Joshua

11After Moses the servant of Yahweh died, Yahweh spoke to Joshua son of Nun. He had been Moses’ helper. Yahweh said, 2“{You know that} my servant Moses has died. So now get ready to cross over the Jordan River, you and all these people. Enter the land that I will soon give to all of you Israelites. 3I will certainly give you every place where you walk in that land, just as I promised Moses. 4That land will extend from the wilderness {in the south} to the Lebanon mountains {in the northwest}, to the Euphrates River {in the northeast}, and to the Great Sea {in the west} where the sun goes down. It will include all the land where the Hittites live. 5No people group will be able to defeat you as long as you live. I will help you as I helped Moses. I promise that I will not abandon you and I will never leave you.

6Be strong and brave, because you are the one who will lead these people so that they can possess this land that I promised to give to their ancestors. 7Just be strong and very brave so that you can be sure to obey all the laws that my servant Moses gave to you. {Obey those laws} so that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not stop obeying any of them. 8Make sure to read continually the laws that God gave Moses. Constantly think about those laws so that you will carefully obey each one. If you do that, then you will be successful in the things you do. 9Do not forget that I have commanded you to be strong and brave. Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged, because I, Yahweh your God, will be with you wherever you go.”

10So Joshua commanded the leaders of the people of Israel, 11“Go throughout the camp and give these orders to the people: ‘Prepare all the food that you will take with you, because the day after tomorrow we will cross the Jordan River. We are going across in order to conquer the land that Yahweh, our God, has promised to give us.’”

12Then Joshua spoke to the people of the tribes that were the descendants of Reuben and Gad. He also spoke to the people of half of the tribe of Manasseh. {All those people were going to settle on the east side of the Jordan River.} Joshua said, 13“Keep in mind the orders that Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you. Moses said, ‘Yahweh your God will give you this land so that you can live here peacefully.’ 14Your wives, your little children, and your cows, sheep, and goats may stay here in this land that Moses gave you on the east side of the Jordan River. But all the men of fighting age{, twenty years old or older,} must cross the Jordan River. They must go ahead of the people of the other tribes. Your soldiers must take all their weapons so that they can help their fellow Israelites. 15You must help your fellow Israelites to fight against the inhabitants of the land until Yahweh has enabled them to defeat the inhabitants and settle in the land permanently and live peacefully there. That is what Yahweh has done for you in the land he has given you. Yahweh our God will do the same thing for them. After you help them, then your soldiers may return to live in this land that Yahweh’s servant Moses gave to you here on the east side of the Jordan River.”

16The people answered Joshua, “We will do everything you have told us to do, and we will go wherever you tell us to go. 17As we obeyed all that Moses told us to do, so we will obey all that you tell us to do. We pray that Yahweh your God will help you just as he helped Moses. 18We will execute anyone who refuses to obey what you say and does not do everything that you command. But {we want you, Joshua}, to be strong and brave!”

21Then Joshua son of Nun chose two men from their camp at Shittim. He told them, “Go secretly and find out all that you can about the land, especially about the city of Jericho.” They left the camp and went to Jericho. A prostitute whose name was Rahab lived in that city. They stayed in her house that night. 2Someone told the king of Jericho, “Be careful! Some Israelite men have come here tonight to spy on our land!” 3So the king of Jericho sent messengers to Rahab. They told her, “We know that some men are staying in your house. Surrender them to the king, because they have come here to spy on our land!” 4But Rahab had already hidden the two men {inside her house}. She told the messengers, “Yes, it is true that those men came to me. But I did not know that they were spies. 5Those men left Jericho at dusk, before the guards closed the city gates. I do not know where they were going. But if you hurry, you might catch up with them.” 6{But she was lying.} She had actually taken the two men up to the {flat} roof of her house. There she had hidden them under bundles of flax that she had laid out {to dry} on her roof. 7Soldiers looked for the men all along the road that leads from Jericho to the place where people can walk across the Jordan River. {They thought the men would travel on that road back to the Israelite camp.} As soon as the soldiers left the city, guards shut the city gates {to keep the spies from escaping if they were actually still in the city}.

8The two men expected to sleep on the roof, hiding under the flax stalks. But Rahab went up to the roof and spoke with them before they went to sleep. 9She said to them, “We know that Yahweh is going to enable you Israelites to conquer this land. As a result, all the people living in this land are so afraid of you that we will not be able to fight with you. 10We have heard about how Yahweh dried up the water of the Sea of Reeds so that you could cross it when you left Egypt. We also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorite people group who lived on the eastern side of the Jordan River. We heard how you totally destroyed them. 11When we heard about those things, we were very dismayed. Because of the way your God has helped you, we no longer feel courageous enough to fight against you. {We know that} Yahweh, whom you worship, is the true God. He is the God who rules over everything. {And if he is helping you, then we cannot resist you.} 12So now I want you to swear a solemn oath to me by Yahweh that you will act kindly to me and my family because I have acted kindly toward you. I also want you to give me some proof that you will do what you promise, 13Spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all of their families. Promise me that you Israelites will not kill us {when you destroy this city}.” 14The two men told her, “May Yahweh cause us to die if we let anyone kill you or your family! If you do not tell others what we are planning to do, then we will act kindly toward you and all your family. We will not kill you when Yahweh enables us to conquer this land.” 15{One of} the outside walls of the house where Rahab lived was part of the wall that was around the city of Jericho. She fastened a rope and hung it outside a window that was in that wall. That allowed the men to climb down the wall {and escape from the city, even though the king’s men had closed the gates}. 16Then she said to them, “When you leave the city, go up into the hills so that the men who are searching for you will not find you. Hide in caves in the hills for three days, until the men who are searching for you return to the city. Then you will be able to safely return to your camp.” 17The two men {gave her a red cord, and} said to her, “This is what you must do. If you do not do this, we will not have to do what you made us promise to do. 18When we come into the land, you must tie this red cord in the window through which you let us down. You must gather together your father and mother, your brothers and sisters, and their families inside your house. 19If anyone in your family leaves the house and goes into the street, {our soldiers} will kill them, and we will not be guilty. But if they injure anyone who is in this house with you, we will be guilty. 20But if you tell anyone what we are planning to do, we will not have to do what you made us promise to do.” 21Rahab said, “I agree to do what you say.” Then she sent them away, and they left her house. And she tied the red cord so it would hang out of the window. 22When the two men left the city, they went up into the hills. They stayed there for three days while the men who had been sent by the king continued to search for them. They searched all along the road, but they did not find the two men. {So they gave up and returned to Jericho.} 23Then the two men started back toward their camp. They came down from the hills, crossed the Jordan River, and returned to the Israelite camp. They told Joshua everything that had happened to them. 24They said to Joshua, “We are certain that Yahweh is going to enable us to conquer that whole land. We know that because all the people there are very afraid of us.”

31Joshua {and all the other Israelites} got up early the next morning. They left their camp at Shittim and went down to the Jordan River. They camped there before they crossed over the river. 2They rested for one day, and the morning after that, the leaders of the people went throughout the camp. 3They instructed the people, “When you see some of the priests, who are the descendants of Levi, carrying the sacred chest of Yahweh your God, then {you will know} it is time to leave this place and follow the sacred chest. 4Since you have not gone this way before, you do not know where you should go. So you {must follow the priests so that you} will know the direction that you should travel, but stay at least 1,000 yards away from the sacred chest. Do not come closer than that.”

5Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Perform the ceremonies that will make yourselves acceptable to Yahweh, because tomorrow he is going to do things for you that will amaze you!”

6Then Joshua said to the priests, “Carry the sacred chest and go in front of the people.” So they lifted up the sacred chest and went in front of the people.

7Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “This is the day when I will begin to cause all the people of Israel to honor you greatly as their leader. They will understand that I am helping you just as I helped Moses. 8Tell the priests who are carrying the sacred chest, ‘When you come to the edge of the Jordan River, stand still in the water.’” 9Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come close to me and listen to what Yahweh, your God, will tell you.” 10{When they came near}, Joshua said, “This is how you will know that God, who lives and can do anything, acts on your behalf. You will certainly see him expel from the land the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11Know with certainty that Yahweh is the one who rules over all the earth. The sacred chest belongs to him, and the priests will carry it into the Jordan River ahead of you. 12So choose 12 men, one from each of the tribes of Israel. 13When the priests who are carrying the chest of Yahweh, who rules over all the earth, put their feet in the waters of the Jordan River, the water will stop flowing. The water coming from upstream will pile up {because Yahweh will cause them to be blocked}.”

14So the Israelites packed up their tents so that they could go across the Jordan River. The priests who were carrying the sacred chest went in front of the people. 15{It was springtime,} when people harvest their crops, and at that time the Jordan River floods over all its banks. But the moment the priests who carried the sacred chest reached the edge of the river and stepped into the water, 16the water stopped flowing. The water piled up far upstream, at a town named Adam, near the city named Zarethan. The water stopped flowing down to the Sea of Arabah, which people also call the Sea of Salt. {The water} completely stopped flowing, and the people were able to cross the river near Jericho. 17The priests who were carrying the sacred chest of Yahweh stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan {riverbed}. They continued to stand there until all the people of Israel had crossed the river on dry ground.

41After all the people of Israel had finished crossing the Jordan River, Yahweh said to Joshua, 2“Choose 12 men, one from each tribe {of Israel}. 3Tell them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the dry Jordan {riverbed} where the priests are standing. Tell them to carry those stones and put them down at the place you will stay tonight.”

4{So Joshua chose 12 men,} one from each tribe of Israel. Then Joshua called them together 5and said to them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan {riverbed}, in front of {the priests who are standing and holding} the sacred chest of Yahweh your God. Each of you must pick up a {large} stone, one for each tribe. Each of you is to carry a stone on his shoulder. That will be a total of 12 stones for the 12 tribes of the people of Israel. 6These stones will be a monument for you to see. In the future, your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7Tell them that {these stones are here} because Yahweh blocked the water in the Jordan River {so that it stopped flowing} when the priests were carrying the sacred chest of Yahweh. When the chest was carried into the Jordan River, Yahweh blocked the water {so that we were able to cross the Jordan on dry ground}. These stones will cause our descendants to remember forever what Yahweh has done.”

8So those 12 men did exactly what Joshua had told them to do. They went and picked up 12 {large} stones from the middle of the Jordan {riverbed}, one stone for each of the tribes of Israel. That was what Yahweh had told Joshua. Then they carried the stones to their camp. They put the stones down there. 9Then Joshua {took} 12 {other large} stones and stacked them in a pile in the middle of the Jordan {riverbed} where the priests who carried the sacred chest were standing. And those stones are still there.

10The priests who carried the chest remained standing in the middle of the Jordan {riverbed} until the Israelites had finished doing everything that Yahweh had commanded Joshua to tell them to do. These were the same instructions that Moses had given to Joshua. The Israelites crossed {the riverbed} quickly. 11As soon as all the people had crossed over, then the priests carried the sacred chest of Yahweh across the river. The people watched them do that. 12The soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, crossed over ahead of the rest of the Israelite people. They brought their weapons with them. That was what Moses had ordered them to do. 13As Yahweh was watching, about 40,000 soldiers crossed the riverbed. These men were ready fight in the Israelite army. They were heading for the plains of Jericho, where they would fight a battle. 14On that day, Yahweh caused all the people of Israel to honor Joshua greatly as their leader. And they deeply respected Joshua his entire life, just as they had deeply respected Moses. 15Yahweh said to Joshua, 16“Order the priests who are carrying the sacred chest of the testimony to come up from the Jordan {riverbed}.” 17So Joshua commanded the priests to come up from the Jordan {riverbed}. 18Then the priests, carrying the sacred chest of Yahweh, came up out of the Jordan {riverbed}. As soon as the priests walked up out of the riverbed onto the riverbank, the water of the Jordan River started flowing again, and the river overflowed its banks as it had been doing before.

19It was on the tenth day of the first month of their year that the Israelite people crossed over the Jordan {riverbed} and camped at a place called Gilgal. That is east of the land near the city of Jericho. 20At Gilgal, Joshua set up the 12 {large} stones that the 12 men had carried from the Jordan {riverbed}. 21Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “In the future, when your descendants ask, ‘Why are these stones here?’ 22tell them, ‘This is where we Israelites crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.’ 23While you were watching, Yahweh, the God you worship, dried up the river for you, until we had all crossed it. Yahweh, the God we worship, did {to the Jordan River} exactly what he did to the Sea of Reeds. He caused that to become dry, as our parents were watching, until they all crossed it. 24{Yahweh did that} in order that all the peoples of the earth would know that he is very powerful. And because you have seen this, as a result, you will always revere Yahweh your God.”

51The leaders of the Amorites and Canaanites heard about how Yahweh had dried up the water of the Jordan River in front of the Israelites so that they could cross it. Those leaders included all the kings of the Amorites who {lived} on the west side of the Jordan River, toward the {Great} Sea. They also included all the kings of the Canaanites, who {lived} close to the {Great} Sea. When those kings heard {what Yahweh had done}, they became very afraid and no longer desired to fight {the Israelites}.

2While {the Israelites were staying at Gilgal,} Yahweh said to Joshua, “{Someone had circumcised the Israelite males who lived in Egypt before they left there. Now} make knives from flint stones and circumcise all the Israelite males whom no one has yet circumcised.” 3So Joshua {commanded the people} to make knives from flint stones and circumcise the Israelite males at {a place that people now call} Circumcision Hill. 4This is why they circumcised the Israelite males at this time. All of the men who left Egypt, all those old enough to be soldiers, had died in the desert after they left Egypt. 5Someone had circumcised those men when they were children in Egypt. But no one had circumcised the boys whose mothers gave birth to them while they were in the wilderness, after they left Egypt. 6The people of Israel traveled through the wilderness for 40 years, until all the men who were old enough to be soldiers, who had left Egypt, had died. This happened because they had not obeyed Yahweh. So Yahweh swore to them that they would not be able to enter the land that he had promised to our ancestors. He said that he would give that very fertile land to us, their descendants. 7The sons of those who had disobeyed Yahweh were the ones whom Joshua and other Israelite leaders circumcised {at Gilgal}. They circumcised them there because no one had done that while they were traveling in the wilderness. 8After the leaders had circumcised all the Israelite males, they remained in the camp and rested until they had healed. 9Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “People thought badly of you because they considered you to be just former Egyptian slaves. But now I have made you a distinct nation.” Because of that, people called that place Gilgal, and it still has that name even now.

10On the evening of the fourteenth day of that month, while the people of Israel were staying at Gilgal, on the plain near the city of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover festival. 11The day after they celebrated the Passover festival, they gathered barley grain in that area. They made some of the barley grain into unleavened bread and ate, and they roasted and ate some of it. 12The next day, {Yahweh} stopped {sending} manna for the people of Israel {to eat}. From then on, they ate food that grew in the land of Canaan.

13One day, when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw someone who appeared to be a man standing in front of him. The man was holding a sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you going to fight for us or against us?” 14The man replied, “I am not a soldier in any human army. Rather, I am the commander of Yahweh’s army. I have come {here to help you}.” Then Joshua very respectfully got down on his knees and touched his face to the ground. Joshua said to him, “What do you want me to do? I will do it.” 15The commander of Yahweh’s army replied, “The ground on which you are standing is holy {because I am here}. So take off your sandals.” So Joshua took off his sandals.

61Because {the people of Jericho were afraid} of the army of Israel, {the guards of Jericho} tightly shut the city gates. No one was allowed to enter {the city} or leave {it}. 2Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Pay attention {to what I am about to tell you}! I am going to enable your army to conquer the city of Jericho and its king and its soldiers. 3You and your army must march around the city once a day for six days. 4Tell seven priests to march around {with you and the army}. Each of the priests must carry a ram’s horn that they can blow as they march ahead of the sacred chest of Yahweh. On the seventh day, you and the army and the seven priests must march around the city seven times, and the priests must be blowing the horns while they march. 5{After they have all marched around the city seven times, then} the priests must blow their horns very loudly. When you and the Israelite soldiers hear that, you must all shout very loudly. Then the city wall will collapse onto itself, and all the Israelite soldiers will go straight into the city.”

6So Joshua summoned the priests and said to them, “Tell {four} priests to carry Yahweh’s sacred chest, and tell seven {other} priests to carry horns and walk ahead of the sacred chest of Yahweh.” 7And he told the Israelite soldiers and priests, “Start marching. March around the city with some soldiers with weapons marching in front. Behind them will march the seven priests with horns, and behind them will march the {four} priests carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest.”

8After Joshua told them that, the seven priests, each one carrying a horn, began marching ahead of Yahweh’s sacred chest while blowing their horns. {The four priests who} were carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest followed them. 9The group of soldiers carrying their weapons marched in front of the priests who were blowing on their horns. The rest of the soldiers followed the sacred chest. While {they were all marching, the priests} kept blowing their horns. 10But {all the Israelites, except the priests who were blowing their horns, were silent, because} Joshua had commanded them to say nothing. He had told them, “Do not make a war cry. Do not yell or say even one word until the seventh day {when we have walked around the city and} I tell you to shout. On that day, you must shout!” 11So the men carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest and all the others did what Joshua told them to do. They marched around the city one time. Then they all returned to their camp and stayed there that night.

12The next morning, Joshua and the soldiers and priests got up early and the {four} priests again carried Yahweh’s sacred chest. 13The seven priests who were carrying horns went in front of {the four priests who were carrying} Yahweh’s sacred chest. The seven priests were continually walking ahead of the sacred chest and making loud blasts with their horns as they marched. The armed soldiers walked in front of them and the rest of the soldiers followed the sacred chest of Yahweh. All this time, the seven priests kept blowing their horns. 14So on the second day, they {again} marched around the city one time and {then} returned to their camp. They did the same thing for six days.

15On the seventh day, they got up as soon as the sun rose, and they all marched around the city as they had done the previous six days. But this time they marched around the city seven times. 16As they were marching around the city the seventh time, when the priests were blowing the long blasts on their horns, Joshua commanded the Israelite soldiers, “Shout, because Yahweh is about to enable you to capture this city! 17Yahweh has declared that you must destroy the city and everything in it {to show that} it belongs to him. You must only spare Rahab the prostitute and all the people who are in her house with her, because she hid the spies we sent {to Jericho}. 18But be very careful of this: Yahweh has declared that we must destroy the people, animals, and things in the city. So you certainly must not take any of the things in the city. If you take anything, you will cause Yahweh to destroy our people and cause terrible things to happen to us. 19All the silver and gold and all the iron and bronze articles{that you find}, you must set apart for Yahweh. You must put those things in his treasury.”

20So they obeyed Joshua. When the Israelite army heard the priests begin blowing a long blast on their horns, then they shouted loudly, and the wall of the city collapsed! Then the Israelite army went up into the city. Each soldier went straight into the city from wherever he was standing when the wall fell. In that way, the Israelite army captured the city. 21They killed every living thing in Jericho. They killed all the men, women, boys, and girls. They also killed all the cattle and sheep and donkeys.

22Then Joshua said to the two men who had spied on the land, “Go to the house of that prostitute woman {who helped you}. Bring her out, along with all her family, just as you promised her you would do.” 23So, the young men who had spied on the land went and brought Rahab out of her house. They brought out her father, mother, brothers, and all her relatives {who were with her}. They brought them to a place outside the camp of Israel’s army. 24Then the Israelite soldiers burned the city, along with everything in it. But {they saved} the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron and put them into the treasury of things for the tent of meeting. 25But Joshua allowed Rahab the prostitute to live, along with her father’s household and everyone who was with her. He did that because she hid the spies that Joshua sent to spy on Jericho. She has lived among the people of Israel until this time.

26After Joshua and his soldiers had destroyed the city of Jericho, he made each of the Israelites swear that they would not rebuild the city. He said, “Yahweh will curse anyone who rebuilds this city, Jericho. When that person lays its foundation, Yahweh will cause his oldest son to die. When {he finishes building the city wall and} sets up its gates, Yahweh will cause his youngest son to die.” {All the people agreed that this should be the punishment for anyone who rebuilt the city.}

27Yahweh helped Joshua, and as a result, he became famous throughout the whole land of Canaan.

71{Yahweh had commanded the Israelites to show that all the things they found in Jericho belonged to him. To do that, the Israelites were to destroy them or put them in his treasury.} But there was a man from the tribe of Judah whose name was Achan. He was the son of Karmi, the grandson of Zabdi, and the great-grandson of Zerah. He disobeyed what Yahweh had commanded the Israelites. He took for himself some of the things Yahweh had said belonged only to him. Therefore, Yahweh became very angry with the Israelites.

2Now Joshua told some of his men to go from the city of Jericho to the town of Ai. That town was east of the city of Bethel and near the town of Beth Aven. Joshua said to them, “Go to Ai and see what we need to do to conquer it.” So the men went and did what Joshua had instructed them to do.

3When they returned, they told him, “Only a small number of people live in Ai. So just send 2,000 or 3,000 men to attack them. There is no need to send all of our soldiers.” 4So about 3,000 Israelite men went to attack Ai. But the men of Ai defeated the men of Israel so badly that the men of Israel ran away. 5The soldiers of Ai killed about 36 Israelite soldiers. They chased the rest of them from the city gate to the stone quarries. They even killed Israelite soldiers on the slopes {that led back down to the Jordan River}. When the Israelite people saw this, they became very afraid. They no longer had the courage to fight.

6Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes {to show that they were very sad that their enemies had defeated them}. They lay down on the ground in front of the sacred chest of Yahweh, and they stayed there until evening time. They also put dirt on their heads {to show that they were very sad about what had happened}. 7Then Joshua prayed and said, “Lord Yahweh, you brought us Israelites safely across the Jordan River. So I do not understand why you are now allowing the Amorites to destroy us. I really wish that we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan River! Then we would not be in this situation. 8O Lord, I do not know what to say, now that we Israelites have run away from our enemies. 9The Canaanites and all the other people who are living in this land will hear {that the army of the city of Ai defeated us}. Then they will surround us and kill us all! Then people will no longer think that you are a great and powerful God!”

10But Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stand up! Stop lying there with your face in the dirt! 11The people of Israel have sinned. They have disobeyed the commands that I instructed them to obey. They have taken from the things that I said they must devote to me. They have stolen and been deceptive and put what they have stolen in with their own possessions. 12That is why the Israelite soldiers could not defeat the soldiers of Ai. That is why they ran away from them. And now Israelites you have become something that someone should destroy. Unless you do as I commanded you and destroy the things you took from Jericho that you were supposed to devote to me, then I will not help you anymore!

13Now go and tell the people of Israel that they must prepare themselves for what will happen tomorrow. They must perform the rituals that will cause them to become acceptable to me {again}. Tell them that I said that one of you has kept some of the things that I told you to devote to me. Tell them that I said you will not be able to defeat your enemies until you get rid of those things.

14Tomorrow morning you must present yourselves before me, tribe by tribe. Then I will indicate to you which tribe {the guilty person belongs to}. Then I will indicate to you which clan {from that tribe the guilty person belongs to}. Then I will indicate to you which family he belongs to, and then I will indicate which man {in that family took the things I said you must devote to me}. 15Then you must {kill and} burn {the body of} the person who has taken some of the things that you should have given to me. You must burn him and his family and everything he owns, because he has disobeyed the agreement that I, Yahweh made with you Israelites, and because he has done a disgraceful act among the people of Israel.”

16Early the next morning, Joshua instructed all the Israelite people to come near {to the sacred tent}, tribe by tribe. {When they did that,} Yahweh indicated that a person from the tribe of Judah {was the one who had taken the things that the Israelites should have given him}. 17Then the clans of Judah presented themselves, and Yahweh indicated that someone from the clan of Zerah {was the guilty person}. Then the families of Zerah’s clan presented themselves, and Yahweh indicated that someone from the family of Zabdi {was the guilty person}. 18Then Joshua told the men from the family of Zabdi to present themselves. {When they did that,} Yahweh indicated that Achan was the guilty man. He was the son of Carmi, the grandson of Zabdi, the great-grandson of Zerah, and the great-great-grandson of Judah.

19Then Joshua said to Achan, “Young man, honor Yahweh, the God we Israelites worship, by telling the truth and confessing it before him. Now tell me what you did, and do not try to conceal it from me.”

20Achan replied, “It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh, the God we Israelites worship. This is what I did: 21I saw among the plunder {from Jericho} a beautiful coat from Babylon. I also saw 200 pieces of silver and a piece of gold that weighed the equivalent of 50 pieces of silver. I wanted those things very much, so I took them. I buried them in the ground under my tent. You will find them there. The silver pieces are buried under the other things.”

22So Joshua sent some men {to find the things that Achan had stolen from Yahweh}. They ran to Achan’s tent and found all the things he had hidden there. 23The men took the things Achan had stolen out of his tent and brought them to Joshua and to the Israelites. Then they spread them out on the ground in front of the sacred tent {as evidence that Achan was guilty of stealing from the plunder, as Yahweh had said an Israelite had done}.

24Then Joshua and the Israelites brought Achan son of Zerah up to a place that people later called the Valley of Achor. They brought the things he had stolen from Yahweh, and they also brought his sons and daughters and his wife and his cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats. They also brought his tent and everything else that belonged to him. 25Joshua said, “You have troubled us Israelites greatly, so today Yahweh will trouble you.” Then all the people of Israel threw stones at Achan and his family until they died. Then they burned them {and all their possessions} with fire.

26They piled rocks over the ashes of their corpses, and those rocks are still there now. After that, Yahweh was no longer angry {with the Israelites}. That is why the Israelites named that place the Valley of Achor. People still call it by that name now.

81Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged {because of what happened last time you fought against the men of Ai}. Take with you all the soldiers you have and go up to Ai {again}. I will certainly enable you to defeat the king of Ai and his people, and I will give you his city and his land. 2Your army must do to the city of Ai and its people and king the same thing that you did to the city of Jericho and its people and king. But {this time} I will allow you to take all their possessions and keep them for yourselves. Tell some of your soldiers to hide behind the city and prepare to attack it suddenly.”

3So Joshua led all his army toward the city of Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best soldiers and prepared them to go out during the night. 4Joshua said to them, “Listen carefully! Some of you must hide on the other side of Ai. Do not go very far from the city. Each one of you must be ready {to attack it}. 5I and the soldiers who are with me will march toward the city {in the morning}. Then the soldiers who are in the city will come out to fight us, as they did before. We will turn around and start to run away from them. 6Because they will think that we are running away from them as we did before, they will leave the city and chase after us. While we are running away from them, 7those of you who are hiding must come out and enter the city and capture it. Yahweh, your God, will enable you to conquer the city. 8After you capture the city, burn it. Do what Yahweh has commanded us to do. Those are the orders I am giving to you.”

9Then Joshua sent some of the Israelite soldiers to hide and wait at a place between Bethel and Ai. That place was on the west side of Ai. But Joshua slept that night among his other soldiers.

10Early the next morning, Joshua gathered his soldiers together. Then he and the other Israelite leaders went in front of them to Ai. 11They all set up their tents close to Ai, just to the north of the city, where all the people of the city could see them. There was a valley between them and the city of Ai. 12Joshua chose about 5,000 of his soldiers and told them to go and hide just west of Ai, between Ai and Bethel. 13So that was how Joshua and the elders {prepared for the battle. They} stationed the main group of Israelite soldiers north of Ai and they stationed the other group on the west side of Ai. That night Joshua went down into the valley.

14When the king of Ai saw {the Israelite army}, he and all his soldiers got up early {the next morning} and quickly went out of the city to fight them at a place where they had agreed to meet. That place was near the Jordan River valley. But the king of Ai did not know that some of the Israelite soldiers were hiding behind the city, ready to attack it. 15Joshua and all the Israelite soldiers {who were with him} allowed the army of Ai to push them back. They retreated toward the wilderness. 16Then the king of Ai ordered all the men in the city to chase after Joshua and his men. So they left the city and pursued them. 17All the men of Ai and also the men from the city of Bethel pursued the Israelite army. They did not leave a guard behind to defend their cities. They even left the city {gates} wide open as they went to pursue the soldiers of Israel.

18Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Lift up your curved sword and point it toward Ai, because I am going to enable your soldiers to capture it!” So Joshua pointed his curved sword toward Ai. 19When the Israelite men who were hiding saw Joshua do that, they rushed out from the places where they were hiding and ran into the city. They captured it and quickly set it on fire.

20When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city up to the sky. They could not escape in any direction, because the Israelite soldiers stopped running away towards the wilderness and turned back toward them. 21Joshua and all the Israelite soldiers knew that the men who had been hiding had captured the city and were burning it because they saw the smoke rising. So they turned around and began killing the men of Ai. 22Meanwhile, the soldiers who had captured the city came out and attacked them {from the rear}. So the men of Ai were {caught} in the middle of the two groups of Israelite soldiers. The Israelites fought against the men of Ai until they killed them all. None of the men of Ai escaped. 23But the king of Ai was still alive. They captured him and brought him to Joshua.

24The Israelite soldiers killed all the men of Ai who had come out into the fields that were in the open country to pursue them. When they had killed every one of them, then all the Israelite soldiers went back to Ai and killed everyone who was there. 25{The Israelites} killed 12,000 men and women that day. They killed everyone who lived in Ai. 26Joshua continued to point his curved sword toward Ai until the Israelites had killed all the people who lived in Ai. 27The Israelite soldiers took for themselves the animals and the other things that had belonged to the people of Ai, just as Yahweh had told Joshua that they should do.

28Joshua and his soldiers burned Ai and caused it to become a pile of ruins that no one ever rebuilt. It is still an abandoned place now. 29Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree. He left his corpse hanging there until evening. At sunset, Joshua told his men to take the king’s body down from the tree and throw it on the ground at the entrance of the city gate. {After they did that,} they piled a great mound of rocks on top of the king’s corpse. That pile of rocks is still there now.

30Then Joshua {instructed his men to} build on Ebal Mountain an altar for Yahweh, the God whom the Israelites worship. 31They built it just as Moses, Yahweh’s servant, had written previously in the book of instructions that Yahweh had given to him. They made the altar from stones that no one had cut. No one had done any work on these stones using iron tools. The Israelites then offered on the altar sacrifices to Yahweh that were burned completely, and they also made fellowship sacrifices. 32At that place, Joshua wrote on the stones {of the altar} a copy of the instructions that Yahweh had previously given to Moses. The Israelites watched Joshua do this. 33The leaders, officials, and judges of Israel and all the other Israelites were standing on both sides of the sacred chest. They were all standing facing the Levitical priests who carried the sacred chest of Yahweh. Both native-born Israelites and foreigners who were living among the Israelites were there. Half of the people stood {on one side of the valley} below Gerizim Mountain, and the other half of the people stood {on the other side of the valley} below Ebal Mountain. The sacred chest was {in the valley} between the two groups. This is what Moses, Yahweh’s servant, had previously instructed them to do when he had given instructions for blessing the people of Israel.

34Then Joshua read {to the people} everything that Moses had written. That included the things Yahweh had instructed them to do and not to do. That also included Yahweh’s teachings and the ways that he said he would bless them {if they obeyed his commands} or curse them {if they disobeyed his commands}. 35Joshua made sure to read every word that Moses had commanded them. He read every word in front of the entire assembly of Israelites. All the women and children were there as well, and also the foreigners who were living among the people of Israel.

91All the kings on the west side of the Jordan River heard about what the Israelites had done at Ai. These kings lived in the hilly region, in the western foothills, and along all the coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon. They were the kings of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Once these kings heard about what Israel had done to Ai, 2they all agreed to gather {their armies} together to fight against Joshua and the Israelite army.

3However, when the people who lived in the city of Gibeon heard that Joshua’s army had killed all the people of Jericho and Ai, 4they {decided to act differently toward the Israelites than the other kings had. The Gibeonites} decided to trick {the Israelites}. They sent some of their men to be ambassadors {for their people}. These men gathered old packs and old leather wine bags that people had mended after they had cracked. Then they put these on the backs of their donkeys. 5They put on old sandals that people had patched, and they wore old, ragged clothes. They took along bread that was hard and had become crumbled. 6They went to where Joshua and the other Israelites had set up their tents at Gilgal. They said to Joshua and the Israelite leaders, “We have traveled from a land that is far away. We want you to make a treaty with us.”

7The Israelite leaders said to these Hivite men, “You might actually live close by us. If you do, we certainly cannot make a treaty with you{, because if we did, then we would be disobeying Yahweh’s command to dispossess all the people-groups who live near us}!”

8But they replied to Joshua, “We are willing to become your subjects.”

But Joshua answered, “What people-group do you belong to, and from what place did you come from?”

9The men from Gibeon answered him, “We have come here from a faraway country because Yahweh your God has become famous. People have told us about all the {miraculous} things he did {for you} in Egypt. 10We have also heard that he helped you defeat the two Amorite kings who were on the east side of the Jordan River. These kings were Sihon, who ruled in the city of Heshbon, and Og, who ruled in the city of Ashtaroth in the region of Bashan. 11So our leaders and the rest of our people said to us, ‘Take some food with you and go to talk with the Israelites. Tell them, “We are willing to become your subjects. So make a peace agreement with us.”’ 12When we left our homes to come to you, we packed this bread fresh from the oven. But see how it is now dry and has become hard and crumbled. 13And {when we left our homes to come to you}, these leather wine bags were new. But look at them now! They are old and cracked. Our clothes have become ragged and our sandals have become worn because of our long journey here.”

14The Israelite leaders looked at the food that the men from Gibeon had brought with them {to see if it was old as they claimed}. But the Israelite leaders did not ask Yahweh what they should do. 15Then Joshua agreed to make a treaty with the men from Gibeon. He promised that the Israelites would not kill the Gibeonites. The Israelite leaders made the same promise to the men from Gibeon.

16A whole day went by after Joshua and the Israelite leaders made this treaty with the men from Gibeon. On the day after that, the Israelites learned that they actually lived close by them. 17So they travelled to see where the Gibeonites lived. They left Gilgal on one day, traveled for another whole day, and on the day after that arrived at the city of Gibeon and the surrounding towns of Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18But the Israelites still did not kill the Gibeonites {even after seeing that they lived nearby}. That was because their leaders had made a solemn vow by Yahweh their God promising them that they would not kill them.

All the people of Israel grumbled against their leaders {for making this treaty}. 19But all the leaders replied, “We made a solemn vow by Yahweh our God promising them {that we would not kill them}. So now we may not kill them. 20What we must do to the Gibeonites is let them live. If we kill them, God will be angry with us {and punish us} because we did not keep our promise to them.” 21Then the leaders announced this decision to all of the Israelites: “We must allow them to live.” But they also told the Israelites that they could make the Gibeonites slaves who would cut wood and get water for all of them. So the Israelites obeyed the instructions of their leaders.

22Joshua summoned the men from Gibeon and said to them, “Tell me why you lied to us by saying that you live very far from here, when in fact you actually live nearby! 23Because you did that, Yahweh has cursed you. You will always be our slaves. We will make you cut wood and carry water for the place where we worship our God.”

24The Gibeonites answered, “We lied to you because we were very afraid that you would kill us. We had heard that your God Yahweh instructed his servant Moses to give you all this land and kill everyone who lives in it. 25So now, you have control over us. Do to us what you think is the right thing to do.”

26So Joshua saved the lives of the Gibeonites and did not permit the army of Israel to kill them. 27But from that day on, Joshua forced the Gibeonites to become the Israelites’ slaves. They cut wood and carried water for the Israelites. They also cut wood and carried water for Yahweh’s altar, at whatever place he was going to choose {for them to build it}. They still cut wood and carry water at this present time.

101This is what happened next. Adoni Zedek was the king who ruled the city of Jerusalem. He heard that Joshua’s army had captured the city of Ai and completely destroyed it, just as they had done to the city of Jericho and its king. He also heard that the people of the city of Gibeon had made a peace agreement with the Israelites and were living among them. 2The people of Jerusalem and their king became very afraid, because the city of Gibeon was as large as the cities that had kings ruling them. It was larger than the city of Ai, and all its men were strong warriors. 3So Adoni Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, sent messages to several other kings. He sent them to Hoham, who ruled the city of Hebron, to Piram, who ruled the city of Jarmuth, to Japhia, who ruled the city of Lachish, and to Debir, who ruled the city of Eglon. 4Adoni Zedek told them, “Come and help me attack the city of Gibeon because its people have made a peace agreement with Joshua and the Israelites.”

5So these five kings of the Amorites joined their armies together. These were the kings of the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. These kings and their armies went up with all their soldiers and surrounded the city of Gibeon and started to attack it.

6The men of Gibeon sent this message to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal: “Protect us, because we are your subjects. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have joined their armies together to attack us!”

7So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including his best fighting men. 8Yahweh told Joshua, “Do not be afraid of those armies. I will enable you to defeat them. None of them will be able to resist you.”

9Joshua and his army marched all night from Gilgal and surprised the enemy armies. 10Yahweh caused the enemy armies to become confused when they saw the Israelites. The Israelites won a great victory at Gibeon. They chased their enemies along the road that goes up to Beth Horon. They continued to kill enemy soldiers all the way to the cities of Azekah and Makkedah. 11As the enemies were running away from the Israelites down the road from Beth Horon, Yahweh threw large hailstones on them from the sky. These hailstones continued to fall on them all the way to the city of Azekah. The hailstones killed more of the enemy soldiers than the Israelites killed with their swords.

12On that same day, when Yahweh was helping the Israelites defeat the Amorites, Joshua spoke to Yahweh. While the Israelites were watching, Joshua prayed, asking Yahweh to make the sun stay in place over the city of Gibeon and to make the moon stay in place over the Valley of Aijalon.

13And the sun stayed in place, and the moon did not move, until the Israelites had defeated their enemies. There is an account of this in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped moving, and it stayed in the middle of the sky and did not go down for about a whole day.

14There has never been another day like that one, either before or after it, when Yahweh answered someone’s prayer in such an amazing way. Yahweh was truly fighting for the Israelites.

15Then Joshua and all of the Israelite soldiers returned to their camp at Gilgal.

16During the battle, the five kings ran away and hid in a cave near the city of Makkedah. 17But Joshua’s soldiers discovered their hiding place and they told him that the five kings were hiding in a cave near Makkedah. 18Joshua told his men, “Roll some large stones to block the entrance of the cave. Put some guards there to watch it.” 19Then Joshua said to all the other soldiers, “Do not stay here in the camp. Chase after your enemies and attack those who have been the slowest to escape. Do not let them reach their cities. Yahweh your God will enable you to defeat them.”

20So Joshua and his soldiers chased and killed the Amorite soldiers until they had destroyed them almost completely. Only a few of them escaped to the safety of their cities, which had defensive walls. 21Then the whole Israelite army returned to Joshua at the camp at Makkedah with no enemy soldiers pursuing them. No one in that region dared to say anything bad about any of the Israelites.

22Then Joshua said, “Remove the stones from the entrance of the cave and bring those five kings to me.” 23So his soldiers brought out the five kings from the cave. They were the kings of the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 24When they brought these kings to Joshua, he called together the whole Israelite army. He said to the commanders who fought the battle with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came and put their feet on the kings’ necks {to show that they had completely defeated them and their armies}. 25Then Joshua said to his commanders, “Yahweh will do the same thing to all the enemies whom you will fight. So you have no reason to be afraid of them. Fight very bravely!” 26Then Joshua killed the five kings and hanged their bodies on five trees. He left their bodies hanging on the trees until evening. 27At sunset, Joshua ordered his men to take the bodies down from the trees and throw them into the cave where the kings had hidden. They put large stones at the entrance of the cave. Those stones are still there today.

28That same day, Joshua’s army captured the city of Makkedah. They completely destroyed that city and its king. They also completely destroyed all of the people and animals in the city. They made sure no one survived. This is just what they had done to the city of Jericho.

29Then Joshua led the whole Israelite army from Makkedah to the city of Libnah and they attacked it. 30Yahweh also helped the Israelites conquer this city and its king. The Israelite soldiers killed everyone in the city. They made sure no one survived. They treated the king of Libnah the same way they had treated the king of Jericho.

31Next, Joshua led the whole Israelite army from Libnah to the city of Lachish. They set up their camp near the city and began their attack. 32After one day of fighting, Yahweh helped the Israelites conquer Lachish. They killed everyone in the city, just as they had done to Libnah. 33During this time, King Horam of the city of Gezer brought his army to help Lachish. But Joshua’s army defeated them and killed them all.

34Then Joshua led the whole Israelite army from Lachish to the city of Eglon. They set up their camp near the city and began their attack. 35They captured Eglon that same day. They killed everyone in the city. They destroyed all the people, just as they had done in Lachish.

36After this, Joshua led the whole Israelite army up from Eglon to the city of Hebron, and they attacked it. 37They captured the city and all the nearby towns. They killed everyone, including the king. They made sure no one survived, just as they had done in Eglon.

38Then Joshua and the whole Israelite army turned back and went to the city of Debir and attacked it. 39They captured the city, its king, and all the nearby towns. They killed everyone. They made sure that. No person who lived in that area survived. They did the same things to Debir and its king that they had done to the cities of Hebron and Libnah and their kings.

40This is how Joshua conquered the whole region. He defeated all the kings and their people in the hill country, the southern desert, the western foothills, and the eastern slopes. He killed everyone in these places, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41Joshua’s army defeated all the people living in the area from Kadesh Barnea to the city of Gaza, including the region of Goshen all the way to the city of Gibeon. 42Joshua defeated all these kings and took control of their territories in a single campaign. He was able to do that because Yahweh, the God of Israel, was fighting for his people.

43After this, Joshua and the whole Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

111When King Jabin of the city of Hazor learned what had happened, he sent messages to several other kings. He sent them to King Jobab of the city of Madon, to the king of the city of Shimron, and to the king of the city of Achshaph. 2He also sent messages to the kings who ruled in the northern hill country and to the kings in the Jordan River Valley, south of the lake of Chinnereth; the kings in the low country, and the kings in the western foothills near the city of Dor. 3He sent messages to the Canaanite peoples who lived on both the eastern and western sides of the Jordan River. He also sent them to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites who lived in the hill country, and to the Hivites who lived near Mount Hermon in the region of Mizpah. 4All these kings gathered their armies together to fight. Their soldiers were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. They also brought a great number of horses and chariots with them. 5All these kings joined their forces and set up their camp together near the lake of Merom, preparing to fight against the Israelites.

6Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of these armies, because at about this time tomorrow, I will help you defeat all of them. When you attack them, you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”

7So Joshua and his whole army traveled to the lake of Merom and made a surprise attack against their enemies. 8Yahweh helped the Israelites defeat them. The Israelite army pursued them all the way to the great city of Sidon in the north, to Misrephoth Maim, and to the Valley of Mizpah in the east. The Israelites kept fighting until they had killed all their enemies. 9Then Joshua did exactly what Yahweh had told him to do. He crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

10After that, Joshua went back and captured the city of Hazor. He killed its king. Hazor was the main city that ruled all the kingdoms that had fought against Israel. 11The Israelite army killed everyone in the city. They made sure that no person survived. Then they burned the city.

12Joshua’s army captured all these cities and killed all their kings. They destroyed everything that was in the cities. They did exactly what Moses, Yahweh’s servant, had commanded them to do. 13The Israelites did not burn any of the cities that people had built on hills{, because they wanted to live in them}. But Joshua did burn the city of Hazor, even though it was on a hill. 14The Israelites took for themselves all the valuable things and all the livestock from these cities. But they killed all the people. They did not let any of the people live. 15Moses had passed on to Joshua everything that Yahweh had told him to do. And Joshua carried out all of these commands completely. He did exactly what Yahweh had ordered Moses to do.

16Joshua and his army took control of all these regions: the hill country, the southern desert, the whole region around Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan River Valley, and the mountains of Israel with their foothills. 17They conquered all the land from Mount Halak which rises toward Seir and even as far as the town of Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. Joshua captured and killed all the kings of these areas. 18Joshua and his army spent many years fighting against all these kings. 19Only the people of the city of Gibeon, who were Hivites, agreed to become subjects of the Israelites. The Israelite army had to capture all the other cities by fighting. 20Yahweh led the people in all these cities to want to fight against Israel so that the Israelites would destroy them completely without showing any mercy. This is what Yahweh had commanded Moses to do.

21During that time, Joshua’s army went through all the hill country and killed all the descendants of Anak who lived there. They killed them in the cities of Hebron, Debir, and Anab and in every other place in the hills where the tribes of Judah and Israel lived. Joshua’s army destroyed all these people and their cities. 22No descendants of Anak remained alive in the land of Israel. The only ones who survived lived in the cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. 23Joshua took control of all the land, just as Yahweh had told Moses to do. Then Joshua gave the land to the Israelites. He assigned each tribe a part of the land that would belong to them. After this, none of the people groups who had been living in the land fought against the Israelites again.

121While the Israelites were still on the east side of the Jordan River, they defeated the kings who ruled there, and they took their land. This land extended from the Arnon River gorge in the south to Mount Hermon in the north. It included all of the plain on the eastern side of the Jordan.

2{One king they defeated was} Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He lived in the city of Heshbon. He ruled the area {south of Heshbon} as far as the middle of the Arnon River gorge. So his land included the city of Aroer on the edge of that gorge. Sihon ruled the area {north of Heshbon} to the Jabbok River. That river was the boundary between his land and the land of the Ammonites. Sihon also ruled over half of the region of Gilead. 3Sihon also ruled over the land on the eastern plain along the Jordan, from the Sea of Chinnereth south to the Sea of Salt. He also ruled over the land east of the Sea of Salt from Beth Jeshimoth south to Mount Pisgah.

4The other king whom the Israelite army defeated was Og, the king of the region of Bashan. He was the last of the descendants of the giant Raphaites. He lived in the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei. 5He ruled over the area from Mount Hermon and Salekah in the north, and over all Bashan in the east, and to the borders of the Geshurites and Maacathites to the west. Og ruled over half of the region of Gilead, as far as the border of the land ruled by Sihon, king of Heshbon.

6Moses, Yahweh’s servant, and the whole Israelite army had defeated the armies of those kings. Then Moses gave their land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh.

7Joshua and the Israelite army also defeated kings who ruled over the land on the west side of the Jordan River. That land was between Baal Gad in the valley near Lebanon to Mount Halak, which goes up to Seir. Joshua gave land to the tribes of Israel for them to possess, 8This land included the hill country, the lowlands, the plain along the Jordan, the mountainsides, in the desert, and in the southern Judean wilderness. It had belonged to the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9The kings that the Israelites conquered were those of the following cities: Jericho, Ai (which was near Bethel), 10Jerusalem, Hebron, 11Jarmuth, Lachish, 12Eglon, Gezer, 13Debir, Geder, 14Hormah, Arad, 15Libnah, Adullam, 16Makkedah, Bethel, 17Tappuah, Hepher, 18Aphek, Lasharon, 19Madon, Hazor, 20Shimron Meron, Akshaph, 21Taanach, Megiddo, 22Kedesh, Jokneam in the Carmel area, 23Dor in the Naphoth Dor area, Goiim in the region of Gilgal, 24and Tirzah.

There was a total of thirty-one kings that the Israelite army defeated.

131When Joshua was very old, Yahweh said to him, “Joshua, you are now an old man, but there is still a lot of land for your army to capture. 2Here is a list of the lands you must still capture: The Geshur region and all the area where the Philistines live. 3Those go as far south as Shihor, the brook that forms a boundary with Egypt. They go as far north as the city of Ekron. Conquer this land as you have conquered the Canaanite lands. Capture the cities that the five rulers of the Philistines govern: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. Next, also conquer the land of the Avvites, 4who live south of the Philistines and Geshurites. Next, you must also capture the rest of the regions where the Canaanites live. They extend from Arah, which belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, near the boundary with the Amorites. 5Also conquer the land where the Gebalites live and all of Lebanon east of there, from the city of Baal Gad near Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

6I will force the people to leave who live in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, including all the people of the city of Sidon. That way you will be able to live there instead. Your job will be to give that area to the Israelite people when you divide the land among them. That is what I have ordered you to do. 7Divide all that land among the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh so that it will always belong to them.”

8Moses had already assigned the rest of the tribe of Manasseh land where it could live. Moses, Yahweh’s servant, had also already assigned land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad on the east side of the Jordan River. 9Their lands went as far south as Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon River valley. They included the city that is located in the middle of the valley. They also included the whole plateau of Medeba, all the way to the city of Dibon. 10These lands also included the cities that Sihon king of the Amorites had ruled. He had reigned in Heshbon. These lands went all the way to the border of the Ammonites. 11They included Gilead and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, including all of Mount Hermon. They also included all of the region of Bashan as far as the city of Salekah. 12They also included the whole kingdom of Og within the region of Bashan. He had reigned in the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei. (Og was the last living descendant of the Rapahites.) Moses had attacked the people who had lived in all of these places, and he forced them to leave. 13However, the Israelites did not force the Geshurites and Maacathites to leave. Instead, these people live with the Israelites even at the present time.

14But Moses did not give the Levites any assignment of land. They were the only tribe that received no land. Yahweh, the God of Israel, told them that the burnt offerings he received{, which provided their food,} would be their possession.

15This is the land that Moses assigned to all of the clans of the tribe of Reuben: 16It went as far south as the city of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon River valley. It included the city that is in the middle of the valley. It also included the region of the plateau near Medeba. 17It also included Heshbon and all the cities that were in the plateau. These cities were Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 18Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19Kiriathaim, Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar, which stands on a hill within the valley. 20Their territory also included Beth Peor, the slopes of Mount Pisgah, Beth Jeshimoth, 21and all the cities situated along the plateau, and the whole kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites. He formerly reigned in the city of Heshbon. Moses defeated Sihon, and he also defeated the leaders of Midian. Their names were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. The Midianites lived within Sihon’s kingdom, and these leaders served him as vassals. 22When the Israelites used their swords to kill many of their enemies, they also killed Balaam son of Beor. He was a man who tried to use magic to tell the future. 23The border of the people of the tribe of Reuben was the Jordan River. This was the land that Moses gave to the clans of the tribe of Reuben. They lived in the cities and villages there.

24Moses also gave land to the tribe of Gad. He gave each of the clans of the Gadites the land they would need to live on. 25They lived near Jazer and in all the cities of Gilead. Their land included half of the land where the Ammonites had once lived {before King Sihon took it from them.} Their land went all the way to Aroer, which is a city east of Rabbah. 26Their land extended from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, all the way to Mahanaim and to the region of Debir. 27Their land was also in the valley. It included the cities of Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon. This was the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, who had ruled from the city of Heshbon. His kingdom had bordered on the Jordan River and extended to the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan River. 28This is the land that Moses assigned to the clans of the tribe of Gad. They lived in the cities and villages there.

29Moses also gave land {on the east side of the Jordan River} to half of the tribe of Manasseh. Moses gave each clan of this half-tribe the land it would need to live on. 30Their territory went as far as Mahanaim. It included the whole region of Bashan, the whole former kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan. There are sixty cities in that region. 31Their land also included half of the region of Gilead, as well as the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei. (People sometimes call those the royal cities of Og in Bashan). Moses gave these lands to the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh. The clans of about half of Machir’s descendants lived there.

32These were the lands that Moses distributed to those Israelites on the plains of Moab, on the other side of the Jordan River, just east of Jericho. 33But Moses gave no land to the tribe of Levi. Yahweh, the God of Israel, promised them that he would be their inheritance.

141Here is a description of the areas where the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan. Eleazar the high priest, Joshua, and the family leaders of the Israelite tribes divided the land among them. 2They decided what land to give to each of the remaining nine and one-half tribes by casting lots. Yahweh had told Moses to tell them to do it that way, and so they did. 3-4Moses had given land as a permanent possession to two and a half tribes before Israel crossed over the Jordan River. Moses did not give any land to the tribe of Levi. (Rather than give them part of the land, Moses gave them cities to live in. He also gave them pastureland around those cities for their livestock so they could sustain their families.) Even so, there were nine and a half of the twelve Israelite tribes that still needed land, because the descendants of Joseph had become two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. 5The people of Israel did just what Yahweh commanded Moses. They gave out portions of the land as permanent possessions.

6Some men from the tribe of Judah went to Joshua while he and all the Israelites were at Gilgal. Among those men was Jephunneh’s son Caleb. He said to Joshua, “I am sure that you remember what Yahweh said to the prophet Moses concerning you and me when we were at Kadesh Barnea. 7I was 40 years old at that time. Moses sent me from Kadesh Barnea with you and some other men to explore this land. When we returned, I gave to Moses an accurate report about what we had seen. 8The other Israelites who went with us gave a report that caused the people to be afraid. But I did everything that Yahweh my God wanted me to do. {I encouraged the people to conquer the land.} 9That day Moses promised me, ‘The land that you walked on will become yours as your permanent possession. It will always belong to you and your descendants. I promise that it will be yours because you did everything that Yahweh, my God, wanted you to do.’

10Now Yahweh has done for me what he promised he would do. It has been 45 years since Moses made that promise to me during the time when we Israelites were still in the wilderness. But just as Yahweh promised, he has kept me alive and well all during that time. Look at me! I am now 85 years old. 11But I am still as strong today as I was on the day that Moses sent me to explore this land. I have the same strength now that I had as a young man. I can still fight wars as a soldier or as a commander. 12So please give me the hill country that Yahweh promised to give to me on that day long ago. At that time, you heard me say that the Anakim lived there. You heard me say that their cities were large and that they had walls around them to protect them. {And that is still true today.} But I hope that Yahweh will help me to force the people there to leave, just as Yahweh promised.”

13Then Joshua asked God to bless Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Joshua gave Caleb the city of Hebron as his possession. 14In this way, Hebron became the permanent possession and the home of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. To this day his descendants live there because Caleb did everything that Yahweh, the God of Israel, wanted him to do. 15(Now people used to call Hebron Kiriath Arba. Arba had been a very famous Anakite.) No enemies were attacking the Israelites at this time{, so they were able to divide up the land peacefully}.

151The Israelite leaders assigned land by lot to the clans of the tribe of Judah. In the south, their land extended to the wilderness of Zin at the border of Edom.

2Their southern border started at the bay of the Sea of Salt that turns toward the south. 3From there, the border of the territory of Judah went southward and up the hill of Akrabbim. It continued along to Zin, and then it went up once more south of Kadesh Barnea, beside Hezron. It went up to Addar and then bent around to Karka. 4From there it continued past Azmon, and from there it ran beside the brook of Egypt. From there, it turned west to the Great Sea. That was the southern border of the territory of the tribe of Judah. 5Its eastern border was the Sea of Salt, up to where the Jordan River flows into it. Its northern border began at the bay of the Sea of Salt near where the Jordan River flows in. 6The northern border continued from that point and went to Beth Hoglah. From there it went to the north of Beth Arabah until it reached the great stone that Bohan son of Reuben set up. 7From that point, the border went through the Valley of Achor to Debir. From there it turned north again to go to Gilgal. Gilgal is north of the road that goes over the hill of Adummim, on the south side of the river valley. From Gilgal, the border extended west to the springs at En Shemesh until it reached En Rogel. 8From that point, the border went along the south slope of the hill of the city of Jerusalem, where the Jebusites live. The boundary went to the top of the hill on the west side of the Valley of Hinnom, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. 9From there, the border extended northwest to the top of the hills leading to the spring of Nephtoah. From there, it went to the cities near Mount Ephron. From there, the border extended west toward Baalah. (People now call that city Kiriath Jearim.) 10Then the border continued west past Baalah to Mount Seir. Then it went southwest along the north side of Mount Jearim. (People also call that Mount Chesalon.) The border then went down to Beth Shemesh, and from there it passed by Timnah. 11The border continued northwest to the hill north of Ekron. From there, it extended west to Shikkeron and past Mount Baalah. It went on to Jabneel and then northwest to the Great Sea.

12The western border of the territory of the tribe of Judah was the Great Sea. All the clans of Judah lived inside those borders.

13Yahweh commanded Joshua to give part of the land of the tribe of Judah to Caleb. So Joshua gave Caleb a city that people called Kiriath Arba. They named it after Arba, the ancestor of the Anakites. But people now call that city Hebron. 14Caleb forced the three clans of the Anak people group to leave Hebron. Those were the Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai clans. 15Then Caleb left there and went to fight against the people who were living in Debir. (People used to call that city Kiriath Sepher). 16Caleb said, “I need someone to lead the attack against Kiriath Sepher and conquer that city. I will allow the man who does that to marry my daughter Aksah.” 17Caleb had a younger brother whose name was Kenaz. Kenaz had a son whose name was Othniel. Othniel commanded the soldiers who captured the city of Kiriath Sepher. So Caleb allowed Othniel to marry his daughter Achsah.

18Aksah came {to Kiriath Sepher} to marry Othniel. When she got there, she convinced Othniel to let her ask her father for some land they could farm. She {went to see her father and respectfully} got off the donkey she was riding. Caleb asked her, “What would you like me to do for you?”

19She replied, “Please do a favor for me. You have given {my husband and} me some land in an area where it is very dry. So please also give us some land that has springs on it.” So Caleb gave her some land on higher ground that had a spring and some land on lower ground that had a spring.

20Here is a list of the towns in the land that belonged to the clans of the tribe of Judah.

21The following cities that belonged to the tribe of Judah were in the southern wilderness, near the border of the region of Edom:

Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24Ziph, Telem, and Bealoth, 25Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (people also call that city Hazor), 26Amam, Shema, Molodah, 27Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, 28Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29Baalah, Iyim, Ezem, 30Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. There were these 29 cities in the southern part of the territory of Judah. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages,

33The following cities were in the northern part of the western foothills within the territory of Judah: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

34Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35Jarmuth, Adullam, Sokoh, Azekah, 36Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah. (People also call that city Gederothaim). These were the 14 cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

37The following cities were in the southern part of the western foothills within the territory of Judah: Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, 39Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40Kabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, 41Gederoth, Bethdagon, Naamah, and Makkedah.

These were the 16 cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

42The following cities were in the central part of the western foothills within the territory of Judah: Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44Keilah, Aczib, and Mareshah. These were the nine cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

45Judah’s territory also included the city of Ekron and its surrounding towns and villages. 46From Ekron to the Great Sea, Judah’s territory also included all the settlements near the city of Ashdod, including their villages.

47Judah’s territory also included the city of Ashdod itself. And its surrounding towns and villages. It also included the city of Gaza and its surrounding towns and villages. It included all of the land down to the brook of Egypt and to the Great Sea. The border followed the coastline.

48The following cities were in the southwestern part of the hill country within the territory of Judah: Shamir, Jattir, Sokoh, 49Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (people also call that city Debir), 50Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51Goshen, Holon, and Giloh. These were the 11 cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

52The following cities were in the south central part of the hill country within the territory of Judah: Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54Humtah, Kiriath Arba (now called Hebron), and Zior. These were the nine cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

55The following cities were in the southeastern part of the hill country within the territory of Judah: Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah. These were the ten cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

58The following cities were in the central part of the hill country within the territory of Judah: Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, 59Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon. These were the six cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

60The following two cities and their villages were in the northern part of the hill country within the territory of Judah: Rabbah and Kiriath Baal. (People also call that city Kiriath Jearim).

61The following cities were in the desert near the Sea of Salt within the territory of Judah: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi. These were the six cities in that area. The people of Judah lived in them and in their surrounding villages.

63However, the army of the tribe of Judah was not able to force the Jebusites who were living Jerusalem to leave. So the Jebusites are still living among the people of Judah in Jerusalem today.

161The Israelite leaders assigned land to the two tribes that were descendants of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. The southern border of this land started at the city of Jericho by the Jordan River. It went through the springs east of Jericho and up into the desolate area in the hill country around the city of Bethel. 2From Bethel it went to the city of Luz and then to the city of Ataroth. That city was in the territory where the Arkite people group lived. 3From there it extended west to the edge of the land where the Japhletite people group lived. It then went farther west to the area near the city of Lower Beth Horon. From there it continued west to the city of Gezer and from there to the Great Sea. 4That was the territory that the descendants of Joseph, the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, received as their permanent possession. 5The border of the land that the leaders assigned to the clans of the tribe of Ephraim started at the town of Ataroth Addar. From there, it went west to Upper Beth Horon. 6From there it headed west and went north of the town of Mikmethath. Then it turned eastward toward the town of Taanath Shiloh and went east of the town of Janoah. 7Then it continued from Janoah to the towns of Ataroth and Naarah. From there it went to the city of Jericho, and it ended at the Jordan River. 8The northern border extended west from the town of Tappuah to the valley of Kanah and from there to the Great Sea. This was the land that the Israelite leaders assigned to all the clans of the tribe of Ephraim. 9The leaders assigned some cities and their dependent villages to the people of Ephraim that were actually within the territory of the tribe of Manasseh. Those cities were part of their total territory.

10The people of the tribe of Ephraim could not force the Canaanites who were living in Gezer to leave. So those Canaanites still live there. However, the people of Ephraim did force them to become their slaves.

171This is a description of the land that the Israelite leaders gave to the tribe of Manasseh, the descendants of the oldest son of Joseph. Manasseh’s oldest son was Machir, and his grandson was Gilead. Their descendants were great soldiers, so Moses gave them land that they conquered in the regions of Gilead and Bashan. 2The Israelite leaders gave land on the west side of the Jordan River to the other clans that were descendants of Manasseh. The were the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. Manasseh was a son of Joseph, and those were the names of his male descendants.

3There was a man whose name was Zelophehad. His father was Hepher, his grandfather was Gilead, his great-grandfather was Machir, and his great-great-grandfather was Manasseh. Zelphehad had no sons. He only had daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. 4These women went to speak with Eleazar the high priest, to Joshua, and to the other Israelite leaders. They told them, “We want you to give us some land just as you have given to the men in our tribe. Yahweh told Moses that he should give to us some land.” So Eleazar did what Yahweh had commanded. He gave some land to the daughters of Zelophehad, just as he had done for their uncles. 5So the tribe of Manasseh eventually had ten sections of land west of the Jordan River and two sections on the east side of the Jordan River in Gilead and Bashan. 6That was because the Israelite leaders gave land on the west side of the Jordan River to these female descendants of Manasseh, just as they had given to his male descendants The leaders had also given land in the region of Gilead to other descendants of Manasseh.

7The land that the leaders gave to the tribe of Manasseh was between the land where the tribe of Asher lives and the town of Mikmethath, which is near the city of Shechem. The border of this land extended south to the spring of Tappuah. 8The land near the city of Tappuah belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. But Tappuah itself was on the border with the tribe of Ephraim, and in fact it belonged to the Ephraimites. 9The border extended south to the brook of Kanah. All the cities south of that stream belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook of Kanah. It extended to the Great Sea. 10The land to the south belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and the land to the north belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. The Great Sea was Manasseh’s border. The tribe of Asher was on the north side of the boundary, while the tribe of Issachar was to the east.

11But there were cities inside the territory of the tribes of Issachar and Asher that belonged to people from the tribe of Manasseh. So did the towns around these cities. These cities were Beth Shan, Ibleam, Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo. Those last three cities are in the hilly area around the city of Dor.

12The men of the tribe of Manasseh were not able to force the people who lived in those cities to leave. The Canaanite people resisted them and continued to live in their land. 13When the people of Israel became strong enough, they forced those Canaanites to work for them as slaves. But they were not able to take their land away from them.

14Some representatives of the descendants of Joseph (that is, of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh) came to speak with Joshua. They told him, “Yahweh has blessed us by giving us many children. So you should have given us more than one small portion of land to live on.”

15Joshua replied to them, “As you say, there is probably not enough room for you in the hill country we have assigned you. But since you do have a lot of people, you can also occupy the land where the Perizzites and the Raphaites now live. You can go up to that forest area and cut down trees to clear fields where you can plant your crops.”

16The representatives of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh answered, “The hill country is not big enough for us. But we cannot spread out into the plain because of the Canaanites who live there. The Canaanites in Beth Shan and the surrounding towns have chariots that have iron parts.”

17Joshua replied further to these representatives of the descendants of Joseph, that is, of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He told them, “Your people are indeed very numerous and very powerful. So I will give you some more land. 18The hill country will also belong to you. You will have to cut down the trees in order to clear fields where you can plant crops. But all of that land will belong to you. I also believe that you will be able to force the Canaanites to leave the plain so you can live there. You will be able to do that even though they are strong and have chariots that have iron parts.”

181Since no people groups were fighting against the Israelites any longer, they were able to meet together. They gathered at the city of Shiloh, and there they set up the tent where they worshiped Yahweh. 2Now seven of the Israelite tribes had not yet occupied any land. 3Joshua said to the people of those seven tribes, “Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors worshiped, has promised to give to you land. So you should not delay going into that land and occupying it.

4Choose three men from each of your seven tribes. I will send them out to explore the parts of the land that no tribe has occupied yet. They are to write a description of seven different regions that will become the territories of your seven tribes. Then they are to bring the description back to me. 5They will divide the remaining land into seven parts. The tribe of Judah will keep its land in the south, and the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will keep their land in the north. 6But in their report, the men from the seven tribes should describe how we can divide the remaining land into seven parts. They will bring the report to me. Then, while Yahweh our God is watching, I will cast lots to decide which part should be assigned to each tribe. 7But I will not assign any land to the tribe of Levi. Instead, their reward is to be Yahweh’s priests. And the tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh have already received land on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, Yahweh’s servant, gave it to them.”

8When the men the tribes had chosen got ready to leave, Joshua told them, “Go and explore the land. Then write a report of what you have seen and bring it back to me. Then, while Yahweh is watching, I will cast lots here at Shiloh to determine what area each tribe will receive.” 9So the men left and walked through the land that no tribe had yet occupied. Then they described in a scroll each of the seven parts into which they would divide the land. They listed the cities in each part of the land. Then they returned to Joshua, who was still at Shiloh. 10{Joshua read their report. Then,} while Yahweh was watching, he cast lots at Shiloh to decide which parts of the land would belong to each of the seven Israelite tribes.

11The lot selected the clans of the tribe of Benjamin to receive the first part of the land. This part was between the territory of the tribe of Judah and the territory of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

12Its northern border started at the Jordan River and extended west, along the northern side of Jericho, into the hill country. From there the border extended farther west to the wilderness near Beth Aven. 13From there it extended to Luz and went south of that city. (People now call that city Bethel). From there it went down to Ataroth Addar, which is on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14Then, from the hill opposite the south side of the city of Beth Horon, the western side of the border turned and extended south to Kiriath Baal. (People now call that town Kiriath Jearim. People from the tribe of Judah live there.) That was the western border.

15The southern border of their land started near Kiriath Jearim and extended west to the springs of Nephtoah. 16From there, it extended down to the bottom of the hill near the Valley of Ben Hinnom, on the north side of the Valley of the Raphaites. The border then extended down along the Hinnom Valley, south of the city where the Jebusites lived, to En Rogel. 17From there the border went north to En Shemesh and continued to Geliloth near the hill of Adummim. Then it extended to the big stone that Reuben’s son Bohan set up. 18From there the border extended to the northern edge of Beth Arabah and down into the plain along the Jordan. 19From there, it extended east to the northern edge of Beth Hoglah and ended at the north end of the Sea of Salt, where the Jordan River flows into that sea. That was the boundary on the south.

20The Jordan River was the eastern boundary. These were the borders all round the territory of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

21In the eastern part of their territory, the clans of the tribe of Benjamin lived in these cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. The people of Benjamin lived in these 12 cities and their villages.

25In the western part of their territory, the people of Benjamin lived in these cities: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (the city where the Jebusites lived, which people now call Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. The people of Benjamin lived in these 14 cities and their villages. The clans of the tribe of Benjamin received this land and these cities as a permanent possession.

191Then Joshua threw the lot again, and this time it selected the clans of the tribe of Simeon to receive the second part of the land. The land Joshua gave them was in the middle of Judah’s territory.

2Simeon’s territory included the following cities: Beer Sheba, Sheba, Moladah, 3Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, 4Eltolad, Bethul, and Hormah. 5Simeon’s land also included the cities of Ziklag, Beth Markaboth. Hazarsusah, 6Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen. There were 13 cities, together with their surrounding villages.

7The land that Joshua assigned to the tribe of Simeon also included the four cities of Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan and their surrounding villages. 8It also included some villages in an area that extended south to Baalath Beer. (People also call that city Ramah of the Negev.) This was the land that Joshua assigned to the clans of the tribe of Simeon.

9The leaders of Israel had assigned more land to the tribe of Judah than it needed, so they gave part of that land to the tribe of Simeon.

10Then Joshua threw the lot again, and this time it selected the clans of the tribe of Zebulun to receive the third part of the land.

Its southern border started at Sarid. 11It extended west to Maralah and on to Dabbesheth, and then it extended to the brook in front of the city of Jokneam. 12The border turned to the east from Sarid and went to the area near Chisloth Tabor. Then it went on to Daberath and farther on to Japhia. 13From there, it extended east to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin and north to Rimmon. From there, the border turned toward Neah. 14From Neah, the border extended south to Hannathon, and from there it went to the Valley of Iphtah El. 15Zebulun’s territory included the cities of Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. Altogether there were 12 cities, together with their surrounding villages.

16That was the land that Joshua allotted to the clans of the tribe of Zebulun, including the cities and their surrounding villages.

17Then Joshua threw the lot again, and this time it selected the clans of the tribe of Issachar to receive the fourth part of the land. 18Their land included the cities of Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, 19Hapharaim, Shion, and Anaharath. 20Issachar’s land also included the cities of Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez. 22The border of Issachar’s territory was close to the cities of Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh. It ended in the east at the Jordan River. Altogether there were 16 cities, together with their surrounding villages.

23Those were the cities and surrounding villages in the land that Joshua assigned to the clans of the tribe of Issachar.

24Then Joshua threw the lot again, and this time it selected the clans of the tribe of Asher to receive the fifth part of the land.

25Their land included the cities of Helkath, Hali, Beten, Akshaph, 26Allammelek, Amad, and Mishal. The western border started at Mount Carmel and Shihor Libnath. 27From there it extended southeast to the city of Beth Dagon until it reached the territory of tribe of Zebulun at the Valley of Iphtah El. From there, the border extended north to Beth Emek and Neiel and Cabul. 28From there, it extended west to the cities of Abdon, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah and then continued to Great Sidon. 29From Sidon, the border extended south toward Ramah and to the city of Tyre, which had strong walls around it. From there, the border extended west to Hosah. It ended at the Great Sea, in the region of Aczib. 30The territory of Asher included the cities of Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. Altogether there were 22 cities, together with their surrounding villages.

31Those cities and their villages were within the land that Joshua assigned to the clans of the tribe of Asher.

32Then Joshua threw the lot again, and this time it selected the clans of the tribe of Naphtali to receive the sixth part of the land.

33The border of Naphtali’s land started in the west at the huge oak tree at Zaanannim, near the city of Heleph. It extended east through Adami Nekeb and Jabneel. It then went to Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan River. 34The western boundary extended through Aznoth Tabor as far as Hukkok. It extended to the borders of the tribe of Zebulun at the south, to the border of the tribe of Asher on the west, and to the border of the tribe of Judah at the Jordan River to the east. 35Within Naphtali’s territory, there were many cities that had strong walls around them. These cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, 36Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37Kedesh, Edrei, and En Hazor. 38Naphtali’s cities with strong walls also included Yiron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh. Altogether there were 19 cities, together with their surrounding villages.

39Those cities and surrounding villages were in the land that Joshua assigned to the clans of the tribe of Naphtali.

40Then Joshua threw the lot again, and this time it selected the clans of the tribe of Dan to receive the seventh part of the land. 41Their land included the cities of Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 42Shaalabbin, Aijalon, and Ithlah. 43Dan’s land also included the cities of Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45Jehud, Beneberak, Gath Rimmon, 46Me Jarkon, Rakkon, and the area near Joppa.

47But the people of the tribe of Dan were not able to take control of the whole land that Joshua assigned to them. So they went northeast and fought against the people who lived in the city of Leshem. They defeated and killed all those people. Then they settled in that city. They changed its name to Leshem Dan. Dan was the name of the ancestor of their tribe.

48All of those cities and surrounding villages were in the land that Joshua assigned to the clans in the tribe of Dan.

49After the Israelite leaders had divided the land among the tribes, they also assigned some land to Joshua. 50They gave him the city of Timnath Serah to live in. Yahweh had said that he could have whatever city he wanted, and that was the city he chose. It was in the hill country in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim. Joshua repaired the city and lived there.

51Those were the areas that the Israelite leaders assigned to the various tribes. The high priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of each tribe divided up the land while they were all at Shiloh. They cast lots to decide which area each tribe would receive. They did that at the entrance of the sacred tent while Yahweh was watching. In that way they completed dividing up the land.

201Then Yahweh said to Joshua, 2“Tell the Israelite people that they should choose some cities to which people can flee in order to be safe, as I told Moses that you should do. 3If someone kills another person accidentally, without intending to kill that person, then he can run to one of these cities and be safe.

4When that person arrives at the gate of one of those cities, he must stop there and tell the leaders of the city what happened. {If they believe him,} they must allow him to enter the city, and they must give him a place to live among them. 5Suppose some relative of the dead person comes to that city to try to take revenge by killing the person who fled. The leaders of that city must not allow the relative to take him away and kill him, because what happened was accidental. He did not hate that person in the past. 6The person who killed someone must stay in the city where he fled until it holds a trial to decide his case. {If they determine that the killing was accidental,} he must still stay there until the current high priest dies. Then the man may return safely to his own home.”

7So the Israelites chose several cities where people could flee to be safe. They chose Kedesh in the region of Galilee, in the hill country where the tribe of Naphtali lived. They chose Shechem, in the hill country where the tribe of Ephraim lived. And they chose Kiriath Arba in the hill country where the tribe of Judah lived. (People now call that city Hebron.) 8They also chose some cities on the other side of the Jordan River, east of Jericho. They chose Bezer, on elevated land in the wilderness where the tribe of Reuben lived. They chose Ramoth in the region of Gilead, in the land where the tribe of Gad lived. And they chose Golan in the region of Bashan, where the tribe of Manasseh lived. 9Any Israelite or any foreigner who lived among them who had killed someone accidentally was allowed to flee to one of those cities. There he would be safe from any relative of the dead person who wanted to come and kill him in revenge. He could stay in that city until the people there held a trial to decide whether he was telling the truth when he said that he did not kill that person on purpose.

211The family leaders of the Levite clans came to Shiloh to speak with Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the family leaders of the Israelite tribes. 2There in Shiloh, west of the Jordan River, they said to them, “Yahweh told Moses that you should give us cities where we can live and where our animals can graze.” 3So the Israelites obeyed this command from Yahweh. They gave some cities and the surrounding fields to the tribe of Levi out of their own lands that their leaders had assigned to them.

4First, the Israelite leaders cast lots to assign some cities to the Levites from the clan of Kohath who were priests because they were descendants of Aaron. The leaders assigned 13 cities to them within the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5To the other Levites from the clan of Kohath, the Israelite leaders assigned ten cities within the territories of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lived on the west side of the Jordan River.

6To the Levites from the clan of Gershon, the Israelite leaders assigned 13 cities within the territories of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the region of Bashan.

7To the Levites from the clan of Merari, the Israelite leaders assigned 12 cities within the territories of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8In this way, the Israelite leaders assigned these cities and the surrounding fields to the people of the tribe of Levi. That was just what Yahweh had told Moses they should do.

9These are the names of the cities that the Israelite leaders assigned to the tribe of Levi within the territory of the tribes of Judah and Simeon.

10First, the Israelite leaders assigned cities by lot to the descendants of Aaron. They belonged to the Kohathite clan of the tribe of Levi.

11The Israelite leaders assigned Kiriath Arba to them in the hill country of Judah. They also gave the pasturelands around the city. (That city got its name from Arba, the ancestor of the Anak people group. But people now call that city Hebron.) 12However, the Israelite leaders had already assigned the cultivated fields and villages surrounding Kiriath Arba to Caleb son of Jephunneh.

13In this way, the Israelite leaders assigned Hebron and its surrounding fields to the descendants of Aaron the priest. Hebron was one of the cities to which people could flee if they accidentally killed a person. The leaders also gave Aaron’s descendants the city of Libnah with its surrounding fields, 14Jattir with its surrounding fields, and Eshtemoa with its surrounding fields, 15They also gave Holon with its surrounding fields, and Debir with its surrounding fields, 16and Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh. In total, the leaders gave them nine cities with their surrounding fields. These cities were within the territory of the tribes of Judah and Simeon.

17The Israelite leaders also gave the descendants of Aaron some cities, with the surrounding fields, in the area that the tribe of Benjamin possessed: Gibeon, Geba, 18Anathoth, and Almon, four cities with their surrounding fields.

19Altogether, the Israelite leaders assigned 13 cities with their surrounding fields to the Levites who were priests because they were descendants of Aaron.

20The other Levite clans who were descendants of Kohath received four cities within the territory of the tribe of Ephraim.

21The leaders gave them Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim along with its surrounding fields. It was a city to which someone could flee for safety who killed a person unintentionally. The leaders also gave them Gezer with its surrounding fields, 22Kibzaim, and Beth Horon, four cities. All with their surrounding fields.

23These clans that were descendants of Kohath also received four cities with their surrounding fields within the territory of the tribe of Dan. These cities were Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon, four cities, all with their surrounding fields.

25These clans that were descendants of Kohath also received cities within the territory of the half of the tribe of Manasseh that had settled on the west side of the Jordan River. These cities were Taanach and Gath Rimmon, two cities with their surrounding fields.

26There were ten cities in all, together with their surrounding fields, that these other clans that were descendants of Kohath received.

27The Israelite leaders also cast lots in order to assign cities and their surrounding fields to the Levite clans of the descendants of Gershon.

These clans received two cities within the territory of the half of the tribe of Manasseh that had settled on the east side of the Jordan River. One of those cities was Golan in the region of Bashan. It was one of the cities to which someone could flee for safety who killed a person unintentionally. The other city was Beeshtarah. That made two cities, with their surrounding fields.

28These clans also received some cities and the surrounding fields within the territory of the tribe of Issachar. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath, 29Jarmuth, and En Gannim, four cities, all with their surrounding fields.

30These clans also received some cities and the surrounding fields within the territory of the tribe of Asher. These cities were Mishal, Abdon, 31Helkath, and Rehob, four cities, all with their surrounding fields.

32These clans also received some cities within the territory of the tribe of Naphtali. One of these cities was Kedesh in the region of Galilee. It was one of the cities to which people could flee for safety if they killed a person unintentionally. The other cities were Hammoth Dor and Kartan. That made three cities, all with their surrounding fields.

33Altogether, therefore, the Gershonite clans received 13 cities, together with their surrounding fields.

34The Israelite leaders also assigned cities to the last group of Levites, those who belonged to the clans that were descendants of Merari.

These clans received some cities, with the surrounding fields, within the territory of the tribe of Zebulun. These cities were Jokneam, Kartah, 35Dimnah, and Nahalal, four cities, all with their surrounding fields.

36These clans also received cities, with their surrounding fields, within the territory of the tribe of Reuben. These cities were Bezer, Jahaz, 37Kedemoth, and Mephaath, four cities, all with their surrounding fields.

38These clans also received cities, with their surrounding fields, within the territory of the tribe of Gad. One of these cities was Ramoth, which was one of the cities in Gilead to which people could flee for safety if they killed a person unintentionally. Another city was Mahanaim. 39There were also the cities of Heshbon, and Jazer. That made four cities in all, together with their surrounding fields.

40In all, this last group of Levite clans, the ones that were descendants of Merari, received 12 cities when the Israelite leaders cast lots for them.

41So altogether, the Levites received 48 cities within the territories of the other tribes of Israel. They also received the fields around those cities. 42Yes, for each one of these cities, the Levites also received the surrounding fields. That was true for all of them.

43Yahweh had promised the ancestors of the Israelites that he would give them all this land, and this was how he did that. The Israelite people took control of these areas and settled down in them. 44Yahweh had also told the ancestors of the Israelites that they would be able to live peacefully in the land, and he made that happen too. None of their enemies were able to fight against them and defeat them. Instead, Yahweh helped Israel defeat all their enemies. 45Yahweh kept every promise he made to the Israelites. Every promise came true.

221Joshua then summoned the leaders of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. 2He told them, “You have done everything that Moses the servant of Yahweh, commanded you to do. You have also done what I commanded you to do. 3For a long time you have helped the other tribes to defeat their enemies. You have obeyed everything that Yahweh your God taught you and commanded you to do. 4He promised to settle your fellow Israelites peacefully in this land, and he has done what he promised. So now you may go back to your homes in the land that Moses gave to you on the east side of the Jordan River. 5But now you must be careful to do what Moses commanded and taught you to do. You must love Yahweh your God and live your life as he wants you to live. You must obey his commands and be loyal only to him. Do this as you worship him and serve him by everything that you think and everything that you do.”

6Then Joshua wished for Yahweh to do good things for them, and he sent them back to their homes. 7The people Joshua sent back to the east side of the Jordan River included half of the tribe of Manasseh. Moses had given them the region of Bashan there. Joshua had given the other half of that tribe land on the west side of the Jordan River with the other Israelites. When Joshua sent them away to their homes, he wished for Yahweh to do good things for them too. 8He said to them, “You may take back to your homes much money, many animals, and silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many beautiful clothes. You got these things from your enemies when you defeated them. Share them with the people of your tribes back home.”

9So the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh left the other people of Israel at Shiloh in the region of Canaan. They returned home to the region of Gilead, which belonged to them because they had conquered it when Moses told them that Yahweh had said they could do that.

10They arrived at the western bank of the Jordan River, still in the land of Canaan. There the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar. It was a very large and impressive altar. 11People from that area began to report to the other Israelites, “The people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the entrance to the land of Canaan. It is on the banks of the Jordan River, on the western side where most of the Israelites live.” 12When the other Israelites heard this, they all met together at the city of Shiloh. They decided they would fight against those tribes {to make them tear down that altar}.

13But first, the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, who was the leader of all the priests, across the river to talk with the people of Reuben, Gad, and eastern Manasseh. 14They also sent one leader from each of the ten tribes of Israel {that had settled west of the Jordan River}. Each of those men was an important person within his own clan.

15Those leaders went to the region of Gilead to talk with the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, 16“All the other Israelites want to know why you have been so disloyal to the God whom we Israelites worship! {He commanded that there should only be one altar, at his sacred tent.} But you have now disobeyed Yahweh by building your own altar here in this place. You have rebelled against Yahweh! 17You are acting as if we did not disobey Yahweh badly enough at Mount Peor{, where we worshiped a false god}. We still feel very ashamed for doing that. As a punishment, Yahweh sent a deadly sickness among the Israelites, and many of them died from it. 18So you should not disobey Yahweh like this! If you rebel against Yahweh like this now, soon he will severely punish all of the Israelites.

19{You seem to think you need your own altar, but you have built it on our side of the Jordan River.} If {you built it there because you think} your land is ritually impure, move back to the land that belongs to Yahweh, where Yahweh’s sacred tent is. We will share our land with you. But do not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building yourselves an altar other than the one at the sacred tent. 20Recall how Achan son of Zerah was so disloyal to Yahweh and kept some things from Jericho even though we were supposed to destroy everything there. This made Yahweh angry with all of us Israelites. Because of what that one man did wrong, many other Israelites died.”

21The leaders of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and of the half tribe of Manasseh replied to the Israelite clan leaders, 22“We affirm that Yahweh is the only true God! He knows why we built this altar, and we want all the Israelites to know why as well. If we have broken our promise to obey Yahweh, punish us by killing us right now! 23If we have disobeyed Yahweh’s command by building ourselves an altar other than the one at the sacred tent, or if we have built this altar so we can offer sacrifices, grain offerings, or sacrifices to promise friendship with him, in violation of the law, Yahweh will find out what we have done and punish us.

24But that is not why we built this altar. We built it because we were afraid that your descendants might speak to our descendants at some future time and tell them that they had no right to worship Yahweh, the God whom Israelites worship. 25We were afraid that they would tell our descendants that Yahweh had made the Jordan River a boundary between themselves and the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad {and half of Manasseh}. We were afraid that your descendants would tell our descendants that they had nothing to do with Yahweh. And then they might try to stop our descendants from worshiping Yahweh.

26So we decided that we should build an altar, but not for burning sacrifices or making offerings. 27Instead, we wanted it to be a monument to prove to you, to ourselves, and to all of our descendants after us that we will truly worship Yahweh. We will indeed worship him by bringing to his sacred tent our sacrifices to burn and our other sacrifices and the other offerings we make to promise friendship with him. We built this altar so your descendants would never say to our descendants in the future that they had nothing to do with Yahweh.

28In the future, if your descendants said that, then our descendants could tell them to look at the altar that we, their ancestors, had made. They would see that it was exactly like the altar at Yahweh’s sacred tent. Our descendants would tell them that they do not burn sacrifices on it, but it is a monument that proves that Israelites on both sides of the Jordan River worship Yahweh. 29We certainly do not want to rebel against Yahweh or disobey him. We never intended to use this altar for burning sacrifices, making flour offerings, or making any other sacrifices. We know that there is only one true altar for Yahweh our God, and that is the one in front of the sacred tent.”

30When Phinehas the priest and the clan leaders whom the Israelites had chosen when they met together heard what the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had said, they were pleased. 31And Phinehas said to them, “Now we recognize that Yahweh is helping all of us Israelites. We understand that you were not being disloyal to him when you built that altar. Because you have not disobeyed Yahweh, we are sure that he will not punish us.”

32Then Phinehas son of Eliazar, the high priest, and the Israelite leaders who had accompanied him left the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. They returned from the region of Gilead to Canaan, where the other Israelites were. There they told them what had happened. 33They were all pleased, and they thanked God. They did not talk anymore about fighting against the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad {and half of Manasseh} to destroy them in the land where they lived.

34The other Israelites no longer planned to attack the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad {and Manasseh} because they had explained that the altar was a monument that proved to the eastern tribes that the western tribes also worshiped Yahweh as their God.

231A long time later, once Yahweh had enabled the Israelites to live peacefully, with none of the surrounding nations threatening them, Joshua had become very old.

2Joshua then called for all of Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officials to come and listen to him. When they arrived, he told them, “I am now very old. 3You have seen how, for your sake, Yahweh defeated all of these enemy people groups. Yahweh our God has fought for us. 4I am telling you now that you will be able to defeat the nations that still remain. Their lands will also become the permanent possession of your tribes. You will have all of the land from the Jordan River {in the east} to the Great Sea in the west, including the land of the nations I defeated when I was commanding the Israelite army. 5Yahweh your God will enable you to defeat them, and he will force those people to leave their lands. Then you will be able to live there, just as he promised you would.

6But you must be very careful to obey everything that Moses wrote in the Book of the Law. Do not disobey anything that he wrote. 7Do not make friends with any of the people groups that are still in this land. Do not pray to their gods, and do not make oaths using the names of their gods. Do not worship those gods, and do not bow down to them. 8Instead, remain loyal to Yahweh your God, as you have been doing.

9Yahweh has forced many very strong nations to leave so that you could live here. From the time you entered this land until now, no one has been able to resist you. 10It is as if one of your soldiers can make a thousand enemy soldiers run away. That is because Yahweh your God is fighting for you as he promised to do. 11But you must be very careful to keep loving Yahweh your God.

12Suppose you become disloyal to Yahweh and make friends with the people groups that are still living in this land. Suppose you let your daughters marry their sons and your sons marry their daughters. Suppose you regularly do things together. 13I can assure you that if you do that, Yahweh your God will no longer force them to leave so that you can live here. They will become like different kinds of traps that will catch you. They will become like whips that hurt your skin. They will become like thorns that stick you in the eye. Your people group will become weaker and weaker until none of you live any longer in this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

14It is almost time for me to die, as everyone else does. You know deep within you that Yahweh he has done every single thing he promised to do for you. 15He has given to you all the good things that he promised to give you. However, if you do these wrong things that I have described, he will just as surely make the bad things happen to you that he also described. None of you will still be living in this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you. 16Suppose you do not obey the covenant that Yahweh made with you. Suppose you go and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then Yahweh will become very angry with you. Very soon none of you will be living any longer in this good land that he has given to you.”

241Joshua brought all of the Israelites together in the city of Shechem. Their elders, leaders, judges, and officials all reported there in the presence of God. 2Joshua told all the Israelites, “This is what Yahweh, the God we Israelite people worship, wants me to tell you: ‘Long ago, your ancestors, including Abraham’s father Terah and Abraham’s younger brother Nahor, lived far beyond the Euphrates River. There they worshiped other gods. 3But I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the Euphrates River, and I led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac. 4I gave Isaac his own sons, Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to live in. But I sent Jacob and his children down to Egypt, and they lived there for many years.

5{When the Egyptians made your ancestors slaves,} I sent Moses and his brother Aaron to Egypt {to rescue them}. I caused many terrible plagues that made the people of Egypt suffer. After that, I brought your people out of Egypt. 6When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, they came to the sea. The Egyptian army pursued them with chariots and on horseback as far as the Sea of Reeds. 7Then you pleaded with me to help you, and I caused darkness to come between you Israelites and the Egyptian army. {I made a dry path through the sea so that the Israelites could go through it, but when the Egyptians tried to follow them,} I made the water come back and it covered the Egyptian army {so all the soldiers drowned}. You Israelites saw what I did to the Egyptians. After that you lived in the desert for many years.

8Then I brought you to the land where the Amorites lived, on the east side of the Jordan River. They attacked you, but I enabled you to defeat them and capture their land. You saw everything that I did for you. 9Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, prepared his army and attacked Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor and told him to get me to curse your people. 10But I would not do what Balaam asked. Instead, I made him bless you, so that he was not able to harm you.

11Then you all crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho. The army of Jericho fought against you, as did the armies of the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I enabled you to conquer them all. 12I sent swarms of hornets ahead of you, and this helped you two Amorite kings. You did not do this with your own weapons. {I, Yahweh, was the one who actually defeated them.} 13So I gave you a land that you had not cleared or plowed, and I gave you cities that you did not build. Now you live in those cities, and you eat the grapes from grapevines that you did not plant and olives from trees that you did not plant.’

14{That was what Yahweh wanted me, Joshua, to tell all of you.} Now you must worship Yahweh and obey him genuinely and consistently. Throw away the idols that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the far side of the Euphrates River and when they lived in Egypt. Worship Yahweh alone. 15Now if you do not want to worship Yahweh, then you must decide today what gods you will worship. You may decide that you want to worship the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. You may decide that you want to worship the gods that the Amorites worshiped who used to live in this land. But as for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.”

16The Israelites responded, “We would never abandon Yahweh and worship other gods! 17Yahweh is our God! After all, he was the one who brought our ancestors here from Egypt. He rescued them from that land where they were slaves. We saw him perform great miracles, and he protected us when we were traveling, even though we had to pass through the territory of many other nations. 18Yahweh forced all the people who were here to leave so that we could live here. He defeated the Amorites who lived in this land. So we will worship only Yahweh. He is our God.”

19But Joshua replied to the people, “You do not seem to realize what is involved in worshiping Yahweh! He is a holy God, and he will not allow you to worship any other gods. He will not overlook it if you break his laws or sin against him. 20If you abandon Yahweh and worship other gods, then he will stop helping you and instead he will harm you until he has destroyed you. He will do that even after he has done such good things for you.” 21But the people answered Joshua, “Even so, we want to worship Yahweh.”

22Then Joshua said, “You are making a promise to what you have said. You have chosen Yahweh, and you are promising to worship him alone.” They replied, “Yes, that is what we promise to do.” 23So Joshua told them, “Then you must throw away any other idols you have, and devote yourselves entirely to Yahweh, the God who has done so much for us Israelites.” 24The people replied, “We will worship Yahweh as our God, and we will obey what he tells us to do.”

25On that same day, Joshua made a covenant with the people. There at Shechem, he wrote down for them all the decrees and laws that Yahweh commanded them to obey. 26He wrote all those things down in the book of the law of God. Then he got a large stone and set it up there at Shechem, under the large oak tree that grew beside the place where Yahweh’s sacred tent was. 27Joshua told all the people, “Look! This stone will always be a reminder to us. This is the place where I told you what Yahweh wanted to say to you {and you promised that you would serve him}. This stone will remind you of your promise so that you are not disloyal to God.” 28Then Joshua sent the people back to their homes in the places that the leaders had assigned to them.

29After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died. He was 110 years old when he died. 30The Israelites buried his body on his own property in Timnath Serah. That is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 31The people of Israel continued to worship Yahweh during Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. Those elders had seen everything that Yahweh had done for Israel. 32The people of Israel had brought Joseph’s bones with them when they left Egypt. Now they buried his bones at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought long ago for the price of 100 pieces of silver. He had bought it from Hamor, the father of Shechem. That piece of land became a permanent possession for Joseph’s descendants. 33Eleazar son of Aaron also died. The Israelites buried his body at Gibeah, the city that belonged to his son Phinehas, in the hill country of Ephraim.