Joshua 18

The Tent of Meeting at Shiloh

1The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land was subdued before them. 2Seven tribes remained among the children of Israel that had not yet divided their inheritance. 3Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you be slack about going in to possess the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them. They shall arise and walk through the land, write a description of it according to their inheritance, and come to me. 5They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall remain in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. 6You shall describe the land in seven portions and bring the description here to me. Then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. 7For the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan toward the east, which Moses servant of the LORD gave them.”

The Land Is Surveyed

8The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land, saying, “Go, walk through the land, describe it, and return to me. Then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD at Shiloh.” 9The men went, passed through the land, and described it by cities in seven portions in a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh. 10Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

The Allotment of Benjamin

11The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their clans. The territory of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12Their border on the north side began at the Jordan. The border went up to the north shoulder of Jericho, went up through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-Aven. 13From there the border crossed to Luz, to the south shoulder of Luz—that is, Bethel—and the border went down to Ataroth-Addar, by the mountain south of Lower Beth-Horon. 14The border turned and curved on the western side southward from the mountain that is before Beth-Horon on the south, and it ended at Kiriath-Baal—that is, Kiriath-Jearim—a city of the children of Judah. This was the western side. 15The southern side began at the edge of Kiriath-Jearim. The border went out westward and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16The border went down to the edge of the mountain that is before the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, which is in the Valley of Rephaim northward. It went down the Valley of Hinnom to the south shoulder of the Jebusite and down to En-Rogel. 17It curved northward and went out to En-Shemesh, went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and went down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 18It crossed to the shoulder opposite the Arabah northward and went down to the Arabah. 19The border crossed to the north shoulder of Beth-Hoglah, and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border. 20The Jordan bordered it on the eastern side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to its borders all around, according to their clans.

Cities of Benjamin

21The cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their clans were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz, 22Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities with their villages. 25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite—that is, Jerusalem—Gibeah, and Kiriath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their clans.