Joshua 18

Thomson^{(i) 1} When all the congregation of Israel assembled at Selo, and fixed there the tabernacle of the testimony, and the land was subdued under them, ² but there still remained among the children of Israel seven tribes who had not received their portions, ³ Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long will you be devoid of courage, to take possession of the land which the Lord our God hath given? ⁴ Appoint from among you three men of a tribe, and let them arise, and go through the land, and lay before me a draught of it, as it ought to be divided. And when they came to him ⁵ he distinguished for them seven portions, saying, Let Juda stand. Their boundary is south of this. And let the children of Joseph stand. Their boundary is north of this. ⁶ Divide ye therefore the land into seven parcels, and bring them to me, and I will cast the lot for you before the ⁷ Lord our God; for the children of Levi are to have no lot among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their portion; and Gad and Reuben, and the half of the tribe of Manasses, have received their possession on the eastern bank of the Jordan; that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them. ⁸ So the men prepared to set out, and when they were going to traverse the land, Joshua gave them a charge, saying, Go and traverse the land, and come to me, and I will here cast the lots for you before the Lord, at Selo. ⁹ So they went, and traversed the land, and when they had viewed it, and written it by cities in seven parcels in books, they brought them to Joshua, ¹⁰ and Joshua cast lots for them at Selo, before the Lord, ¹¹ and the lot of the tribe of Benjamin came out first, according to their communities, and the bounds of their lot came out between the children of Juda, ¹² and the children of Joseph; and these were their borders. On the north their boundary was to go up from the Jordan, back of Jericho, on the north side, and to run westward to the mountain, and come out at Mabdaritis-Baithon; ¹³ thence the boundary was to run to the border of Louza, back of Louza on the south side of it, this is Baithel; thence the boundary was to run down to Maatarob-Orech, by the high land which is south of the lower Baithoron; ¹⁴ thence the boundary was to wind, and proceed to that part on the south which overlooketh the sea, from the mountain before Baithoron southward, and to terminate at Kariathbaal, that is Kariathiarim, a city of the children of Juda. This was the western part. ¹⁵ And with regard to the southern part; from a part of Kariathbaal, the boundary was to run to Gasin, by the fountain of water ¹⁶ Naphtho; thence the boundary was to run down part of the way, that is, in front of the forest Sonnam, which is the northern part of Emek-raphain; thence down to Gehenna, back of Jebusi, south of it, down to the fountain Rogel; ¹⁷ then to turn off to the fountain Baithsamys, and pass on to Galiloth, which is over against the steep of Aithamin; then down to the stone of Baion, one of the sons of Reuben; ¹⁸ then to run back of Baithabara, north of it, down to the border at the north end of the sea; ¹⁹ and the termination of this boundary was to be at the north bay of the salt sea, and at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary. ²⁰ And the Jordan was to be the eastern boundary. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, and these their borders round about, according to their communities. ²¹ And the cities of the Benjaminites according to their communities were Jericho, and Bethegaio, and Amekasis, ²² and Baithabara, and Sara, and Besana, ²³ and Aiein, and Phara, and Ephratha, ²⁴ and Karapha, and Kephira, and Moni, and Gabaa, twelve cities with their villages: ²⁵ Gabaon, and Rama, and Beerotha, ²⁶ and Massema, and Miron, and Amoke, ²⁷ and Phira, and Kaphan, and Nakan, and Selekan, and Thareela, ²⁸ and Jebus, this is Jerusalem, and Gabaoth-Jarim, thirteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to their communities.