JoshuaChapter 14

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¹These are the shares of land the Israelites received in the land of Canaan. Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun gave them out. The heads of the families of the tribes of Israel helped them. ²The land for the nine and a half tribes was given out by casting lots. This was what the LORD had commanded through Moses. ³Moses had already given land east of the Jordan to the other two and a half tribes. But he gave no land to the Levites among them. ⁴The family of Joseph had become two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites were not given any share of the land. They were only given cities to live in. They also got pastures for their flocks and herds. ⁵So the Israelites did what the LORD had commanded Moses. They divided up the land. ⁶Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite spoke to him. He said, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God about you and me. He said it at Kadesh-barnea. ⁷I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea. He sent me to spy out the land. I came back and gave him an honest report. ⁸The men who went with me made the people's hearts melt with fear. But I stayed loyal to the LORD my God. ⁹So on that day Moses made a promise to me with an oath. He said, 'The land you walked on will surely belong to you and your children forever. This is because you followed the LORD my God with all your heart.' ¹⁰Now look! The LORD has kept me alive, just as he promised. It has been forty-five years since he said this to Moses. That was while Israel wandered in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old. ¹¹I'm still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as strong now as I was then. I'm strong enough for war and for going out and coming in. ¹²So now give me this hill country. The LORD promised it to me on that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakim were there. They had large cities with strong walls. But maybe the LORD will help me, and I will drive them out, as the LORD said." ¹³Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh. He gave him Hebron as his own land. ¹⁴So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since. It is still his family's land today. This is because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. ¹⁵(Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba. It was named after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.