“ Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in. The towns must come from the shares of land the people will have as their own. Also give the Levites the grasslands around the towns.

“你吩咐以色列人，要从所得为业的地中把些城给利未人居住，也要把这城四围的郊野给利未人。

“你吩咐以色列人，要从所得为业的地中把一些城给利未人居住，也要把这些城四围的郊野给利未人。

“你吩咐以色列人，要从所得为业的地中把一些城给利未人居住，也要把这些城四围的郊野给利未人。

“你告诉以色列人，要从分得的产业中把一些城邑及其周围的草场分给利未人。

“你要吩咐以色列人，叫他们从所得为业的地中，把一些城给利未人居住，也把这些城周围的郊区给利未人。

「你吩咐以色列人，要從所得為業的地中把些城給利未人居住，也要把這城四圍的郊野給利未人。

「你吩咐以色列人，要從所得為業的地中把一些城給利未人居住，也要把這些城四圍的郊野給利未人。

「你吩咐以色列人，要從所得為業的地中把一些城給利未人居住，也要把這些城四圍的郊野給利未人。

「你告訴以色列人，要從分得的產業中把一些城邑及其周圍的草場分給利未人。

“你要吩咐以色列人，叫他們從所得為業的地中，把一些城給利未人居住，也把這些城周圍的郊區給利未人。

『你要吩咐以色列人從所得為產業的地之中、把城市給利未人居住，也把城市四圍的牧場給利未人。

命以色列族於其所得之業、以邑與郊予利未人、

告以色列族、於其所得之地、以邑郊賜於利未人、

告以色列人、當於所得之地、以數城邑、給利未人居、亦以各城四周之郊野給之、

“ Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.

“ Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.

“ Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands.

“ Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

“ Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

“ Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites common-land around the cities.

Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.

“ Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give[ also] unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.

“ Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

“ Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites.

Moses had given two tribes and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh their shares east of the Jordan River. But Moses had not given the Levites a share among the other tribes.Manasseh and Ephraim were the sons of Joseph. They had become two tribes. The Levites didn’t receive any share of the land. They only received towns to live in and grasslands for their flocks and herds.

“ You must give one share as a special gift to me. It will border the territory of Judah from east to west. It will be eight miles wide. It will be as long as the border of each of the territories of the tribes. Its border will run from east to west. The temple will be in the center of that strip of land.

“ People of Israel, you will divide up the land you will receive. When you do, give me my share of it. It will be a sacred area. It will be eight miles long and six and a half miles wide. The entire area will be holy.The temple area in it will be 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. An 88- foot strip around it will be open land.In the sacred area, measure off a large strip of land. It will be eight miles long and three and a third miles wide. The temple will be in it. It will be the most holy place of all.The large strip will be the sacred share of land for the priests. There they will serve in the temple. And they will approach me to serve me there. Their houses will be built on that land. The holy temple will also be located there.So the Levites will serve in the temple. They will have an area eight miles long and three and a third miles wide. The towns they live in will be located there.“ Give the city an area one and two- thirds miles wide and eight miles long. It will be right next to the sacred area. It will belong to all the people of Israel.“ The prince will have land on both sides of the sacred area and the city. Its border will run east and west along the land of one of the tribes.The prince will own this land in Israel. And my princes will not crush my people anymore. Instead, they will allow the people of Israel to receive their own share of land. It will be divided up based on their tribes.”

Doesn’t he say that for us? Yes, it was written for us. Whoever plows and separates the grain hopes to share the harvest. And it is right for them to hope for this.We have planted spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask that we receive from you some things we need?Others have the right to receive help from you. Don’t we have even more right to do so? But we didn’t use that right. No, we have put up with everything. We didn’t want to keep the good news of Christ from spreading.People who serve in the temple get their food from the temple. Don’t you know this? People who serve at the altar eat from what is offered on the altar. Don’t you know this?So those who preach the good news should also receive their living from their work. That is what the Lord has commanded.

The property of the Levites will lie in the center of the prince’s share. So will the property of the city. The prince’s land will lie between the borders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

“‘ The Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them.So their property among the Israelites can be bought back. That applies to a house sold in any of their towns. Any house that is sold must be returned to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee. That is because the houses of the Levites will always belong to them.But the grasslands around their towns must never be sold. They will belong to them for all time to come.

They went to all of them at Shiloh in Canaan. They said to them,“ Give us towns to live in. Also give us grasslands for our livestock. That’s what the Lord commanded through Moses.”So the Israelites gave the Levites towns and grasslands out of their own shares of land. They did what the Lord had commanded. Here are the towns the Levites were given.The first lot drawn out was for the people of Kohath, according to their family groups. Some of the Levites came from the family line of Aaron the priest. They were given 13 towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.The rest of Kohath’s family groups were given ten towns. Those towns were from the family groups of the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and half of the tribe of Manasseh.The family groups of Gershon were given 13 towns. Those towns were from the family groups of the tribes of Issachar, Asher and Naphtali and half of the tribe of Manasseh. That part of Manasseh was in the land of Bashan.The family groups of Merari received 12 towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun. Each family group received its share.So the Israelites gave those towns and their grasslands to the Levites. They did what the Lord had commanded through Moses.Some towns were given from the territories of the tribes of Judah and Simeon.The Israelites gave them to the members of the family line of Aaron. The towns were given to the family groups of Kohath. They were Levites. The first lot drawn out was for them. Here are the towns the family groups of Kohath were given.The Israelites gave them Kiriath Arba and the grasslands around it. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It’s in the hill country of Judah. Anak came from the family line of Arba.But Israel had already given away the fields and villages around the city. They had given them to Caleb as his share. Caleb was the son of Jephunneh.So they gave Hebron to the members of the family line of Aaron the priest. Hebron was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also gave them Libnah,Jattir, Eshtemoa,Holon, Debir,Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh. They gave those towns and their grasslands to the family groups of Kohath. The total number of towns from the tribes of Judah and Simeon came to nine.The Israelites gave some towns from the tribe of Benjamin to the family groups of Kohath. The towns were Gibeon, Geba,Anathoth and Almon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.So the total number of towns and their grasslands given to the priests in Aaron’s family line came to 13.There were other family groups of Kohath among the Levites. They were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim. Here are the towns those other family groups of Kohath were given.In the hill country of Ephraim they were given Shechem. It was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They were also given Gezer,Kibzaim and Beth Horon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.From the tribe of Dan they received Eltekeh, Gibbethon,Aijalon and Gath Rimmon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.From half of the tribe of Manasseh they received Taanach and Gath Rimmon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to two.So all these ten towns and their grasslands were given to the other family groups of Kohath.Here are the towns given to the family groups of Gershon among the Levites. From half of the tribe of Manasseh they received Golan in the land of Bashan. Golan was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also received Be Eshterah. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to two.From the tribe of Issachar they received Kishion, Daberath,Jarmuth and En Gannim. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.From the tribe of Asher they received Mishal, Abdon,Helkath and Rehob. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.From the tribe of Naphtali they received Kedesh in Galilee. Kedesh was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also received Hammoth Dor and Kartan. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to three.So the total number of towns and their grasslands given to the family groups of Gershon came to 13.The rest of the Levites were from the family groups of Merari. Here are the towns they were given. From the tribe of Zebulun they received Jokneam, Kartah,Dimnah and Nahalal. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.From the tribe of Reuben they received Bezer, Jahaz,Kedemoth and Mephaath. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.From the tribe of Gad they received Ramoth in Gilead. Ramoth was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also received Mahanaim,Heshbon and Jazer. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.So the total number of towns given to the family groups of Merari came to 12. That concludes the list of towns the rest of the Levites received.The total number of Levite towns and their grasslands in the territory given to Israel came to 48.Each of those towns had grasslands around it. That was true of all of them.