# verses

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but I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD."


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These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which the LORD made between him and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai by Moses.


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"Say to the people of Israel, When a man makes a special vow of persons to the LORD at your valuation,


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then your valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.


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If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.


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If the person is from a month old up to five years old, your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.


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And if the person is sixty years old and upward, then your valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.


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And if a man is too poor to pay your valuation, then he shall bring the person before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed the priest shall value him.


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"If it is an animal such as men offer as an offering to the LORD, all of such that any man gives to the LORD is holy.


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He shall not substitute anything for it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; and if he makes any exchange of beast for beast, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy.


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And if it is an unclean animal such as is not offered as an offering to the LORD, then the man shall bring the animal before the priest,


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"When a man dedicates his house to be holy to the LORD, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand.


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And if he who dedicates it wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth of the valuation in money to it, and it shall be his.


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"If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the land which is his by inheritance, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it; a sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.


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but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall compute the money-value for it according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from your valuation.


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And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of the valuation in money to it, and it shall remain his.


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But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;


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but the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be holy to the LORD, as a field that has been devoted; the priest shall be in possession of it.


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If he dedicates to the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not a part of his possession by inheritance,


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then the priest shall compute the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the amount of the valuation on that day as a holy thing to the LORD.


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In the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession by inheritance.


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Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall make a shekel.


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"But a firstling of animals, which as a firstling belongs to the LORD, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD's.


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And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at your valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at your valuation.


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"But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether of man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.


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No one devoted, who is to be utterly destroyed from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall be put to death.


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"All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD.


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And all the tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the LORD.


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A man shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed."


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The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,


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"Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by families, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head;


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from twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war, you and Aaron shall number them, company by company.


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And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.


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from the sons of Joseph, from E'phraim, Eli'shama the son of Ammi'hud, and from Manas'seh, Gama'liel the son of Pedah'zur;


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These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.


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and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by families, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head,


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The people of Reuben, Israel's first-born, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, those of them that were numbered, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Is'sachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Zeb'ulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of E'phraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Manas'seh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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Of the people of Naph'tali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war:


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These are those who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered with the help of the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers' house.


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So the whole number of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go forth to war in Israel--


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"Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel;


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but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it; they are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle.


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When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death.


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The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, every man by his own camp and every man by his own standard;


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but the Levites shall encamp around the tabernacle of the testimony, that there may be no wrath upon the congregation of the people of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony."


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"The people of Israel shall encamp each by his own standard, with the ensigns of their fathers' houses; they shall encamp facing the tent of meeting on every side.


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Those to encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the leader of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Ammin'adab,


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Those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Is'sachar, the leader of the people of Is'sachar being Nethan'el the son of Zu'ar,


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The whole number of the camp of Judah, by their companies, is a hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred. They shall set out first on the march.


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"On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the leader of the people of Reuben being Eli'zur the son of Shed'eur,


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And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the leader of the people of Simeon being Shelu'mi-el the son of Zurishad'dai,


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The whole number of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, is a hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty. They shall set out second.


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"Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.


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"On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of E'phraim by their companies, the leader of the people of E'phraim being Eli'shama the son of Ammi'hud,


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And next to him shall be the tribe of Manas'seh, the leader of the people of Manas'seh being Gama'liel the son of Pedah'zur,


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The whole number of the camp of E'phraim, by their companies, is a hundred and eight thousand one hundred. They shall set out third on the march.


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"On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the leader of the people of Dan being Ahi-e'zer the son of Ammishad'dai,


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And those to encamp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the leader of the people of Asher being Pa'giel the son of Ochran,


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The whole number of the camp of Dan is a hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last, standard by standard."


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These are the people of Israel as numbered by their fathers' houses; all in the camps who were numbered by their companies were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.


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Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, every one in his family, according to his fathers' house.


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These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.


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these are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to minister in the priest's office.


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But Nadab and Abi'hu died before the LORD when they offered unholy fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Elea'zar and Ith'amar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.


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They shall perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle;


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they shall have charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and attend to the duties for the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle.


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And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel.


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And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death."


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"Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine,


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for all the first-born are mine; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the first-born in Israel, both of man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the LORD."


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"Number the sons of Levi, by fathers' houses and by families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number."


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And the sons of Merar'i by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites, by their fathers' houses.


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Of Gershon were the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shim'e-ites; these were the families of the Gershonites.


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Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was seven thousand five hundred.


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And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,


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the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords; all the service pertaining to these.


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Of Kohath were the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izhar'ites, and the family of the He'bronites, and the family of the Uzzie'lites; these are the families of the Ko'hathites.


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According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, attending to the duties of the sanctuary.


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with Eli-za'phan the son of Uz'ziel as head of the fathers' house of the families of the Ko'hathites.


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And their charge was to be the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service pertaining to these.


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And Elea'zar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who had charge of the sanctuary.


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Of Merar'i were the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merar'i.


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Their number according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was six thousand two hundred.


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And the head of the fathers' house of the families of Merar'i was Zu'riel the son of Ab'ihail; they were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.


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And the appointed charge of the sons of Merar'i was to be the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service pertaining to these;


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And those to encamp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, having charge of the rites within the sanctuary, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel; and any one else who came near was to be put to death.


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All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Number all the first-born males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking their number by names.


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And you shall take the Levites for me--I am the LORD--instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the people of Israel."


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And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as numbered were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.


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"Take the Levites instead of all the first-born among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.


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And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three of the first-born of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites,


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you shall take five shekels apiece; reckoning by the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs, you shall take them,


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So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites;


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from the first-born of the people of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, reckoned by the shekel of the sanctuary;


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and Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.


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"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families and their fathers' houses,


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can enter the service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.


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When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;


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then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin, and spread over that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.


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And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put upon it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the continual bread also shall be on it;


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then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.


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And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its snuffers, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied:


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and they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it upon the carrying frame.


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And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles;


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and they shall take all the vessels of the service which are used in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of goatskin, and put them on the carrying frame.


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and they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the firepans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles.


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And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.


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"And Elea'zar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels."


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but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden,


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who can enter for service, to do the work in the tent of meeting.


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they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of meeting with its covering, and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting,


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and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, and all the equipment for their service; and they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them.


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All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry, and in all that they have to do; and you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry.


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This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their work is to be under the oversight of Ith'amar the son of Aaron the priest.


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall number them, every one that can enter the service, to do the work of the tent of meeting.


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And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases,


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and the pillars of the court round about with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories; and you shall assign by name the objects which they are required to carry.


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This is the service of the families of the sons of Merar'i, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ith'amar the son of Aaron the priest."


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And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Ko'hathites, by their families and their fathers' houses,


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting;


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This was the number of the families of the Ko'hathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service for work in the tent of meeting--


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This was the number of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD.


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter the service, for work in the tent of meeting--


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These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merar'i, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.


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All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and their fathers' houses,


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from thirty years old up to fifty years old, every one that could enter to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting,


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According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were appointed, each to his task of serving or carrying; thus they were numbered by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.


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"Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one having a discharge, and every one that is unclean through contact with the dead;


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you shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."


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And the people of Israel did so, and drove them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.


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"Say to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that men commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person is guilty,


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he shall confess his sin which he has committed; and he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it, and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.


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But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.


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And every offering, all the holy things of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his;


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if a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act;


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and if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself;


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then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a cereal offering of jealousy, a cereal offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.


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and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.


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And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and unbind the hair of the woman's head, and place in her hands the cereal offering of remembrance, which is the cereal offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.


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Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, `If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness, while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.


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But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you,


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then' (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) `the LORD make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell;


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may this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, `Amen, Amen.'


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"Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and wash them off into the water of bitterness;


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and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.


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And the priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the cereal offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;


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and the priest shall take a handful of the cereal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.


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And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has acted unfaithfully against her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become an execration among her people.


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But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.


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"This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,


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or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.


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"Say to the people of Israel, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD,


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he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.


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All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.


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"All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.


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Neither for his father nor for his mother, nor for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean; because his separation to God is upon his head.


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"And if any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.


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On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest to the door of the tent of meeting,


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and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day,


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and separate himself to the LORD for the days of his separation, and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former time shall be void, because his separation was defiled.


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"And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the door of the tent of meeting,


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and he shall offer his gift to the LORD, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering,


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and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and their cereal offering and their drink offerings.


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And the priest shall present them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering,


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and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall offer also its cereal offering and its drink offering.


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And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.


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And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaven the hair of his consecration,


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and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD; they are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered; and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.


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"This is the law for the Nazirite who takes a vow. His offering to the LORD shall be according to his vow as a Nazirite, apart from what else he can afford; in accordance with the vow which he takes, so shall he do according to the law for his separation as a Nazirite."


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On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils,


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the leaders of Israel, heads of their fathers' houses, the leaders of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered,


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offered and brought their offerings before the LORD, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; they offered them before the tabernacle.


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"Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service."


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and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merar'i, according to their service, under the direction of Ith'amar the son of Aaron the priest.


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But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the care of the holy things which had to be carried on the shoulder.


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And the leaders offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the leaders offered their offering before the altar.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "They shall offer their offerings, one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar."


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and his offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Ammin'adab.


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he offered for his offering one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethan'el the son of Zu'ar.


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his offering was one silver plate, whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eli'ab the son of Helon.


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his offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eli'zur the son of Shed'eur.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelu'mi-el the son of Zurishad'dai.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eli'asaph the son of Deu'el.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eli'shama the son of Ammi'hud.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gama'liel the son of Pedah'zur.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abi'dan the son of Gideo'ni.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahie'zer the son of Ammishad'dai.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pa'giel the son of Ochran.


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and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahi'ra the son of Enan.


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This was the dedication offering for the altar, on the day when it was anointed, from the leaders of Israel: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes,


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each silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels and each basin seventy, all the silver of the vessels two thousand four hundred shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary,


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the twelve golden dishes, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being a hundred and twenty shekels;


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all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs a year old, with their cereal offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering;


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and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar, after it was anointed.


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And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.


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"Say to Aaron, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand."


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And Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.


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And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.


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And thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of expiation upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.


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Then let them take a young bull and its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull for a sin offering.


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And you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel.


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When you present the Levites before the LORD, the people of Israel shall lay their hands upon the Levites,


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and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD.


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Then the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls; and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.


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And you shall cause the Levites to attend Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the LORD.


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"Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.


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And after that the Levites shall go in to do service at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering.


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For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel; instead of all that open the womb, the first-born of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself.


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For all the first-born among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast; on the day that I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself,


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And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel in case the people of Israel should come near the sanctuary."


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Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them.


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And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.


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And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting in attendance upon Aaron and his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.


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"This is what pertains to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to perform the work in the service of the tent of meeting;


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but minister to their brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, and they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties."


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And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,


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On the fourteenth day of this month, in the evening, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its ordinances you shall keep it."


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And they kept the passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did.


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And there were certain men who were unclean through touching the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day;


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and those men said to him, "We are unclean through touching the dead body of a man; why are we kept from offering the LORD's offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?"


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"Say to the people of Israel, If any man of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is afar off on a journey, he shall still keep the passover to the LORD.


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In the second month on the fourteenth day in the evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.


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They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it; according to all the statute for the passover they shall keep it.


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But the man who is clean and is not on a journey, yet refrains from keeping the passover, that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not offer the LORD's offering at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin.


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And if a stranger sojourns among you, and will keep the passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the passover and according to its ordinance, so shall he do; you shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native."


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On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.


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And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped.


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At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they encamped; as long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.


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Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and did not set out.


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Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out.


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And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud was taken up they set out.


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Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out; but when it was taken up they set out.


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At the command of the LORD they encamped, and at the command of the LORD they set out; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.


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"Make two silver trumpets; of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation, and for breaking camp.


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And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting.


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But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.


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And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out.


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And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations.


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And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.


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On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts, and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; they shall serve you for remembrance before your God: I am the LORD your God."


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In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony,


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and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.


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The standard of the camp of the men of Judah set out first by their companies; and over their host was Nahshon the son of Ammin'adab.


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And when the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merar'i, who carried the tabernacle, set out.


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And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies; and over their host was Eli'zur the son of Shed'eur.


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Then the Ko'hathites set out, carrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival.


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And the standard of the camp of the men of E'phraim set out by their companies; and over their host was Eli'shama the son of Ammi'hud.


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Then the standard of the camp of the men of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies; and over their host was Ahie'zer the son of Ammishad'dai.


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And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reu'el the Mid'ianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, `I will give it to you'; come with us, and we will do you good; for the LORD has promised good to Israel."


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And he said, "Do not leave us, I pray you, for you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us.


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So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.


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And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Arise, O LORD, and let thy enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee."


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And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.


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Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, "O that we had meat to eat!


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We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;


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The people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil.


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Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased.


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Moses said to the LORD, "Why hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? And why have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou dost lay the burden of all this people upon me?


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Did I conceive all this people? Did I bring them forth, that thou shouldst say to me, `Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the sucking child, to the land which thou didst swear to give their fathers?'


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Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, `Give us meat, that we may eat.'


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If thou wilt deal thus with me, kill me at once, if I find favor in thy sight, that I may not see my wretchedness."


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.


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And I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.


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And say to the people, `Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.


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but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come forth out of Egypt?"'"


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But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, `I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!'


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Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?"


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not."


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So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and placed them round about the tent.


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Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was upon him and put it upon the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did so no more.


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Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested upon them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.


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And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, "My lord Moses, forbid them."


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But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!"


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And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.


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And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.


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While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.


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Therefore the name of that place was called Kib'roth-hatta'avah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.


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Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman;


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and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it.


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And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." And the three of them came out.


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And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.


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And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.


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With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"


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and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.


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And Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned.


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Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb."


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But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again."


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So Miriam was shut up outside the camp seven days; and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.


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"Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I give to the people of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a leader among them."


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So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel.


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These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshe'a the son of Nun Joshua.


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Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up into the Negeb yonder, and go up into the hill country,


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and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many,


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and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds,


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and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there is wood in it or not. Be of good courage, and bring some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.


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So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath.


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They went up into the Negeb, and came to Hebron; and Ahi'man, She'shai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zo'an in Egypt.)


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And they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they brought also some pomegranates and figs.


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That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down from there.


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And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.


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And they told him, "We came to the land to which you sent us; it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.


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Yet the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.


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The Amal'ekites dwell in the land of the Negeb; the Hittites, the Jeb'usites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan."


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But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once, and occupy it; for we are well able to overcome it."


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Then the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we."


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So they brought to the people of Israel an evil report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land, through which we have gone, to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.


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And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim); and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them."


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And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!


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Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"


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Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.


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And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun'neh, who were among those who had spied out the land, rent their clothes,


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and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.


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If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey.


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Only, do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."


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But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?


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I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."


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But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for thou didst bring up this people in thy might from among them,


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and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou, O LORD, art in the midst of this people; for thou, O LORD, art seen face to face, and thy cloud stands over them and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.


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`Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to give to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.'


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`The LORD is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.'


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Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."


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none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice,


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shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it.


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But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.


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Now, since the Amal'ekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."


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"How long shall this wicked congregation murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against me.


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your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,


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not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh and Joshua the son of Nun.


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But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.


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And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.


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According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.'


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I, the LORD, have spoken; surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."


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And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land,


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But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun'neh remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.


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And they rose early in the morning, and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "See, we are here, we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised; for we have sinned."


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For there the Amal'ekites and the Canaanites are before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following the LORD, the LORD will not be with you."


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But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD, nor Moses, departed out of the camp.


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Then the Amal'ekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down, and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.


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and you offer to the LORD from the herd or from the flock an offering by fire or a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfil a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing odor to the LORD,


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then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a cereal offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil;


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and wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin, you shall prepare with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.


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Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a cereal offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil;


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And when you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to fulfil a vow, or for peace offerings to the LORD,


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then one shall offer with the bull a cereal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with half a hin of oil,


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and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.


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All who are native shall do these things in this way, in offering an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.


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And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or any one is among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD, he shall do as you do.


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For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the sojourner be before the LORD.


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Of the first of your coarse meal you shall present a cake as an offering; as an offering from the threshing floor, so shall you present it.


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Of the first of your coarse meal you shall give to the LORD an offering throughout your generations.


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all that the LORD has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations,


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then if it was done unwittingly without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD, with its cereal offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.


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And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; because it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error.


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And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, because the whole population was involved in the error.


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And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who commits an error, when he sins unwittingly, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.


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You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native among the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.


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But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.


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Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him."


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While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day.


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And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp."


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And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses.


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"Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue;


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and it shall be to you a tassel to look upon and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly.


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I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God."


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Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,


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took men; and they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men;


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and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"


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and he said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him; him whom he will choose he will cause to come near to him.


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put fire in them and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!"


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is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;


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and that he has brought you near him, and all your brethren the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also?


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Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together; what is Aaron that you murmur against him?"


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Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us?


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Moreover you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up."


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And Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, "Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one ass from them, and I have not harmed one of them."


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And Moses said to Korah, "Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow;


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and let every one of you take his censer, and put incense upon it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer."


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So every man took his censer, and they put fire in them and laid incense upon them, and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.


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Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.


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And they fell on their faces, and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be angry with all the congregation?"


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And he said to the congregation, "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins."


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So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi'ram; and Dathan and Abi'ram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.


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And Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.


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If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.


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But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD."


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and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.


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So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.


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And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up!"


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"Tell Elea'zar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze; then scatter the fire far and wide. For they are holy,


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the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives; so let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD; therefore they are holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel."


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So Elea'zar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered; and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar,


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to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become as Korah and as his company--as the LORD said to Elea'zar through Moses.


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But on the morrow all the congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD."


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And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting; and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.


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"Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell on their faces.


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And Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun."


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So Aaron took it as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had already begun among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.


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Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the affair of Korah.


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"Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them rods, one for each fathers' house, from all their leaders according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods. Write each man's name upon his rod,


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and write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each fathers' house.


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And the rod of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against you."


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Moses spoke to the people of Israel; and all their leaders gave him rods, one for each leader, according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.


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And on the morrow Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds.


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Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the people of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, lest they die."


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Every one who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?"


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So the LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear iniquity in connection with the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity in connection with your priesthood.


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And with you bring your brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you, and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.


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They shall attend you and attend to all duties of the tent; but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar, lest they, and you, die.


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They shall join you, and attend to the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and no one else shall come near you.


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And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, that there be wrath no more upon the people of Israel.


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And behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the people of Israel; they are a gift to you, given to the LORD, to do the service of the tent of meeting.


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And you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any one else who comes near shall be put to death."


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Then the LORD said to Aaron, "And behold, I have given you whatever is kept of the offerings made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel; I have given them to you as a portion, and to your sons as a perpetual due.


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This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, every cereal offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons.


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This also is yours, the offering of their gift, all the wave offerings of the people of Israel; I have given them to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due; every one who is clean in your house may eat of it.


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All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the LORD, I give to you.


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The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; every one who is clean in your house may eat of it.


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Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts you shall redeem.


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And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.


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But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shall burn their fat as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD;


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All the holy offerings which the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you."


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And the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.


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"To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, their service in the tent of meeting.


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And henceforth the people of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die.


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But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance.


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For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel."


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"Moreover you shall say to the Levites, `When you take from the people of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.


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And your offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fulness of the wine press.


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So shall you also present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD's offering to Aaron the priest.


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Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every offering due to the LORD, from all the best of them, giving the hallowed part from them.'


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Therefore you shall say to them, `When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the wine press;


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and you may eat it in any place, you and your households; for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.


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And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. And you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.'"


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"This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which a yoke has never come.


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And you shall give her to Elea'zar the priest, and she shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him;


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and Elea'zar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.


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And the heifer shall be burned in his sight; her skin, her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned;


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and the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet stuff, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.


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Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until evening.


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He who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening.


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And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the people of Israel for the water for impurity, for the removal of sin.


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And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. And this shall be to the people of Israel, and to the stranger who sojourns among them, a perpetual statute.


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he shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean.


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Whoever touches a dead person, the body of any man who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.


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"This is the law when a man dies in a tent: every one who comes into the tent, and every one who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.


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Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.


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For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and running water shall be added in a vessel;


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then a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the furnishings, and upon the persons who were there, and upon him who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave;


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and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.


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"But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; because the water for impurity has not been thrown upon him, he is unclean.


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And it shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.


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And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and any one who touches it shall be unclean until evening."


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And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.


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Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.


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And the people contended with Moses, and said, "Would that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!


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Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?


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And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink."


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Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,


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"Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle."


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And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?"


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And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.


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And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."


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These are the waters of Mer'ibah, where the people of Israel contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them.


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Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the adversity that has befallen us:


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how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers;


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and when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel and brought us forth out of Egypt; and here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.


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Now let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, neither will we drink water from a well; we will go along the King's Highway, we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, until we have passed through your territory."


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And the people of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway; and if we drink of your water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more."


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But he said, "You shall not pass through." And Edom came out against them with many men, and with a strong force.


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And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.


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"Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Mer'ibah.


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and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea'zar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there."


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And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea'zar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Elea'zar came down from the mountain.


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And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.


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When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.


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And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, "If thou wilt indeed give this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."


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And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and gave over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; so the name of the place was called Hormah.


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From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way.


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And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."


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Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.


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And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."


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So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.


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And they set out from Oboth, and encamped at I'ye-ab'arim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise.


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From there they set out, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that extends from the boundary of the Amorites; for the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.


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Wherefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, "Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,


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And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water."


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the well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved, with the scepter and with their staves." And from the wilderness they went on to Mat'tanah,


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and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah which looks down upon the desert.


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"Let me pass through your land; we will not turn aside into field or vineyard; we will not drink the water of a well; we will go by the King's Highway, until we have passed through your territory."


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But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his men together, and went out against Israel to the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel.


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And Israel slew him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites; for Jazer was the boundary of the Ammonites.


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And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.


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For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.


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Therefore the ballad singers say, "Come to Heshbon, let it be built, let the city of Sihon be established.


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For fire went forth from Heshbon, flame from the city of Sihon. It devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the heights of the Arnon.


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Woe to you, O Moab! You are undone, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters captives, to an Amorite king, Sihon.


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So their posterity perished from Heshbon, as far as Dibon, and we laid waste until fire spread to Med'eba."


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And Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took its villages, and dispossessed the Amorites that were there.


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Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Ed're-i.


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But the LORD said to Moses, "Do not fear him; for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon."


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So they slew him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was not one survivor left to him; and they possessed his land.


text:
And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.


text:
And Moab said to the elders of Mid'ian, "This horde will now lick up all that is round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,


text:
sent messengers to Balaam the son of Be'or at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw to call him, saying, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.


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Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."


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So the elders of Moab and the elders of Mid'ian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam, and gave him Balak's message.


text:
And he said to them, "Lodge here this night, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me"; so the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.


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`Behold, a people has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.'"


text:
God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed."


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So Balaam rose in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, "Go to your own land; for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."


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And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: `Let nothing hinder you from coming to me;


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for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do; come, curse this people for me.'"


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But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God, to do less or more.


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And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do."


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But God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him.


text:
And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road, and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into the road.


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Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.


text:
And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against the wall, and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck her again.


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Then the angel of the LORD went ahead, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.


text:
When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with his staff.


text:
Then the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"


text:
And Balaam said to the ass, "Because you have made sport of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you."


text:
And the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No."


text:
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.


text:
And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me;


text:
and the ass saw me, and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have slain you and let her live."


text:
Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again."


text:
And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.


text:
When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the boundary.


text:
And Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?"


text:
Balaam said to Balak, "Lo, I have come to you! Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak."


text:
And on the morrow Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-ba'al; and from there he saw the nearest of the people.


text:
And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me here seven altars, and provide for me here seven bulls and seven rams."


text:
And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the LORD will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you." And he went to a bare height.


text:
And God met Balaam; and Balaam said to him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered upon each altar a bull and a ram."


text:
And he returned to him, and lo, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering.


text:
And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: `Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!'


text:
For from the top of the mountains I see him, from the hills I behold him; lo, a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations!


text:
Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!"


text:
And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."


text:
And Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."


text:
And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


text:
And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak."


text:
And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, "What has the LORD spoken?"


text:
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?


text:
He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of a king is among them.


text:
For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, `What has God wrought!'


text:
Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down till it devours the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."


text:
And Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."


text:
When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness.


text:
And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,


text:
and he took up his discourse, and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Be'or, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,


text:
the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:


text:
Like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.


text:
Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.


text:
God brings him out of Egypt; he has as it were the horns of the wild ox, he shall eat up the nations his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them through with his arrows.


text:
He couched, he lay down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed be every one who blesses you, and cursed be every one who curses you."


text:
And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.


text:
Therefore now flee to your place; I said, `I will certainly honor you,' but the LORD has held you back from honor."


text:
`If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak'?


text:
And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days."


text:
And he took up his discourse, and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Be'or, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,


text:
the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:


text:
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.


text:
Edom shall be dispossessed, Se'ir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed, while Israel does valiantly.


text:
Then he looked on Am'alek, and took up his discourse, and said, "Am'alek was the first of the nations, but in the end he shall come to destruction."


text:
And he looked on the Ken'ite, and took up his discourse, and said, "Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock;


text:
But ships shall come from Kittim and shall afflict Asshur and Eber; and he also shall come to destruction."


text:
These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.


text:
and the LORD said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel."


text:
And Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Every one of you slay his men who have yoked themselves to Ba'al of Pe'or."


text:
And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Mid'ianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.


text:
When Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation, and took a spear in his hand


text:
and went after the man of Israel into the inner room, and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her body. Thus the plague was stayed from the people of Israel.


text:
"Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.


text:
and it shall be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the people of Israel.'"


text:
The name of the slain man of Israel, who was slain with the Mid'ianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, head of a fathers' house belonging to the Simeonites.


text:
And the name of the Mid'ianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the head of the people of a fathers' house in Mid'ian.


text:
for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Pe'or, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Mid'ian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague on account of Pe'or."


text:
"Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war."


text:
And Moses and Elea'zar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,


text:
"Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward," as the LORD commanded Moses. The people of Israel, who came forth out of the land of Egypt, were:


text:
Reuben, the first-born of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Ha'nochites; of Pallu, the family of the Pal'luites;


text:
These are the families of the Reubenites; and their number was forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.


text:
The sons of Eli'ab: Nem'uel, Dathan, and Abi'ram. These are the Dathan and Abi'ram, chosen from the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD,


text:
and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; and they became a warning.


text:
The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nem'uel, the family of the Nem'uelites; of Jamin, the family of the Ja'minites; of Jachin, the family of the Ja'chinites;


text:
The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Ze'phonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites;


text:
And the sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shela'nites; of Perez, the family of the Per'ezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zer'ahites.


text:
And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hez'ronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamu'lites.


text:
The sons of Is'sachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the To'laites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites;


text:
The sons of Zeb'ulun, according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Ser'edites; of Elon, the family of the E'lonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jah'leelites.


text:
The sons of Manas'seh: of Machir, the family of the Ma'chirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.


text:
These are the sons of Gilead: of Ie'zer, the family of the Ie'zerites; of Helek, the family of the He'lekites;


text:
Now Zeloph'ehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zeloph'ehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


text:
These are the sons of E'phraim according to their families: of Shuthe'lah, the family of the Shuthe'lahites; of Becher, the family of the Bech'erites; of Tahan, the family of the Ta'hanites.


text:
These are the families of the sons of E'phraim according to their number, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families.


text:
The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Be'la-ites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ash'belites; of Ahi'ram, the family of the Ahi'ramites;


text:
And the sons of Bela were Ard and Na'aman: of Ard, the family of the Ard'ites; of Na'aman, the family of the Na'amites.


text:
These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families; and their number was forty-five thousand six hundred.


text:
These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shu'hamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families.


text:
All the families of the Shu'hamites, according to their number, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.


text:
The sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beri'ah, the family of the Beri'ites.


text:
Of the sons of Beri'ah: of Heber, the family of the He'berites; of Mal'chi-el, the family of the Mal'chi-elites.


text:
These are the families of the sons of Asher according to their number, fifty-three thousand four hundred.


text:
The sons of Naph'tali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jah'zeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites;


text:
These are the families of Naph'tali according to their families; and their number was forty-five thousand four hundred.


text:
To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers.


text:
But the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.


text:
These are the Levites as numbered according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Ko'hathites; of Merar'i, the family of the Merar'ites.


text:
These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the He'bronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Ko'rahites. And Kohath was the father of Amram.


text:
The name of Amram's wife was Joch'ebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister.


text:
And those numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.


text:
These were those numbered by Moses and Elea'zar the priest, who numbered the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.


text:
But among these there was not a man of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had numbered the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.


text:
For the LORD had said of them, "They shall die in the wilderness." There was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh and Joshua the son of Nun.


text:
Then drew near the daughters of Zeloph'ehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manas'seh, from the families of Manas'seh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


text:
And they stood before Moses, and before Elea'zar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying,


text:
"Our father died in the wilderness; he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin; and he had no sons.


text:
Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brethren."


text:
"The daughters of Zeloph'ehad are right; you shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them.


text:
And you shall say to the people of Israel, `If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter.


text:
And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And it shall be to the people of Israel a statute and ordinance, as the LORD commanded Moses.'"


text:
The LORD said to Moses, "Go up into this mountain of Ab'arim, and see the land which I have given to the people of Israel.


text:
And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was gathered,


text:
because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin during the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes." (These are the waters of Mer'ibah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)


text:
who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd."


text:
And the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him;


text:
cause him to stand before Elea'zar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight.


text:
You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey.


text:
And he shall stand before Elea'zar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation."


text:
And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him to stand before Elea'zar the priest and the whole congregation,


text:
"Command the people of Israel, and say to them, `My offering, my food for my offerings by fire, my pleasing odor, you shall take heed to offer to me in its due season.'


text:
And you shall say to them, This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a continual offering.


text:
also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil.


text:
It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.


text:
Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb; in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.


text:
The other lamb you shall offer in the evening; like the cereal offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.


text:
"On the sabbath day two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering:


text:
this is the burnt offering of every sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.


text:
"At the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;


text:
also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenths of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram;


text:
and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering of pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.


text:
Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year.


text:
Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.


text:
but offer an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish;


text:
also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram;


text:
You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.


text:
In the same way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.


text:
"On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a cereal offering of new grain to the LORD at your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work,


text:
but offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD; two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old;


text:
also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram,


text:
Besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, you shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish.


text:
"On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets,


text:
and you shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;


text:
also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram,


text:
besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its cereal offering, and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offering, according to the ordinance for them, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.


text:
"On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and afflict yourselves; you shall do no work,


text:
but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing odor: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish;


text:
and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram,


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offerings.


text:
"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days;


text:
and you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD, thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish;


text:
and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams,


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering and its drink offering.


text:
with the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance;


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offerings.


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering.


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering.


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering, and its drink offerings.


text:
also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering, and its drink offering.


text:
but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish,


text:
and the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance;


text:
"These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your cereal offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings."


text:
Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, "This is what the LORD has commanded.


text:
When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.


text:
Or when a woman vows a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house, in her youth,


text:
and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her; then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand.


text:
But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her.


text:
And if she is married to a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself,


text:
and her husband hears of it, and says nothing to her on the day that he hears; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.


text:
But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he expresses disapproval, then he shall make void her vow which was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which she bound herself; and the LORD will forgive her.


text:
But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.


text:
and her husband heard of it, and said nothing to her, and did not oppose her; then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand.


text:
But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her pledge of herself, shall not stand: her husband has made them void, and the LORD will forgive her.


text:
Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish, or her husband may make void.


text:
But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows, or all her pledges, that are upon her; he has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them.


text:
These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, while in her youth, within her father's house.


text:
And Moses said to the people, "Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Mid'ian, to execute the LORD's vengeance on Mid'ian.


text:
So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.


text:
And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.


text:
They slew the kings of Mid'ian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Mid'ian; and they also slew Balaam the son of Be'or with the sword.


text:
And the people of Israel took captive the women of Mid'ian and their little ones; and they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.


text:
Then they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses, and to Elea'zar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.


text:
Moses, and Elea'zar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp.


text:
And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.


text:
Behold, these caused the people of Israel, by the counsel of Balaam, to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Pe'or, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.


text:
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.


text:
Encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.


text:
You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood."


text:
And Elea'zar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle: "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:


text:
everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity; and whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.


text:
You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp."


text:
"Take the count of the booty that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Elea'zar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;


text:
and divide the booty into two parts, between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.


text:
And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the persons and of the oxen and of the asses and of the flocks;


text:
And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the LORD."


text:
Now the booty remaining of the spoil that the men of war took was: six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,


text:
And the half, the portion of those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,


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And Moses gave the tribute, which was the offering for the LORD, to Elea'zar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.


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from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.


text:
Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses,


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and said to Moses, "Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us.


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And we have brought the LORD's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD."


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And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.


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And Moses and Elea'zar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD.


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Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle.


text:
So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Elea'zar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation,


text:
the land which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle."


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And they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not take us across the Jordan."


text:
But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to the war while you sit here?


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Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?


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For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land which the LORD had given them.


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`Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me;


text:
none except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh the Ken'izzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.'


text:
And the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was consumed.


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And behold, you have risen in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel!


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For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people."


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Then they came near to him, and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones,


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but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.


text:
For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond; because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east."


text:
So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the LORD for the war,


text:
and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him


text:
and the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.


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But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.


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And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, "Your servants will do as my lord commands.


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Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall remain there in the cities of Gilead;


text:
but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord orders."


text:
So Moses gave command concerning them to Elea'zar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.


text:
And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the LORD, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;


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but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan."


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And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, "As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do.


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We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan."


text:
And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manas'seh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.


text:
Nebo, and Ba'al-me'on (their names to be changed), and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.


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And the sons of Machir the son of Manas'seh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.


text:
These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.


text:
Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD; and these are their stages according to their starting places.


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They set out from Ram'eses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the passover the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians,


text:
while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born, whom the LORD had struck down among them; upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.


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And they set out from Etham, and turned back to Pi-hahi'roth, which is east of Ba'al-ze'phon; and they encamped before Migdol.


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And they set out from before Hahi'roth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped at Marah.


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And they set out from Marah, and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there.


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And they set out from Alush, and encamped at Reph'idim, where there was no water for the people to drink.


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And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.


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And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.


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And they set out from the mountains of Ab'arim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho;


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then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places;


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and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.


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You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.


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But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.


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"Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan in its full extent),


text:
your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary shall be from the end of the Salt Sea on the east;


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and your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrab'bim, and cross to Zin, and its end shall be south of Ka'desh-bar'nea; then it shall go on to Ha'zar-ad'dar, and pass along to Azmon;


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and the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea.


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"For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast; this shall be your western boundary.


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"This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor;


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from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to the entrance of Hamath, and the end of the boundary shall be at Zeded;


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then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Ha'zar-e'nan; this shall be your northern boundary.


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and the boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of A'in; and the boundary shall go down, and reach to the shoulder of the sea of Chin'nereth on the east;


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and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its boundaries all round."


text:
Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, "This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe;


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for the tribe of the sons of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the sons of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manas'seh;


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the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise."


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"These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Elea'zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.


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These are the men whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan."


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"Command the people of Israel, that they give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands round about the cities.


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The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.


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The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all round.


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And you shall measure, outside the city, for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle; this shall belong to them as pasture land for their cities.


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The cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.


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And as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance which it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."


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then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.


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The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.


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You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.


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These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that any one who kills any person without intent may flee there.


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"But if he struck him down with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.


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And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.


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Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.


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The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.


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or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death; he is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.


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or used a stone, by which a man may die, and without seeing him cast it upon him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm;


text:
then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances;


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and the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.


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and the avenger of blood finds him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slays the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.


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For the man must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.


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"And these things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.


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If any one kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.


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Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death.


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And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.


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You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.


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You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel."


text:
The heads of the fathers' houses of the families of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manas'seh, of the fathers' houses of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel;


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they said, "The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel; and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zeloph'ehad our brother to his daughters.


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But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.


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And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."


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And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right.


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This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zeloph'ehad, `Let them marry whom they think best; only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their father.


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The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another; for every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.


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And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.


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So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall cleave to its own inheritance.'"


text:
for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zeloph'ehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers.


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They were married into the families of the sons of Manas'seh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.


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These are the commandments and the ordinances which the LORD commanded by Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.


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These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Haze'roth, and Di'-zahab.


text:
And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them,


text:
after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ash'taroth and in Ed're-i.


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turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland, and in the Negeb, and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphra'tes.


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Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.'


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the LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.


text:
May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!


text:
Choose wise, understanding, and experienced men, according to your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.'


text:
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.


text:
And I charged your judges at that time, `Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien that is with him.


text:
You shall not be partial in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.'


text:
"And we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Ka'desh-bar'nea.


text:
And I said to you, `You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God gives us.


text:
Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you; do not fear or be dismayed.'


text:
Then all of you came near me, and said, `Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.'


text:
and they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.


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And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, `It is a good land which the LORD our God gives us.'


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and you murmured in your tents, and said, `Because the LORD hated us he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.


text:
Whither are we going up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'


text:
The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,


text:
and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God bore you, as a man bears his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.'


text:
who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.


text:
`Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers,


text:
except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh; he shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land upon which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!'


text:
Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter; encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.


text:
Moreover your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there, and to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.


text:
"Then you answered me, `We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.' And every man of you girded on his weapons of war, and thought it easy to go up into the hill country.


text:
And the LORD said to me, `Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in the midst of you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.'


text:
So I spoke to you, and you would not hearken; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD, and were presumptuous and went up into the hill country.


text:
Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Se'ir as far as Hormah.


text:
And you returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD did not hearken to your voice or give ear to you.


text:
"Then we turned, and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me; and for many days we went about Mount Se'ir.


text:
And command the people, You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren the sons of Esau, who live in Se'ir; and they will be afraid of you. So take good heed;


text:
do not contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Se'ir to Esau as a possession.


text:
You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.


text:
For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands; he knows your going through this great wilderness; these forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.'


text:
So we went on, away from our brethren the sons of Esau who live in Se'ir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and E'zion-ge'ber. "And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.


text:
And the LORD said to me, `Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot for a possession.'


text:
The Horites also lived in Se'ir formerly, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them, and destroyed them from before them, and settled in their stead; as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.)


text:
And the time from our leaving Ka'desh-bar'nea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.


text:
For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.


text:
and when you approach the frontier of the sons of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.'


text:
(That also is known as a land of Reph'aim; Reph'aim formerly lived there, but the Ammonites call them Zamzum'mim,


text:
a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they dispossessed them, and settled in their stead;


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as he did for the sons of Esau, who live in Se'ir, when he destroyed the Horites before them, and they dispossessed them, and settled in their stead even to this day.


text:
As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caph'torim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their stead.)


text:
`Rise up, take your journey, and go over the valley of the Arnon; behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle.


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This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.'


text:
"So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Ked'emoth to Sihon the king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,


text:
`Let me pass through your land; I will go only by the road, I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left.


text:
You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot,


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as the sons of Esau who live in Se'ir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives to us.'


text:
But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as at this day.


text:
And the LORD said to me, `Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you; begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.'


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And we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed every city, men, women, and children; we left none remaining;


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From Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; the LORD our God gave all into our hands.


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Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the LORD our God forbade us.


text:
"Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Ed're-i.


text:
But the LORD said to me, `Do not fear him; for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.'


text:
So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people; and we smote him until no survivor was left to him.


text:
And we took all his cities at that time--there was not a city which we did not take from them--sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.


text:
All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages.


text:
And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, destroying every city, men, women, and children.


text:
So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon


text:
all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Sal'ecah and Ed're-i, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.


text:
(For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Reph'aim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)


text:
"When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities;


text:
the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manas'seh. (The whole of that Bashan is called the land of Reph'aim.


text:
Ja'ir the Manas'site took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Gesh'urites and the Ma-ac'athites, and called the villages after his own name, Hav'voth-ja'ir, as it is to this day.)


text:
and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a boundary, as far over as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites;


text:
the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the boundary, from Chin'nereth as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.


text:
"And I commanded you at that time, saying, `The LORD your God has given you this land to possess; all your men of valor shall pass over armed before your brethren the people of Israel.


text:
But your wives, your little ones, and your cattle (I know that you have many cattle) shall remain in the cities which I have given you,


text:
until the LORD gives rest to your brethren, as to you, and they also occupy the land which the LORD your God gives them beyond the Jordan; then you shall return every man to his possession which I have given you.'


text:
And I commanded Joshua at that time, `Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are going over.


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`O Lord GOD, thou hast only begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as thine?


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Let me go over, I pray, and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that goodly hill country, and Lebanon.'


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But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not hearken to me; and the LORD said to me, `Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter.


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Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan.


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But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him; for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land which you shall see.'


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"And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.


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You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.


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Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Ba'al-pe'or; for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Ba'al of Pe'or;


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Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.


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Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, `Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'


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For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?


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And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?


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"Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children--


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how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, `Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'


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And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.


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Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.


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And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.


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And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.


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"Therefore take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,


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beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,


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the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,


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the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.


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And beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.


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But the LORD has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day.


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Furthermore the LORD was angry with me on your account, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.


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For I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over and take possession of that good land.


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Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a graven image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.


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"When you beget children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a graven image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger,


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I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.


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And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.


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And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of men's hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.


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But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.


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When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice,


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for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them.


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"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.


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Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?


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Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?


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Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.


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And because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,


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driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day;


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know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.


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Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God gives you for ever."


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that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might save his life:


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Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manas'sites.


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these are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt,


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beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-pe'or, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.


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And they took possession of his land and the land of Og the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan;


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from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Si'rion (that is, Hermon),


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together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.


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And Moses summoned all Israel, and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your hearing this day, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.


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Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day.


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while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:


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"`You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;


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you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,


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"`You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.


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but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you.


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You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.


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"`Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.


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"`Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.'


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"These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them to me.


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And when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;


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and you said, `Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire; we have this day seen God speak with man and man still live.


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Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die.


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For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire, as we have, and has still lived?


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Go near, and hear all that the LORD our God will say; and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you; and we will hear and do it.'


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"And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me; and the LORD said to me, `I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you; they have rightly said all that they have spoken.


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Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their children for ever!


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But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandment and the statutes and the ordinances which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.'


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You shall be careful to do therefore as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.


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You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you shall possess.


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"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it;


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that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.


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Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.


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and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.


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and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.


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"And when the LORD your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, with great and goodly cities, which you did not build,


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and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,


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then take heed lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.


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for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.


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You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.


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And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers


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"When your son asks you in time to come, `What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD our God has commanded you?'


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then you shall say to your son, `We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;


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and the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes;


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and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land which he swore to give to our fathers.


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And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.


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And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.'


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"When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Gir'gashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves,


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and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them.


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You shall not make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons.


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For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.


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But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Ashe'rim, and burn their graven images with fire.


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"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth.


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It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples;


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but it is because the LORD loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.


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Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,


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and requites to their face those who hate him, by destroying them; he will not be slack with him who hates him, he will requite him to his face.


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You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day.


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"And because you hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love which he swore to your fathers to keep;


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he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.


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You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.


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And the LORD will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict upon you, but he will lay them upon all who hate you.


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And you shall destroy all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you, your eye shall not pity them; neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.


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you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,


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the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out; so will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.


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Moreover the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed.


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You shall not be in dread of them; for the LORD your God is in the midst of you, a great and terrible God.


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The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you.


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But the LORD your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.


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And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven; not a man shall be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them.


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The graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.


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And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house, and become accursed like it; you shall utterly detest and abhor it; for it is an accursed thing.


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"All the commandment which I command you this day you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers.


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And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.


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And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.


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For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills,


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a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,


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a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.


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And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.


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"Take heed lest you forget the LORD your God, by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes, which I command you this day:


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and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied,


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then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,


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who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,


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who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.


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You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may confirm his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day.


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And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you this day that you shall surely perish.


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Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.


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"Hear, O Israel; you are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven,


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a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, `Who can stand before the sons of Anak?'


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Know therefore this day that he who goes over before you as a devouring fire is the LORD your God; he will destroy them and subdue them before you; so you shall drive them out, and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.


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"Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, `It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land'; whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you.


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Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.


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"Know therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people.


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Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day you came out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.


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Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.


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When I went up the mountain to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.


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And the LORD gave me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.


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And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant.


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Then the LORD said to me, `Arise, go down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten image.'


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let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'


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So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.


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And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you.


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So I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.


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Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin which you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.


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For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure which the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened to me that time also.


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And the LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him; and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.


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Then I took the sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw the dust of it into the brook that descended out of the mountain.


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And when the LORD sent you from Ka'desh-bar'nea, saying, `Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you,' then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and did not believe him or obey his voice.


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"So I lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said he would destroy you.


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And I prayed to the LORD, `O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thy heritage, whom thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.


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Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness, or their sin,


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lest the land from which thou didst bring us say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness."


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For they are thy people and thy heritage, whom thou didst bring out by thy great power and by thy outstretched arm.'


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"At that time the LORD said to me, `Hew two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.


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And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.'


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So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tables in my hand.


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And he wrote on the tables, as at the first writing, the ten commandments which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me.


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Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the LORD commanded me.


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(The people of Israel journeyed from Be-er'oth Bene-ja'akan to Mose'rah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and his son Elea'zar ministered as priest in his stead.


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From there they journeyed to Gud'godah, and from Gud'godah to Jot'bathah, a land with brooks of water.


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At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.


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Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.)


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"I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the LORD hearkened to me that time also; the LORD was unwilling to destroy you.


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And the LORD said to me, `Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.'


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"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,


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Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it;


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yet the LORD set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as at this day.


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For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.


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He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.


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You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him and cleave to him, and by his name you shall swear.


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He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things which your eyes have seen.


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Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude.


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"You shall therefore love the LORD your God, and keep his charge, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments always.


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And consider this day (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,


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and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day;


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and what he did to Dathan and Abi'ram the sons of Eli'ab, son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel;


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"You shall therefore keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land which you are going over to possess,


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and that you may live long in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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For the land which you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your feet, like a garden of vegetables;


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but the land which you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven,


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a land which the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.


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"And if you will obey my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,


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he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.


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and the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there be no rain, and the land yield no fruit, and you perish quickly off the good land which the LORD gives you.


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"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.


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And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.


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that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.


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For if you will be careful to do all this commandment which I command you to do, loving the LORD your God, walking in all his ways, and cleaving to him,


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then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.


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Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your territory shall be from the wilderness and Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphra'tes, to the western sea.


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No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.


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and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known.


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And when the LORD your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, you shall set the blessing on Mount Ger'izim and the curse on Mount Ebal.


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Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh?


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For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God gives you; and when you possess it and live in it,


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"These are the statutes and ordinances which you shall be careful to do in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live upon the earth.


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You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree;


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you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Ashe'rim with fire; you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name out of that place.


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But you shall seek the place which the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there; thither you shall go,


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and thither you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the offering that you present, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock;


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and there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.


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You shall not do according to all that we are doing here this day, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes;


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But when you go over the Jordan, and live in the land which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you live in safety,


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then to the place which the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, thither you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the offering that you present, and all your votive offerings which you vow to the LORD.


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And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.


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but at the place which the LORD will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you.


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"However, you may slaughter and eat flesh within any of your towns, as much as you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and as of the hart.


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You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herd or of your flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the offering that you present;


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but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your towns; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you undertake.


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"When the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, `I will eat flesh,' because you crave flesh, you may eat as much flesh as you desire.


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If the place which the LORD your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your towns as much as you desire.


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Just as the gazelle or the hart is eaten, so you may eat of it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it.


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Only be sure that you do not eat the blood; for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.


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You shall not eat it; that all may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.


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But the holy things which are due from you, and your votive offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place which the LORD will choose,


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and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, but the flesh you may eat.


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Be careful to heed all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you for ever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.


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"When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,


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take heed that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, `How did these nations serve their gods?--that I also may do likewise.'


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You shall not do so to the LORD your God; for every abominable thing which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.


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and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, `Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, `and let us serve them,'


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you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.


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You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him.


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But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


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"If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, `Let us go and serve other gods,' which neither you nor your fathers have known,


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some of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other,


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you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him;


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but you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.


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You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.


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that certain base fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of the city, saying, `Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known,


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then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently; and behold, if it be true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done among you,


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you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, destroying it utterly, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword.


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You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square, and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; it shall be a heap for ever, it shall not be built again.


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None of the devoted things shall cleave to your hand; that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers,


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if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments which I command you this day, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.


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"You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.


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For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth.


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Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.


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Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.


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And the swine, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.


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"You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.


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And before the LORD your God, in the place which he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and flock; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.


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And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to bring the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there,


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then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses,


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and spend the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves; and you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.


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And you shall not forsake the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.


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"At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in the same year, and lay it up within your towns;


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and the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.


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And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD's release has been proclaimed.


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Of a foreigner you may exact it; but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release.


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But there will be no poor among you (for the LORD will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess),


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if only you will obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment which I command you this day.


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For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.


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"If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,


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Take heed lest there be a base thought in your heart, and you say, `The seventh year, the year of release is near,' and your eye be hostile to your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and it be sin in you.


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You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him; because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.


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For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land.


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"If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.


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you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press; as the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.


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You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.


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But if he says to you, `I will not go out from you,' because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you,


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then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your bondman for ever. And to your bondwoman you shall do likewise.


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It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years. So the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do.


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"All the firstling males that are born of your herd and flock you shall consecrate to the LORD your God; you shall do no work with the firstling of your herd, nor shear the firstling of your flock.


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You shall eat it, you and your household, before the LORD your God year by year at the place which the LORD will choose.


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But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.


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You shall eat it within your towns; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a hart.


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"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to the LORD your God; for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.


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And you shall offer the passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place which the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there.


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You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction--for you came out of the land of Egypt in hurried flight--that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.


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No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning.


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You may not offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns which the LORD your God gives you;


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but at the place which the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt.


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And you shall boil it and eat it at the place which the LORD your God will choose; and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents.


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For six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it.


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"You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain.


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Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you;


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and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place which the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.


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You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.


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"You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, when you make your ingathering from your threshing floor and your wine press;


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you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns.


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For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place which the LORD will choose; because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.


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"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed;


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every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you.


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"You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.


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You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality; and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.


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Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.


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"You shall not plant any tree as an Ashe'rah beside the altar of the LORD your God which you shall make.


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"You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever; for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.


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"If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the LORD your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant,


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and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden,


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and it is told you and you hear of it; then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done in Israel,


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then you shall bring forth to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones.


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On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.


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The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


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"If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns which is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God will choose,


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and coming to the Levitical priests, and to the judge who is in office in those days, you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision.


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Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place which the LORD will choose; and you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you;


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according to the instructions which they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the verdict which they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left.


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The man who acts presumptuously, by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.


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"When you come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and then say, `I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me';


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you may indeed set as king over you him whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.


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Only he must not multiply horses for himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, `You shall never return that way again.'


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And he shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply for himself silver and gold.


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"And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, from that which is in the charge of the Levitical priests;


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and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them;


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that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left; so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.


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"The Levitical priests, that is, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings by fire to the LORD, and his rightful dues.


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They shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.


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And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach.


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The first fruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.


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For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand and minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.


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"And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, where he lives--and he may come when he desires--to the place which the LORD will choose,


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then he may minister in the name of the LORD his God, like all his fellow-Levites who stand to minister there before the LORD.


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"When you come into the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.


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There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer,


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For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD; and because of these abominable practices the LORD your God is driving them out before you.


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For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, give heed to soothsayers and to diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you so to do.


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"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren--him you shall heed--


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just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, `Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.'


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I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.


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And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.


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But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'


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when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.


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"When the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,


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You shall prepare the roads, and divide into three parts the area of the land which the LORD your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.


text:
"This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If any one kills his neighbor unintentionally without having been at enmity with him in time past--


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as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies--he may flee to one of these cities and save his life;


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lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and wound him mortally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he was not at enmity with his neighbor in time past.


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And if the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers--


text:
provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God and by walking ever in his ways--then you shall add three other cities to these three,


text:
lest innocent blood be shed in your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.


text:
"But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and attacks him, and wounds him mortally so that he dies, and the man flees into one of these cities,


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then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die.


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Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.


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"In the inheritance which you will hold in the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess, you shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set.


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"A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained.


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then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days;


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the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely,


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then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


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Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.


text:
"When you go forth to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.


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and shall say to them, `Hear, O Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; do not fear, or tremble, or be in dread of them;


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for the LORD your God is he that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.'


text:
Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, `What man is there that has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.


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And what man is there that has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit.


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And what man is there that has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.'


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And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, 'What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest the heart of his fellows melt as his heart.'


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And when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.


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And if its answer to you is peace and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you.


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but the women and the little ones, the cattle, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourselves; and you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.


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Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.


text:
But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,


text:
but you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Per'izzites, the Hivites and the Jeb'usites, as the LORD your God has commanded;


text:
that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices which they have done in the service of their gods, and so to sin against the LORD your God.


text:
"When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them; for you may eat of them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field men that they should be besieged by you?


text:
Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.


text:
"If in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, any one is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him,


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then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance to the cities which are around him that is slain;


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and the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer which has never been worked and which has not pulled in the yoke.


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And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.


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And the priests the sons of Levi shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.


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And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;


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Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and set not the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel; but let the guilt of blood be forgiven them.'


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So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.


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"When you go forth to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hands, and you take them captive,


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and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have desire for her and would take her for yourself as wife,


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And she shall put off her captive's garb, and shall remain in your house and bewail her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.


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Then, if you have no delight in her, you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her for money, you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.


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"If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other disliked, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the disliked, and if the first-born son is hers that is disliked,


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then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the first-born in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the first-born,


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but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the disliked, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first issue of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.


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"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they chastise him, will not give heed to them,


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then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,


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and they shall say to the elders of his city, `This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'


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Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.


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"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,


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his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.


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"You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and withhold your help from them; you shall take them back to your brother.


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And if he is not near you, or if you do not know him, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him.


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And so you shall do with his ass; so you shall do with his garment; so you shall do with any lost thing of your brother's, which he loses and you find; you may not withhold your help.


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You shall not see your brother's ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and withhold your help from them; you shall help him to lift them up again.


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"A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.


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"If you chance to come upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;


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you shall let the mother go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.


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"When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if any one fall from it.


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"You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited to the sanctuary, the crop which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.


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and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings an evil name upon her, saying, `I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her the tokens of virginity,'


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then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the tokens of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate;


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and the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, `I gave my daughter to this man to wife, and he spurns her;


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and lo, he has made shameful charges against her, saying, "I did not find in your daughter the tokens of virginity." And yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.


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and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel; and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.


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then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


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"If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.


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then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


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"But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.


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But to the young woman you shall do nothing; in the young woman there is no offense punishable by death, for this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor;


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because he came upon her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.


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"If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found,


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then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her; he may not put her away all his days.


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"He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the LORD.


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"No bastard shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD.


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"No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none belonging to them shall enter the assembly of the LORD for ever;


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because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Be'or from Pethor of Mesopota'mia, to curse you.


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Nevertheless the LORD your God would not hearken to Balaam; but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loved you.


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"You shall not abhor an E'domite, for he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.


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"When you go forth against your enemies and are in camp, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.


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"If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of what chances to him by night, then he shall go outside the camp, he shall not come within the camp;


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but when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water, and when the sun is down, he may come within the camp.


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and you shall have a stick with your weapons; and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it, and turn back and cover up your excrement.


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Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to save you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, that he may not see anything indecent among you, and turn away from you.


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he shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place which he shall choose within one of your towns, where it pleases him best; you shall not oppress him.


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"There shall be no cult prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a cult prostitute of the sons of Israel.


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You shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog, into the house of the LORD your God in payment for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God.


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"You shall not lend upon interest to your brother, interest on money, interest on victuals, interest on anything that is lent for interest.


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To a foreigner you may lend upon interest, but to your brother you shall not lend upon interest; that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.


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"When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slack to pay it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin in you.


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You shall be careful to perform what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth.


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"When you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your vessel.


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When you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.


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"When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,


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and the latter husband dislikes her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife,


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then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring guilt upon the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.


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"When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.


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"If a man is found stealing one of his brethren, the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.


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"Take heed, in an attack of leprosy, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you; as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.


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"When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge.


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when the sun goes down, you shall restore to him the pledge that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.


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"You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brethren or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns;


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you shall give him his hire on the day he earns it, before the sun goes down (for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it); lest he cry against you to the LORD, and it be sin in you.


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"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.


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"You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge;


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but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.


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"When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.


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When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.


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When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.


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"If there is a dispute between men, and they come into court, and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,


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then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense.


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Forty stripes may be given him, but not more; lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.


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"If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside the family to a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.


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And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.


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And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, `My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.'


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Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he persists, saying, `I do not wish to take her,'


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then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, `So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'


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And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, The house of him that had his sandal pulled off.


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"When men fight with one another, and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts,


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A full and just weight you shall have, a full and just measure you shall have; that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.


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how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and cut off at your rear all who lagged behind you; and he did not fear God.


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Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the remembrance of Am'alek from under heaven; you shall not forget.


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"When you come into the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and have taken possession of it, and live in it,


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you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place which the LORD your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.


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And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, `I declare this day to the LORD your God that I have come into the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.'


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Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.


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"And you shall make response before the LORD your God, `A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.


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Then we cried to the LORD the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression;


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and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders;


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And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which thou, O LORD, hast given me.' And you shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God;


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and you shall rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.


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"When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your towns and be filled,


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then you shall say before the LORD your God, `I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed any of thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them;


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I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, I have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.


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Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel and the ground which thou hast given us, as thou didst swear to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.'


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"This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances; you shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.


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You have declared this day concerning the LORD that he is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his ordinances, and will obey his voice;


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and the LORD has declared this day concerning you that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments,


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that he will set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he has spoken."


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Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day.


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And on the day you pass over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall set up large stones, and plaster them with plaster;


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and you shall write upon them all the words of this law, when you pass over to enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.


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And when you have passed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you this day, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.


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And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall lift up no iron tool upon them.


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You shall build an altar to the LORD your God of unhewn stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God;


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and you shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God.


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And Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, "Keep silence and hear, O Israel: this day you have become the people of the LORD your God.


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You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day."


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"When you have passed over the Jordan, these shall stand upon Mount Ger'izim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Is'sachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.


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And these shall stand upon Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zeb'ulun, Dan, and Naph'tali.


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"`Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, `Amen.'


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"`Cursed be he who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.'


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"`Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered her who is his father's.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.'


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"`Cursed be he who lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.'


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"`Cursed be he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.'


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"And if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you this day, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.


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And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.


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Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.


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"The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.


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The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; and he will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.


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The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and walk in his ways.


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And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of you.


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And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, within the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.


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The LORD will open to you his good treasury the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.


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And the LORD will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall tend upward only, and not downward; if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day, being careful to do them,


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and if you do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.


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"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.


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Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.


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"The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and frustration, in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your doings, because you have forsaken me.


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The LORD will make the pestilence cleave to you until he has consumed you off the land which you are entering to take possession of it.


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The LORD will smite you with consumption, and with fever, inflammation, and fiery heat, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish.


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The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down upon you until you are destroyed.


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"The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.


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And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth; and there shall be no one to frighten them away.


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The LORD will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with the ulcers and the scurvy and the itch, of which you cannot be healed.


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and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways; and you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.


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You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, and you shall not use the fruit of it.


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Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it; your ass shall be violently taken away before your face, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and there shall be no one to help you.


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Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all the day; and it shall not be in the power of your hand to prevent it.


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A nation which you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually;


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The LORD will smite you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.


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"The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone.


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And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.


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You shall carry much seed into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.


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You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.


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You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.


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The sojourner who is among you shall mount above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.


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He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.


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All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you, till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you.


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"Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things,


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therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he will put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you.


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The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand,


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a nation of stern countenance, who shall not regard the person of the old or show favor to the young,


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and shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; who also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your cattle or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.


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They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you.


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And you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.


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The man who is the most tender and delicately bred among you will grudge food to his brother, to the wife of his bosom, and to the last of the children who remain to him;


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so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns.


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The most tender and delicately bred woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will grudge to the husband of her bosom, to her son and to her daughter,


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her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because she will eat them secretly, for want of all things, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.


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"If you are not careful to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awful name, the LORD your God,


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then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.


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And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cleave to you.


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Every sickness also, and every affliction which is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.


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Whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, you shall be left few in number; because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God.


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And as the LORD took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you; and you shall be plucked off the land which you are entering to take possession of it.


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And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.


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And among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and a languishing soul;


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your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, and have no assurance of your life.


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In the morning you shall say, `Would it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, `Would it were morning!' because of the dread which your heart shall fear, and the sights which your eyes shall see.


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And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey which I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no man will buy you."


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These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he had made with them at Horeb.


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And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,


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I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out upon you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet;


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you have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am the LORD your God.


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And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them;


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we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manas'sites.


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"You stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,


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your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, both he who hews your wood and he who draws your water,


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that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God makes with you this day;


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that he may establish you this day as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.


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but with him who is not here with us this day as well as with him who stands here with us this day before the LORD our God.


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"You know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;


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and you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.


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Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations; lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,


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one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, `I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' This would lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.


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The LORD would not pardon him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy would smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book would settle upon him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven.


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And the LORD would single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.


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And the generation to come, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick--


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the whole land brimstone and salt, and a burnt-out waste, unsown, and growing nothing, where no grass can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomor'rah, Admah and Zeboi'im, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath--


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yea, all the nations would say, `Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What means the heat of this great anger?'


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Then men would say, `It is because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,


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and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them;


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therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book;


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and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as at this day.'


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"The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.


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"And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,


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and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul;


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then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.


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If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will fetch you;


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and the LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, that you may possess it; and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.


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And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.


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And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD, and keep all his commandments which I command you this day.


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The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground; for the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers,


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if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.


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It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'


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Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'


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If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.


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


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I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.


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I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live,


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loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."


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And he said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, `You shall not go over this Jordan.'


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The LORD your God himself will go over before you; he will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them; and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken.


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And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them.


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And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.


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Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you."


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Then Moses summoned Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall put them in possession of it.


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It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed."


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And 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.


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And Moses commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, at the set time of the year of release, at the feast of booths,


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when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.


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Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,


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and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess."


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him." And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.


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And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud; and the pillar of cloud stood by the door of the tent.


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And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to sleep with your fathers; then this people will rise and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake me and break my covenant which I have made with them.


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Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured; and many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, `Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?'


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And I will surely hide my face in that day on account of all the evil which they have done, because they have turned to other gods.


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Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel.


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For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.


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And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their descendants); for I know the purposes which they are already forming, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give."


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And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to give them: I will be with you."


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"Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.


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For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are; behold, while I am yet alive with you, today you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more after my death!


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Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them.


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For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands."


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Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:


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May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distil as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb.


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"The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.


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They have dealt corruptly with him, they are no longer his children because of their blemish; they are a perverse and crooked generation.


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Do you thus requite the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?


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Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.


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When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.


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"He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.


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Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,


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He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the field; and he made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.


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Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs and rams, herds of Bashan and goats, with the finest of the wheat--and of the blood of the grape you drank wine.


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"But Jesh'urun waxed fat, and kicked; you waxed fat, you grew thick, you became sleek; then he forsook God who made him, and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.


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They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominable practices they provoked him to anger.


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They sacrificed to demons which were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come in of late, whom your fathers had never dreaded.


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And he said, `I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.


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They have stirred me to jealousy with what is no god; they have provoked me with their idols. So I will stir them to jealousy with those who are no people; I will provoke them with a foolish nation.


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For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.


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they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and poisonous pestilence; and I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with venom of crawling things of the dust.


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In the open the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers shall be terror, destroying both young man and virgin, the sucking child with the man of gray hairs.


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I would have said, "I will scatter them afar, I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men,"


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had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge amiss, lest they should say, "Our hand is triumphant, the LORD has not wrought all this."'


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How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?


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For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomor'rah; their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters are bitter;


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Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.


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For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none remaining, bond or free.


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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 protection!


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"`See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.


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if I whet my glittering sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will requite those who hate me.


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I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh--with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy.'


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"Praise his people, O you nations; for he avenges the blood of his servants, and takes vengeance on his adversaries, and makes expiation for the land of his people."


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


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he said to them, "Lay to heart all the words which I enjoin upon you this day, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.


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For it is no trifle for you, but it is your life, and thereby you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess."


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"Ascend this mountain of the Ab'arim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho; and view the land of Canaan, which I give to the people of Israel for a possession;


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and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people;


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because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Mer'i-bath-ka'desh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you did not revere me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel.


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For you shall see the land before you; but you shall not go there, into the land which I give to the people of Israel."


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


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He said, "The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned from Se'ir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran, he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.


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Yea, he loved his people; all those consecrated to him were in his hand; so they followed in thy steps, receiving direction from thee,


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Thus the LORD became king in Jesh'urun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.


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And this he said of Judah: "Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With thy hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries."


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And of Levi he said, "Give to Levi thy Thummim, and thy Urim to thy godly one, whom thou didst test at Massah, with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Mer'ibah;


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who said of his father and mother, `I regard them not'; he disowned his brothers, and ignored his children. For they observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.


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They shall teach Jacob thy ordinances, and Israel thy law; they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt offering upon thy altar.


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Bless, O LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those that hate him, that they rise not again."


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Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the LORD, he dwells in safety by him; he encompasses him all the day long, and makes his dwelling between his shoulders."


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And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that couches beneath,


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with the best gifts of the earth and its fulness, and the favor of him that dwelt in the bush. Let these come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brothers.


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His firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall push the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; such are the ten thousands of E'phraim, and such are the thousands of Manas'seh."


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They shall call peoples to their mountain; there they offer right sacrifices; for they suck the affluence of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand."


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And of Gad he said, "Blessed be he who enlarges Gad! Gad couches like a lion, he tears the arm, and the crown of the head.


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He chose the best of the land for himself, for there a commander's portion was reserved; and he came to the heads of the people, with Israel he executed the commands and just decrees of the LORD."


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And of Naph'tali he said, "O Naph'tali, satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD, possess the lake and the south."


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And of Asher he said, "Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.


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"There is none like God, O Jesh'urun, who rides through the heavens to your help, and in his majesty through the skies.


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The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you, and said, Destroy.


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So Israel dwelt in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and wine; yea, his heavens drop down dew.


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Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you; and you shall tread upon their high places."


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


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


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and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-pe'or; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day.


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Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.


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And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.


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And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the people of Israel obeyed him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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none like him for all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,


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and for all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel.


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After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister,


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"Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.


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From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphra'tes, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.


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No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.


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Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.


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Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.


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This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.


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Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."


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"Pass through the camp, and command the people, `Prepare your provisions; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess.'"


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"Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, `The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest, and will give you this land.'


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Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brethren and shall help them,


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until the LORD gives rest to your brethren as well as to you, and they also take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them; then you shall return to the land of your possession, and shall possess it, the land which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise."


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And they answered Joshua, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.


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


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Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage."


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And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.


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And it was told the king of Jericho, "Behold, certain men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land."


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Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring forth the men that have come to you, who entered your house; for they have come to search out all the land."


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


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and when the gate was to be closed, at dark, the men went out; where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them."


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But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.


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So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords; and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.


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and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.


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For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.


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And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any man, because of you; for the LORD your God is he who is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.


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Now then, swear to me by the LORD that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign,


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and save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death."


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And the men said to her, "Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the LORD gives us the land."


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


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And she said to them, "Go into the hills, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way."


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The men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours which you have made us swear.


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Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down; and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household.


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If any one goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we shall be guiltless; but if a hand is laid upon any one who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.


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But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath which you have made us swear."


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And she said, "According to your words, so be it." Then she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet cord in the window.


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They departed, and went into the hills, and remained there three days, until the pursuers returned; for the pursuers had made search all along the way and found nothing.


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Then the two men came down again from the hills, and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them.


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And they said to Joshua, "Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us."


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Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim, with all the people of Israel; and they came to the Jordan, and lodged there before they passed over.


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and 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 your place and follow it,


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that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits; do not come near it."


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And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."


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And Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people." And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.


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And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.


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And you shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, `When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"


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And Joshua said, "Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Per'izzites, the Gir'gashites, the Amorites, and the Jeb'usites.


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Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is to pass over before you into the Jordan.


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And when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be stopped from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap."


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So, when the people set out from their tents, to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,


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and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest),


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the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zar'ethan, and those flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off; and the people passed over opposite Jericho.


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And while all Israel were passing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.


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and command them, `Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.'"


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Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe;


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and Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel,


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that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask in time to come, `What do those stones mean to you?'


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Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever."


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And the men 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 people of Israel, as the LORD told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.


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And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.


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For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste;


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and when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the LORD and the priests passed over before the people.


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The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manas'seh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had bidden them;


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about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho.


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On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.


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And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.


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The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.


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And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, `What do these stones mean?'


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For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over,


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so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty; that you may fear the LORD your God for ever."


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When all the kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites that were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them, because of the people of Israel.


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At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the people of Israel again the second time."


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And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt.


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Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people that were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.


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For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation, the men of war that came forth out of Egypt, perished, because they did not hearken to the voice of the LORD; to them the LORD swore that he would not let them see the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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So it was their children, whom he raised up in their stead, that Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.


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When the circumcising of all the nation was done, they remained in their places in the camp till they were healed.


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And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.


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While the people of Israel were encamped in Gilgal they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho.


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And on the morrow after the passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.


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And the manna ceased on the morrow, when they ate of the produce of the land; and the people of Israel had manna no more, but ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.


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When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood before 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?"


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And he said, "No; but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and said to him, "What does my lord bid his servant?"


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And the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Put off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.


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Now Jericho was shut up from within and from without because of the people of Israel; none went out, and none came in.


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And the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given into your hand Jericho, with its king and mighty men of valor.


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You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.


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And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; and on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets.


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And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him."


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So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD."


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And he said to the people, "Go forward; march around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the LORD."


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And as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD following them.


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And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually.


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But Joshua commanded the people, "You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then you shall shout."


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So he caused the ark of the LORD to compass the city, going about it once; and they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.


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And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD passed on, blowing the trumpets continually; and the armed men went before them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets blew continually.


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And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.


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On the seventh day they rose early at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times: it was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times.


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And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout; for the LORD has given you the city.


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And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers that we sent.


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But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction, and bring trouble upon it.


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But all silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are sacred to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD."


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So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.


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Then they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword.


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And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the harlot's house, and bring out from it the woman, and all who belong to her, as you swore to her."


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So the young men who had been spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her; and they brought all her kindred, and set them outside the camp of Israel.


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And they burned the city with fire, and all within it; only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.


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But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive; and she dwelt in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.


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Joshua laid an oath upon them at that time, saying, "Cursed before the LORD be the man that rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his first-born shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates."


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But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things; for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things; and the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.


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Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-a'ven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." And the men went up and spied out Ai.


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And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, "Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are but few."


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and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six men of them, and chased them before the gate as far as Sheb'arim, and slew them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.


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Then Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads.


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And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why hast thou brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!


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For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth; and what wilt thou do for thy great name?"


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Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant which I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, and lied, and put them among their own stuff.


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Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become a thing for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.


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Up, sanctify the people, and say, `Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, "There are devoted things in the midst of you, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies, until you take away the devoted things from among you."


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In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes; and the tribe which the LORD takes shall come near by families; and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households; and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man.


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And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done a shameful thing in Israel.'"


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So Joshua rose early in the morning, and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken;


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and he brought near the families of Judah, and the family of the Zer'ahites was taken; and he brought near the family of the Zer'ahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken;


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and he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.


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Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and render praise to him; and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me."


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And Achan answered Joshua, "Of a truth I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did:


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when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them, and took them; and behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."


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So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath.


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And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the people of Israel; and they laid them down before the LORD.


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And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the mantle and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters, and his oxen and asses and sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.


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And Joshua said, "Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today." And all Israel stoned him with stones; they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.


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And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day; then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.


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And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed; take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land;


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and you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves; lay an ambush against the city, behind it."


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So Joshua arose, and all the fighting men, to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night.


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And he commanded them, "Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it; do not go very far from the city, but hold yourselves all in readiness;


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and I, and all the people who are with me, will approach the city. And when they come out against us, as before, we shall flee before them;


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and they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, `They are fleeing from us, as before.' So we will flee from them;


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then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize the city; for the LORD your God will give it into your hand.


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And when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, doing as the LORD has bidden; see, I have commanded you."


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So Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.


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And Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, with the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.


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And all the fighting men who were with him went up, and drew near before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai.


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And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.


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So they stationed the forces, the main encampment which was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley.


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And when the king of Ai saw this he and all his people, the men of the city, made haste and went out early to the descent toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.


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And Joshua and all Israel made a pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the wilderness.


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So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.


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There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.


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Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.


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And the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and took it; and they made haste to set the city on fire.


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So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.


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And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and smote the men of Ai.


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And the others came forth from the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side; and Israel smote them, until there was left none that survived or escaped.


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When Israel had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.


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For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.


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Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as their booty, according to the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua.


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And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.


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as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, "an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man has lifted an iron tool"; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.


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And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.


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And all Israel, sojourner as well as homeborn, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Ger'izim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.


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And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.


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There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.


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When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites, heard of this,


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they on their part acted with cunning, and went and made ready provisions, and took worn-out sacks upon their asses, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended,


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with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and moldy.


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


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But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?"


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


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They said to him, "From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt,


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and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ash'taroth.


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And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, `Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants; come now, make a covenant with us."'


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Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey, on the day we set forth to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and moldy;


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these wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they are burst; and these garments and shoes of ours are worn out from the very long journey."


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And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.


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At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.


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And the people of Israel set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephi'rah, Be-er'oth, and Kir'iath-je'arim.


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But the people of Israel did not kill them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.


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But all the leaders said to all the congregation, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.


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This we will do to them, and let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore to them."


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And the leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the leaders had said of them.


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Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, "Why did you deceive us, saying, `We are very far from you,' when you dwell among us?


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Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God."


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They answered Joshua, "Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; so we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing.


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So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel; and they did not kill them.


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But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to continue to this day, in the place which he should choose.


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When Ado'ni-ze'dek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,


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he feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.


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So Ado'ni-ze'dek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhi'a king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,


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"Come up to me, and help me, and let us smite Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel."


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Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces, and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it.


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And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, "Do not relax your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the hill country are gathered against us."


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So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.


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And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; there shall not a man of them stand before you."


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And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-hor'on, and smote them as far as Aze'kah and Makke'dah.


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And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-hor'on, the LORD threw down great stones from heaven upon them as far as Aze'kah, and they died; there were more who died because of the hailstones than the men of Israel killed with the sword.


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Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the men of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand thou still at Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ai'jalon."


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And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.


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There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD hearkened to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.


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but do not stay there yourselves, pursue your enemies, fall upon their rear, do not let them enter their cities; for the LORD your God has given them into your hand."


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When Joshua and the men of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, until they were wiped out, and when the remnant which remained of them had entered into the fortified cities,


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all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makke'dah; not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.


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And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.


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And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings." Then they came near, and put their feet on their necks.


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And Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and of good courage; for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight."


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And afterward Joshua smote them and put them to death, and he hung them on five trees. And they hung upon the trees until evening;


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but at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set great stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.


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And Joshua took Makke'dah on that day, and smote it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed every person in it, he left none remaining; and he did to the king of Makke'dah as he had done to the king of Jericho.


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Then Joshua passed on from Makke'dah, and all Israel with him, to Libnah, and fought against Libnah;


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and the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it; and he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.


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And Joshua passed on from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish, and laid siege to it, and assaulted it:


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and the LORD gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.


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Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he left none remaining.


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And Joshua passed on with all Israel from Lachish to Eglon; and they laid siege to it, and assaulted it;


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and they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword; and every person in it he utterly destroyed that day, as he had done to Lachish.


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and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it; he left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and utterly destroyed it with every person in it.


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and he took it with its king and all its towns; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person in it; he left none remaining; as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.


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So Joshua defeated the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings; he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.


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And Joshua defeated them from Ka'desh-bar'nea to Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, as far as Gibeon.


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And Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.


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When Jabin king of Hazor heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Ach'shaph,


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and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chin'neroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west,


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to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Per'izzites, and the Jeb'usites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah.


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And they came out, with all their troops, a great host, in number like the sand that is upon the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.


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And all these kings joined their forces, and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.


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And the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel; you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire."


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So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his people of war, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them.


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And the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel, who smote them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Mis'rephoth-ma'im, and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpeh; and they smote them, until they left none remaining.


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And Joshua did to them as the LORD bade him; he hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire.


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And Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and smote its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms.


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And they put to the sword all who were in it, utterly destroying them; there was none left that breathed, and he burned Hazor with fire.


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And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took, and smote them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.


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And all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the people of Israel took for their booty; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any that breathed.


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As the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.


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So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland


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from Mount Halak, that rises toward Se'ir, as far as Ba'al-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he took all their kings, and smote them, and put them to death.


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There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; they took all in battle.


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For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be utterly destroyed, and should receive no mercy but be exterminated, as the LORD commanded Moses.


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And Joshua came at that time, and wiped out the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.


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There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain.


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So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.


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Now these are the kings of the land, whom the people of Israel defeated, and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward:


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Sihon king of the Amorites who dwelt at Heshbon, and ruled from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead,


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and the Arabah to the Sea of Chin'neroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jesh'imoth, to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;


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and ruled over Mount Hermon and Sal'ecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Gesh'urites and the Ma-ac'athites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon.


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Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the people of Israel defeated them; and Moses the servant of the LORD gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas'seh.


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And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Ba'al-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Se'ir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments,


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in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites):


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Now Joshua was old and advanced in years; and the LORD said to him, "You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed.


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This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Gesh'urites


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(from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is reckoned as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ash'kelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim,


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in the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mear'ah which belongs to the Sido'nians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites,


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and the land of the Geb'alites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Ba'al-gad below Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath,


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all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Mis'rephoth-ma'im, even all the Sido'nians. I will myself drive them out from before the people of Israel; only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.


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Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manas'seh."


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With the other half of the tribe of Manas'seh the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them:


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from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Med'eba as far as Dibon;


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and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites;


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and Gilead, and the region of the Gesh'urites and Ma-ac'athites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Sal'ecah;


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all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ash'taroth and in Ed're-i (he alone was left of the remnant of the Reph'aim); these Moses had defeated and driven out.


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Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Gesh'urites or the Ma-ac'athites; but Geshur and Ma'acath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.


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To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.


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So their territory was from Aro'er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Med'eba;


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with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Ba'moth-ba'al, and Beth-ba'al-me'on,


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that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Mid'ian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who dwelt in the land.


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Balaam also, the son of Be'or, the soothsayer, the people of Israel killed with the sword among the rest of their slain.


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And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites, according to their families with their cities and villages.


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Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aro'er, which is east of Rabbah,


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and in the valley Beth-ha'ram, Beth-nim'rah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chin'nereth, eastward beyond the Jordan.


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And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manas'seh; it was allotted to the half-tribe of the Manas'sites according to their families.


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Their region extended from Mahana'im, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Ja'ir, which are in Bashan, sixty cities,


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and half Gilead, and Ash'taroth, and Ed're-i, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were allotted to the people of Machir the son of Manas'seh for the half of the Machirites according to their families.


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These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.


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But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them.


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And these are the inheritances which the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Elea'zar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed to them.


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For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan; but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.


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For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manas'seh and E'phraim; and no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for their cattle and their substance.


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Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal; and Caleb the son of Jephun'neh the Ken'izzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Ka'desh-bar'nea concerning you and me.


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I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Ka'desh-bar'nea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart.


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But my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God.


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And Moses swore on that day, saying, `Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children for ever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.'


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And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness; and now, lo, I am this day eighty-five years old.


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I am still as strong to this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war, and for going and coming.


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So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day; for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities: it may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the LORD said."


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So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephun'neh the Ken'izzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.


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Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kir'iath-ar'ba; this Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.


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The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.


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it goes out southward of the ascent of Akrab'bim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Ka'desh-bar'nea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka,


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passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.


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And the east boundary is the Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan;


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and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah, and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben;


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and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adum'mim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-she'mesh, and ends at En-ro'gel;


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then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jeb'usite (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Reph'aim;


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then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephto'ah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends round to Ba'alah (that is, Kir'iath-je'arim);


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and the boundary circles west of Ba'alah to Mount Se'ir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Je'arim (that is, Ches'alon), and goes down to Beth-she'mesh, and passes along by Timnah;


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the boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends round to Shik'keron, and passes along to Mount Ba'alah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.


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And the west boundary was the Great Sea with its coast-line. This is the boundary round about the people of Judah according to their families.


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According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephun'neh a portion among the people of Judah, Kir'iath-ar'ba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).


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And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, She'shai and Ahi'man and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.


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And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kir'iath-se'pher.


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And Caleb said, "Whoever smites Kir'iath-se'pher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife."


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And Oth'ni-el the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.


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When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field; and she alighted from her ass, and Caleb said to her, "What do you wish?"


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She said to him, "Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.


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The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme South, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,


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Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coast-line.


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But the Jeb'usites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out; so the Jeb'usites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.


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The allotment of the descendants of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel;


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then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japh'letites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-hor'on, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.


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The territory of the E'phraimites by their families was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was At'aroth-ad'dar as far as Upper Beth-hor'on,


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and the boundary goes thence to the sea; on the north is Mich-me'thath; then on the east the boundary turns round toward Ta'anath-shi'loh, and passes along beyond it on the east to Jan-o'ah,


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then it goes down from Jan-o'ah to At'aroth and to Na'arah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.


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From Tap'puah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah, and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the E'phraimites by their families,


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together with the towns which were set apart for the E'phraimites within the inheritance of the Manas'sites, all those towns with their villages.


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However they did not drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: so the Canaanites have dwelt in the midst of E'phraim to this day but have become slaves to do forced labor.


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Then allotment was made to the tribe of Manas'seh, for he was the first-born of Joseph. To Machir the first-born of Manas'seh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.


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And allotments were made to the rest of the tribe of Manas'seh, by their families, Abi-e'zer, Helek, As'ri-el, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemi'da; these were the male descendants of Manas'seh the son of Joseph, by their families.


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Now Zeloph'ehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manas'seh, had no sons, but only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


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They came before Elea'zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders, and said, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brethren." So according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.


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Thus there fell to Manas'seh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan;


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because the daughters of Manas'seh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the Manas'sites.


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The territory of Manas'seh reached from Asher to Mich-me'thath, which is east of Shechem; then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tap'puah.


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The land of Tap'puah belonged to Manas'seh, but the town of Tap'puah on the boundary of Manas'seh belonged to the sons of E'phraim.


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Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. The cities here, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manas'seh, belong to E'phraim. Then the boundary of Manas'seh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea;


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the land to the south being E'phraim's and that to the north being Manas'seh's, with the sea forming its boundary; on the north Asher is reached, and on the east Is'sachar.


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Also in Is'sachar and in Asher Manas'seh had Beth-she'an and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Ta'anach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megid'do and its villages; the third is Naphath.


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Yet the sons of Manas'seh could not take possession of those cities; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.


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But when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out.


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And the tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since hitherto the LORD has blessed me?"


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And Joshua said to them, "If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Per'izzites and the Reph'aim, since the hill country of E'phraim is too narrow for you."


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The tribe of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us; yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-she'an and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel."


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Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to E'phraim and Manas'seh, "You are a numerous people, and have great power; you shall not have one lot only,


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but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong."


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Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; the land lay subdued before them.


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There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned.


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So Joshua said to the people of Israel, "How long will you be slack to go in and take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?


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Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me.


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They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north.


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And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.


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The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manas'seh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them."


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So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, "Go up and down and write a description of the land, and come again to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh."


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So the men went and passed up and down in the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh,


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and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.


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The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph.


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On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-a'ven.


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From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (the same is Bethel), then the boundary goes down to At'aroth-ad'dar, upon the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-hor'on.


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Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-hor'on, and it ends at Kir'iath-ba'al (that is, Kir'iath-je'arim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side.


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And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kir'iath-je'arim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephto'ah;


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then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Reph'aim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jeb'usites, and downward to En-rogel;


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then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-she'mesh, and thence goes to Geli'loth, which is opposite the ascent of Adum'mim; then it goes down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben;


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then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.


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The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary round about.


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Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-ke'ziz,


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Zela, Ha-eleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gib'e-ah and Kir'iath-je'arim--fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.


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The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; and its inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.


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together with all the villages round about these cities as far as Ba'alath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families.


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The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.


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The third lot came up for the tribe of Zeb'ulun, according to its families. And the territory of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid;


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then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Mar'eal, and touches Dab'besheth, then the brook which is east of Jok'ne-am;


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from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chis'loth-ta'bor; thence it goes to Dab'erath, then up to Japhi'a;


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from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Ne'ah;


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This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zeb'ulun, according to its families--these cities with their villages.


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the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazu'mah, and Beth-she'mesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan--sixteen cities with their villages.


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This is the inheritance of the tribe of Is'sachar, according to its families--the cities with their villages.


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then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zeb'ulun and the valley of Iph'tahel northward to Beth-emek and Nei'el; then it continues in the north to Cabul,


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then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib,


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This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families--these cities with their villages.


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The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naph'tali, for the tribe of Naph'tali, according to its families.


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And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Za-anan'nim, and Ad'ami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan;


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then the boundary turns westward to Az'noth-tabor, and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zeb'ulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan.


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This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naph'tali according to its families--the cities with their villages.


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When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.


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This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families--these cities with their villages.


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When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.


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By command of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked, Tim'nath-se'rah in the hill country of E'phraim; and he rebuilt the city, and settled in it.


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These are the inheritances which Elea'zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.


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that the manslayer who kills any person without intent or unwittingly may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.


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He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain his case to the elders of that city; then they shall take him into the city, and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.


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And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the slayer into his hand; because he killed his neighbor unwittingly, having had no enmity against him in times past.


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And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may go again to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'"


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So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naph'tali, and Shechem in the hill country of E'phraim, and Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.


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And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manas'seh.


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These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel, and for the stranger sojourning among them, that any one who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.


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Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Elea'zar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel;


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and they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, "The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasture lands for our cattle."


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So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasture lands out of their inheritance.


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The lot came out for the families of the Ko'hathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.


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And the rest of the Ko'hathites received by lot from the families of the tribe of E'phraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manas'seh, ten cities.


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The Gersonites received by lot from the families of the tribe of Is'sachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naph'tali, and from the half-tribe of Manas'seh in Bashan, thirteen cities.


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The Merar'ites according to their families received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zeb'ulun, twelve cities.


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These cities and their pasture lands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.


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which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Ko'hathites who belonged to the Levites; since the lot fell to them first.


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They gave them Kir'iath-ar'ba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands round about it.


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But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephun'neh as his possession.


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And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands,


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A'in with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, Beth-she'mesh with its pasture lands--nine cities out of these two tribes;


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The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands.


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As to the rest of the Ko'hathites belonging to the Ko'hathite families of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of E'phraim.


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To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of E'phraim, Gezer with its pasture lands,


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and out of the half-tribe of Manas'seh, Ta'anach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rim'mon with its pasture lands--two cities.


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And to the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manas'seh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beesh'terah with its pasture lands--two cities;


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and out of the tribe of Is'sachar, Ki'shion with its pasture lands, Dab'erath with its pasture lands,


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and out of the tribe of Naph'tali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Ham'moth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands--three cities.


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The cities of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands.


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And to the rest of the Levites, the Merar'ite families, were given out of the tribe of Zeb'ulun, Jok'ne-am with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,


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and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahana'im with its pasture lands,


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As for the cities of the several Merar'ite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.


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The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.


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Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and having taken possession of it, they settled there.


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And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands.


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Not one of all the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.


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and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you;


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you have not forsaken your brethren these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God.


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And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your home in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.


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Take good care to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."


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Now to the one half of the tribe of Manas'seh Moses had given a possession in Bashan; but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brethren in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them,


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he said to them, "Go back to your homes with much wealth, and with very many cattle, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren."


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So the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas'seh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the LORD through Moses.


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And when they came to the region about the Jordan, that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas'seh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size.


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And the people of Israel heard say, "Behold, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas'seh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel."


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And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh, to make war against them.


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Then the people of Israel sent to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas'seh, in the land of Gilead, Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar the priest,


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and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.


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And they came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manas'seh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,


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"Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, `What is this treachery which you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD, by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD?


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Have we not had enough of the sin at Pe'or from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,


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that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you rebel against the LORD today he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow.


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But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the LORD's land where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us; only do not rebel against the LORD, or make us as rebels by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.


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Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.'"


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Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manas'seh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,


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"The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith toward the LORD, spare us not today


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for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or cereal offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance.


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Nay, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, `What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?


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For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no portion in the LORD.' So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD.


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but to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings; lest your children say to our children in time to come, "You have no portion in the LORD."'


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And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, `Behold the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.'


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Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, cereal offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!"


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When Phin'ehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manas'sites spoke, it pleased them well.


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And Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar the priest said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manas'sites, "Today we know that the LORD is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD; now you have saved the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD."


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Then Phin'ehas the son of Elea'zar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.


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And the report pleased the people of Israel; and the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them, to destroy the land where the Reubenites and the Gadites were settled.


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The Reubenites and the Gadites called the altar Witness; "For," said they, "it is a witness between us that the LORD is God."


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A long time afterward, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,


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Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders and heads, their judges and officers, and said to them, "I am now old and well advanced in years;


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and you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.


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Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west.


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The LORD your God will push them back before you, and drive them out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.


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Therefore be very steadfast to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left,


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that you may not be mixed with these nations left here among you, or make mention of the names of their gods, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow down yourselves to them,


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For the LORD has driven out before you great and strong nations; and as for you, no man has been able to withstand you to this day.


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One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, as he promised you.


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For if you turn back, and join the remnant of these nations left here among you, and make marriages with them, so that you marry their women and they yours,


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know assuredly that the LORD your God will not continue to drive out these nations before you; but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a scourge on your sides, and thorns in your eyes, till you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.


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"And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.


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But just as all the good things which the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you,


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if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you."


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Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.


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And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphra'tes, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.


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Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac;


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and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Se'ir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.


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And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it; and afterwards I brought you out.


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Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.


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And when they cried to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt; and you lived in the wilderness a long time.


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Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.


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Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and invited Balaam the son of Be'or to curse you,


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And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Gir'gashites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites; and I gave them into your hand.


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And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.


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I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant.'


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"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.


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And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."


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for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;


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and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."


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But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.


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If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good."


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Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses."


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He said, "Then put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel."


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So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.


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And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the LORD.


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And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the LORD which he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God."


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After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old.


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And they buried him in his own inheritance at Tim'nath-se'rah, which is in the hill country of E'phraim, north of the mountain of Ga'ash.


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And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work which the LORD did for Israel.


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The bones of Joseph which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.


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And Elea'zar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gib'e-ah, the town of Phin'ehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of E'phraim.


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After the death of Joshua the people of Israel inquired of the LORD,of "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"


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And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him.


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Then Judah went up and the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Per'izzites into their hand; and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek.


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They came upon Ado'ni-be'zek at Bezek, and fought against him, and defeated the Canaanites and the Per'izzites.


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Ado'ni-be'zek fled; but they pursued him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes.


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And Ado'ni-be'zek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their great toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has requited me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.


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And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.


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And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland.


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And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kir'iath-ar'ba); and they defeated She'shai and Ahi'man and Talmai.


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From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kir'iath-se'pher.


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And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kir'iath-se'pher and takes it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as wife."


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And Oth'ni-el the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.


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And the descendants of the Ken'ite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad; and they went and settled with the people.


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And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah.


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Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ash'kelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.


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And the LORD was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron.


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But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jeb'usites who dwelt in Jerusalem; so the Jeb'usites have dwelt with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


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And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Pray, show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you."


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And he showed them the way into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.


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And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day.


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Manas'seh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she'an and its villages, or Ta'a-nach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megid'do and its villages; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.


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When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.


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And E'phraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.


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Zeb'ulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Na'halol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became subject to forced labor.


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Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob;


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but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.


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Naph'tali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she'mesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-she'mesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.


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The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain;


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the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Har-heres, in Ai'jalon, and in Sha-al'bim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily upon them, and they became subject to forced labor.


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Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you,


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and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my command. What is this you have done?


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So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you."


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When the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.


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When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land.


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And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work which the LORD had done for Israel.


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And they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Tim'nath-he'res, in the hill country of E'phraim, north of the mountain of Ga'ash.


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And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them, who did not know the LORD or the work which he had done for Israel.


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and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.


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So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them; and he sold them into the power of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.


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Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them; and they were in sore straits.


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And yet they did not listen to their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed down to them; they soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so.


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Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.


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But whenever the judge died, they turned back and behaved worse than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them; they did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.


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So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel; and he said, "Because this people have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not obeyed my voice,


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that by them I may test Israel, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not."


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So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out at once, and he did not give them into the power of Joshua.


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Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had no experience of any war in Canaan;


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it was only that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, that he might teach war to such at least as had not known it before.


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These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sido'nians, and the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Ba'al-her'mon as far as the entrance of Hamath.


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They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.


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So the people of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites;


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and they took their daughters to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons; and they served their gods.


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And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, forgetting the LORD their God, and serving the Ba'als and the Ashe'roth.


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Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cu'shan-rishatha'im king of Mesopota'mia; and the people of Israel served Cu'shan-rishatha'im eight years.


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But when the people of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who delivered them, Oth'ni-el the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.


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The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel; he went out to war, and the LORD gave Cu'shan-rishatha'im king of Mesopota'mia into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cu'shan-rishatha'im.


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And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.


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He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amal'ekites, and went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms.


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But when the people of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab.


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And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it on his right thigh under his clothes.


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And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute.


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But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he commanded, "Silence." And all his attendants went out from his presence.


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And Ehud came to him, as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And he arose from his seat.


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And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly;


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and the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out.


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Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof chamber upon him, and locked them.


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When he had gone, the servants came; and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, "He is only relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber."


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And they waited till they were utterly at a loss; but when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them; and there lay their lord dead on the floor.


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When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of E'phraim; and the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head.


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And he said to them, "Follow after me; for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand." So they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and allowed not a man to pass over.


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And they killed at that time about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.


text:
After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad; and he too delivered Israel.


text:
And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sis'era, who dwelt in Haro'sheth-ha-goiim.


text:
Then the people of Israel cried to the LORD for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.


text:
She used to sit under the palm of Deb'orah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of E'phraim; and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.


text:
She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abin'o-am from Kedesh in Naph'tali, and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, `Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand from the tribe of Naph'tali and the tribe of Zeb'ulun.


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And I will draw out Sis'era, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.'"


text:
Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go."


text:
And she said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sis'era into the hand of a woman." Then Deb'orah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.


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And Barak summoned Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali to Kedesh; and ten thousand men went up at his heels; and Deb'orah went up with him.


text:
Now Heber the Ken'ite had separated from the Ken'ites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Za-anan'nim, which is near Kedesh.


text:
Sis'era called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Haro'sheth-ha-goiim to the river Kishon.


text:
And Deb'orah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sis'era into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.


text:
And the LORD routed Sis'era and all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the sword; and Sis'era alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.


text:
And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Haro'sheth-ha-goiim, and all the army of Sis'era fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.


text:
But Sis'era fled away on foot to the tent of Ja'el, the wife of Heber the Ken'ite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Ken'ite.


text:
And Ja'el came out to meet Sis'era, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.


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And he said to her, "Pray, give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.


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And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, `Is any one here?' say, No."


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But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.


text:
And behold, as Barak pursued Sis'era, Ja'el went out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." So he went in to her tent; and there lay Sis'era dead, with the tent peg in his temple.


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And the hand of the people of Israel bore harder and harder on Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.


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"That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!


text:
"Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing, I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.


text:
"LORD, when thou didst go forth from Se'ir, when thou didst march from the region of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, yea, the clouds dropped water.


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"In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Ja'el, caravans ceased and travelers kept to the byways.


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When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel?


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My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the LORD.


text:
To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the triumphs of the LORD, the triumphs of his peasantry in Israel. "Then down to the gates marched the people of the LORD.


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"Awake, awake, Deb'orah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abin'o-am.


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Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for him against the mighty.


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From E'phraim they set out thither into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zeb'ulun those who bear the marshal's staff;


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the princes of Is'sachar came with Deb'orah, and Is'sachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed forth at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.


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Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.


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Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, settling down by his landings.


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Zeb'ulun is a people that jeoparded their lives to the death; Naph'tali too, on the heights of the field.


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"The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Ta'anach, by the waters of Megid'do; they got no spoils of silver.


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The torrent Kishon swept them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might!


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"Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.


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"Most blessed of women be Ja'el, the wife of Heber the Ken'ite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed.


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She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sis'era a blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.


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He sank, he fell, he lay still at her feet; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.


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"Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sis'era gazed through the lattice: `Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?'


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`Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?--A maiden or two for every man; spoil of dyed stuffs for Sis'era, spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for my neck as spoil?'


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"So perish all thine enemies, O LORD! But thy friends be like the sun as he rises in his might." And the land had rest for forty years.


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The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of Mid'ian seven years.


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And the hand of Mid'ian prevailed over Israel; and because of Mid'ian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves and the strongholds.


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For whenever the Israelites put in seed the Mid'ianites and the Amal'ekites and the people of the East would come up and attack them;


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they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or ass.


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For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, coming like locusts for number; both they and their camels could not be counted; so that they wasted the land as they came in.


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And Israel was brought very low because of Mid'ian; and the people of Israel cried for help to the LORD.


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the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel; and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage;


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and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and gave you their land;


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and I said to you, `I am the LORD your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.' But you have not given heed to my voice."


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Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites.


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And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor."


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And Gideon said to him, "Pray, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, `Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid'ian."


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And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid'ian; do not I send you?"


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And he said to him, "Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas'seh, and I am the least in my family."


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And he said to him, "If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me.


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Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring out my present, and set it before thee." And he said, "I will stay till you return."


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So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.


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And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so.


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Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.


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Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face."


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Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.


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That night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Ba'al which your father has, and cut down the Ashe'rah that is beside it;


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and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Ashe'rah which you shall cut down."


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So Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.


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When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba'al was broken down, and the Ashe'rah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered upon the altar which had been built.


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And they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And after they had made search and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Jo'ash has done this thing."


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Then the men of the town said to Jo'ash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Ba'al and cut down the Ashe'rah beside it."


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But Jo'ash said to all who were arrayed against him, "Will you contend for Ba'al? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down."


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Therefore on that day he was called Jerubba'al, that is to say, "Let Ba'al contend against him," because he pulled down his altar.


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Then all the Mid'ianites and the Amal'ekites and the people of the East came together, and crossing the Jordan they encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.


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But the Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiez'rites were called out to follow him.


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And he sent messengers throughout all Manas'seh; and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zeb'ulun, and Naph'tali; and they went up to meet them.


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behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that thou wilt deliver Israel by my hand, as thou hast said."


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And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.


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Then Gideon said to God, "Let not thy anger burn against me, let me speak but this once; pray, let me make trial only this once with the fleece; pray, let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew."


text:
Then Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Mid'ian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.


text:
The LORD said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Mid'ianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, `My own hand has delivered me.'


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Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, `Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.'" And Gideon tested them; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.


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And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; take them down to the water and I will test them for you there; and he of whom I say to you, `This man shall go with you,' shall go with you; and any of whom I say to you, `This man shall not go with you,' shall not go."


text:
So he brought the people down to the water; and the LORD said to Gideon, "Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink."


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And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.


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And the LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Mid'ianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home."


text:
So he took the jars of the people from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Mid'ian was below him in the valley.


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That same night the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand.


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and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp.


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And the Mid'ianites and the Amal'ekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude.


text:
When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Mid'ian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat."


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And his comrade answered, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Jo'ash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Mid'ian and all the host."


text:
When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise; for the LORD has given the host of Mid'ian into your hand."


text:
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars.


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And he said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.


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When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, `For the LORD and for Gideon.'"


text:
So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.


text:
And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!"


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They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the army ran; they cried out and fled.


text:
When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shit'tah toward Zer'erah, as far as the border of A'bel-meho'lah, by Tabbath.


text:
And the men of Israel were called out from Naph'tali and from Asher and from all Manas'seh, and they pursued after Mid'ian.


text:
And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of E'phraim, saying, "Come down against the Mid'ianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-bar'ah, and also the Jordan." So all the men of E'phraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-bar'ah, and also the Jordan.


text:
And they took the two princes of Mid'ian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Mid'ian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.


text:
And the men of E'phraim said to him, "What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with Mid'ian?" And they upbraided him violently.


text:
And he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of E'phraim better than the vintage of Abi-e'zer?


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God has given into your hands the princes of Mid'ian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him was abated, when he had said this.


text:
And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing.


text:
So he said to the men of Succoth, "Pray, give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmun'na, the kings of Mid'ian."


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And the officials of Succoth said, "Are Zebah and Zalmun'na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"


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And Gideon said, "Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmun'na into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers."


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And from there he went up to Penu'el, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penu'el answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.


text:
Now Zebah and Zalmun'na were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.


text:
And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jog'behah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard.


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And Zebah and Zalmun'na fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Mid'ian, Zebah and Zalmun'na, and he threw all the army into a panic.


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And he caught a young man of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.


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And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmun'na, about whom you taunted me, saying, `Are Zebah and Zalmun'na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?'"


text:
And he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth.


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Then he said to Zebah and Zalmun'na, "Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king."


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And he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you."


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And he said to Jether his first-born, "Rise, and slay them." But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.


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Then Zebah and Zalmun'na said, "Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength." And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmun'na; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.


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Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Mid'ian."


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Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you."


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And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ish'maelites.)


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And they answered, "We will willingly give them." And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil.


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And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Mid'ian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels.


text:
And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.


text:
So Mid'ian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.


text:
And Gideon the son of Jo'ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo'ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez'rites.


text:
As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Ba'als, and made Ba'al-be'rith their god.


text:
And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side;


text:
and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba'al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.


text:
Now Abim'elech the son of Jerubba'al went to Shechem to his mother's kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,


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"Say in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, `Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubba'al rule over you, or that one rule over you?' Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh."


text:
And his mother's kinsmen spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the men of Shechem; and their hearts inclined to follow Abim'elech, for they said, "He is our brother."


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And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Ba'al-be'rith with which Abim'elech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.


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And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba'al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba'al was left, for he hid himself.


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And all the citizens of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abim'elech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.


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When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Ger'izim, and cried aloud and said to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.


text:
The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, `Reign over us.'


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But the olive tree said to them, `Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?'


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But the fig tree said to them, `Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?'


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But the vine said to them, `Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?'


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And the bramble said to the trees, `If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'


text:
"Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abim'elech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubba'al and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved--


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and you have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abim'elech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman--


text:
if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubba'al and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abim'elech, and let him also rejoice in you;


text:
but if not, let fire come out from Abim'elech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abim'elech."


text:
And God sent an evil spirit between Abim'elech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abim'elech;


text:
that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubba'al might come and their blood be laid upon Abim'elech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.


text:
And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abim'elech.


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And Ga'al the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his kinsmen; and the men of Shechem put confidence in him.


text:
And they went out into the field, and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and reviled Abim'elech.


text:
And Ga'al the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abim'elech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubba'al and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him?


text:
Would that this people were under my hand! then I would remove Abim'elech. I would say to Abim'elech, `Increase your army, and come out.'"


text:
And he sent messengers to Abim'elech at Aru'mah, saying, "Behold, Ga'al the son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you.


text:
Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers."


