1. All the Israelites gathered together at Shiloh where they set up the Meeting Tent. The Israelites controlled that country. They had defeated all the enemies in that land.
2. But at this time there were still seven tribes of Israel that had not yet received their land.
3. So Joshua said to the Israelites, “Why do you wait so long to take your land? The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given this land to you.
4. So each of your tribes should choose three men. I will send them out to study the land. They will describe that land, and then they will come back to me.
5. They will divide the land into seven parts. The people of Judah will keep their land in the south. The people of Joseph will keep their land in the north.
6. But you should describe the land and divide it into seven parts. Bring the map to me, and we will throw lots to let the Lord our God decide how to divide the land among the tribes.
7. The Levites don’t get a share of the land. Their share is to serve the Lord as priests. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received the land that was promised to them. They are on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, the Lord’S servant, gave them that land.”