end of the Sea of Galilee.

28All those towns and their villages were given to the tribe of Gad as their very own. Each family group received its share.

29Here is what Moses had given to half of the tribe of Manasseh, according to its family groups. It’s what Moses had given to half of Manasseh’s family line. 30Their territory starts at Mahanaim. It includes the whole land of Bashan. That was the entire kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan. Manasseh’s territory includes all the 60 towns of Jair in Bashan.

31It includes half of the land of Gilead. It also includes Ashtaroth and Edrei. They were the royal cities of Og in Bashan. That land was given to half of the family line of Makir. He was the son of Manasseh. Each family group received its share. 32Those were the shares of land Moses had given the eastern tribes when he was in the plains of Moab. The plains are across the Jordan River east of Jericho. 33But Moses hadn’t given any share to the tribe of Levi. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their share. Moses gave the Levites what he had promised them.