1 Then the heads of fathers’ households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.”
3 So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the Lord.
4 Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And to the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, thirteen cities were given by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeonites, and from the tribe of Benjamin.
5 And to the rest of the sons of Kohath ten cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6 And to the sons of Gershon thirteen cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 To the sons of Merari according to their families twelve cities were given from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.
8 Now the sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 They gave these cities which are mentioned here by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon;
10 and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, because the lot was theirs first.
11 So they gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.
12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands,
14 Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,
15 Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,
16 Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.
17 From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,
18 Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.
19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
20 Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, that is, to the rest of the sons of Kohath.
21 They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,
22 and Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities.
23 And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its
pasture lands,
24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities.
25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.
26 All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten.
27 And to the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.
28 And from the tribe of Issachar they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,
29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities.
30 From the tribe of Asher, they gave 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 from the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.
33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
34 And to the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,
35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities.
36 From the tribe of Reuben they gave Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,
37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities.
38 And from the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, Mahanaim with its pasture lands,
39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.
40 All these were the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.
41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.
42 These cities individually had their surrounding pasture lands; this is how it was with all these cities.
43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and lived in it.
44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord handed all their enemies over to them.
45 Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; everything came to pass.
The Lord Himself was the inheritance for the Levites. They did not receive any allotment as the other tribes did. However, the cities of Levites were assigned for them to dwell in. (1) A total of 48 cities with pasturelands were assigned within the territory of each tribe. (2) Of the 48 cities, 13 cities were given to Aaron the priest and his sons. (3) The remaining 35 cities were given to the three clans of Levites. Following are the details: (1) The sons of Kohath received cities in the territories of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Ephraim, Dan, and the western area of Manasseh. (2) The sons of Gershon received cities in Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the eastern area of Manasseh. (3) The sons of Merari received cities in Rueben, Gad, and Zebulun.
The Levites lived in the land of Canaan as sojourners. Back then, not all Israelites were able to own a scroll of the Law. So, the Lord placed the Levites around the nation as spiritual leaders to teach people the Law and point them in the direction to be obedient to the Lord. Before, the Levites’ mission was to maintain the Tabernacle and to serve while relocating it. However, now that they are settled into the land of Canaan, there no longer was the need to relocate the Tabernacle, so their mission had drastically changed. There are similarities between the role of the Levites and the role of Christians. We, who believed Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior, (1) live this earthly life as sojourners. (2) Also, we are scattered around the world, serving the people who have yet to know the word of God. Lord Jesus described the disciples’ mission in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” (3) Even if we do not have an inheritance on this earth, the Lord himself is our inheritance. Let us go out into the world again today as Levites sent by Jesus Christ.
Today's prayer
Heavenly Father, please send me out as the salt of the earth. Make me a messenger of Christ's Gospel. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.