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The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Fight the Canaanites
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Which of our tribes should attack the Canaanites first?”
2 “Judah!” the Lord answered. “I'll help them take the land.”
3 The people of Judah went to their relatives, the Simeon tribe, and said, “Canaanites live in the land God gave us. Help us fight them, and we will help you.”
Troops from Simeon came to help Judah. 4-5 Together they attacked an army of 10,000 Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, and the Lord helped Judah defeat them. During the battle, Judah's army found out where the king of Bezek[a] was, and they attacked there. 6 The king tried to escape, but soldiers from Judah caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes, 7 and he said, “I've cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings and made those kings crawl around under my table for scraps of food. Now God is paying me back.”
The army of Judah took the king of Bezek along with them to Jerusalem, where he died. 8 They attacked Jerusalem,[b] captured it, killed everyone who lived there, and then burned it to the ground.
9 Judah's army fought the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Southern Desert, and the foothills to the west. 10 After that, they attacked the Canaanites who lived at Hebron, defeating the three clans called[c] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. At that time, Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba.
11 From Hebron, Judah's army went to attack Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher. 12 Caleb[d] told his troops, “The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah.”
13 Caleb's nephew Othniel captured Kiriath-Sepher, so Caleb let him marry Achsah. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.[e] 14 Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he[f] ought to ask her father for a field. She went to see her father, and while she was getting down from[g] her donkey, Caleb asked, “What's bothering you?”
15 She answered, “I need your help. The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so please give me some spring-fed ponds for a water supply.”
Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds named Higher Pond and Lower Pond.[h]
16 The people who belonged to the Kenite clan were the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses. They left Jericho[i] with the people of Judah and settled near Arad in the Southern Desert of Judah not far from the Amalekites.[j]
17 Judah's army helped Simeon's army attack the Canaanites who lived at Zephath. They completely destroyed[k] the town and renamed it Hormah.[l]
18-19 The Lord helped the army of Judah capture Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the land near those towns. They also took the hill country. But the people who lived in the valleys had iron chariots, so Judah was not able to make them leave or to take their land.
20 (A) The tribe of Judah gave the town of Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had told them to do. Caleb defeated the three Anakim[m] clans[n] and took over the town.
The Benjamin Tribe Does Not Capture Jerusalem
21 (B) The Jebusites were living in Jerusalem, and the Benjamin tribe did not defeat them or capture the town. That's why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Benjamin.
The Ephraim and Manasseh Tribes Capture Bethel
22-23 The Ephraim and Manasseh tribes[o] were getting ready to attack Bethel, which at that time was called Luz. And the Lord helped them when they sent spies to find out as much as they could about Bethel. 24 While the spies were watching the town, a man came out, and they told him, “If you show us how our army can get into the town,[p] we will make sure that you aren't harmed.” 25 The man showed them, and the two Israelite tribes attacked Bethel, killing everyone except the man and his family. The two tribes made the man and his family leave, 26 so they went to the land of the Hittites,[q] where he built a town. He named the town Luz, and that is still its name.
Israel Does Not Get Rid of All the Canaanites
27-28 (C) Canaanites lived in the towns of Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all the villages nearby. The Canaanites were determined to stay, and the Manasseh tribe never did get rid of them. But later on, when the Israelites grew more powerful, they made slaves of the Canaanites.
29 (D) The Ephraim tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived there with Israelites all around them.
30 The Zebulun tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Kitron and Nahalol, and the Canaanites stayed there with Israelites around them. But the people of Zebulun did force the Canaanites into slave labor.
31-32 The Asher tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob, and the Asher tribe lived with Canaanites all around them.
33 The Naphtali tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath, but they did force the Canaanites into slave labor. The Naphtali tribe lived with Canaanites around them.
34 The Amorites[r] were strong enough to keep the tribe of Dan from settling in the valleys, so Dan had to stay in the hill country.
35 The Amorites on Mount Heres and in Aijalon and Shaalbim were also determined to stay. Later on, as Ephraim and Manasseh grew more powerful, they forced those Amorites into slave labor.
The Amorite-Edomite Border
36 The old Amorite-Edomite border used to go from Sela through Scorpion Pass[s] into the hill country.[t]
The Lord's Angel Speaks to Israel
2 The Lord's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim[u] and gave the Israelites this message from the Lord:
I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break, 2 (E) and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. Why haven't you kept your promise?
3 And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap[v] you into worshiping their idols.
4 The Israelites started crying loudly, 5 and they offered sacrifices to the Lord. From then on, they called that place “Crying.”[w]
Israel Stops Worshiping the Lord
6-9 (F) Joshua had been faithful to the Lord. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the Lord until Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the Lord had done for Israel.
A Lesson from a Fig Tree
(Matthew 24.32-35; Mark 13.28-31)
29 Then Jesus told them a story:
When you see a fig tree or any other tree 30 putting out leaves, you know that summer will soon come. 31 So, when you see these things happening, you know that God's kingdom will soon be here. 32 You can be sure that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all of this takes place. 33 The sky and the earth won't last forever, but my words will.
A Warning
34 Don't spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you 35 like a trap. This day will surprise everyone on earth. 36 Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you.
37 (A) Jesus taught in the temple each day, and he spent each night on the Mount of Olives. 38 Everyone got up early and came to the temple to hear him teach.
A Plot To Kill Jesus
(Matthew 26.1-5,14,16; Mark 14.1,2,10,11; John 11.45-53)
22 (B) The Festival of Thin Bread, also called Passover, was near. 2 The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus, because they were afraid of what the people might do. 3 Then Satan entered the heart of Judas Iscariot,[a] who was one of the twelve apostles.
4 Judas went to talk with the chief priests and the officers of the temple police about how he could help them arrest Jesus. 5 They were very pleased and offered to pay Judas some money. 6 He agreed and started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus when the crowds were not around.
Jesus Eats with His Disciples
(Matthew 26.17-25; Mark 14.12-21; John 13.21-30)
7 The day had come for the Festival of Thin Bread, and it was time to kill the Passover lambs. 8 So Jesus said to Peter and John, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat.”
9 But they asked, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”
10 Jesus told them, “As you go into the city, you will meet a man carrying a jar of water.[b] Follow him into the house 11 and say to the owner, ‘Our teacher wants to know where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.’ 12 The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there.”
13 Peter and John left. They found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
BOOK IV
(Psalms 90–106)
(A prayer by Moses, the man of God.)
God Is Eternal
1 Our Lord, in all generations
you have been our home.
2 You have always been God—
long before the birth
of the mountains,
even before you created
the earth and the world.
3 At your command we die
and turn back to dust,
4 (A) but a thousand years
mean nothing to you!
They are merely a day gone by
or a few hours in the night.
5 You bring our lives to an end
just like a dream.
We are merely tender grass
6 that sprouts and grows
in the morning,
but dries up by evening.
7 Your furious anger frightens
and destroys us,
8 and you know all our sins,
even those we do in secret.
9 Your anger is a burden
each day we live,
then life ends like a sigh.
10 (B) We can expect seventy years,
or maybe eighty,
if we are healthy,
but even our best years
bring trouble and sorrow.
Suddenly our time is up,
and we disappear.
11 No one knows the full power
of your furious anger,
but it is as great as the fear
that we owe to you.
12 Teach us to use wisely
all the time we have.
13 Help us, Lord! Don't wait!
Pity your servants.
14 When morning comes,
let your love satisfy
all our needs.
Then we can celebrate
and be glad for what time
we have left.
15 Make us happy for as long
as you caused us trouble
and sorrow.
16 Do wonderful things for us,
your servants,
and show your mighty power
to our children.
17 Our Lord and our God,
treat us with kindness
and let all go well for us.
Please let all go well!
The Lord Is My Fortress
1 Live under the protection
of God Most High
and stay in the shadow
of God All-Powerful.
2 Then you will say to the Lord,
“You are my fortress,
my place of safety;
you are my God,
and I trust you.”
3 The Lord will keep you safe
from secret traps
and deadly diseases.
4 He will spread his wings
over you
and keep you secure.
His faithfulness is like
a shield or a city wall.[a]
5 You won't need to worry
about dangers at night
or arrows during the day.
6 And you won't fear diseases
that strike in the dark
or sudden disaster at noon.
7 You will not be harmed,
though thousands fall
all around you.
8 And with your own eyes
you will see the punishment
of the wicked.
9 The Lord Most High
is your fortress.
Run to him for safety,
10 and no terrible disasters
will strike you
or your home.
11 (C) God will command his angels
to protect you
wherever you go.
12 (D) They will carry you
in their arms,
and you won't hurt your feet
on the stones.
13 (E) You will overpower
the strongest lions
and the most deadly snakes.
14 The Lord says, “If you love me
and truly know who I am,
I will rescue you
and keep you safe.
15 When you are in trouble,
call out to me.
I will answer and be there
to protect and honor you.
16 You will live a long life
and see my saving power.”
24 If you love your children,
you will correct them;
if you don't love them,
you won't correct them.
25 If you live right,
you will have plenty to eat;
if you don't live right,
you will go away empty.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.