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God’s Commission to Joshua

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphra′tes, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Preparations for the Invasion

10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, 11 “Pass through the camp, and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess.’”

12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manas′seh Joshua said, 13 “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest, and will give you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brethren and shall help them, 15 until the Lord gives rest to your brethren as well as to you, and they also take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them; then you shall return to the land of your possession, and shall possess it, the land which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.” 16 And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”

Spies Sent to Jericho

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, “Behold, certain men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring forth the men that have come to you, who entered your house; for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; and she said, “True, men came to me, but I did not know where they came from; and when the gate was to be closed, at dark, the men went out; where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords; and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

Before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any man, because of you; for the Lord your God is he who is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now then, swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign, 13 and save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.”

15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she dwelt in the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Go into the hills, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way.” 17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours which you have made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down; and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 If any one goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we shall be guiltless; but if a hand is laid upon any one who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath which you have made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

22 They departed, and went into the hills, and remained there three days, until the pursuers returned; for the pursuers had made search all along the way and found nothing. 23 Then the two men came down again from the hills, and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.”

Israel Crosses the Jordan

Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim, with all the people of Israel; and they came to the Jordan, and lodged there before they passed over. At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it, that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits; do not come near it.” And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people.” And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And you shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Per′izzites, the Gir′gashites, the Amorites, and the Jeb′usites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is to pass over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be stopped from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

14 So, when the people set out from their tents, to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zar′ethan, and those flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off; and the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 And while all Israel were passing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.[a]

Twelve Stones Set Up at Gilgal

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever.”

And the men of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, as the Lord told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. 10 For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

The people passed over in haste; 11 and when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. 12 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manas′seh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had bidden them; 13 about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14 On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

15 And the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.

19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty; that you may fear the Lord your God for ever.”

The New Generation Circumcised

When all the kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites that were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them, because of the people of Israel.

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the people of Israel again the second time.” So Joshua made flint knives, and circumcised the people of Israel at Gib′eath-ha-ar′aloth.[b] And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people that were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation, the men of war that came forth out of Egypt, perished, because they did not hearken to the voice of the Lord; to them the Lord swore that he would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children, whom he raised up in their stead, that Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

When the circumcising of all the nation was done, they remained in their places in the camp till they were healed. And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal[c] to this day.

The Passover at Gilgal

10 While the people of Israel were encamped in Gilgal they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho. 11 And on the morrow after the passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased on the morrow, when they ate of the produce of the land; and the people of Israel had manna no more, but ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

Joshua’s Vision

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood before him with his drawn sword in his hand; and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and said to him, “What does my lord bid his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Put off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Jericho Taken and Destroyed

[d]Now Jericho was shut up from within and from without because of the people of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given into your hand Jericho, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; and on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. And 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 the people shall go up every man straight before him.” So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said to the people, “Go forward; march around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

And as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing 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. And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. 10 But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then you shall shout.” 11 So he caused the ark of the Lord to compass the city, going about 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 And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord passed on, blowing the trumpets continually; and the armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. 14 And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

15 On the seventh day they rose early at the dawn of day, 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 And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction;[e] only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction, and bring trouble upon it. 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 trumpet, the people raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 Then they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword.

22 And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out from it the woman, and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23 So the young men who had been spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her; and they brought all her kindred, and set them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire, and all within it; only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 But Rahab the harlot, and her father’s household, and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive; and she dwelt in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

26 Joshua laid an oath upon them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man that rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

At the cost of his first-born shall he
    lay its foundation,
and at the cost of his youngest son
    shall he set up its gates.”

27 So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.

The Sin of Achan and Its Punishment

But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things; for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things; and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-a′ven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are but few.” So about three thousand went up there from the people; and they fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six men of them, and chased them before the gate as far as Sheb′arim, and slew them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

Then Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why hast thou brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth; and what wilt thou do for thy great name?”

10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Arise, why have you thus fallen upon your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant which I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, and lied, and put them among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become a thing for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in the midst of you, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies, until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes; and the tribe which the Lord takes shall come near by families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come near by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a shameful thing in Israel.’”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning, and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken; 17 and he brought near the families of Judah, and the family of the Zer′ahites was taken; and he brought near the family of the Zer′ahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken; 18 and he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and render praise to him; and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Of a truth I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them, and took them; and behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the people of Israel; and they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the mantle and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters, and his oxen and asses and sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones; they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day; then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.[f]

Ai Captured by a Stratagem and Destroyed

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed; take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land; and you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves; lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

So Joshua arose, and all the fighting men, to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night. And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it; do not go very far from the city, but hold yourselves all in readiness; and I, and all the people who are with me, will approach the city. And when they come out against us, as before, we shall flee before them; and they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, as before.’ So we will flee from them; then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize the city; for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. And when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, doing as the Lord has bidden; see, I have commanded you.” So Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

10 And Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, with the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And all the fighting men who were with him went up, and drew near before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment which was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14 And when the king of Ai saw this he and all his people, the men of the city, made haste and went out early to the descent[g] toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel made a pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. 17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and took it; and they made haste to set the city on fire. 20 So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and smote the men of Ai. 22 And the others came forth from the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side; and Israel smote them, until there was left none that survived or escaped. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

24 When Israel had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 25 And all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as their booty, according to the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai, and made it for ever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. 29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

30 Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, “an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man has lifted an iron tool”; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as homeborn, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Geri′zim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

The Gibeonites Save Themselves by Trickery

When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, heard of this, they gathered together with one accord to fight Joshua and Israel.

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning, and went and made ready provisions, and took worn-out sacks upon their asses, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; so now make a covenant with us.” But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” They said to him, “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ash′taroth. 11 And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; come now, make a covenant with us.”’ 12 Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey, on the day we set forth to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and moldy; 13 these wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they are burst; and these garments and shoes of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 So the men partook of their provisions, and did not ask direction from the Lord. 15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them. 17 And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephi′rah, Be-er′oth, and Kir′iath-je′arim. 18 But the people of Israel did not kill them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. 19 But all the leaders said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them, and let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the leaders had said of them.

22 Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell among us? 23 Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; so we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand: do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.” 26 So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel; and they did not kill them. 27 But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to continue to this day, in the place which he should choose.

The Sun Stands Still

10 When Ado′ni-ze′dek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he[h] feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. So Ado′ni-ze′dek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhi′a king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, “Come up to me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces, and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it.

And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; there shall not a man of them stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10 And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-hor′on, and smote them as far as Aze′kah and Makke′dah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-hor′on, the Lord threw down great stones from heaven upon them as far as Aze′kah, and they died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than the men of Israel killed with the sword.

12 Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel,

“Sun, stand thou still at Gibeon,
and thou Moon in the valley of Ai′jalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.[i]

15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

Five Kings Defeated

16 These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makke′dah. 17 And it was told Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makke′dah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll great stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them; 19 but do not stay there yourselves, pursue your enemies, fall upon their rear, do not let them enter their cities; for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” 20 When Joshua and the men of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, until they were wiped out, and when the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makke′dah; not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings.” Then they came near, and put their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and of good courage; for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua smote them and put them to death, and he hung them on five trees. And they hung upon the trees until evening; 27 but at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set great stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

28 And Joshua took Makke′dah on that day, and smote it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed every person in it, he left none remaining; and he did to the king of Makke′dah as he had done to the king of Jericho.

29 Then Joshua passed on from Makke′dah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah, and fought against Libnah; 30 and the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it; and he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

31 And Joshua passed on from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish, and laid siege to it, and assaulted it: 32 and the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.

33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he left none remaining.

34 And Joshua passed on with all Israel from Lachish to Eglon; and they laid siege to it, and assaulted it; 35 and they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and every person in it he utterly destroyed that day, as he had done to Lachish.

36 Then Joshua went up with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron; and they assaulted it, 37 and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it; he left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and utterly destroyed it with every person in it.

38 Then Joshua, with all Israel, turned back to Debir and assaulted it, 39 and he took it with its king and all its towns; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person in it; he left none remaining; as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.

40 So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua defeated them from Ka′desh-bar′nea to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The United Kings of Northern Canaan Defeated

11 When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Ach′shaph, and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chin′neroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Per′izzites, and the Jeb′usites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. And they came out, with all their troops, a great host, in number like the sand that is upon the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. And all these kings joined their forces, and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel; you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.” So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his people of war, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them. And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who smote them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Mis′rephoth-ma′im, and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpeh; and they smote them, until they left none remaining. And Joshua did to them as the Lord bade him; he hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire.

10 And Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and smote its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they put to the sword all who were in it, utterly destroying them; there was none left that breathed, and he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took, and smote them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor only; that Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the people of Israel took for their booty; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any that breathed. 15 As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Summary of Joshua’s Conquests

16 So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from Mount Halak, that rises toward Se′ir, as far as Ba′al-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he took all their kings, and smote them, and put them to death. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; they took all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be utterly destroyed, and should receive no mercy but be exterminated, as the Lord commanded Moses.

21 And Joshua came at that time, and wiped out the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

The Kings Conquered by Moses

12 Now these are the kings of the land, whom the people of Israel defeated, and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward: Sihon king of the Amorites who dwelt at Heshbon, and ruled from Aro′er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead, and the Arabah to the Sea of Chin′neroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jesh′imoth, to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah; and Og[j] king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Reph′aim, who dwelt at Ash′taroth and at Ed′re-i and ruled over Mount Hermon and Sal′ecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Gesh′urites and the Ma-ac′athites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon. Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the people of Israel defeated them; and Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas′seh.

The Kings Conquered by Joshua

And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Ba′al-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Se′ir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites): the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adul′lam, one; 16 the king of Makke′dah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17 the king of Tap′pu-ah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lashar′on, one; 19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20 the king of Shim′ron-me′ron, one; the king of Ach′shaph, one; 21 the king of Ta′anach, one; the king of Megid′do, one; 22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jok′ne-am in Carmel, one; 23 the king of Dor in Na′phath-dor, one; the king of Goi′im in Galilee,[k] one; 24 the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

The Parts of Canaan Still Unconquered

13 [l]Now Joshua was old and advanced in years; and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed. This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Gesh′urites (from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is reckoned as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ash′kelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim, in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mear′ah which belongs to the Sido′nians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, and the land of the Geb′alites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Ba′al-gad below Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Mis′rephoth-ma′im, even all the Sido′nians. I will myself drive them out from before the people of Israel; only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manas′seh.”

The Territory East of the Jordan

With the other half of the tribe of Manas′seh[m] the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them: from Aro′er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Med′eba as far as Dibon; 10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites; 11 and Gilead, and the region of the Gesh′urites and Ma-ac′athites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Sal′ecah; 12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ash′taroth and in Ed′re-i (he alone was left of the remnant of the Reph′aim); these Moses had defeated and driven out. 13 Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Gesh′urites or the Ma-ac′athites; but Geshur and Ma′acath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

14 To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.

The Territory of Reuben

15 And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Reubenites according to their families. 16 So their territory was from Aro′er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Med′eba; 17 with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Ba′moth-ba′al, and Beth-ba′al-me′on, 18 and Jahaz, and Ked′emoth, and Meph′a-ath, 19 and Kiriatha′im, and Sibmah, and Zer′eth-sha′har on the hill of the valley, 20 and Beth-pe′or, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jesh′imoth, 21 that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Mid′ian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who dwelt in the land. 22 Balaam also, the son of Be′or, the soothsayer, the people of Israel killed with the sword among the rest of their slain. 23 And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites, according to their families with their cities and villages.

The Territory of Gad

24 And Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of the Gadites, according to their families. 25 Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aro′er, which is east of Rabbah, 26 and from Heshbon to Ra′math-miz′peh and Bet′onim, and from Mahana′im to the territory of Debir,[n] 27 and in the valley Beth-ha′ram, Beth-nim′rah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chin′nereth, eastward beyond the Jordan. 28 This is the inheritance of the Gadites according to their families, with their cities and villages.

The Territory of the Half-Tribe of Manasseh (East)

29 And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manas′seh; it was allotted to the half-tribe of the Manas′sites according to their families. 30 Their region extended from Mahana′im, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Ja′ir, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, 31 and half Gilead, and Ash′taroth, and Ed′re-i, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were allotted to the people of Machir the son of Manas′seh for the half of the Machirites according to their families.

32 These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho. 33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them.

The Distribution of Territory West of the Jordan

14 And these are the inheritances which the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Elea′zar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed to them. Their inheritance was by lot, as the Lord had commanded Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan; but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manas′seh and E′phraim; and no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for their cattle and their substance. The people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

Hebron Allotted to Caleb

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal; and Caleb the son of Jephun′neh the Ken′izzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Ka′desh-bar′nea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Ka′desh-bar′nea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children for ever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness; and now, lo, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong to this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war, and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day; for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities: it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord said.”

13 Then Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephun′neh for an inheritance. 14 So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephun′neh the Ken′izzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kir′iath-ar′ba;[o] this Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.

The Territory of Judah

15 The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south. And their south boundary ran from the end of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward; it goes out southward of the ascent of Akrab′bim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Ka′desh-bar′nea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka, passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary. And the east boundary is the Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan; and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah, and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adum′mim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-she′mesh, and ends at En-ro′gel; then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jeb′usite (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Reph′aim; then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephto′ah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends round to Ba′alah (that is, Kir′iath-je′arim); 10 and the boundary circles west of Ba′alah to Mount Se′ir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Je′arim (that is, Ches′alon), and goes down to Beth-she′mesh, and passes along by Timnah; 11 the boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends round to Shik′keron, and passes along to Mount Ba′alah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. 12 And the west boundary was the Great Sea with its coast-line. This is the boundary round about the people of Judah according to their families.

Caleb Occupies His Portion

13 According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephun′neh a portion among the people of Judah, Kir′iath-ar′ba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, She′shai and Ahi′man and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. 15 And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kir′iath-se′pher. 16 And Caleb said, “Whoever smites Kir′iath-se′pher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 And Oth′ni-el the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field; and she alighted from her ass, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 19 She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The Towns of Judah

20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families. 21 The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme South, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimo′nah, Ada′dah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Be-a′loth, 25 Ha′zor-hadat′tah, Ker′i-oth-hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Mola′dah, 27 Ha′zar-gad′dah, Heshmon, Beth-pel′et, 28 Hazar-shu′al, Beer-sheba, Biziothi′ah, 29 Ba′alah, I′im, Ezem, 30 Elto′lad, Chesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madman′nah, Sansan′nah, 32 Leba′oth, Shilhim, A′in, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine cities, with their villages.

33 And in the lowland, Eshta′ol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zano′ah, En-gan′nim, Tap′pu-ah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adul′lam, Socoh, Aze′kah, 36 Sha-ara′im, Aditha′im, Gede′rah, Gederotha′im: fourteen cities with their villages.

37 Zenan, Hadash′ah, Mig′dal-gad, 38 Di′lean, Mizpeh, Jok′theel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gede′roth, Beth-da′gon, Na′amah, and Makke′dah: sixteen cities with their villages.

42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Ke-i′lah, Achzib, and Mare′shah: nine cities with their villages.

45 Ekron, with its towns and its villages; 46 from Ekron to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages.

47 Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coast-line.

48 And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kir′iath-san′nah (that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Esh′temoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities with their villages.

52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth-Tap′puah, Aphe′kah, 54 Humtah, Kir′iath-ar′ba (that is, Hebron), and Zi′or: nine cities with their villages.

55 Ma′on, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jok′de-am, Zano′ah, 57 Kain, Gib′e-ah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages.

58 Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Ma′arath, Beth-anoth, and El′tekon: six cities with their villages.

60 Kir′iath-ba′al (that is, Kir′iath-je′arim), and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.

61 In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Seca′cah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-ged′i: six cities with their villages.

63 But the Jeb′usites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out; so the Jeb′usites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

The Territory of Ephraim

16 The allotment of the descendants of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel; then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to At′aroth, the territory of the Archites; then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japh′letites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-hor′on, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

The people of Joseph, Manas′seh and E′phraim, received their inheritance.

The territory of the E′phraimites by their families was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was At′aroth-ad′dar as far as Upper Beth-hor′on, and the boundary goes thence to the sea; on the north is Michme′thath; then on the east the boundary turns round toward Ta′anath-shi′loh, and passes along beyond it on the east to Jano′ah, then it goes down from Jano′ah to At′aroth and to Na′arah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. From Tap′pu-ah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah, and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the E′phraimites by their families, together with the towns which were set apart for the E′phraimites within the inheritance of the Manas′sites, all those towns with their villages. 10 However they did not drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: so the Canaanites have dwelt in the midst of E′phraim to this day but have become slaves to do forced labor.

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

17 Then allotment was made to the tribe of Manas′seh, for he was the first-born of Joseph. To Machir the first-born of Manas′seh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. And allotments were made to the rest of the tribe of Manas′seh, by their families, Abi-e′zer, Helek, As′ri-el, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemi′da; these were the male descendants of Manas′seh the son of Joseph, by their families.

Now Zeloph′ehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manas′seh, had no sons, but only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They came before Elea′zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders, and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brethren.” So according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. Thus there fell to Manas′seh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan; because the daughters of Manas′seh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the Manas′sites.

The territory of Manas′seh reached from Asher to Michme′thath, which is east of Shechem; then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-Tap′pu-ah. The land of Tap′pu-ah belonged to Manas′seh, but the town of Tap′pu-ah on the boundary of Manas′seh belonged to the sons of E′phraim. Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. The cities here, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manas′seh, belong to E′phraim. Then the boundary of Manas′seh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea; 10 the land to the south being E′phraim’s and that to the north being Manas′seh’s, with the sea forming its boundary; on the north Asher is reached, and on the east Is′sachar. 11 Also in Is′sachar and in Asher Manas′seh had Beth-she′an and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Ta′anach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megid′do and its villages; the third is Naphath.[p] 12 Yet the sons of Manas′seh could not take possession of those cities; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 13 But when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out.

The Tribe of Joseph Protests

14 And the tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since hitherto the Lord has blessed me?” 15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Per′izzites and the Reph′aim, since the hill country of E′phraim is too narrow for you.” 16 The tribe of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us; yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-she′an and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezre′el.” 17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to E′phraim and Manas′seh, “You are a numerous people, and have great power; you shall not have one lot only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

18 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; the land lay subdued before them.

There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you be slack to go in and take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north. And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manas′seh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down and write a description of the land, and come again to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” So the men went and passed up and down in the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.

The Territory of Benjamin

11 The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph. 12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-a′ven. 13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (the same is Bethel), then the boundary goes down to At′aroth-ad′dar, upon the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-hor′on. 14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-hor′on, and it ends at Kir′iath-ba′al (that is, Kir′iath-je′arim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side. 15 And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kir′iath-je′arim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron,[q] to the spring of the Waters of Nephto′ah; 16 then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Reph′aim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jeb′usites, and downward to En-ro′gel; 17 then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-she′mesh, and thence goes to Geli′loth, which is opposite the ascent of Adum′mim; then it goes down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; 18 and passing on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-arabah[r] it goes down to the Arabah; 19 then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. 20 The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary round about.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-ke′ziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemara′im, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Che′phar-am′moni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Be-er′oth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephi′rah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Tar′alah, 28 Zela, Ha-eleph, Jebus[s] (that is, Jerusalem), Gib′e-ah[t] and Kir′iath-je′arim[u]—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.

The Territory of Simeon

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; and its inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. And it had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Mola′dah, Hazar-shu′al, Balah, Ezem, Elto′lad, Bethul, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-mar′caboth, Ha′zar-su′sah, Beth-leba′oth, and Sharu′hen—thirteen cities with their villages; En-rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages; together with all the villages round about these cities as far as Ba′alath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families. The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

The Territory of Zebulun

10 The third lot came up for the tribe of Zeb′ulun, according to its families. And the territory of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid; 11 then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Mar′eal, and touches Dab′besheth, then the brook which is east of Jok′ne-am; 12 from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chis′loth-ta′bor; thence it goes to Dab′erath, then up to Japhi′a; 13 from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Ne′ah; 14 then on the north the boundary turns about to Han′nathon, and it ends at the valley of Iph′tahel; 15 and Kattath, Na′halal, Shimron, I′dalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages. 16 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zeb′ulun, according to its families—these cities with their villages.

The Territory of Issachar

17 The fourth lot came out for Is′sachar, for the tribe of Is′sachar, according to its families. 18 Its territory included Jezre′el, Chesul′loth, Shunem, 19 Haph′ara-im, Shion, Ana′harath, 20 Rabbith, Kish′ion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gan′nim, En-had′dah, Beth-paz′zez; 22 the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazu′mah, and Beth-she′mesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. 23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Is′sachar, according to its families—the cities with their villages.

The Territory of Asher

24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families. 25 Its territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Ach′shaph, 26 Allam′melech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-lib′nath, 27 then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zeb′ulun and the valley of Iph′tahel northward to Beth-emek and Nei′el; then it continues in the north to Cabul, 28 Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great; 29 then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab,[v] Achzib, 30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages.

Footnotes

  1. 3.7-17 The crossing of the Jordan is described in such a way as to bring out the theological parallelism with the crossing of the Red Sea (or, Sea of Reeds); both are seen as due to the direct intervention of God.
  2. Joshua 5:3 That is the hill of the foreskins
  3. Joshua 5:9 From Heb galal to roll
  4. 6.1 Here, as elsewhere, the history has been worked over in accordance with certain theological ideas.
  5. 6.17 Following the indications elsewhere in the Old Testament, it would appear that the ban, that is, the physical destruction of the enemy in obedience to the Deity, was practiced much less than a reading of Joshua might suggest. Despite the high religious principles that motivated it, it must be seen in the light of the imperfect stage of moral development reached at that time.
  6. Joshua 7:26 That is Trouble
  7. Joshua 8:14 Cn: Heb appointed time
  8. Joshua 10:2 Heb they
  9. 10.12-14 Joshua’s apostrophe to the sun occurs in a fragment quoted from an old collection of epic material, and the quotation goes on beyond verse 12. This would make a literal interpretation of this event undesirable. It appears from the narrative that a great storm occurred at the same time as the attack and powerfully helped toward the Israelite victory (verse 11). It is this sign of divine aid that is so graphically apostrophized in the following poetic fragment (verses 12-13).
  10. Joshua 12:4 Gk: Heb the boundary of Og
  11. Joshua 12:23 Gk: Heb Gilgal
  12. 13–21 This section consists of topographical indications: the possessions and boundaries of the tribes and other ethnic groups, and a list of the cities of refuge.
  13. Joshua 13:8 Cn: Heb With it
  14. Joshua 13:26 Gk Syr Vg: Heb Lidebir
  15. Joshua 14:15 That is The city of Arba
  16. Joshua 17:11 Heb obscure
  17. Joshua 18:15 Cn See 15.9. Heb westward
  18. Joshua 18:18 Gk: Heb to the shoulder over against the Arabah
  19. Joshua 18:28 Gk Syr Vg: Heb the Jebusite
  20. Joshua 18:28 Heb Gibeath
  21. Joshua 18:28 Gk: Heb Kiriath
  22. Joshua 19:29 Cn Compare Gk: Heb Mehebel

God’s Commission to Joshua

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ (A)assistant, saying: (B)“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. (C)Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. (D)From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. (E)No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; (F)as I was with Moses, so (G)I will be with you. (H)I will not leave you nor forsake you. (I)Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall [a]divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law (J)which Moses My servant commanded you; (K)do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may [b]prosper wherever you go. (L)This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but (M)you[c] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (N)Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; (O)do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Order to Cross the Jordan

10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11 “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for (P)within three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, 13 “Remember (Q)the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall [d]pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, 15 until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. (R)Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

16 So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God (S)be with you, as He was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”

Rahab Hides the Spies(T)

Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men (U)from [e]Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”

So they went, and (V)came to the house of a harlot named (W)Rahab, and [f]lodged there. And (X)it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”

So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”

(Y)Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” (But (Z)she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: (AA)“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that (AB)the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land (AC)are fainthearted because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord (AD)dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and (AE)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you (AF)utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we (AG)heard these things, (AH)our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for (AI)the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I beg you, (AJ)swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to (AK)my father’s house, and (AL)give me [g]a true token, 13 and (AM)spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

14 So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that (AN)we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

15 Then she (AO)let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. 16 And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”

17 So the men said to her: “We will be (AP)blameless[h] of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 (AQ)unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, (AR)and unless you [i]bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be [j]guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, (AS)his [k]blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be [l]free from your oath which you made us swear.”

21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

22 They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. 23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly (AT)the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”

Israel Crosses the Jordan

Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out (AU)from [m]Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was, (AV)after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, (AW)“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, (AX)and the priests, the Levites, [n]bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. (AY)Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

And Joshua said to the people, (AZ)“Sanctify[o] yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, (BA)“Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.”

So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to (BB)exalt[p] you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, (BC)as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command (BD)the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, (BE)you shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that (BF)the living God is among you, and that He will without fail (BG)drive out from before you the (BH)Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of (BI)the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, (BJ)take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, (BK)as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, (BL)the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they (BM)shall stand as a heap.”

14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the (BN)ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and (BO)the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the (BP)Jordan overflows all its banks (BQ)during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away [q]at Adam, the city that is beside (BR)Zaretan. So the waters that went down (BS)into the Sea of the Arabah, (BT)the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; (BU)and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed (BV)over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: (BW)“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where (BX)the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in (BY)the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be (BZ)a sign among you (CA)when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that (CB)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for (CC)a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

10 So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. 11 Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the (CD)ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. 12 And (CE)the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. 13 About forty thousand [r]prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14 On that day the Lord (CF)exalted[s] Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 16 “Command the priests who bear (CG)the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” 17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18 And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place (CH)and overflowed all its banks as before.

19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped (CI)in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And (CJ)those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: (CK)“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, saying, (CL)‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on (CM)dry land’; 23 for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, (CN)which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, 24 (CO)that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is (CP)mighty, that you may (CQ)fear the Lord your God [t]forever.”

The Second Generation Circumcised

So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites (CR)who were by the sea, (CS)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until [u]we had crossed over, that [v]their heart melted; (CT)and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make (CU)flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at [w]the hill of the foreskins. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: (CV)All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. For the children of Israel walked (CW)forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were [x]consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that (CX)He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, (CY)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” Then Joshua circumcised (CZ)their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp (DA)till they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away (DB)the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called (DC)Gilgal[y] to this day.

10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover (DD)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and [z]parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then (DE)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, (DF)a Man stood opposite him (DG)with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua (DH)fell on his face to the earth and (DI)worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, (DJ)“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Destruction of Jericho

Now (DK)Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! (DL)I have given Jericho into your hand, its (DM)king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven (DN)trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city (DO)seven times, and (DP)the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” And he said to the people, “Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the Lord.”

So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, (DQ)and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 10 Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” 11 So he had (DR)the ark of the Lord circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and [aa]lodged in the camp.

12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, (DS)and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. 14 And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days.

15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. 16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! 17 Now the city shall be (DT)doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only (DU)Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because (DV)she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And you, (DW)by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, (DX)and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are [ab]consecrated to the Lord; they [ac]shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”

20 So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that (DY)the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 And they (DZ)utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

22 But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, “Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, (EA)as you swore to her.” 23 And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, (EB)her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. 24 But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. 25 And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So (EC)she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

26 Then Joshua [ad]charged them at that time, saying, (ED)“Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”

27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country.

Defeat at Ai

But the children of Israel [ae]committed a (EE)trespass regarding the (EF)accursed[af] things, for (EG)Achan the son of Carmi, the son of [ag]Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” So about three thousand men went up there from the people, (EH)but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore (EI)the[ah] hearts of the people melted and became like water.

Then Joshua (EJ)tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they (EK)put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord [ai]God, (EL)why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its [aj]back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and (EM)cut off our name from the earth. Then (EN)what will You do for Your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

10 So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. (EO)For they have even taken some of the [ak]accursed things, and have both stolen and (EP)deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 (EQ)Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because (ER)they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. 13 Get up, (ES)sanctify[al] the people, and say, (ET)‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which (EU)the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. 15 (EV)Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has (EW)transgressed[am] the covenant of the Lord, and because he (EX)has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 He brought the clan of Judah, and he took the family of the Zarhites; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 Then he brought his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, (EY)was taken.

19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, (EZ)give glory to the Lord God of Israel, (FA)and make confession to Him, and (FB)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed (FC)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I [an]coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and (FD)all that he had, and they brought them to (FE)the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, (FF)“Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” (FG)So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

26 Then they (FH)raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So (FI)the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called (FJ)the Valley of [ao]Achor to this day.

The Fall of Ai

Now the Lord said to Joshua: (FK)“Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, (FL)I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to (FM)Jericho and its king. Only (FN)its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.”

So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night. And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, (FO)you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that (FP)we shall flee before them. For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore we will flee before them. Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand. And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the Lord you shall do. (FQ)See, I have commanded you.”

Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people. 10 Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 (FR)And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai. 12 So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of [ap]the city. 13 And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

14 Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he (FS)did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel (FT)made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. 17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. 19 So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire. 20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

21 Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they (FU)let none of them remain or escape. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.

24 And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. 26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had (FV)utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 (FW)Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the Lord which He had (FX)commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it (FY)a heap forever, a desolation to this day. 29 (FZ)And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening. (GA)And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and (GB)raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant(GC)

30 Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel (GD)in Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: (GE)“an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And (GF)they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, (GG)he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, (GH)who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, (GI)the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, (GJ)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward (GK)he read all the words of the law, (GL)the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the (GM)Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, (GN)with the women, the little ones, (GO)and the strangers who were living among them.

The Treaty with the Gibeonites

And it came to pass when (GP)all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of (GQ)the Great Sea toward Lebanon—(GR)the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, that they (GS)gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one [aq]accord.

But when the inhabitants of (GT)Gibeon (GU)heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and [ar]pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and [as]mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And they went to Joshua, (GV)to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a [at]covenant with us.”

Then the men of Israel said to the (GW)Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so (GX)how can we make a covenant with you?”

But they said to Joshua, (GY)“We are your servants.”

And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

So they said to him: (GZ)“From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have (HA)heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, 10 and (HB)all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11 Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ 12 This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; (HC)but they [au]did not ask counsel of the Lord. 15 So Joshua (HD)made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were (HE)Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 18 But the children of Israel did not [av]attack them, (HF)because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest (HG)wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be (HH)woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had (HI)promised them.”

22 Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, (HJ)‘We are very far from you,’ when (HK)you dwell near us? 23 Now therefore, you are (HL)cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

24 So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God (HM)commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore (HN)we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25 And now, here we are, (HO)in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.” 26 So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. 27 And that day Joshua made them (HP)woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, (HQ)in the place which He would choose, even to this day.

The Sun Stands Still

10 Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem (HR)heard how Joshua had taken (HS)Ai and had utterly destroyed it—(HT)as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to (HU)Ai and its king—and (HV)how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, that they (HW)feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, “Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for (HX)it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” Therefore the five kings of the (HY)Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, (HZ)gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it.

And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp (IA)at Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.”

So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and (IB)all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, (IC)“Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; (ID)not a man of them shall (IE)stand before you.” Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. 10 So the Lord (IF)routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes (IG)to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as (IH)Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, (II)that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.

12 Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel:

(IJ)“Sun, stand still over Gibeon;
And Moon, in the Valley of (IK)Aijalon.”
13 So the sun stood still,
And the moon stopped,
Till the people had revenge
Upon their enemies.

(IL)Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been (IM)no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for (IN)the Lord fought for Israel.

15 (IO)Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The Amorite Kings Executed

16 But these five kings had fled and hidden themselves in a cave at Makkedah. 17 And it was told Joshua, saying, “The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

18 So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them. 19 And do not stay there yourselves, but pursue your enemies, and attack their rear guard. Do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand.” 20 Then it happened, while Joshua and the children of Israel made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they had finished, that those who escaped entered fortified cities. 21 And all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua at Makkedah, in peace.

(IP)No one [aw]moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.

22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought out those five kings to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

24 So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they drew near and (IQ)put their feet on their necks. 25 Then Joshua said to [ax]them, (IR)“Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for (IS)thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck [ay]them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they (IT)were hanging on the trees until evening. 27 So it was at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they (IU)took them down from the trees, cast them into the cave where they had been hidden, and laid large stones against the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.

Conquest of the Southland

28 On that day Joshua took Makkedah, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He utterly (IV)destroyed [az]them—all the people who were in it. He let none remain. He also did to the king of Makkedah (IW)as he had done to the king of Jericho.

29 Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to (IX)Libnah; and they fought against Libnah. 30 And the Lord also delivered it and its king into the hand of Israel; he struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword. He let none remain in it, but did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

31 Then Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish; and they encamped against it and fought against it. 32 And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, who took it on the second day, and struck it and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, according to all that he had done to Libnah. 33 Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, until he left him none remaining.

34 From Lachish Joshua passed to Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it and fought against it. 35 They took it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; all the people who were in it he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.

36 So Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, to (IY)Hebron; and they fought against it. 37 And they took it and struck it with the edge of the sword—its king, all its cities, and all the people who were in it; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon, but utterly destroyed it and all the people who were in it.

38 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to (IZ)Debir; and they fought against it. 39 And he took it and its king and all its cities; they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed all the people who were in it. He left none remaining; as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had done also to Libnah and its king.

40 So Joshua conquered all the land: the (JA)mountain country and the [ba]South and the lowland and the wilderness slopes, and (JB)all their kings; he left none remaining, but (JC)utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel had commanded. 41 And Joshua conquered them from (JD)Kadesh Barnea as far as (JE)Gaza, (JF)and all the country of Goshen, even as far as Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their land Joshua took at one time, (JG)because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The Northern Conquest

11 And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor heard these things, that he (JH)sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king (JI)of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were from the north, in the mountains, in the plain south of (JJ)Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights (JK)of Dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and in the west, the (JL)Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite in the mountains, (JM)and the Hivite below (JN)Hermon (JO)in the land of Mizpah. So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people (JP)as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots. And when all these kings had [bb]met together, they came and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

But the Lord said to Joshua, (JQ)“Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall (JR)hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” So Joshua and all the people of war with him came against them suddenly by the waters of Merom, and they attacked them. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who defeated them and chased them to [bc]Greater (JS)Sidon, to the [bd]Brook (JT)Misrephoth, and to the Valley of Mizpah eastward; they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. So Joshua did to them as the Lord had told him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, (JU)utterly destroying them. There was none left (JV)breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.

12 So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, (JW)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But as for the cities that stood on their [be]mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only, which Joshua burned. 14 And all the (JX)spoil of these cities and the livestock, the children of Israel took as booty for themselves; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they left none breathing. 15 (JY)As the Lord had commanded Moses His servant, so (JZ)Moses commanded Joshua, and (KA)so Joshua did. [bf]He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

Summary of Joshua’s Conquests

16 Thus Joshua took all this land: (KB)the mountain country, all the South, (KC)all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan [bg]plain—the mountains of Israel and its lowlands, 17 (KD)from [bh]Mount Halak and the ascent to Seir, even as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He captured (KE)all their kings, and struck them down and killed them. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, except (KF)the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. All the others they took in battle. 20 For (KG)it was of the Lord [bi]to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, (KH)as the Lord had commanded Moses.

21 And at that time Joshua came and cut off (KI)the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only (KJ)in Gaza, in Gath, (KK)and in Ashdod.

23 So Joshua took the whole land, (KL)according to all that the Lord had said to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel (KM)according to their divisions by their tribes. Then the land (KN)rested from war.

The Kings Conquered by Moses(KO)

12 These are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed on the other side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, (KP)from the River Arnon (KQ)to Mount Hermon, and all the eastern Jordan plain: One king was (KR)Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon and ruled half of Gilead, from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, from the middle of that river, even as far as the River Jabbok, which is the border of the Ammonites, and (KS)the eastern Jordan plain from the [bj]Sea of Chinneroth as far as the [bk]Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), (KT)the road to Beth Jeshimoth, and [bl]southward below (KU)the[bm] slopes of Pisgah. The other king was (KV)Og king of Bashan and his territory, who was of (KW)the remnant of the giants, (KX)who dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, and reigned over (KY)Mount Hermon, (KZ)over Salcah, over all Bashan, (LA)as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and over half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

(LB)These Moses the servant of the Lord and the children of Israel had conquered; and (LC)Moses the servant of the Lord had given it as a possession to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

The Kings Conquered by Joshua

And these are the kings of the country (LD)which Joshua and the children of Israel conquered on this side of the Jordan, on the west, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon as far as [bn]Mount Halak and the ascent to (LE)Seir, which Joshua (LF)gave to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions, (LG)in the mountain country, in the lowlands, in the Jordan plain, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the South—(LH)the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: (LI)the king of Jericho, one; (LJ)the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10 (LK)the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 the king of Eglon, one; (LL)the king of Gezer, one; 13 (LM)the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 (LN)the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16 (LO)the king of Makkedah, one; (LP)the king of Bethel, one; 17 the king of Tappuah, one; (LQ)the king of Hepher, one; 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of [bo]Lasharon, one; 19 the king of Madon, one; (LR)the king of Hazor, one; 20 the king of (LS)Shimron Meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22 (LT)the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; 23 the king of Dor in the (LU)heights of Dor, one; the king of (LV)the people of Gilgal, one; 24 the king of Tirzah, one—(LW)all the kings, thirty-one.

Remaining Land to Be Conquered

13 Now Joshua (LX)was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. (LY)This is the land that yet remains: (LZ)all the territory of the Philistines and all (MA)that of the Geshurites, (MB)from Sihor, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron northward (which is counted as Canaanite); the (MC)five lords of the Philistines—the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also (MD)the Avites; from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians (ME)as far as Aphek, to the border of (MF)the Amorites; the land of (MG)the [bp]Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, (MH)from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath; all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as (MI)the [bq]Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians—them (MJ)I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only (MK)divide[br] it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

The Land Divided East of the Jordan

With the other half-tribe the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, (ML)which Moses had given them, (MM)beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the Lord had given them: from Aroer which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and the town that is in the midst of the ravine, (MN)and all the plain of Medeba as far as Dibon; 10 (MO)all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the children of Ammon; 11 (MP)Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salcah; 12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei, who remained of (MQ)the remnant of the giants; (MR)for Moses had [bs]defeated and [bt]cast out these.

13 Nevertheless the children of Israel (MS)did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

14 (MT)Only to the tribe of Levi he had given [bu]no inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, (MU)as He said to them.

The Land of Reuben

15 (MV)And Moses had given to the tribe of the children of Reuben an inheritance according to their families. 16 Their territory was (MW)from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, (MX)and the city that is in the midst of the ravine, (MY)and all the plain by Medeba; 17 (MZ)Heshbon and all its cities that are in the plain: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 18 (NA)Jahaza, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 (NB)Kirjathaim, (NC)Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the mountain of the valley, 20 Beth Peor, (ND)the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth— 21 (NE)all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, (NF)whom Moses had struck (NG)with the princes of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were princes of Sihon dwelling in the country. 22 The children of Israel also killed with the sword (NH)Balaam the son of Beor, the [bv]soothsayer, among those who were killed by them. 23 And the border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Gad

24 (NI)Moses also had given an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad according to their families. 25 (NJ)Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, (NK)and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, which is before (NL)Rabbah, 26 and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir, 27 and in the valley (NM)Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, (NN)Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as its border, as far as the edge (NO)of the [bw]Sea of Chinnereth, on the other side of the Jordan eastward. 28 This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and their villages.

Half the Tribe of Manasseh (East)

29 (NP)Moses also had given an inheritance to half the tribe of Manasseh; it was for half the tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families: 30 Their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and (NQ)all the towns of Jair which are in Bashan, sixty cities; 31 half of Gilead, and (NR)Ashtaroth and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the (NS)children of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the children of Machir according to their families.

32 These are the areas which Moses had [bx]distributed as an inheritance in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward. 33 (NT)But to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, (NU)as He had said to them.

The Land Divided West of the Jordan

14 These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, (NV)which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them. Their inheritance was (NW)by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. (NX)For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. For (NY)the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except (NZ)cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property. (OA)As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land.

Caleb Inherits Hebron

Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the (OB)Kenizzite said to him: “You know (OC)the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning (OD)you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord (OE)sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless (OF)my brethren who went up with me made the [by]heart of the people melt, but I wholly (OG)followed the Lord my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, (OH)‘Surely the land (OI)where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me (OJ)alive, (OK)as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel [bz]wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 (OL)As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both (OM)for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how (ON)the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. (OO)It may be that the Lord will be with me, and (OP)I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”

13 And Joshua (OQ)blessed him, (OR)and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 (OS)Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he (OT)wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. 15 And (OU)the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim).

(OV)Then the land had rest from war.

The Land of Judah

15 So this was the [ca]lot of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families:

(OW)The border of Edom at the (OX)Wilderness of Zin southward was the extreme southern boundary. And their (OY)southern border began at the shore of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. Then it went out to the southern side of (OZ)the Ascent of Akrabbim, passed along to Zin, ascended on the south side of Kadesh Barnea, passed along to Hezron, went up to Adar, and went around to Karkaa. From there it passed (PA)toward Azmon and went out to the Brook of Egypt; and the border ended at the sea. This shall be your southern border.

The east border was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.

And the (PB)border on the northern quarter began at the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. The border went up to (PC)Beth Hoglah and passed north of Beth Arabah; and the border went up (PD)to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. Then the border went up toward (PE)Debir from (PF)the Valley of Achor, and it turned northward toward Gilgal, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. The border continued toward the waters of En Shemesh and ended at (PG)En Rogel. And the border went up (PH)by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom to the southern slope of the (PI)Jebusite city (which is Jerusalem). The border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the Valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the Valley (PJ)of [cb]Rephaim northward. Then the border went around from the top of the hill to (PK)the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and extended to the cities of Mount Ephron. And the border went around (PL)to Baalah (which is (PM)Kirjath Jearim). 10 Then the border [cc]turned westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the side of Mount Jearim on the north (which is Chesalon), went down to Beth Shemesh, and passed on to (PN)Timnah. 11 And the border went out to the side of (PO)Ekron northward. Then the border went around to Shicron, passed along to Mount Baalah, and extended to Jabneel; and the border ended at the sea.

12 The west border was (PP)the coastline of the Great Sea. This is the boundary of the children of Judah all around according to their families.

Caleb Occupies Hebron and Debir(PQ)

13 (PR)Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a share among the children of (PS)Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, namely, (PT)Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 Caleb drove out (PU)the three sons of Anak from there: (PV)Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. 15 Then (PW)he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir (formerly the name of Debir was Kirjath Sepher).

16 (PX)And Caleb said, “He who [cd]attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 So (PY)Othniel the (PZ)son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him (QA)Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 (QB)Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So (QC)she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 19 She answered, “Give me a (QD)blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The Cities of Judah

20 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families:

21 The cities at the limits of the tribe of the children of Judah, toward the border of Edom in the South, were Kabzeel, (QE)Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 (QF)Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor, Hadattah, Kerioth, Hezron (which is Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, 28 Hazar Shual, (QG)Beersheba, Bizjothjah, 29 Baalah, Ijim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, (QH)Hormah, 31 (QI)Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and (QJ)Rimmon: all the cities are twenty-nine, with their villages.

33 In the lowland: (QK)Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, (QL)Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Sharaim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages; 37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpah, (QM)Joktheel, 39 (QN)Lachish, Bozkath, (QO)Eglon, 40 Cabbon, [ce]Lahmas, Kithlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages; 42 (QP)Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Jiphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages; 45 Ekron, with its towns and villages; 46 from Ekron to the sea, all that lay near (QQ)Ashdod, with their villages; 47 Ashdod with its towns and villages, Gaza with its towns and villages—as far as (QR)the Brook of Egypt and (QS)the Great Sea with its coastline.

48 And in the mountain country: Shamir, Jattir, Sochoh, 49 Dannah, Kirjath Sannah (which is Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 (QT)Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities with their villages; 52 Arab, Dumah, Eshean, 53 Janum, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, (QU)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages; 55 (QV)Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages; 58 Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages; 60 (QW)Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim) and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.

61 In the wilderness: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and (QX)En Gedi: six cities with their villages.

63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, (QY)the children of Judah could not drive them out; (QZ)but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

Ephraim and West Manasseh

16 The lot [cf]fell to the children of Joseph from the Jordan, by Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the (RA)wilderness that goes up from Jericho through the mountains to [cg]Bethel, then went out [ch]from (RB)Bethel to Luz, passed along to the border of the Archites at Ataroth, and went down westward to the boundary of the Japhletites, (RC)as far as the boundary of Lower Beth Horon to (RD)Gezer; and [ci]it ended at the sea.

(RE)So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their [cj]inheritance.

The Land of Ephraim

(RF)The border of the children of Ephraim, according to their families, was thus: The border of their inheritance on the east side was (RG)Ataroth Addar (RH)as far as Upper Beth Horon.

And the border went out toward the sea on the north side of (RI)Michmethath; then the border went around eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed by it on the east of Janohah. Then it went down from Janohah to Ataroth and [ck]Naarah, reached to Jericho, and came out at the Jordan.

The border went out from (RJ)Tappuah westward to the (RK)Brook Kanah, and [cl]it ended at the sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families. (RL)The separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

10 (RM)And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day and have become forced laborers.

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

17 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the (RN)firstborn of Joseph: namely for (RO)Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war; therefore he was given (RP)Gilead and Bashan. And there was a lot for (RQ)the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: (RR)for the children of [cm]Abiezer, the children of Helek, (RS)the children of Asriel, the children of Shechem, (RT)the children of Hepher, and the children of Shemida; these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

But (RU)Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they came near before (RV)Eleazar the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the rulers, saying, (RW)“The Lord commanded Moses to give us an [cn]inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore, according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers. Ten shares fell to (RX)Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan, because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.

And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to (RY)Michmethath, that lies east of Shechem; and the border went along south to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, but (RZ)Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. And the [co]border descended to the [cp]Brook Kanah, southward to the brook. (SA)These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook; and it ended at the sea.

10 Southward it was Ephraim’s, northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was its border. Manasseh’s territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. 11 And in Issachar and in Asher, (SB)Manasseh had (SC)Beth Shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of En Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns—three hilly regions. 12 Yet (SD)the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 13 And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to (SE)forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

More Land for Ephraim and Manasseh

14 (SF)Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only (SG)one [cq]lot and one share to inherit, since we are (SH)a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?”

15 So Joshua answered them, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.”

16 But the children of Joseph said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have (SI)chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are (SJ)of the Valley of Jezreel.”

17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one [cr]lot, 18 but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its [cs]farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, (SK)though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

The Remainder of the Land Divided

18 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together (SL)at Shiloh, and (SM)set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance.

Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: (SN)“How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. And they shall divide it into seven parts. (SO)Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the (SP)house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. You shall therefore [ct]survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, (SQ)that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. (SR)But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. (SS)And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to [cu]survey the land, saying, “Go, walk (ST)through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” So the men went, passed through the land, and [cv]wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Then Joshua cast (SU)lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there (SV)Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their [cw]divisions.

The Land of Benjamin

11 (SW)Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12 (SX)Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (SY)(which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side (SZ)of Lower Beth Horon.

14 Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and [cx]it ended at (TA)Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.

15 The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to (TB)the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before (TC)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the [cy]Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to (TD)En Rogel. 17 And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to (TE)the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 Then it passed along toward the north side of [cz]Arabah, and went down to Arabah. 19 And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then [da]the border ended at the north bay at the (TF)Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages; 25 (TG)Gibeon, (TH)Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Eleph, (TI)Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Simeon’s Inheritance with Judah

19 The (TJ)second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. (TK)And their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. (TL)They had in their inheritance Beersheba (Sheba), Moladah, Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen: thirteen cities and their villages; Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan: four cities and their villages; and all the villages that were all around these cities as far as Baalath Beer, (TM)Ramah of the South. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was [db]too much for them. (TN)Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of [dc]that people.

The Land of Zebulun

10 The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun according to their families, and the border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. 11 (TO)Their border went toward the west and to Maralah, went to Dabbasheth, and extended along the brook that is (TP)east of Jokneam. 12 Then from Sarid it went eastward toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth Tabor, and went out toward (TQ)Daberath, bypassing Japhia. 13 And from there it passed along on the east of (TR)Gath Hepher, toward Eth Kazin, and extended to Rimmon, which borders on Neah. 14 Then the border went around it on the north side of Hannathon, and [dd]it ended in the Valley of Jiphthah El. 15 Included were Kattath, Nahallal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages. 16 This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Issachar

17 The fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. 18 And their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem, 19 Haphraim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Abez, 21 Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez. 22 And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazimah, and (TS)Beth Shemesh; their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. 23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Asher

24 (TT)The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families. 25 And their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, 26 Alammelech, Amad, and Mishal; it reached to (TU)Mount Carmel westward, along the Brook Shihor Libnath. 27 It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon; and it reached to Zebulun and to the Valley of Jiphthah El, then northward beyond Beth Emek and Neiel, bypassing (TV)Cabul which was on the left, 28 including [de]Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, (TW)as far as Greater Sidon. 29 And the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea by the region of (TX)Achzib. 30 Also Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were included: twenty-two cities with their villages. 31 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Naphtali

32 (TY)The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families. 33 And their border began at Heleph, enclosing the territory from the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, Adami Nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; [df]it ended at the Jordan. 34 (TZ)From Heleph the border extended westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there toward Hukkok; it adjoined Zebulun on the south side and Asher on the west side, and ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise. 35 And the fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 (UA)Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, 38 Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh: nineteen cities with their villages. 39 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Dan

40 (UB)The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. 41 And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, (UC)Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 42 (UD)Shaalabbin, (UE)Aijalon, Jethlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, (UF)Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, 46 Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the region [dg]near [dh]Joppa. 47 And the (UG)border of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it; and they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, (UH)Dan, after the name of Dan their father. 48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

49 When they had [di]made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. 50 According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked for, (UI)Timnath (UJ)Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it.

51 (UK)These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot (UL)in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.

The Cities of Refuge(UM)

20 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: (UN)‘Appoint[dj] for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and [dk]declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. (UO)Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. And he shall dwell in that city (UP)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

So they appointed (UQ)Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, (UR)Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and (US)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in (UT)the mountains of Judah. And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned (UU)Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, (UV)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and (UW)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. (UX)These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who [dl]dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood (UY)until he stood before the congregation.

Cities of the Levites(UZ)

21 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the (VA)Levites came near to (VB)Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. And they spoke to them at (VC)Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, (VD)“The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.” So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:

Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And (VE)the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, (VF)had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin. (VG)The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

And (VH)the children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

(VI)The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

(VJ)And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, (VK)as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are [dm]designated by name, 10 which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for the lot was theirs first. 11 (VL)And they gave them [dn]Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of (VM)Anak), (VN)which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it. 12 But (VO)the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 Thus (VP)to the children of Aaron the priest they gave (VQ)Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), (VR)Libnah with its common-land, 14 (VS)Jattir with its common-land, (VT)Eshtemoa with its common-land, 15 (VU)Holon with its common-land, (VV)Debir with its common-land, 16 (VW)Ain with its common-land, (VX)Juttah with its common-land, and (VY)Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes; 17 and from the tribe of Benjamin, (VZ)Gibeon with its common-land, (WA)Geba with its common-land, 18 Anathoth with its common-land, and (WB)Almon with its common-land: four cities. 19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

20 (WC)And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their [do]lot from the tribe of Ephraim. 21 For they gave them (WD)Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), (WE)Gezer with its common-land, 22 Kibzaim with its common-land, and Beth Horon with its common-land: four cities; 23 and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common-land, Gibbethon with its common-land, 24 (WF)Aijalon with its common-land, and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: four cities; 25 and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common-land and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: two cities. 26 All the ten cities with their common-lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath.

27 (WG)Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave (WH)Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities; 28 and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land, 29 Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities; 30 and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land, 31 Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities; 32 and from the tribe of Naphtali, (WI)Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

34 (WJ)And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land, 35 Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities; 36 [dp]and from the tribe of Reuben, (WK)Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land, 37 Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities; 38 and from the tribe of Gad, (WL)Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land, 39 Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all. 40 So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

41 (WM)All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands. 42 Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.

The Promise Fulfilled

43 So the Lord gave to Israel (WN)all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they (WO)took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 (WP)The Lord gave them (WQ)rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And (WR)not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 (WS)Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Eastern Tribes Return to Their Lands

22 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and said to them: “You have kept (WT)all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, (WU)and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not [dq]left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given (WV)rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, (WW)which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But (WX)take[dr] careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, (WY)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” So Joshua (WZ)blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, (XA)but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. (XB)Divide the [ds]spoil of your enemies with your brethren.”

So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to (XC)the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

An Altar by the Jordan

10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar. 11 Now the children of Israel (XD)heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the [dt]frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” 12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, (XE)the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.

13 Then the children of Israel (XF)sent (XG)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, 14 and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and (XH)each one was the head of the house of his father among the [du]divisions of Israel. 15 Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: ‘What (XI)treachery[dv] is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, (XJ)that you might rebel this day against the Lord? 17 Is the iniquity (XK)of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, 18 but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow (XL)He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 [dw]Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, (XM)where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. 20 (XN)Did not Achan the son of Zerah [dx]commit a trespass in the [dy]accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”

21 Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the [dz]divisions of Israel: 22 “The Lord (XO)God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He (XP)knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. 23 If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself (XQ)require an account. 24 But in fact we have done it [ea]for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord.’ 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, 27 but that it may be (XR)a [eb]witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may (XS)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.” ’ 28 Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, (XT)to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”

30 Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the [ec]divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is (XU)among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”

32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel (XV)blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

34 The children of Reuben and the children of [ed]Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua’s Farewell Address

23 Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord (XW)had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua (XX)was old, advanced in age. And Joshua (XY)called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them:

“I am old, advanced in age. You have seen all that the (XZ)Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the (YA)Lord your God is He who has fought for you. See, (YB)I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. And the Lord your God (YC)will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, (YD)as the Lord your God promised you. (YE)Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, (YF)lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, and lest you (YG)go[ee] among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not (YH)make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to (YI)swear by them; you shall not (YJ)serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall (YK)hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. (YL)For the Lord has [ef]driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10 (YM)One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, (YN)as He promised you. 11 (YO)Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. 12 Or else, if indeed you do (YP)go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and (YQ)make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, 13 know for certain that (YR)the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. (YS)But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

14 “Behold, this day (YT)I[eg] am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that (YU)not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. 15 (YV)Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you (YW)all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. 16 [eh]When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the (YX)anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

The Covenant at Shechem(YY)

24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to (YZ)Shechem and (ZA)called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they (ZB)presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (ZC)‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of [ei]the River in old times; and (ZD)they served other gods. (ZE)Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of [ej]the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his [ek]descendants and (ZF)gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave (ZG)Jacob and Esau. To (ZH)Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, (ZI)but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. (ZJ)Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and (ZK)I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.

‘Then I (ZL)brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. So they cried out to the Lord; and He put (ZM)darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And (ZN)your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness (ZO)a long time. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, (ZP)and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then (ZQ)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and (ZR)sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 (ZS)But I would not listen to Balaam; (ZT)therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 Then (ZU)you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And (ZV)the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 (ZW)I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but (ZX)not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and (ZY)cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

14 (ZZ)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in (AAA)sincerity and in truth, and (AAB)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of [el]the River and (AAC)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, (AAD)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether (AAE)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of [em]the River, or (AAF)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. (AAG)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. (AAH)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

19 But Joshua said to the people, (AAI)“You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a (AAJ)holy God. He is (AAK)a jealous God; (AAL)He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 (AAM)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, (AAN)then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”

22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (AAO)you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses!”

23 “Now therefore,” he said, (AAP)“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and (AAQ)incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”

24 And the people (AAR)said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

25 So Joshua (AAS)made[en] a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance (AAT)in Shechem.

26 Then Joshua (AAU)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took (AAV)a large stone, and (AAW)set it up there (AAX)under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be (AAY)a witness to us, for (AAZ)it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So (ABA)Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

Death of Joshua and Eleazar

29 (ABB)Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at (ABC)Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

31 (ABD)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had (ABE)known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.

32 (ABF)The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground (ABG)which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred [eo]pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.

33 And (ABH)Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to (ABI)Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 1:6 give as a possession
  2. Joshua 1:7 have success or act wisely
  3. Joshua 1:8 you shall be constantly in
  4. Joshua 1:14 cross over ahead of
  5. Joshua 2:1 Heb. Shittim
  6. Joshua 2:1 Lit. lay down
  7. Joshua 2:12 a pledge of truth
  8. Joshua 2:17 free from obligation to this oath
  9. Joshua 2:18 Lit. gather
  10. Joshua 2:19 free from obligation
  11. Joshua 2:19 guilt of bloodshed
  12. Joshua 2:20 free from obligation to
  13. Joshua 3:1 Heb. Shittim
  14. Joshua 3:3 carrying
  15. Joshua 3:5 Consecrate
  16. Joshua 3:7 make you great
  17. Joshua 3:16 Qr., many mss. and vss. from Adam
  18. Joshua 4:13 equipped
  19. Joshua 4:14 made Joshua great
  20. Joshua 4:24 Lit. all days
  21. Joshua 5:1 So with Kt.; Qr., some Heb. mss. and editions, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. they
  22. Joshua 5:1 their courage failed
  23. Joshua 5:3 Heb. Gibeath Haaraloth
  24. Joshua 5:6 destroyed
  25. Joshua 5:9 Lit. Rolling
  26. Joshua 5:11 roasted
  27. Joshua 6:11 spent the night
  28. Joshua 6:19 set apart
  29. Joshua 6:19 shall go
  30. Joshua 6:26 warned
  31. Joshua 7:1 acted unfaithfully
  32. Joshua 7:1 devoted
  33. Joshua 7:1 Zimri, 1 Chr. 2:6
  34. Joshua 7:5 the people’s courage failed
  35. Joshua 7:7 Heb. YHWH, Lord
  36. Joshua 7:8 Lit. neck
  37. Joshua 7:11 devoted
  38. Joshua 7:13 set apart
  39. Joshua 7:15 overstepped
  40. Joshua 7:21 desired
  41. Joshua 7:26 Lit. Trouble
  42. Joshua 8:12 Ai
  43. Joshua 9:2 Lit. mouth
  44. Joshua 9:4 acted as envoys
  45. Joshua 9:4 Lit. tied up
  46. Joshua 9:6 treaty
  47. Joshua 9:14 Lit. did not inquire at the mouth of
  48. Joshua 9:18 strike
  49. Joshua 10:21 criticized, lit. sharpened his tongue
  50. Joshua 10:25 The captains
  51. Joshua 10:26 The kings
  52. Joshua 10:28 So with MT and most authorities; many Heb. mss., some LXX mss., and some Tg. mss. it
  53. Joshua 10:40 Heb. Negev, and so throughout the book
  54. Joshua 11:5 Lit. assembled by appointment
  55. Joshua 11:8 Heb. Sidon Rabbah
  56. Joshua 11:8 Heb. Misrephoth Maim, lit. Burnings of Water
  57. Joshua 11:13 Heb. tel, a heap of successive city ruins
  58. Joshua 11:15 Lit. He turned aside from nothing
  59. Joshua 11:16 Heb. arabah
  60. Joshua 11:17 Lit. The Smooth or Bald Mountain
  61. Joshua 11:20 Lit. to make strong
  62. Joshua 12:3 Sea of Galilee
  63. Joshua 12:3 Lit. Sea of the Plain, the Dead Sea
  64. Joshua 12:3 Or Teman
  65. Joshua 12:3 Or Ashdoth Pisgah
  66. Joshua 12:7 Lit. The Bald Mountain
  67. Joshua 12:18 Or Sharon
  68. Joshua 13:5 Or Giblites
  69. Joshua 13:6 Heb. Misrephoth Maim, lit. Burnings of Water
  70. Joshua 13:6 apportion
  71. Joshua 13:12 Lit. struck
  72. Joshua 13:12 dispossessed
  73. Joshua 13:14 no land as a possession
  74. Joshua 13:22 diviner
  75. Joshua 13:27 Sea of Galilee
  76. Joshua 13:32 apportioned
  77. Joshua 14:8 courage of the people fail
  78. Joshua 14:10 Lit. walked
  79. Joshua 15:1 allotment
  80. Joshua 15:8 Lit. Giants
  81. Joshua 15:10 turned around
  82. Joshua 15:16 Lit. strikes
  83. Joshua 15:40 Or Lahmam
  84. Joshua 16:1 Lit. went out
  85. Joshua 16:1 LXX Bethel Luz
  86. Joshua 16:2 LXX to Bethel,
  87. Joshua 16:3 Lit. the goings out of it were at the sea
  88. Joshua 16:4 possession
  89. Joshua 16:7 Naaran, 1 Chr. 7:28
  90. Joshua 16:8 Lit. the goings out of it were at the sea
  91. Joshua 17:2 Jeezer, Num. 26:30
  92. Joshua 17:4 possession
  93. Joshua 17:9 boundary
  94. Joshua 17:9 Wadi
  95. Joshua 17:14 allotment
  96. Joshua 17:17 allotment
  97. Joshua 17:18 Lit. goings out
  98. Joshua 18:6 describe in writing
  99. Joshua 18:8 describe in writing
  100. Joshua 18:9 described it in writing
  101. Joshua 18:10 portions
  102. Joshua 18:14 Lit. its goings out were
  103. Joshua 18:16 Lit. Giants
  104. Joshua 18:18 Beth Arabah, Josh. 15:6; 18:22
  105. Joshua 18:19 Lit. the goings out of the border were
  106. Joshua 19:9 too large
  107. Joshua 19:9 Lit. them
  108. Joshua 19:14 Lit. the goings out of it were
  109. Joshua 19:28 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; a few Heb. mss. Abdon (cf. 21:30 and 1 Chr. 6:74)
  110. Joshua 19:33 Lit. its goings out were
  111. Joshua 19:46 over against
  112. Joshua 19:46 Heb. Japho
  113. Joshua 19:49 finished
  114. Joshua 20:2 Designate
  115. Joshua 20:4 states
  116. Joshua 20:9 As a resident alien
  117. Joshua 21:9 Lit. called
  118. Joshua 21:11 Lit. City of Arba
  119. Joshua 21:20 allotment
  120. Joshua 21:36 So with LXX, Vg. (cf. 1 Chr. 6:78, 79); MT, Bg., Tg. omit vv. 36, 37
  121. Joshua 22:3 forsaken
  122. Joshua 22:5 be very careful to do
  123. Joshua 22:8 plunder
  124. Joshua 22:11 Lit. front
  125. Joshua 22:14 Lit. thousands
  126. Joshua 22:16 unfaithful act
  127. Joshua 22:19 However
  128. Joshua 22:20 act unfaithfully
  129. Joshua 22:20 devoted thing
  130. Joshua 22:21 Lit. thousands
  131. Joshua 22:24 Lit. from fear
  132. Joshua 22:27 testimony
  133. Joshua 22:30 Lit. thousands
  134. Joshua 22:34 LXX adds and half the tribe of Manasseh
  135. Joshua 23:7 associate with
  136. Joshua 23:9 dispossessed
  137. Joshua 23:14 I am going to die.
  138. Joshua 23:16 Or if ever
  139. Joshua 24:2 The Euphrates
  140. Joshua 24:3 The Euphrates
  141. Joshua 24:3 Lit. seed
  142. Joshua 24:14 The Euphrates
  143. Joshua 24:15 The Euphrates
  144. Joshua 24:25 Lit. cut a covenant
  145. Joshua 24:32 Heb. qesitah, an unknown ancient measure of weight