The Daily Audio Bible

Cities Allotted to the Levites

21 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Elea′zar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel; ² and they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasture lands for our cattle.” ³ So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasture lands out of their inheritance.

⁴ The lot came out for the families of the Ko′hathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

⁵ And the rest of the Ko′hathites received by lot from the families of the tribe of E′phraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manas′seh, ten cities.

⁶ The Gershonites received by lot from the families of the tribe of Is′sachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naph′tali, and from the half-tribe of Manas′seh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

⁷ The Merar′ites according to their families received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zeb′ulun, twelve cities.

⁸ These cities and their pasture lands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, ¹⁰ which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Ko′hathites who belonged to the Levites; since the lot fell to them first. ¹¹ They gave them Kir′iath-ar′ba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands round about it. ¹² But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephun′neh as his possession.

¹³ And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, ¹⁴ Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemo′a with its pasture lands, ¹⁵ Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶ A′in with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, Beth-she′mesh with its pasture lands—nine cities out of these two tribes; ¹⁷ then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸ An′athoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands—four cities. ¹⁹ The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

²⁰ As to the rest of the Ko′hathites belonging to the Ko′hathite families of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of E′phraim. ²¹ To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of E′phraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, ²² Kib′za-im with its pasture lands, Beth-hor′on with its pasture lands—four cities; ²³ and out of the tribe of Dan, El′teke with its pasture lands, Gib′bethon with its pasture lands, ²⁴ Ai′jalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rim′mon with its pasture lands—four cities; ²⁵ and out of the half-tribe of Manas′seh, Ta′anach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rim′mon with its pasture lands—two cities. ²⁶ The cities of the families of the rest of the Ko′hathites were ten in all with their pasture lands.

²⁷ And to the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manas′seh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Be-esh′terah with its pasture lands—two cities; ²⁸ and out of the tribe of Is′sachar, Kish′ion with its pasture lands, Dab′erath with its pasture lands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gan′nim with its pasture lands—four cities; ³⁰ and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands—four cities; ³² and out of the tribe of Naph′tali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Ham′moth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands—three cities. ³³ The cities of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴ And to the rest of the Levites, the Merar′ite families, were given out of the tribe of Zeb′ulun, Jok′ne-am with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pasture lands, Na′halal with its pasture lands—four cities; ³⁶ and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, ³⁷ Ked′emoth with its pasture lands, and Meph′a-ath with its pasture lands—four cities; ³⁸ and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahana′im with its pasture lands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands—four cities in all. ⁴⁰ As for the cities of the several Merar′ite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.

⁴¹ The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. ⁴² These cities had each its pasture lands round about it; so it was with all these cities.

⁴³ Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and having taken possession of it, they settled there. ⁴⁴ And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. ⁴⁵ Not one of all the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

The Eastern Tribes Return to Their Territory

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manas′seh, ² and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you; ³ you have not forsaken your brethren these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your home in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ⁵ Take good care to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” ⁶ So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their homes.

⁷ Now to the one half of the tribe of Manas′seh Moses had given a possession in Bashan; but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brethren in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, ⁸ he said to them, “Go back to your homes with much wealth, and with very many cattle, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.” ⁹ So the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas′seh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses.

A Memorial Altar East of the Jordan

¹⁰ And when they came to the region about the Jordan, that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas′seh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size. ¹¹ And the people of Israel heard say, “Behold, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas′seh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” ¹² And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh, to make war against them.

¹³ Then the people of Israel sent to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas′seh, in the land of Gilead, Phin′ehas the son of Elea′zar the priest, ¹⁴ and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. ¹⁵ And they came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manas′seh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, ¹⁶ “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this treachery which you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord, by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? ¹⁷ Have we not had enough of the sin at Pe′or from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you rebel against the Lord today he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹ But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us; only do not rebel against the Lord, or make us as rebels by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up ² and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” ³ He answered them, “I also will ask you a question; now tell me, ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know whence it was. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹ And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a long while. ¹⁰ When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, that they should give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he sent another servant; him also they beat and treated shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he sent yet a third; this one they wounded and cast out. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ And they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “God forbid!” ¹⁷ But he looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

¹⁸ Every one who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but when it falls on any one it will crush him.”

The Question about Paying Taxes

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. ²⁰ So they watched him, and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might take hold of what he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. ²¹ They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. ²² Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a coin.^[a] Whose likeness and inscription has it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him by what he said; but marveling at his answer they were silent.

God’s Covenant with David

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.