This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou
shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given
you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God
giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession,
and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD's servant gave you on this side
Jordan toward the sunrising.
And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is
among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and
the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of
the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth,
shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be
cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall
stand upon an heap.
That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up
upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and
those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea,
failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against
Jericho.
And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took
up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto
Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of
Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they
lodged, and laid them down there.
And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the
covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the
soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the
waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his
banks, as they did before.
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which
were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the
Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up
the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were
passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them
any more, because of the children of Israel.
For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness,
till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt,
were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto
whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the
LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that
floweth with milk and honey.
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted
up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against
him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and
said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with
the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the
people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall
fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight
before him.
And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before
the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets:
and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the
ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets:
and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet,
and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down
flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight
before him, and they took the city.
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed
thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of
Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the
anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to
morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed
thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before
thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your
tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall
come according to the families thereof; and the family which the LORD
shall take shall come by households; and the household which the LORD
shall take shall come man by man.
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two
hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels
weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid
in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of
Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his
sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep,
and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the
valley of Achor.
And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they
hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against
Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before
the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him
behind the city.
And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and,
behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no
power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the
wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all
the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they
chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword,
until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai,
and smote it with the edge of the sword.
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as
soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his
carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of
the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth
unto this day.
As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of
Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of
whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they
offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace
offerings.
And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their
judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests
the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well
the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over
against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as
Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should
bless the people of Israel.
And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side
Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the
great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the
Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof;
And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly
told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant
Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of
the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives
because of you, and have done this thing.
Now it came to pass, when Adonizedec king of Jerusalem had heard
how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done
to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how
the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among
them;
Therefore 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, they and all
their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.
And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal,
saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly,
and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell
in the mountains are gathered together against us.
And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were
in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones
from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which
died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with
the sword.
And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto
Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto
the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put
your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put
their feet upon the necks of them.
And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun,
that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast
them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in
the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day.
And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the
hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all
the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto
the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.
And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and
the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that
were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had
done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were
therein.
And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities
thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly
destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as
he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as
he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the
children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad
in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to
Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession
according to their divisions;
All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto
Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from
before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the
Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon
king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with
the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba,
which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
And these are the countries which the children of Israel
inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua
the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the
children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.
Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in
that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there,
and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be
with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.
And the border went up toward Debir from the valley of Achor, and
so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is before the going up to
Adummim, which is on the south side of the river: and the border
passed toward the waters of Enshemesh, and the goings out thereof were
at Enrogel:
And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto
the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border
went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of
Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants
northward:
There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by
their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of
Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of
Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of
Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by
their families.
And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua
the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded
Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore
according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance
among the brethren of their father.
And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her
towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her
towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants
of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her
towns, even three countries.
And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the
sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Bethhoron southward;
and the goings out thereof were at Kirjathbaal, which is
Kirjathjearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west
quarter.
And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth
before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of
the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the
side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel,
And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for
them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem,
and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed
it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan
their father.
These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua
the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the
children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before
the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they
made an end of dividing the country.
And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand
at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause
in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the
city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the
congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that
shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto
his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he
fled.
These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel,
and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever
killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the
hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the
Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in
Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and
Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities.
But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which
Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God,
and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to
cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all
your soul.
Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given
possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua
among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua
sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,
And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half
tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel
out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country
of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were
possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of
Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have
built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of
Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.
Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then
pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the
LORD's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel
not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar
beside the altar of the LORD our God.
But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our
generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before
him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our
peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in
time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.
Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to
us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again,
Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made,
not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness
between us and you.
And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the
congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him,
heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad
and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.
And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the
children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of
Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye
have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have
delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.
Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive
out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and
traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes,
until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath
given you.
And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and
ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing
hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake
concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath
failed thereof.
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are
come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD
bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off
this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God,
which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed
yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled
against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which
he hath given unto you.
And you went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of
Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and
the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this
day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served
that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the
LORD.
For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our
fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which
did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way
wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up
out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which
Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred
pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of
Joseph.