Joshua 18

18 ¹ Then the whole Israelite community gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, since the land was subdued before them. ² Seven Israelite tribes remained who had not yet divided their inheritance. ³ Then Joshua asked the Israelites, "How long will you delay entering to possess the land our Father, the God of your fathers, has given you?" ⁴ Provide three men per tribe; I will send them to go through the land, write it up for their inheritance, and return to me. ⁵ They shall divide it into seven parts: Judah stays in its territory to the south, and Joseph's house stays in its territory to the north. ⁶ Write up the land in seven parts and bring it here to me, and I will cast lots for you here before our Father. ⁷ The Levites have no portion among you — the priesthood of our Father is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh already received their inheritance east of the Jordan, given them by Moses, servant of our Father.

⁸ The men set out, and Joshua ordered those going to write up the land: Go, walk through the land, write it up, return to me, and here I will cast lots for you before our Father in Shiloh.

⁹ The men went, crossed the land, wrote it up by cities into seven portions on a scroll, and returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. ¹⁰ Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh before our Father, and there Joshua divided the land among the Israelites, allotting to each their portion.

The Father's Gift to Benjamin

¹¹ The lot for the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin came up by their families; their lot's border went out between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph. ¹² Their north border started at the Jordan, rose to the ridge north of Jericho, went up through the hills westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³ From there the border crossed southward to Luz, to its slope (Bethel), then down to Ataroth-addar, on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon. ¹⁴ The border curved and turned south on the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon southward, ending at Kiriath-baal (Kiriath-jearim), a town of Judah's descendants. This was the west side. ¹⁵ The south side started at Kiriath-jearim's edge; the border ran west to the spring of Nephtoah's waters. ¹⁶ The border descended to the edge of the hill facing the Valley of Ben-hinnom, at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim, then down the Valley of Hinnom to the southern slope of the Jebusites, and on to En-rogel. ¹⁷ It turned north to En-shemesh, went on to Geliloth opposite the ascent of Adummim, then down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. ¹⁸ Passed to the slope facing the Arabah northward, then went down into the Arabah. ¹⁹ The border ran to Beth-hoglah's north slope, ending at the Dead Sea's north bay, at the Jordan's south end. This was the south border. ²⁰ The Jordan bordered it on the east. This was the inheritance of the Benjaminites, with its surrounding borders, by their families. ²¹ The cities of Benjamin's tribe, by clans, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²² Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities with their villages. ²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city—Jerusalem—Gibeah, and Kiriath: fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of Benjamin's descendants by their families.