Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹"So it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,

²and you have returned to the LORD your God and have listened to and obeyed His voice with all your heart and with all your soul, in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your children,

³then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes [in your return from exile], and have compassion on you, and will gather you together again from all the peoples (nations) where He has scattered you.

⁴Even if any of your dispersed are at the ends of the earth, the LORD your God will gather you together from there, and from there He will bring you back.

⁵The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it; and He shall make you prosper and multiply—even more than your fathers.

⁶"And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants [that is, He will remove the desire to sin from your heart], so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live [as a recipient of His blessing].

⁷The LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who have persecuted you.

⁸And you shall again listen to and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all His commandments which I command you today.

⁹Then the LORD your God shall make you abundantly prosperous in everything that you do, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your land; for the LORD will again delight over you for good, just as He delighted over your fathers,

¹⁰if you listen to and obey the voice of the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).

¹¹"For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.

¹²It is not [a secret hidden] in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?'

¹³Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?'

¹⁴But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

¹⁵"Listen closely, I have set before you today life and prosperity (good), and death and adversity (evil);

¹⁶in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments (precepts), so that you will live and multiply, and that the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to possess.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you will not hear and obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

¹⁸I declare to you today that you will certainly perish. You will not live long in the land which you cross the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

²⁰by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding closely to Him; for He is your life [your good life, your abundant life, your fulfillment] and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD promised (swore) to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

¹So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

²And he said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come in and go out [as your spiritual and military leader], and the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross this Jordan.'

³It is the LORD your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will go across before you [to lead you], just as the LORD has said.

⁴The LORD will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them.

⁵The LORD will hand them over to you, and you shall do to them in accordance with all the commandments which I have commanded you.

⁶Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble in dread before them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you."

⁷Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all [the people of] Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance.

⁸It is the LORD who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

⁹So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Then Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of every seven years, at the time of year when debts are forgiven, at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles),

¹¹when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all [the people of] Israel so that they may hear.

¹²Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) within your cities, so that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], and be careful to obey all the words of this law.

¹³"Their children, who have not known [the law], will hear and learn to fear [and worship] the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁵Then the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood beside the doorway of the tent.

¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to lie down [in death] with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with the foreign gods [of the people] of the land, where they go to be among them. They will abandon (turn away from) Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

¹⁷Then My anger will be kindled and burn against them in that day, and I will abandon (turn away from) them and hide My face from them. They will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them, so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come on us?'

¹⁸But I will certainly hide My face [from them] in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods [to worship lifeless idols, to honor handmade relics].

¹⁹"Now then, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouth, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.

²⁰For when I bring them into the land which I have sworn to their fathers, a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise and reject Me and break My covenant.

²¹Then it shall come about, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this [sacred] song will confront them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their descendants. For I know their inclination which is developing even now, before I bring them into the land which I have sworn to give them."

²²So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

²³Then He commanded and commissioned Joshua, the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the sons of Israel into the land which I have sworn to give them, and I will be with you."

²⁴And when Moses completely finished writing the words of this law in a book,

²⁵he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

²⁶"Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

²⁷For I know your rebellion and contention and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more, then, after my death?

²⁸Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.

²⁹For I know that after my death you will behave corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will come upon you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands."

³⁰Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended:

¹"Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

²"Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the light rain upon the tender grass, And as the spring showers upon the herb.

³"For I proclaim the name [and presence] of the LORD; Ascribe greatness and honor to our God!

⁴"The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness without iniquity (injustice), Just and upright is He.

⁵"They (Israel) have acted corruptly toward Him. They are not His children, because of their [moral] defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation.

⁶"Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has acquired you [as His own]? He has made you and established you [as a nation].

⁷"Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸"When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel.

⁹"For the Lord's portion and chosen share is His people; Jacob (Israel) is the allotment of His inheritance.

¹⁰"He found him in a desert land, In the howling wasteland of a wilderness; He kept circling him, He took care of him, He protected him as the apple of His eye.

¹¹"As an eagle that protects its nest, That flutters over its young, He spread out His wings and took them, He carried them on His pinions.

¹²"So the LORD alone led him; There was no foreign god with him.

¹³"He made him (Israel) ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; And He made him suck honey from the rock, And [olive] oil from the flinty rock,

¹⁴Butter and curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of grapes.

¹⁵"But Jeshurun (Israel) became fat and kicked [at God]. You became fat, thick, sleek, and obstinate! Then he abandoned God who had made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶"They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods [by denying Him the honor and loyalty that is rightfully and uniquely His]; And with repulsive acts they provoked Him to anger.

¹⁷"They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers never feared.

¹⁸"You were unmindful of the Rock who bore you, And you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹"The LORD saw it, and rejected them, Out of indignation with His sons and His daughters.

²⁰"Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.

²¹'They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

²²'For a fire is kindled by My anger, And it burns to the depths of Sheol (the place of the dead, the nether world), It devours the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³'I will heap misfortunes on them; I will use My arrows on them.

²⁴'They will be wasted by hunger, and consumed by plague And a bitter destruction; And I will send the teeth of beasts against them, With the venom of crawling things of the dust.

²⁵'Outside the sword will bereave, And inside [the chambers] terror— For both young man and virgin, For the nursing child and the man of gray hair.

²⁶'I would have said, "I will cut them to pieces [scattering them far away], I will remove the memory of them from men,"

²⁷Had I not feared the provocation of the enemy, That their adversaries would misjudge, That they would say, "Our [own] hand has prevailed, And the LORD has not done all this."'

²⁸"For they are a nation devoid of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.

²⁹"O that they were wise, that they understood this, That they could discern their future and ultimate fate!

³⁰"How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the LORD had given them up?

³¹"For their rock is not like our Rock, Even our enemies themselves judge this.

³²"For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of poison, Their clusters, bitter.

³³"Their wine is the venom of serpents, And the deadly poison of vipers.

³⁴'Is it not laid up in store with Me, Sealed up in My treasuries?

³⁵'Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their disaster is at hand, And their doom hurries to meet them.'

³⁶"For the LORD will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength (hand) is gone, And none remains, whether bond or free.

³⁷"And He will say, 'Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge?

³⁸'Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place!

³⁹'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and I who give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from [the power of] My hand.

⁴⁰'Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say (swear an oath), as I live forever,

⁴¹If I sharpen the lightning of My sword, And My hand takes hold of judgment, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.

⁴²'I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the heads of the leaders of the enemy.'

⁴³"Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people."

⁴⁴Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

⁴⁵When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all [the people of] Israel,

⁴⁶he said to them, "Take to heart all the words of warning which I am speaking to you today; and you shall command your children to observe them carefully—to do all the words of this law.

⁴⁷For it is not an empty or trivial matter for you; indeed it is your [very] life. By [honoring and obeying] this word you will live long in the land, which you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

⁴⁸And the LORD said to Moses that very same day,

⁴⁹"Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession.

⁵⁰Then die on the mountain which you climb, and be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,

⁵¹because you broke faith with Me among of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat Me as holy among of the sons of Israel.

⁵²For you shall see the land opposite you from a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel."

¹This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death.

²He said, "The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came from among ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand was a flaming fire, a law, for them.

³"Indeed, He loves His people; All Your holy ones are in Your hand. They followed in Your steps; They accept and receive direction from You.

⁴"Moses commanded us with a law, As a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵"The LORD was King in Jeshurun (Israel), When the heads of the people were gathered, The tribes of Israel together.

⁶"May [the tribe of] Reuben live and not die out, But let his men be few."

⁷And [Moses said] this of Judah: "Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, And bring him to his people. With his hands he contended for them, And may You be a help against his enemies."

⁸Of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man [Aaron], Whom You tested and proved at Massah, With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;

⁹Who said of his father and mother, 'I did not consider them'; Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he regard his own sons, For the priests observed Your word, And kept Your covenant.

¹⁰"The priests shall teach Your ordinances (judgments) to Jacob, And Your law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

¹¹"O LORD, bless Levi's substance (ability), And accept and take pleasure in the work of his hands; Crush and shatter the loins of those who rise up against him, And of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again."

¹²Of Benjamin he said, "May the beloved of the LORD dwell in safety by Him; He shields and covers him all the day long, And he dwells between His shoulders."

¹³And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the LORD be his land, With the precious things of heaven, with the dew, And from the deep water that lies beneath,

¹⁴With the precious fruits of the sun, And with the precious produce of the months.

¹⁵"With the best things of the ancient mountains, And with the precious things of the everlasting hills,

¹⁶With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor and goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let these blessings come upon the head of Joseph, And upon the crown of the head of him who was distinguished [as a prince] among his brothers.

¹⁷"His majesty is like a firstborn young bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; With them he will gore the peoples, All of them together, to the ends of the earth. And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And those are the thousands of Manasseh."

¹⁸Of Zebulun he said, " Rejoice, Zebulun, in your interests abroad, And, Issachar, in your tents [at home].

¹⁹"They will call the peoples to the mountain (Mount Carmel); There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they will draw out the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand."

²⁰Of Gad he said, "Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad; He lurks like a lioness, And tears the arm and the crown of the head.

²¹"He selected the best [land] for himself, For there the leader's portion was reserved; Yet he came with the leaders of the people; He carried out the justice (righteous will) of the LORD, And His ordinances (judgments) with Israel."

²²Of Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's cub, That leaps forth from Bashan."

²³Of Naphtali he said, "O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, And full of the blessing of the LORD, Take possession of the sea [of Galilee] and the south."

²⁴Of Asher he said, "More blessed than sons is Asher; May he be favored by his brothers, And may he dip his foot in oil.

²⁵"Your strongholds will be iron and bronze, And as your days are, so will your strength, your rest and security be.

²⁶"There is none like the God of Jeshurun (Israel), Who rides the heavens to your help, And through the skies in His majestic glory.

²⁷"The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, 'Destroy!'

²⁸"So Israel dwells in safety and security, The fountain of Jacob alone and secluded, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens also drop down dew.

²⁹"Happy and blessed are you, O Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The Shield of your help, And the Sword of your majesty! Your enemies will cringe before you, And you will tread on their high places [tramping down their idolatrous altars]."

¹Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, from Gilead to Dan,

²and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah to the western sea (Mediterranean Sea),

³and the Negev (South country) and the plain in the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.

⁴Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there."

⁵So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

⁶And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows where his burial place is to this day.

⁷Although Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eyesight was not dim, nor his natural strength abated.

⁸So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

⁹Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD commanded Moses.

¹⁰Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

¹¹[none equal to him] in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land,

¹²and in all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

¹Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant (attendant), saying,

²"Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise [to take his place], cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

³I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised to Moses.

⁴From the wilderness [of Arabia in the south] and this Lebanon [in the north], even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates [in the east], all the land of the Hittites (Canaan), and as far as the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward the west shall be your territory.

⁵No man will [be able to] stand before you [to oppose you] as long as you live. Just as I was [present] with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you.

⁶Be strong and confident and courageous, for you will give this people as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers (ancestors) to give them.

⁷Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do [everything] in accordance with the entire law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper and be successful wherever you go.

⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.

⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

¹¹"Go throughout the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to cross this [river] Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess [as an inheritance].'"

¹²To the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

¹³"Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, 'The LORD your God is giving you rest (peace) and will give you this land [east of the Jordan].'

¹⁴Your wives, your children, and your cattle shall [be allowed to] stay in the land which Moses gave you on this [eastern] side of the Jordan, but you shall go across [the river] before your brothers (the other tribes) armed for battle, all your brave warriors, and you shall help them [conquer and take possession of their land],

¹⁵until the LORD gives your brothers rest, as He has given you, and they also take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall [be allowed to] return to your own land, and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise."

¹⁶They answered Joshua, saying, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

¹⁷Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey you; only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses.

¹⁸Any man who rebels against your command and does not obey everything that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous."

¹Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as scouts secretly from Shittim, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho [the walled city]." So they went and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and lodged there.

²Now the king of Jericho was told, "Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to spy and search out the land."

³So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, because they have come [as spies] to search out all the land."

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; so she said, "Yes, two men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

⁵When it was time to close the [city] gate at dark, the men left; I do not know where they went. Pursue them quickly, for [if you do] you will overtake them."

⁶But [in fact] she had brought the scouts up to the roof and had hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof [to dry].

⁷So the [king's] men pursued them on the road to the Jordan as far as the fords [east of Jericho]; as soon as the pursuers had gone out after them, the gate [of the city] was shut.

⁸Now before the two men lay down [to sleep], Rahab came up to them on the roof,

⁹and she said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror and dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of you.

¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan [on the east], to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

¹¹When we heard it, our hearts melted [in despair], and a [fighting] spirit no longer remained in any man because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

¹²And now, please swear [an oath] to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's household (family), and give me a pledge of truth and faithfulness,

¹³and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, along with everyone who belongs to them, and let us all live."

¹⁴So the men said to her, "Our lives for yours if you do not tell [anyone about] this business of ours; then when the LORD gives us the land we will show you kindness and faithfulness [and keep our agreement with you]."

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.

¹⁶And she said to them, "Go [west] to the hill country, so that the pursuers [who have headed east] will not encounter you; hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you can go your way."

¹⁷The men said to her, "We shall be blameless and free from this oath which you have made us swear,

¹⁸unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and bring into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father's household [so that they will be safe].

¹⁹But if anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head [that is, his own responsibility], and we shall be blameless and free [from our oath]; however, if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.

²⁰But if you tell [anyone] this business of ours, we shall be blameless and free from the oath which you made us swear."

²¹She said, "According to your words, so be it." Then Rahab sent them off, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²²They left and went [on their way] to the hill country [west of Jericho], and stayed there [hidden in the caves] three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had searched all along the road but had not found them.

²³Then the two men turned back and came down from the hill country and crossed over [the Jordan] and came to Joshua the son of Nun [at Shittim], and told him everything that had happened to them.

²⁴They said to Joshua, "Certainly the LORD has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of us."

¹Joshua got up early in the morning; then he and all the children of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they spent the night there before they crossed [the river].

²And it happened at the end of three days that the officers went throughout the camp,

³and they commanded the people, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from where you are and follow it.

⁴However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about 2,000 cubits (3,000 ft.) by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may [be able to see the ark and] know the way you are to go, for you have not passed this way before."

⁵Then Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves [for His purpose], for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders (miracles) among you."

⁶Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over [the river] ahead of the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went on ahead of the people.

⁷The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to magnify and exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, I will [also] be with you.

⁸You shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"

⁹Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here, and listen to the words of the LORD your God."

¹⁰Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will, without fail, drive out from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you [leading the way] into the Jordan.

¹²So now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe.

¹³When the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, [come to] rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing down from above will be cut off, and they will stand in one mass [of water]."

¹⁴So when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan with the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were submerged at the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all of its banks throughout the time of harvest),

¹⁶the waters which were flowing down from above stopped and rose up in one mass a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan. Those [waters] flowing downward toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed [the river] opposite Jericho.

¹⁷And while all [the people of] Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan [riverbed], until all the nation had finished crossing over the Jordan.

¹So it was when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,

²"Take for yourselves the twelve men [chosen] from among the people, one man from each tribe,

³and command them, 'Pick up for yourselves twelve stones [one each] from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm; carry them over with you and lay them down at the place where you will spend the night tonight.'"

⁴Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;

⁵and Joshua said to them, "Cross over again to the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

⁶so that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask later, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

⁷then you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall become a memorial for Israel forever."

⁸So the [twelve men chosen from the] sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, just as the LORD had spoken to Joshua; and they carried them over with them to the place where they were spending the night and put them down there.

⁹Then Joshua set up [a second monument of] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

¹⁰For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in accordance with everything that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried and crossed [the dry riverbed];

¹¹and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.

¹²The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed for battle before the [other] sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;

¹³about 40,000 [men] armed and equipped for war crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.

¹⁴On that day the LORD magnified and exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so they feared him [with profound awe and reverence], just as they had feared Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵Now the LORD said to Joshua,

¹⁶"Order the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, "Come up out of the Jordan."

¹⁸When the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were raised up to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all its banks as before.

¹⁹Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

²⁰And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

²¹He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, 'What do these stones mean?'

²²then you shall let your children know, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.'

²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

²⁴so that all the peoples of the earth may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the hand of the LORD is mighty and extraordinarily powerful, so that you will fear the LORD your God [and obey and worship Him with profound awe and reverence] forever."

¹Now it happened when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted [in despair], and there was no [fighting] spirit in them any longer because of the Israelites [and what God had done for them].

²At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise the [new generation of the] sons of Israel as [was done] before."

³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

⁴This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness along the way after they left Egypt.

⁵All the males who came out were circumcised, but all the males who were born in the wilderness on the way as they left Egypt had not been circumcised.

⁶For the Israelites walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, died because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD; to them the LORD had sworn [an oath] that He would not let them see the land which He had promised to their fathers to give us, a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey.

⁷So it was their uncircumcised sons whom He raised up in their place, whom Joshua circumcised, because circumcision had not been performed on the way.

⁸Then, when they had finished circumcising all [the males of] the nation, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed.

⁹Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach (derision, ridicule) of Egypt from you." So the name of that place is called Gilgal (rolling) to this day.

¹⁰While the Israelites camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.

¹¹On the day after Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened bread, and roasted grain.

¹²And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the Israelites no longer had manna, but they ate some of the produce of the land of Canaan during that year.

¹³Now when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his drawn sword in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"

¹⁴He said, "No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the LORD." Then Joshua fell with his face toward the earth and bowed down, and said to him, "What does my lord have to say to his servant?"

¹⁵The captain of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy (set apart to the LORD)." And Joshua did so.

¹Now Jericho [a fortified city with high walls] was tightly closed because [of the people's fear] of the sons of Israel; no one went out or came in.

²The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty warriors.

³Now you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do this [once each day] for six days.

⁴Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets [made] of rams' horns ahead of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

⁵When they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall cry out with a great shout (battle cry); and the wall of the city will fall down in its place, and the people shall go up, each man [going] straight ahead [climbing over the rubble]."

⁶So Joshua the son of Nun called for the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made of rams' horns ahead of the ark of the LORD."

⁷He said to the people, "Go forward! March around the city, and let the armed men go ahead of the ark of the LORD."

⁸And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams' horns went on before the LORD and blew the trumpets; then the ark of the covenant of the LORD went behind them.

⁹The armed men went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁰But Joshua commanded the people, "You shall not shout [the battle cry] nor let your voice be heard nor let a word come out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout!"

¹¹So Joshua had the ark of the LORD taken around the city [on the first day], circling it once; then they came back into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹²Then Joshua got up early in the morning [on the second day], and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

¹³The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams' horns ahead of the ark of the LORD went on continually, blowing the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁴On the second day they marched around the city once, and returned to the camp; they did this for six days.

¹⁵Then on the seventh day they got up early at daybreak and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶And the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.

¹⁷The city and everything that is in it shall be under the ban [that is, designated to be destroyed as a form of tribute] to the LORD; only Rahab the prostitute and all [the people] who are with her in her house shall [be allowed to] live, because she hid and protected the messengers (scouts) whom we sent.

¹⁸But as for you, keep yourselves [away] from the things under the ban [which are to be destroyed], so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban [for personal gain], and put the camp of Israel under the ban (doomed to destruction), and bring disaster upon it.

¹⁹All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy (consecrated) to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD."

²⁰So the people shouted [the battle cry], and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout and the wall [of Jericho] fell down, so that the sons of Israel went up into the city, every man straight ahead [climbing over the rubble], and they overthrew the city.

²¹Then they utterly destroyed everything that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²²But Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring the woman and all that she has out of there, as you have sworn to her."

²³So the young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and everything that she had; they also brought out all her relatives and allowed them to stay outside the camp of Israel [at Gilgal during the time required for ceremonial cleansing].

²⁴Then they completely burned the city and everything that was in it. They put only the silver and the gold, and the articles of bronze and of iron, into the treasury of the house (tabernacle) of the LORD.

²⁵So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father's household and everything that she had; and she has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers (scouts) whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, "Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates."

²⁷So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

¹But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully and violated their obligation in regard to the things [off limits] under the ban [those things belonging to the LORD], for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban [for personal gain]. Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.

²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai.

³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not make all the people go up [to fight]; have only about two thousand or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the entire army go up there, for they [of Ai] are few."

⁴So about three thousand men from the sons of Israel went up there, but they fled [in retreat] from the men of Ai.

⁵The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of Israel's men, and chased them from the gate as far as [the bluffs of] Shebarim and struck them down as they descended [the steep pass], so the hearts of the people melted [in despair and began to doubt God's promise] and became like water (disheartened).

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and [with great sorrow] they put dust on their heads.

⁷Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have You brought this people across the Jordan at all, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to live beyond the Jordan!

⁸O Lord, what can I say now that [the army of] Israel has turned back [in retreat and fled] before their enemies?

⁹For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about it, and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name [to keep it from dishonor]?"

¹⁰So the LORD said to Joshua, "Get up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?

¹¹Israel has sinned; they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them [to keep]. They have even taken some of the things under the ban, and they have both stolen and denied [the theft]. Moreover, they have also put the stolen objects among their own things.

¹²That is why the soldiers of Israel could not stand [and defend themselves] before their enemies; they turned their backs [and ran] before them, because they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from among you.

¹³Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: "There are things under the ban among you, O Israel. You cannot stand [victorious] before your enemies until you remove the things under the ban from among you."

¹⁴In the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD chooses by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the LORD chooses shall come forward by [separate] households, and the household which the LORD chooses shall come forward man by man.

¹⁵It shall be that the one who is chosen with the things under the ban shall be [killed and his body] burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done a disgraceful and disobedient thing in Israel.'"

¹⁶So Joshua got up early in the morning and had Israel come forward by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was chosen [by lot].

¹⁷He had the families of Judah come forward, and the family of the Zerahites was chosen; and he had the family of the Zerahites come forward man by man, and Zabdi was chosen.

¹⁸He brought his household forward man by man; and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen.

¹⁹Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him [in recognition of His righteous judgments]; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me."

²⁰So Achan answered Joshua and said, "In truth, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done:

²¹when I saw among the spoils [in Jericho] a beautiful robe from Shinar (southern Babylon) and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I wanted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and they saw the stolen objects hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.

²³And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and spread them out before the LORD.

²⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the [royal] robe, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor (Disaster).

²⁵Joshua said, "Why have you brought disaster on us? The LORD will bring you disaster this day." Then all Israel stoned them [to death] with stones; afterward they burned their bodies in the fire.

²⁶Then they piled up over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor (Disaster) to this day.

¹Now the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed (intimidated). Take all the men of war with you and set out, go up to Ai; see, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land into your hand.

²You shall do [the same] to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; [except that] you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set up an ambush for the city behind it [on the west side]."

³So Joshua set out with all the people of war to go up against Ai; then Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men, and sent them out at night.

⁴He commanded them, saying, "Listen closely, you are going to lie in wait and ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far away from the city, but all of you be ready.

⁵Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us [for battle] as [they did] the first time, we will run away from them.

⁶They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, because they will say, 'They are running from us as [they did] before.' So we will run from them.

⁷Then you will emerge from the ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will hand it over to you.

⁸When you have taken the city, you shall set it on fire; you shall do [exactly] as the LORD commanded. See, I have commanded you."

⁹So Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place for the ambush and stayed [hidden] between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people [in Gilgal].

¹⁰Now Joshua got up early in the morning and assembled the people, and went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.

¹¹Then all the fighting men who were with him went up and advanced and arrived in front of the city, and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a ravine between them and Ai.

¹²And Joshua took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹³So they stationed the people, all the army—the main encampment that was north of the city, and their rear guard on the west side of the city—and Joshua spent that night in the valley.

¹⁴Now when the king [and the people] of Ai saw it, the men of the city hurried and got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, the king and all his people at the appointed [time and] place before the desert plain (the Arabah). But he did not know that there was an ambush against him [waiting] behind the city [on the west side].

¹⁵So Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them, and ran toward the wilderness.

¹⁶Then all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.

¹⁷Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; so they left the city open and unguarded and they pursued Israel.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Reach out with the spear that is in your hand [and point it] toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." So Joshua reached out with the spear in his hand [and pointed it] toward the city.

¹⁹The [men in] ambush emerged quickly from their [hiding] place, and when Joshua stretched out his hand they ran and entered the city and captured it, and quickly set the city on fire.

²⁰When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city was ascending toward the sky, and they had no opportunity to run this way or that way. Then the people who had been running to the wilderness turned back toward the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the [men in] ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city was ascending, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

²²Then the others came out of the city to confront the men of Ai [as they returned], so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; then Israel struck them until none of them survived or escaped.

²³But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

²⁵And all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.

²⁶For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁷Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burned Ai and made it a rubbish heap forever, a desolation until this day.

²⁹He hanged [the body of] the king of Ai on a tree [leaving it there] until evening; at sunset Joshua gave a command and they took the body down from the tree and dumped it at the entrance of the city gate, and piled a great heap of stones over it that stands to this day.

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

³¹just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no one has wielded an iron tool; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

³²And there, in the presence of the sons of Israel, Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses which Moses had written.

³³All Israel, the stranger as well as the native born [among them], with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on either side of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴Then afterward Joshua read all the words of the law, the blessing and curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and the children and the foreigners who were living among them.

¹Now when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country and in the lowland [at the western edge of the hills of Judea], and all along the coast of the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, heard of this [army and its victories over Jericho and Ai],

²they gathered together with one purpose to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

³But when the people of Gibeon [the Hivites] heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

⁴they too acted craftily and cunningly, and set out and took along provisions, but took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins (leather bottles) that were worn out and split open and patched together,

⁵and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their supply of food was dry and had turned to crumbs.

⁶They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; so now, make a covenant (treaty) with us."

⁷But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you are living within our land; how then can we make a covenant (treaty) with you?"

⁸They said to Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua said to them, "Who are you, and where do you come from?"

⁹They said to him, "Your servants have come from a country that is very far away because of the fame of the LORD your God; for we have heard the news about Him and all [the remarkable things] that He did in Egypt,

¹⁰and everything that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon and to Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth.

¹¹So our elders and all the residents of our country said to us, 'Take provisions for the journey and go to meet the sons of Israel and say to them, "We are your servants; now make a covenant (treaty) with us."'

¹²This bread of ours was hot (fresh) when we took it along as our provision from our houses on the day we left to come to you; now look, it is dry and has turned to crumbs.

¹³These wineskins which we filled were new, and look, they are split; our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey [that we had to make]."

¹⁴So the men [of Israel] took some of their own provisions [and offered them in friendship], and [foolishly] did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.

¹⁵Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant (treaty) with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation [of Israel] swore an oath to them.

¹⁶It happened that three days after they had made a covenant (treaty) with them, the Israelites heard that they were [actually] their neighbors and that they were living among them.

¹⁷Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now the cities [of the Hivites] were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.

¹⁸But the sons of Israel did not strike them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD the God of Israel [to spare them]. And all the congregation murmured [expressing great dissatisfaction] against the leaders.

¹⁹But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, so now we cannot touch them.

²⁰This [is what] we will do to them: we will let them live, so that the wrath [of God] does not come upon us for [violating] the oath which we have sworn to them."

²¹The leaders said to them, "Let them live [as our slaves]." So they became the cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the entire congregation, just as the leaders had said of them.

²²Joshua called the [Hivite] men and said, "Why did you deceive us, saying, 'We live very far away from you,' when [in fact] you live among us?

²³Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall always be slaves, both cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the house of my God."

²⁴They replied to Joshua and said, "Because your servants were told in no uncertain terms that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the land's inhabitants before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and so we did this [deceptive] thing.

²⁵Now look, we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight."

²⁶So that is what he did to them; he rescued them from the hands of the Israelites and they did not kill them.

²⁷Now on that day Joshua made them cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place which He would choose.