Jos 13 | EE | STEP | Joshua was very old and had lived for many years. The LORD said to him, ‘You are old. There is still a lot of land that you have not taken. This is the land left for you to take.

Joshua 13

The land that Israel had not yet taken

1 Joshua was very old and had lived for many years. The LORD said to him, ‘You are old. There is still a lot of land that you have not taken. This is the land left for you to take. 2 There is all the land of the Philistines and Geshurites 3 and of the Avvim on the south. (The land from the Shihor river east of Egypt to the edge of Ekron’s land on the north was part of Canaan. The Philistines lived in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.) 4 You must take all the land of the Canaanites and Mearah, (which belonged to the people of Sidon). This is the land as far as Aphek, by the edge of the land of the Amorites. 5 You have to take the land of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon to the east. That is from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.’ ^{▼▼13:5 Verse 1 We do not know how old Joshua was. Caleb was 85 (see Joshua 14:10).}

6 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘I, myself will push out the people of Sidon in front of the Israelites. They will leave the mountains of Lebanon as far as Misrephoth Maim. You must give this land to Israel, as I have told you. 7 Each of the 9 tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh is to have its own part.’

How Joshua gave each tribe its own land

8 Moses had already given land to the Reubenites, Gadites and the other half of Manasseh. It was east of the Jordan, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had said.

9 It was from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley. It included all the flat land of Medeba to Dibon. 10 And it included all the towns of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. It went to the edge of the land of the Amorites. 11 It included the land of Gilead, and of the people of Geshur and Maacah. And it included all of Mount Hermon and Bashan as far as Salecah. 12 (That was the kingdom of Og in Bashan.) Og had ruled Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was one of the last of the Rephaim (a group of very large people called giants). Moses had won a fight with them and had taken their land. 13 But the Israelites did not send away the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they still live there among the Israelites.

14 Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi. This was because God had made them a promise. He had said that the other tribes must give them the burnt offerings made to the LORD God of Israel. This was the part for the Levites.

15 This is the part of the land that Moses gave to the families of the Reubenites.

16 He gave them the land from Aroer by the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley. 17 And he gave them all of the flat land past Medeba in Heshbon. It included Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 18 Jahaz and Kedemoth. And it included Mephaath, 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah and Zereth Shahar. Zereth was on a hill in the middle of the valley. 20 Moses gave Beth Peor, and the sides of Mount Pisgah and Beth Jeshimoth town to the tribe of Reuben. 21 And he gave them all the towns on the flat land. He gave them all the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites. Sihon had ruled from Hebron. But Moses had won the fight with him, and the Midianite kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. These kings had lived in that place, and ruled with Sihon. 22 The Israelites had killed Balaam, son of Beor, when they had killed soldiers in the fight. He had wanted to help Balak to fight against Israel. 23 The end of the land of the Reubenites was by the river Jordan. Moses gave these towns and their villages to the tribe of Reuben to live in, family by family. ^{▼▼13:23 Verse 22. You can read about Balaam in Numbers 22.}

24 This is the land that Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, family by family.

25 He gave them the land of Jazer, the towns of Gilead and half the land of the Ammonites. 26 This was from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the land of Debir. 27 Moses gave Gad the towns in the valley: Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon. He gave them the rest of the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon. (This was on the east of the Jordan, to the end of the sea of Kinnereth.) 28 Moses gave these towns and villages to the tribe of Gad to live in, family by family.

29 This is the land that Moses gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. That is, half the families of the sons of Manasseh, family by family.

30 He gave them the land from Mahanaim, the land of Bashan, all the land ruled by Og, king of Bashan. It included all the 60 towns of Jair in Bashan. 31 And it included half of Gilead, Ashtaroth and Edrei. (These were the cities that belonged to Og in Bashan.) This was for half the sons of Makir, son of Manasseh, family by family.

32 Moses gave land to these tribes while he was in the flat land of Moab, east of Jericho. He was across the Jordan then. 33 Moses gave no land to the tribe of Levi. The LORD, the God of Israel, was their part. This is what he had promised to do for them.