Joshua 13:1-15
Joshua 13:1-15 TPT
Many years passed, and Joshua was a very old man. One day, YAHWEH spoke to him: “Although you have reached a ripe old age, a great deal of land remains for you to conquer. The territory waiting for you to possess includes all the land of the Geshurites and the Philistines. (The kings of the Philistines lived at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.) And also all the territory of the Avvites to the south. (The land from the stream of Shihor, at the Egyptian border, as far north as the border of Ekron was considered Canaanite.) There is still all the Canaanite territory from the Sidonian city of Mearah (which belonged to the Sidonians) as far as the Amorite border city of Aphek. You have still not conquered the land of the Gebalites, all the land eastward to Lebanon, from the city of Baal-Gad, which is south of Mount Hermon, to Hamath Pass. You still must conquer the land of the Sidonians who live in the hill country between the Lebanon Mountains and Misrephoth Maim. As the people of Israel advance, I myself will drive out these peoples from before you! Divide the land among the tribes of Israel exactly as I have commanded you. Divide among the other nine tribes and the other half-tribe of Manasseh the territory west of the Jordan to possess as their inheritance.” The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had already received their portion of the land on the east side of the Jordan, which YAHWEH’s servant Moses had assigned to them. These tribes occupied the land as far southeast as the city of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the city in the middle of the valley and the plain from Dibon in the south, north to Medeba. Their territory went as far east as the border of Ammon, including all the cities over which King Sihon, the Amorite king, ruled over from Heshbon. It also included Gilead, the land of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan to its eastern boundary of Salecah. It encompassed the entire kingdom of Og (the last of the Rephaites) in Bashan, who ruled from Ashtaroth and at Edrei. Moses had defeated them and possessed their lands, except for the Geshurites and Maacathites, who still live among the Israelites to this day. However, Moses did not assign any land as an inheritance to the tribe of Levi, for their inheritance was to share in the sacrificial offerings made to YAHWEH, the God of Israel, as he promised them. The land Moses assigned to the families of the tribe of Reuben