Joshua

Assemblies

After they had conquered the land, the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh, and the Tent of Meeting was set up there.

Among the Israelites were seven tribes that had not yet been given their share of the land.

Then Joshua said to them:“How much longer will you wait before going in and taking possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?

Choose three men from each tribe. I will send them out to survey the whole territory and divide it.

They must divide the land into seven parts because those of the tribe of Judah already have their territory in the south. Those of the tribe of Joseph have their territory to the north.

You are to survey the land in seven divisions and bring your findings to me here so that I can cast lots for you before the Lord our God.

The Levites have no share in the land with the rest of you; their share is to serve as priests of the Lord, and the tribes of Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their land beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses, the Lord’s servant, assigned to them.”

To those who were to survey the country, Joshua gave this command before they started: “Go, survey and map the whole country, and then come back to me. Here in Shiloh, I will consult the Lord for you by drawing lots.”

So the men left and traveled all over the country, listing all the towns and how they would be divided into seven parts. When they returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh,

he drew lots to seek the Lord’s guidance and divided the land among the Israelites according to their clans.

The first land allocation went to the tribe of Benjamin based on their clans: their territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph.

The northern border started at the Jordan, extended north of Jericho, moved through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

From there, it continued toward the south side of Luz, which is now called Bethel; then it went down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain south of Lower Beth-horon.

The border then curved, and on the western side of this mountain, it turned southward and ended at Kiriath-Baal, now called Kiriath-jearim, a city of the tribe of Judah. This marked the western border.

The southern border ran from the edge of Kiriath-jearim toward Gasin and to the spring of Nephtoah.

It continued to the foot of the mountain facing the Valley of Ben-Hinnom at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. It then went south through the Valley of Hinnom, south of the mountainside of the Jebusites, and reached En-Rogel.

Then it curved northward to En-Shemesh, coming out at the circles of stones facing the Ascent of Adummim,

then on to the northern flank in sight of the Arabah and down to the Arabah and

the stone of Bohan (Bohan was a son of Reuben) and from there passed north of the mountainside overlooking the Jordan Valley. The border ended at the bay of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

The Jordan itself was the eastern border. Such was the land given to the tribe of Benjamin, with the borders defining it.

The towns of the tribe of Benjamin, according to their clans, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz;

Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel;

Avvim, Parah, Ophra,

Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba: twelve towns and their surrounding villages.

Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth;

Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah;

Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah;

Zela, Haeleph, Jerusalem, Gibeah, and Kiriath: fourteen towns with their surrounding villages. This was the land given to the tribe of Benjamin, according to their clans.