The Continuing Conquest of Canaan^(A)

1 Now after the ^(B)death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel ^(C)asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the ^(D)Canaanites to fight against them?”

¹⁸ Then the children of Israel arose and ^(A)went up to ^[a]the house of God to ^(B)inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?”

The Lord said, ^(C)“Judah first!”

^21 (A)He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him ^(B)by the judgment of the Urim. ^(C)At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation.”

^28 (A)and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ^(B)stood before it in those days), saying, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?”

And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

⁹ When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ^(A)he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah ^(B)to destroy the city for my sake.

⁹ Then answered ^(A)Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to ^(B)Ahimelech the son of ^(C)Ahitub. ^10 (D)And he inquired of the Lord for him, ^(E)gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

The Nations Remaining in the Land

3 Now these are ^(A)the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not ^[a]known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, ^(B)five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to ^[b]know whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

^5 (C)Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ⁶ And ^(D)they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods.

Incomplete Conquest of the Land

^27 (A)However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or ^(B)Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of ^(C)Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

Death of Joshua and Eleazar

^29 (A)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 ^(B)Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.