Old/New Testament
Territories Yet to be Conquered
13 When Joshua had grown old, having lived many years, the Lord told him, “You are old and have lived many years, but much of the land still remains to be possessed. 2 This territory remains: all of the Philistine regions, including all Geshurite holdings[a] 3 from the Shihor east of Egypt as far as the border of Ekron on the north (which is considered part of Canaan). This includes the five rulers of the Philistines, the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, the Ekronites, and the Avvites.
4 “To the south, there remains to be conquered[b] all the territory held by the Canaanites, Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites, 5 including the territory of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon facing the east from Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon as far as Lebo-hamath, 6 and all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out in the presence of the Israelis. 7 You only have to allocate the land as an inheritance, just as I commanded you.”
Summary of Allocations to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh
8 The descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad, along with the other half-tribe of Manasseh, received their inherited portion that Moses the servant of the Lord had given them to the east beyond the Jordan River. 9 Specifically included was from Aroer on the banks of the Wadi[c] Arnon, and the town that lies in the middle of the valley, including all the plains from Medeba to Dibon, 10 all the cities pertaining to King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonite territory,[d] 11 Gilead and the region belonging to the descendants of Geshur and Maacath, including all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah. 12 Also included was[e] the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was the sole survivor left of the Rephaim.)[f] Although Moses had defeated these people and driven them out, 13 the Israelis did not drive out the descendants of Geshur or the descendants of Maacath—Geshur and Maacath live within the territory of Israel to this day.
Allocations to Levi
14 Moses allotted no inheritance solely to the tribe of Levi. As he had mentioned to them, the offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance.
Allocations to Reuben
15 Moses allocated territory[g] to the tribe of the descendants of Reuben according to their tribes. 16 Their allocation was from the border of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley (including the city that is located in the valley, as well as the entire plain next to Medeba), 17 Heshbon and all of its cities that are on the plain, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, 18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley, 20 Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth-jeshimoth, 21 all of the cities of the plain, the entire kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who used to reign in Heshbon and whom Moses attacked, along with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, nobles of Sihon who lived in the land. 22 The Israelis also killed Beor’s son Balaam, the occult practitioner, executing him with a sword as one of those killed. 23 The border of the descendants of Reuben was the Jordan River and its banks. This was the inheritance belonging to the descendants of Reuben, divided according to their families, cities, and villages.
Allocations to Gad
24 Moses also allocated territory[h] to the tribe of Gad, that is, to the descendants of Gad, according to their families. 25 Their territory included Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer which is located near Rabbah, 26 from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, from Mahanaim as far as the border of Debir, 27 the valley containing Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon, with the Jordan River as its border as far as the southern[i] end of the Sea of Galilee[j] beyond the Jordan River to the east. 28 This was the inheritance belonging to the descendants of Gad according to their tribes, cities, and villages.
Allocations to Manasseh
29 Moses also allocated territory[k] to the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, for the half-tribe of the descendants of Manasseh according to their tribes. 30 Their territory extended from Mahanaim to include[l] all of Bashan, all of the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, all of the 60 towns of Jair there in Bashan, 31 half of Gilead, including Ashtaroth and Edrei. The cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan went to half of the descendants of Manasseh’s son Machir, according to their tribes. 32 These were the allotments[m] that Moses apportioned for an inheritance in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan River east of Jericho.
Allocations to Levi
33 Moses allotted no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as he promised them.
Summary of Allocations
14 This is what the Israelis inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Nun’s son Joshua, and the heads of the families of the Israelis allotted to them as an inheritance 2 by lot, just as the Lord commanded through Moses for the nine tribes and the half-tribe, 3 since Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe across the Jordan River. However, he did not give an inheritance to the descendants of Levi who lived among them, 4 since the descendants of Joseph constituted two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. They did not allot a portion to the descendants of Levi in the land, since they were given[n] cities to live in, along with pastures for their livestock and property. 5 So the Israelis did just as the Lord had commanded Moses—they divided the land.
Caleb’s Request(A)
6 After this, the descendants of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal. Jephunneh the Kenizzite’s son Caleb told him, “You know the promise that the Lord gave Moses the man of God concerning the two of us in Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land. I brought back an honest report[o] to him. 8 As it happened, my fellow Israelis who went up with me terrified the people, but I fully followed the Lord my God. 9 Moses made a promise to me on that day when he said, ‘The land that you covered on foot will certainly be your inheritance. It will belong to your descendants forever, because you have fully followed the Lord my God.’
10 “Look how[p] the Lord has let me survive, as you can see, these 45 years since the time when the Lord said this through Moses, while Israel was wandering through the wilderness. And look! I’m here today—my eighty-fifth birthday! 11 I’m still as strong today as I was the day Moses commissioned me. I’m as strong today as I was then, and I can go out to battle and come back successful. 12 Now then, give me that hill country about which the Lord spoke back on that day, because you yourself heard back then that the Anakim[q] were there, with great reinforced cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will expel them, just as the Lord said.”
13 So Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Jephunneh’s son Caleb for his inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Jephunneh the Kenizzite’s son Caleb, and it remains so today, because he fully followed the Lord God of Israel. 15 Hebron used to be known as Kiriath-arba, after the greatest man among the Anakim.[r] After all of this, the land enjoyed rest from war.
Allotments to Judah
15 Joshua said,[s] “Now the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah, allocated[t] according to their families, will extend to the border of Edom, southward to the wilderness of Zin until land’s end, 2 then from the southern end of the Dead Sea, that is, from the bay that orients toward the Negev,[u] 3 proceeding south to the ascent of Akrabbim, then continuing to Zin, and from there up along the south of Kadesh-barnea to Hezron, and from there up to Addar and then to Karka, 4 passing along to Azmon toward the Wadi[v] of Egypt and ending at the sea. This will be your southern border.”
5 The eastern border was the Dead Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan River. The border of the north side extended from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan River 6 toward Beth-hoglah, and continuing on the north of Beth-arabah. The border ascended up to the boundary marker set up by Reuben’s son Bohan.
7 The boundary then went up to Debir from the Achor valley and turned north toward Gilgal opposite the ascent of Adummim in the southern part of the valley. Then the border continued to the waters of En-shemesh and terminated at En-rogel. 8 Then the border proceeded up the valley of Ben-hinnom to the southern ascent of the Jebusites (that is, to Jerusalem), and from there to the top of the mountain that faces the valley of Hinnom to the west at the end of the valley of Rephaim[w] toward the north.
9 The border proceeded from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, then to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then the border curved toward Baalah (also known as Kiriath-jearim). 10 The border turned west from Baalah to Mount Seir,[x] continuing to the top of Mount Jearim on the north (also known as Chesalon), and then proceeded to Beth-shemesh, continuing through Timnah.
11 The border proceeded north to the edge of Ekron, then curved to Shikkeron and on to Mount Baalah, proceeding then to Jabneel, where the boundary ended at the sea. 12 The western border was at the Mediterranean Sea coastline. This is the border that surrounded the territory of[y] the descendants of Judah, according to their families.
Caleb’s Conquests(B)
13 Now Joshua[z] gave an allotment among the descendants of Judah to Jephunneh’s son Caleb, just as God told Joshua, Kiriath-arba, which was named after the[aa] ancestor of Anak (that is, Hebron). 14 From there Caleb drove the three descendants of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—the Anakim.[ab] 15 Then he went up from there to attack the inhabitants of Debir. (Debir was formerly known as Kiriath-sepher.)
16 Then Caleb announced, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it.” 17 Othniel, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, captured it, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as his wife. 18 Sometime later, she came to Othniel[ac] and persuaded him to ask her father for a field.
As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”
19 She replied, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negev,[ad] give me also some springs of water.” So he gave her the upper and lower springs.
City Allotments for Judah
20 Here’s a list of cities allotted for the tribe of the descendants of Judah according to their families: 21 The cities to the far south of the tribe of the descendants of Judah (toward the border of Edom in the south) included Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (also known as Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28 Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon, for a total of 29 cities and villages.
33 The lowland cities included Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuach, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim, for a total of fourteen cities and villages.
37 Also included were[ae] Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38 Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah, for a total of sixteen cities and villages.
42 Also included were Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah, for a total of nine cities and villages.
45 Also included were Ekron, with its towns and villages, 46 from Ekron to the Mediterranean[af] Sea, including everything by the edge of Ashdod, along with their villages, 47 Ashdod and its towns and villages, Gaza and its towns and villages as far as the River of Egypt, and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.
48 The hill country included Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (also known as Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, Giloh, for a total of eleven cities and villages. 52 Also included were Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janum, Beth-tappuach, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath-arba (also known as Hebron), and Zior, for a total of nine cities and villages. 55 Also included were Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah, for a total of ten cities and villages. 58 Also included were Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon, for a total of six cities and villages. 60 Also included were Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah, for a total of two cities and villages.
61 The wilderness included Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, Salt City, and En-gedi, for a total of six cities and villages.
63 Now as for the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, the descendants of Judah could not expel them, so Jebusites live with the descendants of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day they went to circumcise the child. They were going to name him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother said, “Absolutely not! He must be named John.”
61 Their friends[a] told her, “None of your relatives has that name.”
62 So they motioned to the baby’s[b] father to see what he wanted to name him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And everyone was amazed.
64 Suddenly, Zechariah could open his mouth,[c] his tongue was set free, and he began to speak and to praise God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbors, and throughout the hill country of Judea all these things were being discussed. 66 Everyone who heard about it kept thinking what had happened and asked, “What will this child become?” because it was obvious that the hand of the Lord was with him.
The Prophecy of Zechariah
67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!
He has taken care of his people and has set them free.
69 He has raised up a mighty Savior[d] for us
from the family of his servant David,
70 just as he promised long ago
through the mouth of his holy prophets
71 that he would save us from our enemies
and from the grip of all who hate us.
72 He has shown mercy to our ancestors
and remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.
He granted us 74 deliverance from our enemies’ grip
so that we could serve him without fear
75 and be holy and righteous before him all of our days.
76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
because you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way
77 and to give his people knowledge of salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
his light[e] from on high has visited us,
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in death’s shadow,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 Now the child continued to grow and to become spiritually strong.[f] He lived in the wilderness until the day he appeared in Israel.
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