¹² The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”^(A)

¹³ And the Lord stood beside him^[a] and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring,^(A)

⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.^(A)

³ Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.^{(A) 4} I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring,^(B)

Foreigners Separated from Israel

13 On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,^{(A) 2} because they did not meet the Israelites with bread and water but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.^{(B) 3} When the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.^(C)

The Reforms of Nehemiah

⁴ Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God and who was related to Tobiah,^{(D) 5} prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.^{(E) 6} While this was taking place I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon I went to the king. After some time I asked leave of the king^{(F) 7} and returned to Jerusalem. I then discovered the wrong that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah, preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.^{(G) 8} And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the room. ⁹ Then I gave orders, and they cleansed the chambers, and I brought back the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.^(H)

¹⁰ I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who had conducted the service had gone back to their fields.^{(I) 11} So I contended with the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations.^{(J) 12} Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.^{(K) 13} And I appointed as treasurers over the treasuries Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan son of Zaccur son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful, and their duty was to distribute to their associates.^{(L) 14} Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.^(M)

Sabbath Reforms Begun

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens that they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, and I warned them at that time against selling food.^{(N) 16} Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?^{(O) 18} Did not your ancestors act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”^(P)

¹⁹ When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I set some of my servants over the gates, to prevent any burden from being brought in on the Sabbath day.^{(Q) 20} Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹ But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.^{(R) 22} And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.^(S)

Mixed Marriages Condemned

²³ In those days also I saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab,^{(T) 24} and half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah but spoke the language of various peoples. ²⁵ And I contended with them and cursed them and beat some of the men and pulled out their hair, and I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.^{(U) 26} Did not King Solomon of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.^{(V) 27} Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”^(W)

²⁸ And one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of the high priest Eliashib, was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I chased him away from me.^{(X) 29} Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priests and the Levites.^(Y)

³⁰ Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work,^{(Z) 31} and I provided for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, O my God, for good.^(AA)

Jericho Taken and Destroyed

6 Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the Israelites; no one came out, and no one went in. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers.^{(A) 3} You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, ⁴ with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets.^{(B) 5} When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.” ⁶ So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ To the people he said, “Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”^(C)

⁸ As Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. ⁹ And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually.^{(D) 10} To the people Joshua gave this command: “You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” ¹¹ So the ark of the Lord went around the city, circling it once, and they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord passed on, blowing the trumpets continually. The armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually.^{(E) 14} On the second day they marched around the city once and then returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they rose early, at dawn, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent.^{(F) 18} As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet^[a] and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it.^{(G) 19} But all silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpets, they raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so the people charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.^{(H) 21} Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.^(I)

⁸ and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.^(A)

⁴ and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’^(A)

³ May God Almighty^[a] bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.^{(A) 4} May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, land that God gave to Abraham.”^(B)