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?”

² And the Lord said, ^(E)“Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

³ So Judah said to ^(F)Simeon his brother, “Come up with me to my allotted territory, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and ^(G)I will likewise go with you to your allotted territory.” And Simeon went with him. ⁴ Then Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand; and they killed ten thousand men at ^(H)Bezek. ⁵ And they found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek, and fought against him; and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶ Then Adoni-Bezek fled, and they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ And Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to gather scraps under my table; ^(I)as I have done, so God has repaid me.” Then they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

⁸ Now ^(J)the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it; they struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. ^9 (K)And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains, in the ^[a]South, and in the lowland. ¹⁰ Then Judah ^[b]went against the Canaanites who dwelt in ^(L)Hebron. (Now the name of Hebron was formerly ^(M)Kirjath Arba.) And they killed Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

^11 (N)From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. (The name of Debir was formerly Kirjath Sepher.)

^12 (O)Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.” ¹³ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, ^(P)Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. ^14 (Q)Now it happened, when she came to him, that ^[c]she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” ¹⁵ So she said to him, ^(R)“Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.”

And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

^16 (S)Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up ^(T)from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah, which lies in the South near ^(U)Arad; ^(V)and they went and dwelt among the people. ^17 (W)And Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called ^(X)Hormah. ¹⁸ Also Judah took ^(Y)Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. ¹⁹ So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had ^(Z)chariots of iron. ^20 (AA)And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then he ^[d]expelled from there the ^(AB)three sons of Anak. ^21 (AC)But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²² And the ^[e]house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, ^(AD)and the Lord was with them. ²³ So the ^[f]house of Joseph ^(AE)sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly ^(AF)Luz.) ²⁴ And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and ^(AG)we will show you mercy.” ²⁵ So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword; but they let the man and all his family go. ²⁶ And the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a city, and called its name Luz, which is its name to this day.

Incomplete Conquest of the Land

^27 (AH)However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or ^(AI)Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of ^(AJ)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. ²⁸ And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites ^[g]under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.

^29 (AK)Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.

³⁰ Nor did ^(AL)Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and ^[h]were put under tribute.

^31 (AM)Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. ³² So the Asherites ^(AN)dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.

^33 (AO)Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.

³⁴ And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; ³⁵ and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, ^(AP)in Aijalon, and in ^[i]Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they ^[j]were put under tribute.

³⁶ Now the boundary of the Amorites was ^(AQ)from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

Israel’s Disobedience

2 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: ^(AR)“I led you up from Egypt and ^(AS)brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and ^(AT)I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. ² And ^(AU)you shall make no ^[k]covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^(AV)you shall tear down their altars.’ ^(AW)But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? ³ Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be ^(AX)thorns^[l] in your side, and ^(AY)their gods shall ^[m]be a ^(AZ)snare to you.’ ” ⁴ So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.

⁵ Then they called the name of that place ^[n]Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord. ⁶ And when ^(BA)Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land.

Death of Joshua^(BB)

^7 (BC)So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. ⁸ Now ^(BD)Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. ^9 (BE)And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at ^(BF)Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ When all that generation had ^[o]been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who ^(BG)did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹ Then the children of Israel did ^(BH)evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; ¹² and they ^(BI)forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed ^(BJ)other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they ^(BK)bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They forsook the Lord ^(BL)and served ^[p]Baal and the ^[q]Ashtoreths. ^14 (BM)And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He ^(BN)delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and ^(BO)He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they ^(BP)could no longer stand before their enemies. ¹⁵ Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had ^(BQ)sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.

¹⁶ Nevertheless, ^(BR)the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they ^(BS)played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. ¹⁸ And when the Lord raised up judges for them, ^(BT)the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; ^(BU)for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. ¹⁹ And it came to pass, ^(BV)when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.

²⁰ Then the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He said, “Because this nation has ^(BW)transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not heeded My voice, ²¹ I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua ^(BX)left when he died, ²² so ^(BY)that through them I may ^(BZ)test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.” ²³ Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

The Glory of God in Zion

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

A Man with Dropsy Healed on the Sabbath

14 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. ² And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ^(A)“Is it lawful to heal on the ^[a]Sabbath?”

⁴ But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. ⁵ Then He answered them, saying, ^(B)“Which of you, having a ^[b]donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” ⁶ And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

Take the Lowly Place

⁷ So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: ⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; ⁹ and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. ^10 (C)But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. ^11 (D)For whoever exalts himself will be ^[c]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite ^(E)the poor, the ^[d]maimed, the lame, the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be ^(F)blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

The Parable of the Great Supper^(G)

¹⁵ Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, ^(H)“Blessed is he who shall eat ^[e]bread in the kingdom of God!”

^16 (I)Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, ¹⁷ and ^(J)sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ ¹⁸ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ ²⁰ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ ²¹ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the ^[f]maimed and the lame and the blind.’ ²² And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ ²³ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I say to you ^(K)that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”