Old/New Testament
Land Still to Be Taken
13 When Joshua was very old, the Lord said to him, “Joshua, you have grown old, but there is still much land for you to ·take [possess; conquer]. 2 This is what is left: the regions of Geshur and of the Philistines [C the southern coastline along the Mediterranean Sea]; 3 the area from the Shihor River [C Wadi el-Arish located below Gaza] ·at the border [east; L in front] of Egypt ·to [L to the border of] Ekron in the north, which ·belongs to the Canaanites [L is regarded/counted as Canaanite]; the five Philistine ·leaders [rulers; lords] at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron; the Avvites, 4 ·who live south of the Canaanite land, from Arah of the Sidonians [C the people of the northern coastal plains] to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; 5 the ·Gebalites [C inhabitants of the city of Byblos, located north of modern Beirut], and the area of Lebanon east of Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
6 “The Sidonians are living in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, but I will ·force [drive] all of them out ahead of the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. Be sure to ·remember this land when you divide the land among the Israelites [L allocate this land to Israel as an inheritance], as I ·told [commanded] you.
7 “Now divide the land ·among [L as an inheritance among] the nine tribes and ·West [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh.”
Dividing the Land
8 ·East Manasseh and [L With it; C referring to the other half-tribe of Manasseh] the tribes of Reuben and Gad had received their ·land [inheritance]. The Lord’s servant Moses had given them the land east of the Jordan River [Deut. 3:18–20]. 9 ·Their land started at [L From] Aroer at the Arnon ·Ravine [Valley; 12:1] ·and continued to [or including] the town in the middle of the ravine, and it included the whole ·plain [or plateau] from Medeba to Dibon. 10 All the towns ruled by Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in the city of Heshbon, were in that land. The land continued to the area where the Ammonites lived. 11 Gilead [12:3] was also there, as well as the area where the people of Geshur and Maacah lived, and all of Mount Hermon and Bashan as far as Salecah. 12 All the kingdom of Og king of Bashan was in the land [12:4–5]. Og was ·one of the last [L from the remnant] of the Rephaites, and in the past he ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. Moses had ·defeated [struck] them and had taken their land. 13 Because the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] did not ·force [drive] out the people of Geshur and Maacah, they still live among the Israelites today.
14 The tribe of Levi was the only one that ·did not get any land [L he gave no inheritance]. Instead, they were given all the burned sacrifices [C a portion of the food offerings] made to the Lord, the God of Israel, as he had promised them [14:3–4; Num. 3:45; 35:1–8].
15 Moses had given each ·family group [clan] from the tribe of Reuben some land: 16 Theirs was the land from Aroer near the Arnon ·Ravine [Valley; 12:1] to the town of Medeba, including the whole plain and the town in the middle of the ·ravine [valley]; 17 Heshbon and all ·the [L its] towns on the plain: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, 18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, 20 Beth Peor, the ·hills [slopes] of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth. 21 So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that Sihon king of the Amorites had ruled from the town of Heshbon. Moses had defeated him along with the leaders of the Midianites, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. All these ·leaders [princes] ·fought together with [or were subjects of] Sihon and lived in that country. 22 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·killed [L slayed with the sword] many people during the fighting, including Balaam of Beor, who ·tried to use magic to tell the future [practiced divination; Num. 22–24]. 23 The land given to Reuben stopped at the shore of the Jordan River. So the ·land [inheritance] given to the ·family groups [clans] of Reuben included all these towns and their villages.
24 This is the land Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to all its ·family groups [clans]: 25 the land of Jazer and all the towns of Gilead; half the land of the Ammonites that went as far as Aroer near Rabbah; 26 the area from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim; the area from Mahanaim to the land of Debir; 27 in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the ·other land [rest of the kingdom] Sihon king of Heshbon had ruled east of the Jordan River and continuing to the end of Lake ·Galilee [L Kinnereth]. 28 ·All this land went to [L This is the inheritance of] the ·family groups [clans] of Gad, including all these towns and their villages.
29 This is the land Moses had given to ·East [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh. Half of all the ·family groups [clans] in the tribe of Manasseh were given this land: 30 The land started at Mahanaim and included all of Bashan [12:4] and the land ruled by Og king of Bashan; all the towns of Jair in Bashan, sixty cities in all; 31 half of Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities where Og king of Bashan had ruled. All this went to the ·family [or descendants; L children/sons] of Makir son of Manasseh, and half of all his ·sons [descendants] were given this land.
32 Moses had given this land to these tribes on the plains of Moab across the Jordan River east of Jericho [Num. 32:32, 39–42]. 33 But Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi because the Lord, the God of Israel, promised that he himself would be the gift for the Levites [v. 14; 18:7; Num. 18:20; Deut. 18:1–8].
14 Eleazar the priest [the son of Aaron; Ex. 28:1; Num. 34:17], Joshua son of Nun, and the ·leaders [L heads of the fathers] of all the tribes of Israel decided what land to give to the people in the land of Canaan. 2 The Lord had commanded Moses long ago how he wanted the people to choose their land. The people of the nine-and-a-half tribes threw lots [C casting lots left the decision to God; the Urim and Thummim may have been used; Ex. 28:30; Num. 27:21] to decide which land they would receive. 3 Moses had already given the two-and-a-half tribes their land east of the Jordan River. But the tribe of Levi was not given any ·land [inheritance] like the others. 4 The sons of Joseph had ·divided into [L become] two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The tribe of Levi was not given any ·land [inheritance]. It was given only some towns in which to live and pastures for its ·animals [L cattle and property]. 5 The Lord had told Moses how to give the land to the tribes of Israel, and the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] divided the land.
Caleb’s Land
6 One day ·some men from the tribe of Judah [L the sons/descendants of Judah] went to Joshua at Gilgal [4:19]. Among them was Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. He said to Joshua, “You remember what the Lord said at Kadesh Barnea when he was speaking to ·the prophet Moses [L Moses, the man of God] about you and me [Num. 14:6–9, 24, 30]. 7 Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me to ·look at [spy out] the land where we were going. I was forty years old then. When I came back, I ·told Moses what I thought about the land [brought back an honest report; L brought him word as it was in my heart; Num. 13:30]. 8 The other men who went with me ·frightened the people [L made the heart of the people melt; Num. 13:27–29; 14:1–4], but I ·fully believed the Lord would allow us to take the land [or remained loyal to the Lord; L followed the Lord]. 9 So that day Moses ·promised [swore to; made an oath to] me, ‘The land where ·you went [L your foot has trodden] will become your ·land [inheritance], and your children will own it forever. I will give you that land because you ·fully believed in [or remained loyal to; L followed] the Lord, my God.’
10 “Now then, [L look; T behold] the Lord has kept his promise. He has kept me alive for forty-five years from the time he said this to Moses during the time ·we all [L Israel] wandered in the ·desert [wilderness]. Now ·here [L look; T behold] I am, eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out, ·and I am just as ready to fight now as I was then [L my strength then is like my strength now, for battle and for going out and coming in]. 12 So give me the mountain country the Lord promised me that day long ago. Back then you heard that the ·Anakite people [Anakim] lived there and the cities were large and well protected. But now with the Lord helping me, I will ·force [drive] them out, just as the Lord said.”
13 Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him the city of Hebron [C southwest of Jerusalem in the Judean hills] as his ·own [L inheritance]. 14 Hebron still ·belongs to [remains the inheritance of] the family of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he ·had faith and obeyed [remained loyal to; L wholly followed] the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 (In the past Hebron was called Kiriath Arba, named for Arba, the greatest man among the Anakites.)
After this ·there was peace in the land [L the land had rest from war].
Land for Judah
15 The ·land that was given to [allotment for] the tribe of Judah was divided among all the ·family groups [clans]. It went all the way to the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Zin in the far south, at the border of Edom.
2 The southern border of Judah’s land started at the south end of the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea 3 and went south of ·Scorpion Pass [or the ascent of Akrabbim] to Zin. From there it passed to the south of Kadesh Barnea and continued past Hezron to Addar. From Addar it turned and went to Karka. 4 It continued to Azmon, the ·brook [stream; wadi] of Egypt, and then to the ·Mediterranean Sea [L Sea]. This was the southern border.
5 The eastern border was the shore of the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea, as far as the mouth of the Jordan River.
The northern border started at the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan River. 6 Then it went to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah to the stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 7 Then ·the northern border went [L the border went up] through the Valley of Achor to Debir where it turned toward the north and went to Gilgal. Gilgal is ·across from the road that goes through [L opposite] Adummim Pass, on the south side of the ·ravine [valley; gorge]. The border continued to the waters of En Shemesh and stopped at En Rogel. 8 Then it went through the Valley of ·Ben [the Son of] Hinnom, next to the southern ·side [slope] of the Jebusite city (·which is called [that is,] Jerusalem). There the border went to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley, at the northern end of the Valley of ·Giants [L Raphaim]. 9 From there it went to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah and then it went to the cities near Mount Ephron. There it turned and went toward Baalah, ·which is called [that is,] Kiriath Jearim. 10 At Baalah the border turned west and went toward Mount Seir. It continued along the ·north side [northern slope] of Mount Jearim (also called Kesalon) and ·came [or descended] to Beth Shemesh. From there it ·went past [or crossed to] Timnah 11 to the ·hill north [northern slope] of Ekron. Then it turned toward Shikkeron and ·went past [or crossed to] Mount Baalah and continued on to Jabneel, ending at the sea.
12 The ·Mediterranean [Great] Sea was the western border. Inside these borders lived the ·family groups [clans] of Judah.
13 The Lord had commanded Joshua to give Caleb son of Jephunneh ·part of the land [a portion] in Judah, so he gave Caleb the town of Kiriath Arba, ·also called [that is,] Hebron [14:13]. (Arba was the father of Anak.) 14 Caleb ·forced [drove] out the three ·Anakite families [L sons of Anak] living in Hebron: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. 15 Then he left there and went to fight against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir had been called Kiriath Sepher.) 16 Caleb said, “I will give Acsah, my daughter, as a wife to the man who attacks and captures the city of Kiriath Sepher.” 17 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, captured the city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. 18 When Acsah came to ·Othniel [L him; C could be Othniel or Caleb], she ·told him to ask [or asked] her father for a field.
So Acsah went to her father. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”
19 Acsah answered, “·Do me a special favor [L Give me a blessing]. Since you have given me land in ·southern Canaan [L the Negev], also give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
20 ·The tribe of Judah got the land God had promised them [L This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Judah]. ·Each family group got part of the land [L …according to its clans].
21 The tribe of Judah got all these towns in the ·southern part of Canaan [extreme south; L Negev] near the border of Edom: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (also called Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, 28 Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. There were twenty-nine towns and their villages.
33 The tribe of Judah got these towns in the ·western foothills [lowlands]: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (also called Gederothaim). There were fourteen towns and their villages.
37 Judah was also given Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah. There were sixteen towns and their villages.
42 Judah was also given Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Aczib, and Mareshah. There were nine towns and their villages.
45 Judah was also given Ekron and all the small towns and villages near it; 46 the area west of Ekron and all the villages and small towns near Ashdod; 47 Ashdod and the small towns and villages around it; the villages and small towns around Gaza as far as the ·brook [stream; wadi] of Egypt and along the coast of the ·Mediterranean [L Great] Sea.
48 Judah was also given these towns in the ·mountains [hill country]: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (also called Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh. There were eleven towns and their villages.
52 They were also given Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron), and Zior. There were nine towns and their villages.
55 Judah was also given Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah. There were ten towns and their villages.
58 They were also given Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon. There were six towns and their villages.
60 They were also given the two towns of Rabbah and Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim) and their villages.
61 Judah was given these towns in the ·desert [wilderness]: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi. There were six towns and all their villages.
63 The ·army [people; L sons] of Judah was not able to ·force [drive] out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites still live among the people of Judah to this day.
The Birth of John
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she had a ·boy [L son]. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how ·good [greatly merciful] the Lord was to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him [Gen. 17:12]. They ·wanted [were about] to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name, 60 but his mother said, “No! He will be named John.”
61 The people said to Elizabeth, “But no one in your family has this name.” 62 Then they made ·signs [gestures; motions] to his father to find out what he would like to name him [C indicating that Zechariah was not only mute but also deaf].
63 Zechariah ·asked [motioned] for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John,” and everyone ·was surprised [marveled; was amazed]. 64 Immediately ·Zechariah could talk again [L his mouth was opened and his tongue freed], and he began ·praising [blessing] God. 65 All their neighbors ·became alarmed [were afraid/in awe], and in all the ·mountains [hill country] of Judea people continued talking about all these things. 66 The people who heard about them ·wondered [L kept/pondered them in their hearts], saying, “What will this child [turn out to] be?” because the [L hand of the; C a metaphor for empowering presence] Lord was with him.
Zechariah Praises God
67 Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “·Let us praise [L Blessed be] the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has ·come to help his people and has given them freedom [L visited and accomplished redemption for his people].
69 He has ·given us a powerful Savior [L raised up a horn of salvation for us; C referring to the horn of a powerful animal—a metaphor for strength; 1 Sam. 2:1, 10; Ps. 132:17; Ezek. 29:21]
·from the family [L in the house] of God’s servant David.
70 [L …just as] He said that he would do this
through [L the mouth of] his holy prophets who lived long ago:
71 He promised he would save us from our enemies
and from the ·power [L hand; C indicating controlling power or oppression] of all those who hate us.
72 He said he would give mercy to our ·ancestors [forefathers]
and that he would remember his holy ·promise [covenant].
73 ·God promised [L The oath that he swore to] Abraham, our father [Gen. 22:16–18],
74 that he would ·save [rescue] us from the ·power [hand; v. 71] of our enemies
so we could serve him without fear,
75 being holy and ·good [righteous] before God as long as we live.
76 “Now you, child, will be called ·a [or the] prophet of the Most High God.
[L For] You will go before the Lord to prepare his ·way [or paths; Mal. 3:1].
77 You will ·make his people know that they will be saved [L give his people the knowledge of salvation]
by having their sins forgiven [Jer. 31:34].
78 ·With [or Because of] the ·loving [tender] mercy of our God,
·a new day from heaven will dawn upon us [L the sunrise/dawn from heaven will visit us; C a metaphor for the Messiah; Mal. 4:2].
79 It will shine on those who ·live [dwell; sit] in darkness,
in the shadow of death [Is. 9:2].
It will guide ·us [L our feet] into the path of peace [Is. 59:8].”
80 And so the child grew up and became strong ·in spirit [or in the Spirit]. John lived in the ·desert [wilderness] until the time when he ·came out to preach [appeared; was revealed] to Israel.
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