The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 Then the entire congregation of the People of Israel got together at Shiloh. They put up the Tent of Meeting.
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Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle.
2 but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had yet to receive their inheritance.
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But there remained seven tribes who had not yet been allotted their grants of land.
3 Joshua addressed the People of Israel: "How long are you going to sit around on your hands, putting off taking possession of the land that God, the God of your ancestors, has given you?
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Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given to you?
4 Pick three men from each tribe so I can commission them. They will survey and map the land, showing the inheritance due each tribe, and report back to me.
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Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to explore the land and map it out. They will then return to me with a written report of their proposed divisions of their new homeland.
5 They will divide it into seven parts. Judah will stay in its territory in the south and the people of Joseph will keep to their place in the north.
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Let them divide the land into seven sections, excluding Judah’s territory in the south and Joseph’s territory in the north.
6 "You are responsible for preparing a survey map showing seven portions. Then bring it to me so that I can cast lots for you here in the presence of our God.
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And when you record the seven divisions of the land and bring them to me, I will cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD our God to assign land to each tribe.
7 "Only the Levites get no portion among you because the priesthood of God is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh already have their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, given to them by Moses the servant of God."
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“The Levites, however, will not receive any allotment of land. Their role as priests of the LORD is their allotment. And the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh won’t receive any more land, for they have already received their grant of land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them on the east side of the Jordan River.”
8 So the men set out. As they went out to survey the land, Joshua charged them: "Go. Survey the land and map it. Then come back to me and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of God."
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As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua commanded them, “Go and explore the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will assign the land to the tribes by casting sacred lots here in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh.”
9 So off the men went. They covered the ground and mapped the country by towns in a scroll. Then they reported back to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh.
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The men did as they were told and mapped the entire territory into seven sections, listing the towns in each section. They made a written record and then returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.
10 Joshua cast the lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of God. That's where Joshua divided up the land to the People of Israel, according to their tribal divisions.
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And there at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD to determine which tribe should have each section.
11 The first lot turned up for the tribe of Benjamin with its clans. The border of the allotment went between the peoples of Judah and Joseph.
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The first allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. It lay between the territory assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph.
12 The northern border began at the Jordan, then went up to the ridge north of Jericho, ascending west into the hill country into the wilderness of Beth Aven.
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The northern boundary of Benjamin’s land began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven.
13 From there the border went around to Luz, to its southern ridge (that is, Bethel), and then down from Ataroth Addar to the mountain to the south of Lower Beth Horon.
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From there the boundary went south to Luz (that is, Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar on the hill that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.
14 There the border took a turn on the west side and swung south from the mountain to the south of Beth Horon and ended at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town of the people of Judah. This was the west side.
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The boundary then made a turn and swung south along the western edge of the hill facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.
15 The southern border began at the edge of Kiriath Jearim on the west, then ran west until it reached the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah.
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The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it ran to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,
16 It then descended to the foot of the mountain opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom (which flanks the Valley of Rephaim to the north), descended to the Hinnom Valley, just south of the Jebusite ridge, and went on to En Rogel.
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and down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of Ben-Hinnom, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From there it went down the valley of Hinnom, crossing south of the slope where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel.
17 From there it curved north to En Shemesh and Geliloth, opposite the Red Pass (Adummim), down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,
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From En-rogel the boundary proceeded in a northerly direction and came to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is across from the slopes of Adummim). Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben’s son.)
18 continued toward the north flank of Beth Arabah, then plunged to the Arabah.
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From there it passed along the north side of the slope overlooking the Jordan Valley. The border then went down into the valley,
19 It then followed the slope of Beth Hoglah north and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea - the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
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ran past the north slope of Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, which is the southern end of the Jordan River. This was the southern boundary.
20 The east border was formed by the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the people of Benjamin for their clans, marked by these borders on all sides.
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The eastern boundary was the Jordan River. These were the boundaries of the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
21 The cities of the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, were: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,
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These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,
22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
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Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
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Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba - twelve towns with their villages.
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Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their surrounding villages.
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
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Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,
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Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,
27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
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Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath Jearim - fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance for Benjamin, according to its clans.
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Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite town (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim —fourteen towns with their surrounding villages. This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.