Joshua 18:1-9

1All the Israelite people met together at Shiloh. There they put up the Tent of Meeting. They now ruled the whole land.

2But there were still seven tribes that Joshua had not yet given a part of the land for themselves.

3Joshua said to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you the land. How much longer will you wait before you take it?

4Choose three men from each tribe. I will send them to look at the whole land, to see what it is like. They must describe each part and then bring a report back to me.

5You must make it into seven parts. Judah's tribe will keep the land in the south. Joseph's two tribes will keep their land in the north. Divide the rest of the land into seven parts.

6See what the land is like and describe each of the seven parts. Bring your report to me. Then I will use lots to choose which tribe should receive each part of the land. The Lord our God will decide this.

7The Levites will not have any land of their own. Their gift from the Lord is to serve him. Gad, Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh already have their land on the east side of the Jordan River. The Lord's servant, Moses, gave it to them.’

8Before the men left, Joshua said to them, ‘Go and look carefully at the land. Describe what you see. Then bring your report back to me here in Shiloh. I will use lots so that the Lord decides how to share the land between you.’

9So the men left and they travelled through the land. They described the land and each town and they wrote it in a book. They wrote about each of the seven parts of the land. Then they went back to Joshua at Shiloh, where the Israelites had put up their tents.