The Daily Audio Bible

13 Now Y’hoshua was old; the years had taken their toll. Adonai said to him, “You are old, and the years have taken their toll; but there is yet a great deal of land to be possessed.

² “This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the P’lishtim and all the G’shuri, ³ from the Shichor which fronts Egypt, to the border of ‘Ekron (northward from there the land is considered as belonging to the Kena‘ani) — that is, the territory of the rulers of the P’lishtim in ‘Azah, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gat and ‘Ekron; also the ‘Avim ⁴ to the south; all the land of the Kena‘ani; Me‘arah, which belongs to the Tzidonim, as far as Afek and on to the border with the Emori; ⁵ the land of the Givli; all the L’vanon eastward, from Ba‘al-Gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamat.

⁶ “As for the inhabitants of the hills between the L’vanon and Misrefot-Mayim, that is, all the Tzidonim, I myself will expel them ahead of the people of Isra’el; all you have to do is assign it to Isra’el as an inheritance, as I have ordered you. ⁷ So now, divide this land as an inheritance for the nine tribes and the half-tribe of M’nasheh.”

⁸ With the half-tribe of M’nasheh, the Re’uveni and the Gadi received their inheritance, which Moshe had given them, beyond the Yarden eastward, just as Moshe the servant of Adonai had given them — ⁹ from ‘Aro‘er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau between Meidva and Divon, ¹⁰ and all the cities of Sichon king of the Emori who ruled in Heshbon to the border with the people of ‘Amon; ¹¹ and Gil‘ad, the territory of the G’shuri and Ma‘akhati, all Mount Hermon, all Bashan as far as Salkhah — ¹² that is, all the kingdom of ‘Og in Bashan, who ruled in ‘Ashtarot and Edre‘i. ‘Og was one of those remaining from the Refa’im, whom Moshe defeated and expelled. ¹³ However, the people of Isra’el expelled neither the G’shuri nor the Ma‘akhati, with the consequence that G’shur and Ma‘akhat have lived among Isra’el to this day.

¹⁴ Only to the tribe of Levi did Moshe give no inheritance; because the offerings made by fire for Adonai the God of Isra’el are its inheritance; as [Adonai] had said to Moshe.

¹⁵ Moshe gave land to the tribe of the descendants of Re’uven by clans. ¹⁶ Their territory included ‘Aro‘er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau near Meidva, ¹⁷ Heshbon and its villages on the plateau, Divon, Bamot-Ba‘al, Beit-Ba‘al-M‘on, ¹⁸ Yahatz, K’demot, Mefa‘at, ¹⁹ Kiryatayim, Sivmah, Tzeret-Shachar at the top of the valley, ²⁰ Beit-P‘or, the slopes of Pisgah, Beit-Yeshimot, ²¹ all the cities of the plateau — all the kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori, who ruled in Heshbon. Moshe defeated him with the chiefs of Midyan, along with Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva the princes of Sichon who lived in the land. ²² Along with the others the people of Isra’el killed with the sword, they also struck down Bil‘am the son of B‘or, who practiced divination. ²³ The Yarden formed the border for the descendants of Re’uven. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Re’uven by clans, with its cities and villages.

²⁴ Moshe gave land to the tribe of the Gad, to the descendants of Gad by clans. ²⁵ Their territory included Ya‘zer; all the cities of Gil‘ad; half the land of the people of ‘Amon, as far as ‘Aro‘er fronting Rabbah — ²⁶ that is, from Heshbon to Ramot-Mitzpeh and B’tonim; and from Machanayim to the border of Lidvir; ²⁷ while in the valley it included Beit-Haram, Beit-Nimrah, Sukkot and Tzafon — in other words, the rest of the kingdom of Sichon king of Heshbon; with the Yarden to the far end of Lake Kinneret as its border, their territory extended eastward. ²⁸ This is the inheritance of the descendants of Gad by clans, with its cities and villages.

²⁹ Moshe gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of the M’nasheh; it was for the half-tribe of the descendants of M’nasheh by clans. ³⁰ Their territory included Machanayim and all of Bashan — that is, all the kingdom of ‘Og king of Bashan; all the villages of Ya’ir in Bashan, sixty cities; ³¹ half of Gil‘ad; and ‘Ashtarot and Edre‘i, the cities of the kingdom of ‘Og in Bashan. All this was for the descendants of Makhir the son of M’nasheh, or, rather, for half of the descendants of Makhir, by clans.

³² These are the inheritances which Moshe distributed in the plains of Mo’av, beyond the Yarden and Yericho, eastward. ³³ But to the tribe of Levi Moshe gave no inheritance; Adonai the God of Isra’el is their inheritance — as he told them.

14 These are the inheritances which the people of Isra’el took in the land of Kena‘an, which El‘azar the cohen, Y’hoshua the son of Nun and the heads of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra’el distributed to them ² by lot for them to inherit, as Adonai ordered through Moshe, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. ³ Moshe had already given the inheritances to the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Yarden; to the L’vi’im he gave no inheritance among them. ⁴ The descendants of Yosef constituted two tribes, M’nasheh and Efrayim; and they gave no portion of the land to the L’vi’im except cities to live in, with the open land surrounding them for their livestock and crops. ⁵ As Adonai had ordered Moshe, so the people of Isra’el did — they divided the land.

⁶ The descendants of Y’hudah approached Y’hoshua in Gilgal, and Kalev the son of Y’funeh the K’nizi said to him, “You know what Adonai told Moshe the man of God about me and you in Kadesh-Barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moshe the servant of Adonai sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to reconnoiter the land, and I brought back to him an honest report. ⁸ My brothers who went up with me discouraged the people, but I followed Adonai my God completely. ⁹ On that day Moshe swore, ‘Surely the land where your foot has been will be the inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have followed Adonai my God completely.’ ¹⁰ Now, look: Adonai has kept me alive these forty-five years, as he said he would, from the time Adonai said this to Moshe, when Isra’el was going through the desert. Today I am eighty-five years old, ¹¹ but I am as strong today as on the day Moshe sent me — I’m as strong now as I was then, whether for war or simply for going here and there. ¹² Therefore, give me this hill, the one Adonai spoke about on that day; for on that day you heard how the ‘Anakim were there with great, fortified cities; perhaps Adonai will be with me, and I will drive them away, as Adonai said.”

¹³ Y’hoshua blessed him and gave Hevron to Kalev the son of Y’funeh as his inheritance. ¹⁴ So Hevron became the inheritance of Kalev the son of Y’funeh the K’nizi, as it is to this day; because he followed Adonai the God of Isra’el completely. ¹⁵ (Hevron was formerly called Kiryat-Arba; this Arba was the greatest man among the ‘Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.

18 Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart. ² “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people. ³ There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.’ ⁴ For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God, and I don’t respect other people; ⁵ but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice — otherwise, she’ll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!’”

⁶ Then the Lord commented, “Notice what this corrupt judge says. ⁷ Now won’t God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them? ⁸ I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?”

⁹ Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹ The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ ¹³ But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵ People brought him babies to touch; but when the talmidim saw the people doing this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ However, Yeshua called the children to him and said, “Let the children come to me, and stop hindering them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Yes! I tell you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it at all!”