191 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; and its inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. 2 And it had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Mola'dah, 3 Hazar-shu'al, Balah, Ezem, 4 Elto'lad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth-mar'caboth, Ha'zar-su'sah, 6 Beth-leba'oth, and Sharu'hen--thirteen cities with their villages; 7 En-rimmon, Ether, and Ashan--four cities with their villages; 8 together with all the villages round about these cities as far as Ba'alath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families. 9 The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.
10 The third lot came up for the tribe of Zeb'ulun, according to its families. And the territory of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid; 11 then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Mar'eal, and touches Dab'besheth, then the brook which is east of Jok'ne-am; 12 from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chis'loth-ta'bor; thence it goes to Dab'erath, then up to Japhi'a; 13 from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Ne'ah; 14 then on the north the boundary turns about to Han'nathon, and it ends at the valley of Iph'tahel; 15 and Kattath, Nahal'al, Shimron, I'dalah, and Bethlehem--twelve cities with their villages. 16 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zeb'ulun, according to its families--these cities with their villages.
17 The fourth lot came out for Is'sachar, for the tribe of Is'sachar, according to its families. 18 Its territory included Jezreel, Chesul'loth, Shunem, 19 Haph'ara-im, Shion, Ana'harath, 20 Rabbith, Kish'ion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gan'nim, En-had'dah, Beth-paz'zez; 22 the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazu'mah, and Beth-she'mesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan--sixteen cities with their villages. 23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Is'sachar, according to its families--the cities with their villages.
24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families. 25 Its territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Ach'shaph, 26 Allam'melech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-lib'nath, 27 then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zeb'ulun and the valley of Iph'tahel northward to Beth-emek and Nei'el; then it continues in the north to Cabul, 28 Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great; 29 then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib, 30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob--twenty-two cities with their villages. 31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families--these cities with their villages.
32 The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naph'tali, for the tribe of Naph'tali, according to its families. 33 And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Za-anan'nim, and Ad'ami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan; 34 then the boundary turns westward to Az'noth-tabor, and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zeb'ulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan. 35 The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chin'nereth, 36 Ad'amah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Ed're-i, En-ha'zor, 38 Yiron, Mig'dal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-she'mesh--nineteen cities with their villages. 39 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naph'tali according to its families--the cities with their villages.
40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan, according to its families. 41 And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Esh'ta-ol, Ir-she'mesh, 42 Sha-alab'bin, Ai'jalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 El'tekeh, Gib'bethon, Ba'alath, 45 Jehud, Bene-be'rak, Gath-rim'mon, 46 and Me-jar'kon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa. 47 When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. 48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families--these cities with their villages.
49 When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. 50 By command of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked, Tim'nath-se'rah in the hill country of E'phraim; and he rebuilt the city, and settled in it. 51 These are the inheritances which Elea'zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.
201 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 "Say to the people of Israel, 'Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who kills any person without intent or unwittingly may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain his case to the elders of that city; then they shall take him into the city, and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the slayer into his hand; because he killed his neighbor unwittingly, having had no enmity against him in times past. 6 And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may go again to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'"
7 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naph'tali, and Shechem in the hill country of E'phraim, and Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manas'seh. 9 These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel, and for the stranger sojourning among them, that any one who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.
211 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Elea'zar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel; 2 and they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, "The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasture lands for our cattle." 3 So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasture lands out of their inheritance. 4 The lot came out for the families of the Ko'hathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities. 5 And the rest of the Ko'hathites received by lot from the families of the tribe of E'phraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manas'seh, ten cities. 6 The Gersonites received by lot from the families of the tribe of Is'sachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naph'tali, and from the half-tribe of Manas'seh in Bashan, thirteen cities. 7 The Merar'ites according to their families received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zeb'ulun, twelve cities. 8 These cities and their pasture lands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, 10 which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Ko'hathites who belonged to the Levites; since the lot fell to them first. 11 They gave them Kir'iath-ar'ba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands round about it. 12 But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephun'neh as his possession. 13 And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemo'a with its pasture lands, 15 Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, 16 A'in with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, Beth-she'mesh with its pasture lands--nine cities out of these two tribes; 17 then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 An'athoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands--four cities. 19 The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands. 20 As to the rest of the Ko'hathites belonging to the Ko'hathite families of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of E'phraim. 21 To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of E'phraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 Kib'za-im with its pasture lands, Beth-hor'on with its pasture lands--four cities; 23 and out of the tribe of Dan, El'teke with its pasture lands, Gib'bethon with its pasture lands, 24 Ai'jalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rim'mon with its pasture lands--four cities; 25 and out of the half-tribe of Manas'seh, Ta'anach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rim'mon with its pasture lands--two cities. 26 The cities of the families of the rest of the Ko'hathites were ten in all with their pasture lands. 27 And to the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manas'seh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beesh'terah with its pasture lands--two cities; 28 and out of the tribe of Is'sachar, Ki'shion with its pasture lands, Dab'erath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gan'nim with its pasture lands--four cities; 30 and out of the tribe of Asher, 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 out of the tribe of Naph'tali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Ham'moth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands--three cities. 33 The cities of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands. 34 And to the rest of the Levites, the Merar'ite families, were given out of the tribe of Zeb'ulun, Jok'ne-am with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, Na'halal with its pasture lands--four cities; 36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, 37 Ked'emoth with its pasture lands, and Meph'a-ath with its pasture lands--four cities; 38 and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahana'im with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands--four cities in all. 40 As for the cities of the several Merar'ite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities. 41 The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42 These cities had each its pasture lands round about it; so it was with all these cities.
43 Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and having taken possession of it, they settled there. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one of all the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; 30 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation 31 which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; 34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phan'u-el, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; 43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; 47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." 49 And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 50 And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
(Read Luke 2:25-35)
The same Spirit that provided for the support of Simeon's hope, provided for his joy. Those who would see Christ must go to his temple. Here is a confession of his faith, that this Child in his arms was the Saviour, the salvation itself, the salvation of God's appointing. He bids farewell to this world. How poor does this world look to one that has Christ in his arms, and salvation in his view! See here, how comfortable is the death of a good man; he departs in peace with God, peace with his own conscience, in peace with death. Those that have welcomed Christ, may welcome death. Joseph and Mary marvelled at the things which were spoken of this Child. Simeon shows them likewise, what reason they had to rejoice with trembling. And Jesus, his doctrine, and people, are still spoken against; his truth and holiness are still denied and blasphemed; his preached word is still the touchstone of men's characters. The secret good affections in the minds of some, will be revealed by their embracing Christ; the secret corruptions of others will be revealed by their enmity to Christ. Men will be judged by the thoughts of their hearts concerning Christ. He shall be a suffering Jesus; his mother shall suffer with him, because of the nearness of her relation and affection.
(Read Luke 2:36-40)
There was much evil then in the church, yet God left not himself without witness. Anna always dwelt in, or at least attended at, the temple. She was always in a praying spirit; gave herself to prayer, and in all things she served God. Those to whom Christ is made known, have great reason to thank the Lord. She taught others concerning him. Let the example of the venerable saints, Simeon and Anna, give courage to those whose hoary heads are, like theirs, a crown of glory, being found in the way of righteousness. The lips soon to be silent in the grave, should be showing forth the praises of the Redeemer. In all things it became Christ to be made like unto his brethren, therefore he passed through infancy and childhood as other children, yet without sin, and with manifest proofs of the Divine nature in him. By the Spirit of God all his faculties performed their offices in a manner not seen in any one else. Other children have foolishness bound in their hearts, which appears in what they say or do, but he was filled with wisdom, by the influence of the Holy Ghost; every thing he said and did, was wisely said and wisely done, above his years. Other children show the corruption of their nature; nothing but the grace of God was upon him.
(Read Luke 2:41-52)
It is for the honour of Christ that children should attend on public worship. His parents did not return till they had stayed all the seven days of the feast. It is well to stay to the end of an ordinance, as becomes those who say, It is good to be here. Those that have lost their comforts in Christ, and the evidences of their having a part in him, must bethink themselves where, and when, and how they lost them, and must turn back again. Those that would recover their lost acquaintance with Christ, must go to the place in which he has put his name; there they may hope to meet him. They found him in some part of the temple, where the doctors of the law kept their schools; he was sitting there, hearkening to their instructions, proposing questions, and answering inquiries, with such wisdom, that those who heard were delighted with him. Young persons should seek the knowledge of Divine truth, attend the ministry of the gospel, and ask such questions of their elders and teachers as may tend to increase their knowledge. Those who seek Christ in sorrow, shall find him with the greater joy. Know ye not that I ought to be in my Father's house; at my Father's work; I must be about my Father's business. Herein is an example; for it becomes the children of God, in conformity to Christ, to attend their heavenly Father's business, and make all other concerns give way to it. Though he was the Son of God, yet he was subject to his earthly parents; how then will the foolish and weak sons of men answer it, who are disobedient to their parents? However we may neglect men's sayings, because they are obscure, yet we must not think so of God's sayings. That which at first is dark, may afterwards become plain and easy. The greatest and wisest, those most eminent, may learn of this admirable and Divine Child, that it is the truest greatness of soul to know our own place and office; to deny ourselves amusements and pleasures not consistent with our state and calling.
