“ Then my people living in the Negev will occupy the mountains of Edom. Those living in the foothills of Judah will possess the Philistine plains and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. And the people of Benjamin will occupy the land of Gilead.

“南地的人必得以扫山；高原的人必得非利士地，也得以法莲地和撒玛利亚地；便雅悯人必得基列。

他们必得尼革夫和以扫山，得谢非拉，非利士人之地，他们必得以法莲地和撒玛利亚地，得便雅悯和基列；

他们必得尼革夫和以扫山，得谢非拉，非利士人之地，他们必得以法莲地和撒玛利亚地，得便雅悯和基列；

“南地的人将占领以扫山；丘陵的人将占领非利士，夺取以法莲和撒玛利亚；便雅悯人将占领基列。

南地的人必占有以扫山，低地的人必占有非利士人之地；他们必占有以法莲的田野和撒玛利亚的田野；便雅悯人必占有基列。

南地的人必得以掃山；高原的人必得非利士地，也得以法蓮地和撒馬利亞地；便雅憫人必得基列。

他們必得尼革夫和以掃山，得謝非拉，非利士人之地，他們必得以法蓮地和撒瑪利亞地，得便雅憫和基列；

他們必得尼革夫和以掃山，得謝非拉，非利士人之地，他們必得以法蓮地和撒瑪利亞地，得便雅憫和基列；

「南地的人將佔領以掃山；丘陵的人將佔領非利士，奪取以法蓮和撒瑪利亞；便雅憫人將佔領基列。

南地的人必佔有以掃山，低地的人必佔有非利士人之地；他們必佔有以法蓮的田野和撒瑪利亞的田野；便雅憫人必佔有基列。

南地之人必擁有以掃山以為業，低原的人必擁有非利士人之地；他們必擁有以法蓮鄉間之地，和撒瑪利亞鄉間之地；便雅憫人必擁有基列。

南土之人、將得以掃山、窪地之人、將得非利士地、其餘將得以法蓮、及撒瑪利亞之田疇、便雅憫將得基列、

南方之人、必得以掃山、平原之民、將據非利士人地、亦得以法蓮、撒馬利亞田疇、便雅憫人將得基列、

南方之人、將得以掃山、居窪地者、將得非利士地、亦得以法蓮地、地原文作田與撒瑪利亞地、地原文作田便雅憫人、將得基列、

People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

Israelites from the Negev Desert will take over Esau’s mountains. Israelites from the western hills will possess the land of the Philistines. They’ll take over the territories of Ephraim and Samaria. Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin will possess the land of Gilead.

Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

People from the Negev will possess the hill country of Esau; those from the Judean foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will possess the territories of Ephraim and Samaria, while Benjamin will possess Gilead.

Then those of the Negev will possess the mountain of Esau, And those of the Shephelah the Philistine plain; Also, they will possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, And Benjamin the territory of Gilead.

The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

People from the Negev will possess the hill country of Esau; those from the Judean foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will possess the territories of Ephraim and Samaria, while Benjamin will possess Gilead.

And[ they of] the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and[ they of] the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin[ shall possess] Gilead.

The people of the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain, and the people of the Shephelah will take possession of the land of the Philistines. They will also take possession of the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria, and the people of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.

Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead.

Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned, Ashdod and Ekron torn down.And what sorrow awaits you Philistines who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The Lord will destroy you until not one of you is left.The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep and goats.The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there. They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again.

And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine.” The Lord has spoken, and he will do these things.

Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold— deeds signed and sealed and witnessed— in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country, in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev, too. For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Esau’s descendants in Edom may say,“ We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.” But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies replies,“ They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as‘ The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called‘ The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’When you see the destruction for yourselves, you will say,‘ Truly, the Lord’s greatness reaches far beyond Israel’s borders!’”

And give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered.I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms.They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.“ My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees.They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever.

“ And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines.Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim,‘ Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God.’”

This message was given concerning the Ammonites. This is what the Lord says:“ Are there no descendants of Israel to inherit the land of Gad? Why are you, who worship Molech, living in its towns?

It also included half of Gilead and King Og’s royal cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei. All this was given to the clans of the descendants of Makir, who was Manasseh’s son.

These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Jericho, Beth hoglah, Emek keziz,Beth arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,Kephar ammoni, Ophni, and Geba— twelve towns with their surrounding villages.Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite town( that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath jearim— fourteen towns with their surrounding villages. This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will raise my fist of judgment against the land of the Philistines. I will wipe out the Kerethites and utterly destroy the people who live by the sea.

“ Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am furious that you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations.Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I have taken a solemn oath that those nations will soon have their own shame to endure.“ But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people— for they will be coming home again soon!See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted.I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their territory. You will never again rob them of their children.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says:“ Divide the land in this way for the twelve tribes of Israel: The descendants of Joseph will be given two shares of land.Otherwise each tribe will receive an equal share. I took a solemn oath and swore that I would give this land to your ancestors, and it will now come to you as your possession.“ These are the boundaries of the land: The northern border will run from the Mediterranean toward Hethlon, then on through Lebo hamath to Zedad;then it will run to Berothah and Sibraim, which are on the border between Damascus and Hamath, and finally to Hazer hatticon, on the border of Hauran.So the northern border will run from the Mediterranean to Hazar enan, on the border between Hamath to the north and Damascus to the south.“ The eastern border starts at a point between Hauran and Damascus and runs south along the Jordan River between Israel and Gilead, past the Dead Sea and as far south as Tamar. This will be the eastern border.“ The southern border will go west from Tamar to the waters of Meribah at Kadesh and then follow the course of the Brook of Egypt to the Mediterranean. This will be the southern border.“ On the west side, the Mediterranean itself will be your border from the southern border to the point where the northern border begins, opposite Lebo hamath.“ Divide the land within these boundaries among the tribes of Israel.

The territory of the tribe of Judah also included Ekron and its surrounding settlements and villages.From Ekron the boundary extended west and included the towns near Ashdod with their surrounding villages.

So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria( also known as Tiglath pileser) to invade the land and take away the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh as captives. The Assyrians exiled them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River, where they remain to this day.

Then at last the jealousy between Israel and Judah will end. They will not be rivals anymore.They will join forces to swoop down on Philistia to the west. Together they will attack and plunder the nations to the east. They will occupy the lands of Edom and Moab, and Ammon will obey them.

“ Here is the list of the tribes of Israel and the territory each is to receive. The territory of Dan is in the extreme north. Its boundary line follows the Hethlon road to Lebo hamath and then runs on to Hazar enan on the border of Damascus, with Hamath to the north. Dan’s territory extends all the way across the land of Israel from east to west.“ Asher’s territory lies south of Dan’s and also extends from east to west.Naphtali’s land lies south of Asher’s, also extending from east to west.Then comes Manasseh south of Naphtali, and its territory also extends from east to west.South of Manasseh is Ephraim,and then Reuben,and then Judah, all of whose boundaries extend from east to west.“ South of Judah is the land set aside for a special purpose. It will be 8 1/3 miles wide and will extend as far east and west as the tribal territories, with the Temple at the center.“ The area set aside for the Lord’s Temple will be 8 1/3 miles long and 6 2/3 miles wide.

Then King Artaxerxes sent this reply:“ To Rehum the governor, Shimshai the court secretary, and their colleagues living in Samaria and throughout the province west of the Euphrates River. Greetings.

This is what the Lord says:“ The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they ripped open pregnant women with their swords.

Edom will be taken over, and Seir, its enemy, will be conquered, while Israel marches on in triumph.A ruler will rise in Jacob who will destroy the survivors of Ir.”

I will slaughter the people of Ashdod and destroy the king of Ashkelon. Then I will turn to attack Ekron, and the few Philistines still left will be killed,” says the Sovereign Lord.

The city of Ashkelon will see Tyre fall and will be filled with fear. Gaza will shake with terror, as will Ekron, for their hopes will be dashed. Gaza’s king will be killed, and Ashkelon will be deserted.Foreigners will occupy the city of Ashdod. I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.I will grab the bloody meat from their mouths and snatch the detestable sacrifices from their teeth. Then the surviving Philistines will worship our God and become like a clan in Judah. The Philistines of Ekron will join my people, as the ancient Jebusites once did.

The following towns situated in the western foothills were also given to Judah: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

The towns of Judah situated along the borders of Edom in the extreme south were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

For God will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and settle in their own land.

In addition, Judah captured the towns of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, along with their surrounding territories.The Lord was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots.

This is the territory that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and the Geshurites,and the larger territory of the Canaanites, extending from the stream of Shihor on the border of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron. It includes the territory of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. The land of the Avvites

Their territory included Jazer, all the towns of Gilead, and half of the land of Ammon, as far as the town of Aroer just west of Rabbah.

So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said,“ Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here.”

The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

Even later, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, the enemies of Judah, led by Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, sent a letter to Artaxerxes in the Aramaic language, and it was translated for the king.Rehum the governor and Shimshai the court secretary wrote the letter, telling King Artaxerxes about the situation in Jerusalem.They greeted the king for all their colleagues— the judges and local leaders, the people of Tarpel, the Persians, the Babylonians, and the people of Erech and Susa( that is, Elam).They also sent greetings from the rest of the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal had deported and relocated in Samaria and throughout the neighboring lands of the province west of the Euphrates River.

O Lord, protect your people with your shepherd’s staff; lead your flock, your special possession. Though they live alone in a thicket on the heights of Mount Carmel, let them graze in the fertile pastures of Bashan and Gilead as they did long ago.