Joshua 18

Israel Sets Up Camp in Shiloh

1 All the Israelites came together at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was mostly under their control by now.

Seven Tribes Still Waiting on Land

2 But seven tribes still had not claimed their territory.

3 Joshua said, “Why are y’all waiting around? How long are y’all going to chill before you step up and claim the land God gave you?”

4 “Pick three men from each tribe. I am going to send them out to map out the land, and they will come back with the layout.”

5 “Judah stays in the south, Joseph in the north. The other land gets split up between you all.”

6 “When they come back with the map, I will cast lots here before God at Shiloh to divide it.”

7 “The Levites do not get land - they serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh already got their share east of the Jordan, given by Moses.”

8 So the men went out to scout, and Joshua told them, “Go walk the land, map it, then come back so I can cast lots here before God in Shiloh.”

Scouts Survey the Land

9 The men went and surveyed the land town by town. They wrote it all down in a scroll and brought it back to Joshua in Shiloh.

Land Divided by Lot

10 Then Joshua cast lots for the seven tribes before the Lord, and that is how the land was divided.

Benjamin’s Land Is Assigned

11 The first lot went to the tribe of Benjamin. Their land sat between Judah and Joseph’s territory.

12 Their north line started at the Jordan River, went up to the north side of Jericho, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

13 From there, it curved south to Luz (aka Bethel), went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

14 Then the border bent west and went south from the hill opposite Beth-horon and ended at Kiriath-baal (aka Kiriath-jearim), a town of Judah. That is the western border.

15 The south border started at Kiriath-jearim, went to the spring at Nephtoah.

16 Then it dropped to the foot of the hill by the Valley of Ben Hinnom (north end of Rephaim Valley), went down through Hinnom Valley south of Jebusite land, and on to En-rogel.

17 Then it ran north to En-shemesh, out to Geliloth near Adummim Pass, down to the Stone of Bohan (Reuben’s son).

18 Then it passed north of Beth-arabah and dropped to the Arabah.

19 The border continued along the north side of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the Jordan’s mouth. That was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan River was the eastern border. That is the whole outline of Benjamin’s land, by its borders.

Towns in Benjamin’s Territory

21 Here is the towns in Benjamin’s territory: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz.

22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel.

23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah.

24 Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba - 12 towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth.

26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah.

27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah.

28 Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (aka Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath - 14 towns and their villages. That was the land Benjamin’s families got.