Bible in 90 Days
1 Moses served the Eternal One faithfully until the end of his days. After his death, the Eternal singled out Joshua, the son of Nun, who had walked at the right hand of Moses during the wilderness wanderings.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 2 Since My servant Moses is now dead, you and the Israelites must prepare to cross over the Jordan River to enter the land I have given you. 3 I will give you every place you walk, wherever your feet touch, just as I promised Moses.[a] 4 From the southern deserts to the northern mountains in Lebanon, from the great Euphrates River in the east—including all the land of the Hittites—to the great Mediterranean Sea in the west, all of it is yours. 5 No one will be able to oppose you for as long as you live. I will be with you just as I was with Moses, and I will never fail or abandon you.
6 So be strong and courageous, for you will lead this people as they acquire and then divide the land I promised to their ancestors. 7 Always be strong and courageous, and always live by all of the law I gave to my servant Moses, never turning from it—even ever so slightly—so that you may succeed wherever you go. 8 Let the words from the book of the law be always on your lips. Meditate on them day and night so that you may be careful to live by all that is written in it. If you do, as you make your way through this world, you will prosper and always find success.
9 This is My command: be strong and courageous. Never be afraid or discouraged because I am your God, the Eternal One, and I will remain with you wherever you go.
Joshua is following in the footsteps of the famous prophet, Moses, who led the people of Israel out of Egypt. It is a journey that will lead them where God wants them—in the lands He has long ago promised to the descendants of the patriarch Abraham. Although mighty people occupy the lands, God tells the Israelites that the land will be theirs, if they only believe. Joshua is reminded often enough of the wanderings in the desert following Moses. It’s an intimidating thing to follow a legend, but the charge God gives Joshua also gives him what he needs to succeed: Be strong and courageous, and keep the words of God always in front of you. If you do those things, then you can’t go wrong. And if you do those things, God says He will be with you.
10 When Joshua had heard God’s commands, he gathered the leaders of the people of Israel and gave them their instructions.
Joshua (to all the leaders): 11 Go through the camp and tell your people, “Gather whatever you need because in three days you will pass over the Jordan into the land the Eternal One, your God, has given you to possess. Soon it will be ours.”
12 Then Joshua spoke to the leaders of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Joshua: 13 Remember what Moses, the servant of the Eternal, told you: “The Eternal One, your God, is making a place for you to settle and will give you this land as your own.”
14 Your wives, your children, and your livestock will stay on this side of the Jordan in this land that Moses awarded you. But all of you who can fight must lead your brothers in battle formation over the Jordan and help them 15 until the Eternal gives them rest from their enemies, as He has given rest to you. Fight with them until they, too, occupy the land your God, the Eternal One, is setting aside for them. Then you may cross the Jordan again and return to this land that Moses, His servant, has given you east of the Jordan and live here.
Leaders (agreeing): 16 We will do all you have commanded, and we will go wherever you send us. 17 We will follow your orders just as we obeyed Moses in all he told us. May the Eternal One, your God, be with you as He was with Moses. 18 Anybody who rebels against or disobeys your words—all you command—will be put to death. Always be strong and courageous!
Joshua has the promise of God that the Israelites will succeed, and the people have taken to his leadership with enthusiasm. They have begun well, and their faith will keep them strong. But in the conquest story they cannot expect God to do everything. A prayer from the Christian and Jewish traditions reminds us: Pray as if everything depends upon God; work as if everything depends upon us. Throughout the story of God’s people, the partnership between human beings’ faith and God’s power leads to God’s purposes being fulfilled in human lives.
2 Then Joshua, the son of Nun, secretly sent two spies from Shittim to the western side of the Jordan.
Joshua: Go in, and see what you can find out about the people in that area. Pay special attention to the city of Jericho.
The men crossed the river, and when they entered Jericho, they stayed at the home of a prostitute named Rahab.
2-3 Somehow word reached the king of Jericho that Israelite spies had slipped into the area and might be visiting Rahab. That night the king sent soldiers to Rahab’s house with a message.
Messengers: The king commands you to turn over the Israelite men who are staying with you because they are here to spy on all the land and its defenses.
4 But Rahab had already hidden the two spies before she received the king’s messengers.
Rahab: It’s true that two men have been to see me. But I didn’t take the time to ask them where they came from. 5 All I know is that when it was getting dark outside and the gate was about to close, they got up and left. I don’t know where they went from here. If you hurry, you might still catch up to them.
6 She was lying, because the two men lay where she had hidden them beneath the stalks of flax laid out on her roof.
7 The soldiers ordered the gate opened long enough for them to pass through; then the gate was closed. They took the road that went straight toward the narrowest parts of the Jordan, which would be the easiest place for the spies to cross.
8 But the two spies were still on Rahab’s roof. She came up and found them awake.
Rahab: 9 I know the Eternal has given your people this land. Your coming has paralyzed us all with fear. 10 We have heard how the Eternal held back the Red Sea so you could escape from Egypt on dry land and how you completely destroyed the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og—and their kingdoms—on the far side of the Jordan. 11 As soon as this news reached us, our hearts melted like wax and none of us had an ounce of courage left. The Eternal One, your God, is truly God of the heavens above and the earth below.
12 Because I know all these things, this is my request: Since I have treated you kindly and have protected you, please promise me by the Eternal that you will do the same for my family. Give me some sign of good faith 13 that when you destroy this city you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and their families from death.
Spies: 14 You had the power to turn us in, but you saved us. Now we will do the same for you. If you will promise not to tell anyone what we were doing here, then you have our word: we will treat you with kindness and faithfulness when the Eternal One gives us the land.
15 Since the rear wall of her house was actually part of the great city wall, she helped the men escape by simply lowering a rope for them from her window. 16 Before they climbed down, she advised them to go into the mountains.
Rahab: That way you won’t be where the soldiers expect you to be. If you’ll hide there for three days, the pursuers should have returned here by then and you can go back safely.
Spies: 17 We will keep the oath we have sworn to you, but 18 only if you will follow these instructions: Gather all of your family here in this house, and tie this scarlet cord in the window where you let us down. 19 If anyone goes out of the house and into the streets, then we can’t be responsible for what happens to them. They will be killed, and their blood will be on their hands, not on ours. We will be responsible if anything should happen to anyone you gather in here. 20 But remember—all of this depends on you keeping your word. If you tell anyone our business, you will free us from our oath.
Rahab: 21 Agreed.
The men climbed down and escaped into the night, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
The story of Rahab reminds us that throughout the history of Israel, unexpected people have stepped to the foreground to be used by God. Rahab is a woman in a male-centered world; and she is a prostitute, the kind of person we typically vilify. But if she doesn’t rescue these men—and help them escape with the information they have gained—this first campaign in the land of Canaan will fail, and the larger outcome may be complicated—or worse. Her reward is life for herself and those she loves, which tells us that even in a war story like this one, God can be merciful.
22 The spies climbed into the mountains, just as Rahab had advised them, and they stayed for three days. During that time Jericho’s soldiers combed the countryside and watched the road heading east looking for them. Finally they went back to the city. 23 So the two spies came down from their hiding place, crossed over the Jordan, and returned to Joshua (son of Nun), where they told him what had happened.
Spies: 24 There is no doubt that the Eternal One has delivered all the land and its citizens into our hands. Everyone there is scared to death about our coming.
3 Early the next morning, with Joshua leading them, the Israelites broke camp, left Shittim, and traveled to the eastern bank of the Jordan to set up camp again before crossing the river. 2 Three days later, the leaders went through the camp 3-4 and gave the Israelites their marching orders.
They camped where Balaam had come to curse Israel and where the men of Israel had gone after the Moabite prostitutes (Numbers 22–25).
Leaders: Tomorrow, you will know it is time to go when you see the Levite priests carrying the covenant chest of the Eternal One, your God. Follow the chest so that you will know where you’re supposed to go because you have not been this way before. But stay about half a mile away from it. Don’t come any nearer than that as you march.
Joshua (to the people): 5 Do all the ritual purifications and prepare yourselves because tomorrow the Eternal will show you wonders.
6 Joshua told the priests from the tribe of Levi to pick up the covenant chest and to walk in front of the people, so the priests lifted the chest and carried it to the front of the procession.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 7 Today I will do wonders that will begin to show the Israelites that you have My special favor, that I am with you just as I was with Moses before you. 8 At your command, the priests will carry the covenant chest into the edge of the Jordan water and they are to stand there in the Jordan, waiting.
9 So Joshua called the Israelites together.
Joshua: Come closer, and hear what your God, the Eternal, has to say: 10 Today you will see a sign that the one, true living God is present among you, the God who will without doubt drive out all this land’s inhabitants: Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11 The covenant chest of the Lord of all the earth will pass in front of you into the Jordan River. 12 Now select twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel. 13 When the priests who bear the covenant chest of the Eternal, who is Lord over all the earth, step into the river, then you will see the waters of the Jordan stop as if behind a wall.
14 So the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the covenant chest before them. 15 During harvest time the Jordan is swollen, running over its banks; but when the priests stepped into the river’s edge, 16-17 the waters stopped, piling upstream at the city of Adam, near Zarethan, while the water flowing downstream toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, ran out. Then the Israelites crossed the Jordan opposite the city of Jericho, walking on dry land just as Moses had led their ancestors from Egypt. While the Israelites crossed on the dry riverbed, the priests who carried the covenant chest stood firmly in the middle of the Jordan until the last Israelite had crossed over.
4 When the last one had crossed the Jordan, the Eternal One spoke to Joshua.
Eternal One: 2 Summon the twelve men you chose from the people, one representing each tribe, 3 and tell them to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan riverbed where the priests stand with the covenant chest. Tell them to carry these stones this day, and when the people make camp tonight, to lay them down.
4 Joshua did just as He instructed and summoned the twelve men, who had been chosen from the Israelites to represent the twelve tribes, 5 to give them instructions.
Joshua: Go back into the Jordan riverbed to the covenant chest of the Eternal your God, and each carry a stone upon your shoulder, (twelve stones for the twelve tribes of the Israelites) 6 so that we may build a memorial of this day. Someday when your children ask you, “Why are these stones piled up here?” 7 you will tell them how the waters of the Jordan parted as the covenant chest of the Eternal One crossed the river, and these stones will fix that memory for the Israelites forever.
Memory is important in the Book of Joshua and in the stories that follow. When the people of Israel remember God’s promises—and His goodness—good things happen. But when they forget, they turn to other things for meaning; they put their trust in other gods—money, power, position, and possessions. It’s been a problem for the people of God up to the present day, so these attempts to remember can remind us about God’s great works. It has always been true that when God’s people take their eyes off Him, they forget the lessons of the past. We honor God through our worship, and we are reminded of significant lessons learned when we praise Him.
8 The Israelites did as the Eternal commanded through Joshua. They carried twelve stones from the riverbed that day, one for each Israelite tribe, and laid them down that night when they made their camp. 9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests who had carried the covenant chest stood, and the stones remain there to this day.
10 The priests who carried the chest stood in the Jordan until all the people had hurried across, until all had been accomplished that the Eternal and Moses had commanded Joshua to tell the people.
11 Only then, when all of the people had passed, did the priests bearing the chest of the Eternal cross over into the presence of the people.
12-13 On the western side of the Jordan stood about 40,000 men ready for battle, including fighters from the people of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh who had crossed onto the plains of Jericho in the presence of the Eternal, as they had been commanded by Moses. 14 That day the Eternal exalted Joshua in the eyes of the people, and they looked up to him (as they had looked up to Moses before him) for the rest of his life.
15 Then the Eternal One told Joshua,
Eternal One: 16 Command the priests who are carrying the covenant chest to come out of the Jordan.
17 Joshua gave the order.
18 As the people watched, the priests carried the chest of the Eternal up out of the Jordan; and as soon as they had stepped out of the riverbed, the river was filled and overflowing, just as it had been before.
19 The Israelites crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20 This was where Joshua set up the twelve stones from the Jordan riverbed. 21 He summoned the people of Israel.
Joshua: Someday your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” 22 And you will tell them, “Israel crossed the Jordan here on dry ground.” 23 For the Eternal One, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan until you crossed over (just as He held back the Red Sea for our parents until they crossed) 24 so that everyone on earth would know how powerful the Eternal is and so that you would reverence your God, the Eternal, forever.
5 When the kings of the Amorites, who lived in the hills west of the Jordan, and the kings of the Canaanite cities on the plain by the sea heard how the Eternal had dried up the waters of the Jordan so the Israelites could cross, they were alarmed, and their courage failed at the thought of the advancing Israelites.
2 At that time, the Eternal One commanded Joshua to make flint knives and reinstate the rite of circumcision for male Israelites. 3 So Joshua made flint knives as he was told to do, and the Israelite males were circumcised at Gibeath-haaraloth.[b] 4-5 This is because all of the male Israelites who had fled from Egypt and all their soldiers who had fought so bravely had been circumcised, but they had died on the long journey. And those who had been born during the journey had not yet been circumcised.
Circumcision—the ritual removal of a male’s foreskin, usually in infancy—is one of the ways God tells His people to distinguish themselves from those around them. This rite is carried out at this point in the story to reconfirm the Israelites’ identity as God’s people and to prepare them for the greatest celebration that marks them as God’s people—the Passover—which commemorates God bringing them safely out of slavery in Egypt.
6 The Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and because they would not listen to the voice of the Eternal, God promised that none of the original community would live to enter the land He promised to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 It was their children and grandchildren whom He raised up to receive that land instead. Joshua circumcised those sons and grandsons now because it had not been done previously. 8 When they all had been circumcised, they remained in their camp until their wounds were healed.
9 It was here, where they had piled up the stones, that the Eternal spoke to Joshua.
Eternal One: On this day I have rolled away from you the shame of Egypt.
And the place is called Gilgal, which means “circle of stones,” even today.
10 While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the desert plain east of Jericho, they celebrated their first Passover on the evening of the 14th of the month in the land the Lord had promised them; 11 and the next day they ate some produce of the land, roasted grain, and flatbread. 12 Beginning after that Passover, the Israelites were no longer fed with manna, as they were in the desert. From the day they ate from the new land, the manna ceased. From then on they ate only the crops of the land of Canaan.
13 Now when Joshua was traveling near the city of Jericho, he saw a man standing in front of him with a sword drawn and ready.
Joshua (stepping toward him): Are you one of us, or are you one of our enemies?
The Man: 14 Neither; I am here now as commander of the Eternal’s army.
Joshua (falling to the ground): What is your command for your servant, my lord?
The Man: 15 Take off your sandals, for you are on holy ground.
So Joshua did.
6 The citizens of Jericho had barricaded themselves behind its high walls because of the Israelite forces. No one could get in or out.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 2 I have given Jericho, its king, and all its soldiers into your hands. 3 Every day for the next six days, you will march once around the city walls with all your fighting force. 4 Seven priests will go in front of the covenant chest, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. On the seventh day, you will march around the city walls seven times, and the priests will blow their trumpets. 5 When they play a long final blast, then all the people will give a mighty shout. The city walls will collapse in front of you, and all the Israelites will charge in and take the city.
6 So Joshua, the son of Nun, summoned the priests and instructed them.
Joshua: Take up the chest and have seven priests, each carrying a ram’s horn trumpet, march in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal.
7 Then he gave orders to the people.
Joshua: March around the city with the fighting men marching ahead of the chest of the Eternal.
8-9 So they all proceeded as Joshua had commanded them. The fighting men led the way; the seven priests marched after them, blowing their horns continually in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal, and the rear guard followed behind.
10 Joshua gave the Israelites very strict instructions.
Joshua: Don’t yell or shout. Don’t let your voice be heard until the day I tell you. And then I want you to shout with all your might.
11 So they circled the city once, carrying the covenant chest of the Eternal, and that night they returned to their camp. 12 The next morning, Joshua rose early, the priests carried the chest of the Eternal, 13-14 and they all marched around the city in exactly the same order as they had the day before: the armed men, seven trumpeting priests, the chest of the Eternal, and the rear guard, all making one complete circuit around the city with its great walls. That night they returned to their camp, and the next four days proceeded just like the first two.
15 But on the seventh day, they rose with the sun and the procession marched around the city walls seven times; that was the only day they made seven circuits around the city walls. 16 After the seventh and final circuit, when the priests had raised a mighty noise on their trumpets, Joshua turned to the people.
Joshua: Shout! Shout! For the Eternal One has given you the city! 17 The city and all who are in it will be destroyed completely as an offering to Him, except for the prostitute Rahab and those who are with her in her house. Her life will be spared as a reward for sheltering our two spies.
18 Be sure to stay away from these things that He has devoted to complete destruction so that you won’t be tempted to pick something up and carry it away. Anyone who disobeys God in this matter will bring destruction on all of us.
19 Any silver or gold, any bronze or iron vessels should not be burned; instead, they should be set aside for the Eternal’s treasury.
20 Then the people shouted, and the trumpets blasted. The noise of the voices and trumpets rose higher and higher, and the thick walls of Jericho collapsed, just as God had promised. When the wall fell before them, they rushed straight ahead and took the city, 21 killing everyone—all the men and women and children, all the cattle and livestock—with their swords.
Joshua (to the two spies): 22 Go back to the house of the prostitute, and bring her out with all of those who have hidden there so that you can keep your word.
23 So they set off through the destruction, found Rahab’s house, and brought her and all she had—father and mother, brothers and sisters, and all her relatives—out of the fallen city to a place outside the camp of Israel.
24 So Jericho was destroyed completely, burned to the ground except for the precious metals and iron and bronze vessels that were put into the treasury of the Eternal’s house. 25 But Joshua spared the life of Rahab the prostitute, all her family, and all she had because she was faithful to the spies he had sent, and she lived among the Israelites from that day on.
26 When the city lay in smoke and ashes, Joshua pronounced a curse.
Joshua: May the Eternal curse anyone who ever rebuilds this city, this Jericho! If he lays new foundations, it will be over the grave of his firstborn; if he raises new gates, it will be to contain the corpse of his youngest!
27 The Eternal One had helped Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
The destruction of the city—and the curse Joshua pronounces—are pretty harsh things. Today, of course, there are rules of war, and the international community would punish this kind of military action. But that wasn’t the situation in Canaan. The Israelites are invaders in the land, badly outnumbered, and their victory and decisive actions send a message to all the other cities and towns: there’s something different—and very dangerous—about these invaders. Moreover, it is essential to purify the land of polytheistic worship before Israel settles in the land with their worship of the Lord.
7 But the Israelites acted unfaithfully in one thing: they did not allow everything from Jericho to be destroyed, as God had ordered. Achan (the son of Carmi, grandson of Zabdi, and great-grandson of Zerah of the tribe of Judah) had carried some things away from Jericho, so the Eternal was angry at the Israelites.
2 After Jericho fell, Joshua sent some men to Ai, a town near Beth-aven and east of Bethel, to spy out that region of the land. 3 They returned to Joshua with a report.
Spies: You don’t need to send all the people since there are so few defenders in Ai. An army of 2,000 to 3,000 men should be plenty.
4 So Joshua sent about 3,000 soldiers to Ai; but they were easily repulsed by the defenders, 5 who killed 36 of them and pursued them from the gate even to the descent toward Shebarim. When the Israelites heard their soldiers had been defeated, their courage melted away like water. 6 Then Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their robes and fell to the dirt in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal, putting dust on their heads and remaining there until evening.
Joshua: 7 Why, Eternal One, our Lord? Why have you brought us across the Jordan if only to let the Amorites destroy us? It would have been better for us to settle on the other side of the Jordan! 8 Lord, how am I going to explain that our fighting men have had to run for their lives? 9 The people of Canaan, all the inhabitants of this land, will hear that we have been defeated. They’ll surround us and destroy us as a people forever, and then how will the world remember Your great name?
Eternal One: 10 Get up. What are you doing in the dirt? 11 There’s a simple explanation: Israel has sinned. They have lied and have violated the covenant I gave them by stealing some of the property that should have been destroyed along with the rest of Jericho and by hiding it among their own belongings.
12 That is why the Israelites can no longer resist their enemies. They run from their foes because they are under a curse and doomed to destruction. I will not be with you or fight for you unless these things devoted to destruction are truly destroyed. 13 Get up, and tell the people to purify themselves for tomorrow. Tell them that the Eternal One, the God of Israel says, “There are items among you that were supposed to be destroyed as I commanded. You will not be able to resist your enemies unless you remove the banned items from among you.”
14 Then in the morning, the people will pass before you tribe by tribe, and by drawing lots you will know which tribe I pick. Then that tribe will come clan by clan, and the chosen clan will come family by family, until at last they come before you one by one and I show you who is guilty. 15 With the person selected by lot, you will burn him and all his belongings, including his family and his livestock, with fire as a punishment for breaking the covenant with the Eternal and for bringing dishonor upon Israel.
There’s always an explanation in the Book of Joshua when the people of Israel are defeated in their battles for the promised land, and that explanation is not that God has been unfaithful. It’s the other way around: God tells the people of Israel to do something, and they don’t. God allows their defeats so that they can see the error of their ways. He corrects His people and punishes them so that they may learn to do better.
16 So Joshua arose early, and the Israelites passed before him, tribe by tribe. First the tribe of Judah was chosen by lot. 17 From the clans of Judah, the clan of the Zerahites was chosen, and from that clan, the family of Zabdi. 18 From that family, the Lord indicated that Achan (the son of Carmi, grandson of Zabdi, and great-grandson of Zerah from the tribe of Judah) had taken the banned items.
Joshua (to Achan): 19 My son, I urge you now to show honor and thanksgiving to the Eternal One, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me what you have done, and tell the truth.
Achan: 20 It’s true. I am the one who broke the commandment of the Eternal God of Israel. 21 Among the spoils of the city, I found a beautiful Babylonian robe, 5 pounds of silver, and 20 ounces of gold. When I saw them, I wanted them and I took them. They are buried now in the ground inside my tent with the silver at the very bottom of the hole.
22 Joshua sent men to Achan’s tent, and there they found the valuables with the silver at the bottom just as he had described. 23 They carried them back from the tent to Joshua, displayed them in front of the Israelites, and offered them to the Eternal. 24 Then Joshua and all Israel led Achan, the son of Zerah, with the robe and silver and gold he had taken, with all his sons and daughters, with all his cattle and livestock, and with his tent and everything he possessed, to the valley of Achor.
Joshua: 25 Why did you bring such trouble upon us? Well, now the Eternal is bringing trouble on you.
The people stoned Achan and his family and burned them and all their belongings. 26 Afterward they erected a pile of stones over Achan that still stands today. When all of this was done, the Eternal put away His anger; so to this day that place is called the valley of Achor, which means “trouble.”
8 Eternal One (to Joshua): Don’t be afraid or discouraged. Take all of your fighters up to Ai. Watch; I will hand over the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land to you. 2 You will do to Ai exactly as you did to Jericho and its king, except you may keep only the cattle and spoil for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.
3 So Joshua and all his fighting force got ready to depart for Ai, and he chose 30,000 of them and sent them out by night 4 with instructions.
Joshua: I want you all to lie in wait behind the city in ambush. Stay close, and stay alert. 5 I will bring the others up to the front of the city; and when they come out to fight us, we will run from them. 6 Their forces will all come out of the city to chase us because they will think everything is happening the way it did the first time. But when we have lured them all out and away from the city, 7 I want you to move in and take it, for the Eternal One, your God will give it to us. 8 When you have taken the city, burn it. This is the word of the Eternal and my command.
9 The ambush force made its way into the hills and took a position between Bethel and Ai, while Joshua and the remaining fighters spent the night in the camp. 10 In the morning, Joshua rose early and roused the people, and he and the elders went on to Ai in front of the people. 11 All the fighting men with him went up and moved in close to the city and set up camp in front and north of Ai, with a ravine between the camp and Ai. 12 The other force, numbering about 5,000, remained hidden west of the city between Bethel and Ai. 13 With his forces situated with men to the north and west of the city, Joshua camped in the valley that night.
14 When the king of Ai arose the next morning and saw the Israelites lined up against him, he gathered his forces on the plain to bring the battle to Israel, not knowing that an ambush squad was hidden behind the city. 15 When the battle was joined, Joshua and the Israelites pretended they were defeated and once again were fleeing toward the wilderness. 16 All of the men of Ai came out to pursue them and were drawn farther and farther away from the city. 17 At last, not one man was left in Ai or Bethel, since all had gone out to pursue Israel, leaving the city open and defenseless.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 18 Raise your javelin toward Ai, for now I will give it into your hands.
Joshua raised his javelin toward the city; 19 and as he did so, the forces he had hidden in ambush rushed into the city, seizing it and setting it on fire.
20-21 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke rising from their city into the sky; and when Joshua saw that his ambush had been successful, he turned the fleeing Israelites around to crush the disheartened men of Ai. There was nowhere for the men of the city to retreat. Before them, the Israelites turned to attack; 22 behind them, the ambush force came out against them from the burning city. So they were surrounded on all sides by their attackers, who killed all of them, 23 except for Ai’s king, who was captured alive and carried to Joshua.
24 When the last of Ai’s men in the field and wilderness had been killed by the sword, the Israelites returned to Ai and killed everyone inside the city. 25 Twelve thousand fell that day—men and women, all of the people of Ai, 26 for Joshua did not lower his javelin until the destruction was complete. 27 The people of Israel then took the livestock and the goods of the city for themselves, as the Eternal One had instructed Joshua to do. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a city of ruins, as it is to this day, 29 and he executed the king of Ai by hanging. At sunset Joshua had them take down his body for burial, as the law commands, put it where once the city gate had stood, and heap over his body a grave of stones that still stands to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Eternal God of Israel on Mount Ebal. 31 He had it built just as Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded the Israelites and is recorded in the book of the law,[c] an altar of stones that had not been cut with iron tools. They offered sacrifices to the Eternal there—burnt offerings and peace offerings— 32 and with the Israelites gathered, Joshua had the law of Moses engraved on the stones. 33 Israel, the elders, the officers, and the judges gathered around the covenant chest of the Eternal, which was carried by the Levite priests, a gathering Moses had commanded, including Israelites and sojourners. They lined the valley, half in front of Mount Ebal and half in front of Mount Gerizim, as Moses, servant of the Eternal One, had commanded before he died, so that the people could be blessed. 34-35 Joshua read out all the words of the law, blessings and curses alike. Every word written, every word that Moses had commanded, Joshua read to the men, women, and children of Israel, and to the sojourners residing among them.
It’s important to remember who you are and what you’re fighting for. By gathering everyone and reading the law of Moses to them, Joshua unites the people of Israel in their shared past, present, and future and orients them toward God in their new land.
9 Now when the kings of the land who were beyond the Jordan in the highlands and along the coast of the Mediterranean—the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites—heard what had happened, 2 they unified to oppose Joshua and Israel.
3 But the people of Gibeon, who were Hivites, had a different idea when they heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai. 4 Knowing that Joshua might turn his attention to them next, they decided to use their wits, not their military might. They formed a delegation to serve as envoys and gathered the most worn-out sacks for their donkeys and worn-out, patched-up wineskins they could find. 5 They took some ragged sandals and patched them. They dressed in threadbare clothes—all so it would look as though they had come from far away. Even the food they carried was dry and moldy, as though it had been carried a long distance.
6 These envoys went to Gilgal to meet with Joshua and the men of Israel.
Gibeonite Envoys (to Joshua and the men of Israel): We have traveled from a far country and beg you to make a treaty of peace with us.
Israelites: 7 How can we make a treaty with you? How do we know you aren’t from around here?
The words from the Lord in Deuteronomy are very clear: Do not make a covenant or show favor with anyone in the land. This instruction, of course, is broken many times by Israel (Deuteronomy 7:2).
Gibeonite Envoys (to Joshua): 8 We are your servants.
Joshua: Who are you? Where do you come from?
Gibeonite Envoys: 9 Your servants have made the journey from a distant country because even there the name of the Eternal One your God is in the air. We have heard of what He did for you in Egypt 10 and what He did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan (King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth). 11 So our elders gathered us together and directed us to take provisions for a long journey so we could tell you we are your servants. Please, we beg you, make a treaty with us.
12 Look. Here is all that remains of our bread. It was fresh, warm from the oven, when we set out, but now it is nothing but mold and crumbs. 13 And these patched-up wineskins were new and full when we left home. And our clothes, our sandals are worn—you can see that we have traveled a very long way.
14 The leaders did not consult the Eternal. They broke bread with the messengers, 15 and Joshua offered them a treaty of peace, with the leaders of Israel swearing an oath to bind it.
16 Three days after they had sworn peace with these deceptive messengers, they discovered the visitors were Gibeonites from the land of Canaan, their neighbors, who, in fact, were living in part of the land God had promised the Israelites. 17 So the Israelites went to their cities: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim on the third day, 18 but they did not attack them. Even though they had been tricked into making a treaty, an oath made in the name of the Eternal was sacred. The people of Israel grumbled and complained against their leaders, 19 but they replied to the entire congregation.
Leaders: Look, we have sworn an oath in the name of the Eternal God of Israel, and we must not touch them. 20 If we attack them now and break our word, God’s anger will fall on us. Let them live and serve us.
21 So the leaders kept their promise to the Gibeonites who became servants of the entire congregation, cutting their wood and drawing their water.
22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonite leaders.
Joshua (to the Gibeonite leaders): Why did you lie to us? Why did you claim to be from far away when really you lived right here among us? 23 Your lie comes with a curse. You will live, but you will always be our slaves, carrying our water and chopping wood for the sanctuary of my True God from now on.
Gibeonite Leaders (to Joshua): 24 We knew for a fact that the Eternal One, your True God, had told His servant Moses that He would give you all of this land and that you would destroy all of the people in it. We were so afraid of you that this seemed the best thing to do. 25 But now we are in your hands. Do to us what seems fair and just to you, and we will accept it.
26 So Joshua spared the Gibeonites from the people of Israel and certain death 27 but made them servants of the people of Israel, chopping their wood and carrying their water, serving the Eternal’s sanctuary from that time on, in whatever place he chose as he directed them.
10 When Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had totally destroyed the kings and cities of Jericho and Ai, and when he discovered that the Israelites had made a treaty with the people of Gibeon and were living alongside Israel, 2 he was greatly alarmed. The city of Gibeon was large, almost like a royal city, much larger than Ai and with many trained warriors. 3-5 So Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, dispatched messages to King Hoham of Hebron, to King Piram of Jarmuth, to King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon.
Adoni-zedek (to the Amorite kings): Let us band together and destroy Gibeon, for they have become allies to these invaders, Joshua and the Israelites.
So these five kings of the Amorites gathered their forces and came down upon the city of Gibeon like a mighty wave. 6 The Gibeonites, seeing the camps of these five armies, sent a message to Joshua in the Israelite camp at Gilgal.
Gibeonites (pleading with Joshua): Please don’t abandon your servants. The five kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have come down to attack us. Come quickly to help us.
7 So Joshua honored the oath they had sworn, and he gathered up all of his fighting forces, all the mighty warriors, and went up from Gilgal toward Gibeon.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 8 Don’t be afraid of the Amorites. Like Jericho and Ai, I am delivering these armies into your hands. None of them will be able to stand against you.
9 Joshua surprised them, having marched his men all night from Gilgal, 10 and the Eternal caused fear and confusion among the Amorite armies at the sudden sight of Israel among them. He slaughtered the Amorites at Gibeon like cattle, chasing and killing them all the way up Beth-horon, and striking them down as far away as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled for their lives down the far slope of Beth-horon, He hurled huge and deadly hailstones upon them from heaven, as far as Azekah. More Amorites were killed by God’s hailstones than by the people of Israel on that day.
12 On the day of the Eternal’s great slaughter, Joshua consulted with the Eternal One; and then, in front of all the people of Israel, he commanded the sun and the moon.
Joshua: Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and Moon, remain over the valley of Aijalon.
Gibeon is in the east and Aijalon is in the west, so this is a favorable celestial omen for Israel and an unfavorable omen for the Amorite coalition.
13 The sun stood still in the heavens; and the moon did likewise, so that the battle could continue until the Israelites had destroyed their enemies, just as it was written in the scroll of Jashar. The sun stalled in the sky for almost an entire day before it set. 14 There has never been another day like this before or since, when the Eternal so answered a person’s prayer, for the Eternal fought for the people of Israel.
God proves that He is greater than any of the local gods—that He is above all other gods—by these cosmic miracles. While today, of course, we know that the earth orbits the sun, not vice versa, the story is clear enough: only an all-powerful God can halt the sun and moon in their courses.
15 Joshua and the Israelites later returned to the camp at Gilgal, 16 but the kings slipped away at the height of the battle and hid in a cave at Makkedah. 17 Someone told Joshua they had been found hiding there.
Joshua: 18-19 Seal up the mouth of the cave with large stones, and leave men to guard them while we pursue the other forces and attack them from behind. Don’t let them reach their towns because the Eternal One, your True God, has given you victory over them.
20 When Joshua and the Israelites had killed all those who did not escape back into the fortified cities, 21 they all returned safely to camp with Joshua at Makkedah, and no one dared to speak a negative word about the Israelites.
Joshua: 22 Open up the cave and bring the five kings before me.
23 They brought forth the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon 24 and led them in front of Joshua and the Israelites.
Joshua (to those who had led the warriors): Come here. Place your feet upon the necks of these kings.
So the leaders did.
Joshua: 25 There’s nothing to be afraid of here. Be strong and courageous because the Eternal will do to all our enemies what He has done to these kings.
26 Joshua had the kings executed and hung on five trees; and they hung until sunset 27 when Joshua commanded they be taken down, as God’s law requires. Their bodies were thrown into the cave where they had hidden, and the cave was sealed as a tomb by piling stones across the mouth. Their remains lie there to this very day.
28 Also on that day Joshua defeated Makkedah and its king, destroying it completely, killing everyone in it and the king, as he had done in Jericho.
29 Next Joshua led his forces from Makkedah against Libnah, 30 and the Eternal gave the town and its king into their hands. They took no prisoners. They killed everyone in the town and destroyed it and the king, as they did to the king of Jericho.
31 From there Joshua and the Israelites passed on to Lachish and besieged it, 32 and on the second day the Eternal gave Lachish to them. They destroyed it and killed everyone in it, as they had just done to Libnah. 33 When King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lachish, Joshua turned the army against him and his people and destroyed them, leaving no survivors.
34 Passing from Lachish, Joshua and the people attacked Eglon, 35 and it fell to them on the first day. They killed everyone with the sword and destroyed it completely, as they had Lachish.
36 Then Joshua went up with all the forces of Israel from Eglon against Hebron, 37 and it fell to them—its king, all of its villages, and all of its people. Joshua killed everyone with the sword and destroyed it as he had destroyed Eglon. 38 Lastly Joshua, with all of Israel, attacked Debir 39 and took its king, its villages, and all of its people. The Israelites killed them with the sword and destroyed them all. Joshua left no one alive. He did to Debir and its king just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.
40 So this is how Joshua and the Israelites defeated every area they had encountered: the hill country, the wilderness of the Negev, the coastlands, and the foothills with all the people and all their kings, leaving no one alive, as the Eternal God of Israel had commanded. 41 Joshua won victories from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and through all the country of Goshen as far as Gibeon. 42 Joshua was able to capture and defeat all these people and all their kings for one simple reason: the Eternal God of Israel fought for Israel.
43 Then Joshua returned to Gilgal to camp with all the Israelites.
11 When King Jabin of Hazor heard what Israel had done to the central and southern cities of Canaan, he sent messengers to King Jobab of Madon, the king of Shimron, the king of Achshaph, 2 and the kings who were in the northern hill country, in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, in the lowland, and in the heights of Dor on the west; 3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west; the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country; the Hivites in the foothills of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpeh, and to all those who could still fight the invaders. 4 They banded together and came out to fight—so many warriors that you could no more count them than you could count the grains of sand on a beach—and leading them was a vast number of horses and chariots. 5 All of these kings pooled their forces, and they camped together by the waters of Merom, ready to make war on Israel.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 6 Don’t be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow, I will have given all of them as dead bodies into your hands. You will disable their horses and burn their chariots.
7 So Joshua’s army came upon them suddenly where they camped beside the waters of Merom and attacked them, 8 and the Eternal delivered this vast army to Israel. They pursued the retreating soldiers as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and to the east as far as the valley of Mizpeh until no one was left to fight. 9 And Joshua cut the hamstrings of all their horses and burned all the chariots, as the Eternal had commanded.
10 Then Joshua turned against Hazor, which had been the leader of all these armies, and destroyed their king 11 and every living, moving, breathing creature within, and burned the city. 12 Joshua moved through each of these cities destroying their armies and putting them all to the sword, including their king, and utterly destroying them as Moses, the servant of the Eternal, had commanded. 13 But Hazor was the only city Joshua burned to the ground of the cities built up on hills. 14 The Israelites looted all of these towns, taking the goods and the livestock as their own but killing all of the inhabitants with the sword, leaving none alive. 15 The Eternal had commanded His servant, Moses, and Moses had commanded Joshua; so Joshua did everything he had been told until nothing the Eternal had commanded Moses was left undone.
16 So Joshua took all of that land: the hill country, the Negev, and the land of Goshen. He conquered the lowland regions, the Arabah, and central hill country with its foothills, 17-18 from Mount Halak, near Seir, to Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. Wherever he went in that land—and it was a long war—he captured their kings and defeated them and executed them. 19 The only people who were not destroyed in battle were the Gibeonites (Hivites) who had made peace with the Israelites. 20 The Eternal boosted the courage of Israel’s enemies so they would come out and oppose Israel as nations receiving no favor but only to be utterly destroyed, just as the Eternal had commanded Moses.
21 Finally Joshua went to war with the Anakim and wiped them from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hills of Judah in the south, and from the hills of Israel further north. Joshua’s army utterly destroyed them, their kings, their armies, and their cities, 22 until not one of the Anakim was left alive in the land of the Israelites. Only a few remained in the Philistine coastal cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
23 So this is how Joshua took the whole land, just as the Eternal had commanded Moses in the land beyond the Jordan; Joshua allotted it as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and at last the land was quiet from wars.
During the furious accounts of battle, it is hard to see how much has been accomplished. But now we pause to reflect on everything that God has made possible—how many kings, states, and cities the people of Israel have defeated with God’s help. We start with those who fell when Moses was leader, and then go on to all those who have fallen since Joshua has been given command.
12 Here begins a catalog of the conquered, a list of the kings of the land who met defeat against the Israelites, and an accounting of the land the Israelites gained, beginning with the eastern side of the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon River, north to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah eastward: 2 King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer (which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley), to the middle of the valley as far north as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites (including half of Gilead), 3 and the Arabah to the Sea of Galilee[d] eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Dead Sea,[e] and south to the foot of the slopes of Mount Pisgah; 4 King Og of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaim giants who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, 5 and who ruled from Mount Hermon and Salecah in the north and over all Bashan to the boundary of the land of the Geshurites and the Maacathites and half of Gilead, south to the boundary of Sihon, king of Heshbon.
6 It was Moses, the servant of the Eternal, who led the Israelites to defeat these kings; and Moses gave their land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh that would settle east beyond the Jordan.
7 This is a catalog of the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelites defeated west of the Jordan, from the north at Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to the south at Mount Halak in the wilderness of Seir. Joshua allotted their land to the tribes of Israel as God directed: 8 in the hill country, in the western foothills, in the Arabah, on the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negev (the southern desert), and in all the land of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
9 These are the fallen kings, one each: the king of Jericho; the king of Ai, which is next to Bethel; 10 the king of Jerusalem; the king of Hebron; 11 the king of Jarmuth; the king of Lachish; 12 the king of Eglon; the king of Gezer; 13 the king of Debir; the king of Geder; 14 the king of Hormah; the king of Arad; 15 the king of Libnah; the king of Adullam; 16 the king of Makkedah; the king of Bethel; 17 the king of Tappuah; the king of Hepher; 18 the king of Aphek; the king of Lasharon; 19 the king of Madon; the king of Hazor; 20 the king of Shimron-meron; the king of Achshaph; 21 the king of Taanach; the king of Megiddo; 22 the king of Kedesh; the king of Jokneam in Carmel; 23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor; the king of Goiim in Gilgal; 24 and the king of Tirzah: 31 kings in all.
This second section of the book (chapters 13–22), which details the parceling out of the land of Canaan, makes for slower reading, but it has a distinct literary purpose. It contains some of the elements we often find in ancient epics such as the catalog of the defeated kings and towns that give the scope of the conquest. The list also orients us in the larger story of the people of God, since later books of the Bible will set their action here. That means it’s valuable for us to know where the tribes settle and what their lands are like.
13 Now the years passed and Joshua grew old; and one day the Eternal came to him.
Eternal One (to Joshua): You have grown old and there is still work to do, for part of the land I have promised has yet to be conquered. 2 This still remains: all the coastal regions inhabited by the Philistines and the Geshurites 3 (from the Shihor tributary of the Nile, east of Egypt, north to the boundary of Ekron, is Canaanite territory); the five capital cities of the Philistines are Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, and the Avvites 4 remain in the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah (which belongs to the Sidonians), as far as Aphek, and to the boundary of the Amorites, 5 and also the land of the Gebalites, and all of Lebanon east from Baal-gad, near Mount Hermon, to Lebo-hamath.[f]
6-7 For the sake of the people of Israel, I will chase out all the inhabitants of the highlands from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians, but allot the land among you. Divide the land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh as their inheritance, as I have commanded.
The twelve tribes of Israel are spread out all across the country side. Moses has already given some of them land on the east side of the Jordan River, as we read here; but the others are awaiting their land on the west side, in the land of Canaan. Eventually every tribe will have land allotted to them because that has been God’s promise.
8 The other half-tribe of Manasseh and the tribes of Reuben and Gad received their inheritance. Moses, the Eternal’s servant, gave them land on the far side of the Jordan and toward the east, 9 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, with the town that is in the middle of the valley, and the plains from Medeba to Dibon; 10 and all the cities of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had reigned from Heshbon, as far as the border regions of the Ammonites; 11 and the land of Gilead, and the lands of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah; 12 in Bashan, this includes all the kingdom of Og who had reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (who was the last of the survivors of the giants). Moses conquered these kings and took over their lands, 13 although the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, which is why the people of Geshur and Maacath survive among the Israelites to this day.
14 The tribe of Levi was the only tribe of Israel that was not given land then as its inheritance. To offer burnt offerings to the Eternal God of Israel was their inheritance, as He told them.
15 Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Reubenites, clan by clan. 16 Their territory comprised the plateau from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the city in the middle of the valley, and the entire plain by Medeba; 17 Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plains: Dibon, Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, 18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, and Mephaath; 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the mount of the valley; 20 Beth-peor, the foothills of Mount Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth. 21 The tribe of Reuben received, then, all these cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites who had reigned in Heshbon until Moses defeated him and the leaders of Midian (Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba) who were the princes of Sihon in the land. 22 Along with all of those they put to death, the Israelites also executed Balaam, the son of Beor, who practiced divination but blessed Israel by the command of the Eternal One. 23 The western border of the land allotted to the people of Reuben was the Jordan with its banks. This, then, was the land given to the people of Reuben, clan by clan, and all their cities and villages.
24 Moses also gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Gadites according to their clans. 25 Their territory comprised Jazer, and all the cities of the land of Gilead, and half the country of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, east of Rabbah; 26 from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of Debir; 27 and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon—all the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon—the Jordan and its eastern banks, to the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. 28 This, then, was the land given to the people of Gad, clan by clan, and all their cities and villages.
29 Finally Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh, again allotted clan by clan. 30 Their territory started at Mahanaim and included all of Bashan and the whole kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and all the settlements of Jair, which were in Bashan: 60 towns in all. 31 Half of Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei (the royal cities of Og, king in Bashan) were allotted to half of the people of Machir, son of Manasseh, who would dwell east of the Jordan, according to their clans.
32 These were the inheritances Moses distributed on the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan River and east of Jericho. 33 The clans of the tribe of Levi received no inheritance from Moses since the Eternal God of Israel was their inheritance as He promised them.
14 Here is an account of the land that the other people of Israel were given as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, as the priest Eleazar, Joshua (son of Nun), and the heads of the elders of the Israelite tribes distributed it to them. 2 They determined the inheritance of the nine tribes and one half-tribe by lot, as the Eternal One had commanded them through Moses. 3 (Remember Moses had already distributed land to the two tribes and the other half-tribe who lived beyond the Jordan, and he gave no land as an inheritance to the Levites. 4 Since the descendants of Joseph consisted of two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, no share of land was given to the Levites but only towns to live in, with pasture for their property and livestock.)
5 So the Israelites did as the Eternal commanded Moses and divided the land. 6 Some members of the tribe of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, including Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite.
This story introduces us to a character who is faithful to his mission even before the events in the Book of Joshua. Caleb and Joshua were part of the group of spies who were sent into Canaan to observe the natural resources and the defenses of the people, and only they reported honestly that the land was wonderful and that it could be occupied with God’s help (Numbers 13–14). For Caleb’s faithfulness, he is promised that he will have a place and be given a portion in the promised land.
Caleb (to Joshua): Remember what the Eternal said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me in Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was 40 years old when Moses, the Eternal’s servant, sent me out from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land of Canaan. I brought back an honest report. 8 The others who were sent as spies only discouraged the people and melted their hearts, but I obeyed the Eternal One, my God, completely. 9 At that time, Moses swore an oath to me: “Someday the land on which you have walked will be given to you and your children as an inheritance forever because you have been completely faithful to the Eternal One, my God.”[g]
10 So here I am. The Eternal has spared my life these 45 years since He spoke this to Moses while Israel was in the wilderness. Here I am today, 85 years old, 11 still as strong today as I was when Moses sent me into this country, able to fight and able to work.
12 So now I ask that you give me this hill country the Eternal spoke about on that day. You heard then how the Anakim were there with great fortified cities, and so they are still. Because the Eternal goes with me, I will drive them out, just as He has said.
13 So Joshua blessed Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as an inheritance. 14 Hebron belongs to the descendants of Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, even now because he obeyed the Eternal God of Israel completely. 15 (In ancient times, Hebron was called Kiriath-arba after Arba, who was the greatest of the Anakim.) So that land was peaceful.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.