Old/New Testament
I. The Situation in Canaan Following the Israelite Conquest
Chapter 1
Canaanites in Palestine. 1 [a]After the death of Joshua the Israelites consulted the Lord, asking, “Who shall be first among us to attack the Canaanites and to do battle with them?” 2 The Lord answered: Judah shall attack: I have delivered the land into his power.(A) 3 Judah then said to his brother Simeon, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, and let us do battle with the Canaanites. I will likewise go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.(B)
4 When Judah attacked, the Lord delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their power, and they struck down ten thousand of them in Bezek. 5 (C)They came upon Adonibezek in Bezek and fought against him. When they struck down the Canaanites and Perizzites, 6 Adonibezek fled. They pursued him, and when they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 “Seventy kings,” said Adonibezek, “used to pick up scraps under my table with their thumbs and big toes cut off. As I have done, so has God repaid me.” He was brought to Jerusalem, and he died there. 8 [b]The Judahites fought against Jerusalem, captured it, and put it to the sword, setting the city itself on fire.(D)
9 Afterward the Judahites went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the mountain region, in the Negeb, and in the foothills.(E) 10 Judah also marched against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron, which was formerly called Kiriath-arba, and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.(F) 11 They marched from there against the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly called Kiriath-sepher. 12 Caleb said, “To the man who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage.” 13 (G)Othniel captured it, the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. 14 When she came to him, she induced him to ask her father for some land. Then, as she alighted from the donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” 15 She answered, “Give me a present. Since you have put me in the land of the Negeb, give me pools of water.” So Caleb gave her what she wanted, both the upper and the lower pool.
16 (H)The descendants of Hobab the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law,[c] came up with the Judahites from the City of Palms to the wilderness of Arad, which is in the Negeb, and they settled among the Amalekites. 17 (I)Then Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath. They put the city under the ban and renamed it Hormah.[d](J) 18 Judah captured Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, Ekron with its territory, and Ashdod[e] with its territory.(K) 19 The Lord was with Judah, so they gained possession of the mountain region. But they could not dispossess those who lived on the plain, because they had iron chariots. 20 (L)As Moses had commanded, they gave Hebron to Caleb, who then drove the three sons of Anak away from there.
21 [f]As for the Jebusites dwelling in Jerusalem, the Benjaminites did not dispossess them, so that the Jebusites live with the Benjaminites in Jerusalem to the present day.(M)
22 The house of Joseph, too, went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 The house of Joseph reconnoitered Bethel, which formerly was called Luz.(N) 24 The scouts saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, “Tell us the way into the city, and we will show you mercy.” 25 He showed them the way into the city, and they put the city to the sword; but they let the man and his whole clan go free. 26 The man then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.
27 (O)Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean with its towns or of Taanach with its towns. Nor did they dispossess the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, those of Ibleam and its towns, or those of Megiddo and its towns. The Canaanites continued to live in this district. 28 When Israel grew stronger, they conscripted the Canaanites as laborers, but did not actually drive them out. 29 (P)Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, and so the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.
30 (Q)Nor did Zebulun dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or those of Nahalol; the Canaanites lived among them and became forced laborers.
31 (R)Nor did Asher dispossess the inhabitants of Acco or those of Sidon, or take possession of Mahaleb, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites settled among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, for they had not dispossessed them.
33 (S)Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or those of Beth-anath. They settled among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced laborers for them.
34 The Amorites hemmed in the Danites in the mountain region, not permitting them to come down onto the plain. 35 So the Amorites continued to live in Harheres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim, but as the power of the house of Joseph grew, they were conscripted as laborers.
36 The territory of the Amorites extended from the Akrabbim pass, from Sela and upward.
Chapter 2
Infidelities of the Israelites. 1 A messenger of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land which I promised on oath to your ancestors. I said, I will never break my covenant with you, 2 but you must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you must pull down their altars.(T) But you did not listen to me. Look what you have done! 3 For I also said,[g] I will not clear them out of your way; they will become traps for you, and their gods a snare for you.(U)
4 When the messenger of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud. 5 They named that place Bochim,[h] and they offered sacrifice there to the Lord.
6 (V)Then Joshua dismissed the people, and the Israelites went, each to their own heritage, to take possession of the land. 7 The people served the Lord during the entire lifetime of Joshua, and of those elders who outlived Joshua and who had seen all the great work the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten, 9 and they buried him within the borders of his heritage at Timnath-heres in the mountain region of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.(W)
10 [i]When the rest of that generation were also gathered to their ancestors, and a later generation arose that did not know the Lord or the work he had done for Israel, 11 (X)the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They served the Baals,[j] 12 and abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the one who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods, the gods of the peoples around them, and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord.
13 Because they had abandoned the Lord and served Baal and the Astartes,[k] 14 the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel, and he delivered them into the power of plunderers who despoiled them. He sold them into the power of the enemies around them, and they were no longer able to withstand their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord turned against them, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them;(Y) and they were in great distress. 16 But the Lord raised up judges to save them from the power of their plunderers; 17 but they did not listen to their judges either, for they prostituted themselves by following other gods, bowing down to them. They were quick to stray from the way their ancestors had taken, who obeyed the commandments of the Lord; but these did not. 18 When the Lord raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge and save them from the power of their enemies as long as the judge lived. The Lord would change his mind when they groaned in their affliction under their oppressors. 19 But when the judge died, they would again do worse than their ancestors, following other gods, serving and bowing down to them, relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn ways.(Z)
20 (AA)The anger of the Lord flared up against Israel, and he said: Because this nation has transgressed my covenant, which I enjoined on their ancestors, and has not listened to me, 21 I for my part will not clear away for them any more of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 (AB)They will be made to test Israel, to see whether or not they will keep to the way of the Lord and continue in it as their ancestors did. 23 Therefore the Lord allowed these nations to remain instead of expelling them immediately. He had not delivered them into the power of Joshua.
Chapter 3
1 These are the nations the Lord allowed to remain, so that through them he might test Israel, all those who had not experienced any of the Canaanite wars— 2 to teach warfare to those generations of Israelites who had never experienced it: 3 (AC)the five lords of the Philistines,[l] and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountain region of the Lebanon between Baal-hermon and Lebo-hamath. 4 These served as a test for Israel, to know whether they would obey the commandments the Lord had enjoined on their ancestors through Moses. 5 So the Israelites settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.(AD) 6 They took their daughters in marriage, and gave their own daughters to their sons in marriage,(AE) and served their gods.
II. Stories of the Judges
Othniel. 7 (AF)Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; they forgot the Lord, their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs,[m] 8 and the anger of the Lord flared up against them. He sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim,[n] king of Aram Naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord,(AG) he raised up a savior for them, to save them. It was Othniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz.(AH) 10 The spirit of the Lord came upon him,(AI) and he judged Israel. When he marched out to war, the Lord delivered Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram, into his power, and his hold on Cushan-rishathaim was firm. 11 So the land was at rest for forty years,(AJ) until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.
Ehud. 12 Again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so he strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel because they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 Taking the Ammonites and Amalek as allies, he went and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms. 14 So the Israelites served Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a savior, Ehud, son of Gera, a Benjaminite who was left-handed.[o] The Israelites would send their tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, by him. 16 Ehud made himself a two-edged dagger a foot long, and strapped it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the troops who had carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” Then when all his attendants had left his presence, 20 Ehud went in to him where he sat alone in his cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you.” So the king rose from his throne. 21 Then Ehud with his left hand drew the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s belly. 22 The hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not withdraw the dagger from the body.
23 Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shutting the doors of the upper room on Eglon and locking them. 24 When Ehud had left and the servants had come, they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, and thought, “He must be easing himself in the cool chamber.” 25 They waited until they were at a loss when he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened them, and there was their lord lying on the floor, dead.
26 During their delay Ehud escaped and, passing the sculptured stones, took refuge in Seirah. 27 On his arrival he sounded the horn in the mountain region of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the mountains with him as their leader. 28 “Follow me,” he said to them, “for the Lord has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your power.”(AK) So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, permitting no one to cross. 29 On that occasion they slew about ten thousand Moabites, all of them strong warriors. Not one escaped. 30 So Moab was brought under the power of Israel(AL) at that time; and the land had rest for eighty years.(AM)
Shamgar. 31 After him there was Shamgar,[p] son of Anath,(AN) who slew six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.(AO) He, too, was a savior for Israel.
Chapter 4
The Temptation of Jesus.[a] 1 (A)Filled with the holy Spirit,[b] Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert 2 for forty days,[c] to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.(B) 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”(C) 5 Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. 6 The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.(D) 7 All this will be yours, if you worship me.” 8 Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written:
‘You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve.’”(E)
9 [d]Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’(F)
11 and:
‘With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”(G)
12 Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”(H) 13 [e]When the devil had finished every temptation,(I) he departed from him for a time.
IV. The Ministry in Galilee
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry. 14 (J)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread[f] throughout the whole region.(K) 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
The Rejection at Nazareth.[g](L) 16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom[h] into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,[i]
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.(M)
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”[j] 22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”(N) 23 He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”[k] 24 And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 [l]Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.(O) 26 [m]It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath(P) in the land of Sidon. 27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”(Q) 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29 They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
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