Translation:Joshua

For other English-language translations of this work, see Joshua (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹ After the death of Moses servant of Yahweh, Yahweh spoke to Joshua bin^[1] Nun and attendant to Moses, saying:

² "My servant Moses is dead. Now prepare yourself and all this people to cross the Jordan, into the land which I am giving unto the Israelites. ³ Every spot upon which your foot shall tread I give unto you, as I promised to Moses.

⁴ Your lands shall extend from the wilderness and the Lebanon to the Great River (Euphrates) on the east - the whole of the Hittite lands - and up to the (Mediterranean) Sea on the west. ⁵ No man shall be able to resist you as long as you live. As I was with Moses, so shall I be with you; I will not fail nor forsake you.

⁶ Be strong and resolute, for you must apportion unto this people all the lands which I swore unto their fathers to give unto them.

⁷ But you must remain very strong and resolute to observe faithfully all the teachings that My servant Moses gave unto you. Do not deviate from it, neither to the right nor to the left, that you may find success wherever you go. ⁸ Let not this Book of the Teaching (Torah) cease from your lips, but recite it day and night, that you may observe faithfully all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper and be successful in your undertakings. ⁹ I charge you: Be not fearful nor dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go".

¹⁰ Joshua therefore gave orders unto the leaders of the people, saying:

¹¹ "Go through all the camp and charge the people thusly: Get provisions ready, for in three days' time you shall cross over the Jordan in order to enter and occupy the land which Yahweh your God is giving you for a possession".

¹² Then said Joshua unto the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

¹³ "Remember what Moses the servant of Yahweh said unto you: 'Yahweh your God is granting you a haven, this territory, which He is assigning unto you'. ¹⁴ Let your wives, your children, and your livestock remain in this land which Moses assigned to you on this side of the Jordan, but every one of your fighting men shall go across armed with your kinsmen, and you shall assist them ¹⁵ until Yahweh has given unto your kinsmen a haven such as you have, and they have gained the possession of the lands which Yahweh your God has assigned to them. Then you may return to the land on the east side of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Yahweh assigned to you as your possession, and you shall occupy it".

¹⁶ Then they answered unto Joshua, saying "We will do every thing you have commanded, and we will go wherever you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses; let only Yahweh your God be with you as He was with Moses! ¹⁸ Any man who disregards your commands and does not obey every order you give him shall be put to death. Only be strong and resolute!"

Chapter 2

¹ From Shittim, Joshua bin^[1] Nun sent two men to spy, telling them, "Go see the land, and Jericho." They went and came to the house of a prostitute, whose name was Rahab, and slept there.

² And the king of Jericho was told, "There are men who came here in the night, Israelites, to survey all this land."

³ The king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you, who came to your house, because they have come to survey all this land."

⁴ But the woman took the two men and hid them, and said, "Two men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ Then, about the time [in the evening] when the [city] gates were closed, the men went out. I do not know where they went. Pursue them quickly and you may overtake them."

⁶ She had brought them up to the roof, and covered them up with cotton which she had laid out on the roof. ⁷ And the men hunted for them along the route to the Jordan, toward the fords. Then the gates were shut just after the pursuers had gone out [from the city]. ⁸ Before they had fallen asleep, she came up to them on the roof. ⁹ And she said to the men, "I know that Yahweh has given you this land, and that we are terrified of you, and that all the inhabitants of this land are petrified because of you; ¹⁰ because we have heard how Yahweh dried of the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out from Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites in Transjordan: Sihon and Og, whom you exterminated. ¹¹ When we heard things things our hearts melted, and every man was breathless because of you, because Yahweh your god is God in the sky above and on the earth beneath. ¹² Now, please swear to me by Yahweh that because I treated you well, that you will also treat my father's household well, and give me a sign of [your] faithfulness. ¹³ [Swear that] you will save my father, my mother, my brothers sisters, and all that they have, and rescue our lives from death."

¹⁴ The men said to her, "Our lives for yours,^[2] so long as you do not report this business of ours. Then, when Yahweh gives us this land, we will be loyal and true to you." ¹⁵ Then she let them down with a rope through her window, because her house was on the town wall — she lived by the wall. ¹⁶ She said to them, "Go to the hills, or the posse will catch you, and hide there three days, till the posse gives up. Then go on your way."

¹⁷ The men told her, "We will not renege on this oath we swore. ¹⁸ When we come to this land, tie this scarlet cord in the window where you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father's family home with you. ¹⁹ Then, whoever walks outside the doors of your house, his death is on him:^[3] it is not our fault. But whoever is in the house, his death is our responsibility if anyone harms him. ²⁰ If you tell anyone about this, we are free of this oath you made us swear."

²¹ She said, "As you have said, so be it." She sent them off. They left, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. ²² They went, and arrived in the hills, and stayed there three days, tll the posse turned back. The posse looked for them all the way, but did not five them. ²³ Both men went back down from the mountain, and crossed over to Joshua bin^[1] Nun, and told him what happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, "Surely Yahweh has handed all the land to us, and the people of that land are afraid of us."

Chapter 3

¹ Joshua rose early in the morning, and they left Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the Israelites, and they stayed the night there before they crossed over.

² After three days had passed, the officers passed through the encampment ³ and commanded the people, "When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your god, and the priests and Levites carrying it, you are to leave your place and follow it. ⁴ But make sure to leave a space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits. Do not come near to it. This is how you will know the path where you must go, because you have not passed this way before."^[4]

⁵ And Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you."

⁶ And Joshua spoke to the priests, and said, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over in front of the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

⁷ And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Today I will make you great in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I was with Moses, so I am with you. ⁸ Command the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, stand still at the Jordan.'"

⁹Joshua said to the Israelites, "Approach here, and listen to what Yahweh your god says."

¹⁰ And Joshua said, "This is how you will know that the Living God is among you, and that he will drive out before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹ See, the Ark of the Covenant of the master of all the earth is about to pass over ahead of you through the Jordan. ¹² And now, take yourself twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. ¹³ It will happen, that as soon as the feet of the priests who carry the Ark of Yahweh, the master of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, the waters that come down from above, and they will stand in one pile."

¹⁴ And so it was, that when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as those who carried the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who carried the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks all through the harvest season), ¹⁶ that the waters which came down from above stood. They rose in a single heap very far off, at the city of Adam, which is beside Zarethan. The [waters] flowing downward towards the Sea of Arabah, the Salt Sea, ceased and were cut off, and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ And the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Chapter 4

¹And then, when all the people had finished crossing the Jordan, Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,, ²"Take yourself twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe ³And command them, 'Pick up twelve stones from here in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests' feet stood firm, and carry them across with you, and set them in the where you stay to spend the night.'"

⁴Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen from the Israelites, one man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, "Cross over in front of the ark of Yahweh your god into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you lift one stone on his shoulder, for the number of Israelite tribes, ⁶ so that this will be a sign among you, when your children ask you in the future, 'What are these stones to you?' ⁷ Then you will say to them that the waters of the Jordan wer cut off for the ark of Yahweh's covenant; when it passed across the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones will be for a memorial to the Israelites forever." ⁸ And the Israelites did just as Joshua commanded, and picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, as Yahweh said to Joshua, for the number of the Israelite tribes. And they carried them with them to the place where they stayed the night and set them down there. ⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, where the feet of the priests carrying the ark stood, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ And the priests carrying the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that Yahweh commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to everything Moses had commanded Joshua, and the people hurried across. ¹¹ And then, when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of Yahweh and the priests passed over in front of the people. ¹²And the Reubenites and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed in front of the Israelites, just as Moses told them. ¹³ About forty thousand crossed over prepared for battle before Yahweh, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day Yahweh exalted Joshua in the eyes of all Israel, and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁶ "Command the priests carrying the ark of the testimonty to come up out of the Jordan."

¹⁷ And Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." ¹⁸ And then, when the priest carrying the ark of Yahweh's covenant came up from the midlle of the Jordan, the priest's soles touches the dry land, and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went up to their former level. ¹⁹ And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month, and stayed at Gilgal, along the eastern border of Jericho.

²⁰ And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the Israelites, "When your sons ask their fathers one day, 'What are these stones?', ²² then tell you children, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry land,' ²³ when Yahweh your god dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you had crossed over, just as Yahweh your god did to the Red Sea,^[5] which he dried up for us until we crossed over, ²⁴ so that all the peoples of the earth will know that Yahweh's hand is strong, so that you may fear Yahweh your god forever.

Chapter 5

¹ Now when all the Amorite kings who were across the Jordan westward, and all the Canaanite kings who were by the sea, heard that Yahweh had dried up the water of the Jordan in front of the Israelites until we crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any more because of the Israelites. ² At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, "Make yourself flint knives and, once again, circumcise the Israelites." ³ And Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at the Foreskin Hill. ⁴ And this is the reason Joshua circumcised: all the people who left Egypt, the males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they left Egypt. ⁵ While all the people who left were circumcised, all the people born in the widlerness along the way after they left Egypt were not circumcised. ⁶ For the Israelites went forty years in the wilderness until the whole nation, the men of war who left Egypt, had died, because they did not listen to Yahweh's voice, and Yahweh swore to them that he would not show them the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ And their children he raised up in their place -- Joshua circumcised them, because they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.

⁸ Now when they were finished circumcising all the people, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed. ⁹ And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled the reproach of Egypt off of you." And the name of that place was called Gilgal to this day.^{[6] 10} And the Israelites camped in Gilgal and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And they ate from the produce of the land the next day after the passover, that very day, unleavened bread and parched grain that very day. ¹² And the manna ceased on the next day when they had eaten the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna. They ate from the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

¹³ Now, when Joshua was at Jericho, he lifted his eyes and saw, and there was a man standing across from him, with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went over to him and said to him, "Are you with us or with our enemies?"

¹⁴ And he said, "No, but rather as the leader of Yahweh's army I have now come." And Joshua fell, his face to the earth, and did homage, and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?"

¹⁵ And the leader of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal from your foot, because this place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.

Chapter 6

¹ Now Jericho was securely shut because of the Israelites: no one went out or came in. ² And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Look -- I will deliver Jericho into your hand, and its king, its soldiers. ³ You will encircle the city, all the warriors. Go around the city one time: do this for six days. ⁴ And seven priests will carry seven rams-horn trumpets in front of the ark, and on the seventh day you will encircle the city seven times, and the priest will sound the trumpets. ⁵ Then, when they give a long blast on the trumpet-horn, when you hear the sound of the rams-horn, all the people will shout a great shout, and the city wall will fall down flat, and the people will go up by ranks."

⁶ And Joshua bin^[1] Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven rams-horn trumpets in front of Yahweh's ark."

⁷ And they said to the people, "Cross over and encircle the city, and let whoever is armed cross over in front of Yahweh's ark."

⁸ Now when Joshua told the people, seven priests carrying seven rams-horn trumpets in front of Yahweh crossed over and blew on the trumpets, and the ark of Yahweh's covenant followed them. ⁹ And the armed men went in front of the priests blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark, going and blowing on the trumpets. ¹⁰ And Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not shout, or make any sound with your voice, and let no word come out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout; then shout."

¹¹ And Yahweh's ark encircled the city, going around one time. And they came into the camp, and stayed the night in the camp.

¹² And Joshua rose early at dawn, and the priests carried Yahweh's ark. ¹³ And seven priests carrying seven rams-horn trumpets in front of Yahweh's ark went along, blowing on the trumpets, and the armed men went in front of them, and the rear guard followed Yahweh's ark, blowing on the trumpets as they went. ¹⁴ And the second day they encircled the city one time, and returned to camp. They did so for six days.

¹⁵ Then on the seventh day they got up early, around daybreak, and encircled the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day did they encircle the city seven times. ¹⁶ Then, the seventh time, the priests blew with the trumpets. And Joshua said to the people, "Shout, because Yahweh has given you the city." ¹⁷ And the city will be devoted for destruction, it and everything in it, for Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute will live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. ¹⁸ Make sure to keep yourselves away from the devoted things, or else you will be cursed, when you take the devoted things, and cause the camp of Israel to be devoted, and trouble it. ¹⁹ And all the silver and gold, and objects of brass and iron, will be consecrated to Yahweh. They will come into Yahweh's treasury." ²⁰ And the people shouted and they blew on the trumpets, and then when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell flat, and the people went up to the city in ranks, and captured the city. ²¹ And they totally destroyed everything in the city: from men to women, from young to old, to oxen and sheep and goats and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

²² And Joshua said to the two young men who spied out the land, "Go into the house of the prostitute, and bring out the woman and all who are hers from there, as you swore to her." ²³ And the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and all she had, and they brought out all her family and left them outside the Israelite camp. ²⁴ As for the city, they burnt it with fire, and everything in it, except for the silver and the gold, and the objects of brass and iron, which they brought to the treasure of Yahweh's house. ²⁵ But as for Rahab the prostitute, and her father's household, and all her relatives, Joshua kept them alive, and they live among the Israelites to the present day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. ²⁶ And Joshua placed them under oath at that time, saying, "Cursed is the man before Yahweh who rises and builds this city, Jericho. With his firstborn he will lay the foundation, and with his youngest he will set up the gates." ²⁷ And Yahweh was with Joshua, and he was renowned throughout the land.

Chapter 7

¹ But the Israelites were unfaithful concerning the devoted thing: Achan ben Carmi ben Zebdi ben Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things, and Yahweh's wrath flared up against the Israelites. ² And Joshua sent men from Jericho to the Ai,^[7] which is by Beth-aven, east of Beth-el, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out the Ai.

³ And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Not all the people need to go up. Let two or three thousand men go up and attack the Ai. Do not make all the people bother with it, because they are few." ⁴ So about three thousand of the people went up there, but they fled before the men of the Ai. ⁵ And the men of the Ai killed about thirty-six men, and they pursued them out in front of the city gate as far as Shebarim,^[8] and killed them on the way down. So the heart of the people melted and turned to water.

⁶ And Joshua tore his mantle and fell on his face to the ground before Yahweh's ark until evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, "Oh Lord Yahweh, why have you brought this people across the Jordan? To hand us over to the Amorites? To destroy us? If only we had been willing to settle on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸ O Yahweh, what can I say after Israel turns their back before their enemies? ⁹ And the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth, and what will you do for your great name?"

¹⁰ And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Get up. Why are you lying face down? ¹¹ Israel has sinned. Indeed, they have broken my covenant which I commanded them. Indeed, they have taken from the devoted things. Indeed, they have stolen. Indeed, they have lied. Indeed, they have put it among their own things. ¹² So the Israelites could not stand against their enemies, turning their back before their enemies, because they were under the ban. And I will not be with you anymore, unless you destroy the banned thing from among you. ¹³ Get up. Consecrate the people, and say, Consecrate yourselves tomorrow, because this is what Yahweh, the god of Israel, says, A banned thing is among you, Israel. You are not able to stand against your enemies till you purge the banned thing from among you. ¹⁴ And you will be brought near in the morning by your tribes, and then the tribe which Yahweh selects will approach by its clans, and the clan which Yahweh selects will approach by its families, and the family which Yahweh selects will approach man by man. ¹⁵ And then the one who is selected with the banned thing will be burned with fire, him and all that belong to him, because he has broken the covenant of Yahweh, and because he has acted recklessly in Israel."

¹⁶ And Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel by its tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected. ¹⁷ And he brought the family of Judah, and he selected the Zarhite clan. And he brought the Zarhite clan man by man, and Zabdi was selected. ¹⁸ And he brought his family man by man, and Achan ben Zabdi ben Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected. ¹⁹ And Joshua said to Achan, "My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the god of Israel, and make a confession to him. Now tell me what you have done. Do not hide it from me."

²⁰ And Achan replied to Joshua, "It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the god of Israel, and I have done such and such. ²¹ I saw among the spoil a fine Babylonian garment, and two hundred shekels of silver,^[9] and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,^[10] and I wanted them, and I took them, and now they are hidden in the ground within my tent, and the silver is under it."

²² And Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. ²³ And they took them from the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the Israelites, and laid them out before Yahweh.

²⁴ And Joshua took Achan ben Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the bar of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his flocks, and his tent, and all that he had, along with all of Israel with him, and brought them up to the valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled^[11] us? Yahweh will trouble you today." And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. ²⁶ And they raised over him a great heap of stones to this day. And Yahweh turned from his fierce anger. That is why the place is called the valley of Achor to this day.

Chapter 8

¹Then God told Joshua: "Don't dread or be fearful; take with you all the multitude of fighters and go to the town of Ai: Look! I have given into your hand the king and the people and the city and land. ²And do to the city of Ai and to its king as you did to Jericho and to its king; take loot and its livestock. Build a trap: ambush bivouacs^[12] behind the city."

³Joshua rose and all the fighting men gathered, and went into Ai, and thirty thousand chosen men went there by night.

⁴And he said, "build a trap: ambush bivouacs^[12] behind the city, don't retreat far away, and you should all be ready. ⁵I will go with the others, and approach the city from the opposite side; we shall come into the city opposite you, and when they come against us, we will flee, and turn our backs, ⁶until they pursue us far away from their city. ⁷Them pursuing and us fleeing, you should rise up from your ambush bivouacs^[12] and shall take the city: the Lord God will take it in your hands. ⁸When you have taken it, I command you to set it on fire."

⁹The ambush bivouacs^[12] were set between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city of Ai. That night, Joshua dwelt there in the middle of the fighters. ¹⁰Rising early, he inspected the fighters and, with the elders, went in the front of the army. ¹¹With all the fighters, they neared the city, coming from the city's north side, and between the army and the city was a valley. ¹²He chose five thousand men, and sent them to the ambush bivouacs^[12] on the city's west side between Bethel and Ai. ¹³He positioned the people that were on the north side of the city, and the rear on the west side of the city. Then Joshua went at night and stood in the valley between his army and the city.

¹⁴Then the king of Ai saw him, and, in the morning, he, in haste, went with the city's army, against Israel, ignorant of the men waiting to ambush them behind the city. ¹⁵Joshua, however, and all Israel with him fled by way of the wilderness, pretending to be afraid. ¹⁶And all the people of Ai rallied, and pursued Joshua far away from Ai. ¹⁷And nobody remained in Ai and Bethel that didn't pursue Israel. They left, leaving the towns empty.

¹⁸And God said to Joshua, "Raise up your shield towards Ai, and I will give it to you." ¹⁹And when Joshua raised his shield towards Ai, the men in the ambush bivouacs^[12] rose up, took Ai, and set it on fire. ²⁰The people of Ai looked behind them, and saw the smoke rising up to heaven, and saw that they could not retreat toward or away from their city anymore^[13] and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back against their pursuers. ²¹And Joshua and all Israel, seeing the city taken and the flames rising toward heaven, turned and beat the people of Ai. ²²And they that took Ai and set it on fire left the city and went in the midst of their enemies and beat them. They slew the men of Ai, so many that no man of the multitude was spared. ²³But they took the king alive and brought him to Joshua. ²⁴Then the Israelites killed all that pursued them into the desert, killed them by the sword where they were. They turned again and beat the city. ²⁵There were of woman and men that fell on that same day, twelve thousand men of all the city of Ai. ²⁶Joshua didn't lower his hand that held the shield high until all the men of Ai had been killed ²⁷The livestock, however, the Israelites took as loot, as God commanded Moses. ²⁸They burnt the city, and made it an everlasting tomb. ²⁹The king of Ai they executed and put on display^[14] until evening when the sun was going down. The people did as Joshua commanded and disposed of the king's body. They threw it in one of the entrances to Ai, and piled upon it a permanent heap of stone that is there to this day.

³⁰Then Joshua commanded an altar to be built to the Lord God of Israel on mount Ebal,³¹as Moses, the servant of God, commanded, and it was written in the volume of the law of Moses: make an altar of unworked stone that iron never touched, and offer a sacrifice to the Lord, and peace offerings. ³²And he wrote there on the stones a summary of the law of Moses,^[15] which he wrote in front of all the Israelites.³³And all Israel, and its elders, and dukes, and its judges stood on either side of the ark, facing the levitical priests who carried the ark of Yahweh; foreigners and natives; half of them by Mount Gerizim, and the other half by Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of Yahweh, commanded, to bless the people of Israel first. ³⁴After that, he read the words of the law, the blessing and the cursing, exactly as it is written in the book of the law. ³⁵ Not a word of all that Moses commanded was left out; Joshua read it all before the congregation of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the foreigners who went among them. ^[16]

Chapter 9

¹ Now when all the kings who were across the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the Shephelah, and in all the shores of the great sea opposite the Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard, ² they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel as a united front.

³ And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ they were crafty, and went and sent envoys,^[17]and they took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and worn-out wineskins, torn and patched up, ⁵ and old patched shoes on their feet, and worn-out clothes on them, and all the bread of their provisions was dry and moldy. ⁶ And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, "We are from a distant land. Please, make a covenant with us."

⁷ And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Maybe you live among us. How could we make a covenant with you?"

⁸ And they said to Joshua, "We are your servants."

And Joshua said to them, "Who are you, and where have you come from?"

⁹ And they said to him, "Your servants have come from a very distant land because of the fame of Yahweh your god, because we heard the report about him and all that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who were at Ashtaroth. ¹¹ And our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said to us, 'Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants. Please, make a covenant with us."' ¹² This bread of ours we took hot from our houses on the day we left to come to you, and now look: it is dry, and has become moldy. ¹³ And these wineskins which we filled were new, and look: they are torn, and these clothes and shoes of ours are worn out from the long journey.

¹⁴ And the men took some of their provisions, and did not inquire of Yahweh. ¹⁵ And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the nobles of the congregation swore to them.

¹⁶ Now, three days after they made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they lived among them. ¹⁷ And the Israelites journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Their cities were Gibeon, and the Kephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ And the Israelites did not kill them, because the nobles of the congregation swore to them by Yahweh, the god of Israel. And all the congregation grumbled against the nobles.

¹⁹ And all the nobles said to all the congregation, "We swore to them by Yahweh, the god of Israel, so now we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This is what we will do to them. We will let them live, so that wrath is not against us on account of the oath which we swore to them." ²¹ And the nobles said to them, "Let them live, and they will be woodcutters and water-carriers for all the congregation, as the nobles promised them."

²² Joshua summoned them and said to them, "Why did you mislead us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you live among us? ²³ So now you are cursed, and none of you will be freed from slavery, and you will be woodcutters and water-carriers for the house of my god."

²⁴ And they replied to Joshua, "Because it was indeed reported to your servants, how Yahweh your god commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to exterminate all the inhabitants of the land before you. And we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and so we did this thing. ²⁵ And now, here we are in your hand, do to us what seems good and right in your eyes to do. ²⁶ And so he did to them, and saved them from the hand of the Israelites, and they did not kill them. ²⁷ And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water-carriers for the congregation, and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, to the place which he would choose.

Chapter 10

¹ Now when Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken the Ai, and had utterly exterminated it -- as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to the Ai and its king -- and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them, ² they were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than the Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³ And Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon: ⁴"Come up to me and help me, and we will strike Gibeon, because it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites." ⁵ And the five kings of the Amorites -- the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon -- gathered themselves together and went up with all their armies, and encamped before Gibeon and made war against it.

⁶ And the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the encampment at Gilgal: "Do not let your hand be weak toward your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us, and help us, because all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill-country have gathered against us."

⁷ And Joshua went up from the Gilgal, he and all the fighters with him, and all the mighty warriors. ⁸ And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, because I have given them into your hand. Not a man of them will be able to stand against you." ⁹ And Joshua came to them by surprise; all night he came up from the Gilgal. ¹⁰ And Yahweh crushed them before Israel, and struck them down with great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them on the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and as far as Makkedah. ¹¹ Then, as they fled from Israel -- they were on the descent of Beth-horon -- Yahweh threw onto them great stones from the sky as far as Azekah, and they died. More died in the hailstones than those the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹² Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh on the day Yahweh gave over the Amorites before the Israelites, and he said as Israel looked on, "Sun, be still at Gibeon; Moon, in the valley of Ayalon. ¹³ And the sun was still, and the moon stood until the nation had taken revenge on its enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stood in the middle of the sky, and delaying going down about a whole day. ¹⁴ And there was nothing like that day, before or after, that Yahweh listened to the voice of a man, when Yahweh fought for Israel.

¹⁵ And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at the Gilgal.

¹⁶ And those five kings fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ And it was reported to Joshua, "The five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah."

¹⁸ And Joshua said, "Roll great stones in front of the cave, and appoint men to keep watch over it. ¹⁹ And do not stand there: pursue your enemies, and rout them from behind. Do not let them enter their cities, because Yahweh your god has handed them over to you. ²⁰ Now when Joshua and the Israelites had finished striking them down with very great slaughter, until they were eliminated, the remaining survivors went into fortified towns. ²¹ And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace. No one would say anything against the Israelites.

²² And Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out to me these five kings from the cave. ²³ And they did so, and brought out those five kings to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon.

²⁴ Then, when they brought those kings to Joshua, Joshua called to all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the soldiers who went with him, "Come near and put your feet on the necks of these kings. And they came near and put their feet on their necks. ²⁵ And Joshua said to them, "Do not dread or be afraid. Be strong and courageous, because this is what Yahweh will do to all your enemies that you fight against. ²⁶ And afterwards Joshua struck them down and killed them, and hung them on five trees, and they hanged on the trees till evening.^{[18] 27} Then, when the sun was setting, Joshua gave the word and they were taken down from the trees, and tossed them into the cave where they had hid, and set large stones over the mouth of the cave, to this very day.

²⁸ Joshua took Makkedah that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed its king and all the people who were there. He spared no one, and did to the king of Makkedah as he did to the king of Jericho.

²⁹ And Joshua moved on from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah, and waged war against Libnah. ³⁰ And Yahweh gave them also into the hand of Israel, along with its king, and he struck it with the edge of the sword, along with all its people. He spared none, and did to its king as he did to the king of Jericho.

³¹ And Joshua moved on with all Israel from Libnah to Lachish, and encamped against it and made war with it. ³² And Yahweh gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and they took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the word, with all the people in it, just as was done to Libnah. ³³ Then Horam king of Gezer went up to help Lachish, and Joshua struck him and his people until not a soul remained.

³⁴ And Joshua moved on, with all of Israel, from Lachish to Eglon, and encamped against it, and made war with it. ³⁵ And they seized it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and all the people in it he utterly destroyed that day, just as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶ And Joshua went up, with all of Israel, from Eglon to Hebron, and they made war with it. ³⁷ And they seized it, and struck it with the edge of the word, and its king, and all its cities, and all the people in it. He spared not a soul, just as he did to Eglon. He utterly destroyed it and all the people in it.

³⁸ And Joshua returned, with all of Israel, to Debir, and made war against it. ³⁹ And he seized it, and its king, and all its cities, and struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the people in it. He did not spare a soul. Just as he did to Hebron, so he did to Debir and to its king, as he also did to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰ And Joshua struck all the hill-country, and the Negev, and the Shephelah, and the slopes, and all their kings. He did not spare a soul, and he utterly destroyed all that breathed, as Yahweh, the god of Israel, commanded. ⁴¹ And Joshua struck them from Kadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the land of Goshen, as far as Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time, because Yahweh, the god of Israel, fought for Israel. ⁴³ And Joshua returned, with all of Israel, to the camp at Gilgal.

Chapter 11

¹ Now, when Jabin king of Hazor heard, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, ² and to the kings who were on the north of the hill-country, and of the plain south of Kinneroth, and the Shephelah, and the Naphoth-dor to the west, ³ the Canaanites eastward and westward, and the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill-country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ And they went out, they and all their camps with them, a numerous people, like the sand which is on the seashore in number, and very many horses and chariots. ⁵ And, gathered together, all these kings went and encamped at the waters of Merom to make war with Israel.

⁶ And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, because tomorrow around this time I will give them all slain before Israel. Hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire." ⁷ So Joshua came, and all the army with him, against them by surprise by the waters of Merom, and they fell upon them. ⁸ And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and pursued them as far as the great Sidon, and as far as Misrephoth-maim, and as far as the valley of Mizpah to the east, until they left none remaining. ⁹ And Joshua did to them as Yahweh told him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

¹⁰ And Joshua turned back at that time, and seized Hazor, and struck its king with the sword, because Hazor was once the head of all these kingdoms. ¹¹ And they struck all the persons who were there with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. None were left breathing, and they burned Hazor with fire.

¹² And all the cities of these kings, and all their kings, Joshua seized and struck them with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded. ¹³ But all the cities standing on their mounds Israel did not burn, with the exception of only Hazor, [which] Joshua burned. ¹⁴ And all the loot of these cities, and the livestock, the Israelites took as plunder for themselves, but every human they struck with the edge of the sword until they had exterminated them. They left none breathing. ¹⁵ As Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that Yahweh commanded Moses.

¹⁶ And Joshua took all that land: the hill-country, and all the Negev, and all the land of Goshen, and all the Shephelah, and the Arabah, and all the hill-country of Israel and its Shephelah, ¹⁷ from Mount Halak on the way up to Seir as far as Baal-gad in the valley of the Lebanon under Mount Hermon. And he captured, and struck, and killed all their kings. ¹⁸ Many days Joshua made war with all these kings. ¹⁹ Not a city made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites inhabiting Gibeon. They took them all in battle, ²⁰ because it was from Yahweh that their hearts were hardened to meet Israel in battle, so that he could utterly destroy them, so that they would have no mercy, but rather that he might destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

²¹ And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill-country of Judah. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. ²² The Anakim did not remain in the land of the Israelites. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod they survived.

²³ And Joshua took all the land, according to all that Yahweh said to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel, according to their tribal divisions. And the land rested from war.

Chapter 12

¹ And these are the kings of the land which the Israelites killed, and possessed their land on the other side of the Jordan eastward, from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east: ²Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half the Gilead as far as the river Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites, ³ and from the Arabah to the sea of Kinnereth on the east, and as far as the Arabah of the Salt Sea, on the way to Beth-jeshimoth, and from the south under Ashdoth-pisgah; ⁴ and the territory of Og king of the Bashan, from the remnant of the Rephaim who lived in Ashtaroth and at Edrei, ⁵ and ruled in Mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all the Bashan as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites, and half the Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

⁶ Moses the servant of Yahweh and the Israel defeated them, and Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them as a possession to the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁷ And these are the kings of the land which Joshua and the Israelites defeated on the side west of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of the Lebanon as far as Mount Halak going up to Seir, and Joshua gave them to the tribes of Israel as a possession by their divisions, ⁸ in the hill-country, and in the Shephelah, and in the Arabah, and in Ashdoth, and in the Negev: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: ⁹ the king of Jericho, one; the king of the Ai which is beside Bethel, one; ¹⁰ the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; ¹¹ the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; ¹² the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; ¹³ the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; ¹⁴ the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; ¹⁵ the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; ¹⁶ the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; ¹⁷ the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; ¹⁸ the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; ¹⁹ the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazon, one; ²⁰ the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; ²¹ the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; ²² the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; ²³ the king of Dor of Naphath-dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; ²⁴ the king of Tirzah, one.

All the kings were thirty-one.

Chapter 13

¹ Now Joshua was old, getting on in age, and Yahweh said to him, "You are old, getting on in age, and the very much of the land remains to be possessed. ² This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites, ³ from Sihor, which faces Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron to the north, reckoned to the Canaanites, five sarens^[19] of Philistines, the Gazans, the Ashdodites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, and the Avites. ⁴ From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah which is beside the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the territory of the Amorites. ⁵ And the land of the Giblites, and all the Lebanon eastward, from Baal-gad under Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath. ⁶ All the inhabitants of the hill-country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, all the Sidonians. I will dispossess them before the Israelites. Make sure to divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I commanded you. ⁷ Now then, divide this land as an inheritance for the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.

⁸ "With them the Reubenites and the Gadites have taken their inheritance, which Moses gave them on the east side of the Jordan, as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them: ⁹ from Aroer that is along the bank of the river Arnon, and the city which is in the middle of the river, and all the plain of Medeba as far as Dibon; ¹⁰ and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites; ¹¹ and the Gilead, and the territory of the Geshurites and the Maakathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all the Bashan as far as Salcah; ¹² all the kingdom of Og in the Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Moses defeated and drove them out.

¹³ But the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites and the Maakathites, and Geshur and Maakah dwell within Israel to this day.

¹⁴ Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance. The offers of Yahweh, the god of Israel, are their inheritance, as he commanded them.

¹⁵ And Moses gave to the tribe of the Reubenites by their clans. ¹⁶ And their territory was from Aroer which is along the bank of the river Arnon, and the city which is in the middle of the river, and all the plain by Medeba, ¹⁷ Heshbon and all its cities which are in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸ and Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, ¹⁹ and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-ha-shahar in the hill-country of the valley, ²⁰ and Beth-peor, and Ashdoth-pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, ²¹ and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses killed with the nobles of Midian -- Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the lords of Sihon, dwelling in the land. ²² And the Israelites killed Balaam son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among those they slew. ²³ And the border of the Reubenites was the Jordan, and its territory. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites by the clans, its cities and its villages.

²⁴ And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the Gadites by their clans. ²⁵ And their border was Jazer, and all the cities of the Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, as far as Aroer which is opposite Rabbah, ²⁶ and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpah, and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of Debir; ²⁷ and in the valley, Beth-haram, and Beth-nimrah, and Sukkoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and its border to the edge of the sea of Kinnereth on the other side of Jordan to the east. ²⁸ This is the inheritance of the Gadites by their clans, the cities and their villages.

²⁹ And Moses gave to half the tribe of Manasseh, and this was the half-tribe of the Manassites by their clans. ³⁰ And their border was from Mahanaim, all the Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of the Bashan, and all the Havoth-jair, which are in the Bashan, sixty cities; ³¹ and half the Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in the Bashan, belonging to the descendants of Machir the son of Manasseh, of the half of the descendants of Machir by their clans.

³² These are what Moses gave as an inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side of Jordan, by Jericho, to the east. ³³ But to the tribe of Levi Moses did not give an inheritance, because Yahweh, the god of Israel, was their inheritance, as he commanded them.

Chapter 14

¹ And these are what the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua bin^[1] Nun, and the kin-group leaders of the tribes of the Israelites distributed as an inheritance to them. ² Their inheritance was by lot, as Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe, ³ because Moses had distributed an inheritance to the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan, and to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them; ⁴ because the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they gave no portion to the Levites in the land, except for cities to dwell in, and their hinterlands for their livestock and animals. ⁵ As Yahweh commanded Moses, so the Israelites did, and divided the land.

⁶ And the Judahites came to Joshua at the Gilgal, and Caleb ben Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know the message that Yahweh gave to Moses the man of God concerning me and you in Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses the servant of Yahweh sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word from my heart. ⁸ And my brothers who went up with me weakened the heart of the people, but I wholly followed Yahweh my god. ⁹ And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'I swear that the land which you walked on will be your inheritance, and for you descendants forever, because you have wholly followed Yahweh my god.' ¹⁰ And now, look, Yahweh has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years, from when Yahweh gave this message to Moses, as Israel wandered in the wilderness, and now today I am eighty-five years old. ¹¹ Still today I am as strong as on the day Moses sent me; as strong as I was then, I am now, for going out to battle and returning again. ¹² Now, then, give me this hill-country which Yahweh spoke of in that day, because you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and great fortified cities. If Yahweh is with me, I will drive them out, as Yahweh said."

¹³ And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron as an inheritance for Caleb ben Jephunneh. ¹⁴ Therefore Hebron became an inheritance for Caleb ben Jephunneh to this day, because he wholly followed Yahweh, the god of Israel. ¹⁵ And the name of Hebron used to be Kiriath-arba, [named after Arba,] the great man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.

Chapter 15

¹ And this was the lot of the tribe of the Judahites by their clans. To the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin toward the Negev was the southern limit. ² And their southern border was from the edge of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward, ³ and it went out from the Negev to Maaleh-ha-akrabbim, and passed on to Zin, and went up from the Negev to Kadesh-barnea, and passed on to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and went around Karkaa. ⁴ And it passed on toward Azmon, and went out to the river of Egypt, and the ends of the border were at the sea. This will be your southern border.

⁵ And the eastern border was the Salt Sea to the end of the Jordan. And their border for the northern corner was from the bay of the sea to the end of the Jordan. ⁶ And the border went up from beth-hoglah, and passed on from the north of Beth-arabah, and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ⁷ And the border went up toward Debir from the valley of Achor, and northward, looked toward the Gilgal, which is in front of the ascent of Addumim, which is south of the river, and the border passed on toward the waters of Ein-shemesh, and came out at Ein-rogel. ⁸ And the border went up the valley of the son of Hinnom along the shoulder of the Jebusite southward, which is Jerusalem, and the border went up to the top of the mountain which faces the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim northward. ⁹ And the border was marked out from the top of the mountain to the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron, and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁰ And the border went around from Baalah west to Mount Seir, and passed along the shouler of Mount Jearim on the north side, which is Kesalon, and went down to Beth-shemesh and passed on to Timnah. ¹¹ And the border went out to the side of Ekron northward, and the border was drawn to Shichron, and passed on to Mount Baalah, and went out to Jabneel, and the border went out at the sea.

¹² And the west border was to the Great Sea, and the border. This is the border of the Judahites all around by their clans.

¹³ And to Caleb ben Jephunneh he gave a portion among the Judahites, by the word of Yahweh to Joshua, the city of Arba the father of the Anak, which is Hebron. ¹⁴ And Caleb drove out the three sons of the Anak: Seshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of the Anak. ¹⁵ And he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir, and the name of Debir used to be Kiriath-sepher.

¹⁶ And Caleb said, "Whoever defeats Kiriath-sepher and seized it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as wife." ¹⁷ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

¹⁸ And when she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field, and she dismounted her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?"

¹⁹ And she said, "Give me a blessing. Because you have given me land in the Negev,^[20] give me springs of water." And he gave her the upper and lower springs.

²⁰ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the Judahites by their clans.

²¹ And the boundary cities of the Judahites toward the border of Edom in the Negev were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, ²² and Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, ²³ and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Yithnan, ²⁴ Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, ²⁵ and Hazor, Hadathah, and Kerioth, Hezron (which is Hazor), ²⁶ Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, ²⁷ and Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet, ²⁸ and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizyothyah, ²⁹ Baalah, and Iyyim, and Azem, ³⁰ and Eltolad, and Kesil, and Hormah, ³¹ and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, ³² and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon. All the cities were twenty-nine, and their villages.

³³ In the Shephelah: Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah, ³⁴ and Zanoah, and Ein-gannim, and Tappuah, and the Enam, ³⁵ Jarmuth, and Adullam, Sokoh, and Azekah, ³⁶ and Sharaim, and Adithaim, and the Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages.

³⁷ Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad, ³⁸ and Dilean, and the Mizpah, and Joktheel, ³⁹ Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon, ⁴⁰ and Kabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, ⁴¹ and Gederoth, and Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages.

⁴² Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan, ⁴³ and Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, ⁴⁴ and Keilah, and Akzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages. ⁴⁵ Ekron, with its dependencies and villages; ⁴⁶ from Ekron and to the sea, all those near Ashdod with their villages; ⁴⁷ Ashdod with its dependencies and villages, Gaza with its dependencies and villages, to the river of Egypt, and the Great Sea, the border and the border.

⁴⁸ And in the hill-country: Shamir, and Jattir, and Sokoh, ⁴⁹ and Dannah, and Kiriath-sannah (which is Debir), ⁵⁰ and Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim, ⁵¹ and Goshen, and Holon: eleven cities with their villages.

⁵² Arab, and Rumah, and Eshean, ⁵³ and Janum, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah, ⁵⁴ and Humtah, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron), and Zior: nine cities and their villages.

⁵⁵ Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah, ⁵⁶ and Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah, ⁵⁷ Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages.

⁵⁸ Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor, ⁵⁹ and Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities and their villages.

⁶⁰ Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and the Rabbah: two cities with their villages.

⁶¹ In the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah, ⁶² and the Nibshan, and the City of Salt, and Ein-gedi: six cities and their villages.

⁶³ And as for the Jebusites, who inhabited Jerusalem, the Judahites were not able to drive them out, and the Jebusites live with the Judahites in Jerusalem to this day.

Chapter 16

¹ And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from the Jordan Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness going up from Jericho in the hill-country of Bethel, ² and went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed over to the border of the Archites Ataroth, ³ and went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the border of Lower Beth Horon, and to Gezer, and its end was at the sea. ⁴ And the children of Joseph: Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.

⁵ And the border of the children of Ephraim was according to their families; the border of their inheritance eastwards was Ataroth Addar as far as the upper Beth Horon. ⁶ And the border went out westward the Michmethath on the north, and the border turned around eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed along it on the east to Janoah. ⁷ And it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan. ⁸ From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah. And the goings out of it were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families, ⁹ together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. ¹⁰ And they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; and the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and are serving forced labor.

Chapter 17

¹ There was a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was the firstborn of Joseph, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of the Gilead, because he was a man of war, and he had the Gilead and the Bashan. ² And there was also [one] for the rest of the Manassites by their clans: for the descendants of Abiezer, and Helek, and Asriel, and Shechem, and Hepher, and Shemida. These were the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their clans.

³ And Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah ⁴ And they approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua bin^[1] Nun, and the nobles, saying, "Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren." So by the command of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among their brethren. ⁵ And ten portions fell to Manasseh, besides the land of the Gilead and the Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan, ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons, and the rest of the sons of Manasseh had the land of the Gilead.

⁷ And the border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, which is in front of Shechem, and the border went southward to the inhabitants of Ein-tappuah. ⁸ Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, and Tappuah along the border of Manasseh belonged to the Ephraimites. ⁹ And the border went down to the river Kanah, southward of the river. These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh. And the border of Manasseh was north of the river, and it went out to the sea.

¹⁰ Southward it belonged to Ephraim, and northward to Manasseh, and the sea was his border, and they met in the north at Asher, and in Issachar on the east. ¹¹ And in Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its dependencies, and Yibleam and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Dor and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Ein-dor and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its dependencies, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependencies. The third is Nepheth. ¹² And the Manassites could not drive out the people of these cities. The Canaanites were determined to stay in that land. ¹³ And when the Israelites grew strong, and put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not manage to drive them out.

¹⁴ And the descendants of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given me only one alloted portion to inherit, as I am a numerous people, as Yahweh has blessed me till now?"

¹⁵ And Joshua said to them, "If you are a numerous people, get up to the forest and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, if the hill-country of Ephraim is too confining for you."

¹⁶ And the descendants of Joseph said, "The hill-country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have iron chariots in Beth-shean and its dependencies, and in the valley of Jezreel."

¹⁷ And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, "You are a numerous and very strong people. You will not have only one lot. ¹⁸ Instead, the hill-country will be yours, because it is a forest, and you can cut it down, and its furthest parts will be yours, because you can drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots, even though they are powerful.

Chapter 18

¹ And the whole Israelite congregation gathered at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. ² And there were yet among the Israelites seven tribes which had not been allotted their inheritance.

³ And Joshua said to the Israelites, "How long will you delay going to take possession of the land which Yahweh, the god of your fathers, has given you? ⁴ Choose yourselves three men per tribe, and I will send them, and they will get up and go through the land, and produce a written record of their inheritance, and they will return to me. ⁵ And they will divide it in seven portions. Judah will stand along the southern border, and the house of Joseph will stand along the northern border. ⁶ You will produce a written record of seven portions, and bring it to me here, and I will cast lots^[21] for you here before Yahweh our god. ⁷ But the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. And Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh has taken their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, eastward, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.

⁸ The men got up and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to document the land, saying, "Go and walk throughout the land, and document it, and come back to me, and here I will cast lots for you before Yahweh at Shiloh." ⁹ And the men went and passed through the land, and documented it with its towns into seven portions in a scroll, and came back to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ And Joshua cast lots for them before Yahweh at Shiloh, and there Joshua apportioned the land of the Israelites into its portions.

¹¹ And the lot of the Benjamite tribe by their clans came up, and the border of their lot went out between the Judahites and the house of the sons of Joseph. ¹² And their border on the northern side was from the Jordan, and the border went up to the shoulder of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill-country westward, and went out to the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³ And the border passed on from their to Luz, to the shoulder of Luz southward (it is Bethel), and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the hill which is south of Lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴ And the border was marked and went around the side of the sea southward, from the hill which is facing Beth-horon to the south, and went out to Kiriath-baal, which is Kiriath-jearim, a town of the Judahites. This was the west side.

¹⁵ And the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward and went out to the well of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ And the border went down to the edge of the hill in front of the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward, and went down to the valley of Hinnom toward the shoulder of the Jebusites southward, and went down to Ein-Rogel. ¹⁷ And it was marked out from the north, and went out to Ein-shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite Maaleh-adummim, and went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ And it passed on along the shoulder facing the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah. ¹⁹ And the border passed on to the shoulder of Beth-hoglah northward, and the border went out to the northern bay of the Salt Sea at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

²⁰ And the Jordan was the border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the Benjamites, by its border all around, for their clans.

²¹ And the towns of the tribe of Benjamin for their clans were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz, ²² and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel, ²³ and the Avim, and the Parah, and Ophrah, ²⁴ and Kefar of the Ammonites, and Ophni, and Gaba: twelve towns with their villages.

²⁵ Gibeon, and the Ramah, and Beeroth, ²⁶ and the Mizpah, and the Kephirah, and the Mozah, ²⁷ and Rekem, and Yirpeel, and Taralah, ²⁸ and Zela, and Eleph, and the Jebusite (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, Kiriath: fourteen towns with their villages. This is the inheritance of the Benjamites for their clans.

Chapter 19

¹ And the second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the Simeonites by their clans, and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the Judahites. ² And they had in their inheritance Beer-sheba, and Sheba, and Moladah, ³ and Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Ezem, ⁴ and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah, ⁵ and Ziklag, and Beth-markaboth, and Hazar-susah, ⁶ and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen: thirteen towns and their villages.

⁷ Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and Ashan: four towns and their villages. ⁸ And all the villages which were surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer. This is the inheritance of the Simeonites by their clans.

⁹ From the allotment of the Judahites the inheritance of the Simeonites was taken, because the allotment of the Judahites was too much for them. So the Simeonites received an inheritance inside of their inheritance.

¹⁰ And the third lot came up for the Zebulunites by their clans, and the border of their inheritance stretched to Sarid. ¹¹ And the border went up to the sea, and Maralah, and reached Dabbesheth, and reached to the river which is in front of Jokneam. ¹² And it turned from Sarid eastward to the border of Kisloth-tabor, and went out to the Daberath, and went up to Japhia. ¹³ And from there it passed on eastward to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and went out to Rimmon, and turned to Neah. ¹⁴ And the border went around it northward to Hannathon, and went out to Jiphtah-el, ¹⁵ and Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve towns with their villages. ¹⁶ This is the inheritance of the Zebulunites by their families, these towns and their villages.

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the descendants of Issachar by their clans. ¹⁸ And their border was toward Jezreel, and the Kesulloth, and Shunem, ¹⁹ and Hapharaim, and Shion, and Anaharath, ²⁰ and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, ²¹ and Remeth, and Ein-gannim, and Ein-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. ²² And the border reached to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh, and their border went out to the Jordan: sixteen towns and their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the Issacharites by their clans, the towns and their villages.

²⁴ And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the Asherites by their clans. ²⁵ And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph, ²⁶ and Alammelek, and Amad, and Misheal, and reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath. ²⁷ And it turned to the east at Beth-dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Jiphtah-el north of Beth-emek, and Neiel, and went out to Cabul on the left, ²⁸ and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon. ²⁹ And the border turned to the Ramah, and to the fortified city of Tyre, and the border turned to Hosah, and went out to the sea from the allotment of Achzib, ³⁰ and Ummah, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty-two towns and their villages. ³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the Asherites by their clans, these cities and their villages.

³² The sixth lot went out to the Naphtalites, the Naphtalites by their clans. ³³ And their border was from Heleph, and Elon in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and went out to the Jordan. ³⁴ And the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor, and went out from there to Hukok, and reached Zebulun on the south, and reached Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan to the east. ³⁵ And the fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Kinnereth, ³⁶ and Adamah, and the Ramah, and Hazor, ³⁷ and Kedesh, and Edrei, and Ein-hazor, ³⁸ and Yiron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh: nineteen towns and their villages. ³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtalites by their clans, the towns and their villages.

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Danites by their clans. ⁴¹ And the border of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, ⁴² and Shaalabbin, and Ayalon, and Jithlah, ⁴³ and Elon, and Timnathah, and Ekron, ⁴⁴ and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, ⁴⁵ and Jehud, and Benei-berak, and Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶ and Mei-jarkon, and the Rakkon, with the border across from Jericho. ⁴⁷ And the Danites lost control of their territory, and the Danites went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and took possession of it, and settled in it, and called Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their father. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the Danites by their clans, these towns and their villages.

⁴⁹ And they finished divided the land into inheritances by its territories, and the Israelites gave an inheritance to Joshua bin^[1] Nun among them. ⁵⁰ As Yahweh commanded, they gave him the city which he requested: Timnath-serah in the hill-country of Ephraim. And he built the city and lived in it.

⁵¹ These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua bin Nun, and the clan leaders of the tribes of Israel divided by lot as an inheritance at Shilo before Yahweh, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And they finished apportioning the land.

Chapter 20

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, ² "Speak to the Israelites, saying, 'Set yourselves towns of refuge, which I spoke about to you by the hand of Moses, ³ so that anyone who commits accidental and unintentional homicide can flee there. They will be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ And the one who flees to one of these towns will stand at the entrance of the town gate, and speak his words in the ears of the elders of the city, and they will take him into the city with them, and give him a place to live among them. ⁵ And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they will not hand over the killer to him, because he did not kill his neighbor knowingly, and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ And he will stay in that city until he stands before the council for judgment, until the death of the high priest who will be in those days. Then the killer may return and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city that he fled from."

⁷ And they consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah. ⁸ And on the other side of the Jordan to the east, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness of the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in the Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ These were the cities set aside for all the Israelites, and for the resident alien among them, to flee to in case of accidental homicide, so as not to die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the council.

Chapter 21

¹ Then the clan leaders of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua bin Nun, and the clan leaders of the tribes of the Israelites. ² And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses to give us towns to settle in and hinterlands for our livestock. ³ And the Israelites gave to the Levites from their own inheritance, as Yahweh commanded, these towns and their hinterlands.

⁴ And the lot came out by clans for the Kohathites. And the descendants of Aaron the priest, who were Levites, had thirteen towns by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵ And the rest of the Kohathites had ten towns by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, and Dan, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ And the Gershonites had thirteen towns by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, and Asher, and Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the Bashan.

⁷ The Meratites by their clans had twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸ And the Israelites gave by lot to the Levities these towns and their hinterlands as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁹ And from the tribes of the Judahites and Simeonites they gave these towns which are mentioned by name, ¹⁰ with the descendants of Aaron, who were of the Kohathite clans, because theirs was the first lot. ¹¹ They gave them the town of Arba the father of the Anak, which is Hebron, in the hill-country of Judah, with its hinterlands surrounding it. ¹² And the fields of the town, and its villages, they gave to Caleb ben Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave the city of refuge the manslayer, Hebron and its hinterlands, and Libnah with its hinterlands, ¹⁴ and Jattir with its hinterlands, and Eshtemoa with its hinterlands, ¹⁵ and Holon with its hinterlands, and Debir with its hinterlands, ¹⁶ and Ain with its hinterlands, and Beth-shemesh with its hinterlands: nine towns from those two tribes.

¹⁷ And from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and its hinterlands, Geba and its hinterlands, ¹⁸ Anathoth and its hinterlands, Almon and its hinterlands: four towns. ¹⁹ All the towns of Aaron the priest were thirteen towns and their hinterlands.

²⁰ And the families of the Kohathites, the rest of the Kohathite Levites, had towns by their lot from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ And they gave them a town of refuge for the manslayer, Shechem and its hinterlands, and Gezer and its hinterlands, ²² and Kibzaim and its hinterlands, and Beth-horon and its hinterlands: four towns.

²³ And from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its hinterlands, Gibbethon and its hinterlands, ²⁴ Ayalon with its hinterlands, Gath-rimmon with its hinterlands: four towns.

²⁵ And from half the tribe of Manasseh: Tanach with its hinterlands and Gath-rimmon with its hinterlands: two towns. ²⁶ All the towns of the rest of the Kohathites were ten, with their hinterlands.

²⁷ And to the Gershonites, of the Levite clans, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave a town of refuge for the manslayer, Golan in the Bashan with its hinterlands, and Beeshterah and its hinterlands: two towns. ²⁸ And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishon and its hinterlands, Dabarah and its hinterlands, ²⁹ Jarmuth and its hinterlands, Ein-gannim and its hinterlands: four cities. ³⁰ And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its hinterlands, Abdon and its hinterlands, ³¹ Helkath and its hinterlands, and Rehob and its hinterlands: four towns. ³² And from the tribe of Naphtali, a town of refuge for the manslayer, Kedesh in the Galilee and its hinterlands, and Hammoth-dor and its hinterlands, and Kartan and its hinterlands: three towns. ³³ All the towns of the Gershonites by their families were thirteen towns and their hinterlands.

³⁴ And to the clans of the Merarites, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its hinterlands, and Kartah and its hinterlands, ³⁵ Dimnah and its hinterlands, Nahalal and its hinterlands: four cities. ³⁶ And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its hinterlands, and Jahazah and its hinterlands, ³⁷ Kedemoth and its hinterlands, and Mephaath and its hinterlands: four cities. ³⁸ And from the tribe of Gad, a town of refuge for the manslayer, Ramoth in the Gilead and its hinterlands, and Mahanaim and its hinterlands, ³⁹ Heshbon and its hinterlands, Jazer and its hinterlands: four towns in all. ⁴⁰ All the towns of the Merarites by their clans, the rest of the clans of the levites, were twelve towns by their lot.

⁴¹ All the towns of the Levites within the possession of the Israelites were forty-eight towns and their hinterlands. ⁴² Each of these towns had their surrounding hinterlands; so were all these cities.

⁴³ And Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and settled in it. ⁴⁴ And Yahweh gave them rest all around, exactly as he swore to their fathers, and not a man of their enemies stood against them. Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵ Not one word failed of all the good things that Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel. They all came to pass.

Chapter 22

¹ Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, ² and he said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, and obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. ³ You have not abandoned your brothers these many days to this day, and you have kept the charge of the commandment of Yahweh your god. ⁴ And now Yahweh your god has given rest to your brothers, just as he said to them. Now turn and go to your tents, to the land you possess, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ⁵ Only take great care to follow the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your god, and to walk in all his paths, and to keep his commandments, and to cling to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁶ And Joshua blessed them and sent them off, and they went to their tents.

⁷ And to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had made a grant in the Bashan, and to its [other] half Joshua made a grant among their brothers on the other side of the Jordan westward. And then when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them. ⁸ And he spoke to them, saying, "Return with great riches to your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with a great deal of clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.

⁹ And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and went from the Israelites at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of the Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they possessed, according to the command of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

¹⁰ And they came to Geliloth at the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan,^[22] and the Reubenites and the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large and conspicuous altar. ¹¹ And the Israelites heard it said that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh had built an altar opposite the land of Canaan, at Geliloth in the Jordan, on the Israelite side. ¹² And when the Israelites heard, the whole congregation of Israelites gathered at Shiloh, to go up against them for war.

¹³ And the Israelites sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of the Gilead, ¹⁴ and ten nobles with him, one noble from each division of the tribes of Israel, and each was the leader of his relatives among the clans of Israel. ¹⁵ And they came to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of the Gilead, and spoke with them, saying, ¹⁶ "This is what the whole congregation of Yahweh says. What is this treachery you have committed against the god of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, building yourselves an altar to rebel against Yahweh today? ¹⁷ Was the iniquity of Beor too little for us, from which we are not yet cleansed even to this day, when there was a plague in the congregation of Yahweh, ¹⁸ that today you turn away from following Yahweh? Now that you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. ¹⁹ Yet, if the land you possess is unclean, come over to the land of Yahweh's possession, where Yahweh's dwelling is settled, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against Yahweh, or rebel against us, by building yourself an altar besides the altar of Yahweh our god. ²⁰ Did not Achan son of Zerah commit an iniquity concerning the thing devoted to destruction, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not die alone for his wrongdoing.

²¹ The Reubenites and the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh replied, and said to the heads of the Israelite clans, ²² "El of the gods, Yahweh, El of the gods, Yahweh, he knows, and Israel will know. If it is rebellion, or if it a trespass against Yahweh, do not spare us today, ²³ for building an altar to turn from following Yahweh. And if it is to offer burnt offerings upon it, or meal-offerings, or to offer peace-sacrifices on it, let Yahweh seek vengeance. ²⁴ We did this because we were anxious about something. In the future, your children might speak to our children, and say, 'What do you have to do with Yahweh, the god of Israel? ²⁵ Yahweh made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no part in Yahweh.' Then your children would make our children cease fearing Yahweh. ²⁶ So we said, 'Let us build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings, and not for sacrifice, ²⁷ but rather as a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, to perform the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings, so that your children will not say to our children in the future, "You have no part in Yahweh."' ²⁸ And we said, that whenever they would say this to us or to our future generations, we can say, 'Look: a model of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, or for sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.' ²⁹ Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh and turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal-offering, and for sacrifice, other than the altar of Yahweh which is in front of his dwelling."

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the nobles of the congregation, and the tribal leaders of Israel who were with him heard the things that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh said, it seemed good to them. ³¹ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the Manassites, "Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this wicked act against Yahweh. Now you have spared the Israelites from the hand of Yahweh."

³² And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the nobles, returned from the Reubenites, and the Gadites, from the land of the Gilead, to the land of Canaan, and brought word back. ³³ And this thing seemed good to the Israelites, and Israel blessed God God, and did not think to go up against them for battle, to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.

³⁴ And the Reubenites and Gadites called the altar [name missing], "because it will be a witness between us and Yahweh God."

Chapter 23

¹ Now, a long time after Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, Joshua grew old, getting on in years. ² And Joshua summoned all Israel -- their elders, the heads, their judges, their officials, and said to them, "I am old, getting on in years. ³ And you have seen all that Yahweh your god did to all these nations for your sake, because Yahweh your god fought for you. ⁴ See, I have allotted to you these nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, and the people that I cut off, and the great sea westward. ⁵ And Yahweh your god will drive them out away from you, and dispossess them from before you, and you will take possession of their land, as Yahweh your god said to you. ⁶ Firmly keep and perform all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, not to turn away from it to the right or left, ⁷ so that you do not come among these nations, these that remain among you, and do not preserve the memory of the name of their gods, or make people swear by them, nor serve them, nor bow down to them. ⁸ But rather cling to Yahweh your god, as you have up to this day. ⁹ Yahweh drove out before you nations great and strong, and against you no one has been able to stand till this day. ¹⁰ One man of you will put to flight a thousand, because it is Yahweh your god who fights for you, as he promised you. ¹¹ Take great care to love Yahweh your god. ¹² But if you should go back, and join yourself to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you, ¹³ know for certain that Yahweh your god will no longer drive out these nations from before you, and they will become traps and snares to you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from upon this good ground that Yahweh your god has given you.

¹⁴ And now, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things that Yahweh promised for you. They all have come to pass for you. Not one thing of them has failed. ¹⁵ And then, just as all these good things have come to you, which Yahweh your god promised to you, so Yahweh will bring against you all the bad things, until he has exterminated you from upon this good ground that Yahweh your god has given you. ¹⁶ When you have overstepped the bounds of the covenant of Yahweh your god, which he commanded you, and you have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of Yahweh will burn hot against you, and you will perish quickly from upon the good land which he gave you.

Chapter 24

¹ And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, "This is what Yahweh the god of Israel says. Your fathers lived on the other side of the river in ancient times, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, and they served other gods. ³ And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. ⁴ And I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau, and I gave to Esau Mount Seir as a possession, and Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, as I did among them, and afterward I brought you out.

⁶ "And I brought your fathers from Egypt, and you came to the sea, and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horseman to the Red Sea. ⁷ And they cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea against them, and covered them, and your eyes have seen what I did in Egypt, and you lived in the wilderness a long time. ⁸ And I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you possessed their land, and I destroyed them before you. ⁹ And Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and made war against Israel, and sent and called for Balaam son of Beor to curse you. ¹⁰ And I would not listen to Balaam, and he blessed you instead, and I delivered you from his hand. ¹¹ And you crossed over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the lords of Jericho made war against you, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand. ¹² And I sent the hornet before you, and it drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites, not with your sword, and not with your bow. ¹³ And I have given you a land which you did not labor in, and towns which you did not build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant.

¹⁴ And now, fear Yahweh and serve him in integrity and faithfulness, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river, and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. ¹⁵ And if it seems bad to you to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served who were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for my and my house, we will serve Yahweh.

¹⁶ And the people replied and said, "Far be it from us to abandon Yahweh to serve other gods, ¹⁷ because Yahweh our god is the one who brought us up, and our fathers, from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, and who did these great signs in our sight, and watched over us on the way wherever we went, and among all the peoples we passed through. ¹⁸ And Yahweh drove out all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land, from our presence. And so we will serve Yahweh, because he is our god."

¹⁹ And Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve Yahweh, because he is a holy god, a jealous deity, who will not forgive your wrongdoing and your sins. ²⁰ If you abandon Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and harm you, and finish you, after he has done you good."

²¹ And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve Yahweh."

²² And Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves, that you have chosen Yahweh for yourselves, to serve him."

And they said, "We are witnesses."

²³ "And now, put away the strange gods who are among you, and turn your heart to Yahweh, the god of Israel."

²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our god, and we will obey his voice."

²⁵ And Joshua made a covenant for the people that day, and set for them a rule and a custom in Shechem.

²⁶ And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. ²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone is a witness between us, because it has heard all the words of Yahweh which he spoke to us. It will serve as a witness among you, so that you do not deny your god. ²⁸ And Joshua sent the people away, each man to his inheritance.

²⁹ And it happened after these things, that Joshua bin^[1] Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, one hundred and ten years old. ³⁰ And they buried him on the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. ³¹ And Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and who had known all the works of Yahweh, that he had done for Israel.

³² And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites brought up from Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred qesitah^[23] of silver, and it became the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

³³ And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him on the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given to him in Mount Ephraim.

Notes

1. bin In Hebrew names, ben means son of. For reasons that are not known, it is spelled bin when it appears in the name of Joshua son of Nun.
2. Our lives for yours. Literally, our lives instead of yours to die.
3. Literally, his blood [is] on his head.
4. (3:4) before. Literally, yesterday and the day before yesterday.
5. (4:23) the Red Sea. Hebrew, Yam Suph.
6. (5:9) Gilgal. The text is creating a pun between the name "Gilgal" and the similar-sounding Hebrew word "rolled."
7. (7:2). Ai means ruin, and the biblical Ai generally speaking was a large ruin where a city had once been, although according to Joshua it was an inhabited city at the time of the Israelite conquest.
8. (7:5) Shebarim. Some read this not as a proper noun, but as a common noun meaning "quarries" (several translations) or even "fissures" (NET).
9. (7:21) two hundred shekels. About five pounds, a very large quantity of money.
10. (7:21) fifty shekels. A little over a pound, and given the value of gold an even larger sum of money.
11. (7:25) troubled. The text is implicitly drawing a connection between the verb trouble (akar) and the name of the valley (Hebrew, akor, English Achor).
12. "(A trap:) ambush bivouac(s)"; literally trap(s), barrack(s), or ambush(es)
13. "could not retreat toward or away from their city anymore"; literally, "Could no more flee hither(to here) and thither(to there)"; Hither(to here) is away from their city, towards the Jews that feigned flight, Thither(to there) is back to their city, which the Jews in the ambush bivouacs set on fire.
14. "executed and put on display"; he was probably crucified or hung from a giant wooden stake
15. "a summary of the law of Moses"; more literally "a copy of the law of Moses"; also, this verse is very similar to the verse where the name "Deuteronomy" comes from, and in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, it reads "Deuteronomy, a law of Moses" or "Deuteronomy, of the law of Moses" or "the Deuteronomy of Moses's Law"
16. Chapter 8 is translated from the Clementine Vulgate; should be checked and proofread. Remove this tag when that's done. [Partially conformed to Hebrew]
17. (9:4) sent envoys. The term translated here as "sent envoys" is a rare one, appearing once in the Bible and of uncertain meaning. Another possible translation is collected provisions
18. "trees"; some wooden device for execution, like a cross or stake.
19. (13:3) sarens: a term used only of Philistine leaders.
20. (15:19) the Negev. An arid region to the south of Israel.
21. (18:6) cast lots. A method for producing random selections. Similar examples in modern culture would include using dice or drawing straws. In biblical thought, the outcome of casting lots was believed to be divinely controlled (Proverbs 16:33).
22. (22:10) which is in the land of Canaan. That is, on the west side of the Jordan, which is the land of Canaan proper, rather than on the east side, the Transjordan.
23. (24:32) qesitah. A unit of unknown value.