1. The heads of the Levite families went to talk to Eleazar the priest. They also talked to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of all the tribes of Israel.
2. This happened at the town of Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The heads of the Levite families said to them, “The Lord commanded Moses that you give us towns where we may live. And he commanded that you give us pastures.”
3. So the Israelites obeyed this commandment of the Lord. They gave the Levite people these towns and pastures:
4. The Kohath family groups were part of the tribe of Levi. Some of the Levites in the Kohath family groups were from the family of Aaron the priest. To these Levites were given 13 towns. These towns were in the areas that belonged to Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.
5. The other family groups of Kohath were given 10 towns. These 10 towns were in the areas of Ephraim, Dan and West Manasseh.
6. The people from the Gershon groups were given 13 towns. They were in the land that belonged to Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7. The family groups of Merari were given 12 towns. These 12 towns were in the area that belonged to Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.
8. So the Israelites gave the Levites these towns and the pastures around them. They did this to obey the commandment that the Lord had given Moses.
9. These are the names of the towns that came from the lands of Judah and Simeon.
10. The first choice of towns was given to the Kohath family groups of the Levites.
11. They gave them Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) and all its pastures. This was in the mountains of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)
12. But the fields and the small towns around the city of Kiriath Arba had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.
13. So they gave the city of Hebron to the descendants of Aaron. (Hebron was a city of safety.) They also gave them these towns: Libnah,
14. Jattir, Eshtemoa,