Joshua 18

1 And the whole gathering of the children of Israel came together at Shiloh, and there they pitched the tent of witness; and the land was subdued under them. 2 And there were left among the children of Israel those who had not received their inheritance — seven tribes.

3 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you go slack about inheriting the land the Lord our God has given? 4 Give three men from each tribe out of your own number, and let them rise up and go through the land and map it out in front of me, as it will have to be divided.” And they came to him, [a] 5 and he divided seven shares among them. “Judah will stand as a border for them on the south, and the sons of Joseph will stand for them on the north. 6 And you, divide the land into seven shares and bring it to me here, and I will bring out a lot for you before the Lord our God. 7 For the sons of Levi have no share among you, since the priesthood of the Lord is his share; and Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance across the Jordan, on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

8 And the men rose up and went. And Joshua charged the men who were going to survey the land, saying, “Go and survey the land and come back to me, and here I will bring out a lot for you before the Lord in Shiloh.” 9 And they went and surveyed the land and saw it and wrote it down, town by town, in seven shares, in a book, and brought it to Joshua. 10 And Joshua cast the lot for them in Shiloh before the Lord.

11 And the lot of the tribe of Benjamin came out first, according to their clans; and the borders of their portion came out between Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 And their borders on the north were from the Jordan: the borders will go up behind Jericho on the north, and go up to the mountain toward the sea, and its end will be at the wilderness of Bethon; [b] 13 and from there the borders will pass over to Luz, behind Luz, on the south — this is Bethel — and the borders will go down to Maataroth-orech, to the hill country that lies south of Beth-horon the Lower; 14 and the borders will pass over and turn round to the side that looks toward the sea, on the south, from the mountain facing Beth-horon on the south; and its end will be at Kiriath-baal — this is Kiriath-jearim, a town of the sons of Judah. This is the side toward the sea.

15 And the side toward the south runs from the edge of Kiriath-baal, and the borders will cross over to Gasin, to the spring of the water of Nephtoah, 16 and the borders will go down to the edge of the mountain that faces the wooded valley of Hinnom, which is on the north side of Emek-raphain; and they will go down to Gaienna, behind Jebus on the south, and will go down to the spring of Rogel; 17 and they will cross over to the spring of Beth-shemesh, and pass on to Galiloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim; and they will go down to the stone of Bohan of the sons of Reuben; 18 and they will pass behind Beth-arabah on the north, and go down 19 to the borders behind Beth-hoglah on the north; and the end of the borders will be at the ridge of the Salt Sea on the north, at the southern part of the Jordan. These are the southern borders. [c] 20 And the Jordan will mark the border on the east side. This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, with its borders all around, according to their clans.

21 And the towns of the sons of Benjamin according to their clans were Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Amekasis, 22 and Beth-arabah and Sara and Besana, 23 and Aiin and Parah and Ophrah, 24 and Karapha and Chephirah and Moni and Gibeah: twelve towns and their villages. [d]

25 Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth, 26 and Massema and Miron and Amoke, 27 and Phira and Kaphan and Nakan and Selekan and Thareela, 28 and Jebus — this is Jerusalem — and towns, and Gibeath-jearim: thirteen towns and their villages. This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their clans. [e]