Joshua 18

Call to Action for Inheritance Joshua 18:3–4

³Verse 3. Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴Verse 4. Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come to me.

Instructions for Land Division Joshua 18:5–7

⁵Verse 5. They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Joseph shall live in their borders on the north. ⁶Verse 6. You shall survey the land into seven parts, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. ⁷Verse 7. However, the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”

Surveying the Land Joshua 18:8–10

⁸Verse 8. The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go walk through the land, survey it, and come again to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in Shiloh.” ⁹Verse 9. The men went and passed through the land, and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰Verse 10. Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh. There Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

Inheritance of Benjamin Joshua 18:11–20

¹¹Verse 11. The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families. The border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ¹²Verse 12. Their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan. The border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward. It ended at the wilderness of Beth Aven. ¹³Verse 13. The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Bethel), southward. The border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beth Horon the lower.

¹⁴Verse 14. The border extended, and turned around on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lies before Beth Horon southward; and ended at Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west quarter. ¹⁵Verse 15. The south quarter was from the farthest part of Kiriath Jearim. The border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶Verse 16. The border went down to the farthest part of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward. It went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En Rogel.

¹⁷Verse 17. It extended northward, went out at En Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸Verse 18. It passed along to the side over against the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah. ¹⁹Verse 19. The border passed along to the side of Beth Hoglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. ²⁰Verse 20. The Jordan was its border on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders around it, according to their families.

Cities of Benjamin Listed Joshua 18:21–28

²¹Verse 21. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²²Verse 22. Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Verse 23. Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Verse 24. Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages. ²⁵Verse 25. Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Verse 26. Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

²⁷Verse 27. Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Verse 28. Zelah, Eleph, the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.