So build cities for your descendants and pens for your sheep, but do what you have said ¹  you would do.”

“You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge.

Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that

At the end of every three years you must bring all the tithe of your produce, in that very year, and you must store it up in your villages.

You may eat it in your villages, ¹  whether you are ritually impure or clean, ²  just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex.

As for the cities of these peoples that ¹  the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing ²  to survive.

Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages ¹  he prefers; you must not oppress him.

and all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon, and ended at the Ammonite border.

So the Israelites assigned these cities and their grazing areas to the Levites from their own holdings, as the Lord had instructed.

Merari’s descendants by their clans were allotted twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

So the Israelites assigned to the Levites by lot these cities and their grazing areas, as the Lord had instructed Moses.

The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted cities from the tribe of Ephraim.

The Israelites returned to the Benjaminite towns ¹  and put the sword to them. They wiped out the cities, ²  the animals, and everything they could find. They set fire to every city in their path. ³ 

The clans of Merari’s descendants were allotted twelve cities within the territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ¹ 

They allotted these previously named cities from the territory of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ¹ 

The first to resettle on their property and in their cities were some Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants. ¹ 

They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the scroll of the law of the Lord. They traveled to all the cities of Judah and taught the people.

Zanoah, Adullam and their settlements, in Lachish and its fields, and in Azekah and its villages. So they were encamped from Beer Sheba to the Valley of Hinnom.

The cities of Aroer are abandoned. ¹  They will be used for herds, which will lie down there in peace. ² 

They are saying, ¹  ‘Announce to the surrounding nations, ²  “The enemy is coming!” ³  Proclaim this message ⁴  to Jerusalem: “Those who besiege cities ⁵  are coming from a distant land. They are ready to raise the battle cry against ⁶  the towns in Judah.”’