Monday, May 28, 2007

Joshua 20 & 21 Sunday & Monday - Happy Memorial Day TODAY!

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God Bless You Today, Lena B

Joshua 20
The Cities of Refuge
1The LORD said to Joshua, 2"Now tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed Moses. 3Anyone who kills another person unintentionally can run to one of these cities and be protected from the relatives of the one who was killed, for the relatives may seek to avenge the killing.
4"Upon reaching one of these cities, the one who caused the accidental death will appear before the leaders at the city gate and explain what happened. They must allow the accused to enter the city and live there among them. 5If the relatives of the victim come to avenge the killing, the leaders must not release the accused to them, for the death was accidental. 6But the person who caused the death must stay in that city and be tried by the community and found innocent. Then the one declared innocent because the death was accidental must continue to live in that city until the death of the high priest who was in office at the time of the accident. After that, the one found innocent is free to return home."
7The following cities were designated as cities of refuge: Kedesh of Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah. 8On the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, the following cities were designated as cities of refuge: Bezer, in the wilderness plain of the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the land of the tribe of Manasseh. 9These cities were set apart for Israelites as well as the foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed another person could take refuge in one of these cities. In this way, they could escape being killed in revenge prior to standing trial before the community.
Joshua 21
The Towns Given to the Levites
1Then the leaders of the tribe of Levi came to consult with Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the other tribes of Israel. 2They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The LORD instructed Moses to give us towns to live in and pasturelands for our cattle." 3So by the command of the LORD the Levites were given as their inheritance the following towns with their pasturelands.
4The descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, were given thirteen towns that were originally assigned to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5The other families of the Kohathite clan were allotted ten towns from the territories of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6The clan of Gershon received thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7The clan of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8So the Israelites obeyed the LORD's command to Moses and assigned these towns and pasturelands to the Levites by casting sacred lots.
9The Israelites gave the following towns from the tribes of Judah and Simeon 10to the descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, since the sacred lot fell to them first: 11Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding pasturelands. (Arba was an ancestor of Anak.) 12But the fields beyond the city and the surrounding villages were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.
13The following towns with their pasturelands were given to the descendants of Aaron the priest: Hebron (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Libnah, 14Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15Holon, Debir, 16Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.
17From the tribe of Benjamin the priests were given the following towns with their surrounding pasturelands: Gibeon, Geba, 18Anathoth, and Almon—four towns. 19So thirteen towns were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
20The rest of the Kohathite clan from the tribe of Levi was allotted these towns and pasturelands from the tribe of Ephraim: 21Shechem (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Gezer, 22Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four towns.
23The following towns and pasturelands were allotted to the priests from the tribe of Dan: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four towns.
25The half-tribe of Manasseh allotted the following towns with their pasturelands to the priests: Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two towns. 26So ten towns with their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clan.
27The descendants of Gershon, another clan within the tribe of Levi, received two towns with their pasturelands from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge) and Be-eshterah.
28From the tribe of Issachar they received Kishion, Daberath, 29Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four towns with their pasturelands.
30From the tribe of Asher they received Mishal, Abdon, 31Helkath, and Rehob—four towns and their pasturelands.
32From the tribe of Naphtali they received Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three towns with their pasturelands.
33So thirteen towns and their pasturelands were allotted to the clan of Gershon.
34The rest of the Levites—the Merari clan—were given the following towns from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam, Kartah, 35Dimnah, and Nahalal—four towns with their pasturelands.
36From the tribe of Reuben they received Bezer, Jahaz, F69 37Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four towns with their pasturelands.
38From the tribe of Gad they received Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge), Mahanaim, 39Heshbon, and Jazer—four towns with their pasturelands. 40So twelve towns were allotted to the clan of Merari.
41The total number of towns and pasturelands within Israelite territory given to the Levites came to forty-eight. 42Every one of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it.
43So the LORD gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they conquered it and settled there. 44And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD helped them conquer all their enemies. 45All of the good promises that the LORD had given Israel came true.
FOOTNOTES:
F69: Hebrew Jahzah, a variant name for Jahaz.