New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.
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And all the meeting of the children of Israel came together at Shiloh and put up the Tent of meeting there: and the land was crushed before them.
2 There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned.
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But there were still seven tribes among the children of Israel who had not taken up their heritage.
3 So Joshua said to the Israelites, "How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?
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Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, Why are you so slow to go in and take up your heritage in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?
4 Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may begin to go throughout the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances. Then come back to me.
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Take from among you three men from every tribe; and I will send them to go through the land and make a record of it for distribution as their heritage; then let them come back to me.
5 They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north.
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And let them make division of it into seven parts: let Judah keep inside his limit on the south, and let the children of Joseph keep inside their limit on the north.
6 You shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.
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And you are to have the land marked out in seven parts, and come back to me with the record; and I will make the distribution for you here by the decision of the Lord our God.
7 The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them."
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For the Levites have no part among you; to be the Lord's priests is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have had their heritage on the east side of Jordan, given to them by Moses, the servant of the Lord.
8 So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, "Go throughout the land and write a description of it, and come back to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh."
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So the men got up and went; and Joshua gave orders to those who went, to make a record of the land, saying, Go up and down through the land, and make a record of it and come back here to me, and I will make the distribution for you here by the decision of the Lord in Shiloh.
9 So the men went and traversed the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh,
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So the men went, travelling through the land, and made a record of it by towns in seven parts in a book, and came back to Joshua to the tent-circle at Shiloh.
10 and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the Israelites, to each a portion.
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And Joshua made the distribution for them in Shiloh by the decision of the Lord, marking out the land for the children of Israel by their divisions.
11 The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph.
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And the first heritage came out for the tribe of Benjamin by their families: and the limit of their heritage went between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the slope of Jericho on the north, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
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And their limit on the north was from the Jordan, and the line goes up to the side of Jericho on the north and through the hill-country to the west, ending at the waste land of Beth-aven.
13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.
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And from there the line goes south to Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Beth-el), then down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain to the south of Beth-horon the lower.
14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side.
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And the limit is marked as coming round to the south on the west side from the mountain which is south of Beth-horon, and ending at Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), a town of the children of Judah: this is the west part.
15 The southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah;
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And the south part is from the farthest point of Kiriath-jearim, and the line goes out to the west to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah:
16 then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Rephaim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel;
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And the line goes down to the farthest part of the mountain facing the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is on the north of the valley of Rephaim: from there it goes down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite on the south as far as En-rogel;
17 then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim; then it goes down to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben's son;
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And it goes to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, opposite the way up to Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben;
18 and passing on to the north of the slope of Beth-arabah it goes down to the Arabah;
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And it goes on to the side facing the Arabah to the north, and down to the Arabah;
19 then the boundary passes on to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.
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And on to the north side of Beth-hoglah, ending at the north inlet of the Salt Sea at the south end of Jordan; this is their limit on the south.
20 The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary all around.
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And the limit of the east part is the Jordan. This is the heritage of the children of Benjamin, marked out for their families by these limits on all sides.
21 Now the towns of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,
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And the towns of the children of Benjamin, given to them in the order of their families, are Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-kezziz
22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
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And Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Beth-el
23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
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And Avvim and Parah and Ophrah
24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their villages:
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And Chephar-Ammoni and Ophni and Geba; twelve towns with their unwalled places;
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
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Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth
26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
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And Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah
27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
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And Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah
28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath-jearim —fourteen towns with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.
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And Zela, Eleph and the Jebusite (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath and Kiriath; fourteen towns with their unwalled places. This is the heritage of the children of Benjamin by their families.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.