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Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

(Numbers 35:1-5; 1 Chronicles 6:54-81)

¹ Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel² at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, along with pasturelands for our livestock.”³ So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:⁴ The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.⁵ The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.⁶ The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.⁷ The descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.⁸ So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities along with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

⁹ From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name¹⁰ to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)¹² But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.¹³ So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa,¹⁵ Holon, Debir,¹⁶ Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, along with their pasturelands.¹⁷ And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,¹⁸ Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, along with their pasturelands.¹⁹ Altogether thirteen cities with their pasturelands were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.²⁰ The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim²¹ they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,²² Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, along with their pasturelands.²³ From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,²⁴ Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, along with their pasturelands.²⁵ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, along with their pasturelands.²⁶ Altogether ten cities with their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.²⁷ This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they received Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, along with their pasturelands.²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar they received Kishion, Daberath,²⁹ Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, along with their pasturelands.³⁰ From the tribe of Asher they received Mishal, Abdon,³¹ Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, along with their pasturelands.³² And from the tribe of Naphtali they received Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, along with their pasturelands.³³ Altogether thirteen cities with their pasturelands were given to the Gershonite clans.³⁴ This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they received Jokneam, Kartah,³⁵ Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, along with their pasturelands.³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben they received Bezer, Jahaz,³⁷ Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, along with their pasturelands.³⁸ And from the tribe of Gad they received Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,³⁹ Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, along with their pasturelands.⁴⁰ Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.⁴¹ So in all there were forty-eight cities for the Levites, along with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.⁴² Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

⁴³ Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.⁴⁴ And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.⁴⁵ Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; everything was fulfilled.