Joshua 21:1
Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;
Joshua 21:1 opens the settlement in which the Levites come forward to receive forty-eight cities dispersed throughout the land instead of a separate territorial inheritance. They are given no distinct province of their own, but dwelling places appointed among all the other tribes. This scattering had once been pronounced as a curse, yet it was transformed into a blessing. The change came because the Levites had remained faithful to God and on that account had been set apart to the service of the sanctuary.