 CHAPTER 28-38 It shall happen if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all His commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your burns, and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in His ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they shall be afraid of you. Yahweh will make you plenteous for good in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. Yahweh will open to you His good treasure in the sky, to give the reign of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand, and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow. Yahweh will make you the head, and knock the tail, and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath. If you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do, and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you. You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed, the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed. You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out. Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings by which you have forsaken me. Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until He has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it. Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew, and they shall pursue you until you perish. Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed. Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them, and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth, and there shall be none to frighten them away. Yahweh will strike you with a boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch of which you cannot be healed. Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart, and you shall grope at noon day, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways, and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you. You shall be troth a wife, and another man shall light with her. You shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein. You shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit. Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it. Your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day, and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand. The fruit of your ground and all your labours shall a nation which you don't know eat up, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always, so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs with a sore boil of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. Yahweh will bring you and your king whom you shall set over you to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor harvest, for the worm shall eat them. You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess. The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you, higher and higher, and you shall come down, lower and lower. He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commanded you. And they shall be on you for a sign, and for a wonder, and on your seed forever, because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things. Therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you. Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions that shall not respect the person of the old, nor shall favor to the young, and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. That also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons, and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you in the siege, and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege, and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the soul of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness. Her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear, for she shall eat them, for want of all things secretly, in the siege, and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, Yahweh your God, then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You shall be left few in number, whereas you are as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you, and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it. Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth, even to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the soul of your foot. But Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul, and your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, I wish it were evening, and at evening you shall say, I wish it were morning, for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, you shall see it no more again, and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bond-servants and for bond-maids, and no man shall buy you. Chapter 29 These are the words of the Covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the Covenant which he made with them in Horeb. Moses called to all Israel and said to them, You have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders, but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear to this day. I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoes have not grown old on your feet. You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Yahweh, your God. When you came to this place, Siham the king of Heshban, and Ag the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck them, and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Rubinites, and to the Gaddites, and to the half-tribe of the Manasites. Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. You stand this day, all of you, before Yahweh, your God, your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and your foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh, your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh, your God, makes with you this day, that he may establish you this day to himself, for a people, and that he may be to you a God as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him who stands here with us this day before Yahweh, our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day, for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed, and you have seen their abominations and their idols, wood, and stone, silver, and gold, which were among them, lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh, our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood, and it happened when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry. Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. Yahweh will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from afar land shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick, and that the whole land of it is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adma, and Zeboyim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath, even all the nations shall say, why has Yahweh done dust to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean? Then men shall say, because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they didn't know, and that he had not given to them. Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book, and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land as at this day. The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. Chapter 30. It shall happen when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations where Yahweh your God has driven you, and shall return to Yahweh your God, and shall obey his voice, according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul, that then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will Yahweh your God gather you, and from there he will bring you back, and Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it, and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers. Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live. Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh, and do all his commandments which I command you this day. Yahweh your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, for good. For Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers. If you shall obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul. For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you. Neither is it far off. It is not in heaven that you should say, who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it. Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it. But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land, where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed, to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him, for he is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. Chapter 31 Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. He said to them, I am 120 years old this day, I can no more go out and come in, and Yahweh has said to me, you shall not go over this Jordan. Yahweh your God, he will go over before you, he will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua shall go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken. Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Emirates, and to their land whom he destroyed. Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous, don't be afraid, nor be scared of them. For Yahweh your God, he it is who does go with you, he will not fail you, nor forsake you. Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. Yahweh he it is who does go before you, he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed. Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel. Moses commanded them saying, at the end of every seven years in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents, when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God, in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law, and that their children who have not known may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it. Yahweh said to Moses, behold your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting that I may commission him. Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the door of the tent. Yahweh said to Moses, behold you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them, and will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them, so that they will say in that day, haven't these evils come on us because our God is not among us? I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have worked in that they are turned to other gods. Now therefore, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then will they turn to other gods and serve them and despise me and break my covenant. It shall happen when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed, for I know their imagination which they framed this day before I have brought them into the land which I swore. So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it the children of Israel. He commissioned Joshua the son of none and said, Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them and I will be with you. It happened when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites who bore the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh saying, Take this book of the law and put it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you, for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against Yahweh and how much more after my death assembled to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. An evil will happen to you in the latter days because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were finished. Chapter 32 Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall condense as the dew, as the small rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh, ascribe greatness to our God. The rock, his work is perfect. For all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus require Yahweh, foolish people and unwise? Isn't he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you. Your elders and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance. When he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples. According to the number of the children of Israel. For Yahweh's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young. He spread abroad his wings. He took them. He bore them on his feathers. Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign God with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock, butter of the herd, and milk of the flock with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan and goats with the finest of the wheat, of the blood of the grape you drink wine. But Jesharun grew fat and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he forsook God who made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn't know, to new gods that came up recently which your fathers didn't dread. Of the rock who became your father you are unmindful and have forgotten God who gave you birth. Yahweh saw and abhorred because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. He said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be. For they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in my anger, burns to the lowest shield, devours the earth with its increase and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. I will keep evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them with the poison of crawling things of the dust. Outside the sword shall be reeved and in the room's terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with a gray haired man. I said I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men. Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this. For they are a nation void of council. There is no understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end. How could one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight unless their rock had sold them and Yahweh had delivered them up? For their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter, their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps. Isn't this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine and recompense at the time when their foot slides. For the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste. For Yahweh will judge his people and have compassion on his servants. When he sees that their power is gone, there is none remaining shut up or left at large. He will say, where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you. Let them be their protection. See now that I, even I am he, there is no God with me. I kill and make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, as I live forever, if I wet my glittering sword, my hand take hold on judgment. I will render vengeance to my adversaries and will recompense those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the head of the leaders of the enemy. Rejoice you nations with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries and will make expiation for his land, for his people. Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua, the son of none. Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel. He said to them, set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for you because it is your life and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it. Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day saying, go up into this mountain of Aberim to Mount Nebo which is in the land of Moab that is over against Jericho and see the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel for a possession and die on the mountain where you go up and be gathered to your people as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meraba of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zinn because you didn't sanctify me in the midst of the children of Israel for you shall see the land before you but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel. Chapter 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. He said, Yahweh came from Sinai and rose from Seir to them. He shone forth from Mount Peron. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them. Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words. Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. He was king in Jesharun when the heads of the people were gathered all the tribes of Israel together. Let Reuben live and not die nor let his men be few. This is for Judah. He said, Here Yahweh the voice of Judah bring him into his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries. Of Levi he said, Your thumb and your Urim are with your godly one whom you proved at Masa with whom you strove at the waters of Meribah who said of his father and of his mother I have not seen him. Neither did he acknowledge his brothers nor did he know his own children for they have observed your word and keep your covenant. They shall teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you and hold burnt offering on your altar. Yahweh bless his substance except the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again. Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by him. He covers him all the day long. He dwells between his shoulders. Of Joseph he said, His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath, for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things of the growth of the moons, for the chief things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills, for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let this come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers. The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he shall push all of the peoples to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh, of Zebulun he said. Rejoice Zebulun in your going out and Issachar in your tents. They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand. Of Gad he said. He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness and tears the arm. Yes, the crown of the head. He provided the first part for himself, for there was the law givers portion reserved. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, his ordinances with Israel. Of Dan he said. Dan is a lion's cub that leaps out of Bashan. Of Naftali he said. Naftali satisfied with favor, full of the blessing of Yahweh. Possess the west and the south. Of Asher he said. Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil. Your bars shall be iron and brass, as your days, so your strength will be. There is none like God, Jeshorin, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you and said, destroy! Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down due. You are happy Israel. Who is like you? A people saved by Yahweh. The shield of your help, the sword of your excellency. Your enemies shall submit themselves to you. You shall tread on their high places. Chapter 34 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Piska, that is over against Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan and all Naftali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the Hinder Sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, to Zohar. Yahweh said to him, this is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to your seed. I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there. So Moses, the servant of Yahweh, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Yahweh. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor, but no man knows of his tomb to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab, thirty days. So the days of weeping in the morning for Moses were ended. Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and the children of Israel listened to him, and did as Yahweh commanded Moses. There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel, like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face in all the signs and the wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land and in all the mighty hand and in all the great terror which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel. The end of chapters 28 through 34 from the book of Deuteronomy and the end of the book of Deuteronomy from the World English Bible. Recording by Mark Penfold. Chapters 1 to 8 of Joshua from the World English Bible. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org, recording by Anton Epp. The book of Joshua from the World English Bible chapters 1 to 8. Chapter 1 Now it happened after the death of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses's servant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise. Go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to a land which I give to them, even to the children of Israel. I have given you every place that the soul of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun shall be your border. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them. Only be strong and very courageous to observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Don't turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed, for Yahweh, your God, is with you wherever you go. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying, pass through the midst of the camp and command the people saying, prepare food, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh, your God, gives you to possess it. Joshua spoke to the Rubinites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying, remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, Yahweh, your God, gives you rest, and will give you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall live in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall pass over before your brothers, armed, all the mighty men of Valor, and shall help them until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as he has given you. And they have also possessed the land which Yahweh, your God, gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. They answered Joshua saying, all that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go, just as we listen to Moses in all things, so we will listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your commandment and doesn't listen to your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death, only be strong and courageous. Chapter 2 Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittab as spies saying, Goal, view the land, including Jericho. They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and slept there. The king of Jericho was told, Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land. The king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying, Bring out the men who have come to you who have entered into your house, for they have come to spy out all the land. The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I didn't know where they came from. It happened about the time of the shutting of the gate when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I don't know. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. The men pursued them the way to the Jordan to the Fords, and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Before they had laid down, she came up to them on the roof, and she said to the men, I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you, for we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon, and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted. Neither did they remain any more spirited, any man, because of you, for Yahweh, your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. Now, therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you will also deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token, and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death. The men said to her, Our life for yours. If you don't talk about this business of ours, and it shall be when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you. Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. She said to them, Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you, and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned, afterward you may go your way. The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath, which you have made us to swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you use to let us down. You shall gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Moreover, whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath, which you have made us to swear. She said, According to your words, so be it. She sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet line in the window. They went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but didn't find them. Then the two men returned. Descended from the mountain, passed over, and came to Joshua, the son of Nun. And they told them all that happened to them. They said to Joshua, Truly Yahweh has delivered into our hands all the land. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us. Chapter 3 Joshua rose up early in the morning, and they moved from Shittim and came to the Jordan. He and all the children of Israel. They lodged there before they passed over. It happened after three days that the officers went through the midst of the camp, and they commanded the people saying, When you see the ark of the covenant, of Yahweh your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall move from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Don't come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before. Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you. Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. Yahweh said to Joshua, Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here and hear the words of Yahweh, your God. Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will, without fail, drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Parazite, and the Gurgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. Now, therefore, take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. It shall come to pass when the souls of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rests in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, even the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand in one heap. It happened when the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water, for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest, that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarathen, and of those that went down toward the sea of the araba, even the salt sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over right against Jericho, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel passed over on dry ground until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan. Chapter 4 It happened when all the nation had completely passed over the Jordan that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe, a man, and command them, saying, Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe, a man. Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask, in time to come, saying, What do you mean by these stones? Then you shall tell them. Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel, forever. The children of Israel did, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as Yahweh spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day. For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Yahweh commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and passed over. It happened when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of Yahweh passed over with the priests in the presence of the people. The children of Rubin, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, passed over, armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them. About forty thousand men, ready and armed for war, passed over before Yahweh to battle to the plains of Jericho. On that day Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. Yahweh spoke to Joshua saying, command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony that they come up out of the Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, come up out of the Jordan. It happened when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the souls of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before. The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and camped in Gilgal on the east board of Jericho. Joshua set up these twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan in Gilgal. He spoke to the children of Israel saying, When your children ask their fathers, in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean? Then shall let your children know saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land, for Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had passed over as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we had passed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Yahweh, that it is mighty, that you may fear Yahweh your God forever. Chapter 5 It happened when all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we had passed over, that their heart melted. Neither was their spirit in them any more because of the children of Israel. At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, Make flint knives and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the four skins. This is the reason Joshua circumcised. All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way after they had come out of Egypt. For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness by the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed because they didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh. Yahweh swore to them that he wouldn't let them see the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. The children whom he raised up in their place were circumcised by Joshua, for they were uncircumcised because they had not circumcised them on the way. It happened when they were done circumcising all the nation that they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed. Yahweh said to Joshua, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Therefore the name of that place was called Gilgal to this day. The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho. They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover in the same day. The man acceased on the next day after they had eaten of the produce of the land. The children of Israel didn't have manna any more, but the ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. It happened when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? He said, No, but I have come now as a commander of Yahweh's army. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? The Prince of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, Take your shoes off of your feet, for the place in which you stand is holy. Joshua did so. Chapter 6 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out and no one came in. Yahweh said to Joshua, Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and the mighty men of valor. All your men of war shall march around the city going around the city once. You shall do this six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horns and when you hear the sound of the trumpet all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city shall fall down flat and the people shall go up every band straight before him. Joshua the Son of Nun called the priests and said to them take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of Yahweh. They said to the people advance march around the city and let the armed men pass on before Yahweh's ark. It was so that when Joshua had spoken to the people the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of ram's horns before Yahweh advanced and blew the trumpets and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went. Joshua commanded the people saying you shall not shout nor let your voice be heard neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout. So he caused the ark of Yahweh to go around the city going about it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp. Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh. The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually and blew the trumpets and the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh. The trumpet sounded as they went. The second day they marched around the city once and returned into the camp. They did this six days. It happened on the seventh day that they rose early in the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same way seven times. Only on this day they marched around the city seven times. It happened at the seventh time when the priests blew the trumpets Joshua said to the people shout for Yahweh has given you the city. The city shall be devoted even it and all that is in it to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live. She and all who are with her in the house because she hid the messengers that we sent. But as for you only keep yourselves from the devoted thing. Lest when you have devoted it you take of the devoted thing so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. But all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh's treasury. So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. It happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet that the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat so that the people went up into the city. Every man straight before him and they took the city. They utterly destroyed all that was in the city both man and woman both young and old and ox and sheep and donkey with the edge of the sword. Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, go to the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all that she has as you swore to her. The young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab with her father her mother her brothers and all that she had they also brought out all her relatives and they sent them outside the camp of Israel. They burnt the city with fire and all that was in it. Only they put the silver, the gold and the vessels of brass and iron into the treasury of Yahweh's house. But Rahab the prostitute, her father's household and all that she had Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time saying, cursed is the man before Yahweh who raises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates. So Yahweh was with Joshua and his fame was in all the land. Chapter 7 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things. For Ahen the son of Karmie the son of Zabdi the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah took some of the devoted things. Therefore Yahweh's anger burned against the children of Israel. Joshua sent men from Jericho to AI which is beside Beth Avon on the east side of Bethel and spoke to them saying go up and spy out the land. The men went up and spied out AI. They returned to Joshua and said to him don't let all the people go up but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike AI. Don't make all the people to toil there for there are only a few of them. So about three thousand men of the people went up there and they fled before the men of AI. The men of AI struck about 36 men of them. And they chased them from before the gate even to Shebrim and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted and became like water. Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the Ark of Yahweh until the evening he and the elders of Israel and they put dust on their heads. Joshua said alas Lord Yahweh why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to cause us to perish. I wish that we have been content and live beyond the Jordan. O Lord what shall I say? After that Israel has turned their backs before their enemies. For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name? Yahweh said to Joshua get up why are you fallen on your face like that? Israel has sinned. Yes they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes they have even taken of the devoted things and have also stolen and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel can't stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up. Sanctify the people and say. Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow for Yahweh. The God of Israel says there is a devoted thing in the midst of you Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you. In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which Yahweh selects shall come near by families. The family which Yahweh selects shall come near by households. The household which Yahweh selects shall come near man by man. It shall be that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire. He and all that he has because he has transgressed the covenant of Yahweh and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel. So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. The tribe of Judah was selected. He brought near the family of Judah and he selected the family of the Zerahites. He brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man and Zabdi was selected. He brought near his household man by man and Achan the son of Karami, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah was selected. Joshua said to Achan, My son, please give glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done. Don't hide it from me. Achan answered Joshua and said, I have truly sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel. And this is what I have done. When I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonian robe, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent with the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers and they ran to the tent. Behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver under it. They took them from the middle of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel. They laid them down before Yahweh. Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zarah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkey, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had and they brought them up to the valley of Acreur. Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you this day. All Israel stoned him with stones and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Acreur to this day. Chapter 8 Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't be afraid. Neither be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise. Go up to A.I. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of A.I. with his people, his city, and his land. You shall do to A.I. and her king as you did to Jericho and her king. Accept its spoil and its livestock you shall take for a plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it. So Joshua arose and all the people of war to go up to A.I. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of Valor, and sent them out by night. He commanded them saying, Behold, you shall line ambush against the city behind the city. Don't go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. I and all the people who are with me will approach to the city. It shall happen when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them. They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say they flee before us like the first time. So we will flee before them, and you shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand. It shall be when you have seized on the city that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the word of Yahweh. Behold, I have commanded you. Joshua sent them out, and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua stayed among the people that night. Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up he and the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and drew near, and came before the city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai on the west side of the city. So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city, and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. It happened when the king of Ai saw it, that they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle. He and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Ereba. But he didn't know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city. There was not a man left in Ai, or Bethel, who didn't go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel. Yahweh said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand, toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered into the city and took it. They hurried and set the city on fire. When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers. When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and killed the men of Ai. The others came out of the city against them. So they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape. They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua. It happened when Israel had made an end of killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai, and struck it with the edge of the sword. All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. For Joshua didn't draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the livestock and the spoiled the city Israel took for prey to themselves, according to the word of Yahweh, which he commanded Joshua. So Joshua burnt Ai and made it a heap forever, even a desolation to this day. He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening, and at the sundown Joshua commanded, and they took down his body from the tree, and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it, that remains to this day. Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded to the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no man has lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, and sacrificed peace offerings. He wrote there, on the stones, a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. All Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark, and on that side before the priests, the Levites, who carry the ark of Yahweh's covenant, the foreigner as well as the native, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. Afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessing, and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all the Law Moses commanded, which Joshua didn't read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them. End of chapters 1-8 Chapter 9-17 of Joshua from the World English Bible This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anton Epp. The Book of Joshua from the World English Bible. Chapters 9-17 Chapter 9 It happened when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Parasite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it, that they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one accord. But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys and wineskins, old and torn and bound up, and old and patched shoes on their feet, and wore old garments. All the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country, now therefore make a covenant with us. The men of Israel said to the Hivites, What if you live among us? How could we make a covenant with you? They said to Joshua, We are your servants. Joshua said to them, Who are you? Where do you come from? They said to him, Your servants come from a very far country because of the name of Yahweh, your God, for we have heard of his fame, all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sion king of Heshban, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtroth. Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them and tell them, We are your servants. Now make a covenant with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we went to go to you. But now, behold, it is dry, and has become moldy. These wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn. These our garments and our shoes have become old because of the very long journey. The men sampled their provisions, and didn't ask counsel from the mouth of Yahweh. Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live. The princes of the congregation swore to them. It happened at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they lived among them. The children of Israel travelled, and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chafira, Beiroth, and Kyriath Jerem. The children of Israel didn't strike them because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. All the congregation murmured against the princes, but all the princes said to the congregation, We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. Now therefore we may not touch them. This we will do to them, and let them live, lest wrath be on us because of the oath which we swore to them. The princes said to them, Let them live, so they became woodcutters and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them. Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you when you live among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you will never fail to be bond servants, both woodcutters and drawers of water for the house of my God. The answer Joshua said, Because your servants were certainly told how Yahweh your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. Now behold, we are in your hand, due to us as it seems good and right to you to do. He did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they didn't kill them. That day Joshua made them woodcutters and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh to this day in the place which he should choose. Chapter 10 Now it happened when Adonai Zedek, King of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had taken AI and had utterly destroyed it, as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to AI and her king, and how the inhabitants of Gibyan had made peace with Israel and were among them, that they were very afraid, because Gibyan was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than AI and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adonai Zedek, King of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, King of Hebron, and to Piram, King of Jarmuth, and to Japhia, King of Lakersh, and to Debir, King of Eglon, saying, Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibyan, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel. Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the King of Jerusalem, the King of Hebron, the King of Jarmuth, the King of Lakersh, the King of Eglon, gathered themselves together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped against Gibyan, and made war against it. The men of Gibyan sent to Joshua, to the camp, to Gilgal, saying, Don't abandon your servants, come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country have gathered together against us. So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of Valor. Yahweh said to Joshua, Don't fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands, not a man of them will stand before you. Joshua therefore came on them suddenly, he went up from Gilgal all night, Yahweh confused them before Israel, and he killed them with a great slaughter at Gibyan, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horan, and struck them to Azaka and to Makadah. It happened as they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth Horan, that Yahweh cast down great stones from the sky on them to Azaka, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than who the children of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh, in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Son, stand still on Gibyan, you moon, stop in the valley of the Aegean. The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn't this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of the sky, and didn't hurry to go down about a whole day. There was no day like that before nor after it, that Yahweh listened to the voice of a man, for Yahweh fought for Israel. Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal. These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave of Makadah. Joshua was told, saying, The five kings are found, hidden in the cave at Makadah. Joshua said, Roll large stones to the mouth of the cave, and set men by it to guard them. But don't stay, pursue your enemies, and them from the rear. Don't allow them to enter into their cities, for Yahweh your God has delivered them into your hand. It happened when Joshua and the children of Israel had finished killing them with a very great slaughter until they were consumed, and the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities that all the people returned to the camp of Joshua at Makadah in peace. None moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel. Then Joshua said, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me. They did so, and brought those five kings out of the cave to him, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmoth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. It happened when they brought those kings out to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with them, Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings. They came near and put their feet on their necks. Joshua said to them, Don't be afraid, nor be dismayed. Be strong and courageous, for Yahweh will do this to all your enemies against whom you fight. Afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and hanged them on five trees. They were hanged on the trees until the evening. It happened at the time of the going down of the sun that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees and cast them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day. Joshua took Makadah on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword, with its king. He utterly destroyed them and all the souls who were in it. He left none remaining. He did to the king of Makadah as he had done to the king of Jericho. Joshua passed for Makadah and all the Israel with him to Libna and fought against Libna. Yahweh delivered it also with its king into the hand of Israel. He struck it with the edge of the sword and all the souls who were in it. He left none remaining in it. He did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. Joshua passed from Libna and all Israel with him to Lakish and encamped against it and fought against it. Yahweh delivered Lakish into the hand of Israel. He took it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword with all the souls who were in it according to all that he had done to Libna. Then Horem, king of Giza, came up to help Lakish and Joshua struck him and his people until he had left him none remaining. Joshua passed from Lakish and all Israel with him to Eglon and they encamped against it, fought against it. They took it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it on that day according to all that he had done to Lakish. Joshua went up from Eglon and all Israel with him to Hebron and they fought against it and they took it and struck it with the edge of the sword with its kings and all its cities and all the souls who were in it. He left none remaining according to all that he had done to Eglon but he utterly destroyed it and all the souls who were in it. Joshua returned and all Israel with him to De Beer and fought against it. He took it with its kings and all its cities. They struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed all the souls who were in it. He left none remaining as he had done to Hebron so he did to De Beer and to its king. As he had done also to Libna and to its king so Joshua struck all the land the hill country and the south and the low land and the slopes and all their kings. He left none remaining but he utterly destroyed all that breath as Yahweh the God of Israel commanded. Joshua struck them from Kaddish Barnea even to Gaza and all the country of Goshen even to Gibeon. Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time because Yahweh the God of Israel fought for Israel. Joshua returned and all Israel with him to the camp to Gilgal. Chapter 11 It happened when Jabin King of Hazor heard of it that he sent to Joab King of Maedon to the King of Shimron to the King of Akshaph and to the kings who were on the north in the hill country in the araba south of Shinorath in the low land and in the heights of Dor on the west to the Canaanite on the east and on the west and to the Amorite and the Hittite and the Parasite and the Jebusite in the hill country and the Hivite under Hemron in the land of Mizpa. They went out they and all their armies with them many people even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude with very many horses and chariots all these kings met together and they came and camped together at the waters of Mirman to fight with Israel. Yahweh said to Joshua don't be afraid because of them for tomorrow at this time I will deliver them up slain before Israel you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire so Joshua came and all the people of war with him against them by the waters of Mirman suddenly and fell on them Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel and they struck them and chased them to the great Sidon and to Mizrafoth Maim and to the valley of Mizpa eastward they struck them until they left them none remaining Joshua did to them as Yahweh told them he hamstrung their horses and burnt their chariots with fire Joshua turned back at that time and took Hazor and struck its king with the sword for Hazor used to be the head of all those kingdoms they struck all the souls who were in it with the edge of the sword utterly destroying them there was no one left who breathed he burnt Hazor with fire Joshua captured all the cities of those kings with their kings and he struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed them as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded but as for the cities that stood on their mounds Israel burned none of them except Hazor only Joshua burned that the children of Israel took all the spoil of these cities with the livestock as spoils for themselves but every man they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them they didn't leave any who breathed as Yahweh commanded Moses his servant so Moses commanded Joshua Joshua did so he left nothing undone of all that Yahweh commanded Moses so Joshua captured all that land the hill country all the south all the land of Goshen the lowland the araba the hill country of Israel and the lowland of the same from Mount Halak that goes up to Sier even to Bal Gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon he took all their kings struck them and put them to death Joshua made war a long time with all those kings there was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel except the hivites the inhabitants of Gibyan they took all in battle for it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts to come against Israel in battle that he might utterly destroy them that they might have no favor but that he might destroy them as Yahweh commanded Moses Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country from Hebron from Dibir from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities there were none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel only in Gaza in Goth and in Ashtad did some remain so Joshua took the whole land according to all that Yahweh had spoke to Moses and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes the land had rest from war Chapter 12 Now these are the kings of the land whom the children of Israel struck and possessed their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon and all the Ereba eastward Sion, king of the Emirates who lived in Heshban and ruled from Aror which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon and the middle of the valley and half Gilead even to the river Jabak the border of the children of Eman and the Ereba to the sea of Shinarath eastward and to the sea of the Ereba even the Salt Sea eastward the way to Beth Jashemoth and on the south under the slopes of Pisgah and the border of Ag king of Bashan to the remnant of the Refium who lived at Ashtarath and in Edre and ruled in Mount Hermon and in Salakha and in all Bashan to the border of the Gera Shites and the Makathatites and half Gilead the border of Sion king of Heshban Moses the servant of Yahweh and the children of Israel struck them Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it for possession to the Rubinites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manassee these are the kings the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel struck beyond the Jordan westward from Bale Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Mount Halak that goes up to Seir Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Ereba and in the slopes and in the wilderness and in the south the Hittite the Amorite the Canaanite the Parasite the Hivite and the Jebusite the king of Jericho one the king of A.I. which is beside Bethel one the king of Jerusalem one the king of Hebron 1. The King of Makada, 1. The King of Bethel, 1. The King of Tapua, 1. The King of Heifer, 1. The King of Ephek, 1. The King of Lathoron, 1. The King of Medon, 1. The King of Hazor, 1. The King of Shimran Maren, 1. The King of Akshaaf, 1. The King of Tanakh, 1. The King of Medigo, 1. The King of Kedesh, 1. The King of Jhoknium, in Carmel, 1. The King of Dorr, in the height of Dorr, 1. The King of Goim, in Gilgal, 1. The King of Tisra, 1. All the Kings, 31. Chapter 13. Now Joshua was old and well advanced in years. Yahweh said to him, You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed. This is the land that still remains. All the regions of the Philistines, and all the Gesharites, from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even to the board of Ekron Northward, which is counted as Canaanite, the five lords of the Philistines, the Gazites and the Ashtadites, and the Ashkala Knights, the Gitites and the Ekronites, also the Avum, on the South, and all the land of the Canaanites, and Myra that belongs to the Sedonians, to Afec, to the border of the Amorites, and the land of the Gebelites, and all Lebanon toward the Sunrise, from Baal Gad, under Mount Hermon, to the entrance of Hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill-country of Lebanon, to Mizrafoth, Ma'am, even all the Sedonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel, only allocated to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, with them the Rubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan Eastward, even as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them, from Iroir that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnan, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Mediba, to Dibon, and all the city of the Sion, King of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Amon and Gilead, and the border of the Gecherites and Makathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan, to Salekah, and all the Kingdom of Agh, in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth, and in Edrai, the same was left of the Revenant of the Refium, for Moses attacked these and drove them out. Nevertheless the children of Israel didn't drive out the Gecherites, nor the Makathites, but Gecher and Makath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day, only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi, the offerings of Yahweh, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him. Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Rubin, according to their families. Their border was from Arior, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnan, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Mediba, Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain, Dibon, Beymoth Bail, Beth Bail Mion, Jahaz, Ketimoth, Mephath, Kyriathium, Sibma, Zeroth-Sahar in the mount of the valley, Beth Pior, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth Jishamoth, all the cities of the plain, and all the king of Sihon, king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, who Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rechem, Zur, Her, and Reba, the princes of Sihon who lived in the land. The children of Israel also killed Bailam, the son of Bior, the soothsayer with the sword among the rest of their slain. The border of the children of Rubin was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Rubin, according to their families, the cities, and its villages. Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad, according to their families. Their border was Jazar, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Amon. To Arir, that is, before Reba, and from Heshbon to Ramath-Mispah, and Batonim, and from Ahanyam to the borders of Debir, and in the valley Beth Herum, Beth Nimra, Sakath, and Zathon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon, the Jordan's bank, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnerath beyond the Jordan eastward. This is the inheritance of the children of Gad, according to their families, the cities, and its villages. Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was for the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh, according to their families. Their border was for Mahanyam, all Bashon, all the kingdom of Ag, king of Bashon, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashon, sixty cities. Half Gilead, Ashtarath, and Edri, the cities of the kingdom of Ag, in Bashon, were for the children of Mahir, the son of Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Mathur, according to their families. These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan and Jericho eastward. But to the tribe of Levi, Moses gave no inheritance. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them. Chapter 14 These are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Elizor the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the father's houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed to them by the lot of their inheritance, as Yahweh commanded by Moses for the nine tribes and for the half-tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and a half-tribe beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they gave no portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their livestock and for their property. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they divided the land. Then the children of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal. Caleb, the son of Japhuna, the kenozite, said to him, You know the thing that Yahweh spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning me and concerning you and Kaddish Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of Yahweh, sent me from Kaddish Barnea to spy out the land. I brought him word again as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brothers, who went up with me, made the heart of them people melt, but I wholly followed Yahweh, my God. Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land where you walk shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have wholly followed Yahweh, my God. Now behold, Yahweh has kept me alive as he spoke these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses while Israel walked in the wilderness. Now behold, I am eighty-five years old today, as yet I am as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me, as my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, to go out and to come in. Now therefore give me this hill country of which Yahweh spoke in that day, for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and great and fortified cities. It may be that Yahweh will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as Yahweh spoke. Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jefuna, for an inheritance. Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb, the son of Jefuna, the kenozite, to this day, because he wholly followed Yahweh, the God of Israel. Now the name of Hebron before was Kyriath Arba, after the greatest man among the Anakin. The land had rest from war. Chapter 15 The lot for the tribe of the children of Judah, according to their families, was to the border of Eden, Eden to the wilderness of Zinn southward, at the uttermost part of the south. Their south border was from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looked southward, and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabim, and passed along to Zinn, and went up by the south of Kaddishparnia, and passed along by Hezron, went up to Adar, and turned about to Karka, and it passed along to Asmon, when out at the brook of Egypt, and the border ended at the sea. This shall be your south border. The east border was the Salt Sea, even to the end of the Jordan. The border of the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the end of the Jordan. The border went up to Beth-Hogla, and passed along by the north of Beth-Arabah, and the border went up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Rubin. The border went up to De Beer, from the valley of Acor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is over against the ascent of Adumim, which is on the south side of the river. The border passed along to the waters of N. Shemesh, and ended at N. Rogel. The border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, the same is Jerusalem. And the border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the valley of Hinnon westward, which is at the farthest part of the valley of Refim northward. The border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Neftua, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron. And the border extended to Bala, the same is Kiryath-Jerim. And the border turned about from Bala westward to Mount Sire, and passed along to the side of Mount Jerim, and the north, the same is Chassalon, and went down to Beth-Shemesh, and passed along by Timna, and the border went out to the side of Akron northward, and the border extended to Shikaron, and passed along to Mount Bala, and went out at Jabnil. And the goings out of the border were at the sea. The west border was to be the shore of the Great Sea. This is the border of the children of Judah, according to their families. To Caleb the son of Jefune he gave a portion among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua, even Kiryath-Arba, named after the father of Anak, the same is Hebron. Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak, Shashai, and Ahimun, and Talmai, the children of Anak. He went up against the inhabitants of Debeer. Now the name of Debeer before was Kiryath-Sephir. Caleb said, he who strikes Kiryath-Sephir and takes it, to him will I give Akhsa my daughter as wife. Othnil, the son of Kenez, the brother of Caleb, took it, and he gave him Akhsa his daughter as wife. It happened when she came that she had him ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey, and Caleb said, what do you want? She said, give me a blessing, because you have sent me in the land of the south. Give me also springs of water. He gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah, according to their families. The farthest cities of the tribe of the children of Judah, toward the border of Edom, in the south, were Kabzil, Edir, Jagur, Kena, Demona, Adha, Kadesh, Hazor, Ethnan, Zif, Telam, Beloth, Hazor Hadadah, Kiryathezran, the same as Hazor, Aman, Shema, Moladah, Hazergadah, Hashman, Beth Pellet, Hazor Shual, Bersheba, Beziothil, Bela, Ayim, Ezim, El-Tolad, Chesil, Horma, Ziklag, Admana, Sansana, Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimad. All the cities were twenty-nine, with their villages. In the lowland, Eshtol, Zorha, Ashna, Zanoa, and Ganam, Tapua, Inam, Jarmuth, Adulam, Sakal, Azaka, Sheriam, Adathem, and Gaderah, or Gaderothem. Fourteen cities with their villages, Zenon, Hadasha, Migdal Gad, Dilian, Mispah, Jokthil, Lakish, Boskath, Eglon, Caban, Laman, Chitlish, Gaderoth, Beth-Dagon, Nama, and Makada. Sixteen cities with their villages, Libna, Ether, Ashan, Ifta, Ashna, Nezib, Kalal, Achsib, Mersha, Nine cities with their villages, Ekron with its towns and its villages, from Ekron even to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashtad with their villages. Ashtad, its towns and its villages, Gaza, its towns and its villages, to the brook of Egypt and the great sea with its coastline. In the hill-country, Shammer, Jader, Sakal, Dana, Kiryat, Sana, which is Deber, Anab, Ashtamo, Anim, Goshen, Holon, and Gailo, eleven cities with their villages, Arab, Duma, Eshan, Janim, Beth-Tapua, Afika, Humta, Kirith, Arba, the same as Hebron, and Zior, nine cities with their villages, Maun, Carmel, Zif, Juta, Jezrel, Jokiem, Zenoa, Kain, Gibya, and Timna, ten cities with their villages, Halhul, Beth-Dur, Gedor, Marath, Beth and Oth, and El-Tekhan, six cities with their villages, Kiryat-Bail, the same as Kiryat-Jiram, and Rabah, two cities with their villages. In the wilderness, Beth-Eraba, Midden, Zakaka, Nibshan, the city of Salt, and Ngedi, six cities with their villages. As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah couldn't drive them out, but the Jebusites lived with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. CHAPTER XVI The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. It went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Architites to Atarath, and it went down westward to the border of the Jafletites, to the border of Beth-Horon the lower, even to Giza, and ended at the sea. The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. This was the border of the children of Ephraim, according to their families. The border of their inheritance eastward was Atarath-Adar, to Beth-Horon the upper. The border went out westward at Mikmethath on the north. The border turned about eastward to Tanath-Shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Jenoa. It went down from Jenoa to Atarath to Nera, reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan. From Tapu the borders went along westward to the brook of Cana, and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim, according to their families, together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim, in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh. All the cities with their villages, they didn't drive out the Canaanites who lived in Giza, but the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and have become servants to do forced labor. Chapter 17. This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph, as for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bastion. So this was for the rest of the children of Manasseh, according to their families. For the children of Abizur, for the children of Helik, for the children of Azrael, for the children of Sechem, for the children of Hefer, and for the children of Shemidah, these were the male children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, according to their families. But Zalofa had the son of Hefer, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh had no sons, but daughters, and these are the names of his daughters. Nala, Noah, Hogla, Milka, and Tirzah. They came nearer before Eliza the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the prince is saying, Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers, therefore according to the commandment of Yahweh, he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. Ten parts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bastion, which is beyond the Jordan, because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Mishmathath, which is before Sechem. The border went along to the right hand to the inhabitants of Entipua. The land of Entipua belonged to Manasseh, but Entipua on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. The border went down to the brook of Cana, southward of the brook. These cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and ended at the sea. Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was his border. They reached to Asher on the north, and to Ishakar on the east. Manasseh had three heights in Ishakar, in Asher Bethsheen and its towns, in Iblion and its towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Tanech and its towns, and the inhabitants of Medigo and its towns. Yet the children of Manasseh couldn't drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. It happened when the children of Israel had grown strong that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn't utterly drive them out. The children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, Why have you given me just one part for an inheritance, since I am a great people, because Yahweh has blessed me so far? Joshua said to them, If you are a great people, then go up to the forest and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Parasites and of the Refium, since the hill-country of Ephraim is too narrow for you. The children of Joseph said, The hill-country is not enough for us. All the Canaanites would have been dwelled in the land of the valley, have chariots of iron, both those who are in Bastian and its towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel. Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, You are a great people and have great power. You shall not have one lot only, but the hill-country shall be yours. Although it is a forest, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent shall be yours, for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.