Northern Kings Defeated

11 When Jabin^(A) king of Hazor^(B) heard of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the kings of Shimron^(C) and Akshaph,^{(D) 2} and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah^(E) south of Kinnereth,^(F) in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor^(G) on the west; ³ to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites^(H) and Jebusites in the hill country;^(I) and to the Hivites^(J) below Hermon^(K) in the region of Mizpah.^{(L) 4} They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.^{(M) 5} All these kings joined forces^(N) and made camp together at the Waters of Merom^(O) to fight against Israel.

⁶ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand^(P) all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring^(Q) their horses and burn their chariots.”^(R)

⁷ So Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them, ⁸ and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel. They defeated them and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon,^(S) to Misrephoth Maim,^(T) and to the Valley of Mizpah on the east, until no survivors were left. ⁹ Joshua did to them as the Lord had directed: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots.

¹⁰ At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword.^(U) (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) ¹¹ Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed^[a] them,^(V) not sparing anyone that breathed,^(W) and he burned^(X) Hazor itself.

¹² Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded.^{(Y) 13} Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed.^{(Z) 15} As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.^(AA)

¹⁶ So Joshua took this entire land: the hill country,^(AB) all the Negev,^(AC) the whole region of Goshen, the western foothills,^(AD) the Arabah and the mountains of Israel with their foothills, ¹⁷ from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir,^(AE) to Baal Gad^(AF) in the Valley of Lebanon^(AG) below Mount Hermon.^(AH) He captured all their kings and put them to death.^{(AI) 18} Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. ¹⁹ Except for the Hivites^(AJ) living in Gibeon,^(AK) not one city made a treaty of peace^(AL) with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. ²⁰ For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts^(AM) to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(AN)

²¹ At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites^(AO) from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir^(AP) and Anab,^(AQ) from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns. ²² No Anakites were left in Israelite territory; only in Gaza,^(AR) Gath^(AS) and Ashdod^(AT) did any survive.

²³ So Joshua took the entire land,^(AU) just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance^(AV) to Israel according to their tribal divisions.^(AW) Then the land had rest^(AX) from war.^(AY)

List of Defeated Kings

12 These are the kings of the land whom the Israelites had defeated and whose territory they took^(AZ) over east of the Jordan,^(BA) from the Arnon^(BB) Gorge to Mount Hermon,^(BC) including all the eastern side of the Arabah:^(BD)

⁶ Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites conquered them.^(BV) And Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be their possession.^(BW)

⁷ Here is a list of the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon^(BX) to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their lands as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions. ⁸ The lands included the hill country, the western foothills, the Arabah, the mountain slopes, the wilderness and the Negev.^(BY) These were the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. These were the kings:^(BZ)

Land Still to Be Taken

13 When Joshua had grown old,^(DB) the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

⁶ “As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim,^(DQ) that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out^(DR) before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you,^{(DS) 7} and divide it as an inheritance^(DT) among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.”

Division of the Land East of the Jordan

⁸ The other half of Manasseh,^[c] the Reubenites and the Gadites had received the inheritance that Moses had given them east of the Jordan, as he, the servant of the Lord, had assigned^(DU) it to them.^(DV)

¹⁴ But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.^(EL)

¹⁵ This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, according to its clans:

²⁴ This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, according to its clans:

²⁹ This is what Moses had given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the family of the descendants of Manasseh, according to its clans:

³² This is the inheritance Moses had given when he was in the plains of Moab^(FW) across the Jordan east of Jericho.^{(FX) 33} But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance;^(FY) the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance,^(FZ) as he promised them.^(GA)

Division of the Land West of the Jordan

14 Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance^(GB) in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar^(GC) the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel^(GD) allotted^(GE) to them.^{(GF) 2} Their inheritances were assigned by lot^(GG) to the nine and a half tribes,^(GH) as the Lord had commanded through Moses. ³ Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan^(GI) but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest,^{(GJ) 4} for Joseph’s descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim.^(GK) The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.^{(GL) 5} So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(GM)

Allotment for Caleb

⁶ Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal,^(GN) and Caleb son of Jephunneh^(GO) the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God^(GP) at Kadesh Barnea^(GQ) about you and me.^{(GR) 7} I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea^(GS) to explore the land.^(GT) And I brought him back a report according to my convictions,^{(GU) 8} but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear.^(GV) I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.^{(GW) 9} So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance^(GX) and that of your children^(GY) forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’^[e]

¹⁰ “Now then, just as the Lord promised,^(GZ) he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved^(HA) about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!^{(HB) 11} I am still as strong^(HC) today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous^(HD) to go out to battle now as I was then. ¹² Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.^(HE) You yourself heard then that the Anakites^(HF) were there and their cities were large and fortified,^(HG) but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

¹³ Then Joshua blessed^(HH) Caleb son of Jephunneh^(HI) and gave him Hebron^(HJ) as his inheritance.^{(HK) 14} So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.^{(HL) 15} (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba^(HM) after Arba,^(HN) who was the greatest man among the Anakites.)

Then the land had rest^(HO) from war.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)(B)

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate^(C) was governor of Judea, Herod^(D) tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ² during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,^(E) the word of God came to John^(F) son of Zechariah^(G) in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.^{(H) 4} As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!^(J) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(K) 8} Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^(L) For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^(M)

¹⁰ “What should we do then?”^(N) the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”^(O)

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized.^(P) “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,”^(Q) he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely^(R)—be content with your pay.”

¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John^(S) might possibly be the Messiah.^{(T) 16} John answered them all, “I baptize you with^[b] water.^(U) But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit and fire.^{(V) 17} His winnowing fork^(W) is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”^{(X) 18} And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod^(Y) the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, ²⁰ Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.^(Z)

The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus^(AA)(AB)

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying,^(AC) heaven was opened ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him^(AD) in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,^(AE) whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”^(AF)

²³ Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.^(AG) He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,^(AH)