Within Issachar’s and Asher’s territory Manasseh was assigned Beth Shean, Ibleam, the residents of Dor, En Dor, the residents of Taanach, the residents of Megiddo, ¹  the three of Napheth, ²  and the towns surrounding all these cities. ³ 

Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city ¹  (that is, Jerusalem), ²  Gibeah, and Kiriath – a total of fourteen cities and their towns. ³  This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin ⁴  by its clans.

as well as all the towns around these cities as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the land assigned to the tribe of Simeon by its clans. ¹ 

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys and possessed thirty cities. To this day these towns are called Havvoth Jair ¹  – they are in the land of Gilead. ² 

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 

David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?”

Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the king’s storehouses; Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the storehouses in the field, in the cities, in the towns, and in the towers.

Adjacent to them worked Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, who were men of Gibeon and Mizpah. These towns were under the jurisdiction ¹  of the governor of Trans-Euphrates.

Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion! Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹  Shout, don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

Let the desert and its cities shout out, the towns where the nomads of Kedar live! Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully; let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.

But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them save you when you are in trouble. The sad fact is that ¹  you have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.

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.”’

I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.”

The Lord said, ¹  “I will make Jerusalem ²  a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. ³  I will destroy the towns of Judah so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Listen! News is coming even now. ¹  The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ²  from a land in the north. ³  It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble, places where only jackals live.

The Lord said to me, “Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of my covenant with you ¹  and carry them out!

The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. ¹  No one will be able to go in or out of them. ²  All Judah will be carried off into exile. They will be completely carried off into exile.’” ³ 

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem ²  and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted. ³ 

So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’

Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their ¹  wives, by you and your wives?