Joshua 18

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¹The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them. ✦ ²Seven tribes remained among the children of Israel, which had not yet divided their inheritance. ³Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you? ✦ ⁴Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come to me. ✦ ⁵They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Joseph shall live in their borders on the north. ✦ ⁶You shall survey the land into seven parts, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. ✦ ⁷However, the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.” ✦ ⁸The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go walk through the land, survey it, and come again to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in Shiloh.” ✦ ⁹The men went and passed through the land, and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. ✦ ¹⁰Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh. There Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions. ✦ ¹¹The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families. The border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ✦ ¹²Their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan. The border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward. It ended at the wilderness of Beth Aven. ✦ ¹³The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Bethel), southward. The border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beth Horon the lower. ✦ ¹⁴The border extended, and turned around on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lies before Beth Horon southward; and ended at Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west quarter. ✦ ¹⁵The south quarter was from the farthest part of Kiriath Jearim. The border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. ✦ ¹⁶The border went down to the farthest part of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward. It went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En Rogel. ✦ ¹⁷It extended northward, went out at En Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ✦ ¹⁸It passed along to the side over against the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah. ✦ ¹⁹The border passed along to the side of Beth Hoglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. ✦ ²⁰The Jordan was its border on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders around it, according to their families. ²¹Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ✦ ²²Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ✦ ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ✦ ²⁴Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages. ✦ ²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ✦ ²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ✦ ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zelah, Eleph, the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Josh 15 ·17 Josh 18 ·15 Josh 16 ·5 1 Sam 1 ·3 Josh 21 ·3 Josh 19 ·3 Josh 13 ·3 Josh 7 ·3

Christ at the center

Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.

How Joshua 18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical
On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Joshua videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Joshua 18YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Joshua 18David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JoshuaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Joshua 18Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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