Canaan Divided among the Tribes

13 Now ^(A)Joshua was old and advanced in years when the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and a very large amount of the land remains to be possessed. ² This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the ^(B)Geshurites; ³ from the Shihor which is ^[a]east of Egypt, even as far as the border of Ekron to the north (it is counted as Canaanite); the ^(C)five governors of the Philistines: the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite; and the Avvite ^4 [b]to the south, all the land of the Canaanite, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as ^(D)Aphek, to the border of the ^(E)Amorite; ⁵ and the land of the ^(F)Gebalite, and all of Lebanon, toward the ^[c]east, ^(G)from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon as far as ^[d]Lebo-hamath. ⁶ All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon as far as ^(H)Misrephoth-maim, all the Sidonians, I will ^[e]drive out from the sons of Israel; ^(I)only allot it to Israel as an inheritance as I have commanded you. ⁷ Now therefore, apportion this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

⁸ With ^[f]the other half-tribe, the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance which Moses gave them ^(J)beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the Lord gave to them; ⁹ from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba, as far as Dibon; ¹⁰ and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the sons of Ammon; ¹¹ and ^(K)Gilead, and the ^[g]territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah; ¹² all the kingdom of ^(L)Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses ^(M)struck them and ^[h]drove them out. ¹³ But the sons of Israel did not ^[i]drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites; instead, Geshur and Maacath live among Israel to this day. ^14 (N)Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, are ^[j]their inheritance, as He spoke to him.

¹⁵ So Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their families. ¹⁶ Their ^[k]territory was ^(O)from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley and all the plain by Medeba; ¹⁷ Heshbon and all its cities which are on the plain: Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, ^18 (P)Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ^19 (Q)Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, ²⁰ Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth-jeshimoth, ²¹ even all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the leaders of Midian, ^(R)Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the leaders of Sihon, who lived in the land. ²² The sons of Israel also killed ^(S)Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among the rest of their dead. ²³ The border of the sons of Reuben was the ^[l]Jordan. This was the inheritance of the sons of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages.

²⁴ Moses also gave an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad according to their families. ²⁵ Their territory was ^(T)Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer which is opposite Rabbah; ²⁶ and from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of ^[m]Debir; ²⁷ and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan ^[n]as a border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of ^[o](U)Chinnereth beyond the Jordan to the east. ²⁸ This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad according to their families, the cities and their villages.

²⁹ Moses also gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; and it was for the half-tribe of the sons of Manasseh according to their families. ³⁰ Their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all ^(V)the ^[p]towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities; ³¹ also half of Gilead, with ^(W)Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their families.

³² These are the territories which Moses apportioned as an inheritance in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho to the east. ³³ But ^(X)to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He had ^[q]promised to them.

Caleb’s Request

14 Now these are the territories which the sons of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which ^(Y)Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned to them as inheritances, ² by the ^(Z)lot of their inheritance, just as the Lord commanded ^[r]through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. ³ For ^(AA)Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan; but ^(AB)he did not give an inheritance to the Levites among them. ⁴ For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, ^(AC)Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to live in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property. ⁵ The sons of Israel did exactly ^(AD)as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they divided the land.

⁶ Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and ^(AE)Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God on account of ^[s]you and me in Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when ^(AF)Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. ⁸ Nevertheless my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people ^[t]melt with fear; but ^(AG)I followed the Lord my God fully. ⁹ So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘^(AH)The land on which your foot has walked shall certainly be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully.’ ¹⁰ And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. ^11 (AI)I am still as strong today as I was on the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for ^(AJ)going out and coming in. ¹² Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that ^(AK)Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will ^[u]drive them out just as the Lord has spoken.”

¹³ So Joshua ^(AL)blessed him and ^(AM)gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. ¹⁴ Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully. ¹⁵ Now the name of Hebron was previously ^[v]Kiriath-arba; for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. ^(AN)Then the land was at rest from war.

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^(A)ought to pray and not ^(B)become discouraged, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not ^(C)respect any person. ³ Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my ^[a]opponent.’ ⁴ For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^(D)respect any person, ⁵ yet ^(E)because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise ^[b]by continually coming she will ^(F)wear me out.’” ⁶ And ^(G)the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; ⁷ now, will God not ^(H)bring about justice for His ^(I)elect who cry out to Him day ^[c]and night, and will He ^(J)delay long for them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^(K)will He find ^[d]faith on the earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ Now He also told this parable to some people who ^(L)trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and ^(M)viewed others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men ^(N)went up into the ^[e]temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee ^(O)stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I ^(P)fast twice a week; I ^(Q)pay tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, ^(R)standing some distance away, ^(S)was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but ^(T)was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be ^[f]merciful to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; ^(U)for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

^15 (V)Now they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called for ^[g]the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do not ^[h]forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you, ^(W)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.

For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.