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Joshua 21 (CEV)

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¹ While the Israelites were still camped at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, the family leaders of the Levi tribe went to speak to the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the family leaders of the other Israelite tribes. The leaders of Levi said, "The LORD told Moses ² (SEE 21:1) ³ Since the LORD had said this, the leaders of the other Israelite tribes agreed to give some of the towns and pastures from their tribal lands to Levi. ⁴ The leaders asked the LORD to show them in what order the clans of Levi would be given towns, and which towns each clan would receive. The Kohath clans were first. The descendants of Aaron, Israel's first priest, were given thirteen towns from the tribes ⁵ The other members of the Kohath clans received ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and West Manasseh. ⁶ The clans that were descendants of Gershon were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and East Manasseh. ⁷ The clans that were descendants of Merari received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ⁸ The LORD had told Moses that he would show the Israelites which towns and pastures to give to the clans of Levi, and he did. ⁹ The descendants of Aaron from the Kohath clans of Levi were priests, and they were chosen to receive towns first. They were given thirteen towns and the pastureland around them. Nine of these towns were from the tribes of Judah and Simeon and four from B ¹⁰ (SEE 21:9) ¹¹ (SEE 21:9) ¹² (SEE 21:9) ¹³ (SEE 21:9) ¹⁴ (SEE 21:9) ¹⁵ (SEE 21:9) ¹⁶ (SEE 21:9) ¹⁷ (SEE 21:9) ¹⁸ (SEE 21:9) ¹⁹ (SEE 21:9) ²⁰ The rest of the Kohath clans of the Levi tribe received ten towns and the pastureland around them. Four of these towns were from the tribe of Ephraim, four from Dan, and two from West Manasseh. Shechem, Gezer, Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon were from Ephraim. S ²¹ (SEE 21:20) ²² (SEE 21:20) ²³ (SEE 21:20) ²⁴ (SEE 21:20) ²⁵ (SEE 21:20) ²⁶ (SEE 21:20) ²⁷ The clans of Levi that were descendants of Gershon received thirteen towns and the pastureland around them. Two of these towns were from the tribe of East Manasseh, four from Issachar, four from Asher, and three from Naphtali. Golan in Bashan and Beeshte ²⁸ (SEE 21:27) ²⁹ (SEE 21:27) ³⁰ (SEE 21:27) ³¹ (SEE 21:27) ³² (SEE 21:27) ³³ (SEE 21:27) ³⁴ The rest of the Levi clans were descendants of Merari, and they received twelve towns with the pastureland around them. Four towns were from the tribe of Zebulun, four from Reuben, and four from Gad. Jokneam, Kartah, Rimmonah, and Nahalal were from Zebul ³⁵ (SEE 21:34) ³⁶ (SEE 21:34) ³⁷ (SEE 21:34) ³⁸ (SEE 21:34) ³⁹ (SEE 21:34) ⁴⁰ (SEE 21:34) ⁴¹ The people of the Levi tribe had a total of forty-eight towns within Israel, and they had pastures around each one of their towns. ⁴² (SEE 21:41) ⁴³ The LORD gave the Israelites the land he had promised their ancestors, and they captured it and settled in it. ⁴⁴ There still were enemies around Israel, but the LORD kept his promise to let his people live in peace. And whenever the Israelites did have to go to war, no enemy could defeat them. The LORD always helped Israel win. ⁴⁵ The LORD promised to do many good things for Israel, and he kept his promise every time.