Knox Bible

1

Afterwards, when Josue was old and near his end, the Lord bade him bethink himself of his great age; here were wide tracts of land still waiting to be apportioned.

2

Here was the pale of the Philistines,✻ with all the Gessurite land,

3

reaching northwards to Accaron from the dark river that flows along the border of Egypt. This was Chanaanite country, in which five princes of the Philistine race had their capitals, at Gaza, Azotus, Ascalon, Geth and Accaron.

4

Here, too in the south, were the Hevites. Here was all the Chanaanite territory, including Maara (that belonged to the Sidonians), reaching up to Apheca and the Amorrhite frontier,

5

and the adjoining territory of the Giblites. East of that came the Lebanon region, from Baalgad, under mount Hermon, right up to the approaches of Emath.

6

So many mountain peoples, from Lebanon down to the waters of Maserephoth; and all these were to be dispossessed at Israel’s coming. These lands, in pursuance of the Lord’s command, must be reckoned in among the possessions of Israel.

7

It was time, then, that he should make a full division of the land among the nine tribes, and that half of Manasses which was attached to them.

8

The other half of Manasses had already had their lands apportioned to them by Moses east of the Jordan, with Ruben and Gad,

9

northwards from Aroer on the Arnon, half-way along its course; the whole plain between Medaba and Dibon,

10

and all the cities as far as the Ammonite frontier that belonged once to Sehon, the Amorrhite king of Hesebon.

11

Galaad, too, and the border country of Gessuri and Machati, and mount Hermon, and the whole of Basan right up to Salecha;

12

this kingdom of Basan had formerly belonged to Og, the last of the Raphaim, who dwelt at Astaroth and Edrai. These two kings Moses defeated and destroyed,

13

but Israel never dispossessed the people of Gessuri and Machati; they dwell there as their neighbours to this day.

14

(The tribe of Levi had no lands apportioned to them; the Lord God of Israel had bidden them be content with the victims offered to him in sacrifice as their portion.)

15

The tribe of Ruben, with all its several clans, received its portion from Moses.

16

Their territory began at Aroer, on the Arnon, half-way up its course, and took in all the valley that lies before Medaba,

17

and Hesebon, and the villages on the plain round about. They had Dibon, too, and Bamothbaal, and the town called Baalmaon,

18

Jassa, Cedemoth, and Mephaath,

19

Cariathaim, and Sabama, and Sarathasar, where the hills rise out of the Jordan valley;

20

Bethphogor and the spurs of Phasga and Bethjesimoth.

21

Theirs were all the cities in the plain, all the domains that once were Sehon’s. (It was Moses that defeated Sehon, as he defeated also the Madianite chiefs that held their lands from him, Hevi, Recem, Sur, Hur and Rebe,

22

and bade the Israelites put all their army to the sword, the prophet Balaam among them.)

23

Such were the towns and villages that passed into the possession of Ruben’s descendants, and they had the river Jordan for their boundary.

24

It was Moses, too, who gave the tribe of Gad their portion, dividing it up among the several clans of it.

25

Jazer belonged to them, and all the cities of Galaad, and half the Ammonite territory, reaching as far as Aroer, near Rabba.

26

It stretched all the way from Hesebon to Ramoth, Masphe and Betonim, from Manaim to the country round Dabir;

27

and on the low ground it contained Betharam, Bethnemra, Socoth and Saphon, all the rest of what Sehon had ruled from Hesebon; this tribe, too, had Jordan for its boundary, up to where the further, eastern shore of Lake Cenereth begins.

28

Such were the cities and towns allotted to the several clans of Gad as their portion.

29

And he also allotted lands to the separated clans of Manasses;

30

the whole of Basan northwards from Manaim, all the domain over which Og, king of Basan, had ruled. This included the sixty townships in Basan which are called Jair’s villages,

31

and half of Galaad, and the two cities from which Og ruled over Basan, Astaroth and Edrai. All this now belonged to the descendants of Machir, son of Manasses, Machir’s clans being thus separated from the rest.

32

Such was the distribution made by Moses himself, on the plains of Moab, east of Jordan, opposite Jericho.

33

He gave no lands to the sons of Levi, who held the Lord’s promise that he himself would be their portion.