Going in to the land that God promised
An EasyEnglish Commentary (TEE level A) on the Book of Joshua
Cynthia Green
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The people of Israel (the *Israelites, the sons of Jacob) had lived and walked for 40 years in *desert places. All the grown men that God had brought out of Egypt had died. Moses had died, too. Now God had chosen Joshua to be their leader. He was one of the two men who had spoken the true words. He said that the land of Canaan was good. The other 10 men had been afraid of the big, strong men there (Numbers 14). God had promised to give the people the land of Canaan. They had not believed that God could give it to them. So, God made them stay in the desert. They stayed there until they died. But their children did not die. The name ‘Joshua’ means ‘God saves’. The name ‘Jesus’ means the same in the Greek language.
The book of Joshua is like the books of Judges, Samuel and Kings. All these books tell how God saved and led his people. They tell the story of how God kept his promises to Israel.
v1 Moses, the man who had *served the *Lord, had died. Then the *Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun, who had helped Moses. v2 ‘Moses, my servant, is dead. Now you and all these people must get ready to cross the river Jordan. You, the people of Israel, will go into the land that I am going to give you’, he said. v3 ‘I have given you every part of the ground that you walk upon. I promised Moses that I would do this. v4 You will have all the land from the *desert in the south to the mountains of Lebanon in the north. It will be from the river Euphrates to the Great Sea on the west. You will have all the land of the Hittite people. v5 No one can stop you from taking this land as long as you live. As I was with Moses, I will always be with you. I will never leave you alone.
v6 Be strong and do not be afraid. You will lead these people to take the land. That is the land that I promised to give to their fathers. v7 Be strong and do not be afraid. Be careful to do all the things that Moses told you. Remember to do everything that he told you. Then everything will go well with you. You will win, everywhere you go. v8 You must keep on speaking about the words of God’s *law. Think about what it says, all the time. Then you will be careful to obey it. Then you will help yourselves to do well, and to win. v9 Remember that I have told you to do this. So be strong and do not be afraid. Do not be weak but be brave. I, the *Lord your God, will be with you, everywhere that you go.’
v10 So Joshua spoke to the leaders of the people. v11 ‘Go through all the places where the people live’, he said. ‘Tell them to get food ready for a journey. In 3 days or less, you will cross the river Jordan to begin to take the land for yourselves. This is the land that the *Lord, your God, is giving to you’, Joshua said.
v12 Moses had given land east of the Jordan to the *tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the *tribe of Manasseh. Then Joshua spoke to these *tribes. v13 ‘Remember what Moses told you’, he said. ‘The *Lord your God is giving you a rest. He has given you this land.’ v14 Your wives, children and animals can stay in this land that Moses gave you, east of the Jordan. But your fighting men must cross the river, with their arms. They must go in front of their brother *Israelites. You must help them v15 until the *Lord gives them rest as he has given you. When all the other *tribes are safe in the land, you may return to the land east of the Jordan. Moses gave this to you.’
v16 ‘We will do whatever you tell us. And we will go everywhere that you send us’, they answered Joshua. v17 ‘As we always obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. The *Lord your God was with Moses. We only ask that the *Lord will be with you too. v18 Someone might not agree with your word. He might not obey it. We will make sure that he dies. But be very strong and be brave. Do not be afraid.’
‘Rest’ was something very special to the people of Israel. It meant that they had a rich land. No one was hungry there. It meant that there was no fighting. Everyone was happy. It did not mean that they did not have to do any work.
v1 Then Joshua sent out two men from Shittim. He sent them in secret to see what the land was like. ‘Go’, he said, ‘Look at all the country, and look well at the city of Jericho’. When they came to the city, they went into the house of Rahab. They stayed there. She was a woman who had men to stay with her.
v2 People spoke to the king of Jericho, ‘Look! Some of the people of Israel have come here tonight to see what our land is like’, they said. v3 So the king of Jericho sent a message to Rahab. ‘Bring out the men who are staying in your house. They have come to see what all our land is like!’ he said.
v4 But the woman had hidden the two men. ‘Yes, some men did come to me. I did not know where they had come from’, she said. v5 ‘When it was getting near the time to close the gate of the city, they left. I do not know where they went. If you go after them quickly, you may catch them.’ v6 (But she had taken them up to the roof. She had hidden them under some plants that she was drying there.) v7 So the king’s men went out to try to find the two *Israelites. They went towards the place where people could cross the river Jordan. As soon as they had gone out, people shut the gate.
v8 Rahab went up to the roof. She spoke to the men as they prepared to sleep. v9 ‘I know that the *Lord God has given this land to you’, she said to them. ‘I know that we are all very frightened of you. Everyone living in this part of the world is very afraid. v10 We heard how you came out of Egypt. And the *Lord dried up the Red Sea for you. And we heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites. They lived east of the Jordan, and you destroyed them completely. v11 When we heard all this, we felt very weak. We were very frightened. This is because the *Lord, your God, is God. He rules the heaven (the place where God lives) above and the earth beneath. v12 Now, please make me a promise. I have been kind to you. So, say that you will be kind to my family. As you believe in God, make your promise true. Give me something to show that you will keep your promise. v13 Show me that you will save the lives of my family. Save my mother, father, brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them. Please do not let anyone kill us.’
v14 ‘We will give you your life if you save ours. Do not tell the king about us. When the *Lord gives us this land we will keep our promise. We will be kind to you’, the men said to her.
v15 So Rahab put a *rope out of the window. (The house that she lived in was part of the city wall.) The men climbed down the *rope. v16 ‘Go to the hills’, she told them. ‘The men who are looking for you will not find you there. Hide there for 3 days until they return here. Then you can go back to your people.’
v17 ‘We will keep the promise that we have given to you’, the men said to her. v18 ‘This is what you must do. Tie this red *rope in the window that we came through. Do this when we come to take your city. Get your father, mother, brothers and sisters and all your family into your house. v19 If anyone goes out into the street, he may die. That will be his own bad mistake. And you will know that we kept our promise. But if anyone in the house with you dies, then we should be *punished. v20 It would be different if you told anyone about this. Then we would not have to keep the promise that we have given you.’ v21 Rahab agreed with the men, and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red *rope in her window.
v22 The two *Israelites went into the hills and hid there. The king’s men looked everywhere for them for 3 days. They did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. v23 Then the two men came down from the hills and crossed the river Jordan. They went to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened. v24 ‘We are sure that the *Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are very frightened of us’, they said.
v1 Early in the morning, Joshua and all the *Israelites left the city of Shittim. They put their *tents by the river Jordan. They waited to cross the river. v2 Three days later, their leaders went to every *tent. v3 ‘You will see the *priests carrying the *ark of God’s promise’, they said to the people. ‘Then you must carry your *tents and follow them. v4 They will show you the way to go because you have never been here before. But stay about 1000 metres behind the *ark. Do not go near it.
v5 Joshua told the people to make themselves *holy and ready for the *Lord. ‘Tomorrow the *Lord will do great things that will surprise you completely’, he said.
v6 ‘Take up the *ark, and go in front of the people’, Joshua said to the *priests. So, they picked it up, and went on in front of the people.
v7 And the *Lord spoke to Joshua. ‘Today I will begin to make you look important in front of all the people of Israel’, he said. ‘I was with Moses. And they will know that I am with you too. v8 The *priests that are carrying the *ark will reach the edge of the river Jordan. Tell them, “Go and stand in the river” ’.
v9 Joshua said to the *Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the *Lord your God. v10 Your God is alive. He is going to show you that he is with you. He will show you how powerful he is. He will certainly push the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites from this land. v11 See the *ark of the *Lord of all the earth go into the Jordan in front of you. v12 Now choose 12 men, one from each *tribe of Israel. v13 The *priests are carrying the *ark of promise of the *Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet go into the water of the river, the *Lord will stop its water from coming towards them. Instead, the water will rise up like a wall.’
v14 So the *priests carrying the *ark went in front of the people towards the river. v15 There was a lot of water coming down the river at that time of the year. But as soon as the *priests carrying the *ark went into the river, v16 the water stopped coming. It stopped a long way up the river, at a town called Adam near Zarethan. The water going down to the Salt Sea stopped completely. So, the people crossed the river near Jericho. v17 While the people walked across on dry ground, the *priests carrying the *ark stood still in the middle of the Jordan. They stood there until all the people had crossed.
The people of the *tribe of Israel are called *Israelites. The people of the *tribe of Canaan are called Canaanites. It is the same with the names of the people of other *tribes, as in verse 9.
v1 When all the people of Israel had crossed the Jordan, the *Lord spoke to Joshua. v2 ‘Choose 12 men from the people, one from each *tribe’, he said. v3 ‘Tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan. Take them from where the *priests are standing. Carry the stones over with you. Put them down where you stay tonight.’
v4 So Joshua called the 12 men that he had chosen, one from each *Israelite *tribe. v5 He said to them, ‘Go in front of the *ark of the *Lord into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you must pick up a stone and put it on his shoulder. There will be one stone for each of the *tribes of Israel. v6 This will be like a special mark for you. In years to come, your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” v7 Then you will tell them that the waters of the river Jordan stopped moving. That was while the *ark of God’s promise went across the river. These stones will help the people of Israel to remember this for ever.’
v8 So the 12 men obeyed Joshua. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan as the *Lord had told Joshua. There was one stone for each *tribe of Israel. They carried the stones to the place where the people had put their *tents. And they put the stones down. v9 Joshua also put 12 stones from the Jordan in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the *priests with the *ark had stood. (The stones were still there when people wrote this.) v10 The *priests stood in the middle of the Jordan. Then people did everything as the *Lord had told Joshua. The *Lord had spoken to Joshua as he had spoken to Moses.
The people crossed the river quickly. v11 As soon as everybody was on the other side, the *priests took the *ark to the other side, too. The people saw them. v12 The *tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the *tribe of Manasseh led the people, ready to fight, as Moses had told them. v13 About 40 000 men, ready to fight, crossed to the flat land near Jericho.
v14 This is what the *Lord did that day. It made all the people think that Joshua was a great man. They gave him *honour all his life, as they had *honoured Moses.
v15 Then the *Lord spoke again to Joshua. v16 ‘Tell the *priests carrying the *ark to come up out of the Jordan.’
v17 So Joshua said to the *priests, ‘Come up out of the Jordan.’ v18 And the *priests came up out of the river. They were carrying the *ark of the *Lord. As soon as their feet touched the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan began to return. There was much water and it moved fast.
v19 The people went from the Jordan and put their *tents at Gilgal on the 10th day of the first month. Gilgal was a city on the east side of Jericho. v20 At Gilgal, Joshua put the 12 stones that they had taken out of the Jordan. v21 He said to the people of Israel, ‘Your children will ask, in later years, “What do these stones mean?” v22 Then you must tell them, “Israel went across the river Jordan on dry ground.” v23 The *Lord your God made the river dry up as he made the Red Sea dry up. He dried the Sea. Then the people could cross it when they left Egypt. v24 He did this so that all the peoples of the world would see how powerful he was. He did it so that you would always *fear the *Lord, your God.’
v1 All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan, and all the Canaanite kings heard how the *Lord had dried up the Jordan. And how the *Lord had kept it dry until all the *Israelites had crossed to the other side. Then the kings became very afraid, and felt too weak to fight with the *Israelites.
v2 The *Lord spoke to Joshua at that time. ‘Make knives of stone and *circumcise the men’, he said. v3 So Joshua made the knives and *circumcised them at Gibeath Haaraloth.
v4 All the men who came out of Egypt had died. So Joshua did this. All the men old enough to fight had died in the *desert on the way to Canaan. v5 All the people who came out of Egypt had been *circumcised. But all the people born in the *desert coming from Egypt had not been *circumcised. v6 The *Israelites had walked about in the *desert for 40 years. But all the men who were old enough to fight when they left Egypt had died. This happened because they had not obeyed the *Lord. The *Lord had made a promise. He had promised to give them the land. But he said that they would certainly not see it. The land would feed their sheep and give other good food, too. v7 Joshua *circumcised the sons of the men who had died.
v8 All of them were *circumcised. Then they stayed there until they were better again. v9 The *Lord said to Joshua, ‘You are no longer slaves to the people of Egypt. Today I have saved you from being ashamed of this.’
So, the place was called Gilgal and it still has that name. (Gilgal means ‘taken away’.)
v10 The *Israelite people kept the ‘feast of Passover’ on the evening of the 14th month. They did this while they were at Gilgal, near the city of Jericho. v11 The next day they ate food grown in Canaan for the first time. They ate dry seed and flat bread. v12 The ‘*manna’ stopped falling at the same time, so they did not have it any more. After that time they only ate food that was grown in Canaan.
v13 While Joshua was near Jericho, a man appeared, standing in front of him. The man had a sword (a sharp metal stick to fight with) in his hand. Joshua went up to him, ‘Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?’ he asked.
v14 ‘I am neither’, he answered. ‘I am here as the captain of the *Lord’s army.’
Joshua fell on the ground to *worship and said, ‘I am your servant. *Lord, what can I do for you?’
v15 The captain of the *Lord’s army said, ‘Take your shoes off. You are standing on *holy ground.’ And Joshua did take off his shoes.
The *Lord God told Abraham that he and his sons were to *circumcise all male children. They had to do this when the children were 8 days old. This showed that God had made a promise to them. He would make them his special people. He would do this if they obeyed him (Genesis 17:9-16).
The ‘feast of Passover’ was an important *holy day. The *Israelites ate a special meal. It helped them to remember how God had saved them. They had been slaves in Egypt. They remembered, too, how the *Lord had dried up the Red Sea. Then they could walk out of Egypt.
‘Manna’ was food that God sent to the *Israelites from the sky. It fed them all the time that they were walking through the *desert (Exodus 16:4).
v1 The people of Jericho kept their gates shut. They watched to see that the *Israelites did not get in. No one could go in or out of the city. v2 ‘I am going to give you Jericho’, the *Lord said to Joshua. ‘I will give you its king and all its brave soldiers. v3 You and all your soldiers must march round the city once each day, for 6 days. v4 Seven (7) *priests will walk in front of the *ark. They will carry *trumpets as they walk. On the 7th day, you and your soldiers must march round the city 7 times. At the same time the *priests will blow their *trumpets. v5 Then they will make one long loud noise. As soon as you hear this, all the men must give a loud shout. The city walls will fall down. Then the whole army will go straight into the city.’ v6 Joshua called the *priests. ‘Take the *ark of God’s promise, and make 7 other *priests walk in front of it, carrying *trumpets’, he said to them. v7 He told the people to start marching round the city, with a group of fighting men going in front of the *ark.
v8 Joshua finished speaking to the people. Then the 7 *priests carrying the 7 *trumpets went blowing their *trumpets. And the *priests carrying the *ark followed them. v9 Some strong fighting men went in front of the *priests with the *trumpets, and another group of soldiers followed the *ark. The *trumpets were blowing all this time. v10 But Joshua had said to the people, ‘Do not shout or make a noise. Do not say a word until I tell you to shout. I will tell you to shout one day, then shout!’ v11 Joshua made them carry the *ark round the city once. Then they returned to their *tents, and slept there that night.
v12 Joshua got up early the next morning, and the *priests took up the *ark of the *Lord. v13 The 7 *priests carrying the *trumpets marched in front of the *ark, blowing the *trumpets. The groups of soldiers went in front of the *priests blowing the *trumpets, and behind the *ark. The *priests blew the *trumpets all the time. v14 This is how they marched round the city on the second day. They did this once and returned to their *tents. They did this for 6 days.
v15 On the 7th day they got up at dawn and marched round the city in the same way, but for 7 times. v16 The 7th time, the *priests made a long, loud noise on the *trumpets. Joshua told the people, ‘Shout! Because the *Lord has given you the city. v17 The city and all that is in it belongs to the *Lord. All the people must die. Only Rahab and the people with her in her house will live. This is because she hid our two men. v18 Keep away from the things that belong to God. If you take any of them, you will die. You would make trouble for the people of Israel, and could cause the *Lord to destroy them, too. v19 All the things made of *silver, gold and iron and mixed metals are *holy to the *Lord. They must be stored with his valuable things.’
v20 When the *trumpets made their loud sound, all the people gave a great shout. When they did this, the walls fell down. Every man went up into the city. And they took the city. v21 They gave the city to the *Lord. So they destroyed every living thing in it. They killed men and women, young and old people, cows, sheep and other animals.
v22 Joshua spoke to the two men that Rahab had hidden. ‘Go into her house. Bring her out with all who are with her’, he said. ‘This is what you promised to her.’ v23 So the young men who had been to look at the city went and brought out Rahab and her whole family. They brought out her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They gave them a place outside the *Israelite *tents.
v24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it. They put the gold, *silver, iron and metal things into the *Lord’s store of valuable things. v25 But Joshua saved Rahab and her family and all who belonged to her. Joshua had sent to find out about the city. And Rahab had hidden those men. She still lives among the *Israelites.
v26 At that time, Joshua made this serious promise. ‘The *Lord will *punish the man who builds this city again’, he said. ‘When he starts to build, his oldest son will die. His youngest son will die when he puts up its gates.’
v27 So the *Lord was with Joshua, and people all over the land heard all about him.
Rahab was a woman who let men pay her to have sex with her. But God saved her. She had believed that he could keep her safe (Hebrews 11:31). Someone wrote this story while she was alive.
v1 The people of Israel did not do as God had told them through Joshua. Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zimri, son of Zerah of the *tribe of Judah, did not obey God. He took some of the things that belonged to God. So God was very angry with the people of Israel.
v2 Now Joshua had sent men from Jericho to Ai. This is a city near to Beth Aven, and east of Bethel. He said to them, ‘Go up and look at the land near there, in secret.’ So, the men went to see what they could find out.
v3 The men came and spoke to Joshua. ‘There are not many men there. Do not make all the people tired. 2000 or 3000 men should be enough to take the city.’ v4 So about 3000 men went up to Ai. But the men of Ai made them run away. v5 And the men of Ai killed about 36 of the *Israelites. They ran after the *Israelites from the gate of the city to the place where they cut stone for building. They killed them as they ran over the hill. When the people of Israel heard this, they were very frightened. They felt very weak.
v6 Joshua tore his clothes to show that he was very sad. He fell with his face to the ground in front of the *ark of the *Lord. He stayed there until it began to get dark. The people’s leaders did the same, and put dirt on their heads. v7 ‘*Lord, ruler of all, why did you ever bring this group of people over the Jordan?’ said Joshua. ‘Did you want the Amorites to destroy us? We might have been happy if we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan! v8 *Lord, what can I say now that the enemies of Israel have won the fight? v9 The Canaanites and other *tribes who live here will hear about this. They will come round us and kill us all. No one will give *honour to your name.’ v10 The *Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! Why are you lying on the ground? v11 Israel has *sinned. They have not kept their promise. They did not do what I told them. I said that they must destroy everything that was not gold or *silver or metal. They have taken some of these things. They took them. Then they said that they had not taken anything. They have hidden them with their own things. v12 That is why the *Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They run away from their enemies now. The *Israelites have *sinned and their enemies can destroy them. You must destroy everything that I told you to destroy. If you do not, then I will not be with you any more.’
v13 ‘Get up. Tell the people to make themselves *clean. Get ready for tomorrow when you will meet with me. I, the *Lord God of Israel say this, “Israel, you have kept some of the things that I told you to destroy. You will not win the fight against your enemies until you have destroyed these things!” v14 So tell them that in the morning they will come before me, one *tribe at a time. I will choose one *tribe to come in front. The groups of that *tribe will come before me, one by one. The group that I will choose will come before me, family by family. I will choose a family. Then the men of that family will come before me, one by one. v15 I will choose the man who has taken the things. Then you will burn him with the things that he has taken. You are to burn him and all that he has and all his family. He has caused great trouble to Israel. He made them ashamed, because he did not obey me.’
v16 Early the next morning, Joshua made the *tribes come in front of him, *tribe by *tribe. The *Lord chose the *tribe of Judah. v17 Groups of the *tribe of Judah came in front of him, and the *Lord chose the group of Zerah. Families of the Zerahites came in front of him, and the *Lord chose the family of Zimri. v18 Joshua made each man of the family of Zimri come in front of him, and the *Lord chose Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zimri, son of Zerah, of the *tribe of Judah.
v19 Then Joshua spoke to Achan. ‘My son’, he said, ‘give *honour to the *Lord, the God of Israel. Tell me what you have done. Do not hide it from me.’ v20 Achan replied, ‘It is true! I have *sinned against the *Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done. v21 I found a beautiful coat from Babylon and about two kilos of *silver and a gold bar that weighed half a kilo. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are in the ground under my *tent, with the *silver under the other things.’ v22 So Joshua sent people with a message. They ran to the *tent. They found the things that Achan had hidden. The *silver was under them. v23 They took the things from the *tent and brought them to Joshua and the other *Israelites. They put them all before the *Lord.
v24 Then Joshua and all the people took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the coat, the gold and the *silver to the valley of Achor (‘Achor’ means trouble). With him, they took his sons, daughters, cows, sheep and other animals and all that he had. v25 Joshua said, ‘Why did you cause us so much trouble? The *Lord will give you trouble today!’ Then all Israel threw big stones at him until he died. They killed his family and his animals with him. They also burnt his family and all that he had. v26 They put many big stones over him, that are still there. That is why the place is still called ‘Trouble Valley’. Then the *Lord was not angry any more.
v1 Then the *Lord spoke again. ‘Do not be afraid. Do not think that you are weak’, he said to Joshua. ‘Take the whole army with you and go to attack Ai. I will give the king and all his people and the city and its land to you. v2 You must destroy the city and its king as you did Jericho and its king. But this time you may take their good things and all their animals for yourselves. Hide some of your men behind the city.’ v3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30 000 of the best fighting men and sent them out by night. v4 ‘Listen with great care’, he said. ‘You are to go and hide behind the city. Stay near to it. Be sure to stay awake! v5 I will march towards the city with all the other soldiers. The men will come out of the city to fight us, as they did before. Then we will run away. v6 They will run after us, until we have gone from the city. They will say, “They are running away from us, as they did before”. So, when we run from them, v7 you must get out from your hiding place. You will take the city. The *Lord your God will give it to you. v8 When you have taken the city, start to burn it. Do what the *Lord has told you. See that you obey my words.’
v9 Then Joshua sent the men off. They went to wait and hide to the west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua stayed with the people that night.
v10 Early the next morning, Joshua took all the men together to march towards Ai. He and the leaders of Israel went in front. v11 The whole army marched up to the city and stopped in front of it. They put their *tents north of Ai. They left a valley between them and the city. v12 Joshua had hidden about 5000 men to the west of the city, between Bethel and Ai. v13 All the soldiers took their places, ready to fight. Some were north of the city, by their *tents. And other soldiers were hiding to the west of the city. That night Joshua went into the valley.
v14 When the king of Ai saw Joshua’s men, the king and his men hurried out of the city. It was early in the morning. They wanted to meet Israel at the same place as before. And they wanted to fight Israel there. But the king of Ai did not know that there were *Israelite soldiers hidden behind the city. v15 Joshua and his army let the men of Ai push them back, and they ran towards the *desert. v16 The king told all the men of Ai to run after them. So they ran after Israel and away from their city. v17 Not one man remained in Ai or Bethel. They all ran after the *Israelite soldiers.
In verse 3, Joshua told 30 000 men to hide behind Ai. But in verse 12, Joshua hid 5000 men. It is not clear why these numbers are different. Perhaps Joshua used two different groups of soldiers.
v18 Then the *Lord spoke to Joshua. The *Lord said, ‘Hold out the throwing stick (a long sharp stick called a ‘javelin’) that is in your hand. Point it towards Ai. I will give the city to you.’ So Joshua held out his throwing stick towards Ai. v19 As soon as he did this, the men hiding behind the city came out at once. They quickly ran into the city. They took it and immediately made it burn. v20 The men of Ai looked back and saw smoke rise over the city. But they could not run away. The *Israelites who had been running away had turned to fight them. v21 Joshua and his army had seen that they had taken the city. The men that he had hidden had taken it. Joshua’s army saw the smoke from the burning city. So they turned round and began to fight the men of Ai. v22 The *Israelites in the city then came down to join the fight. The men of Israel were all round the men of Ai. They killed all the men of Ai. Nobody could run away. v23 The only person that they did not kill was the king of Ai. They took him to Joshua.
v24 The *Israelites killed all the men in the *desert and fields where they had run from the fight. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there. v25 All the men and women of Ai died on that day. 12 000 people died then. v26 Joshua had kept pointing his throwing stick at Ai until his army had killed every person who lived there. v27 But the *Israelites took the good things and the animals for themselves, as the *Lord had told Joshua. v28 Joshua burnt the city and broke it down. It is still like that today. v29 He hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left his body there until evening. At sunset, Joshua told them to cut the body down and throw it in front of the city gate. They covered it with many stones. These stones are still there today.
v30 Then Joshua built an *altar on Mount Ebal, to the *Lord, the God of Israel (‘Mount’ is another name for mountain). v31 He made it as Moses had told the *Israelites. Moses, the *Lord’s servant, had written this in a book. This book, the *Law of Moses, told him how it should be made. ‘The *altar must be made of stones that had not been cut with iron tools.’ They burnt animals on it to *worship the *Lord. And they burnt other animals, as ‘fellowship offerings’ to the *Lord. v32 The *Israelites watched Joshua as he made a copy of the *Law of Moses on the stones. This was the *Law that Moses had written. v33 All the *Israelites stood on the two sides of the *ark, with their faces towards the *priests who carried it. The leaders, officers, and *judges were there, and the foreign people were with them, too. Half the people stood with their backs to *Mount Gerizim. The other half stood with their backs to *Mount Ebal. This is how the *Lord’s servant, Moses had told them to stand (Deuteronomy 11:29). ‘Stand like this when I am asking the *Lord to give you his *blessing’, he had said. v34 Then Joshua read the whole *Law aloud to them. He read the *blessings and the *curses, as they are written in the book of the *Law. Moses had told him how to *bless the people of Israel. v35 Joshua read every word to the people of Israel. Moses had told him what to read. Joshua read it to the whole people, including the women, children and the foreign people who lived with them.
When the people wanted to thank the *Lord for something special, they made ‘fellowship offerings’. They gave an animal that people could burn. And they ate a meal together (Leviticus chapter 3 and 7:11-17).
The *Lord had *punished the people of Israel because they did not obey him at Ai. They were very careful to do just what God had told them after that. They were very happy when the *Lord helped them to win the fight. When Joshua read the *Law to them, they listened with great care.
v1 When all the kings who lived west of the Jordan heard about these things, they joined together. They were the kings in the hills to the west, and all the places near the Great Sea, as far as Lebanon. (They were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.) v2 They joined together to fight Joshua and Israel.
v3 The people of Gibeon heard about what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. v4 So they had a clever idea. Some of their men put old bags of food and broken and mended skins of wine (a drink) on their donkeys (animals like small horses for carrying things). v5 They had old mended shoes on their feet, and they wore old clothes. The bread that they took for food was dry. It was going bad. v6 Then they went to Joshua in the *camp at Gilgal. They spoke to him and to the men of Israel. ‘We have come from a land a long way away’, they said. ‘Please let us make a promise not to fight each other.’
v7 But the men of Israel answered the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you live close to us. How then can we make a promise not to destroy you?’
v8 ‘We want to *serve you’, they said to Joshua.
‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’ Joshua asked.
v9 They answered, ‘Your servants have come from a country a very long way away. We heard about your great God. We have heard all about the things that he did in Egypt. v10 And we heard what he did to the two kings of the Amorites. Those kings ruled cities east of the Jordan. They were Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan. They ruled in Ashtaroth. v11 Our leaders and the people of our land told us to come to see you. Our leaders said, “Take food and wine (a drink) for your journey. Go to meet them, and speak to them. Say to them, ‘We want to *serve you, will you promise not to destroy us?’ ” v12 This bread of ours was warm when we put it in our bags. That was on the day that we left home to come to you. But see how bad and dry it has become. v13 And these skins of wine (a drink) were new, but see how old and mended they are. And our clothes are now old, and our shoes are very thin and mended. They have become old as we made our long journey.’
v14 The men of Israel looked at the food and other things, but they did not ask the *Lord for help. v15 Then Joshua agreed that they would not kill the people of Gibeon. The leaders of Israel also said that they would keep Joshua’s promise.
v16 So Joshua and the *Israelites made a promise to the Gibeonites. Three days later, the *Israelites learnt that the Gibeonites lived near to them. v17 The *Israelites left their *camp to go to the cities of Gibeon. Three days later, they came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. v18 The *Israelites did not attack them, because of the promise that their leaders had made. They had said to the *Lord God of Israel that they would not kill the Gibeonites.
All the people of Israel were angry with their leaders. v19 The leaders said to them, ‘We have promised the *Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot hurt them. v20 But this is what we will do. We will let them live, so that God will not *punish us for breaking our promise. v21 Let them live, but make them cut wood and carry water for us’, they said. This is how the leaders kept their promise to the Gibeonites.
v22 Joshua told the Gibeonites to come to him. ‘Why did you tell me those lies? You said that you lived a long way from us. But you really live near to us’, he said. v23 ‘Now you will be *punished. You will always be our servants. You will cut wood and carry water for the people of our God.’
v24 They answered Joshua, ‘The *Lord your God had told Moses to give you the whole land. We had heard that clearly. He told you that you must kill all the people who lived there in front of you. So, we were afraid that you would kill us. That is why we did as we did. v25 You must decide what to do with us. Do what you think is right and good.’
v26 So Joshua did not let the *Israelites kill the Gibeonites, and the *Israelites let them live. v27 They made the Gibeonites cut wood and fetch water for them. And they would do this for the *altar of the *Lord, at the place that the *Lord would tell them. They are still doing this.
v1 The king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, heard what Joshua had done to Ai and to Jericho and to their kings. He heard that Joshua had destroyed them. He also heard that Israel had promised not to kill the people of Gibeon. They lived near to Joshua. v2 The king and his people were very afraid, because Gibeon was an important city. It was like a king’s city and bigger than Ai. All its men fought well. v3 So Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, asked some other kings to come with him to attack Gibeon. They were Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish and Debir, king of Eglon. v4 Adoni-Zedek said to them, ‘Gibeon has promised not to fight Joshua and the *Israelites. Please help me to attack Gibeon.’
v5 Then the 5 kings of the Amorites joined together. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. They took their soldiers near to Gibeon, and attacked it.
v6 Then the Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua in the *camp at Gilgal. ‘Do not leave us alone. Come quickly and save us. All the Amorite kings from the hills have joined to attack us. We need your help’, they said.
v7 So Joshua marched his whole army up from Gilgal. He included all his best fighting men. v8 The *Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them. I will see that you win the fight. I will not let one of them stand against you.’
v9 They marched all night from Gilgal, and Joshua surprised his enemies. v10 The *Lord made the enemies confused when they saw Israel. Israel won a great fight at Gibeon. Israel ran after their enemies on the road to Beth Horon. Israel went on killing them all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. v11 The *Lord sent stones of hard water on them from the sky as they ran from Beth Horon to Azekah. The *Lord killed more men with these stones than the *Israelites killed in the fight.
v12 Joshua stood in front of Israel and spoke to the *Lord on that day. It was the day that he gave them power over the Amorites. Joshua spoke to the *Lord and said, ‘Sun stand still over Gibeon. Moon stand over the valley of Aijalon.’
v13 So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until Israel had *punished its enemies. People wrote about this in the book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and did not go down for about a whole day. v14 The *Lord has never listened to a man like this before or since that day. The *Lord must have been fighting for Israel!
v15 Then Joshua and all Israel went back to the *camp at Gilgal.
v16 Now the 5 kings had run away. They had hidden in a hole in the hill at Makkedah. v17 Joshua heard that they were hiding there. v18 He said to his men, ‘Cover the front of the hole with big stones. And put some men there to keep them safe. v19 But do not stop. Go on running after your enemies. Attack them from behind, and do not let them reach their cities. Remember that the *Lord, your God has promised to give you power over them.’
v20 So Joshua and the *Israelites destroyed all of them. Nearly every one died. But the few who were alive reached their strong cities. v21 The whole army returned to Joshua in the *camp at Makkedah. All the people in the land were too afraid to say anything bad about the *Israelites.
v22 Then Joshua said, ‘Take away the stones from the hole in the hill. Bring the 5 kings out to me.’ v23 So they brought out the kings. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. v24 They brought the kings to Joshua, and he told the men of Israel to come to him. ‘Put your feet on the necks of the kings’, he said to the officers who had come with him. They did as he told them.
v25 Joshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Be very strong and brave. This is what the *Lord will do to all the enemies that you are going to fight.’ v26 Then he hit and killed the kings. The *Israelites hung the dead kings on 5 trees until the evening.
v27 At sunset, Joshua told his men to take the kings down from the trees. ‘Throw them into the hole in the hill where they were hiding’, he said. They put big stones over the front of the hole, and they are still there.
v28 That day Joshua attacked Makkedah and took it, with its king. He destroyed everyone in it. He did not leave anyone alive. He did to the king of Makkedah what he had done to the king of Jericho.
v29 After this, Joshua and his army went on from Makkedah to Libnah, and attacked it. v30 The *Lord gave them power over that city and its king. Joshua destroyed the city and everyone in it. He did not leave anyone alive. They did to the king as they had done to the king of Jericho.
v31 After this, Joshua and all the *Israelites went on from Libnah to Lachish. They attacked it from all sides. v32 The *Lord gave them power over Lachish. And Joshua took the city on the 2nd day. They left no one alive, as they had done at Libnah. They killed everyone in the city. v33 King Horam of Gezer came to help Lachish. But Joshua fought and destroyed him and his army. He killed them all.
v34 Then Joshua and his army went from Lachish to Eglon. They went round it and attacked it. v35 They took it on the same day. They killed everyone in that city, as they had at Lachish.
v36 After this, Joshua and his army went from Eglon to Hebron in the hills. They attacked v37 and took it. They killed the king and all the people there, and the people in the towns near to it. Joshua destroyed the whole city, as he had done to Eglon. He did not leave anyone alive.
v38 Then Joshua and his army went back to Debir and attacked it. v39 He attacked it and took it with all the towns near to it. They killed everyone there. Joshua did to Debir and its king what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.
v40 So Joshua took the whole land. He took the hill country, the hills of the east and the west and the dry country in the south. He took them with their kings. He killed all the people who lived there. He did not leave anyone alive. The *Lord God of Israel had told him to do this. v41 Joshua had fought from Kadesh Barnea in the south to Gaza near the sea. This included all of Goshen as far as Gibeon in the north. v42 Joshua won this long list of fights with all these kings and their cities. He won them because the *Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel. v43 After this, Joshua and his army went back to the *camp at Gilgal.
v1 Jabin, king of Hazor, heard what had happened. So, he sent messengers (people with a message) to Jobab, king of Madon, and to the kings of Shimron and of Acshaph. v2 And he sent to the kings of the mountains in the north, in the Arabah, south of Kinnereth. And he sent messengers to the little hills in the west, and Naphoth Dor on the west. v3 Messengers went to the Canaanites in the east and in the west. They went to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hills. And he sent them to the Hivites who lived by Hermon near Mizpah. v4 All these kings came with their soldiers and many horses and *chariots. It was a great big army. The soldiers were as many as there are bits of sand by the sea. v5 The kings all joined together and made a *camp by the Waters of Merom. They wanted to fight against Israel.
v6 ‘Do not be afraid of them’, the *Lord said to Joshua. ‘I will give you all of them. You will kill them all by this time tomorrow. You must cut the backs of the horses’ legs, and burn the *chariots.’
v7 So Joshua and all his army went to fight them at the Waters of Merom. They quickly attacked them v8 and the *Lord helped the *Israelites to win the fight. Israel ran after them as far as Sidon, Misrephoth Maim and the valley of Mizpah. They went east until they had killed all their enemies. v9 Joshua did to them as the *Lord had said. He cut the backs of the legs of the horses and burnt their *chariots.
v10 Then Joshua went back and took Hazor. He killed its king. (Hazor had been most important *kingdom over all the *kingdoms who were against Israel.) v11 The *Israelites killed everyone who lived there. They killed everything in the city that was alive. They burned the city and destroyed it.
v12 Joshua took all these cities and killed all their kings. He destroyed them all, as God’s servant Moses had told him to do. v13 But Israel did not burn all the cities built on small hills, except Hazor. Joshua did burn this one. v14 The *Israelites took all the animals and good things from the cities, but killed all the people. They did not let one of them live, but destroyed them all. v15 The *Lord told Moses what to do. Then Moses told Joshua what the *Lord had said. Joshua did what Moses told him to do. Joshua did not forget anything. He did everything that the *Lord had told Moses.
v16 So Joshua took all these places. He took the hills, the dry country in the south, all of Goshen and the little hills in the west. He took the Arabah and the mountains and hills of Israel. v17 These were from *Mount Halak near Seir to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon, below *Mount Hermon. He took all their kings and killed them all. v18 Joshua was fighting these kings for a very long time. v19 He only left alive the Hivites living in Gibeon, because he had made them a promise. v20 The *Lord had made all the peoples want to fight Israel. This was so that the *Lord could destroy them all. He did not let them live. This was what the *Lord had told Moses. v21 Joshua went at that time to fight the Anakites from the hills. They came from Hebron, Debir and Anab and all the hills of Judah and Israel. Joshua destroyed them all, and all their towns. v22 He killed all the Anakites in Israel, except for a few in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod. v23 So Joshua took the whole country, as the *Lord had told Moses. The *Lord gave the country to Israel to live in. Joshua gave each *tribe its own part.
Then the people did not have to fight any more.
v1 Israel killed these kings. They destroyed them and took their land. It was east of the Jordan, from the Arnon valley to *Mount Hermon. All of it was on the east side of the Arabah.
v2 Sihon, king of the Amorites, was king of Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer by the middle of the Arnon valley to the Jabbok River. This is near the land of the Ammonites. It included half of Gilead. v3 Sihon ruled the east of the Arabah from the sea of Kinnereth to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). And he ruled as far as Beth Jeshimoth and to where *Mount Pisgah begins.
v4 Og, king of Bashan, was one of the last Rephaites. He ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. v5 And he ruled *Mount Hermon, Salecah and all of Bashan as far as Geshur and Maacah. He ruled the half of Gilead to the edge of Sihon’s *kingdom of Heshbon.
v6 Moses, the servant of the *Lord, and the *Israelites won the fight with these kings. He gave their land to the *tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the *tribe of Manasseh to live in.
v7 Joshua and the *Israelites killed these kings on the west side of the Jordan. They ruled from Baal Gad in the Lebanon valley to *Mount Halak, which is near Seir. (Joshua gave each *tribe a special part of the land.) v8 This was in the hills and in the little hills in the west. And they ruled the Arabah, the sides of the mountains, and the *desert and the Negev. They ruled all the land that had belonged to the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. v9 They took the land of the kings of Jericho, Ai (near Bethel), v10 Jerusalem, Hebron, v11 Jarmuth and Lachish. v12 And they took the land of the kings of Eglon, Gezer, v13 Debir, Geder, v14 Hormah, Arad, v15 Libnah, Adullam, v16 Makkedah and Bethel. v17 And they took the land of the kings of Tappuah, Hepher, v18 Aphek, Lasharon, v19 Madon, Hazor, v20 Shimron Meron and Acshaph. v21 They also took Taanach, Megiddo, v22 Kedesh, Jokneam in Carmel, v23 Dor (in Naphoth Dor), Goyim in Gilgal, v24 and Tirzah. They took all the land of these 31 kings.
v1 Joshua was very old and had lived for many years. The *Lord said to him, ‘You are old. There is still a lot of land that you have not taken. This is the land left for you to take. v2 There is all the land of the Philistines and Geshurites v3 and of the Avvim on the south. (The land from the Shihor river east of Egypt to the edge of Ekron’s land on the north was part of Canaan. The Philistines lived in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.) v4 You must take all the land of the Canaanites and Mearah, (which belonged to the people of Sidon). This is the land as far as Aphek, by the edge of the land of the Amorites. v5 You have to take the land of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon to the east. That is from Baal Gad below *Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.’
v6 The *Lord said to Joshua, ‘I, myself will push out the people of Sidon in front of the *Israelites. They will leave the mountains of Lebanon as far as Misrephoth Maim. You must give this land to Israel, as I have told you. v7 Each of the 9 *tribes, and the half *tribe of Manasseh is to have its own part.’
v8 Moses had already given land to the Reubenites, Gadites and the other half of Manasseh. It was east of the Jordan, as Moses, the servant of God, had said.
v9 It was from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley. It included all the flat land of Medeba to Dibon. v10 And it included all the towns of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. It went to the edge of the land of the Amorites. v11 It included the land of Gilead, and of the people of Geshur and Maacah. And it included all of *Mount Hermon and Bashan as far as Salecah. v12 (That was the *kingdom of Og in Bashan.) Og had ruled Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was one of the last of the Rephaim (a group of very large people called giants). Moses had won a fight with them and had taken their land. v13 But the *Israelites did not send away the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they still live there among the *Israelites.
v14 Moses had given no land to the *tribe of Levi. This was because God had made them a promise. He had said that the other *tribes must give them the burnt *offerings made to the *Lord God of Israel. This was the part for the *Levites.
v15 This is the part of the land that Moses gave to the families of the Reubenites.
v16 He gave them the land from Aroer by the edge of the Arnon valley and the town in the middle of the valley. v17 And he gave them all of the flat land past Medeba in Heshbon. It included Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, v18 Jahaz and Kedemoth. And it included Mephaath, v19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah and Zereth Shahar. Zereth was on a hill in the middle of the valley. v20 Moses gave Beth Peor, and the sides of *Mount Pisgah and Beth Jeshimoth town to the *tribe of Reuben. v21 And he gave them all the towns on the flat land. He gave them all the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites. Sihon had ruled from Hebron. But Moses had won the fight with him, and the Midianite kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. These kings had lived in that place, and ruled with Sihon. v22 The *Israelites had killed Balaam, son of Beor, when they had killed soldiers in the fight. He had wanted to help Balak to fight against Israel (Numbers 22). v23 The end of the land of the Reubenites was by the river Jordan. Moses gave these towns and their villages to the *tribe of Reuben to live in, family by family.
v24 This is the land that Moses gave to the *tribe of Gad, family by family.
v25 He gave them the land of Jazer, the towns of Gilead and half the land of the Ammonites. v26 This was from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the land of Debir. v27 Moses gave Gad the towns in the valley: Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon. He gave them the rest of the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon. (This was on the east of the Jordan, to the end of the sea of Kinnereth.) v28 Moses gave these towns and villages to the *tribe of Gad to live in, family by family.
v29 This is the land that Moses gave to half the *tribe of Manasseh. That is, half the families of the sons of Manasseh, family by family.
v30 He gave them the land from Mahanaim, the land of Bashan, all the land ruled by Og, king of Bashan. It included all the 60 towns of Jair in Bashan. v31 And it included half of Gilead, Ashtaroth and Edrei. (These were the cities that belonged to Og in Bashan.) This was for half the sons of Makir, son of Manasseh, family by family.
v32 Moses gave land to these *tribes while he was in the flat land of Moab, east of Jericho. He was across the Jordan then. v33 Moses gave no land to the *tribe of Levi. The *Lord, the God of Israel, was their part. This is what he had promised to do for them.
v1 Eleazar the *priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the families of Israel chose different parts of the land for each *tribe. This is how they did it. v2 The leaders used *lots to decide which parts of the land God had chosen for each of the 9 and a half *tribes left. This is what the *Lord had told Moses to do. v3 Moses had already given the two and a half *tribes land east of the river Jordan. But he had not given any land to the *Levites. v4 (The *tribe of Joseph was now two *tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim.) The leaders gave the *Levites towns to live in, with enough land near them to feed their animals. v5 The leaders of the *Israelites gave a part of the land to each *tribe, as the *Lord had told Moses.
v6 Some of the men of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb, son of Jephunneh, spoke to Joshua. He said, ‘You know what God said to Moses the man of God, about you and me, at Kadesh Barnea. v7 I was 40 years old when he sent me from there to explore the land. And I brought him a report that was true, and I was sure that we could take the land. v8 The other men who went with us made the people afraid (Numbers 13:26-33). But I did only what the *Lord wanted us to do. v9 So Moses made me a promise on that day. Moses said, “The land that your feet have walked on will always belong to you and to your children. This is because you have done everything as the *Lord told you” ’ (Deuteronomy 1:34-36).
v10 Caleb said to Joshua, ‘The *Lord has kept me alive for the 45 years since Moses said this. Israel was walking about the *desert for all this time. Now I am 85 years old. v11 I am still as strong as I was on the day that Moses sent me out. I can fight as well now as I could then. v12 Now then, give to me this hill country that the *Lord promised to me. You heard that the Anakites were there then. And you heard that their cities were large and strong. But the *Lord will help me to push them out. The *Lord said that he would.’
v13 Then Joshua asked the *Lord to *bless Caleb, son of Jephunneh. And he gave Hebron to him as his part of the land. v14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite since that day. He had done everything as the *Lord had told him to do. So Joshua gave him the land. v15 (Hebron had been called ‘Kiriath Arba’ after Arba, the most important man among the Anakites.)
The fighting in the land ended after this.
v1 Joshua gave the land from the edge of Edom to the *Desert of Zin to the families of the *tribe of Judah, family by family. The *desert was at the south of the land.
v2 The south edge of Judah’s land was from the south end of the Salt Sea, v3 across the south side of the Scorpion valley, to Zin. He also gave them land south of Kadesh Barnea, as far as Hebron. The edge of their land continued past Addar, round to Karka v4 and to Azmon. The dry valley of Egypt leading to the sea was the south edge of Judah.
v5 The Salt Sea was the edge of Judah to the east as far as the mouth of the river Jordan.
The north edge of Judah was from the mouth of the Jordan v6 to Beth Hoglah. Then it went north of Beth Arabah to the stone of Bohan. (Bohan was the son of Reuben.) v7 The edge of Judah’s land went from the valley of Achor to Debir. Then it went north to Gilgal. Gilgal is opposite the path of Adummim on the south side of the valley. The edge of Judah then reached to the water *springs of En Shemesh to En Rogel. v8 From there it went through the valley of Hinnom to the south side of a hill by the Jebusite city of Jerusalem. The edge of Judah continued to the top of the hill on the west side of the Hinnom valley. This was at the north end of the valley of Rephaim. v9 From there it went to the *springs of Nephtoah and on to the cities near *Mount Ephron. It went towards Baalah (or Kiriath Jearim). v10 From there it went round Baalah towards the hills of Edom. It went north of *Mount Jearim (or Kesalon) down to Beth Shemesh, and on past Timnah. v11 The edge of Judah went out to the hills north of Ekron, then towards Shikkeron. It went past *Mount Baalah to Jabneel. The land of Judah ended at the sea. v12 The sea was the west edge of Judah’s land.
The families of the *tribe of Judah lived inside this land.
Achan and his family had died in the valley of Achor. They had taken things from Jericho. But the *Lord had said that they must destroy those things (Joshua 7:24). So, the valley was called ‘Trouble Valley’.
v13 The *Lord had told Joshua to give Caleb, son of Jephunneh, part of Judah’s land. (He belonged to the *tribe of Judah.) Joshua gave him Hebron, the city of Arba. Arba was the father of Anak. v14 Caleb pushed out the 3 sons of Anak from Hebron. Their names were Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. v15 From there he marched to fight the people of Debir (also called Kiriath Sepher). v16 Caleb said, ‘If a man attacks and takes Kiriath Sepher, he can marry my daughter, Acsah.’ v17 Othniel was the son of Caleb’s brother, Kenaz. He took Kiriath Sepher, so Caleb gave him his daughter to marry.
v18 Acsah spoke to Othniel one day. She wanted him to ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey (an animal like a small horse). ‘What can I do for you?’ Caleb asked her.
v19 ‘Be very kind to me’, she said. ‘You have given me land in the dry country in the south, so please will you give me some *springs of water, too?’ So Caleb gave her the higher and lower *springs.
v20 This is the land that Joshua gave to the families of the *tribe of Judah, to live in.
v21 The towns in the south of Judah were near the edge of Edom. They were:
Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, v22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, v23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, v24 Ziph, Telem, and Bealoth. v25 Also Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor), v26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, v27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet. v28 Also Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, v29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, v30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, v31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, v32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon. He gave them 29 towns with their villages.
v33 He gave them towns in the small hills of the west:
Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, v34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, v35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh and Azekah. v36 Also he gave them Shaaraim, Adithaim and Gederah, (or Gederothaim). There were 14 towns and villages.
v37 He gave them Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, v38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, v39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, v40 Cabbon, Lahmas, and Kitlish. v41 Also he gave them Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah and Makkedah. There were 16 towns and their villages.
v42 And he gave them Libnah, Ether, Ashan, v43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, v44 Keilah, Aczib and Mareshah. There were 9 towns with their villages.
v45 He also gave to the *tribe of Judah, Ekron with the houses and villages that belonged to it. v46 And he gave them all those towns west of Ekron, near to Ashdod with their villages. v47 And he gave them Ashdod and Gaza with their houses and villages. They had the land as far as the valley of Egypt, and to the Great Sea.
v48 Joshua gave them land in the hill country:
Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, v49 Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (that is, Debir), v50 and Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, v51 Goshen, Holon and Giloh. There were 11 towns and their villages.
v52 He also gave them Arab, Dumah, Eshan, v53 Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, v54 Humtah, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) and Zior. There were 9 towns and their villages.
v55 Also Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, v56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, v57 Kain, Gibeah and Timnah. There were 10 towns and their villages.
v58 And he gave them Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, v59 Maarath, Beth Anoth and Eltekon. There were 6 towns and their villages.
v60 And Kiriath Baal, (that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah. There were two towns and their villages.
v61 Joshua gave Judah towns in the *desert:
Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, v62 Nibshan, the city of salt, and En Gedi. There were 6 towns and their villages.
v63 Judah could not push the Jebusites out of Jerusalem. So, Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.
v1 Joshua gave some land east of Jericho to the *tribes of Joseph. Their land started at the Jordan and went through the *desert into the hills of Bethel. v2 The edge of their land went from Bethel (that is, Luz) to the land of the Arkites in Ataroth. v3 Their land continued to the west, to the land of the Japhletites by lower Beth Horon. It ended near the sea, by Gezer.
v4 Joshua gave this land to Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph. It was for them and their families.
v5 Joshua gave this land to the families of Ephraim:
The edge of their land was from Ataroth Addar in the east to Beth Horon. v6 Then it continued to the west. Michmethath was north of their land. East of Michmethath, the edge of their land went past Taanath Shiloh on the east to Janoah. v7 From there it went to Ataroth and Naarah and through Jericho to the river Jordan. v8 From Tappuah, the edge of their land continued to the west to the little river Kanah. From there, it continued to the sea. Joshua gave all this land to the families of the *tribe of Ephraim. v9 He also gave them some towns and villages that were in the land of Manasseh. v10 But the *tribe of Ephraim did not push out the Canaanite people who lived in Gezer. Canaanite people still live there, but they have to work as slaves to the Ephraimites.
v1 Joshua gave part of the land west of the river Jordan to some families of the *tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s oldest son. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir, father of Gilead. He had fought very bravely, so Joshua gave him Gilead and Bashan, east of the Jordan. v2 He gave land west of the Jordan to all the other families of Manasseh. These were: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher and Shemida. They were all sons of Manasseh, and heads of their families. v3 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons. He had only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. v4 They went to see Eleazar, the *priest and Joshua, son of Nun and the leaders. They said, ‘The *Lord told Moses to give us part of the land. We must have land like the sons of other families.’ So, Eleazar and Joshua gave them land, like the other families. v5 That is why they gave Manasseh 10 parts of the land as well as Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan. v6 They gave some daughters of Manasseh land as well as his sons. They gave the land of Gilead to the rest of the families of Manasseh.
v7 The edge of the land of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath east of Shechem. It went south to include En Tappuah. v8 Manasseh had the land near Tappuah, but the town of Tappuah belonged to the sons of Ephraim. v9 The edge of Manasseh’s land went down to the little river of Kanah. The cities south of the river that belonged to Ephraim were in Manasseh’s land. The edge of Manasseh’s land was along the north side of the river to the sea. v10 Ephraim was south of the river, and Manasseh to the north. The sea was to the west of them both. Asher was north and west of them, and Issachar to the north and east. v11 Beth Shan and Ibleam and the towns near them that belonged to Manasseh were in the lands of Issachar and Asher. Dor (by the sea), Endor, Taanach, Megiddo and the towns near them also belonged to Manasseh. v12 But the people of Manasseh could not push out the people who lived in those cities. So the Canaanite people went on living there. v13 Some of them continued to live there, even when the people of Israel became strong. But the *Israelites made the Canaanites work for them.
v14 Joseph’s sons asked Joshua, ‘Why have you given us only one part of the land to live in? The *Lord has been good to us, and there are very many of us.’
v15 Joshua said to them, ‘If there are so many of you, and the hills of Ephraim are too small for you, take more land. Cut down trees in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.’
v16 They replied, ‘The hills are not big enough for us. But the Canaanites in Beth Shan and its towns and in the valley of Jezreel have iron *chariots.’
v17 Joshua said to the *tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, ‘There certainly are a lot of you. And you are very strong. I will give you more than one part. v18 You will have the hills. They are full of trees, but you will cut them down. You will take the land from one end to the other. I know that the Canaanites are a strong people. They have iron *chariots, but you will push the Canaanites out.’
v1 All the people of Israel met together at Shiloh. There they put up the *tent where they met with God. They now ruled all the land. v2 But Joshua still had not given 7 *tribes a part of the land for themselves.
v3 Joshua asked them, ‘The *Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you the land. How long will you wait before you take it?’ v4 Choose 3 men from each *tribe. I will send them to look at all the land, and to see what it is like. They must say what they find in each part. Then they must come back to me. v5 You must make it into 7 parts. Judah is to stay in its land to the south, and Joseph’s people are to remain in their land in the north. v6 You must write down what each of the 7 parts look like. Then I will ask God to help me to choose which part I will give to each *tribe. I will use *lots to decide. v7 The *Levites will not have any of the 7 parts of the land. This is because their part is to *serve the *Lord God. And Gad, Reuben and half the *tribe of Manasseh already have land on the east side of the river Jordan. Moses, the servant of the *Lord, gave it to them.’
v8 The chosen men started to go to describe the land. ‘Go and look at the land. Write down what you find’, Joshua told them. ‘Then come back to me in Shiloh. I will use the *lots in front of the *Lord here.’ v9 So the men left and went all through the land. They wrote about each town in a book. They wrote about each of the 7 parts of the land. Then they went back to Joshua in the *tents at Shiloh. v10 At Shiloh, Joshua stood in front of the *Lord. He used the *lots to decide which part of the land each *tribe should have.
v11 The *lot showed that the first part of the land was for Benjamin, family by family. It was between the land that Joshua gave to the *tribes of Judah and Joseph.
v12 The north side of their land began at the river Jordan, and went up the hills to the north of Jericho. From there it went west into the hills, to the *desert of Beth Aven. v13 The edge of their land went on to the south of Luz (that is Bethel) to Ataroth Addar. That is on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.
v14 From this hill, the edge of their land went south along the west side to Kiriath Baal (that is Kiriath Jearim). This town belonged to the people of Judah. This was the west edge of Benjamin’s land.
v15 The south edge went from the edge of Kiriath Jearim to the waters of Nephtoah. v16 Then it went to the foot of the hill across the Valley of Ben Hinnom. This was north of the Valley of Rephaim. It continued down the Hinnom valley south of the Jebusite city to En Rogel. v17 Then it went north to En Shemesh. It went on to Geliloth, opposite the valley of Adummim. Then it went to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. v18 It continued to the north of Beth Arabah down into the Arabah. v19 Then it went north of Ben Hoglah to the north end of the Salt Sea. This was at the south end of the river Jordan. This was the south edge of Benjamin’s land.
v20 The Jordan was the west edge of their land.
These are the edges of the land that Joshua gave to the families of the *tribe of Benjamin.
v21 These are the cities that Joshua gave to the *tribe of Benjamin:
Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, v22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, v23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, v24 Kephar, Ammoni, Ophni and Geba. There were 12 towns and their villages.
v25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, v26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, v27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, v28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath. These were 14 towns and their villages.
Joshua gave these cities to the families of Benjamin’s *tribe, to live in.
v1 The second *lot showed that the next part of the land was for the *tribe of Simeon. Joshua gave their families some of the land that he had given to Judah. v2 It included:
Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah, v3 Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, v4 Eltolad, Bethul and Hormah. v5 And Joshua gave them Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, v6 Beth Lebaoth and Sharuhen. These were 13 towns and their villages. v7 He gave them 4 more towns and their villages. These were Ain, Rimmon, Ether and Ashan. v8 This included all the villages near them as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah in the Negev).
This is the land that Joshua gave to the families of the *tribe of Simeon. v9 He took Simeon’s land from Judah’s land. Judah did not need all the land that Joshua had given to them. So the *tribe of Simeon lived inside the land that Joshua had given to Judah.
v10 The *lot showed that the next part of the land was for Zebulun. The edge of it went as far as Sarid. v11 Then it went west to Maralah, touched Dabbesheth, and went to the valley near Jokneam. v12 From Sarid, the edge of their land went east to the land of Kisloth Tabor. Then it went to Daberath and up to Japhia. v13 It continued east to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin. It went on to Rimmon, and turned to go to Neah. v14 The edge went north to Hannathon and stopped at the valley of Iphtah El. v15 Twelve (12) towns and their villages were in this part of the land. They were Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem.
v16 Joshua gave these towns and their villages to families of the *tribe of Zebulun.
v17 The *lot showed Joshua that the next part of the land was for Issachar’s families. v18 Their land included Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, v19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, v20 Rabbith, Kishion and Ebez. v21 And it included Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah and Beth Pazzez. v22 The edge of their land touched Tabor, Shahazumah and Beth Shemesh and ended at the river Jordan. Joshua gave them 16 towns and their villages.
v23 Joshua gave these towns and their villages to the families of the *tribe of Issachar.
v24 The next *lot showed Joshua the land that he must give to Asher’s families. v25 This is the land that he gave them:
Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, v26 Allammelech, Amad and Mishal. The edge of the land on the west touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath. v27 Then it went east towards Beth Dagon, to touch Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah El. Then the edge of their land went north to Beth Emek and Neiel. It passed the left side of Cabul. v28 It went to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah, as far as Sidon. v29 Then the edge went back towards Ramah to the strong city of Tyre. Then it turned to Hosah and ended at the sea near Aczib, v30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob. Joshua gave them 22 towns and their villages.
v31 These towns and villages Joshua gave to the families of Asher’s *tribe.
v32 Joshua gave the land chosen by the 6th *lot to Naphtali’s families:
v33 The edge of their land went from Heleph and the big tree in Zaanannim past Adami Nekeb and Jabneel to Lakkum. It ended at the river Jordan. v34 Another edge went west through Aznoth Tabor to Hukkok. It touched Zebulun on its south side, Asher on its west and the Jordan on its east side. v35 The land contained the strong cities Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath and Kinnereth. v36 And Joshua gave them Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, v37 Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, v38 Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath and Beth Shemesh. He gave them 19 towns and their villages.
v39 Joshua gave these towns and villages to the families of Naphtali.
v40 The next *lot showed Joshua the land to give to Dan’s families. v41 This is the land that he gave them:
It included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, v42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, v43 Elon, Timnah and Ekron. v44 And he gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, v45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, v46 Me Jarkon and Rakkon, with land in front of Joppa.
v47 (But the people of Dan could not take their land, so they went to attack Leshem. They took it and killed its people and lived there themselves. They called the city Dan, after their father.)
v48 Joshua gave these towns and their villages to the families of Dan’s *tribe.
v49 When Joshua had given all the *tribes their land, the *Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun his own land. v50 This is what the *Lord had told them to do. He asked for the town Timnah Serah in the hills of Ephraim. And they gave it to him. He built up the town and went to live there.
v51 This is the list of all the lands that they gave to each *tribe. The *lots showed Eleazar the *priest, Joshua son of Nun and the leaders which land was for each *tribe. They did this by the *tent of meeting, in front of the *Lord. So they finished giving each *tribe a part of the land.
v1 Then the *Lord spoke to Joshua. v2 He said, ‘Tell the people of Israel to choose special cities. I told you this through Moses. v3 Anyone can be safe in these cities if he has killed someone. But he will only be safe if he had not meant to kill that person. The person who killed a man or woman can run to that city. The person will be safe. They will not let the brother of the dead person kill him there (Numbers 35:6-34).
The *law of Moses said that any man who killed a person must die. The brother or cousin of the dead person had to kill him (Leviticus 24:17-18).
v4 The man who killed someone must go to the city. When he arrives, he must stand in the gate of the city. There he must tell the leaders what he has done. Then they must let him go in. And they must give him a place to live and stay there. v5 The brother of the dead person may follow the man who killed his brother or sister. The leaders must not let the brother hurt that man. This is because he did not mean to kill the dead man. He did not want to hurt him. v6 The man who killed must stay in that city. He may have told them what is true. The *judges there will decide. Then he must wait until the High *Priest of that time dies. After that, he is free to return to the town that he came from.’
v7 So they chose these towns: Kedesh in Galilee, in the hills of Naphtali, Shechem in the hills of Ephraim, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hills of Judah.
v8 They chose other cities east of the river Jordan and to the east of the flat land near Jericho: Bezer in the flat *desert land of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the *tribe of Gad, Golan in Bashan in the *tribe of Manasseh.
v9 Any *Israelite or foreign person living in Israel could run to these cities. They may have killed someone, but had not meant to kill them. They could run to these cities. Then the brother of the dead person could not kill them. The *judges had to decide whether they had meant to kill or not. Nobody could kill them before this.
v1 The fathers of the *Levite families came to speak to Joshua. They came with the leaders of all the other *tribes. v2 They met at Shiloh in Canaan. ‘The *Lord told Moses that you must give us towns to live in’, they said. ‘And we must have land to feed our animals.’ v3 So the *Israelites did as the *Lord had told them. They gave them towns with land from the land that belonged to their *tribes.
v4 They gave towns first to the Kohathite family. They gave them 13 towns from the *tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. They gave these to *Levites from the family of Aaron, the *priest. v5 They gave to the other Kohathites, towns from the *tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.
v6 Then they gave 13 towns to the family of Gershon. The *tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half of Manasseh in Bashan gave them these towns.
v7 They gave 12 towns to the families of Merari. The *tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun gave them these.
v8 So the people of Israel gave these towns and the land and fields near to them to the families of Levi’s *tribe. They did as the *Lord had told Moses.
v9 These are the names of the towns that the *tribes of Simeon and Judah gave. v10 They gave them to the Kohathites, of Aaron’s family, because God chose them first.
v11 They gave them Kiriath Arba (or Hebron), with land near to it, in the hills of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) v12 But the fields and villages near Hebron belonged to Caleb, son of Jephunneh. v13 So they gave the city of Hebron (a safe city) to the sons of Aaron. They also gave them Libnah, v14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, v15 Holon, Debir, v16 Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh with their land and fields. These two *tribes gave them 9 towns. v17 They gave them Gibeon, Geba, v18 Anathoth and Almon with their fields. These 4 towns were from the *tribe of Benjamin.
v19 They gave the *priests, sons of Aaron, all these 13 towns.
v20 They gave to the *Levites of Kohath’s family, towns from the *tribe of Ephraim.
v21 They gave them Shechem, a safe city, in the hills of Ephraim, and Gezer, v22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon with their fields. They gave them 4 towns. v23 The *tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, v24 Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. They gave them these 4 towns with their fields. v25 The half *tribe of west Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath Rimmon with their fields. They gave them two towns.
v26 They gave the families of Kohath all these 10 cities.
v27 They gave the *Levites of Gershon’s family the towns of Golan in Bashan, a safe city, and Be Eshtarah, two cities with their fields. The half *tribe of east Manasseh gave them these. v28 They gave them 4 cities from the *tribe of Issachar. These were Kishion, Daberath, v29 Jarmuth and En Gannim, with their fields. v30 The *tribe of Asher gave them 4 towns. These were Mishal, Abdon, v31 Helkath and Rehob, with their fields. v32 The *tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee, a safe city, Hammoth Dor and Kartan with their fields. They gave them these 3 cities.
v33 They gave the families of Gershon all these 13 cities.
v34 The other *Levites that did not have any towns were the Merarite family. The *tribe of Zebulun gave to them the towns of Jokneam, Kartah, v35 Dimnah and Nahalal. They gave to them 4 towns with their fields.
v36 The *tribe of Reuben gave them four towns. These were Bezer, Jahaz, v37 Kedemoth and Mephaath, with their fields. v38 The *tribe of Gad gave them four towns. These were Ramoth in Gilead, a safe city, Mahanaim, v39 Heshbon and Jazer, with their fields.
v40 So they gave to these *Levites, the family of Merari, 12 towns.
v41 The *Levites had 48 towns in the land of Israel. v42 Each of these towns had its own fields round it.
v43 So the *Lord gave all the land to the people of Israel. He had promised it to their fathers. They took it and lived there. v44 The *Lord gave them rest, as he had promised. None of the people round Israel attacked them. Not one of their enemies could win a fight with them. The *Lord helped them to win all their fights. v45 He kept all his good promises to the people of Israel. He did not forget one of his promises.
v1 Then Joshua called together the *tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half *tribe of Manasseh. v2 Joshua said, ‘You have done all that Moses, the servant of the *Lord, told you to do’ (Numbers 32:20-22). He said, ‘And you have obeyed me. You have done everything that I told you to do. v3 You have helped your brothers, for a long time. You have stayed even to this day. And you have done the work that the *Lord gave you to do. v4 Now your brothers have finished fighting for their land, as the *Lord promised them. So you can go to your homes on the other side of the river Jordan. Moses, the *Lord’s servant gave them to you. v5 But you must be very careful to keep the rules and the *law that he gave you. This *law says that you must love the *Lord your God. And you must keep the rules that he gave to you. You must do everything that he tells you. And you must believe him. You must *serve him with everything that you have.’
v6 Joshua then *blessed them and sent them away to their homes. Moses had given land in Bashan to half the *tribe of Manasseh. v7 (But Joshua had given land on the west side of the Jordan to the other half of the *tribe, with their brothers.) When Joshua sent them home, he *blessed them. v8 ‘Go back to your homes with the good things that you took from your enemies’, he said. ‘Take many animals, gold and other metals and rich clothes. You and your brothers must each have a part of these things.’
v9 So the *tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the *tribe of Manasseh left their brothers there in Shiloh in Canaan. They returned to Gilead, their own land. Moses had given them this land, as the *Lord had told him.
v10 The two and a half *tribes came to Geliloth, near the Jordan, in Canaan. They built a big *altar there, by the river Jordan. v11 When the other *Israelites heard that they had built an *altar at the edge of Canaan, at Geliloth, they were angry. It was on the side of the Jordan that the *Israelites had. v12 They all came together at Shiloh to fight the two and a half *tribes.
v13 So the *Israelites sent Phinehas, son of Eleazar the *priest, to the land of Gilead. He went to see Reuben, Gad and the half *tribe of Manasseh. v14 They sent 10 of the leaders with him. They chose one man from each of the *tribes of Israel. Each man was the leader of his own family group.
v15 They spoke to the *tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half *tribe of Manasseh in Gilead. v16 They said, ‘You have not obeyed the *Lord God of Israel. All the people of Israel are saying this. Why have you built an *altar? The *Lord said that you must not do this (Deuteronomy 13:13-14). You are turning away from him. v17 The *sin at Peor was bad (Numbers 23:27-29). We still feel bad about it and God made us all sick to *punish us. v18 Now you seem to be doing another thing that is wrong.’
The leaders said, ‘You might do something that is wrong today. The *Lord will be angry with all the people of Israel tomorrow. v19 If your land here is not *clean, come back to the *Lord’s land. And we will give you some of it. The *Lord’s *tent is there. Do not turn against the *Lord or against us. Do not build an *altar for yourselves that is not for the *Lord our God. v20 When Achan, son of Zerah, took things that belonged to God, he became angry with all the people of Israel. Achan was not the only one that died’ (Joshua 7:1).
v21 Reuben, Gad and the half *tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of Israel. v22 They said, ‘God, the *Lord, is the great one. God the *Lord! He knows! So let all Israel know! *Punish us today if we have done anything against the *Lord. We have not done anything that he told us not to do. v23 We did not build our own *altar to burn animals or food, or to give gifts to God. If we did anything wrong, may the *Lord *punish us himself.’
v24 They also said, ‘No! We had a very different idea. We were afraid that in later times, your children might speak to ours. They might say, “You have nothing to do with the *Lord, the God of Israel. v25 The *Lord put the Jordan between us and your *tribes, Reuben and Gad. You do not belong to the *Lord!” So your children might stop our children from *worshipping the *Lord.
v26 That is why we said, “Let us build an *altar”. It will not be an altar where we burn food. And it will not be an altar where we give things to God. v27 But it will help us and you, and our children and your children, to remember to *worship the *Lord at his *tent. We will burn animals and seeds and give him gifts there. Then, in later years, your children will not tell our children that they do not belong to the *Lord.
v28 We said, “If they say this to us, we will answer them. We will say ‘Look at this *altar. It is a copy of the *Lord’s *altar. It is not for burning food or giving gifts to the *Lord. Our fathers built it so that we should remember that we are all part of Israel’ ”.
v29 We never wanted to turn away from the *Lord. We wanted to do the things that please him. We would never burn anything at an *altar that was not the *altar of the *Lord our God. His *altar stands in front of his *tent.’
v30 Phinehas the *priest and the leaders (the men from each *tribe of Israel) heard this. They were pleased with what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had told them. v31 They said to them, ‘You have not done anything that would not please the *Lord. So today we know that the *Lord is with us. Now he will not be angry with us.’
v32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the *priest and the leaders went back to Canaan. They told the *Israelites what had happened when they had met the men of Reuben and Gad. v33 They were happy to hear about it, and gave thanks to God. They did not talk about fighting them any more. They would not destroy the land where the two and a half *tribes lived.
v34 Reuben and Gad gave the *altar a name. They called it ‘Remember, all of us, that the *Lord is God’.
v1 After many years had passed, Joshua was very old. The *Lord had given the people of Israel a time with no fighting. Their enemies who lived near them all did not attack them any more. v2 Joshua called all the people to him with their leaders, *judges and officers. He said to them, ‘I am old, many years old. v3 You, yourselves, have seen what the *Lord has done to these peoples, to help you. It was the *Lord who fought them for you. v4 Remember how I have given each of your *tribes a special part of the land. Some other people still live there. I fought for this land and took it from the peoples near you. The land is between the river Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. v5 The *Lord himself will push the people out of the land. He will push them out in front of you, and you will live in their land. He promised that he would do this.
v6 Be very strong. Do everything that Moses told you to do in his Book of the *Law. Obey his rules. Do not turn away from them even a little bit. v7 Do not become friends of the peoples who are near you. Do not call out to their gods. Do not use their names to show that you mean what you say. You must not *serve them or *worship them. v8 But you must always obey the *Lord your God, as you have until now.
v9 The *Lord has pushed out big and strong peoples in front of you. No one has been strong enough to stand against you. v10 One of you has sent away 1000 men. This is because the *Lord your God fought for you, as he promised. v11 You must be very careful to love the *Lord your God.’
v12 Joshua said to all the people, ‘But you may turn away to join with other peoples, those that are left among you. Perhaps you will marry some of them, or mix with them. v13 Then you may be sure that the *Lord your God will no more push them out in front of you. Instead, they will catch you and hurt you. They will be like hard sticks on your backs and sharp stones in your eyes. Then you will lose this good land that the *Lord your God has given to you.
v14 Now I am going to die, as all men do. The *Lord has kept every one of the promises that he gave to you. You know that deep in yourselves. He has not failed to keep one of them. v15 The *Lord has kept every good promise. And he will also keep the promise to trouble you and to destroy you. He will send you away from this good land that he has given you. v16 He will do this if you do not keep the rules that he gave you. If you do not obey him, he will be very angry with you. If you go to *serve other gods and *worship them, you will soon die out from this good land.
v1 Joshua called all the *tribes together at Shechem. He made all the men with authority to stand in front of God. They were the leaders, officers and *judges.
v2 Joshua spoke to the people. He said, ‘This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel says, “A long time ago, your fathers lived across the river Euphrates, and *worshipped other gods. Your fathers included Terah and his sons, Abraham and Nahor. v3 But I took Abraham from that land and brought him all through Canaan. I gave him many sons and daughters. I gave him Isaac, v4 and I gave to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir (Edom) to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
v5 I sent Moses and Aaron to the *Israelites in Egypt and did many things to the people of Egypt to make them let you go. v6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you reached the Red Sea. The Egyptians went after them with men on horses and in *chariots as far as the Sea. v7 But your fathers cried to the *Lord for help. He made it dark between them and the Egyptians, and made the river water cover your enemies. You saw what I did to the Egyptians with your own eyes. Then you lived in the *desert for a long time.
v8 I brought you to the land of the Amorites, east of the river Jordan. They fought you, but I helped you to win the fight. I destroyed them in front of you, and you took their land. v9 Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, got ready to fight you. When he did this, he asked Balaam, son of Beor, to ask me to hurt you. v10 But I would not listen to Balaam. So Balaam *blessed you and went on *blessing you. And I saved you from the king of Moab.
v11 Then you went across the Jordan and came to Jericho. You fought with the people of Jericho and with the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites. I helped you to win all those fights. v12 I made them very afraid of you so they ran away from you. And so did the two kings of the Amorites. You did not do this on your own. v13 So I gave you a land that you had not worked for. I gave you houses that you did not build. You live in the houses. You eat fruit from plants and trees that you did not plant.” ’
v14 Joshua said, ‘Now you must give *honour to the *Lord, and *serve him. You must always do only what he says. Throw away the gods that your fathers *worshipped across the Euphrates and in Egypt. *Worship the *Lord. v15 But if you do not want to *serve the *Lord, you may choose other gods. You may *serve the gods that your fathers *served across the river. Or *serve the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. But I and my family, we will *serve the *Lord.’
v16 The people answered Joshua, ‘We would never leave the *Lord to *serve other gods! v17 We and our fathers were slaves in Egypt. But the *Lord our God brought us out from there. We saw the great things that he did there. He kept us safe all the time on our journey. He saved us from other peoples. v18 He went in front of us. He pushed out the Amorites and the other people who lived in the land. So we, too, will *serve the *Lord, because he is our God.’
v19 Joshua answered them, ‘But you cannot *serve the *Lord. He is a *holy God. He will not forget if you turn away from him. He will not *forgive your *sins. v20 If you leave him and *serve other gods, he will turn round and *punish you. He will destroy you, after he has been good to you.’
v21 ‘No!’ the people said. ‘We will *serve the *Lord.’
v22 Joshua said, ‘You yourselves have chosen to *serve the *Lord. See that you keep your promise.’
They replied, ‘Yes, we will watch ourselves with great care.’
v23 ‘Now then’, Joshua said, ‘throw away the false gods, the gods of other peoples, that you still keep. And give yourselves completely to the *Lord, the God of Israel.’
v24 The people said to Joshua, ‘We will *serve the *Lord our God and obey him.’
v25 Joshua and the people made these important promises on that day. There at Shechem, he made a list of their rules and *laws. v26 And Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the *Law of God. Then he took a big stone and stood it there under the oak tree (a big strong tree) that was by the *Lord’s *holy place.
v27 ‘See this stone!’ he said to all the people. ‘It will help you to remember the promise that you have made. It will make you feel bad if you do not obey your God.’
v28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own part of the land.
v29 After this, Joshua died, at the age of 110. v30 The *Israelites buried him in his own land, at Timnah Serah in the hills of Ephraim, north of *Mount Gaash.
v31 The people of Israel *served the *Lord while Joshua was alive. Other leaders had seen all that the *Lord had done for Israel. The people of Israel continued to *serve the *Lord as long as these leaders were alive.
v32 The people of Israel had brought the body of Joseph up from Egypt (Genesis 50:22-26). They buried it at Shechem. This was the land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Jacob paid them 100 pieces of *silver. The land belonged to Joseph’s children.
v33 Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and people buried him at Gibeah. This was the town in the hills of Ephraim that belonged to his son Phinehas.
altar ~ a table for burning animals or other gifts to God.
ark ~ a box that contained God’s 10 rules and other things. These helped the *Israelites to remember what God had told them. And it helped them to remember what he had done for them.
bless ~ to say or do much good to a person.
blessed ~ when we are happy; when we know that God does good to us.
blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; asking for God to help us and do good in us.
camp ~ a place to stay in *tents.
chariot ~ a box that horses pull to carry soldiers to a fight.
circumcise, circumcision ~ to cut off the skin from the end of the sex part of a man or boy.
clean ~ to do good things and to think good thoughts.
curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.
desert ~ a wild place where no people live, because it is very dry.
fear ~ to be afraid of someone; to show someone that you think that they are good and great.
forgive ~ to show love and not to remember bad things about someone.
holy ~ to be good with no bad in it. Only God is really holy.
honour ~ to show someone that you think that they are good and great.
Israelites ~ people who live in Israel. They are sons of Jacob.
judge ~ a person who decides what is right or wrong.
kingdom ~ a place where a king rules.
law ~ rules made to stop people from hurting each other.
Levite ~ A person from the *tribe of Levi. God chose them to work for him. They help the *priests.
Lord ~ A name for God in the Bible. It means that he rules or is a master.
lot ~ something used to find what people or things God chooses.
manna ~ food that God sent from the sky to the *Israelites. He sent it while they were in the *desert.
Mount ~ another name for mountain.
offering ~ a gift for God from the *priest and the people.
priest ~ a son of Aaron, son of Levi. God chose these men to burn gifts to God on an *altar.
punish ~ to hurt someone for the wrong things that they have done.
rope ~ a piece of long, thin and strong material used to tie things together.
serve ~ to help and to work for another person.
silver ~ shining white metal with great value.
sin ~ when a person does not obey the rules of God.
spirit ~ the part of a living person that decides what we do - good or bad.
spring (of water) ~ water coming out of the ground to become a pool or river.
tent ~ a place to live, that people make out of cloth.
tribe ~ a whole family of one of Jacob’s 12 sons; a family from the same father.
trumpet ~ someone blows through this to make a loud noise.
worship ~ to give thanks to God; to tell God that he is very great; to show God that we love him very much; to believe God and to work for him.
H G May ~ Joshua ~ Peake’s Commentary, Van Nostrand Reinhold
NIV Study Bible ~ Hodder and Stoughton
© 1999-2002, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).
November 2002
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