Day 70 Joshua 21- 22 Joshua 21 Cities for the Tribe of Levi 1 Then the leaders of the families of Levi came to the priest Eleazar, to Joshua (son of Nun), and to the leaders of the families of the other Israelite tribes 2 at Shiloh in Canaan. They said to them, The LORD commanded through Moses that we should receive cities to live in and pasturelands for our livestock. 3 So, as the LORD had instructed, Levis descendants were given the following cities with pasturelands from the Israelites inheritance. 4 These are the cities for the families of Kohath that were chosen by drawing lots. These descendants of the priest Aaron the Levite received 13 cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The rest of Kohaths descendants received 10 cities from the families of the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and half of the tribe of Manasseh. 6 Gershons descendants received 13 cities from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. 7 Meraris descendants received 12 cities for their families from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. 8 The Israelites gave these cities with pasturelands to Levis descendants by drawing lots, as the LORD had commanded through Moses. Cities for Kohath’s Descendants 9 These are the names of the cities from the tribes of Judah and Simeon 10 that they gave Aarons descendants who were from the families of Kohath in the tribe of Levi. Their lot was the first one drawn. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba (Arba was Anaks father) and the pastureland around it. This is the city of Hebron located in the mountains of Judah. 12 But they gave its fields and villages to Caleb, son of Jephunneh, as his possession. 13 So they gave the following cities with pasturelands to the descendants of Aaron, the priest. The nine cities from those two tribes were Hebron (a city of refuge for murderers), Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh. 17 The tribe of Benjamin also gave them four cities: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth, and Almon. 19 In all, 13 cities with pasturelands were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. 20 Cities were chosen by lot from the tribe of Ephraim to give to the rest of Levis descendants who were from the families of Kohath. 21 These four cities with pasturelands were Shechem (a city of refuge for murderers) in the mountains of Ephraim, Gezer, 22 Kibzaim, and Beth Horon. 23 The tribe of Dan gave them four cities: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. 25 Half of the tribe of Manasseh gave them two cities with pasturelands: Taanach and Gath Rimmon. 26 In all, ten cities with pasturelands were given to the rest of the families of Kohath. Cities for Gershon’s Descendants 27 They gave the families of Gershons descendants, who were in the tribe of Levi, two cities with pasturelands from half of the tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for murderers) and Ashtaroth. 28 Four cities with pasturelands were also given to them from the tribe of Issachar: Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth, and En Gannim. 30 Another four cities with pasturelands were given to them from the tribe of Asher: Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath, and Rehob. 32 Also three cities with pasturelands were given to them from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for murderers), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan. 33 In all, 13 cities with pasturelands were given to Gershons families. Cities for Merari’s Descendants 34 To the families of Merari, who were from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of Zebulun gave four cities with pasturelands: Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah, and Nahalal. 36 The tribe of Reuben also gave them four cities with pasturelands: Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath. 38 The tribe of Gad also gave them four cities with pasturelands: Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for murderers), Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon, and Jazer. 40 All these cities belonged to the families of Merari. They were the last of the families of Levi. These 12 cities were chosen by lot. 41 Within the territory owned by the Israelites there were 48 cities in all for Levis descendants. 42 Each of these cities had its own pastureland around it. 43 So the LORD gave Israel the whole land he had sworn to give their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled there. 44 The LORD allowed them to have peace on every side, as he had sworn with an oath to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies stood up to them. The LORD handed all their enemies over to them. 45 Every single good promise that the LORD had given the nation of Israel came true. Joshua 22 Joshua Blesses the Tribes That Live East of the Jordan River 1 Joshua summoned the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. 2 He said to them, You have done everything the LORDs servant Moses commanded you. You have also obeyed me in everything I commanded you. 3 All this time, to this day, you have never deserted your relatives. You have carefully kept the commands of the LORD your God. 4 Now the LORD your God has given your relatives peace, as he promised them. So return home, to the land that is your own possession. It is the land that the LORDs servant Moses gave you east of the Jordan River. 5 Carefully follow the commands and teachings that the LORDs servant Moses gave you. Love the LORD your God, follow his directions, and keep his commands. Be loyal to him, and serve him with all your heart and soul. 6 Then Joshua blessed them. He sent them on their way, and they went to their homes. 7 Moses had given land in Bashan as an inheritance to half of Manasseh, and Joshua had given the other half of the tribe their land with their relatives west of the Jordan. When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them. 8 He also said to them, Return to your homes with your vast wealth, large herds of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and loads of clothing. Divide the loot from your enemies with your relatives. An Altar for the Lord Is Built East of the Jordan River 9 So the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh left the rest of the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan. They returned to Gilead. This was their own possession which they had captured as the LORD had instructed them through Moses. 10 Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh came to the region of the Jordan that was still in Canaan. They built an altar by the Jordan River. The altar was very large and highly visible. 11 The rest of the Israelites heard about it and said, See there! Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the border of Canaan. Its in the region near the Jordan River on Israels side. 12 When the people of Israel heard about it, the whole congregation of Israel gathered at Shiloh. They intended to wage war against them. 13 The Israelites sent Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead. 14 Ten leaders, one from each tribe in Israel, went with him. Each man was a leader of a household and head of a family division in Israel. 15 When they arrived these leaders said to the people of Gilead, 16 All of the LORDs congregation is asking, What is this faithless act you have committed against the God of Israel? Today you have turned away from following the LORD by building an altar for yourselves. Today you have rebelled against the LORD! 17 Does the sin we committed at Peor mean nothing to us anymore? Didnt we cleanse ourselves from it? Because of that sin there was a plague on the LORDs congregation! 18 You have turned away from following the LORD! Today you rebel against the LORD, and tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 If your land is unclean, come over here to the LORDs land. The LORDs tent is standing here. Take some property for yourselves among us. Dont rebel against the LORD or against us by building an altar for yourselves in addition to the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Didnt Achan, son of Zerah, act faithlessly with the things claimed by the LORD? Didnt the LORD become angry with the whole congregation of Israel? Achan wasnt the only one who died because of his sin. 21 Then the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the divisions of Israel. 22 They said, The LORD is [the only true] God! The LORD is [the only true] God! He knows, so let Israel know! If our act is rebellious or unfaithful to the LORD, 23 dont spare us today. If we built an altar with the intention of no longer following him, and if we built it for making burnt offerings, grain offerings, or fellowship offerings, let the LORD punish us. 24 We were worried because of the situation were in. We thought sometime in the future your children might say to our children, What relationship do you have with the LORD God of Israel? 25 The LORD has made the Jordan River a dividing line between us and you, the descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no connection with the LORD! So your descendants would stop our descendants from worshiping the LORD. 26 Then we said, Lets build an altar for ourselves. It will not be for burnt offerings or sacrifices, 27 but it will stand as a witness between us for generations to come. It will stand as a witness that we may worship in the presence of the LORD with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then your descendants cannot say to our descendants, You have no connection with the LORD! 28 So we thought, if this statement is made to us or to our descendants in the future, we will answer, Look at the model of the LORDs altar our ancestors made. They didnt make it for burnt offerings or sacrifices but to stand as a witness between us. 29 It would be unthinkable for us to rebel against the LORD or to turn back today from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices in addition to the altar of the LORD our God that is in front of his tent. 30 When the priest Phinehas, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the divisions of Israel heard what the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh said, they were satisfied. 31 Then Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, Today we know the LORD is among us, because you did not commit an unfaithful act against the LORD. Now you have rescued the people of Israel from the LORDs punishment. 32 Then Phinehas (son of the priest Eleazar) and the leaders returned from Reuben and Gad in Gilead to Israel in Canaan and gave them the report. 33 The people of Israel were satisfied with the report. So they praised God and didnt talk anymore about going to war against Reuben and Gad and destroying the land where they were living. 34 The tribes of Reuben and Gad gave the altar a name: Witness Between Us That the LORD Is [the Only True] God. Footnotes: a.Joshua 22:19 “Unclean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God. GODS WORD Translation
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:00:00 +0000
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