Joshua 21:1-8

Forty-eight Cities of the Levites

¹Then the heads of fathers’ households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.” ³So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the Lord. ⁴Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And to the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, thirteen cities were given by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeonites, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵And to the rest of the sons of Kohath ten cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶And to the sons of Gershon thirteen cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷To the sons of Merari according to their families twelve cities were given from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸Now the sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.