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Judah Fights the Canaanites
1 After Joshua died, the Israelites prayed to the Lord, “Which of our tribes should be the first to go and fight for us against the Canaanites?”
2 The Lord said to the Israelites, “The tribe of Judah will go. I will let them take this land.”
3 The men of Judah went to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon and asked for help. They said, “Brothers, if you will come and help us fight for the land God gave us, we will go and help you fight for your land.” The men of Simeon agreed and went with them.
4 The Lord helped the men of Judah defeat the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They killed 10,000 men at the city of Bezek. 5 In the city of Bezek, they found the ruler of Bezek[a] and fought him, and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
6 The ruler of Bezek tried to escape, but the men of Judah chased him and caught him. When they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Then the ruler of Bezek said, “I cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. And they had to eat pieces of food that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah took the ruler of Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They used their swords to kill the people of Jerusalem. Then they burned the city. 9 Later, they went down to fight against some more Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the western foothills.
10 Then the men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the city of Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They defeated the men named Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.[b]
Caleb and His Daughter
11 The men of Judah left that place. They went to the city of Debir to fight against the people there. (In the past, Debir was called Kiriath Sepher.) 12 Before they started to fight, Caleb made a promise to the men. He said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to whoever attacks and conquers Kiriath Sepher.”
13 Caleb had a younger brother named Kenaz. Kenaz had a son named Othniel. Othniel captured the city of Kiriath Sepher. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife.
14 Acsah went to live with Othniel. Othniel told Acsah[c] to ask her father for some land. She went to her father. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What is wrong?”
15 Acsah answered him, “Give me a blessing.[d] You gave me dry desert land in the Negev. Please give me some land with water on it.” So Caleb gave her what she wanted. He gave her the upper and lower pools of water in that land.
16 The Kenites left the City of Palm Trees[e] and went with the men of Judah. They went to the desert of Judah to live with the people there. This was in the Negev near the city Arad. (The Kenites were from the family of Moses’ father-in-law.)
17 Some Canaanites lived in the city of Zephath. The men of Judah and men from the tribe of Simeon attacked them and completely destroyed the city. So they named the city Hormah.[f]
18 The men of Judah also captured the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron and all the small towns around them.
19 The Lord was on the side of the men of Judah when they fought. They took the land in the hill country, but they failed to take the land in the valleys, because the people living there had iron chariots.
20 Moses had promised to give the land near Hebron to Caleb, so that land was given to Caleb’s family. The men of Caleb forced the three sons of Anak[g] to leave that place.
21 The tribe of Benjamin could not force the Jebusites to leave Jerusalem. So even today,[h] the Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem.
Joseph’s Descendants Capture Bethel
22 The descendants of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 They sent some spies to the city of Bethel (which was then called Luz). 24 While the spies were watching, they saw a man come out of the city. They said to the man, “Show us a secret way into the city. If you help us, we will not hurt you.”
25 The man showed the spies the secret way into the city. The men of Joseph used their swords to kill the people of Bethel. But they did not hurt the man who helped them or anyone in his family. The man and his family were allowed to go free. 26 He went to the land where the Hittites lived and built a city. He named it Luz, and that city is still called Luz today.
Other Tribes Fight the Canaanites
27 There were Canaanites living in the cities of Beth Shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the small towns around the cities. The people from the tribe of Manasseh could not force those people to leave their towns. So the Canaanites stayed. They refused to leave their homes. 28 Later, the Israelites grew stronger and forced the Canaanites to work as slaves for them. But the Israelites could not force all the Canaanites to leave their land.
29 There were Canaanites living in Gezer. And the Ephraimites did not make all the Canaanites leave their land. So they continued to live in Gezer with the Ephraimites.
30 Some Canaanites lived in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. The people of Zebulun did not force those people to leave their land. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun. But the people of Zebulun made them work as slaves.
31 The people of Asher did not force the other people to leave the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. 32 The people of Asher did not force those Canaanites to leave their land, so the Canaanites continued to live with them.
33 The people of Naphtali did not force the people to leave the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath, so the people of Naphtali continued to live with the people in those cities. Those Canaanites worked as slaves for the people of Naphtali.
34 The Amorites forced the tribe of Dan to live in the hill country. They had to stay in the hills because the Amorites would not let them come down to live in the valleys. 35 The Amorites decided to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Later, when the descendants of Joseph grew stronger, they made the Amorites work as slaves for them. 36 The land of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and up into the hill country past Sela.
The Angel of the Lord at Bokim
2 The angel of the Lord went up to the city of Bokim from the city of Gilgal. The angel spoke this message from the Lord to the Israelites: “I brought you out of Egypt and led you to the land that I promised to give to your ancestors. I told you I would never break my agreement with you. 2 But in return, you must never make any agreement with the people living in that land. You must destroy their altars. I told you that, but you didn’t obey me.
3 “Now I will tell you this, ‘I will not force the other people to leave this land any longer. These people will become a problem for you. They will be like a trap to you. Their false gods will become like a net to trap you.’”
4 After the angel gave the Israelites this message from the Lord, the people cried loudly. 5 So they named the place Bokim.[i] There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
Disobedience and Defeat
6 Then Joshua told the people to go home, so each tribe went to take their area of land. 7 The Israelites served the Lord as long as Joshua was alive, and they continued serving the Lord during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua had died. These old men had seen all the great things the Lord had done for the Israelites. 8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. 9 The Israelites buried Joshua on the land that he had been given. That was at Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
My Words Will Live Forever(A)
29 Then Jesus told this story: “Look at all the trees. The fig tree is a good example. 30 When it turns green, you know that summer is very near. 31 In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that God’s kingdom is very near.
32 “I assure you that all these things will happen while some of the people of this time are still living. 33 The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but my words will last forever.
Be Ready All the Time
34 “Be careful not to spend your time having parties and getting drunk or worrying about this life. If you do that, you won’t be able to think straight, and the end might come when you are not ready. 35 It will come as a surprise to everyone on earth. 36 So be ready all the time. Pray that you will be able to get through all these things that will happen and stand safe before the Son of Man.”
37 During the day Jesus taught the people in the Temple area. At night he went out of the city and stayed all night on the Mount of Olives. 38 Every morning all the people got up early to go listen to Jesus at the Temple.
The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus(B)
22 It was almost time for the Jewish Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover. 2 The leading priests and teachers of the law wanted to kill Jesus. But they were trying to find a quiet way to do it, because they were afraid of what the people would do.
Judas Agrees to Help Jesus’ Enemies(C)
3 One of Jesus’ twelve apostles was named Judas Iscariot. Satan entered him, 4 and he went and talked with the leading priests and some of the soldiers who guarded the Temple. He talked to them about a way to hand Jesus over to them. 5 The priests were very happy about this. They promised to give Judas money for doing this. 6 He agreed. Then he waited for the best time to hand him over to them. He wanted to do it when no one was around to see it.
The Passover Meal(D)
7 The Day of Unleavened Bread[a] came. This was the day when the Jews always killed the lambs for the Passover. 8 Jesus said to Peter and John, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat.”
9 They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare the meal?”
He said to them, 10 “When you go into the city, you will see a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him. He will go into a house. 11 Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks that you please show us the room where he and his followers can eat the Passover meal.’ 12 Then the owner will show you a large room upstairs that is ready for us. Prepare the meal there.”
13 So Peter and John left. Everything happened the way Jesus said. So they prepared the Passover meal.
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
The prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 My Lord, you have been our home forever and ever.
2 You were God before the mountains were born,
before the earth and the world were made.
You have always been and will always be God!
3 You bring people into this world,
and you change them into dust again.
4 To you, a thousand years is like yesterday,
like a few hours in the night.
5 Our life is like a dream that ends when morning comes.
We are like grass
6 that grows and looks so fresh in the morning,
but in the evening it is dry and dying.
7 Your anger could destroy us.
Your anger frightens us!
8 You know about all our sins.
You see every one of our secret sins.
9 Your anger can end our life.
Our lives fade away like a whisper.
10 We live about 70 years
or, if we are strong, 80 years.
But most of them are filled with hard work and pain.
Then, suddenly, the years are gone, and we fly away.
11 No one really knows the full power of your anger,
but our fear and respect for you is as great as your anger.
12 Teach us how short our lives are
so that we can become wise.
13 Lord, come back to us.
Be kind to your servants.
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Let us be happy and enjoy our lives.
15 For years you have made life hard for us and have given us many troubles.
Now make us happy for just as long.
16 Let your servants see the wonderful things you can do for them.
And let their children see your glory.
17 Lord, our God, be kind to us.
Make everything we do successful.
Yes, make it all successful.
91 You can go to God Most High to hide.
You can go to God All-Powerful for protection.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety, my fortress.
My God, I trust in you.”
3 God will save you from hidden dangers
and from deadly diseases.
4 You can go to him for protection.
He will cover you like a bird spreading its wings over its babies.
You can trust him to surround and protect you like a shield.
5 You will have nothing to fear at night
and no need to be afraid of enemy arrows during the day.
6 You will have no fear of diseases that come in the dark
or terrible suffering that comes at noon.
7 A thousand people may fall dead at your side
or ten thousand right beside you,
but nothing bad will happen to you!
8 All you will have to do is watch,
and you will see that the wicked are punished.
9 You trust in the Lord for protection.
You have made God Most High your place of safety.
10 So nothing bad will happen to you.
No diseases will come near your home.
11 He will command his angels to protect you wherever you go.
12 Their hands will catch you
so that you will not hit your foot on a rock.
13 You will have power to trample on lions
and poisonous snakes.
14 The Lord says, “If someone trusts me, I will save them.
I will protect my followers who call to me for help.
15 When my followers call to me, I will answer them.
I will be with them when they are in trouble.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16 I will give my followers a long life
and show them my power to save.”
24 If you don’t correct your children, you don’t love them. If you love them, you will be quick to discipline them.
25 Good people will have plenty to eat, but the wicked will go hungry.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International