CHAPTER 14
Now these are the portions
that
the Israelites
inherited
in the land
of Canaan,
as distributed
by Eleazar
the priest,
Joshua
son
of Nun,
and the heads
of the families
of the tribes
of Israel.
Their inheritance
was assigned by lot
for the nine
and a half
tribes,
as
the LORD
had commanded
through
Moses.
For
Moses
had given
the inheritance
east of
the Jordan
to the other two
and a half
tribes.
But he granted
no
inheritance
among them
to the Levites.
The descendants
of Joseph
became
two
tribes,
Manasseh
and Ephraim.
And no
portion
of the land
was given
to the Levites,
except for
cities
in which to live,
along with pasturelands
for their flocks
and herds.
Then the sons
of Judah
approached
Joshua
at Gilgal,
and Caleb
son
of Jephunneh
the Kenizzite
said
to him,
“You
know
what
the LORD
said
to
Moses
the man
of God
at Kadesh-barnea
about
you and me.
I was
forty
years old
when Moses
the servant
of the LORD
sent
me
from
Kadesh-barnea
to spy out
the land,
and I brought back
to him
an honest
report.
Although my brothers
who
went
with me
made the hearts
of the people
melt with fear,
I
remained loyal
to
the LORD
my God.
On that
day
Moses
swore to me,
saying,
‘Surely
the land
on which
you have set foot
will be
an inheritance
to you
and your children
forever,
because
you have wholly
followed
the LORD
my God.’
Now
behold,
as
the LORD promised,
He
has kept me alive
these
forty-five
years
since
He
spoke
this
word
to
Moses,
while
Israel
wandered
in the wilderness.
So
here
I am today,
eighty-five
years old,
still
as strong
today
as
I was the day
Moses
sent me out.
As my strength
was then,
so it
is now
for war,
for going out,
and for coming in.
Now therefore
give
me
this
hill country
that
the LORD
promised
me on that
day,
for
you yourself
heard
then
that
the Anakim
were there,
with great
and fortified
cities.
Perhaps
with the LORD's
help
I will drive them out,
as
the LORD
has spoken."
Therefore
Hebron
belongs to
Caleb
son
of Jephunneh
the Kenizzite
as an inheritance
to
this
day,
because
he wholly
followed
the LORD,
the God
of Israel.
(Hebron
used to be
called
Kiriath-arba,
after Arba,
the greatest
man
among the Anakim.)
Then the land
had rest
from war.