This is the heritage of the tribe of Judah, by their families.
The farthest towns of the tribe of Judah in the direction of the limits of edom to the south, were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur;
And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah;
And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan;
Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth;
And Hazor-hadattah, and Kerioth-hezron (which is Hazor);
Amam, and Shema, and Moladah;
And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-pelet;
And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah;
Baalah, and Iim, and Ezem;
And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah;
And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah;
And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon; all the towns are twenty-nine, with their unwalled places.
In the lowland, Eshtaol, and Zorah, and Ashnah;
And Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam;
Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah;
And Shaaraim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen towns with their unwalled places.
Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad;
And Dilan, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel;
Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon;
And Cabbon, and Lahmas, and Chithlish;
And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen towns with their unwalled places.
Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan;
And Iphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib;
And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine towns with their unwalled places.
Ekron, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places;
From Ekron to the sea, all the towns by the side of Ashdod, with their unwalled places.
Ashdod, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places; Gaza, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places, to the stream of Egypt, with the Great Sea as a limit.
And in the hill-country, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh;
And Dannah, and Kiriath-sannah (which is Debir);
And Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim;
And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven towns with their unwalled places.
Arab, and Dumah, and Eshan;
And Janim, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah;
And Humtah, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron), and Zior; nine towns with their unwalled places.
Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Jutah;
And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah;
Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten towns with their unwalled places.
Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor;
And Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six towns with their unwalled places.
Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places.
In the waste land, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah;
And Nibshan, and the Town of Salt, and En-gedi; six towns with their unwalled places.
And as for the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, the children of Judah were unable to make them go out; but the Jebusites are living with the children of Judah at Jerusalem, to this day.
And the limit of the land marked out for the children of Joseph went out from Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, in the waste land, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Beth-el;
And it goes out from Beth-el to Luz, and on as far as the limit of the Archites to Ataroth;
And it goes down to the west to the limit of the Japhletites, to the limit of Beth-horon the lower, as far as Gezer; ending at the sea.
And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their heritage.
And the limit of the land of the children of Ephraim by their families was marked out in this way: the limit of their heritage to the east was Ataroth-addar, to Beth-horon the higher;
The line goes out to the west at Michmethath on the north; then turning to the east to Taanath-shiloh, going past it on the east of Janoah;
And from Janoah down to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and touching Jericho, it goes on to Jordan.
From Tappuah the line goes on to the west to the river of Kanah; ending at the sea. This is the heritage of the children of Ephraim by their families;
Together with the towns marked out for the children of Ephraim in the heritage of Manasseh, all the towns with their unwalled places.
And the Canaanites who were living in Gezer were not forced out; but the Canaanites have been living among Ephraim, to this day, as servants, doing forced work.
And this was the part marked out for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was the oldest son of Joseph. As for Machir, the oldest son of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war he had Gilead and Bashan.
And as for the rest of the children of Manasseh, their heritage was given to them by 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.
But 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.
And they came before eleazar the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and before the chiefs, saying, The Lord gave orders to Moses to give us a heritage among our brothers: so in agreement with the orders of the Lord he gave them a heritage among their father's brothers.
And ten parts were given to Manasseh, in addition to the land of gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of Jordan;
Because the daughters of Manasseh had a heritage among his sons, and the land of Gilead was the property of the other sons of Manasseh.
And the limit of Manasseh's land was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem; the line goes on to the right hand, to the people of En-tappuah.
The land of Tappuah was the property of Manasseh; but Tappuah on the edge of Manasseh was the property of the children of Ephraim.
And the limit goes down to the stream Kanah, to the south of the stream: these towns were Ephraim's among the towns of Manasseh; Manasseh's limit was on the north side of the stream, ending at the sea:
To the south it is Ephraim's, and to the north it is Manasseh's, and the sea is his limit; and they are touching Asher on the north, and Issachar on the east.
In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its daughter-towns, and Ibleam and its daughter-towns, and the people of Dor and its daughter-towns, and the people of En-dor and its daughter-towns, and the people of Taanach and its daughter-towns, and the people of Megiddo and its daughter-towns, that is, the three hills.
But the children of Manasseh were not able to make the people of those towns go out; but the Canaanites would go on living in that land.
And when the children of Israel had become strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, in place of driving them out.
Then the children of Joseph said to Joshua, Why have you given me only one part and one stretch of land for my heritage? For through the blessing given to me by the Lord up to now, I am a great people.
Then Joshua said to them, If you are such a great people, go up into the woodlands, clearing a place there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, if the hill-country of Ephraim is not wide enough for you.
And the children of Joseph said, The hill-country is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites living in the valley have iron war-carriages, those in Beth-shean and its towns as well as those in the valley of Jezreel.
Then Joshua said to the children of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, You are a great people, and have great power: you are not to have one property only,
For the hill-country of Gilead will be yours ... the woodland and cut down ... its outskirts will be yours ... get the Canaanites out, for they have iron war-carriages ... strong.
And all the meeting of the children of Israel came together at Shiloh and put up the Tent of meeting there: and the land was crushed before them.
But there were still seven tribes among the children of Israel who had not taken up their heritage.
Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, Why are you so slow to go in and take up your heritage in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?
Take from among you three men from every tribe; and I will send them to go through the land and make a record of it for distribution as their heritage; then let them come back to me.
And let them make division of it into seven parts: let Judah keep inside his limit on the south, and let the children of Joseph keep inside their limit on the north.
And you are to have the land marked out in seven parts, and come back to me with the record; and I will make the distribution for you here by the decision of the Lord our God.
For the Levites have no part among you; to be the Lord's priests is their heritage; and gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have had their heritage on the east side of Jordan, given to them by Moses, the servant of the Lord.
So the men got up and went; and Joshua gave orders to those who went, to make a record of the land, saying, Go up and down through the land, and make a record of it and come back here to me, and I will make the distribution for you here by the decision of the Lord in Shiloh.
So the men went, travelling through the land, and made a record of it by towns in seven parts in a book, and came back to Joshua to the tent-circle at Shiloh.
And Joshua made the distribution for them in Shiloh by the decision of the Lord, marking out the land for the children of Israel by their divisions.
And the first heritage came out for the tribe of Benjamin by their families: and the limit of their heritage went between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
And their limit on the north was from the Jordan, and the line goes up to the side of Jericho on the north and through the hill-country to the west, ending at the waste land of Beth-aven.
And from there the line goes south to Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Beth-el), then down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain to the south of Beth-horon the lower.
And the limit is marked as coming round to the south on the west side from the mountain which is south of Beth-horon, and ending at Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), a town of the children of Judah: this is the west part.
And the south part is from the farthest point of Kiriath-jearim, and the line goes out to the west to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah:
And the line goes down to the farthest part of the mountain facing the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is on the north of the valley of Rephaim: from there it goes down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite on the south as far as En-rogel;
And it goes to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, opposite the way up to Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben;
And it goes on to the side facing the Arabah to the north, and down to the Arabah;
And on to the north side of Beth-hoglah, ending at the north inlet of the salt Sea at the south end of Jordan; this is their limit on the south.
And the limit of the east part is the Jordan. This is the heritage of the children of Benjamin, marked out for their families by these limits on all sides.
And the towns of the children of Benjamin, given to them in the order of their families, are Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-kezziz
And Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Beth-el
And Avvim and Parah and Ophrah
And Chephar-Ammoni and Ophni and Geba; twelve towns with their unwalled places;
Gibeon and ramah and Beeroth
And Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah
And Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah
And Zela, Eleph and the Jebusite (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath and Kiriath; fourteen towns with their unwalled places. This is the heritage of the children of Benjamin by their families.
And the second heritage came out for the tribe of Simeon by their families; and their heritage was in the middle of the heritage of the children of Judah.
And they had for their heritage Beer-sheba and Shema and Moladah
And Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem
And Eltolad and Bethul and Hormah
And Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susah
And Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen; thirteen towns with their unwalled places;
Ain, Rimmon, and Ether and Ashan; four towns with their unwalled places;
And all the unwalled places round about these towns as far as Baalath-beer-ramah to the south. This is the heritage of the tribe of Simeon by their families.
The heritage of Simeon was taken out of Judah's stretch of land, for Judah's part was more than they had need of, so the heritage of the children of Simeon was inside their heritage.
And the third heritage came out for Zebulun by their families; the limit of their heritage was as far as Sarid;
And their limit goes up to the west to Maralah, stretching to Dabbesheth, and to the stream in front of Jokneam;
Then turning east from Sarid to the limit of Chisloth-tabor, it goes out to Daberath, and up to Japhia;
And from there it goes on east to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin; ending at Rimmon which goes as far as Neah;
And the line goes round it on the north to Hannathon, ending at the valley of Iphtah-el;
And Kattath and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Beth-lehem; twelve towns with their unwalled places.
This is the heritage of the children of Zebulun by their families, these towns with their unwalled places.
For Issachar the fourth heritage came out, for the children of Issachar by their families;
And their limit was to Jezreel and Chesulloth and Shunem
And Hapharaim and Shion and Anaharath
And Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez
And Remeth and En-gannim and En-haddah and Beth-pazzez;
And their limit goes as far as Tabor and Shahazimah and Beth-shemesh, ending at Jordan; sixteen towns with their unwalled places.
This is the heritage of the tribe of the children of Issachar by their families, these towns with their unwalled places.
And the fifth heritage came out for the tribe of Asher by their families.
And their limit was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph
And Alammelech and Amad and Mishal, stretching to carmel on the west and Shihor-libnath;
Turning to the east to Beth-dagon and stretching to Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah-el as far as Beth-emek and Neiel to the north; on the left it goes as far as Cabul
And Ebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah, to great Zidon;
And the limit goes round to ramah and the walled town of Tyre and Hosah, ending at the sea by Heleb and Achzib;
And Ummah and Aphek and Rehob; twenty-two towns with their unwalled places.
This is the heritage of the tribe of the children of Asher by their families, these towns with their unwalled places.
For the children of Naphtali the sixth heritage came out, for the children of Naphtali by their families;
And their limit was from Heleph, from the oak-tree in Zaanannim, and Adami-hannekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, ending at Jordan;
And turning west to Aznoth-tabor, the limit goes out from there to Hukkok, stretching to Zebulun on the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah at Jordan on the east.
And the walled towns are Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth
And Adamah and Ramah and Hazor
And Kedesh and Edrei and En-Hazor
And iron and Migdal-el, Horem and Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh; nineteen towns with their unwalled places.
This is the heritage of the tribe of the children of Naphtali by their families, these towns with their unwalled places.
For the tribe of Dan by their families the seventh heritage came out;
And the limit of their heritage was Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh
And Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah
And Elon and Timnah and Ekron
And Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath
And Jehud and Bene-berak and Gath-rimmon;
And on the west was ... opposite Joppa.
(But the limit of the children of Dan was not wide enough for them; so the children of Dan went up and made war on Leshem and took it, putting it to the sword without mercy, and they took it for their heritage and made a place for themselves there, giving it the name of Leshem-dan, after the name of their father, Dan.)
This is the heritage of the tribe of the children of Dan by their families, these towns with their unwalled places.
So the distribution of the land and its limits was complete; and the children of Israel gave Joshua, the son of Nun, a heritage among them;
By the orders of the Lord they gave him the town for which he made request, Timnath-serah in the hill-country of Ephraim: there, after building the town, he made his living-place.
These are the heritages which eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel gave out at Shiloh, by the decision of the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting. So the distribution of the land was complete.
And the Lord said to Joshua,
Say to the children of Israel, Let certain towns be marked out as safe places, as I said to you by the mouth of Moses,
So that any man who in error and without design has taken the life of another, may go in flight to them: and they will be safe places for you from him who has the right of punishment for blood.
And if anyone goes in flight to one of those towns, and comes into the public place of the town, and puts his cause before the responsible men of the town, they will take him into the town and give him a place among them where he may be safe.
And if the one who has the right of punishment comes after him, they are not to give the taker of life up to him; because he was the cause of his neighbour's death without designing it and not in hate.
And he is to go on living in that town till he has to come before the meeting of the people to be judged; (till the death of him who is high priest at that time:) then the taker of life may come back to his town and to his house, to the town from which he had gone in flight.
So they made selection of 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.
And on the east side of Jordan at Jericho, they made selection of Bezer in the waste land, in the table-land, out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.
These were the towns marked out for all the children of Israel and for the man from a strange country living among them, so that anyone causing the death of another in error, might go in flight there, and not be put to death by him who has the right of punishment for blood till he had come before the meeting of the people.
Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel;
And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle.
And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.
And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
The rest of the children of kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan.
The children of merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of reuben and Gad and Zebulun.
All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses.
From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name:
These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution.
They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands.
But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property.
And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands;
And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands;
And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands;
And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes.
And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands;
Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns.
Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests.
The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.
And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands;
And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns.
And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands;
Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns.
And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns.
All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands.
And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns.
And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands;
Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns.
And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands:
Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns.
And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns.
All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands.
And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands;
Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns.
And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands;
Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns.
And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands;
Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns.
All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns.
All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.
Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.
So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.
And the Lord gave them peace on every side, as he had said to their fathers: all those who were against them gave way before them, for the Lord gave them all up into their hands.
The Lord kept faith with the house of Israel about all the good which he said he would do for them, and all his words came true.
Then Joshua sent for the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
And said to them, You have kept all the orders of Moses, the Lord's servant, and have done everything I gave you orders to do:
You have now been with your brothers for a long time; till this day you have been doing the orders of the Lord your God.
And now the Lord your God has given your brothers rest, as he said: so now you may go back to your tents, to the land of your heritage, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave to you on the other side of Jordan.
Only take great care to do the orders and the law which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you; to have love for the Lord your God and to go in all his ways; and to keep his laws and to be true to him and to be his servants with all your heart and with all your soul.
Then Joshua gave them his blessing and sent them away: and they went back to their tents.
Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given a heritage in Bashan; but to the other half, Joshua gave a heritage among their brothers on the west side of Jordan. Now when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he gave them his blessing,
And said to them, Go back with much wealth to your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver and gold and brass and iron, and with a very great store of clothing; give your brothers a part of the goods taken in the war.
So reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back, parting from the children of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their heritage which had been given to them by the Lord's order to Moses.
Now when they came to the country by Jordan in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh put up there, by Jordan, a great altar, seen from far.
And news came to the children of Israel, See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have put up an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the country by Jordan on the side which is Israel's.
Then all the meeting of the children of Israel, hearing this, came together at Shiloh to go up against them to war.
And the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of eleazar the priest, to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead,
And with him they sent ten chiefs, one for every tribe of the children of Israel, every one of them the head of his house among the families of Israel.
And they came to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and said to them,
This is what all the meeting of the people of the Lord has said, What is this wrong which you have done against the God of Israel, turning back this day from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, and being false to the Lord?
Was not the sin of Baal-peor great enough, from which we are not clear even to this day, though punishment came on the people of the Lord,
That now you are turned back from the Lord? and, because you are false to him today, tomorrow his wrath will be let loose on all the people of Israel.
But if the land you now have is unclean, come over into the Lord's land where his House is, and take up your heritage among us: but do not be false to the Lord and to us by building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God.
Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, do wrong about the cursed thing, causing wrath to come on all the people of Israel? And not on him only came the punishment of death.
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see--if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord,
That we have made ourselves an altar, being false to the Lord, keep us not safe from death this day; and if for the purpose of offering burned offerings on it and meal offerings, or peace-offerings, let the Lord himself send punishment for it;
And if we have not, in fact, done this designedly and with purpose, having in our minds the fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?
For the Lord has made Jordan a line of division between us and you, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad; you have no part in the Lord: so your children will make our children give up fearing the Lord.
So we said, Let us now make an altar for ourselves, not for burned offerings or for the offerings of beasts:
But to be a witness between us and you, and between the future generations, that we have the right of worshipping the Lord with our burned offerings and our offerings of beasts and our peace-offerings; so that your children will not be able to say to our children in time to come, You have no part in the Lord.
For we said to ourselves, If they say this to us or to future generations, then we will say, See this copy of the Lord's altar which our fathers made, not for burned offerings or offerings of beasts, but for a witness between us and you.
Never let it be said that we were false to the Lord, turning back this day from him and building an altar for burned offerings and meal offerings and offerings of beasts, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God which is before his House.
Then phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the meeting and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, hearing what the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh said, were pleased.
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh, Now we are certain that the Lord is among us, because you have not done this wrong against the Lord: and you have kept us from falling into the hands of the Lord.
Then Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs went back from the land of Gilead, from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and came to the children of Israel in canaan and gave them the news.
And the children of Israel were pleased about this; and they gave praise to God, and had no more thought of going to war against the children of Reuben and the children of Gad for the destruction of their land.
And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad gave to that altar the name of Ed. For, they said, It is a witness between us that the Lord is God.
Now after a long time, when the Lord had given Israel rest from wars on every side, and Joshua was old and full of years,
Joshua sent for all Israel, for their responsible men and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers, and said to them, I am old, and full of years:
You have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the Lord your God who has been fighting for you.
Now I have given to you, as the heritage of your tribes, all these nations which are still in the land, together with those cut off by me, from Jordan as far as the Great sea on the west.
The Lord your God will send them away by force, driving them out before you; and you are to take their land for your heritage, as the Lord your God said to you.
So be very strong to keep and do whatever is recorded in the book of the law of Moses, not turning away from it to the right or to the left;
Have nothing to do with these nations who still are living among you; let not their gods be named by you or used in your oaths; do not be their servants or give them worship:
But be true to the Lord your God as you have been till this day.
For the Lord has sent out from before you nations great and strong: and they have all given way before you till this day.
One man of you is able to put to flight a thousand; for it is the Lord your God who is fighting for you, as he has said to you.
So keep watch on yourselves, and see that you have love for the Lord your God.
For if you go back, joining yourselves to the rest of these nations who are still among you, getting married to them and living with them and they with you:
Then you may be certain that the Lord your God will not go on driving these nations out from before you; but they will become a danger and a cause of sin to you, a whip for your sides and thorns in your eyes, till you are cut off from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
Now I am about to go the way of all the earth: and you have seen and are certain, all of you, in your hearts and souls, that in all the good things which the Lord said about you, he has kept faith with you; everything has come true for you.
And you will see that, as all the good things which the Lord your God undertook to do for you, have come to you, so the Lord will send down on you all the evil things till he has made your destruction complete, and you are cut off from the good land which the Lord your God has given you.
If the agreement of the Lord your God, which was given to you by his orders, is broken, and you become the servants of other gods and give them worship, then the wrath of the Lord will be burning against you, and you will quickly be cut off from the good land which he has given you.
Then Joshua got all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; and he sent for the responsible men of Israel and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers; and they took their place before God.
And Joshua said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: In the past your fathers, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, were living on the other side of the River: and they were worshipping other gods.
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, guiding him through all the land of Canaan; I made his offspring great in number, and gave him Isaac.
And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau: to esau I gave Mount Seir, as his heritage; but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
And I sent Moses and Aaron, troubling Egypt by all the signs I did among them: and after that I took you out.
I took your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the Red Sea; and the egyptians came after your fathers to the Red Sea, with their war-carriages and their horsemen.
And at their cry, the Lord made it dark between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea go over them, covering them with its waters; your eyes have seen what I did in Egypt: then for a long time you were living in the waste land.
And I took you into the lands of the Amorites on the other side of Jordan; and they made war on you, and I gave them into your hands and you took their land; and I sent destruction on them before you.
Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, went up to war against Israel; and he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, to put a curse on you:
But I did not give ear to Balaam; and so he went on blessing you; and I kept you safe from him.
Then you went over Jordan and came to Jericho: and the men of Jericho made war on you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Hivites and the Jebusites: and I gave them up into your hands.
And I sent the hornet before you, driving out the two kings of the Amorites before you, not with your sword and your bow.
And I gave you a land on which you had done no work, and towns not of your building, and you are now living in them; and your food comes from vine-gardens and olive-gardens not of your planting.
So now, go in fear of the Lord, and be his servants with true hearts: put away the gods worshipped by your fathers across the River and in Egypt, and be servants of the Lord.
And if it seems evil to you to be the servants of the Lord, make the decision this day whose servants you will be: of the gods whose servants your fathers were across the River, or of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living: but I and my house will be the servants of the Lord.
Then the people in answer said, Never will we give up the Lord to be the servants of other gods;
For it is the Lord our God who has taken us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house, and who did all those great signs before our eyes, and kept us safe on all our journeys, and among all the peoples through whom we went:
And the Lord sent out from before us all the peoples, the Amorites living in the land: so we will be the servants of the Lord, for he is our God.
And Joshua said to the people, You are not able to be the servants of the Lord, for he is a holy God, a God who will not let his honour be given to another: he will have no mercy on your wrongdoing or your sins.
If you are turned away from the Lord and become the servants of strange gods, then turning against you he will do you evil, cutting you off, after he has done you good.
And the people said to Joshua, No! But we will be the servants of the Lord.
And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have made the decision to be the servants of the Lord. And they said, We are witnesses.
Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.
And the people said to Joshua, We will be the servants of the Lord our God, and we will give ear to his voice.
So Joshua made an agreement with the people that day, and gave them a rule and a law in Shechem.
And Joshua put these words on record, writing them in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and put it up there under the oak-tree which was in the holy place of the Lord.
And Joshua said to all the people, See now, this stone is to be a witness against us; for all the words of the Lord have been said to us in its hearing: so it will be a witness against you if you are false to the Lord your God.
Then Joshua let the people go away, every man to his heritage.
Now after these things, the death of Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, took place, he being then a hundred and ten years old.
And they put his body in the earth in the land of his heritage in Timnath-serah, in the hill-country of Ephraim, to the north of Mount Gaash.
And Israel was true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the older men who were still living after Joshua's death, and had seen what the Lord had done for Israel.
And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had taken up from Egypt, they put in the earth in Shechem, in the property which Jacob had got from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred shekels: and they became the heritage of the children of Joseph.
Then the death of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, took place; and his body was put in the earth in the hill of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the hill-country of Ephraim.
Now after the death of Joshua, the children of Israel made request to the Lord, saying, Who is to go up first to make war for us against the Canaanites?
Most of the teaching of Jesus are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Complete Sayings of Jesus presents every word spoken by Jesus in one place and provides an index to assist in finding specific ocassions, places and/or events. It is a must read aid for serious Bible study.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they direct us to imitate his life and character. The Imitation of Christ is guide to following the example of Jesus Christ. Let it be our most earnest study to dwell upon the life and example of Jesus.
The Apocrypha books are 14 books that were included between the old and new testaments in the original King James Version of the bible and many others. Church leaders agreed that these books were valuable for instruction in life and manners, but did not all agree that they should be considered cannon.
The Childrens Bible provides bible lessons from the Old and New testaments. There are 216 stories written in plain english. The stories are easy to read and understand but they are not just for childern. It is a pleasure to read and enjoy these important stories.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God and every one who loves is a child of God and knows God. He who loves not man does not know God, for God is love. God showed his love for us, for he sent his only Son into the world that through him we might have life. Love the stranger.
In Mark 12:30 Jesus said;
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
And the second Mark 12:31 [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The Gospel of The Birth of Mary was attributed to St. Matthew and was received as genuine and authentic by early Christians. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church in the 4th century and is translated from his collection.
The Book of Enoch is ascribed to the great-grandfather of Noah and is included in the cannon of some churches. It describes the fall of the angels (watchers), visions of heaven and hell and the birth of Noah. Quotes from the book of Enoch are found in the New Testament.
The First Book of Adam and Eve. Books 1 begins immediately after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. We learn about the fall but also of the promise to save Adam and his decendents. The story depicts mans struggle against evil, the devil and sin.
The Second Book of Adam and Eve. Discusses Adam's sorrow and death. The history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood until the birth of Noah; the children of Seth on Mount Hermon and Cain's death. It ends with the testament and translation of Enoch.
The Infancy of Jesus Christ (Infancy Gospel of Thomas) relates the life of Jesus from the ages of five to twelve. It is believed that the document was transcribed from oral traditions some time prior to the second century. The ancient writing is possibly Gnostic and many early church leaders considered it heretical.
Daily Bible study is essential. The Bible Verse of the Day provides a collection of enlightening and inspiration bible verses. Improve your knowledge and understanding of the Bible and your life by studying the words of the holy scripture. Explore the King James Bible (kjv) and discover new insights.
The World English Bible was produced to provide speakers of modern English with a version of the Bible that is easily understood. The Bible is in the public domain and available world-wide. It is an accurate modern translation of the original King James Bible, including the Apocryphal books.
Looking for something in the Bible? Want to find a specifc verse or list of words? The Bible search feature makes it easy find verses or words. Enter the verses or words in the search bar or visit the search page to access additional search options. Finding information in the Bible will never be easier.
The favorite verses page is a list of popular bible verses. Each verse includes a link to the chapter and verse of the book where it is found in the bible. Click on any link for a bible verse and it will take you to that location in the bible.
The bible contains great stories. Visit the bible stories page for links to some of the best known and most significant stories and passages in the bible.