1. Then 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.
2. They came to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The lord commanded Moses to give us towns to live in and pasturelands for our livestock.”
3. So by the command of the lord the people of Israel gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own grants of land.
4. The descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, were allotted thirteen towns that were originally assigned to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
5. The other families of the Kohathite clan were allotted ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6. The clan of Gershon was allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7. The clan of Merari was allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8. So the Israelites obeyed the lord’s command to Moses and assigned these towns and pasturelands to the Levites by casting sacred lots.
9. The Israelites gave the following towns from the tribes of Judah and Simeon
10. to the descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, since the sacred lot fell to them first:
11. Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding pasturelands. (Arba was an ancestor of Anak.)
12. But the open fields beyond the town and the surrounding villages were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13. The 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,