# verses

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The priest will then take fresh water in an earthen jar, and on the water throw dust that he has taken from the floor of the Dwelling.


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After he has placed the woman before Yahweh, he will unbind her hair and put the commemorative cereal offering (that is, the cereal offering for a case of suspicion) into her hands. In his own hands the priest will hold the water of bitterness and cursing.


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"The priest will then put the woman on oath. He will say to her: If it is not true that a man has slept with you, that you have gone astray and made yourself unclean while under your husband's authority, may this water of bitterness and cursing do you no harm.


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But if it is true that you have gone astray while under your husband's authority, that you have made yourself unclean and that a man other than your husband has slept with you . . .


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Here the priest will impose an imprecatory oath on the woman. He will say to her: . . . May Yahweh make you the object of your people's execration and curses, by making your sexual organs shrivel and your belly swell!


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May this water of cursing entering your bowels, make your belly swell and your sexual organs shrivel! To which the woman will reply: Amen! Amen!


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the priest will make the woman drink the water of bitterness and cursing; when the water of cursing enters into her, it will become bitter.


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"The priest will then take the cereal offering for a case of suspicion from the woman's hands, and hold it up before Yahweh with a gesture of offering, and so carry it up to the altar.


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He will take a handful of it as a memorial and burn it on the altar. "After this, he will make the woman drink the water.


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After he has made her drink it, if it is true that she has made herself unclean and been unfaithful to her husband, the water of cursing then entering into her will indeed be bitter: her belly will swell and her sexual organs shrivel, and she will be an object of execration to her people.


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But if she has not made herself unclean, but is clean, then she will go unscathed and will bear children.


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"Such is the ritual in cases of suspicion, when a woman has gone astray and made herself unclean while under her husband's authority,


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or when a spirit of suspicion has come over a man and made him suspicious of his wife. When a husband brings such a woman before Yahweh, the priest will apply this ritual to her in full.


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'Speak to the Israelites and say: "If a man or a woman wishes to make a vow, the nazirite vow, to vow himself to Yahweh,


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he will abstain from wine and fermented liquor, he will not drink vinegar derived from one or the other, he will not drink grape-juice or eat grapes, be they fresh or dried.


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For the duration of his vow he will eat nothing that comes from the vine, not even juice of unripe grapes or skins of grapes.


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As long as he is bound by his vow, no razor will touch his head; until the time for which he has vowed himself to Yahweh is completed, he remains consecrated and will let his hair grow freely.


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he will not make himself unclean for his father or his mother, or his brother or his sister, should they die, since on his head he carries his vow to his God.


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"If anyone suddenly dies near him, making his vowed hair unclean, he will shave his head on the day he is purified, he will shave his head on the seventh day.


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On the eighth day, he will bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.


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The priest will offer one as a sacrifice for sin, and the other as a burnt offering and will then perform for the person the rite of expiation for the pollution which he has contracted from the corpse. He will consecrate his head that same day;


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he will vow himself to Yahweh for the period of his nazirate, and will bring a male yearling lamb as a sacrifice of reparation. The time already spent will not count, since his hair had become unclean.


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"This is the ritual for the nazirite on the day when the period of his vow is completed. He will be led to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,


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bringing his offering to Yahweh: an unblemished male yearling lamb as a burnt offering, an unblemished yearling ewe lamb as a sacrifice for sin, an unblemished ram as a peace offering,


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and a basket of unleavened loaves made of fine flour mixed with oil, and of unleavened wafers spread with oil, with the cereal offerings and libations appropriate to them.


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The priest, having brought all this before Yahweh, will offer the nazirite's sin sacrifice and burnt offering.


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The latter will then offer the ram as a communion sacrifice with the basket of unleavened bread, and the priest will offer the accompanying cereal offering and libation.


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The nazirite will then shave off his vowed hair at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and, taking the locks of his vowed head, he will put them in the fire of the communion sacrifice.


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The priest will take the shoulder of the ram, as soon as it is cooked, with an unleavened cake from the basket, and an unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the nazirite once he has shaved off his hair.


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With these he will make the gesture of offering before Yahweh; as it is a holy thing, it reverts to the priest, in addition to the forequarter that has been presented and the thigh that has been set aside. After this, the nazirite may drink wine.


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"Such is the ritual for the nazirite. If, besides his hair, he has also vowed a personal offering to Yahweh, he will (apart from anything else that his means allow) fulfil the vow that he has made, in addition to what the ritual prescribes for his hair." '


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On the day Moses finished erecting the Dwelling, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furniture, as well as the altar and all its equipment. When he had anointed and consecrated it all,


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the leaders of Israel made an offering; they were the heads of their families, the tribal leaders who had presided over the census.


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They brought their offering before Yahweh: six covered wagons and twelve oxen, one wagon for every two leaders and one ox each. They brought them in front of the Dwelling.


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'Accept these from them, and let them be set apart for the service of the Tent of Meeting. You will give them to the Levites, to each as his duties require.'


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To the Merarites he gave four wagons and eight oxen for the duties they had to perform under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.


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But to the Kohathites he gave none at all, because the sacred charge entrusted to them had to be carried on their shoulders.


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The leaders then made an offering for the dedication of the altar, on the day it was anointed. They brought their offering before the altar,


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and Yahweh said to Moses, 'Each day one of the leaders must bring his offering for the dedication of the altar.'


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His offering consisted of: one silver bowl weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels (sanctuary shekels), both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal offering,


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Nahshon son of Amminadab.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Nethanel son of Zuar.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Elizur son of Shedeur.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Eliasaph son of Reuel.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Elishama son of Ammihud.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.


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His offering consisted of: one silver bowl weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, one sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels (sanctuary shekels), both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal offering,


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Pagiel son of Ochran.


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and two bulls, five rams, five he-goats and five male yearling lambs as a communion sacrifice. Such was the offering of Ahira son of Enan.


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Such were the offerings made by the leaders of Israel for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed: twelve silver bowls, twelve silver sprinkling bowls, and twelve golden bowls.


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Each silver bowl weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each sprinkling bowl seventy, the silver of these objects weighing in all two thousand four hundred sanctuary shekels.


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The twelve golden bowls full of incense each weighed ten shekels (sanctuary shekels), the gold of these bowls weighing in all a hundred and twenty shekels.


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The sum total of animals for the burnt offering: twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male yearling lambs, with their cereal offerings. For the sacrifice for sin, twelve he-goats.


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The sum total of animals for the communion sacrifice: twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty he-goats and sixty male yearling lambs. Such were the offerings for the dedication of the altar, after it had been anointed.


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When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with him, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy-seat on the ark of the Testimony, from between the two great winged creatures. He then spoke to him.


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'Speak to Aaron and say, "When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps must throw their light towards the front of the lamp-stand." '


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This lamp-stand was worked in beaten gold, including its stem and its petals, which were also of beaten gold. This lamp-stand had been made according to the pattern Yahweh had shown to Moses.


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This is how you must purify them: you will sprinkle them with purifying water, and they will shave their bodies all over and wash their clothes. They will then be clean.


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They will then take a young bull, with the accompanying cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you will take a second young bull for a sacrifice for sin.


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You will then bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting, and assemble the whole community of Israelites.


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Aaron will then offer the Levites, making the gesture of offering before Yahweh on behalf of the Israelites, admitting them to Yahweh's service.


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'The Levites will then lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, one of which you will offer as a sacrifice for sin, and the other as a burnt offering to Yahweh, to perform the rite of expiation for the Levites.


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Having brought the Levites before Aaron and his sons, you will present them to Yahweh with the gesture of offering.


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The Levites will then begin their ministry in the Tent of Meeting. 'You will purify them and offer them with the gesture of offering


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because, of the Israelites, they have been dedicated to me in place of all those who first emerge from the womb, instead of the first-born; of all the Israelites, I have taken them for my own.


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For all the first-born of the Israelites, whether human or animal, do indeed belong to me: the day I struck down all the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated them to myself,


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Of the Israelites, I give the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as dedicated men, to minister in the Tent of Meeting on behalf of the Israelites and perform the rite of expiation for them, so that no disaster befalls the Israelites when the Israelites come close to the sanctuary.'


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Moses, Aaron and the whole community of Israelites dealt with the Levites exactly as Yahweh had ordered Moses concerning them; this is what the Israelites did with them.


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The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them with the gesture of offering before Yahweh. He then performed the rite of expiation for them to purify them.


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The Levites were then allowed to perform their ministry in the Tent of Meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. As Yahweh had ordered Moses concerning the Levites, so it was done with them.


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'This concerns the Levites. From the age of twenty-five onwards, the Levite will exercise his ministry and do duty in the Tent of Meeting.


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but he will still help his brothers to assure the services in the Tent of Meeting, though he himself will no longer have any ministry. That is how you will act as regards the ministry of the Levites.'


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Yahweh spoke to Moses, in the desert of Sinai, in the second year after the exodus from Egypt, in the first month, and said:


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The fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, is the time appointed for you to keep it. You will keep it with all the laws and customs proper to it.'


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They kept it, in the desert of Sinai, in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight. The Israelites did everything as Yahweh had ordered Moses.


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It happened that some men had become unclean by touching a dead body; they could not keep the Passover that day. They came the same day to Moses and Aaron,


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and said, 'We have become unclean by touching a dead body. Why should we be excluded from bringing an offering to Yahweh at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites?'


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'Speak to the Israelites and say: "Any of you or your descendants who becomes unclean by touching a dead body, or is away on a long journey, can still keep a Passover for Yahweh.


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Such persons will keep it in the second month, on the fourteenth day, at twilight. They will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;


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nothing of it must be left over until morning, nor will they break any of its bones. They will keep it, following the entire Passover ritual.


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But anyone who is clean, or who is not on a journey, but fails to keep the Passover, such a person will be outlawed from his people. For not having brought the offering to Yahweh at its appointed time, the person will bear the consequences of the sin.


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"A resident alien who keeps a Passover for Yahweh, will keep it in accordance with the ritual and customs of the Passover. You will have one law for alien and citizen alike." '


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On the day the Dwelling was erected, the cloud covered the Dwelling, the Tent of the Testimony. From nightfall until morning it remained over the Dwelling looking like fire.


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Whenever the cloud rose from the Tent, the Israelites broke camp, and wherever the cloud halted, there the Israelites pitched camp.


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At Yahweh's order, the Israelites set out and, at Yahweh's order, the Israelites pitched camp. They remained in camp for as long as the cloud rested on the Dwelling.


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If the cloud stayed for many days on the Dwelling, the Israelites performed their duty to Yahweh and did not set out.


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But if the cloud happened to stay for only a few days on the Dwelling, just as they had pitched camp at Yahweh's order, at Yahweh's order they set out.


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If the cloud happened to remain only from evening to morning, they set out when it lifted the next morning. Or, if it stayed for a whole day and night, they set out only when it lifted.


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Sometimes it stayed there for two days, a month, or a longer time; however long the cloud rested on the Dwelling, the Israelites remained in camp, and when it lifted they set out.


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At Yahweh's order they pitched camp, and at Yahweh's order they set out. They performed their duty to Yahweh, as Yahweh had ordered through Moses.


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'Make yourself two trumpets; make them of beaten silver, so that you can use them for summoning the community, and for sounding the order to break camp.


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Whenever they are sounded, the whole community must gather round you, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.


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But if only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders, the heads of Israel's thousands, must gather round you.


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'When the trumpet blast is accompanied by a battle cry, the encampments pitched to the east will set out.


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At the second blast accompanied by a battle cry, the encampments pitched to the south will set out. For breaking camp, the trumpet blast will be accompanied by a battle cry,


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The Aaronite priests will sound the trumpets; this is a perpetual decree for you and your descendants.


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'When in your country you go to war against an enemy who is oppressing you, you will sound trumpets with a battle cry, and Yahweh your God will remember you, and you will be delivered from your enemies.


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At your festivals, solemnities and new-moon feasts, you will sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and communion sacrifices, so that they recall you to the remembrance of your God. I am Yahweh your God.'


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In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud rose from where the Dwelling of the Testimony was,


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and the Israelites set out, in marching order, from the desert of Sinai. The cloud came to rest in the desert of Paran.


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first went the standard of the camp of the Judahites and their units, with Nahshon son of Amminadab commanding that contingent;


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Then came the standard of the camp of the Reubenites and their units, with Elizur son of Shedeur commanding that contingent;


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Then came the standard of the camp of the Ephraimites and their units, with Elishama son of Ammihud commanding that contingent;


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Last of all, the rearguard of all the camps, came the standard of the camp of the Danites and their units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai commanding that contingent;


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Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, his father-in-law, 'We are setting out for the country of which Yahweh has said: I shall give it to you. Come with us, and we will treat you well, for Yahweh has promised good things for Israel.'


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'Do not leave us,' Moses said, 'for you know where we can camp in the desert, and so you will be our eyes.


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They set out from Yahweh's mountain and travelled for three days, while the ark of the covenant of Yahweh preceded them on the three-day journey, searching out a place for them to halt.


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Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say: Rise, Yahweh, may your enemies be scattered and those who hate you flee at your approach!


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Now the people began to complain, which was offensive to Yahweh's ears. When Yahweh heard, his anger was aroused and the fire of Yahweh broke out among them; it devoured one end of the camp.


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The rabble who had joined the people were feeling the pangs of hunger, and the Israelites began to weep again. 'Who will give us meat to eat?' they said.


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The people went round gathering it, and ground it in a mill or crushed it with a pestle; it was then cooked in a pot and made into pancakes. It tasted like cake made with oil.


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Moses heard the people weeping, each family at the door of its tent. Yahweh's anger was greatly aroused; Moses too found it disgraceful,


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and he said to Yahweh: 'Why do you treat your servant so badly? In what respect have I failed to win your favour, for you to lay the burden of all these people on me?


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Was it I who conceived all these people, was I their father, for you to say to me, "Carry them in your arms, like a foster-father carrying an unweaned child, to the country which I swore to give their fathers"?


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Where am I to find meat to give all these people, pestering me with their tears and saying, "Give us meat to eat"?


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If this is how you mean to treat me, please kill me outright! If only I could win your favour and be spared the sight of my misery!'


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'Collect me seventy of the elders of Israel, men you know to be the people's elders and scribes. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting, and let them stand beside you there.


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I shall come down and talk to you there and shall take some of the spirit which is on you and put it on them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you, and you will no longer have to bear it on your own.


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'And say to the people, "Purify yourselves for tomorrow and you will have meat to eat, since you have wept in Yahweh's hearing, saying: Who will give us meat to eat? How happy we were in Egypt! Very well, Yahweh will give you meat to eat.


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but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and sickens you, since you have rejected Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before him saying: Why did we ever leave Egypt?" '


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Moses said, 'The people round me number six hundred thousand foot soldiers, and you say, "I shall give them meat to eat for a whole month"!


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If all the flocks and herds were slaughtered, would that be enough for them? If all the fish in the seas were collected, would that be enough for them?'


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'Is the arm of Yahweh so short? You shall see whether the promise I have made to you comes true or not.'


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Moses went out and told the people what Yahweh had said. Then he collected seventy of the people's elders and stationed them round the Tent.


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Yahweh descended in the cloud. He spoke to him and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the spirit came on them they prophesied -- but only once.


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Two men had stayed back in the camp; one was called Eldad and the other Medad. The spirit came down on them; though they had not gone to the Tent, their names were enrolled among the rest. These began to prophesy in the camp.


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Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses since he was a boy, spoke up and said, 'My lord Moses, stop them!'


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Moses replied, 'Are you jealous on my account? If only all Yahweh's people were prophets, and Yahweh had given them his spirit!'


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A wind, sent by Yahweh, started blowing from the sea bringing quails which it deposited on the camp. They lay for a distance of a day's march either side of the camp, two cubits thick on the ground.


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The people were up all that day and night and all the next day collecting quails: the least gathered by anyone was ten homer; then they spread them out round the camp.


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The meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed, when Yahweh's anger was aroused by the people. Yahweh struck them with a very great plague.


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The name given to this place was Kibroth-ha-Taavah, because it was there that they buried the people who had indulged their greed.


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Miriam, and Aaron too, criticised Moses over the Cushite woman he had married. He had indeed married a Cushite woman.


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They said, 'Is Moses the only one through whom Yahweh has spoken? Has he not spoken through us too?' Yahweh heard this.


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Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, 'Come out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.' They went, all three of them,


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and Yahweh descended in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tent. He called Aaron and Miriam and they both came forward.


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Yahweh said: Listen to my words! if there is a prophet among you, I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak to him in a dream.


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to him I speak face to face, plainly and not in riddles, and he sees Yahweh's form. How, then, could you dare to criticise my servant Moses?


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and as soon as the cloud left the Tent, there was Miriam covered with a virulent skin-disease, white as snow! Aaron turned to look at her and saw that she had contracted a virulent skin-disease.


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Aaron said to Moses: 'Oh, my Lord, please do not punish us for the sin we have been foolish enough to commit.


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Do not let her be like some monster with its flesh half eaten away when it leaves its mother's womb!'


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Yahweh then said to Moses, 'If her father had done no more than spit in her face, would she not be unclean for seven days? Have her shut out of the camp for seven days, and then have her brought in again.'


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'Send out men, one from each tribe, to reconnoitre the land of Canaan which I am giving the Israelites. Each of them is to be a leading man of the tribe.'


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At Yahweh's order, Moses sent them from the desert of Paran. All of them were leading men of Israel.


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Such were the names of the men whom Moses sent to reconnoitre the country. Moses then gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.


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Moses sent them to reconnoitre the land of Canaan, 'Go up into the Negeb,' he said, 'then go up into the highlands.


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See what sort of country it is, and what sort of people the inhabitants are, whether they are strong or weak, few or many,


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what sort of land they live on, whether it is good or poor; what sort of towns they live in, whether they are open or fortified;


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what sort of land it is, fertile or barren, wooded or open. Be bold, and bring back some of the country's produce.' It was the season for early grapes.


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They went up by way of the Negeb as far as Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the Anakim, lived. (Hebron was founded seven years before Tanis in Egypt.)


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Reaching the Vale of Eshcol, there they lopped off a vine branch with a cluster of grapes, which two of them carried away on a pole, as well as pomegranates and figs.


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Making their way to Moses, Aaron and the whole community of Israel, in the desert of Paran, at Kadesh, they made their report to them and the whole community, and displayed the country's produce.


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This was the report they gave: 'We made our way into the country where you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey; here is what it produces.


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At the same time, its inhabitants are a powerful people; the towns are fortified and very big; yes, and we saw the Anakim there.


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The Amalekites occupy the Negeb area, the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites the highlands, and the Canaanites the sea coast and the banks of the Jordan.'


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Caleb called the people round Moses to silence and then said, 'We must march in immediately and take it; we are certainly able to conquer it.'


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But the men who had been with him said, 'We cannot attack these people; they are stronger than we are.'


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And they began disparaging to the Israelites the country they had reconnoitred, saying, 'The country we have been to reconnoitre is a country that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were of enormous size.


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We saw giants there too (the Anakim, descended from the Giants). We felt like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.'


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All the Israelites muttered at Moses and Aaron, and the whole community said to them, 'Would to God we had died in Egypt, or even that we had died in this desert!


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Why has Yahweh brought us to this country, for us to perish by the sword and our wives and children to be seized as booty? Should we not do better to go back to Egypt?'


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At this, Moses and Aaron threw themselves on their faces in front of the whole assembled community of Israelites,


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while Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the men who had reconnoitred the country, tore their clothes


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and addressed the whole community of Israelites as follows, 'The country we went to reconnoitre is a good country, an excellent country.


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If Yahweh is pleased with us, he will lead us into this country and give it to us. It is a country flowing with milk and honey.


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But do not rebel against Yahweh or be afraid of the people of the country, for we shall gobble them up. Their protecting shade has deserted them, while we have Yahweh on our side. Do not be afraid of them.'


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The whole community was talking of stoning them, when the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the Israelites, inside the Tent of Meeting,


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and Yahweh said to Moses: 'How much longer will these people treat me with contempt? How much longer will they refuse to trust me, in spite of all the signs I have displayed among them?


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I shall strike them with pestilence and disown them. And of you I shall make a new nation, greater and mightier than they are.'


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Moses said to Yahweh: 'Suppose the Egyptians hear about this -- for by your power you brought these people out of their country-


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and tell the people living in this country. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are with this people, and that you, Yahweh, show yourself to them face to face; that your cloud stands over them and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.


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If you kill this people now as though it were one man, then the nations who have heard about you will say,


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"Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the country which he had sworn to give them, and so he has slaughtered them in the desert."


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"Yahweh, slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving faults and transgression, and yet letting nothing go unchecked, punishing the parents' guilt in the children to the third and fourth generation."


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In your most faithful love, please forgive this people's guilt, as you have done from Egypt until now.'


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of all these people who have seen my glory and the signs that I worked in Egypt and in the desert, who have put me to the test ten times already and not obeyed my voice,


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not one shall see the country which I promised to give their ancestors. Not one of those who have treated me contemptuously will see it.


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However, since my servant Caleb is of another spirit and since he has obeyed me completely, I shall bring him into the country where he has been, and his descendants will own it


text:
(the Amalekites and Canaanites occupy the plain). Tomorrow you will turn about and go back into the desert, in the direction of the Sea of Suph.'


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'How much longer am I to endure this perverse community muttering against me? I have heard what the Israelites mutter against me.


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In this desert your dead bodies will fall, all you who were counted in the census, from the age of twenty years and over who have muttered against me.


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I swear none of you will enter the country where I swore most solemnly to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.


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Your children, who you said would be seized as booty, will be the ones whom I shall bring in so that they get to know the country you disdained,


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and your children will be nomads in the desert for forty years, bearing the consequences of your faithlessness, until the last one of you lies dead in the desert.


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For forty days you reconnoitred the country. Each day will count as a year: for forty years you will bear the consequences of your guilt and learn what it means to reject me."


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I, Yahweh, have spoken: this is how I swear to treat this entire perverse community united against me. In this desert, to the last man, they shall die.'


text:
The men whom Moses had sent to reconnoitre the country and who on their return had incited the whole community of Israel to mutter about him by disparaging it,


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Of the men who had gone to reconnoitre the country, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were left alive.


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Early next morning they set out for the heights of the hill country saying, 'Look, we will set out for the place about which Yahweh said that we have sinned.'


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For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are ahead of you, and you will be put to the sword, since you have turned away from Yahweh, and Yahweh is not with you.'


text:
All the same, they presumptuously set off for the heights of the hill country. Neither the ark of the covenant of Yahweh nor Moses left the camp.


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The Amalekites and Canaanites living in those highlands then came down, defeated them and harried them all the way to Hormah.


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'Speak to the Israelites and say: "When you have arrived in the country where you are to live and which I am giving to you,


text:
and you burn food as an offering to Yahweh either as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice, whether in payment of a vow, or as a voluntary gift, or on the occasion of one of your solemn feasts, from your herds and flocks as a smell pleasing to Yahweh:


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the offerer will, as his personal gift to Yahweh, bring a cereal offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-quarter of a hin of oil.


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You will also make a libation of wine, one-quarter of a hin to each lamb, in addition to the burnt offering or sacrifice.


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For a ram, you will make a cereal offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-third of a hin of oil,


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If you offer a bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, in payment of a vow or as a communion sacrifice for Yahweh,


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in addition to the animal you will offer a cereal offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil,


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Whatever the number of victims you intend to offer, you will do the same for each of them, however many there are.


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"Every citizen of the country will act in this way whenever he offers food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh;


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and if an alien residing with you or with your descendants intends to offer food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, he will do as you do.


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There will be one law for you, members of the community, and the resident alien alike, a law binding your descendants for ever: before Yahweh you and the resident alien are no different.'


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You will set one cake aside as the first-fruits of your dough; you will set this offering aside like the one set aside from your threshing.


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(whatever orders Yahweh has given you or your descendants through Moses, from the day when Yahweh gave his orders),


text:
this is what must be done: "If it is an inadvertence on the part of the community, the community as a whole will offer a young bull as a burnt offering, as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, with the prescribed accompanying cereal offering and libation, and a he-goat as a sacrifice for sin.


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The priest will perform the rite of expiation for the entire community of Israelites, and they will be forgiven, since it was an inadvertence. Once they have brought their offering as food burnt for Yahweh, and have presented their sacrifice for sin before Yahweh to make amends for their inadvertence,


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the whole community of Israelites will be forgiven, as also the alien residing with them, since the entire people acted by inadvertence.


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"If it is an individual who has sinned by inadvertence, he will offer a yearling kid as a sacrifice for sin.


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The priest will perform the rite of expiation before Yahweh for the person who has gone astray owing to this sin of inadvertence and, expiation having been made for him, he will be forgiven;


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whether he is an Israelite citizen or a resident alien, you will have one law for anyone who sins by inadvertence.


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"But the individual who acts deliberately, be he citizen or alien, commits an outrage against Yahweh, and such a man will be outlawed from his people.


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Since he has treated Yahweh's word with contempt and has disobeyed his order, such a man will be outlawed absolutely and will bear the consequences of his guilt." '


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'This man must be put to death. The whole community will stone him outside the camp.'


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The whole community took him outside the camp and stoned him till he was dead, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.


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'Speak to the Israelites and tell them, for all generations to come, to put tassels on the hems of their clothes and work a violet thread into the tassel at the hem.


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You will thus have a tassel, and the sight of it will remind you of all Yahweh's orders and how you are to put them into practice, and not follow the dictates of your own heart and eyes, which have led you to be unfaithful.


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'This will remind you of all my orders; put them into practice, and you will be consecrated to your God.


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Now Korah son of Izhar, son of Kohath the Levite, and the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth were proud


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and rebelled against Moses with two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders of the community, prominent at the solemn feasts, men of repute.


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These banded together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, 'You take too much on yourselves! The whole community, all its members, are consecrated, and Yahweh lives among them. Why set yourselves higher than Yahweh's community?'


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Then he said to Korah and all in his party, 'Tomorrow morning Yahweh will reveal who is his, who the consecrated man whom he will allow to approach him. The one he allows to approach is the one whom he has chosen.


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put fire in them and put incense in them before Yahweh tomorrow, and the one whom Yahweh chooses will be the consecrated man. Levites, you take too much on yourselves!'


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Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has singled you out of the community of Israel, and called you to be near him, to serve in Yahweh's Dwelling and to represent the community by officiating on its behalf?


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He has called you to be near him, you and all your brother Levites with you, and now you want to be priests as well!


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For which reason, you and all in your party have banded together against Yahweh himself: for what is Aaron, that you should mutter against him?'


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Is it not enough for you to have brought us away from a country flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, without your making yourself our absolute ruler?


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What is more, you have not brought us to a country flowing with milk and honey and you have not given us fields and vineyards for our heritage. Do you think you can hoodwink these people? We will not come.'


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Moses flew into a rage and said to Yahweh, 'Disregard their cereal offering! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.'


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Moses said to Korah, 'You and all your party, come before Yahweh tomorrow, you and they, and Aaron too.


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Each will take his censer, put incense in it, and bring his censer before Yahweh -- two hundred and fifty censers. You and Aaron too will each bring his censer.'


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Each of them took his censer, put fire in it and placed incense on it, and stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron.


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Then, Korah having assembled the whole community to confront them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of Yahweh appeared to the whole community.


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They threw themselves on their faces and cried out, 'O God, God of the spirits that give life to every living thing, will you be angry with the whole community because one man has sinned?'


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He spoke to the community and said, 'Stand away, I tell you, from the tents of these sinners, and touch nothing that belongs to them, for fear that with all their sins you too will be swept away.'


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So they moved away from Korah's tent. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at their tent doors, with their wives, their sons and their little ones.


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Moses said, 'This is how you will know that Yahweh himself has sent me to perform all these tasks and that I am not doing them of my own accord.


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But if Yahweh does something utterly new, if the earth should open its mouth and swallow them and all their belongings, so that they go down alive to Sheol, then you will know that they held Yahweh in contempt.'


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the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their families, all Korah's people and all their property.


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They went down alive to Sheol with all their belongings. The earth closed over them and they disappeared in the middle of the community.


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At their cries, all the Israelites round them took to their heels, saying, 'We do not want the earth to swallow us too!'


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'Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pick the censers out of the smouldering remains and scatter the fire from them away from here,


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for these sinful censers have become sanctified at the price of human lives. Since they were brought before Yahweh and thus became consecrated, they must be hammered into sheets to cover the altar. They will be an object-lesson to the Israelites.'


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The priest Eleazar took the bronze censers which had been carried by the men destroyed by the fire. They were hammered into sheets to cover the altar.


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They are a reminder to the Israelites that no unauthorised person, no one not of Aaron's line, may approach and offer incense before Yahweh, on pain of suffering the fate of Korah and his party, as Yahweh had said through Moses.


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On the following day, the whole community of Israelites were muttering against Moses and Aaron and saying, 'You are responsible for killing Yahweh's people!'


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Now, as the community was banding together against Moses and Aaron, they turned towards the Tent of Meeting, and there was the cloud covering it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared.


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'Get away from this community. I am going to destroy them here and now.' They threw themselves on their faces.


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Moses then said to Aaron, 'Take a censer, put fire in it from the altar, place incense on it and hurry to the community to perform the rite of expiation for them: for retribution has come from Yahweh, plague has broken out.'


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Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the middle of the community, but plague had already broken out among the people. He put in the incense and performed the rite of expiation for the people.


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There were fourteen thousand seven hundred victims of the plague, apart from those who died because of Korah.


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'Tell the Israelites to give you a branch for each of their families, one for each leader of each family: twelve branches. Write the name of each on his branch;


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and on the branch of Levi write Aaron's name, since the head of the Levite families must have a branch too.


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You will then put them inside the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I make myself known to you.


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The man whose branch sprouts will be the one I have chosen; this is how I shall put an end to the mutterings of the Israelites about you.'


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Moses spoke to the Israelites, and all their leaders gave him one branch each, twelve branches in all for their families; Aaron's branch was among them.


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On the following day Moses went to the Tent of the Testimony and there, already sprouting, was Aaron's branch, representing the House of Levi; buds had formed, flowers had bloomed and almonds had already ripened.


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Moses then brought out all the branches from before Yahweh to all the Israelites; they examined them and each one took back his own branch.


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Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Put Aaron's branch back in front of the Testimony, where it will have its ritual place as a warning to the rebellious; thus you will rid me of their muttering for good, without their incurring death.'


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Anyone who approaches Yahweh's Dwelling with an offering will die. Are we to be doomed to the last man?'


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Yahweh then said to Aaron: 'You, your sons and your ancestor's line with you will be answerable for offences against the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will be answerable for the offences of your priesthood.


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You will admit your brothers of the branch of Levi, your ancestor's tribe, to join you and serve you, yourself and your sons, before the Tent of the Testimony.


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They must be at your service and the service of the whole Tent. Provided they do not come near the sacred vessels or the altar, they will be in no more danger of death than you.


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They must join you, they must take charge of the Tent of Meeting for the entire ministry of the Tent, and no unauthorised person will come near you.


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You will take charge of the sanctuary and charge of the altar, and retribution will never again befall the Israelites.


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Of the Israelites, I myself have chosen your brothers the Levites as a gift to you. As men dedicated, they will belong to Yahweh, to serve at the Tent of Meeting.


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You and your sons will undertake the priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and all that lies behind the curtain. You will perform the liturgy, the duties of which I entrust to your priesthood. But an unauthorised person approaching will incur death.'


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Yahweh said to Aaron: 'I myself have put you in charge of everything set aside for me. Everything consecrated by the Israelites I give to you and your sons as your portion by perpetual decree.


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Of the things especially holy, of the food offered, this is what will revert to you: every offering that the Israelites give back to me, whether it be a cereal offering, a sacrifice for sin or a sacrifice of reparation, is a thing especially holy and will revert to you and your sons.


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'To you will revert also whatever is set aside from the offerings of the Israelites, whatever is held out with the gesture of offering; this I give to you and your sons and daughters, by perpetual decree. All members of your household may eat it unless they are unclean.


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All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and wheat, these first-fruits offered by them to Yahweh I give to you.


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All the first produce of the country brought by them to Yahweh will revert to you. All members of your household may eat it unless they are unclean.


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Every first-born of all creatures brought to Yahweh, human or animal, will revert to you, but you will have to redeem the first-born of man; you will also redeem the first-born of an unclean animal.


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You will redeem it in the month in which it is born, valuing it at five shekels, at the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerah.


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But you will not redeem the first-born of cow, sheep and goat. They are holy: you will sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn the fat as food burnt to be a smell pleasing to Yahweh;


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the meat will revert to you, as will the forequarter that has been presented with the gesture of offering, and the right thigh.


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Everything the Israelites set aside for Yahweh from the holy things, I give to you and your sons and daughters, by perpetual decree. This is a covenant of salt for ever before Yahweh, for you and your descendants too.'


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Yahweh said to Aaron: 'You will have no heritage in their country, you will not have a portion like them; I shall be your portion and your heritage among the Israelites.


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'Look, as heritage I give the Levites all the tithes collected in Israel, in return for their services, for the ministry they render in the Tent of Meeting.


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Levi will discharge the duties of the Tent of Meeting, and the Levites will bear the consequences of their own guilt. This is a perpetual decree binding all your descendants: the Levites will have no heritage among the Israelites,


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for the tithe which the Israelites set aside for Yahweh is the heritage I have given the Levites. This is why I have told them that they will have no heritage among the Israelites.'


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'Speak to the Levites and say: "When from the Israelites you receive the tithe which I have given you from them as your heritage, you will set a portion of this aside for Yahweh: a tithe of the tithe.


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It will take the place of the portion set aside that is due from you, like the wheat from the threshing-floor and new wine from the press.


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Thus you too will set a portion aside for Yahweh out of all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. You will give what you have set aside for Yahweh to the priest Aaron.


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Out of all the gifts you receive, you will set a portion aside for Yahweh. Out of all these things, you will set aside the best, the sacred portion."


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'You will say to them, "After you have set the best aside, the remainder will take the place, in the Levites' case, of the produce of the threshing-floor and wine-press.


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You may consume this anywhere, you and the members of your households; this is your recompense for serving in the Tent of Meeting,


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and you will not incur sin by doing so, once you have set aside the best; you will not be profaning the things consecrated by the Israelites and will not incur death." '


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'This is a decree of the Law which Yahweh has prescribed. Tell the Israelites, they are to bring you a red heifer without fault or blemish that has never borne the yoke.


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You will give it to the priest Eleazar. It will then be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.


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The priest Eleazar will then take some of the victim's blood on his finger, and sprinkle this blood seven times towards the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.


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The priest will then take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet material and throw them on the fire where the heifer is burning.


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He will then wash his clothes and bathe himself; after which he will go back to the camp, though he will remain unclean until evening.


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The man who has burnt the heifer will wash his clothes and bathe himself and will remain unclean until evening.


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The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must be ritually clean; he will deposit them outside the camp, in a clean place. They will be kept for the ritual use of the Israelite community for making water for purification; it is a sacrifice for sin.


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The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer will wash his clothes and remain unclean until evening. For the Israelites as for the resident alien, this will be a perpetual decree.


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Such a person must be purified with these waters on the third and seventh day and will then be clean; otherwise he will not be clean.


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Anyone who touches the corpse of anyone who has died and is not purified, defiles Yahweh's Dwelling; such a person will be outlawed from Israel, since the water for purification has not been sprinkled over him; he is unclean, and his uncleanness remains in him.


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'This is the law when someone dies in a tent. Anyone who goes into the tent, or anyone who is already in it, will be unclean for seven days,


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'Anyone in the open country who touches a murder victim, a corpse, human bones or a grave will be unclean for seven days.


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'For someone thus unclean, some of the ashes of the victim burnt as a sacrifice for sin will be taken and spring water must be poured over them, in a vessel.


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Someone who is ritually clean will then take some hyssop and dip it in the water. This person will then sprinkle the tent, all the vessels and people who were there, and similarly anyone who has touched human bones, a murder victim, a corpse or a grave.


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On the third and the seventh day the clean one will sprinkle the unclean, who on the seventh day will be clean. The latter will then wash his clothes and bathe in water, and in the evening he will be clean.


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Anyone who fails to be purified in this way will be outlawed from the community, and would defile Yahweh's sanctuary. Such a person is unclean, not having been sprinkled with the water for purification.


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'This will be a perpetual decree for them. The person who sprinkles the water for purification will wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water for purification will be unclean until evening.


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Anything that an unclean person touches will be unclean, and anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening.'


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The Israelites, the whole community, arrived in the first month at the desert of Zin. The people settled at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.


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The people laid the blame on Moses. 'We would rather have died', they said, 'as our brothers died before Yahweh!


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Why did you lead us out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place? It is a place unfit for sowing, it has no figs, no vines, no pomegranates, and there is not even water to drink!'


text:
Leaving the assembly, Moses and Aaron went to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They threw themselves on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them.


text:
'Take the branch and call the community together, you and your brother Aaron. Then, in full view of them, order this rock to release its water. You will release water from the rock for them and provide drink for the community and their livestock.'


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Moses and Aaron then called the assembly together in front of the rock. He then said to them, 'Listen now, you rebels. Shall we make water gush from this rock for you?'


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Moses then raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the branch; water gushed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank.


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Yahweh then said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe that I could assert my holiness before the Israelites' eyes, you will not lead this assembly into the country which I am giving them.'


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These were the Waters of Meribah, where the Israelites laid the blame on Yahweh and where, by their means, he asserted his holiness.


text:
Moses sent messengers from Kadesh: 'To the king of Edom. Your brother Israel says this: You are aware of the great hardships we have encountered.


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Our ancestors went down to Egypt and there we stayed for a long time. But the Egyptians treated us badly, as they had our ancestors.


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When we appealed to Yahweh, he heard our cry and, sending an angel, brought us out of Egypt, and here we are, now, at Kadesh, a town on the borders of your territory.


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We ask permission to pass through your country. We shall not go through the fields or vineyards; we shall not drink the water from the wells; we shall keep to the king's highway without turning to right or left until we have passed through your territory.'


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To which, Edom replied, 'You will not pass through my country; if you do, I shall oppose you by force of arms.'


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To which the Israelites replied, 'We shall keep to the high road; if I and my flocks drink any of your water, I am willing to pay for it. All I am asking is to pass through on foot.'


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'Aaron is to be gathered to his people; he will not enter the country which I have given to the Israelites, since you both disobeyed my order at the Waters of Meribah.


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Then take Aaron's robes off him and dress his son Eleazar in them. Aaron will then be gathered to his people; that is where he will die.'


text:
Moses took Aaron's robes off him and dressed his son Eleazar in them, and there Aaron died, on the mountain-top. Moses and Eleazar then came back down the mountain.


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The whole community saw that Aaron had died, and for thirty days the whole House of Israel mourned for Aaron.


text:
The king of Arad, the Canaanite living in the Negeb, learned that Israel was coming by way of Atharim. He attacked Israel and took some prisoners.


text:
Israel then made this vow to Yahweh, 'If you deliver this people into my power, I shall curse their towns with destruction.'


text:
Yahweh heard Israel's words and delivered the Canaanites into their power, and they destroyed them in accordance with their curse. Hence the place was given the name Hormah.


text:
They left Mount Hor by the road to the Sea of Suph, to skirt round Edom. On the way the people lost patience.


text:
They spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? For there is neither food nor water here; we are sick of this meagre diet.'


text:
The people came and said to Moses, 'We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.' Moses interceded for the people,


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and Yahweh replied, 'Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive.'


text:
Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survived.


text:
They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon. This gorge in the desert begins in the territory of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the frontier of Moab, between the Moabites and the Amorites.


text:
That is why it says in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh: '. . . Waheb near Suphah and the gorges of the Arnon


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And from there they went to Beer, that being the well in connection with which Yahweh had said to Moses, 'Call the people together and I will give them water.'


text:
sunk by the princes, dug by the people's leaders with the sceptre, with their staves! -and from the desert to Mattanah,


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and from Bamoth to the valley that opens into the country of Moab, towards the heights of Pisgah overlooking the desert.


text:
'I wish to pass through your country. We shall not stray into the fields or vineyards; we shall not drink the water from the wells; we shall keep to the king's highway until we have passed through your territory.'


text:
But Sihon would not give Israel leave to pass through his country. He assembled all his people, marched into the desert to meet Israel, and reached Jahaz, where he gave battle to Israel.


text:
Israel defeated him by force of arms and conquered his country from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for Jazer marked the Ammonite frontier.


text:
Israel took all these towns. Israel occupied all the Amorite towns, Heshbon and all its dependencies,


text:
Heshbon being the capital of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had made war on the first king of Moab and captured all his territory as far as the Arnon.


text:
For fire has burst from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon, devouring Ar of Moab, engulfing the heights of the Arnon.


text:
Oh, unhappy Moab! People of Chemosh, you are lost! He has resigned his sons as fugitives, and his daughters as prisoners to Sihon king of the Amorites.


text:
Their posterity has been destroyed from Heshbon all the way to Dibon, and we have lit a fire all the way from Nophah to Medeba.


text:
Moses then sent men to reconnoitre Jazer, and Israel took it and its dependencies, evicting the Amorites who lived there.


text:
They then turned and marched on Bashan. Og king of Bashan and all his people marched to meet them and give battle at Edrei.


text:
Yahweh said to Moses, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have put him, all his people and his country at your mercy. Treat him as you treated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.'


text:
So they pressed their attack against him, his sons and all his people until there was no one left alive. And they took possession of his country.


text:
The Israelites then set out and pitched their camp in the Plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.


text:
and Moab was terrified of the people, because there were so many of them. Moab was afraid of the Israelites;


text:
he said to the elders of Midian, 'This horde will soon have cropped everything round us as closely as an ox crops grass in the countryside.' Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at the time.


text:
He sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor on the River, in the territory of the Amawites, saying, 'Look, a people coming from Egypt has overrun the whole countryside; they have halted at my very door.


text:
I beg you come and curse this people for me, for they are stronger than I am. We may then be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For this I know: anyone you bless is blessed, anyone you curse is accursed.'


text:
The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian set out, taking the fee for the divination with them. They found Balaam and gave him Balak's message.


text:
He said to them, 'Stay the night here, and I will answer as Yahweh directs me.' So the chiefs of Moab stayed with Balaam.


text:
"Look, a people coming from Egypt has overrun the whole countryside. Come now and curse them for me; I may then be able to defeat them and drive them out." '


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


text:
In the morning Balaam got up and said to the chiefs sent by Balak, 'Go back to your country, for Yahweh will not let me go with you.'


text:
They came to Balaam and said, 'A message from Balak son of Zippor, "Now do not refuse to come to me.


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I will load you with honours and do whatever you say. I beg you come and curse this people for me." '


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In reply, Balaam said to Balak's envoys, 'Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the order of Yahweh my God in anything, great or small.


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God came to Balaam during the night and said to him, 'Have not these men come to summon you? Get up, go with them, but do only what I tell you to do.'


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His going kindled Yahweh's anger, and the angel of Yahweh took his stand on the road to bar his way. Balaam was riding his donkey and his two servants were with him.


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Now the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, and she turned off the road into the open country. Balaam then struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.


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The angel of Yahweh then went and stood on a narrow path among the vineyards, with a wall to the right and a wall to the left.


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The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and scraped against the wall, scraping Balaam's foot against it, so he struck her again.


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The angel of Yahweh then moved and stood in a place so narrow that there was no room to pass either to right or left.


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When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam flew into a rage and struck the donkey with his stick.


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Yahweh then gave the donkey the power to talk, and she said to Balaam, 'What harm have I done you, for you to strike me three times like this?'


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Balaam answered the donkey, 'Because you have been making a fool of me! If I had been carrying a sword, I should have killed you by now.'


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The donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey, and have I not been your mount all your life? Have I ever behaved like this with you before?' 'No,' he replied.


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Yahweh then opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head and threw himself on his face.


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And the angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Why did you strike your donkey three times like that? I myself had come to bar your way; while I am here your road is blocked.


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The donkey saw me and turned aside because of me three times. You are lucky she did turn aside, or I should have killed you by now, though I would have spared her.'


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Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, 'I have sinned. I did not know you were standing in the road to stop me. But if what I am doing displeases you, I will go home again.'


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The angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, 'Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.' So Balaam went on with the chiefs sent by Balak.


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Balak learned that Balaam was coming and went out to meet him, in the direction of Ar in Moab, at the Arnon frontier on the country's furthest boundary.


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Balak said to Balaam, 'Did I not send messengers to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Did you think, perhaps, I could confer no honours on you?'


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Balaam said to Balak, 'I have come to you after all. I suppose you know I cannot say anything on my own? The words God puts into my mouth are what I shall say.'


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Next morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-Baal, from where he could see the edge of the camp.


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Balaam then said to Balak, 'Stand beside your burnt offerings while I go away. Perhaps Yahweh will come and meet me. If he does, I shall tell you whatever he reveals to me.' And he withdrew to a bare hill.


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God came to meet Balaam, who said to him, 'I have prepared the seven altars and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.'


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Yahweh then put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what you must say to him.'


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So Balaam went back to him, and found him still standing beside his burnt offering, with all the chiefs of Moab.


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He then declaimed his poem as follows: Balak has brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the hills of Kedem: 'Come and curse Jacob for me, come and denounce Israel!'


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Yes, from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I descry him: a people that dwells on its own, not to be reckoned among other nations!


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Who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the cloud of Israel? May I die the death of the just, and may my future be like theirs!


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Balak said to Balaam, 'What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, and you have heaped blessings on them!'


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Balak then said, 'Please come somewhere else. From here you can see only the fringe of them, you cannot see them all. Curse them for me over there.'


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He led him to the Lookouts' Field on the top of Pisgah. There he built seven altars and offered a burnt offering of one bull and one ram on each altar.


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God came to meet Balaam, he put a prophecy into his mouth and said to him, 'Go back to Balak, and that is what you must say to him.'


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So Balaam went to him and found him still standing beside his burnt offering and all the chiefs of Moab with him. 'What did Yahweh say?' Balak said to him.


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Balaam then declaimed his poem, as follows: Stand up, Balak, and listen, give ear to me, son of Zippor.


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God is no human being that he should lie, no child of Adam to change his mind. Is it his to say and not to do, is it his to speak and not fulfil?


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I have perceived no guilt in Jacob, have seen no perversity in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him, and a royal acclamation to greet him.


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There is no omen whatever against Jacob, no augury at all against Israel. Well may people say of Jacob, of Israel, 'What has God achieved?'


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for here is a people like a lioness rising, poised like a lion to spring; nor will he lie down till he has devoured his prey and drunk the blood of his slain.


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Balak then said to Balaam, 'Come with me now and I shall take you somewhere else. From there perhaps it will please God to curse them for me.'


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Balaam then saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel. He did not go as before to seek omens but turned towards the desert.


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and he declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes,


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the prophecy of one who hears the words of God. He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.


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like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens by the banks of a river, like aloes planted by Yahweh, like cedars beside the waters!


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A hero arises from their stock, he reigns over countless peoples. His king is greater than Agag, and his kingship held in honour.


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God has brought him out of Egypt, is like the wild ox's horns to him. He devours the corpses of his enemies, breaking their bones, piercing them with his arrows.


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He has crouched, he has lain down, like a lion, like a lioness; who dare rouse him? Blessed be those who bless you, and accursed be those who curse you!


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Balak flew into a rage with Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to Balaam, 'I brought you to curse my enemies, and you have insisted on blessing them three times over!


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So now go home as fast as your legs can carry you. I promised to load you with honours. Yahweh himself has deprived you of them.'


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"Even if Balak gave me his house full of gold and silver I could not go against Yahweh's order and do anything of my own accord, whether for good or ill; whatever Yahweh says is what I shall say"?


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Now that I am going back to my own folk, let me warn you what this people will do to your people, in days to come.'


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He then declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes,


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the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High. He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.


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I see him -- but not in the present. I perceive him -- but not close at hand: a star is emerging from Jacob, a sceptre is rising from Israel, to strike the brow of Moab, the skulls of all the children of Seth.


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Edom too will be a conquered land, Seir too will be a conquered land, when Israel exerts his strength,


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Balaam then looked at Amalek and declaimed his poem, as follows: Amalek, the earliest of nations! But his posterity will perish forever.


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He then looked at the Kenites and declaimed his poem, as follows: Your dwelling was firm, Kain, your nest perched high in the rock.


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the vessels from the coasts of Kittim. They will bear down on Asshur, bear down on Eber; he too will perish forever.


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These invited them to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down before their gods.


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take all the leaders of the people. Impale them facing the sun, for Yahweh, to deflect his burning anger from Israel.'


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Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you will put to death those of his people who have committed themselves to the Baal of Peor.'


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One of the Israelites came along, bringing the Midianite woman into his family, under the very eyes of Moses and the whole community of Israelites as they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.


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The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, on seeing this, stood up, left the assembly, seized a lance,


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followed the Israelite into the alcove, and there ran them both through, the Israelite and the woman, through the stomach. Thus the plague which had struck the Israelites was arrested.


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'The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron has deflected my wrath from the Israelites, he being the only one of them to have the same zeal as I have; for which reason, I did not make an end of the Israelites in my zeal.


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To him and his descendants after him, this covenant will assure the priesthood for ever. In reward for his zeal for his God, he will have the right to perform the ritual of expiation for the Israelites.'


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The Israelite who had been killed (the one who was killed with the Midianite woman) was called Zimri son of Salu, leader of one of the Simeonite families.


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The woman, the Midianite who was killed, was called Cozbi, daughter of Zur, chief of a clan, of a family, in Midian.


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for harassing you with their guile in the Peor affair and in the affair of their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, the woman who was killed the day the plague came on account of the business of Peor.'


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'Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, by families: all those of twenty years and over, fit to bear arms in Israel.'


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So Moses and the priest Eleazar took a census of them on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan by Jericho. They counted


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Reuben, the first-born of Israel. The sons of Reuben: for Hanoch, the Hanochite clan; for Pallu, the Palluite clan;


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The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. These two, Dathan and Abiram, men of repute in the community, were the ones who revolted against Moses and Aaron; they belonged to Korah's group when it revolted against Yahweh.


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The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them (with Korah when that group perished), when fire consumed the two hundred and fifty men. They were a sign.


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The sons of Simeon by clans: for Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; for Jamin, the Jaminite clan; for Jachin, the Jachinite clan;


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The sons of Gad by clans: for Zephon, the Zephonite clan; for Haggi, the Haggite clan; for Shuni, the Shunite clan;


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The other sons of Judah became clans: for Shelah, the Shelahite clan; for Perez, the Perezzite clan; for Zerah, the Zerahite clan.


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The sons of Zebulun by clans: for Sered, the Seredite clan; for Elon, the Elonite clan; for Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.


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The sons of Manasseh: for Machir, the Machirite clan; Machir fathered Gilead: for Gilead, the Gileadite clan.


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Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters; the names of Zelophehad's daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.


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These were the sons of Ephraim by clans: for Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; for Becher, the Becherite clan; for Tahan, the Tahanite clan.


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These were the clans of Ephraim. They numbered thirty-two thousand five hundred men. These were the sons of Joseph by clans.


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The sons of Benjamin by clans: for Bela, the Belaite clan; for Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; for Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;


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These were the sons of Dan by clans: for Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These were the sons of Dan by clans.


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The sons of Asher by clans: for Imnah, the Imnahite clan; for Ishvi, the Ishvihite clan; for Beriah, the Beriahite clan.


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These were the clans of Naphtali as divided into clans. The sons of Naphtali numbered forty-five thousand four hundred men.


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Of the Israelites thus numbered, there were six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty men.


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'The country must be shared out among these as a heritage, proportionately to the number of those inscribed.


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To the large in number you will give a large area of land, to the small in number a small area; to each the heritage will be in proportion to the number registered.


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The sharing out of the country must, however, be done by lot. Each will receive a heritage proportionate to the number of names in their patriarchal tribes;


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These, by clans, are the Levites that were registered: for Gershon, the Gershonite clan; for Kohath, the Kohathite clan; for Merari, the Merarite clan.


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These are the Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. Kohath fathered Amram.


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Amram's wife was called Jokebed daughter of Levi, born to him in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and Miriam their sister.


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Altogether twenty-three thousand males of one month and over were registered. They were not registered with the Israelites, since they were given no heritage with the Israelites.


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Such were the men registered by Moses and the priest Eleazar who took a census of the Israelites on the Plains of Moab near the Jordan by Jericho.


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Not one of them was among those whom Moses and the priest Aaron had registered when they counted the Israelites in the desert of Sinai;


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for Yahweh had told them that these were to die in the desert and that none of them would be left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.


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There then came forward the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh; he belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. His daughters' names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.


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They appeared before Moses, the priest Eleazar, the leaders and the whole community, at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and said,


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'Our father died in the desert. He was not a member of the party who banded together against Yahweh, Korah's party; it was for his own sin that he died without sons.


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Why should our father's name be lost to his clan? Since he had no son, give us some property like our father's kinsmen.'


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'Zelophehad's daughters are right in what they say. You will indeed give them a property to be their heritage among their father's kinsmen; see that their father's heritage is passed on to them.


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Then speak to the Israelites and say, "If a man dies without sons, his heritage will pass to his daughter.


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If his father has no brothers, his heritage will go to the member of his clan who is most nearly related; it will become his property. This will be a legal rule for the Israelites, as Yahweh has ordered Moses." '


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'Climb this mountain of the Abarim range, and look at the country which I have given to the Israelites.


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For you both rebelled in the desert of Zin when the community disputed with me and when I ordered you to assert my holiness before their eyes by means of the water.' (These were the Waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the desert of Zin.)


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'May it please Yahweh, God of the spirits that give life to all living creatures, to appoint a leader for this community,


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to be at their head in all their undertakings, a man who will lead them out and bring them in, so that Yahweh's community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.'


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Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom the spirit dwells, and lay your hand on him.


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Bring him before the priest Eleazar and the whole community and give him your orders in their presence,


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conferring some of your own authority on him, so that the whole community of Israelites will obey him.


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He will present himself to the priest Eleazar who will consult Yahweh on his behalf by means of the rite of the urim; at his command, they will go out and, at his command, they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.'


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Moses did as Yahweh had ordered. He took Joshua, brought him before the priest Eleazar and the whole community,


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'Give the Israelites this order: "Take care to bring me my offering, my sustenance in the form of food burnt as a smell pleasing to me, at the proper time."


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'You will then say to them: "This is the food which you will burn in offering to Yahweh: "Every day, two unblemished yearling lambs as a perpetual burnt offering.


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with a cereal offering of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-quarter of a hin of crushed-olive oil.


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Such was the perpetual burnt offering made on Mount Sinai as a pleasing smell, as food burnt for Yahweh.


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The accompanying libation will be of one-quarter of a hin for each lamb; the libation of fermented liquor for Yahweh will be poured inside the sanctuary.


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The second lamb you will offer at twilight, offering it with the same cereal offering and the same libation as in the morning, as food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh.


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"On the Sabbath day, you will offer two unblemished yearling lambs and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a cereal offering, mixed with oil, as well as the accompanying libation.


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The Sabbath burnt offering will be offered every Sabbath in addition to the perpetual burnt offering, and the accompanying libation similarly.


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"At the beginning of each of your months you will offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram and seven yearling lambs, without blemish;


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for each bull a cereal offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil; for each ram, a cereal offering of two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil;


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for each lamb, a cereal offering of one-tenth of fine flour mixed with oil: as a burnt offering, as a pleasing smell, as food burnt for Yahweh.


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The accompanying libations will be of half a hin of wine for a bull, one-third of a hin for a ram and one-quarter of a hin for a lamb. This will be the monthly burnt offering, month after month, every month of the year.


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In addition to the perpetual burnt offering, a goat will be offered to Yahweh, as a sacrifice for sin, with its accompanying libation.


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As food burnt as a burnt offering you will offer Yahweh two young bulls, a ram and seven yearling lambs, without blemish.


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The accompanying cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil will be three-tenths of an ephah for a bull, two-tenths for a ram,


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You will offer these in addition to the morning burnt offering, which is a perpetual burnt offering.


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You will do this every day for seven days. It is sustenance, food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, to be offered in addition to the perpetual burnt offering and its accompanying libation.


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"On the day of the first-fruits, when you make your offering of new fruits to Yahweh at your feast of Weeks, you will hold a sacred assembly; you will do no heavy work.


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As a burnt offering as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, you will offer two young bulls, one ram and seven yearling lambs.


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The accompanying cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil will be three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the ram,


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You will offer these in addition to the perpetual burnt offering and its accompanying cereal offering and libations." '


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' "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you will hold a sacred assembly; you will do no heavy work. For you this will be a day of Acclamations.


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As a burnt offering, as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, you will offer one young bull, one ram and seven yearling lambs, without blemish.


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The accompanying cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil will be three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,


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This is in addition to the monthly burnt offering and its cereal offering, the perpetual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and the accompanying libations enjoined by law, as a pleasing smell, as food burnt for Yahweh.


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"On the tenth day of this seventh month, you will hold a sacred assembly; you will fast and do no work.


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As a burnt offering for Yahweh, as a pleasing smell, you will offer one young bull, one ram and seven yearling lambs, which you will choose as being without blemish.


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And a goat will be offered as a sacrifice for sin. This is in addition to the victim for sin at the feast of Expiation, to the perpetual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their accompanying libations.


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"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you will hold a sacred assembly; you will do no heavy work, and for seven days you will celebrate a feast for Yahweh.


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As a burnt offering, as food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, you will offer thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen yearling lambs, without blemish.


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The accompanying cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil will be three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams,


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also one goat as a sacrifice for sin. This is in addition to the perpetual burnt offering and its cereal offering and libation.


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the accompanying cereal offering and libations, as prescribed, in proportion to the number of bulls, rams and lambs;


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also one goat as a sacrifice for sin. This is in addition to the perpetual burnt offering and its cereal offering and libations.


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As a burnt offering, as food burnt as a smell pleasing to Yahweh, you will offer one bull, one ram and seven yearling lambs, without blemish;


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"This is what you are to do for Yahweh at your solemn feasts, over and above your votive offerings and your voluntary offerings, your burnt offerings, cereal offerings and libations, and your peace offerings." '


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"If a man makes a vow to Yahweh or a formal pledge under oath, he must not break his word: whatever he promises by word of mouth he must do.


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"If a woman makes a vow to Yahweh or a formal pledge during her youth, while she is still in her father's house,


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and if her father hears about this vow or pledge made by her and says nothing to her, her vow, whatever it may be, will be binding, and the pledge she has taken, whatever it may be, will be binding.


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But if her father on the day he learns of it expresses his disapproval of it, then none of the vows or pledges she has taken will be binding. Yahweh will not hold her to it, since her father has expressed his disapproval.


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and if her husband hears of it but says nothing on the day he learns of it, her vows will be binding and the pledges she has taken will be binding.


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But if on the day he learns of it he expresses his disapproval to her, this will annul the vow that she has made or the pledge that binds her, voiced without due reflection. Yahweh will not hold her to it.


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and if when the husband learns of it he says nothing to her and does not express disapproval to her, then the vow, whatever it is, will be binding, and the pledge, whatever it is, will be binding.


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But if the husband when he hears of it annuls it on the day he learns of it, no undertaking of hers, be it vow or pledge, will be binding. Since the husband has annulled it, Yahweh will not hold her to it.


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"If by the following day the husband has said nothing to her, it means that he endorses her vow, whatever it may be, or her pledge, whatever it may be. He endorses them if he says nothing on the day he learns of them.


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But if, having learnt of them, he annuls them later, he will bear the consequences for his wife's guilt." '


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Such were the laws which Yahweh prescribed to Moses, concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while still young and living in her father's home.


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'Exact the full vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites. Afterwards you will be gathered to your people.'


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Moses said to the people, 'Some of you are to take up arms for Yahweh's campaign against Midian, to carry out the vengeance of Yahweh on Midian.


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In this way Israel's thousands provided twelve thousand men equipped for war, one thousand from each tribe:


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Moses put them in the field, one thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, to go with them carrying the sacred objects and the trumpets for the battle cry.


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What is more, they killed the kings of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, the five Midianite kings; they also put Balaam son of Beor to the sword.


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The Israelites took the Midianite women and their little ones captive and carried off all their cattle, all their flocks and all their goods as booty.


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they brought the captives, spoil and booty to Moses, the priest Eleazar and the whole community of Israelites at the camp on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan by Jericho.


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Moses was enraged with the officers of the army, the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, who had come back from this military expedition.


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They were the very ones who, on Balaam's advice, caused the Israelites to be unfaithful to Yahweh in the affair at Peor: hence the plague which struck Yahweh's community.


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but spare the lives of the young girls who have never slept with a man, and keep them for yourselves.


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As for you, bivouac outside the camp for seven days, everyone who has killed anyone or touched a corpse. Purify yourselves and your prisoners on the third and seventh days,


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and purify all clothing, everything made of skin, everything woven of goat's hair and everything made of wood.'


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The priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had come back from the campaign, 'This is an article of the Law which Yahweh prescribed to Moses:


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everything that can withstand fire can be cleaned by being passed through fire, it must still be purified with water for purification. Whatever cannot resist fire you must pass through water.


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'With the priest Eleazar and the heads of families in the community, take a count of the spoils and captives, human and animal.


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You will then share out the spoil, half and half, between those who fought the campaign and the rest of the community.


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From the share of the combatants who took part in the campaign, you will set aside one out of every five hundred persons, oxen, donkeys and sheep as Yahweh's portion.


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You will take this from the half share coming to them and give it to the priest Eleazar as the portion set aside for Yahweh.


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From the half coming to the Israelites, you will take one out of every fifty persons, oxen, donkeys, sheep, and all other animals, and give them to the Levites who are responsible for Yahweh's Dwelling.'


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The spoils, the remainder of the booty captured by the soldiers, came to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep and goats,


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Half was assigned to those who had taken part in the war, namely three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep and goats,


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this half, the community's share, came to three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep and goats,


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From this half, the Israelites' share, Moses took one out of every fifty, human and animal, and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for Yahweh's Dwelling, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.


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The officers of the thousands who had fought the campaign, the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, came to Moses


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and said, 'Your servants have numbered the soldiers under their command: none of our men is missing.


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So, as an offering for Yahweh, we have brought what each of us has found in the way of gold ornaments, armlets and bracelets, rings, earrings and breastplates, to make expiation for ourselves before Yahweh.'


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This portion of gold given to Yahweh by the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds amounted to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.


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But Moses and the priest Eleazar, having accepted the gold from the commanders of the thousands and commanders of the hundreds, brought it into the Tent of Meeting, to be a reminder of the Israelites before Yahweh.


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Now, the Reubenites and Gadites owned very large herds of cattle. Having seen that the territories of Jazer and Gilead formed an ideal region for raising stock,


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the Gadites and Reubenites went to Moses, the priest Eleazar and the leaders of the community, and said to them,


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which Yahweh has conquered before the advancing community of Israel, is ideal land for raising stock, and your servants are cattle breeders.


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So', they said, 'if you approve, give your servants this land for us to own; do not make us cross the Jordan.'


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Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, 'Do you intend your brothers to go into battle while you stay here?


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for, having gone as far as the Valley of Eshcol and seen the country, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the country which Yahweh had given them.


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"No man of twenty years and over, who left Egypt, shall set eyes on the country which I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob . . . , for they have not followed me absolutely,


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except for Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun: these indeed have followed Yahweh absolutely."


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Yahweh's anger being aroused by Israel, he made them wander in the desert for forty years, until the generation that offended Yahweh had all disappeared.


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And now you rise up in your father's place, offshoot of sinful stock, to increase Yahweh's burning anger with Israel even more!


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If you turn away from him, he will prolong the time spent in the desert, and you will bring about this entire people's ruin.'


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They came to Moses and said, 'We should like to build sheepfolds here for our flocks and towns for our little ones.


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We ourselves will take up arms and lead the Israelites until we have brought them to the place appointed for them, while our little ones stay in the fortified towns to be safe from the local inhabitants.


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We will not return to our homes until every one of the Israelites has taken possession of his heritage.


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For we shall have no heritage with them on the other bank of the Jordan or beyond, since our heritage has fallen to us here, east of the Jordan.'


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and if all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven all his enemies out before him,


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then, once the country has become subject to Yahweh, you may go back, and will have discharged your obligation to Yahweh and Israel, and Yahweh will consider this territory yours.


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So Moses gave orders about them to the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of families in the Israelite tribes.


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Moses said to them, 'If the Gadites and Reubenites, all those under arms, cross the Jordan with you to fight in Yahweh's name, then, once the country has become subject to you, you will give them the territory of Gilead as theirs.


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But if they will not cross with you under arms, they will receive their domains in Canaan with the rest of you.'


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Under arms, we shall cross in Yahweh's name into Canaan, so that ownership of our heritage on this side of the Jordan will be ours.'


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Moses then gave them -- the Gadites, the Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph -- the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the country and the towns within its territory, and the country's frontier-towns.


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Nebo and Baal-Meon (the names of which were altered), and Sibmah, giving new names to the towns which they rebuilt.


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The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead. They conquered it and drove out the Amorites who were there.


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These were the stages of the journey made by the Israelites when they left Egypt in their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.


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Moses recorded their starting-points in writing whenever they moved on at Yahweh's order. The stages, from one starting-point to another, were as follows:


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They left Rameses in the first month. It was the fifteenth day of the first month, the day following the Passover, when the Israelites confidently set out, under the eyes of all Egypt.


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The Egyptians were burying those of their own people whom Yahweh had struck down, all the first-born; Yahweh had carried out his judgement on their gods.


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They left Pi-Hahiroth, crossed the sea into the desert, and after marching for three days in the desert of Etham they encamped at Marah.


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They left Marah and reached Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; they encamped there.


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The priest Aaron went up Mount Hor on Yahweh's orders and died there in the fortieth year of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month.


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They left the Abarim mountains and encamped on the Plains of Moab, near the Jordan opposite Jericho.


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you will drive out all the local inhabitants before you. You will destroy all their painted images, you will destroy all their metal statues and you will demolish all their high places.


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You will take possession of the country and settle in it, for I have given you the country as your property.


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You will share it out by lot among your clans. To a large clan you will give a larger heritage, and to a smaller clan you will give a smaller heritage. Where the lot falls for each, that will be his. Your heritage will depend on the size of your tribe.


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If, however, you do not drive out the local inhabitants before you, the ones you allow to remain will be thorns in your eyes and thistles in your sides and will harass you in the country where you are living,


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'Give the Israelites this order. Say: "When you enter the country (Canaan), this will be the country which forms your heritage. This is Canaan as defined by its boundaries:


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"The southern part of your country will start from the desert of Zin, on the borders of Edom. Your southern boundary will start on the east at the end of the Salt Sea.


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It will then turn south towards the Ascent of the Scorpions and go by Zin to end in the south at Kadesh-Barnea. It will then run towards Hazar-Addar and pass through Azmon.


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The boundary will run down from Shepham towards Riblah on the east side of Ain. Further down it will keep to the eastern shore of the Sea of Chinnereth.


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The frontier will then follow the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. "Such will be your country with the boundaries surrounding it." '


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Moses then gave the Israelites this order: 'This is the country, where your heritages will be assigned by lot, and which Yahweh has ordered to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe,


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for the tribe of the Reubenites with their families and the tribe of the Gadites with their families have already received their heritage; the half-tribe of Manasseh has also received its heritage.


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These two tribes and the half-tribe have received their heritage on the other side of the Jordan by Jericho, to the east, towards the sunrise.'


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'Here are the names of the men who will divide the country up for you: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun,


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'Order the Israelites, from the heritage they possess, to give the Levites towns in which to live and pasture land round the towns. You will give these to the Levites.


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The towns must be their homes and the surrounding pasture land must be for their cattle, their possessions and all their animals.


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The pasture land surrounding the towns which you give to the Levites will extend, from the walls of the towns, for a thousand cubits all round.


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'Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits to the east, two thousand cubits to the south, two thousand cubits to the west and two thousand cubits to the north, the town lying in the centre; such will be the pasture lands of these towns.


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The towns you give to the Levites will be six cities of refuge, ceded by you as sanctuary for those who commit manslaughter; and you will give forty-two towns in addition.


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Of the towns which you give from the Israelites' possessions, you will give more from those who have more, and less from those who have less. Each will give some of his towns to the Levites, in proportion to the heritage he himself has received.'


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you will find towns, some of which you will make into cities of refuge where those who have accidentally committed manslaughter can take sanctuary.


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These towns will afford you refuge from the avenger of blood, so that the killer will not be put to death before standing trial before the community.


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as cities of refuge, you will give three towns on the other side of the Jordan and will give three towns in Canaan.


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These six towns will serve as refuge for the Israelites, for the foreigner and for the resident alien, where anyone who has accidentally killed someone can take sanctuary.


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"But if he has struck the person with an iron object so as to cause death, he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death.


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If he has struck him with a stone meant for killing, and has killed him, he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death.


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Or if he has struck him with a wooden instrument meant for killing, and has killed him, he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death.


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The avenger of blood will put the murderer to death. Whenever he finds him, he will put him to death.


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"If the killer has maliciously manhandled his victim, or thrown some lethal missile to strike him down,


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or out of enmity dealt him the death-blow with his fist, then he who struck the blow will be put to death; he is a murderer; the avenger of blood will put him to death whenever he finds him.


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If, however, he has manhandled his victim by chance, without malice, or thrown some missile at him not meaning to hit him


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or, without seeing him, dropped on him a stone meant for killing and so killed him, so long as he bore him no malice and wished him no harm,


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then the community will decide in accordance with these rules between the one who struck the blow and the avenger of blood,


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and will save the killer from the clutches of the avenger of blood. They will send him back to the city of refuge where he had taken sanctuary, and there he will stay until the death of the high priest who has been anointed with the holy oil.


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and the avenger of blood encounter him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, the avenger of blood may kill him without fear of reprisal;


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since the killer should stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest is he free to go back to his own piece of property.


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"In any case of homicide, the evidence of witnesses will determine whether the killer must be put to death; but a single witness is not enough to sustain a capital charge.


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Nor will you accept a ransom for anyone who, having taken sanctuary in his city or refuge, wishes to come back and live at home before the death of the high priest.


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Do not profane the country you live in. Blood profanes the country and, for the country, the only expiation for the blood shed in it is the blood of the man who shed it.


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So do not defile the country which you live in and where I live; for I, Yahweh, live among the Israelites." '


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Then the heads of families of the clan descended from Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, one of the clans descended from Joseph, came forward and, addressing Moses and the leaders, the Israelite heads of families,


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they said: 'Yahweh has ordered my lord to apportion the Israelites' heritages in the country by lot and my lord has been ordered by Yahweh to give the heritage of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.


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Now, if they marry someone from another Israelite tribe, their heritage will be alienated from our ancestral heritage. The heritage of the tribe to which they will then belong will be increased, and the heritage allotted to us will be diminished.


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And when the jubilee for the Israelites comes round, these women's heritage will become part of the heritage of the tribe to which they then belong, and be alienated from the heritage of our ancestral tribe.'


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At Yahweh's bidding, Moses gave the Israelites this order. He said: 'What the Josephite tribe says is true.


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This is Yahweh's ruling for Zelophehad's daughters: "They may marry whom they please, providing they marry into a clan of their father's tribe.


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But the heritages of Israelites are not to be transferred from tribe to tribe; each Israelite will stick to the heritage of his own tribe.


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Any daughter who owns a heritage in an Israelite tribe will marry into a clan of her own paternal tribe, so that the Israelites may each preserve the heritage of his father.


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No heritage may be transferred from one tribe to another; each Israelite tribe will stick to its own heritage." '


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Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, daughters of Zelophehad, married the sons of their father's brothers.


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Since they married into clans descended from Manasseh son of Joseph, their heritage reverted to the tribe of their father's clan.


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Such were the commandments and laws that Yahweh prescribed for the Israelites through Moses on the Plains of Moab near the Jordan by Jericho.


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These are the words which Moses addressed to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the desert, in the Arabah facing Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.


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It was in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses told the Israelites everything that Yahweh had ordered him to tell them.


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He had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei.


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Move on, continue your journey, go to the highlands of the Amorites, to all those who live in the Arabah, in the highlands, in the lowlands, in the Negeb and in the coastland; go into Canaan and to Lebanon as far as the great River Euphrates.


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Look, that is the country I have given you; go and take possession of the country that Yahweh promised on oath to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to their descendants after them."


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And Yahweh your God is going to increase you a thousand times more, and bless you as he has promised you.


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So I took your tribal leaders, wise, experienced men, and appointed them to lead you, as captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens, and as scribes for your tribes.


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At that same time I told your judges, "You must give your brothers a fair hearing and see justice done between one person and his brother or the foreigner living with him.


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You must be impartial in judgement and give an equal hearing to small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any human person, for the verdict is God's. Should a case be too difficult, bring it for me to hear.


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'So, as Yahweh our God had ordered, we left Horeb and made our way through that vast and terrible desert, which you saw on the way to the Amorite highlands, and arrived at Kadesh-Barnea.


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Look, Yahweh your God has given you this country. March in, take possession of it as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has said; do not be afraid or discouraged."


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Then you all came to me and said, "Let us send men ahead of us to explore the country; they shall report to us which way we ought to take and what towns we shall come to."


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These men made towards the highlands and went up into them; they reached the Valley of Eshcol and reconnoitred it.


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They collected some of the produce of the country and brought it down to us; and they made us this report, "Yahweh our God has given us a fine country."


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You muttered in your tents, saying, "Yahweh hates us, and that is why he has brought us out of Egypt, to put us into the Amorites' power and so destroy us.


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What kind of place are we making for? Our brothers have discouraged us by saying that the people are stronger and taller than we are, the cities immense, with walls reaching to the sky. And we have seen Anakim there too."


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Yahweh your God goes ahead of you and will be fighting on your side, just as you saw him act in Egypt.


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You have seen him in the desert too: Yahweh your God continued to support you, as a man supports his son, all along the road you followed until you arrived here."


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going ahead of you on the journey to find you a camping ground, by night in the fire to light your path, and in the cloud by day.


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"Not one of these people, this perverse generation, will see the fine country I swore to give your ancestors,


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except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it. To him and to his children I shall give the land he has set foot on, for he has been perfectly obedient to Yahweh."


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"Your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will be the one to enter. Encourage him, since he is to bring Israel into possession of the country.


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And your little ones too, who, you said, would be seized as booty, these children of yours who do not yet know good from evil, they will go in; I shall give it to them and they will own it.


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'In reply, you then said to me, "We have sinned against Yahweh our God. We shall go up and fight just as Yahweh our God has ordered us." And each one of you buckled on his arms and equipped himself to march up into the highlands.


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But Yahweh said to me, "Tell them this: Do not go up and fight. I am not with you. Do not let yourselves be defeated by your enemies."


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So I told you, but you would not listen, and you rebelled against the voice of Yahweh; presumptuously you marched into the highlands.


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The Amorites, who live in that country of hills, came swarming out against you like bees, pursued you and beat you from Seir to Hormah.


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On your return, you wept in Yahweh's presence, but he would not listen to your cries or pay attention.


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'We then turned round and made for the desert, in the direction of the Sea of Suph, as Yahweh had ordered me. For many days we skirted Mount Seir.


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And give the people this order: You are about to pass through the territory of your kinsmen, the sons of Esau who live in Seir. They are afraid of you, and you will be well protected.


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Do not provoke them, for I shall give you none of their land, no, not so much as a foot's length of it. I have given the highlands of Seir to Esau as his domain.


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Yahweh your God has blessed you in all you do; he has watched over your journeying through this vast desert. Yahweh your God has been with you these forty years and you have never been in want."


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'So we passed beyond those relatives of ours, the children of Esau who live in Seir, by the road through the Arabah, Elath and Ezion-Geber; then, changing direction, we took the road towards the Plains of Moab.


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Yahweh then said to me, "Do not attack Moab, do not provoke him to fight, for I shall give you none of his land, since I have given Ar to the children of Lot as their domain."


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The Horites, too, lived in Seir at one time; these, however, were dispossessed and exterminated by the children of Esau who settled there in place of them, just as Israel has done in the country given to it by Yahweh as a heritage.)


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From Kadesh-Barnea to the crossing of the Wadi Zered our wanderings had taken thirty-eight years; as a result of which, the entire generation of those of age to bear arms had been eliminated, as Yahweh had sworn to them.


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and soon you will encounter the children of Ammon. Do not attack them, do not provoke them, for I shall give you none of the land belonging to the children of Ammon as your domain. I have given it to the children of Lot as theirs."


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(This used also to be considered as Rephaim territory; at one time the Rephaim lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,


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a great and numerous people, and tall like the Anakim. Yahweh exterminated them for the Ammonites who dispossessed them and settled there in place of them,


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just as he had done for the children of Esau who live in Seir, so that they dispossessed the Horites and settled there instead of them and are still there now.


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It was the same with the Avvites who occupied encampments as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, coming from Caphtor, exterminated them and settled there instead.)


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"On your way! Break camp and cross the Wadi Arnon. See, I am putting Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, at your mercy, and his country too. Set about the conquest; engage him in battle.


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Today and henceforth, I shall fill the peoples under all heaven with fear and terror of you; whoever hears word of your approach will tremble and writhe in anguish because of you."


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I shall eat and pay for the food you choose to sell me, and I shall drink and pay for the water you let me have. I only want to march through,


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just as the children of Esau who live in Seir permitted, as well as the Moabites who live in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the country that Yahweh our God is giving us."


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'But Sihon king of Heshbon would not give us leave to pass through his territory; Yahweh our God had made his spirit obstinate and his heart stubborn, to put him at your mercy, as he still is.


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Yahweh said to me, "You see, I am starting to give you Sihon and his country. Begin the conquest by seizing his country."


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We captured all his towns and laid all these towns under the curse of destruction: men, women and children, we left no survivors


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From Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley and from the town down in the valley, as far as Gilead, not one town was beyond our reach; Yahweh our God delivered them all to us.


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You did not, however, go near the country of the Ammonites, or the region of the River Jabbok, or the towns in the highlands, or anywhere forbidden us by Yahweh our God.'


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'We then turned on Bashan and invaded that. And Og king of Bashan marched out against us, he and all his people, to give battle at Edrei.


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Yahweh said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have put him at your mercy, him, all his people and his country. You will treat him as you treated Sihon king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon."


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So, Yahweh our God put Og king of Bashan at our mercy too, with all his people. We beat him so thoroughly that nobody was left.


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That was when we captured all his towns; there was not a town of theirs we did not take: sixty towns, the whole confederation of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan,


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all of them fortresses defended by high walls and fortified with gates and bars, not to mention the Perizzite towns, which were very numerous.


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We laid them under the curse of destruction as we had done Sihon king of Heshbon, laying all these towns under the curse of destruction: men, women and children-


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'Thus, by then we had taken the country of the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, stretching from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon


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all the towns of the tableland, all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, the capital cities of Og in Bashan.


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(Og king of Bashan was the last survivor of the Rephaim; his bed was the iron bed that can be seen at Rabbah-of-the-Ammonites, nine cubits long and four wide, according to the human cubit.)


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'Then we took possession of this country, from Aroer on the Wadi Arnon. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave half the highlands of Gilead with its towns.


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To the half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and the whole of Bashan, Og's kingdom. (The whole confederation of Argob and the whole of Bashan is called the country of the Rephaim.


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Since Jair son of Manasseh occupied the whole confederation of Argob as far as the frontiers of the Geshurites and Maacathites, after him Bashan is called the Encampments of Jair even today.)


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To the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the region from Gilead to the Wadi Arnon, the middle of the ravine marking the boundary, and up as far as the Jabbok, the ravine marking the frontier of the Ammonites.


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The Arabah and the Jordan serve as frontiers from Chinnereth down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east.


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'I then gave you this order: "Yahweh your God has given you this country to be yours. Armed, every one of you fit to fight must go ahead of your brothers the Israelites.


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Only your wives, your children and your flocks (you have many flocks, I know) must stay behind in the towns which I have given you,


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until Yahweh has brought your brothers to rest as he has already brought you, and they too possess the territory which Yahweh your God is giving them on the other side of the Jordan; after that, you can go home, each to the domain I have given you."


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I then gave Joshua this order, "You can see for yourself everything that Yahweh our God has done to these two kings; Yahweh will do the same to all the kingdoms through which you pass.


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"My Lord Yahweh," I said, "now that you have begun to reveal your greatness and your power to your servant with works and mighty deeds no God in heaven or on earth can rival,


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may I not go across and see this fine country on the other side of the Jordan, that fine upland country and the Lebanon?"


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But, because of you, Yahweh was angry with me and would not listen. "Enough!" he said, "Do not mention this subject again!


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Climb to the top of Pisgah; turn your eyes to the west, the north, the south, the east. Look well, for across this Jordan you shall not go.


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Give Joshua your instructions; encourage him, strengthen him; for he will be the one to cross at the head of this people; he will be the one to bring them into possession of the country which you will see."


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'And now, Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observing them, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you.


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You must add nothing to what I command you, and take nothing from it, but keep the commandments of Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you.


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You can see for yourselves what Yahweh has done about the Baal of Peor; Yahweh your God has destroyed all those of you who followed the Baal of Peor;


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Look: as Yahweh my God commanded me, I have taught you laws and customs, for you to observe in the country of which you are going to take possession.


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Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Once they know what all these laws are, they will exclaim, "No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!"


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And indeed, what great nation has its gods as near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever we call to him?


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And what great nation has laws and customs as upright as the entirety of this Law which I am laying down for you today?


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'But take care, as you value your lives! Do not forget the things which you yourselves have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live; teach them, rather, to your children and to your children's children.


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The day you stood at Horeb in the presence of Yahweh your God, Yahweh said to me, "Summon the people to me; I want them to hear me speaking, so that they will learn to fear me all the days they live on earth, and teach this to their children."


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So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain flamed to the very sky, a sky darkened by cloud, murky and thunderous.


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Yahweh then spoke to you from the heart of the fire; you heard the sound of words but saw no shape; there was only a voice.


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He revealed his covenant to you and commanded you to observe it, the Ten Words which he inscribed on two tablets of stone.


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Yahweh then ordered me to teach you the laws and customs that you were to observe in the country into which you are about to cross, to take possession of it.


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'Hence, be very careful what you do. Since you saw no shape that day at Horeb when Yahweh spoke to you from the heart of the fire,


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see that you do not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the shape of anything whatever: be it statue of man or of woman,


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When you raise your eyes to heaven, when you see the sun, the moon, the stars -- the entire array of heaven -- do not be tempted to worship them and serve them. Yahweh your God has allotted these to all the other peoples under heaven,


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but Yahweh has chosen you, bringing you out of the iron-foundry, Egypt, to be his own people, his own people as you still are today.


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'Yahweh is angry with me because of you; he has sworn that I shall not cross the Jordan or enter the fine country which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.


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Yes, I am to die in this country; I shall not cross this Jordan; you will go over and take possession of that rich land.


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Be careful not to forget the covenant which Yahweh your God has made with you, by sculpting an image or making a statue of anything, since Yahweh your God has forbidden this;


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'When you have fathered children and grandchildren and have grown old in the country, when you have grown corrupt and made some image, doing what Yahweh regards as wrong and so provoking his anger-


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today I call heaven and earth to witness against you -- you will quickly vanish from the country which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Your days will not be prolonged there, for you will be utterly destroyed.


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Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and only a small number of you will remain among the nations where Yahweh will have driven you.


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There you will serve gods made by human hand, of wood and of stone, that cannot see or hear, eat or smell.


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'If, however, from there you start searching once more for Yahweh your God, and if you search for him honestly and sincerely, you will find him.


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You will suffer; everything I have said will befall you, but in the final days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice.


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For Yahweh your God is a merciful God and will not desert or destroy you or forget the covenant which he made on oath with your ancestors.


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'Put this question, then, to the ages that are past, that have gone before you, from when God created the human race on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything like it ever heard?


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Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you have heard it, and remain alive?


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Has it ever been known before that any god took action himself to bring one nation out of another one, by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors -- all of which things Yahweh your God has done for you before your eyes in Egypt?


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To instruct you, he made you hear his voice from heaven, and on earth he let you see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire you heard his words.


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Because he loved your ancestors and, after them, chose their descendants, he has brought you out of Egypt, displaying his presence and mighty power,


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dispossessing for you nations who were larger and stronger than you, to make way for you and to give you their country as your heritage, as it still is today.


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'Hence, grasp this today and meditate on it carefully: Yahweh is the true God, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other.


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Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and live long in the country that Yahweh your God is giving you for ever.'


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to which any killer might flee who had accidentally, without any previous feud, killed his fellow; by taking refuge in one of these towns he could save his life.


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These were, for the Reubenites, Bezer in the desert on the tableland; for the Gadites, Ramoth in Gilead; for the Manassehites, Golan in Bashan.


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These are the stipulations, the laws and the customs which Moses gave the Israelites after they had left Egypt,


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beyond the Jordan in the valley near Beth-Peor, in the country of Sihon the Amorite king who had lived at Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites had defeated him when they left Egypt,


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and had taken possession of his country, as well as that of Og king of Bashan -- two Amorite kings to the east beyond the Jordan,


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and of the whole Arabah east of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.


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Moses called all Israel together and said to them, 'Listen, Israel, to the laws and customs that I proclaim to you today. Learn them and take care to observe them.


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while I stood between you and Yahweh to let you know what Yahweh was saying, since you were afraid of the fire and had not gone up the mountain. He said:


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' "You must not make yourselves any image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth;


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you must not bow down to these gods or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish the parents' fault in the children, the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren, among those who hate me;


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' "You must not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who uses his name for what is false.


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but the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. You must not do any work that day, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servants -- male or female -- nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your animals, nor the foreigner who has made his home with you;


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so that your servants, male and female, may rest, as you do. Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt, and that Yahweh your God brought you out of there with mighty hand and outstretched arm; this is why Yahweh your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.


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' "Honour your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that you may have long life and may prosper in the country which Yahweh your God is giving you.


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' "You must not set your heart on your neighbour's spouse, you must not set your heart on your neighbour's house, or field, or servant-man or woman -- or ox, or donkey or any of your neighbour's possessions."


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'These were the words Yahweh spoke to you when you were all assembled on the mountain. Thunderously, he spoke to you from the heart of the fire, in cloud and thick darkness. He added nothing, but wrote them on two tablets of stone which he gave to me.


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'Now, having heard this voice coming out of the darkness, while the mountain was all on fire, you came to me, all of you, heads of tribes and elders,


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and said, "Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak with a human being and that person still live.


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So why should we expose ourselves to death again? For this great fire might devour us if we go on listening to the voice of Yahweh our God, and then we should die.


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For what creature of flesh could possibly live after hearing, as we have heard, the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire?


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Go nearer yourself and listen to everything that Yahweh our God may say, and then tell us everything that Yahweh our God has told you; we shall listen and put it into practice!"


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'Yahweh heard what you were saying to me, and he then said to me, "I have heard what these people are saying. Everything they have said is well said.


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If only their heart were always so, set on fearing me and on keeping my commandments, so that they and their children might prosper for ever!


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But you yourself stay here with me, and I shall tell you all the commandments, the laws and the customs which you are to teach them and which they are to observe in the country which I am giving them as their possession."


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'Keep them and put them into practice: such is Yahweh's command to you. Stray neither to right nor to left.


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Follow the whole way that Yahweh has marked for you, and you will survive to prosper and live long in the country which you are going to possess.'


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'Such, then, are the commandments, the laws and the customs which Yahweh your God has instructed me to teach you, for you to observe in the country which you are on your way to possess.


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And hence, if, throughout your lives, you fear Yahweh your God and keep all his laws and commandments, which I am laying down for you today, you will live long, you and your child and your grandchild.


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Listen then, Israel, keep and observe what will make you prosperous and numerous, as Yahweh, God of your ancestors, has promised you, in giving you a country flowing with milk and honey.


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You shall tell them to your children, and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up;


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'When Yahweh has brought you into the country which he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give you, with great and prosperous cities you have not built,


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with houses full of good things you have not provided, with wells you have not dug, with vineyards and olive trees you have not planted, and then, when you have eaten as much as you want,


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be careful you do not forget Yahweh who has brought you out of Egypt, out of the place of slave-labour.


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Yahweh your God is the one you must fear, him alone you must serve, his is the name by which you must swear.


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for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God; the wrath of Yahweh your God would blaze out against you, and he would wipe you off the face of the earth.


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Keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his instructions and laws which he has laid down for you,


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and do what Yahweh regards as right and good, so that you may prosper and take possession of the fine country which Yahweh swore to give your ancestors,


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'In times to come, when your child asks you, "What is the meaning of these instructions, laws and customs which Yahweh our God has laid down for you?"


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you are to tell your child, "Once we were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt by his mighty hand.


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Before our eyes, Yahweh worked great and terrible signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and his entire household.


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And he brought us out of there, to lead us into the country which he had sworn to our ancestors that he would give us.


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And Yahweh has commanded us to observe all these laws and to fear Yahweh our God, so as to be happy for ever and to survive, as we do to this day.


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For us, right living will mean this: to keep and observe all these commandments in obedience to Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us." '


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'When Yahweh your God has brought you into the country which you are going to make your own, many nations will fall before you: Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than yourselves.


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Yahweh your God will put them at your mercy and you will conquer them. You must put them under the curse of destruction. You must not make any treaty with them or show them any pity.


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You must not intermarry with them; you must not give a daughter of yours to a son of theirs, or take a daughter of theirs for a son of yours,


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for your son would be seduced from following me into serving other gods; the wrath of Yahweh would blaze out against you and he would instantly destroy you.


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Instead, treat them like this: tear down their altars, smash their standing-stones, cut down their sacred poles and burn their idols.


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For you are a people consecrated to Yahweh your God; of all the peoples on earth, you have been chosen by Yahweh your God to be his own people.


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'Yahweh set his heart on you and chose you not because you were the most numerous of all peoples -- for indeed you were the smallest of all-


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but because he loved you and meant to keep the oath which he swore to your ancestors: that was why Yahweh brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the place of slave-labour, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.


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From this you can see that Yahweh your God is the true God, the faithful God who, though he is true to his covenant and his faithful love for a thousand generations as regards those who love him and keep his commandments,


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punishes in their own persons those that hate him. He destroys anyone who hates him, without delay; and it is in their own persons that he punishes them.


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Hence, you must keep and observe the commandments, laws and customs which I am laying down for you today.


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'Listen to these ordinances, be true to them and observe them, and in return Yahweh your God will be true to the covenant and love which he promised on oath to your ancestors.


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He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers; he will bless the fruit of your body and the produce of your soil, your corn, your new wine, your oil, the issue of your cattle, the young of your flock, in the country which he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.


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You will be the most blessed of all peoples. None of you, man or woman, will be sterile, no male or female of your beasts infertile.


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Yahweh will deflect all illness from you; he will not afflict you with those evil plagues of Egypt which you have known, but will inflict them on all who hate you.


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'So, devour all the peoples whom Yahweh your God puts at your mercy, show them no pity, do not serve their gods: or you will be ensnared.


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the great ordeals that you yourselves have seen, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm with which Yahweh your God brought you out. This is how Yahweh your God will treat all the peoples whom you fear to face.


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And what is more, Yahweh your God will send hornets to destroy those who are left and who hide from you.


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Little by little, Yahweh your God will clear away these nations before you; you cannot destroy them all at once, or wild animals will breed and be disastrous for you.


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But Yahweh your God will put them at your mercy, and disaster after disaster will overtake them until they are finally destroyed.


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He will put their kings at your mercy and you will blot out their names under heaven; no one will be able to resist you -- until you have destroyed them all.


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'You must burn the statues of their gods, not coveting the gold and silver that covers them; take it and you will be caught in a snare: it is detestable to Yahweh your God.


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You must not bring any detestable thing into your house: or you, like it, will come under the curse of destruction. You must regard them as unclean and loathsome, for they are under the curse of destruction.'


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'You must keep and put into practice all the commandments which I enjoin on you today, so that you may survive and increase in numbers and enter the country which Yahweh promised on oath to your ancestors, and make it your own.


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Remember the long road by which Yahweh your God led you for forty years in the desert, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart -- whether you would keep his commandments or not.


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He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh.


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'But Yahweh your God is bringing you into a fine country, a land of streams and springs, of waters that well up from the deep in valleys and hills,


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a land where you will eat bread without stint, where you will want nothing, a land where the stones are iron and where the hills may be quarried for copper.


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You will eat and have all you want and you will bless Yahweh your God in the fine country which he has given you.


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'Be careful not to forget Yahweh your God, by neglecting his commandments, customs and laws which I am laying down for you today.


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when you have seen your flocks and herds increase, your silver and gold abound and all your possessions grow great,


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do not become proud of heart. Do not then forget Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the place of slave-labour,


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who in this waterless place brought you water out of the flinty rock; who in this desert fed you with manna unknown to your ancestors, to humble you and test you and so make your future the happier.


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'Beware of thinking to yourself, "My own strength and the might of my own hand have given me the power to act like this."


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Remember Yahweh your God; he was the one who gave you the strength to act effectively like this, thus keeping then, as today, the covenant which he swore to your ancestors.


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Be sure: if you forget Yahweh your God, if you follow other gods, if you serve them and bow down to them -- I testify to you today -- you will perish.


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Like the nations Yahweh is to destroy before you, so you yourselves will perish, for not having listened to the voice of Yahweh your God.'


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'Listen, Israel; today you are about to cross the Jordan, to go and dispossess nations greater and stronger than yourself, and cities immense, with walls reaching to the sky.


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A people great and tall, these Anakim, as you know; you have heard the saying: Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?


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Know then today that Yahweh your God himself will go ahead of you, destroying them like a devouring fire, and that he himself will subdue them before you so that you can dispossess and quickly make an end of them, as Yahweh has already said.


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Do not think to yourself, once Yahweh your God has driven them before you, "Yahweh has brought me into possession of this country because I am upright," when Yahweh is dispossessing these nations for you, because they do wrong.


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You are not going into their country to take possession because of any right behaviour or uprightness on your part; rather, it is because of their wickedness that Yahweh is dispossessing these nations for you, and also to keep the pact which he swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


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Be clear about this: Yahweh is not giving you possession of this fine country because of any right conduct on your part, for you are an obstinate people.


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'Remember; never forget how you provoked Yahweh your God in the desert. From the very day that you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebels against Yahweh.


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I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh was making with you. I stayed forty days and forty nights on the mountain, with nothing to eat or drink.


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Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God, exactly corresponding to what Yahweh had said to you on the mountain, from the heart of the fire, on the day of the Assembly.


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After forty days and forty nights, having given me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant,


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Yahweh said to me, "Get up, go down quickly, for your people, whom you have brought out of Egypt, are corrupting one another. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have cast themselves a metal idol."


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Leave me, I am going to destroy them and wipe out their name under heaven; and I shall make you into a mightier and more numerous nation than they are!"


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'I went back down the mountain, which was blazing with fire, and in my hands were the two tablets of the covenant.


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When I looked, I saw that you had been sinning against Yahweh your God. You had cast yourselves a metal calf; you had been quick to leave the way marked out for you by Yahweh.


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Then I fell prostrate before Yahweh; as before, I spent forty days and forty nights with nothing to eat or drink, on account of all the sins which you had committed, by doing what was displeasing to Yahweh and thus arousing his anger.


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For I was afraid of this anger, of the fury which so roused Yahweh against you that he was ready to destroy you. And, once again, Yahweh heard my prayer.


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Yahweh was enraged with Aaron and was ready to destroy him too; I also pleaded for Aaron on that occasion.


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That work of sin, the calf you had made, I took and burned and broke to pieces; having ground it to the finest dust, I threw its dust into the stream that comes down from the mountain.


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And when Yahweh, meaning you to leave Kadesh-Barnea, said, "Go up and take possession of the country which I have given you," you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God and would not believe him or listen to his voice.


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'So I fell prostrate before Yahweh and lay there those forty days and forty nights, Yahweh having said that he was going to destroy you.


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And I pleaded with Yahweh. "My Lord Yahweh," I said, "do not destroy your people, your heritage whom in your greatness you have redeemed, whom you have brought out of Egypt with your mighty hand.


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Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; take no notice of this people's stubbornness, their wickedness, and their sin,


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so that, in the country from which you have brought us, it may not be said, 'Yahweh was not able to bring them to the country which he had promised them. He hated them; that was why he brought them out -- to slaughter them in the desert.'


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But these are your people, your heritage, whom you yourself have brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm." '


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'Yahweh then said to me, "Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and come up to me on the mountain. Make an ark of wood;


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on the tablets I shall inscribe the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; put them in the ark."


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So I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two stone tablets like the first and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.


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And he inscribed the tablets, as he had inscribed them before, with the Ten Words which Yahweh had said to you on the mountain, from the heart of the fire, on the day of the Assembly. Yahweh then gave them to me.


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I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, and there they stayed, as Yahweh had commanded me.


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'The Israelites left the wells of the Bene-Jaakan for Moserah, where Aaron died; he was buried there, and his son Eleazar succeeded him in the priesthood.


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Yahweh then set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of Yahweh's covenant, to stand in the presence of Yahweh, to serve him and to bless in his name, as they still do today.


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This is why Levi has no share or heritage with his brothers: Yahweh is his heritage, as Yahweh your God then told him.


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'And, as before, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. And again Yahweh heard my prayer and agreed not to destroy you.


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And Yahweh said to me, "Be on your way at the head of this people, so that they can go and take possession of the country which I swore to their ancestors that I would give them."


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'And now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God ask of you? Only this: to fear Yahweh your God, to follow all his ways, to love him, to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and all your soul,


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to keep the commandments and laws of Yahweh, which I am laying down for you today for your own good.


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yet it was on your ancestors, for love of them, that Yahweh set his heart to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, you yourselves, out of all nations, up to the present day.


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for Yahweh your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, triumphant and terrible, free of favouritism, never to be bribed.


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He it is who sees justice done for the orphan and the widow, who loves the stranger and gives him food and clothing.


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Yahweh your God is the one whom you must fear and serve; to him you must hold firm; in his name take your oaths.


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Him you must praise, he is your God: for you he has done these great and terrible things which you have seen for yourselves;


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and, although your ancestors numbered only seventy persons when they went down to Egypt, Yahweh your God has now made you as many as the stars of heaven.'


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'You must love Yahweh your God and always keep his observances, his laws, his customs, his commandments.


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You are the ones who have had the experience, not your children. They have not had the experience, they have not witnessed the lessons of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,


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the signs and the deeds which he performed in the heart of Egypt, against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his entire country,


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what he did to the armies of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, by overwhelming them with the waters of the Sea of Reeds when they were pursuing you, and leaving no trace of them to this day;


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what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when, with all Israel standing round, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their families, their tents and all their supporters.


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'You must keep all the commandments which I enjoin on you today, so that you may have the strength to conquer the country into which you are about to cross, to take possession of it,


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and so that you may live long in the country which Yahweh promised on oath to bestow on your ancestors and their descendants, a country flowing with milk and honey.


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'For the country which you are about to enter and make your own is not like the country of Egypt from which you have come, where, having done your sowing, you had to water the seed by foot, as though in a vegetable garden.


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No, the country which you are about to enter and make your own, is a country of hills and valleys watered by the rain of heaven.


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Yahweh your God looks after this country, the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end.


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Depend on it: if you faithfully obey the commandments I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh your God and serving him with all your heart and all your soul,


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I shall give your country rain at the right time, rain in autumn, rain in spring, so that you can harvest your wheat, your new wine and your oil.


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Yahweh's anger will be kindled against you, he will shut the heavens, there will be no more rain, the soil will not yield its produce and, in the fine country given you by Yahweh, you will quickly perish.


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'Let these words of mine remain in your heart and in your soul; fasten them on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a headband.


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Teach them to your children, and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up.


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so that you and your children may live long in the country which Yahweh swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is a sky above the earth.


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'For if you faithfully keep and observe all these commandments that I enjoin on you today, loving Yahweh your God, following all his ways and holding fast to him,


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Yahweh will dispossess all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and more powerful than yourselves.


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Wherever the sole of your foot treads will be yours; your territory will run from the desert all the way to the Lebanon; and from the River, from the River Euphrates, as far as the Western Sea, will be your territory.


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No one will be able to resist you; Yahweh your God will make you feared and dreaded throughout the territory you tread, as he has promised you.


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a curse, if you disobey the commandments of Yahweh your God and leave the way which today I have marked out for you, by following other gods hitherto unknown to you.


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And when Yahweh your God has brought you into the country which you are about to enter and make your own, you must set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.


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(These mountains, as everyone knows, are on the other side of the Jordan on the westward road, in the territory of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the Oak of Moreh.)


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For you are about to cross the Jordan, to enter and take possession of the country given you by Yahweh your God. You will possess it, you will live in it,


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'Now, these are the laws and customs which you must keep in the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you as yours, and which you must observe every day that you live in that country.


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'You must completely destroy all the places where the nations you dispossess have served their gods, on high mountains, on hills, under any spreading tree;


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you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, burn their sacred poles, hack to bits the statues of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.


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You must seek Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose from all your tribes, there to set his name and give it a home: that is where you must go.


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That is where you must bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and offerings held high, your votive offerings and your voluntary offerings, and the first-born of your herd and flock;


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and that is where you must eat in the presence of Yahweh your God, rejoicing over your labours, you and your households, because Yahweh your God has blessed you.


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since you have not yet come to the resting place and the heritage that Yahweh your God is going to give you.


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You are about to cross the Jordan and live in the country given you by Yahweh your God as your heritage; he will grant you peace from all the enemies surrounding you, and you will live in safety.


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To the place chosen by Yahweh your God as a home for his name, to that place you must bring all the things that I am laying down for you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and offerings held high, and all the best of your possessions dedicated by you to Yahweh.


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That is where you will rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God, you and your sons and daughters, your serving men and women, and the Levite living in your community since he has no share or heritage of his own among you.


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only in the place that Yahweh chooses in one of your tribes may you offer your burnt offerings and do all the things which I have commanded you.


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'This notwithstanding, and whenever you wish, you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live -- as much as the blessing of Yahweh affords you. Clean or unclean may eat it, as though it were gazelle or deer.


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'You must not eat the tithe of your wheat, of your new wine or of your oil, or the first-born of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings or voluntary offerings, or your offerings held high to Yahweh, at home.


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You must eat these in the presence of Yahweh your God in the place Yahweh your God chooses and there alone, you, your son and your daughter, your serving man and serving woman, and the Levite living in your community, expressing your joy in all your labours in the presence of Yahweh your God.


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'When Yahweh your God enlarges your territory as he has promised you, and you say, "I should like to eat meat," if you want to eat meat you may eat as much as you like.


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If the place in which Yahweh your God chooses to set his name is too far away, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock that Yahweh has given you, as I have prescribed for you; you may eat as much of it as you please at home.


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Take care, however, not to eat the blood, since blood is life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.


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You must not eat it -- so that you, and your children after you, may prosper, doing what is right in Yahweh's eyes.


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But the holy things of yours and the things which you have dedicated, you must go and take to the place chosen by Yahweh.


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The burnt offerings of meat and blood must be presented on the altar of Yahweh your God; whereas, in your sacrifices, the blood must be poured on the altar of Yahweh your God; the meat you yourselves may eat.


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Faithfully keep and obey all these orders which I am giving you, so that you and your children after you may prosper for ever, doing what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.


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'When Yahweh your God has annihilated the nations confronting you, whom you are going to dispossess, and when you have dispossessed them and made your home in their country,


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beware of being entrapped into copying them, after they have been destroyed to make way for you, and do not enquire about their gods, saying, "How did these nations worship their gods? I am going to do the same too."


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This is not the way to treat Yahweh your God. For in honour of their gods they have done everything detestable that Yahweh hates; yes, in honour of their gods, they even burn their own sons and daughters as sacrifices!'


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'Whatever I am now commanding you, you must keep and observe, adding nothing to it, taking nothing away.


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and the sign or wonder comes about; and if he then says to you, "Let us follow other gods (hitherto unknown to you) and serve them,"


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you must not listen to that prophet's words or to that dreamer's dreams. Yahweh your God is testing you to know if you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and all your soul.


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Yahweh your God is the one whom you must follow, him you must fear, his commandments you must keep, his voice you must obey, him you must serve, to him you must hold fast.


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That prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death, since he has preached apostasy from Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slave-labour; and he would have diverted you from the way in which Yahweh your God has commanded you to walk. You must banish this evil from among you.


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'If your brother, the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the spouse whom you embrace, or your most intimate friend, tries secretly to seduce you, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods," unknown to you or your ancestors before you,


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you must not consent, you must not listen to him; you must show him no pity, you must not spare him or conceal his guilt.


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No, you must kill him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands of the rest of the people following.


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You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slave-labour.


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there are men, scoundrels from your own stock, who have led their fellow-citizens astray, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods," hitherto unknown to you,


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it is your duty to look into the matter, examine it, and enquire most carefully. If it is proved and confirmed that such a hateful thing has taken place among you,


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you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword; you must lay it under the curse of destruction -- the town and everything in it.


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You must pile up all its loot in the public square and burn the town and all its loot, offering it all to Yahweh your God. It is to be a ruin for all time, and never rebuilt.


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From what is thus put under the curse of destruction you must keep nothing back, so that Yahweh may turn from the ferocity of his anger and show you mercy, and have pity on you and increase your numbers, as he swore he would to your ancestors,


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on condition that you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping all his commandments which I am enjoining on you today, and by doing what is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.'


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'You are children of Yahweh your God. You must not gash yourselves or shave your foreheads for the dead.


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For you are a people consecrated to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be his own people from all the peoples on the earth.


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Of those, however, that are ruminants and of those that have a divided and cloven hoof you may not eat the following: the camel, the hare and the coney, which are ruminants but have no cloven hoof; you must class them as unclean.


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So also the pig, which though it has a cloven hoof is not a ruminant; you must class it as unclean. You must neither eat the meat of such animals nor touch their dead bodies.


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'Of whatever lives in water you may eat the following: you may eat anything that has fins and scales.


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'You must not eat any animal that has died a natural death. You may give it to a resident foreigner to eat, or sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people consecrated to Yahweh your God. 'You must not boil a kid in its mother's milk.


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and, in the presence of Yahweh your God, in the place where he chooses to give his name a home, you must eat the tithe of your wheat, of your new wine and of your oil, and the first-born of your herd and flock; and by so doing, you will learn always to fear Yahweh your God.


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'If the road is too long for you, if you cannot bring your tithe because the place in which Yahweh chooses to make a home for his name is too far away, when Yahweh your God has blessed you,


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you must convert it into money and, with the money clasped in your hand, you must go to the place chosen by Yahweh your God;


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there you may spend the money on whatever you like, oxen, sheep, wine, fermented liquor, anything you please. There you must eat in the presence of Yahweh your God and rejoice, you and your household.


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Do not neglect the Levite living in your community, since he has no share or heritage of his own among you.


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'At the end of every three years, you must take all the tithes of your harvests for that year and collect them in your community.


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Then the Levite -- since he has no share or heritage of his own among you -- the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your community, will come and eat all they want. And so Yahweh your God will bless you in all the labours that you undertake.'


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The nature of the remission is as follows: any creditor holding a personal pledge obtained from his fellow must release him from it; he must not exploit his fellow or his brother once the latter has appealed to Yahweh for remission.


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There must, then, be no poor among you. For Yahweh will grant you his blessing in the country which Yahweh your God is giving you to possess as your heritage,


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only if you pay careful attention to the voice of Yahweh your God, by keeping and practising all these commandments which I am enjoining on you today.


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If Yahweh your God blesses you as he has promised, you will be creditors to many nations but debtors to none; you will rule over many nations, and be ruled by none.


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'Is there anyone poor among you, one of your brothers, in any town of yours in the country which Yahweh your God is giving you? Do not harden your heart or close your hand against that poor brother of yours,


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Do not allow this mean thought in your heart, "The seventh year, the year of remission, is near," and scowl at your poor brother and give him nothing; he could appeal against you to Yahweh, and you would incur guilt!


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When you give to him, you must give with an open heart; for this, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your actions and in all your undertakings.


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Of course, there will never cease to be poor people in the country, and that is why I am giving you this command: Always be open handed with your brother, and with anyone in your country who is in need and poor.


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'If your fellow Hebrew, man or woman, sells himself to you, he can serve you for six years. In the seventh year you must set him free,


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By way of present, you will load his shoulders with things from your flock, from your threshing-floor and from your winepress; as Yahweh your God has blessed you, so you must give to him.


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Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this order today.


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'But if he says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your household and is happy with you,


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you must take an awl and drive it through his ear into the door and he will be your servant for ever. You must do the same to a female slave.


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'Do not think it hard on you to have to give him his freedom; he is worth twice what a paid servant would cost you, and has served you for six years. And Yahweh your God will bless you in everything you do.


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'You must consecrate every first-born male from your herd and flock to Yahweh your God. You must not put the first-born of your herd to work, or shear the first-born of your flock.


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You must eat it, you and your household, each year, in the presence of Yahweh your God, in the place which Yahweh chooses.


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If it has any defect, if it is lame or blind -- any serious defect -- you must not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.


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'Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover for Yahweh your God, because it was in the month of Abib that Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.


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You must sacrifice a Passover from your flock or herd for Yahweh your God in the place where Yahweh chooses to give his name a home.


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You must not eat leavened bread with this; for seven days you must eat it with unleavened bread -- the bread of affliction -- since you left Egypt in great haste; this is so that, as long as you live, you will remember the day you came out of Egypt.


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For seven days no leaven must be found in any house throughout your territory, nor must any of the meat that you sacrifice in the evening of the first day be kept overnight until the next day.


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but in the place where Yahweh your God chooses to give his name a home; there you must sacrifice the Passover, in the evening at sunset, at the hour when you came out of Egypt.


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You will cook it and eat it in the place chosen by Yahweh your God, and in the morning you must return and go to your tents.


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For six days you will eat unleavened bread; on the seventh day there will be an assembly for Yahweh your God; and you must do no work.


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'You must count seven weeks, counting these seven weeks from the time you begin to put your sickle into the standing corn.


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You will then celebrate the feast of Weeks for Yahweh your God with the gift of a voluntary offering proportionate to the degree in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.


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You must rejoice in the presence of Yahweh your God, in the place where Yahweh your God chooses to give his name a home, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men and women, the Levite living in your community, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living among you.


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'You must celebrate the feast of Shelters for seven days, at the time when you gather in the produce of your threshing-floor and winepress.


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You must rejoice at your feast, you, your son and your daughter, your serving men and women, the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your community.


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For seven days, you must celebrate the feast for Yahweh your God in the place chosen by Yahweh; for Yahweh your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings, so that you will have good reason to rejoice.


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'Three times a year all your menfolk must appear before Yahweh your God in the place chosen by him: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, at the feast of Shelters. No one must appear empty-handed before Yahweh,


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but each must give what he can, in proportion to the blessing which Yahweh your God has bestowed on you.


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'You must appoint judges and scribes in each of the towns that Yahweh your God is giving you, for all your tribes; these are to mete out proper justice to the people.


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You must not pervert the law; you must be impartial; you will take no bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and ruins the cause of the upright.


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Strict justice must be your ideal, so that you may live long in possession of the country given you by Yahweh your God.


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'You must not plant a sacred pole of any wood whatsoever beside the altar which you erect for Yahweh your God;


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'To Yahweh your God you must sacrifice nothing from herd or flock that has any blemish or defect whatsoever, for Yahweh your God holds this detestable.


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'If there is anyone, man or woman, among you in any of the towns given you by Yahweh your God, who does what is wrong in the eyes of Yahweh your God by violating his covenant,


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who goes and serves other gods and worships them, or the sun or the moon or any of heaven's array -- a thing I have forbidden-


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and this person is denounced to you: if after careful enquiry it is found true and confirmed that this hateful thing has been done in Israel,


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you must take the man or woman guilty of this evil deed outside your city gates, and there you must stone that man or woman to death.


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A death sentence may be passed only on the word of two witnesses or three; and no one must be put to death on the word of one witness alone.


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The witnesses' hands must strike the first blow in putting the condemned to death, the rest of the people following. You must banish this evil from among you.


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'If a case comes before you which is too difficult for you, a case of murder, conflicting claims, damage to property -- any kind of dispute -- in your towns, you must make your way to the place chosen by Yahweh your God,


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and approach the levitical priests and the judge then in office. They will hold an enquiry and let you know their sentence.


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You must abide by the verdict which they give you in this place chosen by Yahweh, and you will take care to carry out all their instructions.


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You will abide by the decision which they give you and by the sentence which they pronounce, not deviating to right or to left from the verdict which they have given you.


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If anyone presumes to disobey either the priest who is there in the service of Yahweh your God, or the judge, that person must die. You must banish this evil from Israel.


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'If, having reached the country given by Yahweh your God and having taken possession of it and, while living there, you think, "I should like to appoint a king to rule me -- like all the surrounding nations,"


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the king whom you appoint to rule you must be chosen by Yahweh your God; the appointment of a king must be made from your own brothers; on no account must you appoint as king some foreigner who is not a brother of yours.


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'He must not, however, acquire more and more horses, or send the people back to Egypt with a view to increasing his cavalry, since Yahweh has told you, "You must never go back that way again."


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Nor must he keep on acquiring more and more wives, for that could lead his heart astray. Nor must he acquire vast quantities of silver and gold.


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Once seated on his royal throne, and for his own use, he must write a copy of this Law on a scroll, at the dictation of the levitical priests.


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It must never leave him, and he must read it every day of his life and learn to fear Yahweh his God by keeping all the words of this Law and observing these rules,


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so that he will not think himself superior to his brothers, and not deviate from these commandments either to right or to left. So doing, long will he occupy his throne, he and his sons, in Israel.'


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'The levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi will be without share or heritage of their own in Israel; they will live on the foods offered to Yahweh and on his heritage.


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Levi will have no heritage of his own among his brothers; Yahweh will be his heritage, as he has promised him.


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'This is what is due to the priests from the people, from those who offer an ox or a sheep in sacrifice: the priest must be given the shoulder, the cheeks and the stomach.


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You must give him the first-fruits of your wheat, of your new wine and of your oil, as well as the first-fruits of your sheep-shearing.


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For Yahweh your God has chosen him from all your tribes to stand before Yahweh your God, to do the duties of the sacred ministry, and to bless in Yahweh's name -- him and his sons for all time.


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'If a Levite living in one of your towns anywhere in Israel decides to move to the place chosen by Yahweh,


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he shall minister there in the name of Yahweh his God like all his fellow Levites who stand ministering there in the presence of Yahweh,


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'When you have entered the country given you by Yahweh your God, you must not learn to imitate the detestable practices of the nations there already.


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There must never be anyone among you who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire of sacrifice, who practises divination, who is soothsayer, augur or sorcerer,


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For anyone who does these things is detestable to Yahweh your God; it is because of these detestable practices that Yahweh your God is driving out these nations before you.


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For these nations whom you are going to dispossess have listened to soothsayers and mediums, but Yahweh your God does not permit you to do this. From among yourselves, from among your own brothers,


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This is exactly what you asked Yahweh your God to do -- at Horeb, on the day of the Assembly, when you said, "Never let me hear the voice of Yahweh my God or see this great fire again, or I shall die."


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"What they have said is well said. From their own brothers I shall raise up a prophet like yourself;


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I shall put my words into his mouth and he will tell them everything I command him. Anyone who refuses to listen to my words, spoken by him in my name, will have to render an account to me.


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But the prophet who presumes to say something in my name which I have not commanded him to say, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die."


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When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh and the thing does not happen and the word is not fulfilled, then it has not been said by Yahweh. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. You have nothing to fear from him.'


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'When Yahweh your God has annihilated the nations whose country Yahweh your God is going to give you, and you have dispossessed them and are living in their towns and in their houses,


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you must set aside three towns, centrally placed in the country which Yahweh your God is giving you for your own.


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You will keep the approaches to them in good order, dividing the area of the country which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage, into three parts, so that any killer can flee to these towns.


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Here is an example of how someone may save his life by fleeing to them. 'If anyone has struck his fellow accidentally, without any previous feud with him


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(for example, he goes with his fellow into the forest to cut wood; his arm swings the axe to fell a tree; the head slips off the handle and strikes his companion dead), that man may take refuge in one of these towns and save his life.


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It must not be allowed that the avenger of blood, in the heat of his anger, should pursue the killer and that the length of the road should help him to overtake and wound him fatally; for the man has not deserved to die, having had no previous feud with his victim.


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and if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors that he would, and gives you the whole country which he promised to give to your ancestors-


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provided that you keep and observe all the commandments which I am enjoining on you today, loving Yahweh your God and always following his ways-then, to those three towns you will add three more.


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In this way, innocent blood will not be shed in the country which Yahweh your God is going to give you as your heritage; otherwise you would incur blood-guilt.


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'But if it happens that a man has a feud with his fellow and lies in wait for him and attacks him and fatally wounds him and he dies, and the man takes refuge in one of these towns,


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the elders of his own town must send there and have him taken and handed over to the avenger of blood, to be put to death.


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You must show him no pity. You must banish the shedding of innocent blood from Israel, and then you will prosper.


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'You must not displace your neighbour's boundary mark, positioned by men of old in the heritage soon to be yours, in the country which Yahweh your God is about to give you.


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'A single witness will not suffice to convict anyone of a crime or offence of any kind; whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two witnesses or three is required to sustain the charge.


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both parties to this dispute before Yahweh must appear before the priests and judges then in office.


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The judges will make a careful enquiry, and if it turns out that the witness is a liar and has made a false accusation against his brother,


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you must treat the witness as he would have treated his brother. You must banish this evil from among you.


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'When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, you must not be afraid of them; Yahweh your God is with you, he who brought you out of Egypt.


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He must say to them, "Listen, Israel: today you are about to join battle with your enemies. Do not be faint hearted. Let there be no fear or trembling or alarm as you face them.


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'The scribes will then address the people, as follows: "Has anyone built a new house and not yet dedicated it? Let him go home, in case he dies in battle and someone else performs the dedication.


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"Has anyone planted a vineyard and not yet enjoyed its fruit? Let him go home, in case he dies in battle and someone else enjoys its fruit.


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"Has anyone contracted to marry a girl and not yet married her? Let him go home, in case he dies in battle and someone else marries her."


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'Finally, the scribes will say to the people: "Is anyone frightened or faint hearted? Let him go home, in case he makes his brothers faint hearted too!"


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'Then, when the scribes have finished speaking to the people, commanders will be appointed to lead them.


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If it accepts these and opens its gates to you, all the people inside will owe you forced labour and work for you.


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But the women, children, livestock and whatever the town contains by way of spoil, you may take for yourselves as booty. You will feed on the spoils of the enemies whom Yahweh your God has handed over to you.


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But as regards the towns of those peoples whom Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage, you must not spare the life of any living thing.


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Instead, you must lay them under the curse of destruction: Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, as Yahweh your God has commanded,


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so that they may not teach you to do all the detestable things which they do to honour their gods: in doing these, you would sin against Yahweh your God.


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'If, when attacking a town, you have to besiege it for a long time before you capture it, you must not destroy its trees by taking the axe to them: eat their fruit but do not cut them down. Is the tree in the fields human, that you should besiege it too?


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Any trees, however, which you know are not fruit trees, you may destroy and cut down and use to build siege-works against the hostile town until it falls.'


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'If, in the country which Yahweh your God gives you as your possession, a victim of murder is found lying in the open country and it is not known who has killed that person,


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and establish which town is the nearest to the victim. The elders of that town must then take a heifer that has not yet been put to work or used as a draught animal under the yoke.


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The elders of that town must bring the heifer down to a permanently flowing river, to a spot that has been neither ploughed nor sown, and there by the river they must break the heifer's neck.


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The priests, the sons of Levi, will then step forward, these being the men whom Yahweh your God has chosen to serve him and to bless in Yahweh's name, and it being their business to settle all cases of dispute or of violence.


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All the elders of the town nearest to the victim of murder must then wash their hands in the stream, over the slaughtered heifer.


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They must pronounce these words, "Our hands have not shed this blood and our eyes have seen nothing.


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O Yahweh, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed, and let no innocent blood be shed among your people Israel. May this bloodshed be forgiven them!"


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You must banish all shedding of innocent blood from among you, if you mean to do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh.


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'When you go to war against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your power and you take prisoners,


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and among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman, and you fall in love with her, and you take her to be your wife


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and take off her prisoner's garb; she must stay inside your house and mourn her father and mother for a full month. You may then go to her and be a husband to her, and she will be your wife.


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Should she cease to please you, you will let her go where she wishes, not selling her for money: you must not make any profit out of her, since you have exploited her.


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'If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and the loved one and the unloved both bear him children, and if the first-born son is of the unloved wife,


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when the man comes to bequeath his goods to his sons, he may not treat the son of the wife whom he loves as the first-born, at the expense of the son of the wife whom he does not love, the true first-born.


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As his first-born he must acknowledge the son of the wife whom he does not love, giving him a double share of his estate; this son being the first-fruit of his vigour, the right of the first-born is his.


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'If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen to the voice either of his father or of his mother and, even when they punish him, still will not pay attention to them,


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his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place.


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To the elders of his town, they will say, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and will not listen to us; he is a wastrel and a drunkard."


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All his fellow-citizens must then stone him to death. You must banish this evil from among you. All Israel, hearing of this, will be afraid.


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his body must not remain on the tree overnight; you must bury him the same day, since anyone hanged is a curse of God, and you must not bring pollution on the soil which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.'


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'If you see your brother's ox or one of his sheep straying, you must not disregard it: you must take it back to your brother.


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And if he is not close at hand or you do not know who he is, you must take it home with you and keep it by you until your brother comes to look for it; you will then return it to him.


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'You must do the same with his donkey, the same with his cloak, the same with anything that your brother loses and that you find; you must not disregard it.


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'If you see your brother's donkey or ox fall over on the road, you must not disregard it, but must help your brother get it on its feet again.


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'A woman must not dress like a man, nor a man like a woman; anyone who does this is detestable to Yahweh your God.


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'If, when out walking, you come across a bird's nest, in a tree or on the ground, with chicks or eggs and the mother bird sitting on the chicks or the eggs, you must not take the mother as well as the chicks.


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Let the mother go; the young you may take for yourself. Thus will you have prosperity and long life.


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'When you build a new house, you must give your roof a parapet; then your house will not incur blood-vengeance, should anyone fall off the top.


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'You must not sow any other crop in your vineyard, or the whole yield may become forfeit, both the crop you have sown and the yield of your vines.


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taxes her with misconduct and publicly defames her by saying, "I married this woman and when I had sexual intercourse with her I did not find evidence of her virginity,"


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the girl's father and mother must take the evidence of her virginity and produce it before the elders of the town, at the gate.


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To the elders, the girl's father will say, "I gave this man my daughter for a wife and he has turned against her,


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and now he taxes her with misconduct, saying, I have found no evidence of virginity in your daughter. Here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity!"


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The elders of the town in question will have the man arrested and flogged, and fine him a hundred silver shekels for publicly defaming a virgin of Israel, and give this money to the girl's father. She will remain his wife; as long as he lives, he may not divorce her.


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she must be taken out, and at the door of her father's house her fellow-citizens must stone her to death for having committed an infamy in Israel by bringing disgrace on her father's family. You must banish this evil from among you.


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'If a man is caught having sexual intercourse with another man's wife, both must be put to death: the man who has slept with her and the woman herself. You must banish this evil from Israel.


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'If a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man encounters her in the town and has sexual intercourse with her,


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you will take them both to the gate of the town in question and stone them to death: the girl, for not having called for help in the town; the man, for having exploited his fellow-citizen's wife. You must banish this evil from among you.


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But if the man ran into the betrothed girl in the open country and slept with her, having taken her by force, her ravisher alone must die;


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you must do nothing to the girl, she has not committed a capital offence. The case is like that of a man who attacks and kills his fellow:


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since he came across her in the open country, the betrothed girl may have called out, without anyone's coming to her rescue.


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'If a man meets a young virgin who is not betrothed and seizes her, sleeps with her and is caught in the act,


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her ravisher must give the girl's father fifty silver shekels; since he has exploited her, she must be his wife and, as long as he lives, he may not divorce her.'


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'A man must not take his father's wife; he must not withdraw the skirt of his father's cloak from her.


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'A man whose testicles have been crushed or whose male member has been cut off must not be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh.


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No half-breed may be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh; not even his descendants to the tenth generation may be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh.


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No Ammonite or Moabite may be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh; not even his descendants to the tenth generation may be admitted to the assembly of Yahweh, and this is for all time;


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since they did not come to meet you with food and drink when you were on your way out of Egypt, and even hired Balaam son of Beor to oppose you by cursing you, from Pethor in Aram Naharaim.


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But Yahweh your God refused to listen to Balaam, and Yahweh your God turned the curse on you into a blessing, because Yahweh your God loved you.


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'You must not regard the Edomite as detestable, for he is your brother; you must not regard the Egyptian as detestable, since you were once a foreigner in his country.


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If any one of you is unclean by reason of a nocturnal emission, he must leave and not come back into camp,


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you must have a trowel in your equipment and, when you squat outside, you must scrape a hole with it, then turn round and cover up your excrement.


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For Yahweh your God goes about the inside of your camp to guard you and put your enemies at your mercy. Your camp must therefore be a holy place; Yahweh must not see anything indecent there or he will desert you.


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Let him make his home with you and yours, wherever he pleases in whichever of your towns he prefers; you must not molest him.


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'There must be no sacred prostitute among the women of Israel, and no sacred prostitute among the men of Israel.


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You must not bring the wages of a prostitute or the earnings of a 'dog' to the house of Yahweh your God, whatever vow you may have made: both are detestable to Yahweh your God.


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'You must not lend on interest to your brother, whether the loan be of money, of food, or of anything else that may earn interest.


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You may demand interest on a loan to a foreigner, but you must not demand interest from your brother; so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your labours, in the country which you are about to enter and make your own.


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'If you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you must not be slack about fulfilling it: Yahweh your God will certainly hold you answerable for it and you will incur guilt.


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Whatever passes your lips you must keep to, and the vow that you have made to Yahweh, your generous God, you must fulfil.


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'If you go into your neighbour's vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you please, but you must not put any in your basket.


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If you go into your neighbour's standing corn, you may pick ears by hand, but you must not put a sickle into your neighbour's corn.'


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'Suppose a man has taken a wife and consummated the marriage; but she has not pleased him and he has found some impropriety of which to accuse her; he has therefore made out a writ of divorce for her and handed it to her and then dismissed her from his house;


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Then suppose this second man who has married her takes a dislike to her and makes out a writ of divorce for her and hands it to her and dismisses her from his house or if this other man who took her as his wife dies,


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her first husband, who has repudiated her, may not take her back as his wife now that she has been made unclean in this way. For that is detestable in Yahweh's eyes and you must not bring guilt on the country which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.


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'If a man is newly married, he must not join the army, nor must he be pestered at home; he must be left at home, free of all obligations for one year, to make his new wife happy.


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'If anyone is caught, having kidnapped one of his brother-Israelites, whether he makes him his slave or sells him, that thief must die. You must banish this evil from among you.


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'In a case of a virulent skin-disease, take care you faithfully observe and exactly carry out everything that the levitical priests direct you to do. You must keep and observe everything that I have commanded them.


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'If you are making your brother a loan on pledge, you must not go into his house and seize the pledge, whatever it may be.


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You must stay outside, and the man to whom you are making the loan must bring the pledge out to you.


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you must return it to him at sunset so that he can sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be an upright action on your part in God's view.


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'You must not exploit a poor and needy wage-earner, be he one of your brothers or a foreigner resident in your community.


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You must pay him his wages each day, not allowing the sun to set before you do, since he, being poor, needs them badly; otherwise he may appeal to Yahweh against you, and you would incur guilt.


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'Parents may not be put to death for their children, nor children for parents, but each must be put to death for his own crime.


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'You must not infringe the rights of the foreigner or the orphan; you must not take a widow's clothes in pledge.


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Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you from that. That is why I am giving you this order.


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'If, when reaping the harvest in your field, you overlook a sheaf in that field, do not go back for it. The foreigner, the orphan and the widow shall have it, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your undertakings.


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'When you beat your olive tree, you must not go over the branches twice. The foreigner, the orphan and the widow shall have the rest.


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'When you harvest your vineyard, you must not pick it over a second time. The foreigner, the orphan and the widow shall have the rest.


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'If people fall out, they must go to court for judgement; the judges must declare the one who is right to be in the right, the one who is wrong to be in the wrong.


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If the one who is in the wrong deserves a flogging, the judge must have him laid on the ground and flogged in his presence, the number of strokes proportionate to his offence.


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He may impose forty strokes but no more; otherwise, by the infliction of more, serious injury may be caused and your brother be humiliated before you.


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'If brothers live together and one of them dies childless, the dead man's wife may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her husband's brother must come to her and, exercising his duty as brother, make her his wife,


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and the first son she bears must assume the dead brother's name; by this means his name will not be obliterated from Israel.


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But if the man declines to take his brother's wife, she must go to the elders at the gate and say, "I have no brother-in-law willing to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he declines to exercise his duty as brother in my favour."


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The elders of the town must summon the man and talk to him. If, on appearing before them, he says, "I refuse to take her,"


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then the woman to whom he owes duty as brother must go up to him in the presence of the elders, take the sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and pronounce the following words, "This is what is done to the man who refuses to restore his brother's house,"


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'If, when two men are fighting, the wife of one intervenes to protect her husband from the other's blows by reaching out and seizing the other by his private parts,


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You must keep one weight, full and accurate, so that you may have long life in the country given you by Yahweh your God.


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He met you on your way and, after you had gone by, he fell on you from the rear and cut off the stragglers; when you were faint and weary, he had no fear of God.


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When Yahweh your God has granted you peace from all the enemies surrounding you, in the country given you by Yahweh your God to own as your heritage, you must blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.'


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'When you have entered the country which Yahweh your God is giving you as heritage, when you have taken possession of it and are living in it,


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you must set aside the first-fruits of all the produce of the soil raised by you in your country, given you by Yahweh your God. You must put these in a basket and go to the place where Yahweh your God chooses to give his name a home.


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You will go to the priest then in office and say to him, "Today I declare to Yahweh my God that I have reached the country which Yahweh swore to our ancestors that he would give us."


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'The priest will then take the basket from your hand and lay it before the altar of Yahweh your God.


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In the presence of Yahweh your God, you will then pronounce these words: "My father was a wandering Aramaean, who went down to Egypt with a small group of men, and stayed there, until he there became a great, powerful and numerous nation.


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But we called on Yahweh, God of our ancestors. Yahweh heard our voice and saw our misery, our toil and our oppression;


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and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders.


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Hence, I now bring the first-fruits of the soil that you, Yahweh, have given me." 'You will then lay them before Yahweh your God, and prostrate yourself in the presence of Yahweh your God.


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You must then rejoice in all the good things that Yahweh your God has bestowed on you and your family-you, the Levite and the foreigner living with you.


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'In the third year, the tithing year, when you have finished taking the tithe of your whole income and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow so that, in your towns, they may eat to their heart's content,


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in the presence of Yahweh your God, you must say: "I have cleared my house of what was consecrated. Yes, I have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, in accordance with all the commandments you have imposed on me, neither going beyond your commandments nor neglecting them.


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When in mourning, I have not eaten any of it; when unclean, I have taken none of it away; I have given none of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh my God and I have behaved in every way as you have commanded me.


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Look down from your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the country which you have given us, as you swore to our ancestors, a country flowing with milk and honey." '


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'Yahweh your God commands you today to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.


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'Today you have obtained this declaration from Yahweh: that he will be your God, but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his customs, and listen to his voice.


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And today Yahweh has obtained this declaration from you: that you will be his own people -- as he has said -- but only if you keep all his commandments;


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then for praise and renown and honour, he will raise you higher than every other nation he has made, and you will be a people consecrated to Yahweh, as he has promised.'


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Moses and the elders of Israel gave the people this command: 'Keep all the commandments which I am laying down for you today.


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After you have crossed the Jordan into the country which Yahweh your God is giving you, you must set up tall stones, coat them with lime


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and on them write all the words of this Law, when you have crossed and entered the country which Yahweh your God is giving you, a country flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, God of your ancestors, has promised you.


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'When you have crossed the Jordan, you must erect these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with lime.


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You must build the altar of Yahweh your God of rough stones, and on this altar you will present burnt offerings to Yahweh your God,


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Moses and the levitical priests then said to all Israel: 'Be silent, Israel, and listen. Today you have become a people for Yahweh your God.


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You must listen to the voice of Yahweh your God and observe the commandments and laws which I am laying down for you today.'


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'When you have crossed the Jordan, the following will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon and Levi, Judah and Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.


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And the following will stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad and Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.


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"Accursed be anyone who makes a carved or cast idol, a thing detestable to Yahweh, a workman's artefact, and sets it up in secret." And the people are all to respond by saying, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who violates the rights of the foreigner, the orphan and the widow." And the people must all say, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who has sexual intercourse with his father's wife and withdraws the skirt of his father's cloak from her." And the people must all say, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who has sexual intercourse with any kind of animal." And the people must all say, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who has sexual intercourse with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother." And the people must all say, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who has sexual intercourse with his mother-in-law." And the people must all say, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who accepts a bribe to take an innocent life." And the people must all say, Amen.


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"Accursed be anyone who does not make the words of this Law effective by putting them into practice." And the people must all say, Amen.'


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'But if you faithfully obey the voice of Yahweh your God, by keeping and observing all his commandments, which I am laying down for you today, Yahweh your God will raise you higher than every other nation in the world,


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and all these blessings will befall and overtake you, for having obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God.


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blessed, the offspring of your body, the yield of your soil, the yield of your livestock, the young of your cattle and the increase of your flocks;


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The enemies who attack you, Yahweh will defeat before your eyes; they will advance on you from one direction and flee from you in seven.


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Yahweh will command blessedness to be with you, on your barns and on all your undertakings, and he will bless you in the country given you by Yahweh your God.


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'From you Yahweh will make a people consecrated to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and follow his ways.


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Yahweh will make you abound in possessions: in the offspring of your body, in the yield of your cattle and in the yield of your soil, in the country which he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.


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For you Yahweh will open his treasury of rain, the heavens, to give your country its rain at the right time, and to bless all your labours. You will make many nations your subjects, yet you will be subject to none.


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Yahweh will put you at the head, not at the tail; you will always be on top and never underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am laying down for you today, and then keep them and put them into practice,


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not deviating to right or to left from any of the words which I am laying down for you today, by following other gods and serving them.


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'But if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do not keep and observe all his commandments and laws which I am laying down for you today then all these curses will befall and overtake you.


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accursed, the offspring of your body, the yield of your soil, the young of your cattle and the increase of your flock.


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'Yahweh will send a curse on you, a spell, an imprecation on all your labours until you have been destroyed and quickly perish, because of your perverse behaviour, for having deserted me.


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Yahweh will fasten the plague on you, until it has exterminated you from the country which you are about to enter and make your own.


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Yahweh will strike you down with consumption, fever, inflammation, burning fever, drought, wind-blast, mildew, and these will pursue you to your ruin.


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Your country's rain Yahweh will turn into dust and sand; it will fall on you from the heavens until you perish.


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Yahweh will have you defeated by your enemies; you will advance on them from one direction and flee from them in seven; and you will be a terrifying object-lesson to all the kingdoms of the world.


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Your carcase will be carrion for all wild birds and all wild animals, with no one to scare them away.


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'Yahweh will strike you down with Egyptian ulcers, with swellings in the groin, with scurvy and the itch, for which you will find no cure.


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until you grope your way at noon like a blind man groping in the dark, and your steps will lead you nowhere. 'You will never be anything but exploited and plundered, with no one to save you.


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Get engaged to a woman, another man will have her; build a house, you will not live in it; plant a vineyard, you will not gather its first-fruits.


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Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes and you will eat none of it; your donkey will be carried off in front of you and not be returned to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will come to your help.


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Your sons and daughters will be handed over to another people, and every day you will wear your eyes out watching for them, while your hands are powerless.


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A nation hitherto unknown to you will eat the yield of your soil and of all your hard work. You will never be anything but exploited and crushed.


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Yahweh will strike you down with foul ulcers on knee and leg, for which you will find no cure -- from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.


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'Yahweh will send away both you and the king whom you have appointed to rule you to a nation unknown either to you or to your ancestors, and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone.


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And you will be the astonishment, the byword, the laughing-stock of all the peoples where Yahweh is taking you.


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You will plant and till your vineyards but not drink the wine or gather the grapes, since the grub will eat them up.


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You will grow olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with the oil, since your olive trees will be cut down.


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You will father sons and daughters but they will not belong to you, since they will go into captivity.


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'The foreigners living with you will rise higher and higher at your expense, while you yourself sink lower and lower.


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You will be subject to them, not they to you; they will be the ones at the head, and you the one at the tail.


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'All these curses will befall you, pursue you and overtake you until you have been destroyed, for not having obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping his commandments and laws which he has laid down for you.


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'For not having joyfully and with happy heart served Yahweh your God, despite the abundance of everything,


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you will have to serve the enemy whom Yahweh will send against you, in hunger, thirst, lack of clothing and total privation. He will put an iron yoke on your neck, until he has destroyed you.


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'Against you Yahweh will raise a distant nation from the ends of the earth like an eagle taking wing: a nation whose language you do not understand,


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He will eat the yield of your cattle and the yield of your soil until you have been destroyed; he will leave you neither wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor the young of your cattle, nor increase of your flock, until he has made an end of you.


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He will besiege you inside all your towns until your loftiest and most strongly fortified walls collapse, on which, throughout your country, you have relied. He will besiege you inside all the towns throughout your country, given you by Yahweh your God.


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During the siege and in the distress to which your enemy will reduce you, you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of the sons and daughters given you by Yahweh your God.


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The gentlest and tenderest of your men will scowl at his brother, and at the wife whom he embraces, and at his remaining children,


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not willing to give any of them any of his own children's flesh, which he is eating; because of the siege and the distress to which your enemy will reduce you in all your towns, he will have nothing left.


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The most refined and fastidious of your women, so refined, so fastidious that she has never ventured to set the sole of her foot to the ground, will scowl at the husband whom she embraces, and at her son and daughter, and at the after-birth when it leaves her womb, and at the child to which she has given birth-


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she will hide away and eat them, so complete will be the starvation resulting from the siege and the distress to which your enemy will reduce you in all your towns.


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'If you do not keep and observe all the words of this Law, which are written in this book, in the fear of this glorious and awe-inspiring name: Yahweh your God,


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Yahweh will strike you down with monstrous plagues, you and your descendants: with plagues grievous and lasting, diseases pernicious and enduring.


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He will afflict you with all the maladies of Egypt which you used to dread, and they will fasten on you.


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What is more, Yahweh will afflict you with all the plagues and all the diseases not mentioned in the book of this Law, until you have been destroyed.


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There will only be a small group of you left, you who were once as numerous as the stars of heaven. 'For not having obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God,


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just as Yahweh used to delight in making you happy and in making your numbers grow, so will he take delight in ruining you and destroying you. You will be torn from the country which you are about to enter and make your own.


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Yahweh will scatter you throughout every people, from one end of the earth to the other; there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone, hitherto unknown either to you or to your ancestors.


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Among these nations there will be no repose for you, no rest for the sole of your foot; there Yahweh will give you a quaking heart, weary eyes, halting breath.


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Your life ahead of you will hang in doubt; you will be afraid day and night, uncertain of your life.


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In the morning you will say, "How I wish it were evening!", and in the evening you will say, "How I wish it were morning!", such terror will grip your heart and such sights you will see!


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Yahweh will send you back to Egypt, either by ship or by a road which I promised you would never see again. And there you will want to offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as serving men and women, but no one will buy you.'


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These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh ordered Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant which he had made with them at Horeb.


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Moses called all Israel together and said to them: 'You have seen everything that Yahweh did before your eyes in Egypt, to Pharaoh, to his servants and to his whole country-


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'I have been leading you for forty years in the desert, yet the clothes which you have been wearing have not worn out, nor have the sandals on your feet.


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You have had no bread to eat, you have had no wine or fermented liquor to drink, so that you would learn that I, Yahweh, am your God.


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'When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to do battle against us; we defeated them.


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'All of you are standing here today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your tribal leaders, your elders, your scribes, all the men of Israel,


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with your children and your wives (and the foreigner too who is in your camp, be he your wood-cutter or your water-carrier),


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and you are about to pass into the covenant of Yahweh your God, sworn with imprecation, which he has made with you today,


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and by which, today, he makes you a nation for himself and he himself becomes a God to you, as he has promised you, and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


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not only on behalf of those standing here with us in the presence of Yahweh our God today, but also on behalf of those not here with us today.


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'Yes, you know the people with whom we used to live in Egypt, and those through whose countries we have travelled -- the nations through whom we have passed.


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You have seen their abominations and their idols made of wood and stone, silver and gold, which were there.


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'Let there be no man or woman of you, no clan or tribe, whose heart turns away from Yahweh your God today, to go and serve the gods of these nations. Among you let there be no root which bears poison or wormwood.


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If, after hearing this imprecation, anyone, blessing himself, should say in his heart, "I shall do well enough if I follow the dictates of my heart; much water drives away thirst,"


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Yahweh will not pardon him. The wrath and jealousy of Yahweh will blaze against such a person; every curse written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot his name out under heaven.


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Yahweh will single him out of all the tribes of Israel for misfortune, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in the book of this Law.


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'The future generation, that of your children coming after you, and the foreigner arriving from some far-away land, on seeing the plagues and diseases inflicted on this country by Yahweh, will exclaim,


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"Sulphur! Salt!-The whole country is burning! No one will sow, nothing grow, no vegetation spring ever again! Devastation like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, devastated by Yahweh in his furious wrath!"


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And all the nations will exclaim, "Why has Yahweh treated this country like this? Why this great blaze of anger?"


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'And people will say, "Because they deserted the covenant of Yahweh, God of their ancestors, the covenant which he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt;


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because they went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods hitherto unknown to them, gods that were no part of their heritage from him:


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this is why Yahweh's anger has blazed against this country, afflicting it with all the curses written in this book.


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In anger, in fury, in fierce wrath, Yahweh has torn them from their own country and flung them into another country, where they are today."


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Things hidden belong to Yahweh our God, but things revealed are ours and our children's for ever, so that we can put all the words of this Law into practice.'


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'And when all these words have come true for you -- the blessing and the curse, which I have offered you -- if you meditate on them in your heart wherever among the nations Yahweh your God has driven you,


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if you return to Yahweh your God, if with all your heart and with all your soul you obey his voice, you and your children, in everything that I am laying down for you today,


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then Yahweh your God will bring back your captives, he will have pity on you and gather you back from all the peoples among whom Yahweh your God has scattered you.


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Should you have been banished to the very sky's end, Yahweh your God will gather you again even from there, will come there to reclaim you


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and bring you back to the country which belonged to your ancestors, so that you may possess it in your turn, and be made prosperous there and more numerous than your ancestors.


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'Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul, and so will live.


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Yahweh your God will make all these curses recoil on your foes and on your enemies who have persecuted you.


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And once again you will obey the voice of Yahweh your God and you will put all his commandments into practice, which I am laying down for you today.


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Yahweh your God will make you prosper in all your labours, in the offspring of your body, in the yield of your cattle and in the yield of your soil. For once again Yahweh will delight in your prosperity as he used to take delight in the prosperity of your ancestors,


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if you obey the voice of Yahweh your God, by keeping his commandments and decrees written in the book of this Law, and if you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.


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'For this Law which I am laying down for you today is neither obscure for you nor beyond your reach.


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It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder, "Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to us, so that we can hear and practise it?"


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Nor is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, "Who will cross the seas for us and bring it back to us, so that we can hear and practise it?"


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No, the word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to put into practice.


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If you obey the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am laying down for you today, if you love Yahweh your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws and his customs, you will live and grow numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the country which you are about to enter and make your own.


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But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping other gods and serving them,


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I tell you today, you will most certainly perish; you will not live for long in the country which you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.


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Today, I call heaven and earth to witness against you: I am offering you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live,


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in the love of Yahweh your God, obeying his voice, holding fast to him; for in this your life consists, and on this depends the length of time that you stay in the country which Yahweh swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give them.'


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'Today, I am one hundred and twenty years old, and can no longer act as leader. Yahweh has told me, "You shall not cross this Jordan."


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Yahweh your God himself will lead you across, he himself will destroy and dispossess these nations confronting you; Joshua too will lead you across, as Yahweh has said.


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Yahweh will treat them as he has treated Sihon and Og the Amorite kings and their country -- he destroyed them.


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Yahweh will put them at your mercy, and you will deal with them exactly as prescribed by the commandments which I have laid down for you.


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Be strong, stand firm, have no fear, do not be afraid of them, for Yahweh your God is going with you; he will not fail you or desert you.'


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Moses then summoned Joshua and, in the presence of all Israel, said to him, 'Be strong, stand firm; you will be the one to go with this people into the country which Yahweh has sworn to their ancestors that he would give them; you are to be the one who puts them into possession of it.


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Yahweh himself will lead you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do not be alarmed.'


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Moses committed this Law to writing and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of Yahweh's covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.


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And Moses gave them this command, 'At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the year of remission, at the feast of Shelters,


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when all Israel assembles in the presence of Yahweh your God in the place chosen by him, you must proclaim this Law in the hearing of all Israel.


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Call the people together, men, women, children, and the foreigner residing with you, so that, hearing it, they may learn to fear Yahweh your God and keep and observe all the words of this Law.


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Their children, who as yet do not know it, will hear it and learn to fear Yahweh your God, all the time you live in the country which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.'


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'And now the time is near when you must die. Summon Joshua and take your places at the Tent of Meeting, so that I can give him his orders.' Moses and Joshua went and took their places at the Tent of Meeting,


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and Yahweh showed himself at the Tent in a pillar of cloud; the pillar of cloud stood at the door of the Tent.


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Yahweh said to Moses, 'You will soon be sleeping with your ancestors, and this people is about to play the harlot by following the gods of the foreigners of the country, among whom they are going to live. They will desert me and break my covenant, which I have made with them.


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That very day, my anger will blaze against them; I shall desert them and hide my face from them. A host of disasters and misfortunes will overtake them to devour them, and when that day comes they will say, "If such disasters overtake me, surely Yahweh my God cannot be with me?"


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Yes indeed, I shall hide my face that day, on account of all the evil which they will have done by turning to other gods.


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'Now write down this song for you to use; teach it to the Israelites, put it into their mouths, for it to be a witness on my behalf against the Israelites:


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against Israel, whom I am bringing into the country which I swore to his ancestors that I would give him, a country flowing with milk and honey: against Israel, who will eat to his heart's content and grow fat, and will then turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant.


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When a host of disasters and misfortunes overtakes him, this song, like a witness, will give evidence against him, since his descendants will not have forgotten it. Yes, even today, before I have brought him to the country which I have promised him on oath, I know what plans he has in mind.'


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To Joshua son of Nun, Yahweh gave this order, 'Be strong and stand firm, for you are to be the one to bring the Israelites into the country which I have promised them on oath, and I myself shall be with you.'


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'Take the book of this Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. Let it lie there as evidence against you.


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For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If today, while I am still alive and with you, you rebel against Yahweh, how much more will you rebel against him after my death!


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'Gather all your tribal elders and scribes round me, so that I may be sure that they hear these words, as I call heaven and earth to witness against them.


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For I know that after my death you are certain to grow corrupt; you will leave the way which I have marked out for you; in the final days disaster will befall you for having done what is evil in Yahweh's eyes, for having provoked his anger by your behaviour.'


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In the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel, Moses then recited the words of this song to the end:


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May my teaching fall like the rain, may my word drop down like the dew, like showers on the grass, like light rain on the turf!


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He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are equitable. A trustworthy God who does no wrong, he is the Honest, the Upright One!


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Is this the return you make to Yahweh? O people brainless and unwise! Is this not your father, who gave you being, who made you, by whom you subsist?


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Think back on the days of old, think over the years, down the ages. Question your father, let him explain to you, your elders, and let them tell you!


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When the Most High gave the nations each their heritage, when he partitioned out the human race, he assigned the boundaries of nations according to the number of the children of God,


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In the desert he finds him, in the howling expanses of the wastelands. He protects him, rears him, guards him as the pupil of his eye.


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Like an eagle watching its nest, hovering over its young, he spreads out his wings to hold him, he supports him on his pinions.


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He gives him the heights of the land to ride, he feeds him on the yield of the mountains, he gives him honey from the rock to taste, and oil from the flinty crag;


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curds from the cattle, milk from the flock, and the richness of the pasture, rams of Bashan's breed, and goats, the richness of the wheat kernel; the fermented blood of the grape for drink.


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Jacob has eaten to his heart's content, Jeshurun, grown fat, has now lashed out. (You have grown fat, gross, bloated.) He has disowned the God who made him, and dishonoured the Rock, his salvation,


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They sacrificed to demons who are not God, to gods hitherto unknown to them, to newcomers of yesterday whom their ancestors had never respected.


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'I shall hide my face from them,' he said, 'and see what will become of them. For they are a deceitful brood, children with no loyalty in them.


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They have roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.


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Yes, a fire has blazed from my anger, it will burn right down to the depths of Sheol; it will devour the earth and all its produce, it will set fire to the footings of the mountains.


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They will be weakened by hunger, eaten away by plague and the bitter scourge. Against them I shall send the fang of wild animals and the poison of snakes that glide in the dust.


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Outside, the sword bereaves, while inside terror will reign. Young man and girl alike will perish, suckling and greybeard both together.


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did I not fear the boasting of the enemy.' But do not let their foes be mistaken! Do not let them say, 'We have got the upper hand and Yahweh plays no part in this.'


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How else could one man rout a thousand, how could two put ten thousand to flight, were it not that their Rock has sold them, that Yahweh has delivered them up?


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For their vine springs from the stock of Sodom and from the groves of Gomorrah: their grapes are poisonous grapes, their clusters are bitter;


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Vengeance is mine, I will pay them back, for the time when they make a false step. For the day of their ruin is close, doom is rushing towards them, for he will see to it that their power fails. that neither serf nor free man remains.


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who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations?' Let these arise and help you, let these be the shelter above you!


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See now that I, I am he, and beside me there is no other god. It is I who deal death and life; when I have struck, it is I who heal (no one can rescue anyone from me).


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When I have whetted my flashing sword, I shall enforce justice, I shall return vengeance to my foes, I shall take vengeance on my foes.


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I shall make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will feed on flesh: the blood of the wounded and the prisoners, the dishevelled heads of the enemy!'


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Heavens, rejoice with him, let all the children of God pay him homage! Nations, rejoice with his people, let God's envoys tell of his power! For he will avenge the blood of his servants, he will return vengeance to my foes, he will repay those who hate him and purify his people's country.


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he said to them, 'Take all these words to heart; I intend them today to be evidence against you. You must order your children to keep and observe all the words of this Law.


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You must not think of this as empty words, for the Law is your life, and by its means you will live long in the country which you are crossing the Jordan to possess.'


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'Climb this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, in the country of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the Canaan which I am giving to the Israelites as their domain.


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Die on the mountain you have climbed, and be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.


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Because, with the other Israelites, you broke faith with me at the Waters of Meribah-Kadesh in the desert of Zin, because you did not make my holiness clear to the Israelites;


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you may only see the country from outside; you cannot enter it -- the country which I am giving to the Israelites.'


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He said: Yahweh came from Sinai, from Seir he dawned on us, from Mount Paran blazed forth, For them he came, after the mustering at Kadesh, from his zenith as far as the foothills.


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You who love the ancestors! Your holy ones are all at your command. At your feet they fell, under your guidance went swiftly on.


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there was a king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people foregathered and the tribes of Israel were all assembled!


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Of Judah he said this: Listen, Yahweh, to the voice of Judah, and bring him back to his people. That his hands may defend his rights, come to his help against his foes!


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Of Levi he said: To Levi, give your urim, to your faithful one, your thummim, having tested him at Massah, having striven with him at the Waters of Meribah.


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Of his father and mother, he says, 'I have not seen them.' He does not acknowledge his brothers, nor does he know his own children. Yes, they have kept your word, they hold firmly to your covenant.


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They will teach your customs to Jacob, and your Law to Israel. They will put incense before you and burnt offerings on your altar.


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Yahweh, bless his worthiness, and accept the actions he performs. Crush the loins of those who rise against him and of his foes, so that they rise no more!


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Of Benjamin he said: Beloved of Yahweh, he rests trustfully near him. The Most High protects him day after day and dwells between his hillsides.


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Of Joseph he said: His land is blessed by Yahweh. For him the best of heaven's dew and of the deep that lies below,


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the best of the land and all it holds, the favour of him who dwells in the Bush. May the hair grow thick on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the consecrated one among his brothers!


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First-born of the Bull, his the glory. His horns are the wild ox's horns, with which he gores the peoples to the very ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, such are the thousands of Manasseh.


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On the mountain where the people come to pray they offer upright sacrifices, for they taste the riches of the seas and the treasures hidden in the sands.


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Of Gad he said: Blessed be he who gives Gad space enough! He lies there like a lioness; he has savaged arm and face and head.


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Then he took the first portion for himself, saw that there was stored up for him a leader's share. He has come at the head of the people, has carried out the saving justice of Yahweh and his judgements on Israel.


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Of Naphtali he said: Naphtali, sated with favours, filled with the blessings of Yahweh: the west and south are to be his domain.


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Of Asher he said: Most blessed of the sons let Asher be! Let him be the most privileged of his brothers and let him bathe his feet in oil!


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No one is like the God of Jeshurun: he rides the heavens to your rescue, rides the clouds in his majesty!


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The God of old is your refuge, his the eternal arm which here below drives the enemy before you; he it is who says, 'Destroy!'


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Israel rests trustfully. The well-spring of Jacob is chosen out for a land of corn and wine; there heaven itself rains down dew.


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Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O victorious people? Yahweh is the shield that protects you and the sword that leads you to triumph. Your enemies will try to corrupt you, but you yourself will trample on their backs.


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Then, leaving the Plains of Moab, Moses went up Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah opposite Jericho, and Yahweh showed him the whole country: Gilead as far as Dan,


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the whole of Naphtali, the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, the whole country of Judah as far as the Western Sea,


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Yahweh said to him, 'This is the country which I promised on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: I shall give it to your descendants. I have allowed you to see it for yourself, but you will not cross into it.'


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he buried him in the valley, in the country of Moab, opposite Beth-Peor; but to this day no one has ever found his grave.


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The Israelites wept for Moses on the Plains of Moab for thirty days. The days of weeping for the mourning rites of Moses came to an end.


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Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and him the Israelites obeyed, carrying out the order which Yahweh had given to Moses.


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Since then, there has never been such a prophet in Israel as Moses, the man whom Yahweh knew face to face.


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What signs and wonders Yahweh caused him to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants and his whole country!


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When Moses, servant of Yahweh, was dead, Yahweh spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' adjutant. He said,


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'Moses my servant is dead; go now and cross this Jordan, you and this whole people, into the country which I am giving to them (the Israelites).


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Every place you tread with the soles of your feet I shall give you, as I declared to Moses that I would.


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From the desert and the Lebanon, to the Great River, the Euphrates (the entire country of the Hittites), and as far as the Great Sea to westward, is to be your territory.


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As long as you live, no one will be able to resist you; I shall be with you as I was with Moses; I shall not fail you or desert you.


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'Be strong and stand firm, for you are the man to give this people possession of the land which I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.


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Only be strong and stand very firm and be careful to keep the whole Law which my servant Moses laid down for you. Do not swerve from this either to right or to left, and then you will succeed wherever you go.


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Have the book of this Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may carefully keep everything that is written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, then you will have success.


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Have I not told you: Be strong and stand firm? Be fearless and undaunted, for go where you may, Yahweh your God is with you.'


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'Go through the camp and give the people this order, "Make provisions ready, for in three days' time you will cross this Jordan and go on to take possession of the land which Yahweh your God is giving you as your own." '


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'Remember the order given you by Moses, servant of Yahweh: Yahweh your God, in bringing you to rest, has given you the land where we are.


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Your wives, your little ones and your cattle must stay in the country given you by Moses beyond the Jordan. But all you fighting men must cross in battle formation at the head of your brothers and help them,


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until Yahweh grants rest to your brothers and you alike, when they too have taken possession of the land which Yahweh your God is giving to them. Then you may go back and take possession of the land which belongs to you and which Moses, servant of Yahweh, has given you on the eastern side of the Jordan.'


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We obeyed Moses in everything, and now we will obey you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you as he was with Moses!


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If anyone rebels against your orders or will not listen to your commands, let him be put to death. Only be strong and stand firm.'


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From Shittim, Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men to reconnoitre. He said, 'Go and explore the country and Jericho.' They left; they went into the house of a prostitute called Rahab, to spend the night there.


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The king of Jericho was told, 'Some men have come here tonight from the Israelites, to reconnoitre the country.'


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The king of Jericho then sent a message to Rahab, 'Send out the men who came to you and are lodging in your house, for they have come to reconnoitre the whole country.'


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But the woman took the two men and hid them. 'It is true,' she said, 'the men did come to me, but I did not know where they came from.


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When the city gate was about to be closed at nightfall, the men went out and I cannot say where they have gone. Follow them quickly and you will overtake them.'


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She had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax which she had laid out there.


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The men hurried in pursuit of them towards the Jordan, as far as the fords, and the gate was shut once the pursuers had gone through.


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She said to them, 'I know that Yahweh has given you this country, that we are afraid of you and that everyone living in this country has been seized with terror at your approach;


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for we have heard how Yahweh dried up the Sea of Reeds before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put under the curse of destruction.


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When we heard this, our hearts failed us, and now no one has any courage left to resist you, since Yahweh your God is God both in heaven above and on earth beneath.


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that you in your turn will be kind to my father's family; and give me a sure sign of this: that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them, and will preserve us from death.'


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The men replied, 'We pledge you our lives, provided that you say nothing about our mission. When Yahweh has given us the country, we shall treat you kindly and faithfully.'


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She then let them down from the window on a rope, as her house was against the city wall and she actually lived in the wall.


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'Make for the hills,' she said, 'or you may run into your pursuers. Hide there for three days, until your pursuers have come back, and then go on your way.'


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when we invade the country, you must tie this scarlet cord to the window from which you let us down, and collect your father, mother, brothers and entire family inside your house.


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If anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head and we shall not be to blame; but the blood of all staying inside the house with you will be on our heads if a hand is laid on any of them.


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But if you divulge our mission in the meanwhile, we shall be free of the oath which you have made us swear.'


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She replied, 'Let it be as you say.' She let them go, and they left. She then tied the scarlet cord to the window.


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They left and made for the hills. They stayed there for three days, until their pursuers had gone home, having scoured the countryside without finding them.


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The two men then came down again from the hills, crossed over and, going to Joshua son of Nun, told him everything that had happened to them.


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To Joshua they said, 'Yahweh has put the whole country at our mercy, and its inhabitants are all panic-stricken at our approach.'


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Early in the morning, Joshua struck camp and set out from Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and there they camped before they crossed.


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and gave the people these instructions, 'When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God being carried by the levitical priests, you will leave your position and follow it, so that you may know which way to take, since you have never gone this way before.


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Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves, since tomorrow Yahweh will work wonders among you.'


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Joshua then said to the priests, 'Take up the ark of the covenant and cross at the head of the people.' They took up the ark of the covenant and moved to the head of the people.


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Yahweh said to Joshua, 'This very day, I shall begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel so that they will know that, as I was with Moses, so I shall be with you.


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Now, give this order to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, "When you have reached the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you must halt in the Jordan itself." '


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Joshua said, 'By this, you are to know that the living God is with you and without a doubt will expel the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites before you.


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Look, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth is about to move into the Jordan at your head.


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As soon as the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, Lord of the whole earth, have set the soles of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off; the upper waters flowing down will stop as a single mass.'


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Accordingly, when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.


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As soon as the bearers of the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the waters -- the Jordan is in spate throughout the harvest season-


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the upper waters stood still and formed a single mass over a great distance, at Adam, the town near Zarethan, while those flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely separated. The people crossed opposite Jericho.


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The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in mid-Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until the whole nation had completed its crossing of the Jordan.


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"Here, from mid-Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet were standing, take twelve stones; carry them with you and set them down in the camp where you pass the night." '


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and Joshua said to them, 'Go on ahead of the ark of Yahweh your God into mid-Jordan, and each of you take one stone on his shoulder, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel,


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to make this a sign among you; and when, in the future, your children ask you, "What do these stones mean for you?"


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you will then tell them, "The waters of the Jordan separated before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the river separated. These stones are an everlasting reminder of this to the Israelites."


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The Israelites did as Joshua ordered; they took twelve stones from mid-Jordan corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel, as Yahweh had told Joshua; they carried them over to the camp and set them down there.


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Joshua then erected twelve stones in mid-Jordan, on the spot where the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are still there today.


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The priests carrying the ark stood still in mid-Jordan, until everything had been done that Yahweh had ordered Joshua to tell the people (in accordance with everything that Moses had ordered Joshua); and the people hurried across.


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When the people had finished crossing, the ark of Yahweh then crossed, with the priests, to the head of the people.


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The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed in battle formation at the head of the Israelites, as Moses had told them.


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Some forty thousand warriors in arms, they crossed in Yahweh's presence, ready for battle, towards the plain of Jericho.


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That day, Yahweh made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel, who respected him as they had respected Moses, as long as he lived.


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Now, when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came up out of mid-Jordan, no sooner had the soles of the priests' feet touched solid ground, than the waters of the Jordan returned to their bed and ran on, in spate as before.


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It was the tenth day of the first month when the people came up from the Jordan and made their camp at Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho.


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He then said to the Israelites, 'When, in the future, your children ask their fathers, "What are these stones?"


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For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up before us until we had crossed it;


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so that all the peoples of the earth may know how mighty the hand of Yahweh is, and always stand in awe of Yahweh your God." '


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When all the kings of the Amorites living to westward across the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites living on the seaboard, heard that Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed, their hearts failed and they lost all courage to resist the Israelites.


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At this time Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again (a second time).


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The reason why Joshua circumcised them was this. All the males of the people who had come out of Egypt of age to bear arms had died in the desert on their journey after leaving Egypt.


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Now, all the people who came out had been circumcised; but none of those born in the desert, during the journey, after leaving Egypt, had been circumcised;


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for the Israelites walked the desert for forty years, until the whole nation had died out, that is, the men who had come out of Egypt of age to bear arms; they had not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and Yahweh had sworn to them never to let them see the land which he had sworn to their ancestors that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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But in place of these he set their sons, and these were the ones whom Joshua circumcised: they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised during the journey.


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When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they stayed resting in the camp till they were well again.


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Yahweh then said to Joshua, 'Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away from you.' Hence, the place has been called Gilgal ever since.


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The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plain of Jericho.


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On the very next day after the Passover, they ate what the land produced, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn.


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The manna stopped the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. The Israelites from that year onwards ate the produce of Canaan and had no more manna.


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Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him, grasping a naked sword. Joshua walked towards him and said to him, 'Are you on our side or on that of our enemies?'


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He replied, 'On neither side. I have come now as the captain of the army of Yahweh.' Joshua fell on his face to the ground, worshipping him, and said, 'What has my Lord to say to his servant?'


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The captain of the army of Yahweh answered Joshua, 'Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.' And Joshua did so.


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Now, Jericho had shut and barricaded its gates (against the Israelites): no one came out and no one went in.


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Yahweh then said to Joshua, 'Look, I am putting Jericho, its picked troops and its king, at your mercy.


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All you warriors must march round the city (go right round the city once, doing the same on six successive days.


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Seven priests must carry seven ram's-horn trumpets in front of the ark. On the seventh day, you will go seven times round the city and the priests will blow their trumpets).


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When the ram's horn sounds (when you hear the sound of the trumpet), the entire people must utter a mighty war cry and the city wall will collapse then and there; the people will then go into the assault, each man straight ahead.'


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Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, 'Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven ram's-horn trumpets ahead of the ark of Yahweh.'


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To the people he then said, 'Forward! March round the city, and let the vanguard march ahead of the ark of Yahweh!'


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(Everything was done as Joshua had given orders to the people.) Seven priests, carrying seven ram's-horn trumpets ahead of Yahweh, moved forward blowing their trumpets; the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came behind them,


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the vanguard marched ahead of the priests, who blew their trumpets, the rearguard followed behind the ark; the men marched, the trumpets sounded.


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Joshua had given the people the following orders, 'Do not raise a war cry, do not let your voice be heard (not a word must pass your lips), until the day when I say, "Raise the war cry." That is when you must raise the war cry.'


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He made the ark go round the city (going round it once), then they went back to camp, where they spent the night.


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Carrying the seven ram's-horn trumpets, the seven priests walked ahead of the ark of Yahweh, blowing their trumpets as they went, while the vanguard marched ahead of them and the rearguard behind the ark of Yahweh, and the march went on to the sound of the trumpet.


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On the seventh day, they got up at dawn and marched (in the same manner) round the city seven times. (This was the only day when they marched round the city seven times.)


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At the seventh time, the priests blew their trumpets and Joshua said to the people, 'Raise the war cry, for Yahweh has given you the city!


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'The city and everyone in it must be devoted to Yahweh under the curse of destruction; the life of Rahab the prostitute alone must be spared, with all those with her in her house, since she hid the messengers we sent.


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But beware of the curse of destruction, yourselves, for fear that, moved by greed, you take something lying under the curse; that would put the camp of Israel under the same curse and bring disaster on it.


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All the silver and all the gold, everything made of bronze or iron, will be consecrated to Yahweh and put in his treasury.'


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The people raised the war cry, the trumpets sounded. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a mighty war cry and the wall collapsed then and there. At once the people stormed the city, each man going straight forward; and they captured the city.


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They enforced the curse of destruction on everyone in the city: men and women, young and old, including the oxen, the sheep and the donkeys, slaughtering them all.


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Joshua said to the two men who had reconnoitred the country, 'Go into the prostitute's house, and bring the woman out with all who belong to her, as you swore to her that you would.'


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The young men who had been spies went and brought Rahab out, with her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out all her clansmen too, and put them in a place of safety outside the camp of Israel.


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They burned the city and everything inside it, except the silver, the gold and the things of bronze and iron; these they put into the treasury of Yahweh's house.


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But Rahab the prostitute, her father's family and all who belonged to her, these Joshua spared. She is still living in Israel even today, for having hidden the messengers whom Joshua sent to reconnoitre Jericho.


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At that time Joshua made them take this oath before Yahweh: Accursed before Yahweh be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city (Jericho)! On his first-born will he lay its foundations, on his youngest son set up its gates!


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But the Israelites were unfaithful to the curse of destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took something that fell under the curse of destruction, and the anger of Yahweh was aroused against the Israelites.


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Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is near Beth-Aven), to the east of Bethel, having said to them, 'Go up and reconnoitre the country.' They went up and reconnoitred Ai.


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Coming back to Joshua, they said, 'There is no need for the whole people to go up; let some two or three thousand go and attack Ai. Spare the whole people such an effort; there are only a few of them!'


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who killed some thirty-six of them and pursued them from the town gate as far as Shebarim, and on the slope cut them to pieces. The hearts of the people melted away and turned to water.


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Joshua then tore his clothes and prostrated himself before the ark of Yahweh till nightfall; the elders of Israel did the same, and all poured dust on their heads.


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And Joshua said, 'Alas, Lord Yahweh, why did you bother to bring this nation across the Jordan, if it was only to put us at the mercy of the Amorites and destroy us? If only we could have settled down on the other side of the Jordan!


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The Canaanites, all the inhabitants of the land, will hear of it; they will unite against us to wipe our name from the earth. And what will you do about your great Name then?'


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Israel has sinned; they have violated the covenant which I imposed on them. They have gone so far as to take what was under the curse of destruction, they have even stolen it; they have actually hidden it; they have put it in their baggage.


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That is why the Israelites cannot stand up to their foes, why they have turned tail on their enemies: because they have come under the curse of destruction themselves. Unless you get rid of the object among you which has been put under the curse of destruction, I shall be with you no longer.'


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'Get up, sanctify the people and say, "Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, since Yahweh, the God of Israel, declares: The curse of destruction has now fallen on you, Israel; you will not be able to stand up to your enemies, until you have rid yourselves of that object which has been put under the curse of destruction.


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Tomorrow morning, therefore, you will come forward tribe by tribe, and then the tribe which Yahweh selects by lot will come forward clan by clan, and the clan which Yahweh selects by lot will come forward family by family, and the family which Yahweh selects by lot will come forward man by man.


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And the man indicated by lot as regards the object which has been put under the curse of destruction will be delivered to the flames, he and all his possessions, for having violated the covenant with Yahweh and for having committed an infamy in Israel." '


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Joshua got up early; he made Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the lot indicated the tribe of Judah.


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He summoned the clans of Judah, and the lot indicated the clan of Zerah. He summoned the clan of Zerah, family by family, and the lot indicated Zabdi.


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Joshua then summoned the family of Zabdi, man by man, and the lot indicated Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.


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Joshua then said to Achan, 'My son, give glory to Yahweh, God of Israel, and confess; tell me what you have done and hide nothing from me.'


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Achan replied to Joshua, 'Yes, I am the man who has sinned against Yahweh, God of Israel, and this is what I have done.


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In the loot, I saw a fine robe from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and an ingot of gold weighing fifty shekels, I set my heart on them and I took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.'


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Joshua sent messengers; they ran to the tent, and the robe was indeed hidden in the tent, with the silver underneath.


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They took the things out of the tent and, bringing them to Joshua and all the Israelites, laid them out before Yahweh.


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Joshua then took Achan son of Zerah and led him up to the Vale of Achor, with the silver and the robe and the ingot of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his goats, his tent and all his belongings. All Israel went with him.


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Joshua said, 'Why have you brought misfortune on us? Today may Yahweh bring misfortune on you!' And all Israel stoned him to death (and they burned them and threw stones at them).


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Over him, they raised a great mound of stones, which is still there today. Yahweh then relented from his fierce anger. That was why the place was called the Vale of Achor, as it still is today.


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Yahweh then said to Joshua, 'Be fearless and undaunted. Take all your fighting men with you. Up! March against Ai. Look, I have put the king of Ai, his people, his town and his territory at your mercy.


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You must treat Ai and its king as you treated Jericho and its king. The only booty you will take are the spoils and the cattle. Take up a concealed position by the town, to the rear of it.'


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Joshua set out to march against Ai with all the fighting men. Joshua chose thirty thousand of the bravest and sent them out under cover of dark,


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having given them these orders, 'Pay attention! You must take up a concealed position by the town, at the rear, not very far from the town, and be sure you all keep alert!


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I, and the whole people with me, shall advance on the town, and when the people of Ai come out to engage us as they did the first time, we shall run away from them.


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They will then give chase, and we shall draw them away from the town, since they will think, "They are running away from us as they did the first time."


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You will then burst out of your concealed position and seize the town; Yahweh your God will put it at your mercy.


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When you have captured the town, set fire to it, in obedience to Yahweh's command. Well then, these are my orders.'


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Joshua sent them off, and they made their way to the place of ambush and took up position between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. Joshua spent the night with the people,


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then, getting up early next morning, reviewed the people and, with the elders of Israel, marched on Ai at their head.


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All the warriors marching with him advanced on the front of the town and pitched camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the town.


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Joshua took about five thousand men and concealed these between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the town.


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The people pitched the main camp to the north of the town and set up its ambush to the west of the town. Joshua went that night into the middle of the plain.


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The king of Ai had seen this; the people of the town got up early and hurried out, so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle on the slope facing the Arabah; but he did not know that an ambush had been laid for him to the rear of the town.


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Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten by them and took to their heels along the road to the desert.


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All the people in the town joined in the pursuit and, in pursuing Joshua, were drawn away from the town.


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Not a man was left in Ai (nor in Bethel), who had not gone in pursuit of Israel; and in pursuing Israel they left the town undefended.


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Yahweh then said to Joshua, 'Point the sabre in your hand at Ai; for I am about to put the town at your mercy.' Joshua pointed the sabre in his hand towards the town.


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No sooner had he stretched out his hand than the men in ambush burst from their position, ran forward, entered the town, captured it and quickly set it on fire.


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When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from the town into the sky. None of them had the courage to run in any direction, for the people fleeing towards the desert turned back on their pursuers.


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For, once Joshua and all Israel saw that the town had been seized by the men in ambush, and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned about and attacked the men of Ai.


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The others came out from the town to engage them too, and the men of Ai were thus surrounded by Israelites, some on this side and some on that. The Israelites struck them down until not one was left alive and none to flee;


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When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open ground, and in the desert where they had pursued them, and when every single one had fallen to the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and slaughtered its remaining population.


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The number of those who fell that day, men and women together, was twelve thousand, all people of Ai.


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Joshua did not draw back the hand with which he had pointed the sabre until he had subjected all the inhabitants of Ai to the curse of destruction.


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For booty, Israel took only the cattle and the spoils of this town, in accordance with the order that Yahweh had given to Joshua.


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He hanged the king of Ai from a tree till evening; but at sunset Joshua ordered his body to be taken down from the tree. It was then thrown down at the entrance to the town gate and on top of it was raised a great mound of stones, which is still there today.


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as Moses, servant of Yahweh, had ordered the Israelites, as is written in the law of Moses: an altar of undressed stones, on which no iron has been used. On this they presented burnt offerings to Yahweh and communion sacrifices as well.


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There, Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which Moses had written in the presence of the Israelites.


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All Israel, with their elders, their officials and their judges, stood on either side of the ark, facing the levitical priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, foreigners with the native-born, half of them on the upper slopes of Mount Gerizim, and half of them on the upper slopes of Mount Ebal, as Moses, servant of Yahweh, had originally ordered for the blessing of the people of Israel.


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After this, Joshua read all the words of the Law -- the blessing and the cursing -- exactly as it stands written in the Book of the Law.


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Of every word laid down by Moses, not one was left unread by Joshua in the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners living with them.


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Hearing these things, all the kings on this side of the Jordan, in the highlands and in the lowlands, all along the coast of the Great Sea towards the Lebanon, Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, with one consent


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they had recourse to a ruse. They provided themselves with supplies, and loaded their donkeys with old sacks and with old wineskins which had burst and been sewn up again.


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They put on patched old sandals and worn-out clothes. The only bread they took with them to eat was dried up and crumbling.


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They came to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and to him and the men of Israel they said, 'We come from a distant country, so make a treaty with us.'


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The Israelites answered these Hivites, 'For all we know, you may live right among us. How then could we make a treaty with you?'


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They said to Joshua, 'We are your servants.' 'But who are you?' Joshua asked them, 'and where do you come from?'


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They said, 'Your servants have come from a country very far away, because of the fame of Yahweh your God; for we have heard of him and of all that he did in Egypt,


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and of all that he did to the two Amorite kings who used to live on the other side of the Jordan: Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who used to live at Ashtaroth.


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Because of which, our elders and all the people of our country said to us, "Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say to them: We are your servants; so make a treaty with us."


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Here is our bread; it was warm when we took it from home to provide for our journey the day we set out to come to you, and now, you can see, it is dried up and crumbling.


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These wineskins were new when we filled them; you can see, they have burst; and these clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from travelling such a long way.'


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Joshua made peace with them, and struck a treaty with them guaranteeing their lives, and the leaders of the community ratified it by oath.


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Now it so happened that three days after the treaty had been made, it became known that they were a neighbouring people, living in Israel's region.


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The Israelites set out from camp, arriving in their towns three days later. Their towns were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-Jearim.


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The Israelites did not attack them, since the leaders of the community had sworn to them by Yahweh, God of Israel, but the whole community muttered against the leaders.


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The leaders, however, all said to the whole community, 'Since we have sworn an oath to them by Yahweh, God of Israel, we cannot touch them now.


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This is what we shall do with them: let them live, rather than bring retribution down on ourselves on account of the oath which we have sworn to them.'


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And the leaders went on, 'Let them live, but let them be wood-cutters and water-carriers for the whole community.' Thus spoke the leaders.


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Joshua sent for the Gibeonites and asked them, 'Why did you deceive us by saying, "We live very far away," when in fact you live right among us?


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From now on, you are accursed and will for ever be serfs, as wood-cutters and water-carriers in the house of my God.'


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Their answer to Joshua was, 'We did it because your servants had been rightly told that Yahweh your God had ordered his servant Moses to give you the whole of this country and destroy all its inhabitants before you; also because, as you advanced on us, we feared very greatly for our lives. That was why we did this.


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What he did with them was this: he saved them from the hand of the Israelites, who did not kill them.


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But that very day Joshua made them wood-cutters and water-carriers for the community and for the altar of Yahweh, at the place which he would eventually choose; and so they are today.


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Now, it happened that Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem, learned that Joshua had conquered Ai and put the town under the curse of destruction, treating Ai and its king as he had already treated Jericho and its king; and also that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living with them.


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There was consternation at this, since Gibeon was as important a town as any of the royal towns themselves (it was larger than Ai), while all its citizens were fighting men.


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Consequently, Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon,


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'Join me up here and help me to conquer Gibeon, since it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.'


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The five Amorite kings joined forces and went up there, that is, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon, they and all their armies; laying siege to Gibeon, they attacked it.


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The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, 'Do not desert your servants; come up here quickly to save us and help us, since all the Amorite kings living in the highlands have allied themselves against us.'


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Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid of these people; I have put them at your mercy; not one of them will put up any resistance.'


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Yahweh threw them into disorder at the sight of Israel, defeating them completely at Gibeon; furthermore, he pursued them by way of the Descent of Beth-Horon and harassed them as far as Azekah (and as far as Makkedah).


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And as they fled from Israel down the Descent of Beth-Horon, Yahweh hurled huge hailstones from heaven on them all the way to Azekah, and they died. More of them died under the hailstones than under the swords of the Israelites.


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Joshua then spoke to Yahweh, the day Yahweh delivered the Amorites to the Israelites. In the presence of Israel, Joshua said: Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and, moon, you too, over the Vale of Aijalon!


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And the sun stood still, and the moon halted, until the people had taken vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of the Just? The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting for almost a whole day.


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There was never a day like that before or since, when Yahweh obeyed the voice of a man -- for Yahweh was fighting for Israel.


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and news of this was brought to Joshua. 'The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.'


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You yourselves, do not stay there doing nothing; pursue the enemy, cut off their line of retreat and do not let them enter their towns, for Yahweh your God has put them at your mercy.'


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When Joshua and the Israelites had finished inflicting a very great defeat on them, to the point of destroying them, those who had escaped alive took refuge in their fortresses.


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The people came back to Joshua's camp at Makkedah; they were all safe and sound, and no one dared to attempt anything against the Israelites.


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They did so, and brought the five kings out of the cave to take them to him: 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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When these kings had been brought out, Joshua assembled all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the warriors who had fought with him, 'Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings!' They came forward and put their feet on their necks.


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'Be fearless and undaunted,' Joshua went on, 'be strong and stand firm, for this is how Yahweh will deal with all the enemies you fight.'


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With this, Joshua struck and killed them and had them hanged on five trees; they hung there till evening.


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At the hour of sunset, on Joshua's orders, they were taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Great stones were laid over the mouth of the cave, and these are still there to this very day.


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The same day Joshua captured Makkedah, putting it and its king to the sword; he delivered them over to the curse of destruction, with every living creature there, and let no one escape, and he treated the king of Makkedah as he had treated the king of Jericho.


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and Yahweh put this, too, and its king at Israel's mercy; and Israel put every living creature there to the sword, and left none alive, and treated its king like the king of Jericho.


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Yahweh put Lachish at Israel's mercy, and Israel took it on the second day and put it and every living creature in it to the sword, as they had treated Libnah.


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Horam king of Gezer then marched up to help Lachish, but Joshua beat him and his people until not one was left alive.


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The same day they took it and put it to the sword. That day he delivered over to the curse of destruction every living creature there, treating it as he had treated Lachish.


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took it and put it to the sword, with its king, its dependencies and every living creature in it. As he had treated Eglon, so here, he left no one alive. He delivered it over to the curse of destruction, with every living creature in it.


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He took it and its king and all the places belonging to it; they put them to the sword, and every living creature there they delivered over to the curse of destruction. He left no one alive. As he had treated Hebron, as he had treated Libnah and its king, so he treated Debir and its king.


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Thus Joshua subjugated the whole country: the highlands, the Negeb, the lowlands and watered foothills, and all their kings. He left not one survivor and put every living thing under the curse of destruction, as Yahweh, God of Israel, had commanded.


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All these kings and their territory Joshua captured in a single campaign, because Yahweh, God of Israel, fought for Israel.


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When Jabin king of Hazor heard about this, he sent word to Jobab king of Merom, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph


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and to the kings in the northern highlands, in the plain south of Chinneroth, and those in the lowlands and on the slopes of Dor to the west.


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To eastward and to westward lived the Canaanites: in the highlands, the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites; the Hivites, at the foot of Hermon in the area of Mizpah.


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They set out with all their troops, a people as numerous as the sands of the sea, with a huge number of horses and chariots.


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These kings, having all agreed on a meeting place, came and set up camp together at the Waters of Merom, to fight Israel.


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Yahweh then said to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I shall hand them all over, cut to pieces, to Israel; you will hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.'


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Yahweh put them at Israel's mercy and they defeated them and pursued them as far as Sidon the Great, and as far as Misrephoth to the west, and as far as the Vale of Mizpah to the east; they harried them until not one of them was left alive.


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Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor, putting its king to the sword. Hazor in olden days was the capital of all these kingdoms.


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In compliance with the curse of destruction, they put every living creature there to the sword. Not a living soul was left, and Hazor was burnt to the ground.


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All these royal cities and all their kings Joshua put to the sword in compliance with the curse of destruction, as Moses, servant of Yahweh, had ordered.


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Yet of all these towns standing on their mounds, Israel burned none, apart from Hazor, burnt by Joshua.


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All the spoils of these towns, including the livestock, the Israelites took as booty for themselves. But they put all the human beings to the sword till they had destroyed them completely; they did not leave a living soul.


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What Yahweh had ordered his servant Moses, Moses in turn had ordered Joshua, and Joshua carried it out, leaving nothing undone of what Yahweh had ordered Moses.


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In consequence, Joshua captured this entire country: the highlands, the whole Negeb and the whole of Goshen, the lowlands, the Arabah, the highlands and lowlands of Israel.


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From Mount Halak, which rises towards Seir, to Baal-Gad in the Vale of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon, he captured all their kings, struck them down and put them to death.


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no city had made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites who lived at Gibeon; all the rest had been captured in battle.


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For Yahweh had decided to harden the hearts of these men, so that they would engage Israel in battle and thus come under the curse of destruction and so receive no quarter but be exterminated, as Yahweh had ordered Moses.


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Joshua then went and wiped out the Anakim of the highlands, of Hebron, of Debir, of Anab, of all the highlands of Judah and of all the highlands of Israel; he delivered them and their towns over to the curse of destruction.


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Joshua captured the entire country, just as Yahweh had told Moses, and he gave it as heritage to Israel, to be shared out between their tribes. And the country had rest from warfare.


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The kings of the country, whom the Israelites conquered and whose territory they took, on the further, eastern side of the Jordan, from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon, with the entire Arabah to the east, were as follows:


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Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, ruled from Aroer which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the bottom of the valley, half Gilead and as far as the Jabbok, the river forming the frontier with the Ammonites;


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the eastern Arabah up to the Sea of Chinneroth, and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, or Salt Sea, on the eastern side, in the direction of Beth-Jeshimoth, and, in the south, the watered foothills of Mount Pisgah.


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ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah, the whole of Bashan to the frontier of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half Gilead to the frontier of Sihon king of Heshbon.


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Moses, servant of Yahweh, and the Israelites conquered these, and Moses, servant of Yahweh, conferred their territory on the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.


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The kings of the country whom Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the nearer, western side of the Jordan, from Baal-Gad in the Vale of Lebanon to Mount Halak rising towards Seir, and whose heritage Joshua distributed to the tribes of Israel, dividing it up between them, were as follows:


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In the highlands and the lowlands, in the Arabah and in the watered foothills, in the desert and in the Negeb, belonging to the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites:


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Now Joshua had grown old and advanced in years. Yahweh said to him, 'You are now old and advanced in years, yet there is still a great deal of territory left to be taken possession of.


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This is all the territory left: 'All the districts of the Philistines and the whole country of the Geshurites;


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from the Shihor, facing Egypt, to the frontier of Ekron in the north, is reckoned as Canaanite territory. The five rulers of the Philistines have their seats at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron, respectively; the Avvites are in


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the south. The entire territory of the Canaanites, and Mearah which belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphekah and as far as the frontier of the Amorites;


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and then the country of the Gebalites with the entire Lebanon eastwards from Baal-Gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to the Pass of Hamath.


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'All who live in the highlands from the Lebanon to Misrephoth in the west -- all the Sidonians -- I myself shall dispossess before the Israelites. All you have to do is to distribute the territory as a heritage for the Israelites as I have ordered you.


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The time has come to divide this territory as a heritage between the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh: from the Jordan as far as the Great Sea in the west, you must give it them; the Great Sea will be their limit.'


text:
As regards the other half-tribe of Manasseh, this and the Reubenites and Gadites had already received their heritage, given them by Moses on the further, eastern side of the Jordan, the one which Moses, servant of Yahweh, had already given them:


text:
The country onwards from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, with the town in the bottom of the valley and the entire tableland from Medeba to Dibon;


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all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had reigned in Heshbon, to the frontier of the Ammonites;


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then Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites with the whole Hermon range and the whole of Bashan as far as Salecah;


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and in Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei, and was the last of the survivors of the Rephaim. Moses had conquered and dispossessed these two kings.


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The Israelites did not, however, dispossess either the Geshurites or the Maacathites, hence Geshur and Maacah survive inside Israel even today.


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To the tribe of Levi alone no heritage was given; Yahweh, God of Israel, was his heritage, as he had told him.


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Thus, their territory was the entire tableland from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, with the town in the bottom of the valley, as far as Medeba,


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all the towns on the tableland and the entire kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had reigned in Heshbon; he had been defeated by Moses, and with him the princes of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, vassals of Sihon, formerly living in the country.


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As regards Balaam son of Beor, the soothsayer, the Israelites had put him to the sword with those whom they had killed.


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The boundary of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its territory. Such was the heritage of the sons of Reuben, by clans, with the towns and villages belonging to them.


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Their territory was Jazer, all the towns of Gilead, half the country of the Ammonites as far as Aroer facing Rabbah,


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and in the valley: Beth-Haram, Beth-Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon -- the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon -- the Jordan and the territory running to the tip of the Sea of Chinneroth, on the further, eastern side of the Jordan.


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Such was the heritage of the sons of Gad, by clans, with their towns and villages belonging to them.


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Their territory, starting from Mahanaim, was the whole of Bashan, the entire kingdom of Og king of Bashan, all the Encampments of Jair in Bashan: sixty towns.


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Half of Gilead, with Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan, were allotted to the sons of Machir son of Manasseh, to half of the sons of Machir, by clans.


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This was what Moses had conferred in heritage on the Plains of Moab on the further, eastern side of the Jordan opposite Jericho.


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To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses gave no heritage; Yahweh, God of Israel, was his heritage, as he had told him.


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This was what the Israelites received as their heritage in Canaan, which was given them as their heritage by the priest, Eleazar, and by Joshua son of Nun, with the heads of families of the tribes of Israel.


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They received their heritage by lot, as Yahweh had ordered through Moses, as regards the nine tribes and the half-tribe.


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For Moses himself had given the two-and-a-half tribes their heritage on the further side of the Jordan, although to the Levites he had given no heritage with them.


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Since the sons of Joseph formed two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, no share in the country was given to the Levites, apart from some towns to live in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and their possessions.


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Some sons of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, 'You know what Yahweh said to Moses, man of God, at Kadesh-Barnea concerning you and me.


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I was forty years old when Moses, servant of Yahweh, sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to reconnoitre this country, and I made him a completely honest report.


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The brothers, however, who had gone up with me discouraged the people, whereas I myself scrupulously obeyed Yahweh my God.


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That day Moses swore this oath, "Be sure of this, that the country your foot has trodden will be a heritage for you and your children for ever, since you have scrupulously obeyed Yahweh my God."


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From then till now, Yahweh has kept me alive in observance of his promise. It is forty-five years since Yahweh said this to Moses -- Israel was then going through the desert -- and now I am eighty-five years old.


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Today I am still as strong as the day when Moses sent me out on that errand; for fighting, for going and coming, I am as strong now as then.


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It is time you gave me the highlands, of which Yahweh spoke to me that day. You heard that day that there were Anakim and large, fortified towns there; but if Yahweh is with me, I shall drive them out, as Yahweh has said.'


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And hence Hebron down to the present day has remained the heritage of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, since he had scrupulously obeyed Yahweh, God of Israel.


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Hebron in olden days was called Kiriath-Arba. Arba had been the greatest of the Anakim. And the country had rest from warfare.


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The portion falling to the tribe of the sons of Judah, by clans, was near the frontier of Edom, from the desert of Zin southwards to Kadesh in the south.


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it proceeded south of the Ascent of Scorpions, crossed Zin and came up to Kadesh-Barnea from the south; past Hezron, it went on to Addar and turned towards Karka;


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the frontier then went on to Azmon, came out at the Torrent of Egypt and reached as far as the sea. This is to be your southern frontier.


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The northern boundary began at the bay at the mouth of the Jordan. The boundary went up to Beth-Hoglah, passed north of Beth-ha-Arabah and went on to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.


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The boundary then went on to Debir from the Vale of Achor and turned north towards the stone circle opposite the Ascent of Adummim, which is south of the Torrent; the boundary went on to the Waters of En-Shemesh and came out at En-Rogel.


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It then went back up the Valley of Hinnom, coming from the south to the flank of the Jebusite -- that is, Jerusalem -- and climbed to the crest of the mountain barring the Valley of Hinnom to the west, at the northern end of the Valley of the Rephaim.


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From the mountain top, the boundary curved round to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, went on to the towns of Mount Ephron and then turned towards Baalah -- that is, Kiriath-Jearim.


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From Baalah, the boundary curved westwards to the highlands of Seir, skirted the northern slope of Mount Jearim -- that is, Chesalon -- went down to Beth-Shemesh and through Timnah,


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came out on the northern flank of Ekron, turned towards Shikkeron and, passing through the highlands of Baalah, came out at Jabneel, and reached as far as the sea.


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The western boundary was the Great Sea itself. Such was the frontier surrounding the sons of Judah, by clans.


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Caleb son of Jephunneh was given a share within that of the sons of Judah, in accordance with Yahweh's order to Joshua: Kiriath-Arba, the town of the father of Anak -- that is, Hebron.


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Caleb then said, 'To the man who attacks and takes Kiriath-Sepher, I shall give my daughter Achsah as wife.'


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The man who captured it was Othniel son of Kenaz, brother of Caleb, who gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.


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When she arrived, he urged her to ask her father for arable land, but when she alighted from the donkey and Caleb asked her, 'What is the matter?'


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she said to him, 'Grant me a blessing! As the land you have given me is the Negeb, give me springs of water too!' So Caleb gave her what she wanted, the upper springs and the lower springs.


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Towns at the extremity of the tribe of the sons of Judah, near the frontier of Edom in the Negeb: Kabzeel, Arad, Jagur,


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Ashdod with its dependencies and its villages; Gaza with its dependencies and its villages as far as the Torrent of Egypt, the Great Sea forming the boundary.


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Maarath, Beth-Anoth and Eltekon: six towns with their villages. Tekoa, Ephrathah, now Bethlehem, Peor, Etam, Kulon, Tatam, Sores, Carem, Gallim, Bether and Manach: eleven towns with their villages.


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The Jebusites, however, who lived in Jerusalem, the sons of Judah were unable to dispossess, and the Jebusites still live in Jerusalem today, side by side with the sons of Judah.


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The portion of the sons of Joseph started on the east at the Jordan opposite Jericho (the Waters of Jericho) through the desert rising from Jericho into the highlands of Bethel;


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then passed downwards and westwards to the frontier of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-Horon and on to Gezer, and reached as far as the sea.


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As regards the territory of the sons of Ephraim, by clans, the frontier of their heritage ran from Ataroth-Arach to Upper Beth-Horon;


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the frontier then reached as far as the sea . . . the Michmethath in the north, and the frontier turned east to Tanaath-Shiloh which it crossed in an easterly direction to Janoah;


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From Tappuah, the frontier ran westwards to the Torrent of Kanah and reached as far as the sea. Such was the heritage of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, by clans,


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apart from the towns reserved for the sons of Ephraim inside the heritage of the sons of Manasseh, all these towns and their villages.


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The Canaanites living in Gezer were not driven out; they have remained in Ephraim to the present day but are obliged to do forced labour.


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The portion of the tribe of Manasseh, who was in fact Joseph's first-born -- went to Machir, Manasseh's first-born, father of Gilead, for he was a warrior; he had Gilead and Bashan.


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The other sons of Manasseh had theirs, by clans: for the sons of Abiezer, for the sons of Helek, for the sons of Asriel, for the sons of Shechem, for the sons of Hepher, and for the sons of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh son of Joseph, by clans.


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Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons but only daughters, whose names were these: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.


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These approached the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun and the leaders, and said, 'Yahweh ordered Moses to give us a heritage among our brothers.' In compliance with Yahweh's order, therefore, they were given a heritage among their father's brothers.


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In this way ten portions fell to Manasseh, apart from Gilead and Bashan lying on the further side of the Jordan,


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since Manasseh's daughters received a heritage as well as his sons. Gilead itself belonged to Manasseh's other sons.


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On the side of Asher, the frontier of Manasseh was the Michmethath, which is opposite Shechem, and thence continued to the right to Jashib, which is at the spring of Tappuah.


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The territory of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah on Manasseh's border belonged to the sons of Ephraim.


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The boundary went down to the Torrent of Kanah; south of the Torrent were the towns of Ephraim, excluding those owned by Ephraim among the towns of Manasseh; the boundary of Manasseh was north of the Torrent and reached as far as the sea.


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The south belonged to Ephraim and the north to Manasseh and reached as far as the sea; they touched Asher to the north and Issachar to the east.


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With Issachar and Asher, Manasseh shared Beth-Shean and its dependent towns, Ibleam and its dependent towns, the inhabitants of Dor and of its dependent towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and Megiddo and of their dependent towns: the Three of the Slopes.


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But because the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these towns, the Canaanites managed to live on in that territory.


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When, however, the Israelites became stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labour, though they never dispossessed them.


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The sons of Joseph spoke as follows to Joshua, 'Why have you given me only one share, only one portion, as heritage, when I am a numerous people, since Yahweh has so blessed me?'


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Joshua replied, 'If your people are so many, go up to the wooded area and clear space for yourselves in the area belonging to the Perizzites and Rephaim, since the highlands of Ephraim are too small for you.'


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The sons of Joseph replied, 'The highlands are not enough for us, and what is more, all the Canaanites living on the land of the plain have iron chariots, so do those in Beth-Shean and its dependent towns, and those in the plain of Jezreel.'


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Joshua said to the House of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, 'You are a numerous people and your strength is great; you will not only have one share,


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but a mountain will be yours as well; even if it is a forest, you can clear it and its territories will be yours. And you will dispossess the Canaanites, although they have iron chariots and although they are strong.'


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The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, and the Tent of Meeting was set up there; the whole country had been subdued for them.


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Joshua then said to the Israelites, 'How much more time are you going to waste before you go and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, has given to you?


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Choose three men from each tribe for me to send all over the country so that they can make a survey with a view to their inheritances and then come back to me.


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They will divide the country into seven portions. Judah will remain in his territory in the south, and those of the House of Joseph will remain in their territory in the north.


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You must survey the country in seven sections and bring your findings to me here, so that I can cast lots for you here, in the presence of Yahweh our God.


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The Levites, however, will have no portion with the rest of you; the priesthood of Yahweh will be their heritage. As regards Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they have received their heritage on the further, eastern side of the Jordan, the one given them by Moses, servant of Yahweh.'


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The men stood up and set off. To those who were to survey the country Joshua gave this order, 'Start out, then, go all over the country, survey it, and then come back to me; and I shall cast lots for you here, in the presence of Yahweh, at Shiloh.'


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The men left, went all over the country and surveyed it by towns, in seven sections, writing down their findings in a book, and then went back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.


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Joshua cast lots for them in Yahweh's presence at Shiloh, and there Joshua divided the country between the Israelites, share by share.


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A portion fell first to the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, by clans: the territory of their portion lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.


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Their northern frontier began at the Jordan, went up the flank of Jericho to the north, climbed westwards through the highlands and came out at the desert of Beth-Aven.


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Thence, the frontier went on to Luz, on the southern flank of Luz -- now Bethel-and then down to Ataroth-Arach, on the mountain south of Lower Beth-Horon.


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At this westerly point, the frontier curved round and turned south, from the mountain facing Beth-Horon from the south and came out at Kiriath-Baal, now Kiriath-Jearim, a town of the sons of Judah. That was the western side.


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This was the south side: from the tip of Kiriath-Jearim, the frontier went to Gasin and came out near the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah,


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it then went down to the edge of the mountain facing the Valley of Hinnom, in the Valley of the Rephaim to the north; it then went down into the Valley of Hinnom, past the southerly flank of the Jebusite, and went down to En-Rogel.


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It then curved northwards, coming out at En-Shemesh, and came out at the stone circle opposite the Ascent of Adummim, then went down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.


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It then went on to Cheteph on the flank of Beth-ha-Arabah northwards, and went down into the Arabah;


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the frontier then passed round the northern flank of Beth-Hoglah, and the frontier came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. Such was the southern frontier.


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The Jordan itself formed the frontier on the east. Such was the heritage of the sons of Benjamin as defined by their frontier, by clans.


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Zela-ha-Eleph, the Jebusite -- that is, Jerusalem -- Gibeah and Kiriath: fourteen towns with their villages. Such was the heritage of the sons of Benjamin, by clans.


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The second lot to come out was for Simeon, for the tribe of the sons of Simeon, by clans; their heritage was within the heritage of the sons of Judah.


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with all the villages situated near these towns as far as Baalath-Beer and Ramah of the Negeb. Such was the heritage of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, by clans.


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The heritage of the sons of Simeon was taken out of the portion of the sons of Judah, because the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; hence, the sons of Simeon received their heritage within the heritage of the sons of Judah.


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The third lot fell to the sons of Zebulun, by clans; the territory of their heritage stretched as far as Sadud;


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From Sadud, the frontier turned east, towards the rising sun, as far as the frontier of Chisloth-Tabor; it came out at Dobrath and went up to Japhia.


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Thence, it went east, towards the sunrise, to Gath-Hepher and Ittah-Kazin, came out at Rimmon and turned towards Neah.


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Their frontier touched Tabor, Shahazimah and Beth-Shemesh, and the frontier came to an end at the Jordan: sixteen towns with their villages.


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On the west, it touched Carmel and the course of the Libnath. On the side of the rising sun, it went as far as Beth-Dagon, touched Zebulun, the Valley of Iphtah-El on the north side, Beth-ha-Emek and Neiel, coming out with Cabul on the left,


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with Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah as far as Sidon the Great. The frontier then turned towards Ramah, as far as the fortress-town of Tyre;


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Their frontier went from Heleph and the Oak of Zanaannim, with Adami-ha-Negeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan.


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The westward boundary ran to Aznoth-Tabor and thence came out at Hukkok, marching with Zebulun in the south, Asher in the west and the Jordan in the east.


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The territory of the sons of Dan eluded them, however, and the sons of Dan consequently went up and attacked Leshem, captured it and put it to the sword. Having gained possession of it, they settled there and called Leshem, Dan, after Dan their ancestor.


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Having finished dividing the country, frontier by frontier, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun a heritage among themselves;


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at Yahweh's command, they gave him the town which he had asked for, Timnath-Serah in the highlands of Ephraim; he rebuilt the town and settled there.


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Such are the heritages which the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of each family apportioned by lot between the tribes of Israel at Shiloh, in Yahweh's presence, at the door of the Tent of Meeting; and thus the apportioning of the country was completed.


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'Speak to the Israelites and say to them, "Choose yourselves the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses,


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to which anyone who has accidentally (unintentionally) killed someone else may flee, and which will serve you as refuge from the avenger of blood.


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(The killer must flee to one of these towns. He will stop at the entrance to the town gate and explain his case to the town elders. These will admit him to their town and assign him a place to live among them.


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If the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not hand the killer over to him, since he has killed his fellow unintentionally and was not motivated by long-standing hatred for him.


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He must stay in this town) until he is brought to trial before the community (until the death of the high priest then in office. Only then may the killer go back to his own town and to his own house in the town from which he has fled)."


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For this purpose they designated Kedesh in Galilee, in the highlands of Naphtali, Shechem in the highlands of Ephraim, and Kiriath-Arba -- now Hebron -- in the highlands of Judah.


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On the other, eastern, side of the Jordan opposite Jericho, in the desert of the tableland, they chose Bezer of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan of the tribe of Manasseh.


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Such were the towns designated for all the Israelites and for foreigners living among them, so that anyone who had accidentally killed someone could flee there and might escape the hand of the avenger of blood, until brought to trial before the community.


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The heads of families of the Levites then came to the priest, Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of families of the tribes of Israel-


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they were then at Shiloh in Canaan. They said to them, 'Through Moses, Yahweh ordered us to be given towns to live in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.'


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In compliance with Yahweh's order, the Israelites consequently and from their own heritage gave the Levites the following towns with their pasture lands:


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Lots were cast for the clans of the Kohathites: to those Levites who were sons of Aaron the priest, fell thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin;


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fell ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. To the sons of Gershon, by clans, fell thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.


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The Israelites assigned these towns and their pasture lands to the Levites by lot, as Yahweh had ordered through Moses.


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The first portion was for the sons of Aaron, belonging to the clans of the Kohathites, to the sons of Levi, since the first lot was theirs.


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They gave them Kiriath-Arba, Anak's father's town -- now Hebron -- in the highlands of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.


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To the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, a city of refuge for those who had killed, with its pasture lands, as well as Libnah with its pasture lands,


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Ashan with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine towns taken from these two tribes;


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As regards the clans of the sons of Kohath, those Levites still left of the sons of Kohath, the towns of their lot were taken from the tribe of Ephraim.


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They were given Shechem, a city of refuge for those who had killed, with its pasture lands, in the highlands of Ephraim, as well as Gezer with its pasture lands,


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and, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands and Jibleam with its pasture lands: two towns.


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To the sons of Gershon, of the levitical clans, were given: from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for those who had killed, with its pasture lands, and Ashtaroth with its pasture lands -- two towns;


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and, from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, a city of refuge for those who had killed, with its pasture lands, Hammoth-Dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands -- three towns.


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To the clans of the sons of Merari, the remainder of the Levites, fell: from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,


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on the other side of the Jordan opposite Jericho, from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the desert, on the tableland, a city of refuge for those who had killed, with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,


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and, from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for those who had killed, with its pasture lands, Mahanaim with its pasture lands,


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Total number of towns forming the lot of the sons of Merari by clans, of the remaining levitical clans: twelve towns.


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The total number of towns for the Levites in Israelite territory was forty-eight towns with their pasture lands.


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These towns consisted in each case of the town itself and the pasture land round it. This was the case with all the towns.


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This was how Yahweh gave the Israelites the entire country which he had sworn to give to their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled in it.


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Yahweh granted them tranquillity on all their frontiers just as he had sworn to their ancestors and, of all their enemies, not one succeeded in resisting them. Yahweh put all their enemies at their mercy.


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Of all the promises that Yahweh had made to the House of Israel, not one failed; all were fulfilled.


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and said to them, 'You have observed everything that Moses, servant of Yahweh, ordered you, and whenever I have given you an order you have listened to me.


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You have not deserted your brothers, from long ago until today, keeping the observance of the commandment of Yahweh your God.


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Now that Yahweh your God has granted your brothers the rest that he promised them, go back to your tents, to the country belonging to you which Moses, servant of Yahweh, gave you on the other side of the Jordan.


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But take great care to practise the commandments and the Law which Moses, servant of Yahweh, has given you: to love Yahweh your God, always to follow his paths, to keep his commandments, to be loyal to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.'


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To one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given a territory in Bashan; to the other half, Joshua gave another among their brothers on the west bank of the Jordan. As Joshua sent them home to their tents, he blessed them


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and said to them, 'You are going back to your tents with great wealth, with a great deal of livestock, with silver and gold, bronze and iron and great quantities of clothing; share the spoils of your enemies with your brothers.'


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The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, leaving the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan, and made for Gilead, the territory which belonged to them as a result of Yahweh's order given through Moses.


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When they came to the stone circle by the Jordan, in Canaanite territory, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there beside the Jordan, a large, imposing altar.


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This came to the ears of the Israelites. 'Look,' the word went round, 'the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built this altar on the Canaanite side, near the stone circle by the Jordan, on the Israelites' bank.'


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At this news, the whole community of the Israelites mustered at Shiloh, to march against them and make war on them.


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The Israelites sent the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in Gilead,


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and with him ten leading men, one man from a leading family from each of the tribes of Israel, each of them being head of his family in the clans of Israel.


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Having reached the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, they said this:


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'The whole community of Israel says as follows, "What do you mean by this infidelity, which you have committed against the God of Israel by now repudiating your allegiance to Yahweh, and by building yourselves an altar with the intention now of rebelling against Yahweh?


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"Was the crime which we committed at Peor so slight -- although we have not managed to purify ourselves from that even now, in spite of the plague which has ravaged the community of Yahweh-


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that you must now repudiate your allegiance to Yahweh? For since you are in rebellion against him today, tomorrow his anger will be aroused against the whole community of Israel.


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"Is the country in which you have settled unclean? Then cross over into the country where Yahweh has settled, there where Yahweh's Dwelling now stands, and settle among us. But do not rebel against Yahweh or involve us in your rebellion by building a rival altar to the altar of Yahweh our God.


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When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful to the curse of destruction, did not the retribution come down on the whole community of Israel, although he was only one man? Did he not have to die for his crime?" '


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The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke in their turn and answered the heads of the clans of Israel:


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'The God of gods, Yahweh, the God of gods, Yahweh well knows, and let Israel know it too: if there has been rebellion or infidelity to Yahweh on our part, may he refuse to save us today!


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And if we have built ourselves an altar with the intention of repudiating our allegiance to Yahweh and of presenting burnt offering and oblation or of offering communion sacrifices on it, may Yahweh himself call us to account for it!


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The truth is, we have done this as a precaution: in the future, your descendants might say to ours, "What connection do you have with Yahweh, God of Israel?


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Has not Yahweh set the frontier of the Jordan between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites? You have no share in Yahweh." Thus, your descendants would be the cause of stopping ours from fearing Yahweh.


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but as a witness between us and you and between our descendants after us, attesting that we too have the right to worship Yahweh, in his presence, with our burnt offerings, our victims and our communion sacrifices. And so, in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours: You have no share in Yahweh."


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And we furthermore said, "If ever it were to happen that they did say this either to us or to our descendants in the future, we should reply: Look at this structure, Yahweh's altar, made by our ancestors not for burnt offerings or other sacrifices but as a witness between us and you."


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Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh or now to repudiate our allegiance to Yahweh by building an altar for burnt offerings or oblations or sacrifices, in rivalry with the altar of Yahweh our God that stands before his Dwelling!'


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When the priest Phinehas, the leaders of the community and the heads of the clans of Israel who were with him, heard the words spoken by the Gadites, the Reubenites and the Manassehites, they approved of them.


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The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar then said to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the Manassehites, 'Today, we can see that Yahweh is among us, since you have not been unfaithful to Yahweh in this matter; this means that you have spared the Israelites from Yahweh's avenging hand.'


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The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the leaders left the Reubenites and the Gadites and went back from Gilead to Canaan and the Israelites, to whom they reported the answer.


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The Israelites were pleased to hear this; the Israelites gave thanks to God and spoke no more of marching against them to make war on them and to ravage the country inhabited by the Reubenites and the Gadites.


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The Reubenites and the Gadites called the altar . . . , 'Because', they said, 'it will be a witness between us that Yahweh is God.'


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Now long after Yahweh had given Israel rest from all the enemies surrounding them -- Joshua was old now, far advanced in years-


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Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, leaders, judges and officials, and said to them, 'I myself am old, far advanced in years;


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you for your part have witnessed all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations for your sake; Yahweh your God himself has fought for you.


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Look, these nations still remaining, and all the nations which I have exterminated from the Jordan all the way to the Great Sea in the west, I have allotted to you as the heritage for your tribes.


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Yahweh your God will himself drive them out before you; he will dispossess them before you and you will take possession of their country, as Yahweh your God has promised you.


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'So be very firm about keeping and doing everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, not swerving from that either to right or to left.


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Never mix with the peoples who are still left beside you. Do not utter the names of their gods, do not swear by them, do not serve them and do not bow down to them.


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Yahweh has dispossessed great and powerful nations before you, and no one so far has been able to resist you.


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One man of you was able to rout a thousand of them, since Yahweh your God was himself fighting for you, as he had promised you.


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'But should you in any way relapse, if you make friends with the remnant of these nations still living beside you, if you intermarry with them, if you mix with them and they with you,


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then know for certain that Yahweh your God will stop dispossessing these nations before you, and for you they will be a snare, a pitfall, thorns in your sides and thistles in your eyes, until you vanish from this fine country given you by Yahweh your God.


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'Today, you see, I am going the way of all the earth. Acknowledge with all your heart and soul that of all the promises made to you by Yahweh your God, not one has failed: all have been fulfilled -- not one has failed.


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'As every promise made to you by Yahweh your God has been fulfilled for you, by the same token Yahweh will fulfil all his threats against you, even to exterminating you from this fine country given you by Yahweh your God.


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'For if you violate the covenant which Yahweh your God has imposed on you, if you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then Yahweh's anger will be roused against you and you will quickly vanish from the fine country which he has given you.'


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Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; he then summoned all the elders of Israel, its leaders, judges and officials, and they presented themselves in God's presence.


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Joshua then said to all the people: 'Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this, "From time immemorial, your ancestors, Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River, and served other gods.


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I then brought your ancestor Abraham from beyond the River and led him through the length and breadth of Canaan. I increased his descendants and I gave him Isaac.


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To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave possession of the mountainous country of Seir. Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.


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I then sent Moses and Aaron, and plagued Egypt with the wonders that I worked there; finally I brought you out.


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I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the Sea; the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen, to the Sea of Reeds.


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They then called to Yahweh, and he spread a thick fog between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea go back on them and cover them. You saw with your own eyes what I did in Egypt. Then, for a long while, you lived in the desert.


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I then brought you into the country of the Amorites, who used to live on the further side of the Jordan; they made war on you and I put them at your mercy; after which, you took possession of their country, since I destroyed them before you.


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Next, Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, rose to make war on Israel, and sent for Balaam son of Beor to come and curse you.


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"You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho, but the inhabitants of Jericho made war on you: Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I put them all at your mercy.


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I sent hornets ahead of you, which drove out the two Amorite kings before you; this was not the work of your sword or of your bow.


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And now I have given you a country for which you have not toiled, towns you have not built, although you live in them, vineyards and olive groves you have not planted, although you eat their fruit."


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'So now, fear Yahweh and serve him truly and sincerely; banish the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.


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But if serving Yahweh seems a bad thing to you, today you must make up your minds whom you do mean to serve, whether the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now living. As regards my family and me, we shall serve Yahweh.'


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Yahweh our God was the one who brought us and our ancestors here from Egypt, from the place of slave-labour, who worked those great wonders before our eyes and who kept us safe all along the way we travelled and among all the peoples through whom we passed.


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And Yahweh has driven all the nations out for us, including the Amorites who used to live in the country. We too shall serve Yahweh, for he is our God.'


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Joshua then said to the people, 'You will not be able to serve Yahweh, since he is a holy God, he is a jealous God who will not tolerate either your misdeeds or your sins.


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If you desert Yahweh and serve the foreigners' gods, he will turn and maltreat you anew and, in spite of having been good to you in the past, will destroy you.'


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Joshua then said to the people, 'You are witnesses to yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh, to serve him.' They replied, 'Witnesses we are!'


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'Then banish the foreign gods which you have with you and give your allegiance to Yahweh, God of Israel!'


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The people replied to Joshua, 'Yahweh our God is the one whom we shall serve; his voice we shall obey!'


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That day Joshua made a covenant for the people; he laid down a statute and ordinance for them at Shechem.


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Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there, under the oak tree in Yahweh's sanctuary.


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Joshua then said to all the people, 'Look, this stone will be a witness to us, since it has heard all the words that Yahweh has spoken to us: it will be a witness against you, in case you should deny your God.'


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He was buried on the estate which he had received as his heritage, at Timnath-Serah which lies in the highlands of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


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Israel served Yahweh throughout the lifetime of Joshua and throughout the lifetime of those elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the deeds which Yahweh had done for the sake of Israel.


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As regards the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought from Egypt, these were buried at Shechem in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem, and which had become the heritage of the sons of Joseph.


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Eleazar son of Aaron then died and was buried at Gibeah, the town of his son Phinehas, which had been given to him in the highlands of Ephraim.


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Now after Joshua's death, the Israelites consulted Yahweh, asking, 'Which of us is to march on the Canaanites first, to make war on them?'


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Judah then said to his brother Simeon, 'March with me into the territory allotted to me; we shall make war on the Canaanites, and then I in my turn shall march into your territory with you.' And Simeon marched with him.


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So Judah marched on them, and Yahweh delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they defeated them at Bezek-ten thousand of them!


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At Bezek they came upon Adoni-Bezek; they joined battle with him and defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites.


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Adoni-Bezek said, 'Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up the crumbs under my table. As I did, God does to me.' He was taken to Jerusalem, and there he died.


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(The sons of Judah attacked Jerusalem and took it: they put its people to the sword and set fire to the city.)


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After this the sons of Judah went down to make war on the Canaanites who were living in the highlands, the Negeb and the lowlands.


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Judah next marched on the Canaanites living in Hebron -- the name of Hebron in olden days was Kiriath-Arba -- and beat Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.


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From there, he marched on the inhabitants of Debir -- the name of Debir in olden days was Kiriath-Sepher.


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Caleb said, 'To the man who conquers and captures Kiriath-Sepher, I shall give my daughter Achsah as wife.'


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The man who captured it was Othniel son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb, who gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.


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she said to him, 'Grant me a blessing! As the land you have given me is the Negeb, give me springs of water, too!' So Caleb gave her what she wanted: the upper springs and the lower springs.


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The sons of Hobab the Kenite, father-in-law of Moses, marched up with the sons of Judah from the City of Palm Trees into the desert of Judah lying in the Negeb of Arad, where they went and settled among the people.


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Judah then set out with his brother Simeon. They beat the Canaanites who lived in Zephath and delivered it over to the curse of destruction; hence the town was given the name of Hormah.


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Judah then captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, Ekron and its territory. And Yahweh was with Judah, who made himself master of the highlands;


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As regards the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess them, and the Jebusites have been living in Jerusalem with the sons of Benjamin ever since.


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The scouts saw a man coming out of the town and said to him, 'Show us how to get into the town and we shall show you faithful love.'


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And when he had shown them a way into the town, they put the town to the sword but let the man and his whole clan go.


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The man went off to the country of the Hittites and built a town which he called Luz; and that has been its name ever since.


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Manasseh did not dispossess Beth-Shean and its dependencies, nor Taanach and its dependencies, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its dependencies, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its dependencies, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependencies; in those parts the Canaanites held their ground.


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But when the Israelites became stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labour, although they did not dispossess them.


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Nor did Ephraim dispossess the Canaanites living in Gezer; thus, the Canaanites went on living in Gezer with him.


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Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or of Nahalol. The Canaanites lived on with Zebulun but were subjected to forced labour.


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Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco, nor those of Sidon, of Mahalab, of Achzib, of Helbah, of Aphek or of Rehob.


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So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the country, not having dispossessed them.


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Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh or of Beth-Anath; they settled among the Canaanite inhabitants of the country, but the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh and of Beth-Anath were subjected to forced labour for them.


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The Amorites drove the Danites back into the highlands and would not let them come down into the plain.


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The Amorites held their ground at Har -- Heres and Shaalbim, but when the hand of the House of Joseph grew heavier, they were subjected to forced labour. (


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The territory of the Edomites begins at the Ascent of Scorpions, runs to the Rock and continues on upwards.)


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The Angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bethel and said, 'I have brought you out of Egypt and led you into this country, which I promised on oath to your ancestors. I said, "I shall never break my covenant with you.


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You for your part must make no covenant with the inhabitants of this country; you will destroy their altars." But you have not listened to my voice. What is the reason for this?


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Very well, I now say this, "I am not going to drive these nations out before you. They will become your oppressors, and their gods will be a snare for you."


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When the angel of Yahweh had spoken these words to all the Israelites, the people began to wail at the top of their voices.


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Joshua having dismissed the people, the Israelites then went away, each one to his own heritage, to occupy the country.


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The people served Yahweh throughout the lifetime of Joshua and throughout the lifetime of those elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the great deeds which Yahweh had done for the sake of Israel.


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He was buried on the estate which he had received as his heritage at Timnath-Heres in the highlands of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


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And when that whole generation had been gathered to its ancestors, another generation followed it which knew neither Yahweh nor the deeds which he had done for the sake of Israel.


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They deserted Yahweh, God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt, and they followed other gods, from those of the surrounding peoples. They bowed down to these; they provoked Yahweh;


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Then Yahweh's anger grew hot against Israel. He handed them over to pillagers who plundered them; he delivered them to the enemies surrounding them, and they were no longer able to resist their enemies.


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Whenever they mounted an expedition, Yahweh's hand was there to foil them, as Yahweh had told them and as Yahweh had sworn to them, so that they were in dire distress.


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But even to their judges they refused to listen. They prostituted themselves to other gods and bowed down before these. Very quickly they left the path which their ancestors had trodden in obedience to the orders of Yahweh; they did not follow their example.


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When Yahweh appointed judges for them, Yahweh was with the judge and rescued them from the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived, since Yahweh relented at their groans under their persecutors and oppressors.


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But once the judge was dead, they relapsed into even worse corruption than their ancestors. They followed other gods; they served them and bowed before them and would not give up the practices and stubborn ways of their ancestors at all.


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Yahweh's anger then blazed out against Israel, and he said, 'Since this people has broken the covenant which I laid down for their ancestors, since they have not listened to my voice,


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in order, by means of them, to put Israel to the test, to see whether or not they would tread the paths of Yahweh as once their ancestors had trodden them.'


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Hence, Yahweh allowed these nations to remain; he did not hurry to drive them out, and did not deliver them into the hands of Joshua.


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These are the nations which Yahweh allowed to remain, by their means to put all those Israelites to the test who had not experienced any of the Canaanite wars


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(this was only to instruct the Israelites' descendants, to teach them the art of war, those at least who had not experienced it previously):


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the five chiefs of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hittites who lived in the range of the Lebanon, from the uplands of Baal-Hermon to the Pass of Hamath.


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They were used to put Israel to the test and see if they would keep the orders which Yahweh had given their ancestors through Moses.


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The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites and Amorites, the Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites;


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they married their daughters, they gave their own sons to their daughters and they served their gods.


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The Israelites did what is evil in Yahweh's eyes. They forgot Yahweh their God and served Baals and Asherahs.


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Then Yahweh's anger blazed out against Israel: he handed them over to Cushan-Rishathaim king of Edom, and the Israelites were enslaved to Cushan-Rishathaim for eight years.


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The Israelites then cried to Yahweh and Yahweh raised for the Israelites a deliverer who rescued them, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.


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The spirit of Yahweh was on him; he became judge in Israel and set out for war. Yahweh delivered Cushan-Rishathaim king of Edom into his hands, and he triumphed over Cushan- Rishathaim.


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Again the Israelites began doing what is evil in Yahweh's eyes, and Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, since they were doing what is evil in Yahweh's eyes.


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Eglon in conjunction with the sons of Ammon and Amalek marched on Israel, beat them and captured the City of Palm Trees.


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The Israelites then cried to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised a deliverer for them, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite; he was left-handed. The Israelites appointed him to take their tribute to Eglon king of Moab.


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Ehud made himself a dagger -- it was double-edged and a foot long -- and strapped it under his clothes on his right thigh.


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but he himself, on reaching the Idols which are near Gilgal, went back and said, 'I have a secret message for you, O king.' The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew.


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Ehud went up to him; he was sitting in his private room upstairs, where it was cool. Ehud said to him, 'I have a message from God for you, O king.' The latter immediately rose from his seat.


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Then Ehud, reaching with his left hand, drew the dagger he was carrying on his right thigh and thrust it into the king's belly.


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The hilt too went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, since Ehud did not pull the dagger out of his belly again.


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Ehud went out through the privies, having shut and bolted the doors of the upstairs room behind him.


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When he had gone, the servants came back and looked; the doors of the upstairs room were bolted. They thought, 'He is probably covering his feet in the inner part of the cool room.'


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They waited until they became embarrassed, but still he did not open the doors of the upstairs room. Eventually, they took the key and opened the door; and there lay their master, dead, on the ground.


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Once there, he sounded the horn in the highlands of Ephraim, and the Israelites came down from the hills with him at their head.


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And he said to them, 'Follow me, because Yahweh has delivered your enemy Moab into your hands.' So they followed him, seized the fords of the Jordan against Moab and allowed no one to cross.


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On that occasion they beat the Moabites, some ten thousand men, all tough and seasoned fighters, and not one escaped.


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After him came Shamgar son of Anath. He routed six hundred of the Philistines with an ox-goad; he too was a deliverer of Israel.


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and Yahweh handed them over to Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned at Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Haroshet-ha-Goiim.


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The Israelites then cried to Yahweh; for Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.


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She used to sit under Deborah's Palm between Ramah and Bethel in the highlands of Ephraim, and the Israelites would come to her for justice.


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She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, 'Has not Yahweh, God of Israel, commanded, "Go! March to Mount Tabor and with you take ten thousand of the sons of Naphtali and the sons of Zebulun.


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I shall entice Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, to encounter you at the Torrent of Kishon with his chariots and troops; and I shall put him into your power"? '


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Barak replied, 'If you come with me, I shall go; if you will not come, I shall not go, for I do not know how to choose the day when the angel of Yahweh will grant me success.'


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'I shall go with you then,' she said, 'but, the way you are going about it, the glory will not be yours; for Yahweh will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.' Deborah then stood up and went with Barak to Kedesh.


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Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men marched behind him, and Deborah went with him.


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Heber the Kenite had parted company with the tribe of Kain and with the sons of Hobab, father-in-law of Moses; he had pitched his tent near the Oak of Zaanannim, not far from Kedesh.


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Sisera summoned all his chariots -- nine hundred iron chariots -- and all the troops he had, from Harosheth-ha-Goiim to the Torrent of Kishon.


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Deborah said to Barak, 'Up! For today is the day when Yahweh has put Sisera into your power. Is not Yahweh marching at your head?' And Barak charged down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men behind him.


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At Barak's advance, Yahweh struck terror into Sisera, all his chariots and his entire army. Sisera leapt down from his chariot and fled on foot.


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Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-Goiim. Sisera's whole army fell by the edge of the sword; not one man was spared.


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Sisera meanwhile fled on foot towards the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. For there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.


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Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, 'Stay here, my lord, with me; do not be afraid!' He stayed with her in her tent, and she covered him with a rug.


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He said to her, 'Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.' She opened the skin of milk, gave him some to drink and covered him up again.


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Then he said to her, 'Stand at the tent door, and if anyone comes and questions you -- if he asks, "Is there a man here?" say, "No." '


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But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent-peg and picked up a mallet; she crept up softly to him and drove the peg into his temple right through to the ground. He was lying fast asleep, worn out; and so he died.


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And now Barak came up in pursuit of Sisera. Jael went out to meet him and said, 'Come in, and I will show you the man you are looking for.' He went into her tent; and there was Sisera dead, with the tent-peg through his temple.


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And the Israelites bore down more and more heavily on that king of Canaan, Jabin, until he was utterly destroyed.


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That the warriors in Israel unbound their hair, that the people came forward with a will, bless Yahweh!


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Listen, you kings! Give ear, you princes! From me, from me comes a song for Yahweh. I shall glorify Yahweh, God of Israel.


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Yahweh, when you set out from Seir, when you marched from the field of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens pelted, the clouds pelted down water.


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In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, there were no more caravans; those who went forth on their travels took their way along by-paths.


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The villages in Israel were no more, they were no more until you arose, O Deborah, until you arose, mother of Israel!


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They were choosing new gods when war was at the gates. Was there one shield, one spear to be found among the forty thousand men in Israel?


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sing -- to the sound of the shepherds at the watering places! There they extol Yahweh's blessings, his saving acts for his villages in Israel! (Then Yahweh's people marched down to the gates.)


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Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, declaim a song! Take heart, to your feet, Barak, capture your captors, son of Abinoam!


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Then Israel marched down to the gates; like champions, Yahweh's people marched down to fight for him!


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The princes of Ephraim are in the valley. Behind you, Benjamin is in your ranks. Captains have come down from Machir, those who wield the commander's staff, from Zebulun.


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The princes of Issachar are with Deborah; Naphtali, with Barak, in the valley follows in hot pursuit. In the clans of Reuben there was much searching of heart.


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Why did you stay among the sheepfolds, listening for the whistle, with the flocks? (In the clans of Reuben, there was much searching of heart.)


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Gilead stayed on the other side of the Jordan, and why should Dan have stayed aboard ship? Asher remained beside the sea, peacefully living within his ports.


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The kings came and they fought, how they fought, those kings of Canaan, at Taanach, near the Waters of Megiddo, but no booty of silver did they take!


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The torrent of Kishon swept them away, the torrent of old, the torrent of Kishon. -March on, be strong my soul!


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'Curse Meroz,' said the Angel of Yahweh, 'curse, curse the people living there for not having come to Yahweh's help, to Yahweh's help as warriors!'


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Most blessed of women be Jael (the wife of Heber the Kenite); of tent-dwelling women, may she be most blessed!


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She reached her hand out to seize the peg, her right hand to seize the workman's mallet. She hammered Sisera, she crushed his head, she pierced his temple and shattered it.


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Between her feet, he crumpled, he fell, he lay; at her feet, he crumpled, he fell. Where he crumpled, there he fell, destroyed.


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At the window, she leans and watches, Sisera's mother, through the lattice, 'Why is his chariot so long coming? Why so delayed the hoof-beats from his chariot?'


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'Are they not collecting and sharing out the spoil: a girl, two girls for each warrior; a booty of coloured and embroidered stuff for Sisera, one scarf, two embroidered scarves for me!'


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So perish all your enemies, Yahweh! And let those who love you be like the sun when he emerges in all his strength! And the country had peace for forty years.


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The Israelites did what is evil in Yahweh's eyes, and for seven years Yahweh handed them over to Midian;


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and Midian bore down heavily on Israel. To escape from the Midianites the Israelites used the mountain clefts and the caves and shelters.


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Whenever Israel sowed seed the Midianites would march up with Amalek and the sons of the East. They would march on Israel.


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They would pitch camp on their territory and destroy the produce of the country as far as Gaza. They left Israel nothing to live on, not a sheep or an ox or a donkey,


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for they came up as thick as locusts with their cattle and their tents; they and their camels were innumerable, they invaded the country to pillage it.


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Yahweh sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said to them, 'This is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says, "It was I who brought you out of Egypt, and led you out of the place of slave-labour.


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I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their country to you.


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And I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now living. But you have not listened to my voice." '


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The Angel of Yahweh came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah which belonged to Joash of Abiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside the wine-press, to keep it hidden from Midian,


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Gideon replied, 'Excuse me, my lord, but if Yahweh is with us, why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles which our ancestors used to tell us about when they said, "Did not Yahweh bring us out of Egypt?" But now Yahweh has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.'


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At this, Yahweh turned to him and said, 'Go in this strength of yours, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you myself?'


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Gideon replied, 'Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least important of my father's family.'


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Please do not go away from here until I come back to you, bringing you my offering and laying it before you.' And he replied, 'I shall stay until you come back.'


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Gideon went away, he prepared a young goat and from an ephah of flour he made unleavened cakes. He put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot, then brought it all to him under the terebinth. As he approached,


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the Angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock and pour the broth over them.' Gideon did so.


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The Angel of Yahweh then stretched out the tip of the staff which he was carrying, and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the Angel of Yahweh vanished before his eyes.


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Gideon then knew that this was the Angel of Yahweh, and he said, 'Alas, my Lord Yahweh! Now I have seen the Angel of Yahweh face to face!'


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Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and called it Yahweh-Peace. This altar stands in our own day at Ophrah of Abiezer.


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Now that night, Yahweh said to Gideon, 'Take your father's bull, the seven-year-old bull, and pull down the altar to Baal belonging to your father and cut down the sacred pole beside it.


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Then, on top of this strong-point, build a proper altar to Yahweh your God. Then take the bull and burn it as a burnt offering on the wood of the sacred pole which you have cut down.'


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Gideon then took ten of his servants and did as Yahweh had ordered him. But, being too frightened of his family and of the townspeople to do it in daylight, he did it at night.


text:
Next morning, when the townspeople got up, they found that the altar to Baal had been destroyed, the sacred pole standing beside it had been cut down and the bull had been sacrificed as a burnt offering on the newly built altar.


text:
'Who has done this?' they asked one another. They searched, made enquiries and declared, 'Gideon son of Joash has done it.'


text:
The townspeople then said to Joash, 'Bring out your son; he must die for having destroyed Baal's altar and cut down the sacred pole which stood beside it.'


text:
To the people all crowding round him, Joash replied, 'Is it your job to plead for Baal? Is it your job to champion his cause? (Anyone who pleads for Baal must be put to death before dawn.) If he is a god, let him plead for himself, now that Gideon has destroyed his altar.'


text:
That day, Gideon was given the name Jerubbaal, because, they said, 'Baal must plead against him, because he has destroyed his altar!'


text:
All Midian and Amalek and the sons of the East joined forces and, having crossed the Jordan, pitched camp in the plain of Jezreel.


text:
He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and Manasseh too rallied behind him; he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, and they marched out to meet him.


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look, I am going to put a woollen fleece on the threshing-floor; if there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground stays dry, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by means of me, as you have said.'


text:
And so it happened. Early next morning, Gideon got up, squeezed the fleece and wrung enough dew out of the fleece to fill a cup.


text:
Gideon then said to God, 'Do not be angry with me if I speak just once more. Allow me to make the fleece-test just once more: let the fleece alone be dry and there be dew all over the ground!'


text:
Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) got up very early, as did all the people who were with him; he pitched camp at En-Harod; the camp of Midian was north of his, under the Hill of Moreh in the valley.


text:
Yahweh then said to Gideon, 'There are too many people with you for me to put Midian into their power; Israel might claim the credit for themselves at my expense: they might say, "My own hand has rescued me."


text:
So now make this proclamation to the people, "Anyone trembling with fear is to go back and watch from Mount Gilboa." ' Twenty-two thousand of the people went back, and ten thousand remained.


text:
Yahweh said to Gideon, 'There are still too many people. Take them down to the waterside and I shall sort them out for you there. If I say of someone, "He is to go with you," that man is to go with you. And if I say of anyone, "He is not to go with you," that man is not to go.'


text:
So Gideon took the people down to the waterside, and Yahweh said to him, 'All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, put these on one side. And all those who kneel down to drink, put these on the other side.'


text:
The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouth was three hundred; all the rest of the people had knelt to drink.


text:
Yahweh then said to Gideon, 'With the three hundred who lapped the water, I shall rescue you and put Midian into your power. Let the people as a whole disperse to their homes.'


text:
So they took the people's provisions and their horns, and then Gideon sent all the Israelites back to their tents, keeping only the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below his in the valley.


text:
Now it happened, that same night, that Yahweh said to him, 'Get up and go down to the camp. I am putting it into your power.


text:
listen to what they are saying, and that will encourage you to go down to the camp.' So, with his servant Purah, he went down to the edge of the outposts of the camp.


text:
Midian, Amalek and all the sons of the East were deployed in the valley as thick as locusts; their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.


text:
Gideon got there just as a man was telling his comrade a dream; he was saying, 'This was the dream I had: a cake made of barley bread came rolling into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent, struck against it and turned it upside down.'


text:
His comrade replied, 'This can only be the sword of Gideon son of Joash the Israelite. God has put Midian and the whole camp into his power.'


text:
When Gideon heard the dream thus told and interpreted, he bowed in reverence; he then went back to the camp of Israel and said, 'On your feet, for Yahweh has put the camp of Midian into your power!'


text:
Gideon then divided his three hundred men into three groups. To each he gave a horn and an empty pitcher, with a torch inside each pitcher.


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He said to them, 'Watch me, and do as I do. When I reach the edge of the camp, whatever I do, you must do also.


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I shall blow my horn, and so will all those who are with me; you too will then blow your horns all round the camp and shout, "For Yahweh and for Gideon!"


text:
Gideon and his hundred companions reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when the new sentries had just been posted; they blew their horns and smashed the pitchers in their hands.


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The three groups blew their horns and smashed their pitchers; with their left hands they grasped the torches, with their right hands the horns for blowing them; and they shouted, 'The sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!'


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And they stood still, spaced out round the camp. The whole camp was thrown into confusion and the Midianites fled, shouting.


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While the three hundred blew their horns, Yahweh made each man turn his sword against his comrade throughout the entire camp. They all fled as far as Beth-ha-Shittah in the direction of Zarethan, as far as the bank of Abel-Meholah opposite Tabbath.


text:
Gideon sent messengers throughout the highlands of Ephraim to say, 'Come down to meet Midian, seize the water-points ahead of them as far as Beth-Barah and the Jordan.' All the men of Ephraim mustered and seized the water-points as far as Beth-Barah and the Jordan.


text:
They captured the two Midianite chieftains, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at Oreb's Rock and Zeeb at Zeeb's Winepress. They pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.


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Now the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, 'What do you mean by treating us like this, not summoning us when you went to fight Midian?' And they reproached him bitterly.


text:
He replied, 'What have I achieved, compared with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim's grapes better than the vintage of Abiezer?


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God delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the chieftains of Midian, into your power. What was I able to do, in comparison with what you have done?' At these words, their anger with him died down.


text:
Gideon reached the Jordan and crossed it, but he and his three hundred companions were exhausted with the pursuit.


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So he said to the men of Succoth, 'Please give my followers some loaves of bread, since they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna the kings of Midian.'


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The headmen of Succoth replied, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your grasp, that we should give bread to your army?'


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'Very well,' retorted Gideon, 'when Yahweh has put Zebah and Zalmunna into my power, I shall tear your flesh off with desert-thorn and thistles.'


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From there he went up to Penuel and asked the men of Penuel the same thing; they replied as those of Succoth had done.


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And to those of Penuel he made a similar retort, 'When I return victorious, I shall destroy this tower.'


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Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all that was left of the entire army of the sons of the East. Of men bearing arms, a hundred and twenty thousand had fallen.


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Gideon approached them by the tent-dwellers' route, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army when it thought itself in safety.


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Zebah and Zalmunna fled. He pursued them; he took the two kings of Midian prisoner -- Zebah and Zalmunna -- and the whole army he routed in panic.


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He caught a young man, one of the people of Succoth, and questioned him, and the latter wrote down the names of the headmen and elders of Succoth for him -- seventy-seven men.


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Gideon son of Joash then went to the people of Succoth and said, 'Here you see Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me and said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your grasp, that we should give bread to your exhausted troops?" '


text:
He then seized the elders of the town and, taking desert-thorn and thistles, tore the men of Succoth to pieces.


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He then said to Zebah and Zalmunna, 'The men you killed at Tabor -- what were they like?' They replied, 'They looked like you. Every one of them carried himself like the son of a king.'


text:
Gideon replied, 'They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother; as Yahweh lives, if you had spared their lives I would not kill you.'


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To Jether his eldest son he said, 'Stand up and kill them!' But the boy did not draw his sword; he dared not; he was still only a lad.


text:
Zebah and Zalmunna then said, 'Stand up yourself, and strike us down; for as a man is, so is his strength.' Then Gideon stood up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents from round their camels' necks.


text:
The men of Israel said to Gideon, 'Rule over us, you, your son and your grandson, since you have rescued us from the power of Midian.'


text:
Gideon went on, however, 'Let me make you one request. Each of you give me one ring out of his booty' -- for the vanquished had had gold rings, being Ishmaelites.


text:
'We shall give them gladly,' they replied. So he spread out his cloak, and on it each of them threw a ring from his booty.


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The weight of the gold rings which he had asked for amounted to seventeen hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents and the earrings and purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars round their camels' necks.


text:
From this Gideon made an ephod and set it up in his town, in Ophrah. All Israel, following his example, prostituted themselves to it, and it was a snare for Gideon and his family.


text:
Thus Midian was humbled before the Israelites. He did not raise his head again, and the country had peace for forty years, as long as Gideon lived.


text:
Gideon son of Joash died after a happy old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of Abiezer.


text:
After Gideon's death, the people of Israel again began to prostitute themselves to the Baals, taking Baal-Berith for their god.


text:
The Israelites no longer remembered Yahweh their God, who had rescued them from all the enemies round them.


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And to the family of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- they showed no faithful gratitude for all the good which it had done for Israel.


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Abimelech son of Jerubbaal confronted his mother's brothers at Shechem and, to them and to the whole clan of his maternal grandfather's family, he said,


text:
'Please put this question to the leading men of Shechem: Which is better for you: to be ruled by seventy people -- all Jerubbaal's sons -- or to be ruled by one? Remember too that I am your own flesh and bone.'


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His mother's brothers said all this on his behalf to all the leading men of Shechem, and their feelings swayed them to follow Abimelech, since they argued, 'He is our brother.'


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So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and with this Abimelech paid violent adventurers to follow him.


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He then went to his father's house at Ophrah and put his brothers, Jerubbaal's seventy sons, to death on one and the same stone. Jotham, however, Jerubbaal's youngest son, escaped by going into hiding.


text:
All the leading men of Shechem and all Beth-Millo then met and proclaimed Abimelech king at the oak of the cultic stone at Shechem.


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News of this was brought to Jotham. He went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted at the top of his voice: Hear me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may also hear you!


text:
One day the trees went out to anoint a king to rule them. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king!'


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The olive tree replied, 'Must I forgo my oil which gives honour to gods and men, to stand and sway over the trees?'


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The fig tree replied, 'Must I forgo my sweetness, forgo my excellent fruit, to go and sway over the trees?'


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And the thorn bush replied to the trees, 'If you are anointing me in good faith to be your king, come and shelter in my shade. But, if not, fire will come out of the thorn bush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'


text:
'Now then, if you have acted in sincerity and good faith in making Abimelech king, if you have dealt honourably with Jerubbaal and his family, and have treated him as his actions deserved,


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and you today having risen up against my father's family, murdered his sons -- seventy of them on one and the same stone -- and appointed Abimelech, his slave-girl's son, to rule the leading men of Shechem, because he is your brother!-


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if, I say, you have acted in sincerity and good faith towards Jerubbaal and his family, then may Abimelech be your joy and may you be his!


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If not, may fire come out of Abimelech and devour the leading men of Shechem and Beth-Millo, and fire come out of the leading men of Shechem and Beth-Millo to devour Abimelech!'


text:
Jotham then took to his heels; he fled and made his way to Beer; and there he stayed, to be out of his brother Abimelech's reach.


text:
God then sent a spirit of discord between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem betrayed Abimelech.


text:
And this was so that the crime committed against Jerubbaal's seventy sons should be avenged, and their blood recoil on their brother Abimelech who had murdered them, and on those leaders of Shechem who had helped him to murder his brothers.


text:
The leaders of Shechem put men to ambush him on the mountain tops, and these robbed anyone travelling their way. Abimelech was told of this.


text:
Gaal son of Obed, with his brothers, happened to pass through Shechem and win the confidence of the leaders of Shechem.


text:
These went out into the countryside to harvest their vineyards; they trod the grapes and made merry and went into the temple of their god. They ate and drank there and cursed Abimelech.


text:
Gaal son of Obed said, 'Who is Abimelech, and what is Shechem, for us to be his slaves? Should not Jerubbaal's son and his lieutenant, Zebul, be serving the men of Hamor, father of Shechem? Why should we be his slaves?


text:
Who will put this people under my command, so that I can expel Abimelech? I should say to him, "Reinforce your army and come out!" '


text:
He sent messengers secretly to Abimelech to say, 'Look! Gaal son of Obed has come to Shechem with his brothers, and they are stirring up the town against you.


text:
So, move under cover of dark, you and the men you have with you, and take up concealed positions in the countryside;


text:
then in the morning at sunrise, break cover and rush on the town. When Gaal and his supporters come out to meet you, treat them as occasion offers.'


text:
So Abimelech set off under cover of dark with all his own supporters and took up concealed positions over against Shechem, in four groups.


text:
As Gaal son of Obed was coming out and pausing at the entrance of the town gate, Abimelech and his supporters rose from their ambush.


text:
Gaal saw these men and said to Zebul, 'Look, there are men coming down from the tops of the mountains!' Zebul answered, 'You mistake the shadow of the mountains for men.'


text:
But Gaal insisted, 'Look, there are men coming down from the Navel of the Earth and another group is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak.'


text:
Zebul then said, 'Where are your mouthings now about "Who is Abimelech, for us to be his slaves?" Are not these the men you made light of? Sally out, then, and fight him.'


text:
Abimelech drove Gaal off, who turned tail, many of his men falling dead before they could reach the gate.


text:
Abimelech then stayed at Aruma, and Zebul expelled Gaal and his brothers and prevented them from living in Shechem.


text:
He took his men, divided them into three groups and lay in wait in the fields. When he saw the people leaving the town, he bore down on them and slaughtered them.


text:
While Abimelech and his group rushed forward and took position at the entrance to the town gate, the two other groups fell on everyone in the fields and slaughtered them.


text:
All that day Abimelech attacked the town. He stormed it and slaughtered the people inside, razed the town and sowed it with salt.


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On hearing this, all the leading men inside Migdal-Shechem took refuge in the crypt of the temple of El-Berith.


text:
he went up Mount Zalmon with all his men. Then taking an axe in his hands, he cut off the branch of a tree, picked it up and put it on his shoulder, and said to the men with him, 'Hurry and do what you have seen me do.'


text:
Each of his men similarly cut off a branch; then, following Abimelech, they piled the branches over the crypt and set it on fire over those who were inside; so that all the people in Migdal-Shechem died too, about a thousand men and women.


text:
In the middle of the town there was a fortified tower in which all the men and women and all the leading men of the town took refuge. They locked the door behind them and climbed up to the roof of the tower.


text:
Abimelech reached the tower and attacked it. As he was approaching the door of the tower to set it on fire,


text:
He instantly called his young armour-bearer and said, 'Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me that "A woman killed him".' His armour-bearer ran him through, and he died.


text:
Thus God made to recoil on Abimelech the evil he had done his father by murdering his seventy brothers,


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and all the evil that the men of Shechem had done God made recoil on their heads too. And so the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came true for them.


text:
After Abimelech, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, rose to deliver Israel. He belonged to Issachar and lived at Shamir in the mountain country of Ephraim.


text:
He had thirty sons who rode on thirty young donkeys and who owned thirty towns, still known today as the Encampments of Jair, in the territory of Gilead.


text:
The Israelites again began doing what is evil in Yahweh's eyes. They served Baal and Astarte, and the gods of Aram and Sidon, the gods of Moab and those of the Ammonites and Philistines. They deserted Yahweh and served him no more.


text:
Yahweh's anger then grew hot against Israel and he gave them over into the power of the Philistines and the power of the Ammonites,


text:
who from that year onwards crushed and oppressed the Israelites for eighteen years -- all those Israelites living on the other side of the Jordan in Amorite territory, in Gilead.


text:
Furthermore, the Ammonites would cross the Jordan and also make war on Judah, Benjamin and the House of Ephraim, so that Israel was in distress.


text:
The Israelites then cried to Yahweh and said, 'We have sinned against you, because we have turned from Yahweh our God to serve Baals.'


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when the Sidonians, Amalek and Midian oppressed you and you cried to me, did I not rescue you from their power?


text:
The Israelites replied to Yahweh, 'We have sinned. Treat us as you see fit, but please rescue us today.'


text:
The Ammonites gathered and pitched camp in Gilead. The Israelites rallied and pitched camp at Mizpah.


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The people, the chieftains of Gilead, then said to one another, 'Who will volunteer to attack the Ammonites? He shall be chief of all who live in Gilead!'


text:
Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior. He was a prostitute's son. Gilead was Jephthah's father,


text:
but Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and the sons of this wife, when they grew up, drove Jephthah away, saying, 'No share of the paternal heritage for you, since you are a son of another woman.'


text:
Jephthah fled far from his brothers and settled in the territory of Tob. Jephthah enlisted a group of adventurers who used to go raiding with him.


text:
And when the Ammonites had attacked Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah from the territory of Tob.


text:
Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, 'Didn't you hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why come to me now, when you are in trouble?'


text:
The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, 'That is why we are turning to you now. Come with us; fight the Ammonites and be our chief, chief of all the people living in Gilead.'


text:
Jephthah then said to the elders of Gilead, 'If you bring me home to fight the Ammonites and Yahweh defeats them for me, I am to be your chief?'


text:
And the elders of Gilead then said to Jephthah, 'Yahweh be witness between us, if we do not do as you have said!'


text:
So Jephthah set off with the elders of Gilead. The people put him at their head as chief and commander; and Jephthah repeated all his conditions at Mizpah in Yahweh's presence.


text:
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to say to him, 'What do you have against us, for you to come and make war on my country?'


text:
The king of the Ammonites replied to Jephthah's messengers, 'The reason is that when Israel came up from Egypt, they seized my country from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; so now restore it to me peacefully.'


text:
with this answer, 'Jephthah says this, "Israel seized neither the country of Moab nor the country of the Ammonites.


text:
When Israel came out of Egypt, they marched through the desert as far as the Sea of Reeds and, having reached Kadesh,


text:
Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom to say: Please let me pass through your country, but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent similarly to the king of Moab, but he refused, and Israel remained at Kadesh;


text:
later, moving on through the desert and skirting the countries of Edom and Moab until arriving to the east of Moabite territory, the people camped on the other side of the Arnon but did not enter Moabite territory, the Arnon being the Moabite frontier.


text:
Israel then sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, ruling in Heshbon. Israel's message was: Please let me pass through your country to my destination.


text:
But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory; he mustered his whole army; they encamped at Jahaz, and he then joined battle with Israel.


text:
Yahweh, God of Israel, delivered Sihon and his whole army into the power of Israel, who defeated them; as the result of which, Israel took possession of the entire territory of the Amorites living in that region.


text:
Israel took possession of all the Amorite territory from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.


text:
And now that Yahweh, God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites before his people Israel, do you think you can dispossess us?


text:
Will you not keep as your possession whatever Chemosh, your god, has given you? And, just the same, we shall keep as ours whatever Yahweh our God has given us, to inherit from those who were before us!


text:
Are you a better man than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he pick a quarrel with Israel? Did he make war on them?


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When Israel settled in Heshbon and its dependencies, and in Aroer and its dependencies, or in any of the towns on the banks of the Arnon (three hundred years ago), why did you not recover them then?


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I for my part have done you no harm, but you are wronging me by making war on me. Let Yahweh the Judge give judgement today between the Israelites and the king of the Ammonites." '


text:
The spirit of Yahweh was on Jephthah, who crossed Gilead and Manasseh, crossed by way of Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead crossed into Ammonite territory.


text:
the first thing to come out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from fighting the Ammonites shall belong to Yahweh, and I shall sacrifice it as a burnt offering.'


text:
He beat them from Aroer to the border of Minnith (twenty towns) and to Abel-Keramim. It was a very severe defeat, and the Ammonites were humbled by the Israelites.


text:
As Jephthah returned to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, dancing to the sound of tambourines. She was his only child; apart from her, he had neither son nor daughter.


text:
When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed, 'Oh my daughter, what misery you have brought upon me! You have joined those who bring misery into my life! I have made a promise before Yahweh which I cannot retract.'


text:
She replied, 'Father, you have made a promise to Yahweh; treat me as the promise that you have made requires, since Yahweh has granted you vengeance on your enemies the Ammonites.'


text:
She then said to her father, 'Grant me this! Let me be free for two months. I shall go and wander in the mountains, and with my companions bewail my virginity.'


text:
He replied, 'Go,' and let her go away for two months. So she went away with her companions and bewailed her virginity in the mountains.


text:
When the two months were over she went back to her father, and he treated her as the vow that he had uttered bound him. She had remained a virgin. And hence, the custom in Israel


text:
for the daughters of Israel to leave home year by year and lament over the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days every year.


text:
The men of Ephraim mobilised; they crossed the Jordan near Zaphon and said to Jephthah, 'Why did you go and make war on the Ammonites without asking us to go with you? We shall burn down your house over your head!'


text:
Jephthah replied, 'My people and I were in serious conflict with the Ammonites. I summoned you, but you did not come to rescue me from them.


text:
When I saw that no one was coming to rescue me, I took my life in my hands and marched against the Ammonites, and Yahweh handed them over to me. So why advance on me today to make war on me?'


text:
Jephthah then mustered all the men of Gilead and made war on Ephraim, and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim -- since the latter used to say, 'You are only fugitives from Ephraim, you Gileadites in the heart of Ephraim and Manasseh.'


text:
Gilead then cut Ephraim off from the fords of the Jordan, and whenever Ephraimite fugitives said, 'Let me cross,' the men of Gilead would ask, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' If he said, 'No,'


text:
they then said, 'Very well, say Shibboleth.' If anyone said, "Sibboleth", because he could not pronounce it, then they would seize him and kill him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell on this occasion.


text:
Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Jephthah the Gileadite then died and was buried in his town, in Gilead.


text:
He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters in marriage outside his clan and brought in thirty brides from outside for his sons. He was judge in Israel for seven years.


text:
He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode seventy young donkeys. He was judge in Israel for eight years.


text:
Abdon son of Hillel of Pirathon then died and was buried at Pirathon in the territory of Ephraim, in the Amalekite highlands.


text:
Again the Israelites began doing what is evil in Yahweh's eyes, and Yahweh delivered them into the power of the Philistines for forty years.


text:
There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren; she had borne no children.


text:
The Angel of Yahweh appeared to this woman and said to her, 'You are barren and have had no child, but you are going to conceive and give birth to a son.


text:
For you are going to conceive and give birth to a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb; and he will start rescuing Israel from the power of the Philistines.'


text:
The woman then went and told her husband, 'A man of God has just come to me, who looked like the Angel of God, so majestic was he. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.


text:
But he said to me, "You are going to conceive and will give birth to a son. From now on, drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb to his dying day." '


text:
Manoah then pleaded with Yahweh and said, 'I beg you, Lord, let the man of God that you sent come to us again and instruct us what to do about the child when he is born.'


text:
Yahweh heard Manoah's prayer, and the Angel of Yahweh visited the woman again while she was sitting in a field and when her husband Manoah was not with her.


text:
The woman quickly ran and told her husband, 'Look,' she said, 'the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again.'


text:
Manoah got up, followed his wife, came to the man and said to him, 'Are you the man who spoke to this woman?' He replied, 'I am.'


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Let her swallow nothing that comes from the vine, let her drink no wine or fermented liquor, let her eat nothing unclean and let her obey all the orders that I have given her.'


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Manoah then said to the Angel of Yahweh, 'Allow us to detain you while we prepare a kid for you' -- for Manoah did not know that this was the Angel of Yahweh.


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The Angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, 'Even if you did detain me, I should not eat your food; but if you wish to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to Yahweh.'


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Manoah then said to the Angel of Yahweh, 'What is your name, so that we may honour you when your words come true?'


text:
Manoah then took the kid and the oblation and offered it on the rock as a burnt offering to Yahweh the Wonderworker. Manoah and his wife looked on.


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Now, as the flame rose heavenwards from the altar, the Angel of Yahweh ascended in this flame before the eyes of Manoah and his wife, and they fell face downwards on the ground.


text:
After this, the Angel of Yahweh did not appear any more to Manoah and his wife, but Manoah understood that this had been the Angel of Yahweh.


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His wife replied, 'If Yahweh had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and oblation from us, he would not have let us see all this and, at the same time, have told us such things.'


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He went home again and told his father and mother this. 'At Timnah', he said, 'I noticed a woman, a Philistine girl. So now get her for me, to be my wife.'


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His father and mother said to him, 'Is there no woman among your brothers' daughters or in our entire nation, for you to go and take a wife among these uncircumcised Philistines?' But Samson said to his father, 'Get that one for me; she is the one I am fond of.'


text:
His father and mother did not know that all this came from Yahweh, who was seeking grounds for a quarrel with the Philistines, since at this time the Philistines dominated Israel.


text:
Samson went down to Timnah and, as he reached the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a young lion coming roaring towards him.


text:
The spirit of Yahweh seized on him and he tore the lion to pieces with his bare hands as though it were a kid; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.


text:
Not long after this, Samson went back to marry her. He went out of his way to look at the carcase of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the lion's body, and honey.


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He took up some honey in his hand and ate it as he went along. On returning to his father and mother, he gave some to them, which they ate too, but he did not tell them that he had taken it from the lion's carcase.


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His father then went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there, as is the custom for young men.


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Samson then said to them, 'Let me ask you a riddle. If you can give me the answer during the seven days of feasting, I shall give you thirty pieces of fine linen and thirty festal robes.


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But if you cannot tell me the answer, then you in your turn must give me thirty pieces of fine linen and thirty festal robes.' 'Ask your riddle,' they replied, 'we are listening.'


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So he said to them: Out of the eater came what is eaten, and out of the strong came what is sweet. But three days went by and they could not solve the riddle.


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On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, 'Cajole your husband into explaining the riddle to us, or we shall burn you and your father's family to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?'


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Samson's wife then went to him in tears and said, 'You only hate me, you do not love me. You have asked my fellow countrymen a riddle and told not even me the answer.' He said to her, 'I have not told even my father or mother; why should I tell you?'


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She wept on his neck for the seven days that their feasting lasted. She was so persistent that on the seventh day he told her the answer, and she told her fellow-countrymen.


text:
So on the seventh day, before he went into the bedroom, the men of the town said to him: What is sweeter than honey, and what stronger than a lion? He retorted: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you would never have solved my riddle.


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Then the spirit of Yahweh seized on him. He went down to Ashkelon, killed thirty men there, took what they wore and gave the festal robes to those who had answered the riddle, then burning with rage returned to his father's house.


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Not long after this, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife, with a kid; he said, 'I wish to go to my wife in her room.' But her father would not let him enter.


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'I felt sure', he said, 'that you had taken a real dislike to her, so I gave her to your companion. But would not her younger sister suit you better? Have her instead.'


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But Samson answered them, 'I can get my revenge on the Philistines now only by doing them some damage.'


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So Samson went off and caught three hundred foxes, then took torches and, turning the foxes tail to tail, put a torch between each pair of tails.


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He lit the torches and set the foxes free in the Philistines' cornfields. In this way he burned both sheaves and standing corn, and the vines and olive trees as well.


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The Philistines asked, 'Who has done this?' and received the answer, 'Samson, who married the Timnite's daughter; his father-in-law took the wife back again and gave her to his companion instead.' The Philistines then went and burned the woman and her father's family to death.


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Samson said to them, 'If that is how you behave, I swear I will not rest till I have had my revenge on you.'


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And he fell on them systematically and caused great havoc. Then he went down to the cave in the Rock of Etham and lived there.


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The men of Judah said to them, 'Why are you attacking us?' They replied, 'We have come to seize Samson and to treat him as he has treated us.'


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Three thousand men of Judah then went down to the cave of the Rock of Etham and said to him, 'Don't you know that the Philistines have us in their power? Now what have you done to us?' He replied, 'I have treated them only as they treated me.'


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They then said, 'We have come down to take you, to hand you over to the Philistines.' He said, 'Swear to me not to kill me yourselves.'


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They replied, 'No; we only want to bind you and hand you over to them; we certainly do not want to kill you.' They then bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the Rock.


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As he was approaching Lehi, and the Philistines came running towards him with triumphant shouts, the spirit of Yahweh was on him; the ropes on his arms became like burnt strands of flax and the cords round his hands came untied.


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Coming across the fresh jawbone of a donkey, he reached out and snatched it up; and with it he slaughtered a thousand men.


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And Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have laid them in heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have felled a thousand men.


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And as he was very thirsty, he called on Yahweh and said, 'You yourself have worked this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?'


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Then God opened a hollow in the ground, the hollow there is at Lehi, and water gushed out of it. Samson drank; his vigour returned and he revived. And therefore this spring was called En-ha-Kore; it is still at Lehi today.


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The men of Gaza being told, 'Samson has arrived,' surrounded the place and kept watch for him the whole night at the town gate. All that night they were going to make no move, thinking, 'Let us wait until daybreak, and then kill him.'


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Till midnight, however, Samson stayed in bed, and then at midnight he got up, seized the doors of the town gate and the two posts as well; he tore them up, bar and all, hoisted them on to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill overlooking Hebron.


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The Philistine chiefs visited her and said, 'Cajole him and find out where his great strength comes from, and how we can master him, so that we can bind him and subdue him. In return we shall each give you eleven hundred silver shekels.'


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Delilah said to Samson, 'Please tell me where your great strength comes from, and what would be needed to bind and subdue you.'


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Samson replied, 'If I were bound with seven new bowstrings which had not yet been dried, I should lose my strength and become like any other man.'


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The Philistine chiefs brought Delilah seven new bowstrings which had not yet been dried and she took them and bound him with them.


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She had men concealed in her room, and she shouted, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' Then he snapped the bowstrings as a strand of tow snaps at a touch of the fire. So the secret of his strength remained unknown.


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Delilah then said to Samson, 'You have been laughing at me and telling me lies. But now please tell me what would be needed to bind you.'


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He replied, 'If I were bound tightly with new ropes which have never been used, I should lose my strength and become like any other man.'


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Delilah then took new ropes and bound him with them, and she shouted, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' She had men concealed in her room, but he snapped the ropes round his arms like thread.


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Delilah then said to Samson, 'Up to now you have been laughing at me and telling me lies. Tell me what would be needed to bind you.' He replied, 'If you wove the seven locks of my hair into the warp of a cloth and beat them together tight with the reed, I should lose my strength and become like any other man.'


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She lulled him to sleep, then wove the seven locks of his hair into the warp, beat them together tight with the reed and shouted, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' He woke from his sleep and pulled out both reed and warp. So the secret of his strength remained unknown.


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Delilah said to him, 'How can you say that you love me, when your heart is not with me? Three times now you have laughed at me and have not told me where your great strength comes from.'


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At last he confided everything to her; he said to her, 'A razor has never touched my head, because I have been God's nazirite from my mother's womb. If my head were shorn, then my power would leave me and I should lose my strength and become like any other man.'


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Delilah then realized that he had really confided in her; she sent for the Philistine princes with the message, 'Come just once more: he has confided everything to me.' And the Philistine chiefs came to her with the money in their hands.


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She lulled Samson to sleep in her lap, summoned a man and had him shear off the seven locks from his head. Thus for the first time she got control over him, and his strength left him.


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She cried, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' He awoke from sleep, thinking, 'I shall break free as I have done time after time and shake myself clear.' But he did not know that Yahweh had left him.


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The Philistines seized him, put out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. They fettered him with a double chain of bronze and he spent his time turning the mill in the prison.


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The Philistine chiefs assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god. And amid their festivities they said: Into our hands our god has delivered Samson our enemy.


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And as soon as the people saw their god, they acclaimed him, shouting his praises: Into our hands our god has delivered Samson our enemy, the man who laid our country waste and killed so many of us.


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And as their hearts were full of joy, they shouted, 'Summon Samson out to amuse us.' So Samson was summoned from prison, and he performed feats in front of them; then he was put to stand between the pillars.


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Samson then said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, 'Lead me where I can touch the pillars supporting the building, so that I can lean against them.'


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Now the building was crowded with men and women. All the Philistine chiefs were there, while about three thousand men and women were watching Samson's feats from the terrace.


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Samson called on Yahweh and cried out, 'Lord Yahweh, I beg you, remember me; give me strength again this once, O God, and let me be revenged on the Philistines at one blow for my two eyes.'


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And Samson took hold of the two central pillars supporting the building, and braced himself with his right arm round one and his left round the other;


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and he shouted, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' He then heaved with all his might, and the building fell on the chiefs and on all the people there. Those whom he brought to their death by his death outnumbered those whom he had done to death during his life.


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His brothers and the whole of his father's family came down and carried him away. They took him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel for twenty years.


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He said to his mother, 'The eleven hundred silver shekels which were taken from you and concerning which you uttered a curse, having said in my hearing . . . Look, I have got that silver. I was the one who took it.' His mother said, 'May Yahweh bless my boy!'


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He gave the eleven hundred shekels back to his mother, who said, 'I have indeed vowed to give this silver to Yahweh for my son, to have a statue carved and an idol cast in metal, but now I should like to give it back to you.' He, however, returned the money to his mother.


text:
His mother then took two hundred silver shekels and gave them to the metalworker. With them, he carved a statue (and cast an idol in metal) which was put in Micayehu's house.


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This man Micah owned a shrine; he made an ephod and some domestic images, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.


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There was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah, who was a Levite and resided there as a stranger.


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This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to settle wherever he could find a home. On his travels he came to the highlands of Ephraim and to Micah's house.


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Micah asked him, 'Where do you come from?' The other replied, 'I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am travelling, and am going to settle wherever I can find a home.'


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Micah said to him, 'Stay here with me; be my father and priest and I shall give you ten silver shekels a year, and clothing and food.'


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The Levite agreed to remain in the man's house, and the young man became like one of his sons to him.


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In those days there was no king in Israel. Now in those days the tribe of Dan was in search of a territory to live in, for until then no territory had fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.


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From their clan the Danites sent five brave men from Zorah and Eshtaol to reconnoitre the country and explore it. They said to them, 'Go and explore the country.' The five men came to the highlands of Ephraim, as far as Micah's house, and spent the night there.


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When they were near Micah's house, they recognised the voice of the young Levite and, going nearer, said to him, 'Who brought you here? What are you doing here? What is keeping you here?'


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He replied, 'Micah has made certain arrangements with me. He pays me a wage and I act as his priest.'


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They replied, 'Then consult God, so that we may know whether the journey we are on will lead to success.'


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The five men then left and, arriving at Laish, saw that the people living there had an untroubled existence, according to the customs of the Sidonians, peaceful and trusting, that there was no lack or shortage of any sort in the territory, that they were a long way away from the Sidonians and that they had no contact with the Aramaeans.


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They then went back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol and, when the latter asked them, 'What have you to report?'


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they said, 'Up! we must go against them, since we have looked at the country and it is excellent, though you take no action! Waste no time in setting out and taking possession of the country.


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When you get there, you will find a trusting people. The country is wide, and God has put it at your mercy. It is a place where there is no lack of anything on earth.'


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From these places, consequently, from the clan of Danites at Zorah and Eshtaol, six hundred men set out equipped for war.


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They went up and camped at Kiriath-Jearim in Judah; and for this reason the place is still called the Camp of Dan today. It lies to the west of Kiriath-Jearim.


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The five men who had been to reconnoitre the country then spoke to their brothers. 'Do you know', they said, 'that in these houses there is an ephod, some domestic images, a carved statue and an idol cast in metal? So now work out what you have got to do!'


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So, turning off the road, they went to the young Levite's dwelling, to Micah's house, and greeted him peacefully.


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the five who had been to reconnoitre the country went on into the house and took the carved statue, the ephod, the domestic images and the idol cast in metal; meanwhile the priest remained at the threshold of the gate with the six hundred men equipped for war.


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These men, having entered Micah's house, took the carved statue, the ephod, the domestic images and the idol cast in metal. The priest, however, said, 'What are you doing?'


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'Be quiet,' they replied. 'Put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and become our father and priest. Are you better off as domestic priest to one man, or as priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?'


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The priest was delighted; he took the ephod, the domestic images and the carved statue, and went off among the people.


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Resuming their original line of march, they set off, having put the women, children, livestock and baggage out in front.


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They had gone some distance from Micah's house, when the people living in the houses near Micah's house raised the alarm and set off in pursuit of the Danites.


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As they shouted after the Danites, the latter, turning about, said to Micah, 'What is the matter with you, that you are shouting like this?'


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He replied, 'You have taken away my god, which I have had made, and the priest as well. You are going away, and what have I got left? And now you ask me, "What is the matter?" '


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The Danites said, 'Let us hear no more from you, or quick-tempered men may set about you, and this might cost you your life and the lives of your family!'


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So the Danites went on their way; and Micah, seeing that they were the stronger, turned and went home.


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So, having taken the god made by Micah, and the priest who had been his, the Danites marched on Laish, on a peaceful and trusting people. They put it to the sword and they burned down the town.


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There was no one to come to the rescue, since it was a long way from Sidon and had no contact with the Aramaeans. It lay in the valley running towards Beth-Rehob. They rebuilt the town and settled in it


text:
and called it Dan, from the name of Dan their ancestor who had been born to Israel; originally, however, the town had been called Laish.


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The Danites erected the carved statue for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons after him were priests for the tribe of Dan till the day when the inhabitants of the country were carried away into exile.


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The carved statue made by Micah they installed for their own use, and there it stayed as long as the house of God remained at Shiloh.


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In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a man, a Levite, whose home was deep in the highlands of Ephraim. He took as concubine a woman from Bethlehem in Judah.


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In a fit of anger his concubine left him and went back to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and she stayed there for some time -- four months.


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Her husband then set out after her, to appeal to her affections and fetch her back; he had his servant and two donkeys with him. As he was arriving at the house of the girl's father, the father saw him and came happily to meet him.


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His father-in-law, the girl's father, kept him there; and he stayed with him for three days; they ate and drank and spent the nights there.


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On the fourth day they got up early, and the Levite was preparing to leave when the girl's father said to his son-in-law, 'Have something to eat to gather strength; you can leave later.'


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So they sat down and began eating and drinking, the two of them together; then the girl's father said to the young man, 'Please agree to spend tonight here too and enjoy yourself.'


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And when the man got up to leave, the father-in-law pressed him again, and he spent another night there.


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On the fifth day, the Levite got up early to leave, but the girl's father said to him, 'Please gather strength first!' So they stayed on until the sun began to go down, and the two men had a meal together.


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The husband was getting up to leave with his concubine and his servant when his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, 'Look, day is fading into evening. Please spend the night here. Look, the day is nearly over. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Then, early tomorrow, you can leave on your journey and go back home.'


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But the man, refusing to stay the night, got up and went on his way, until he arrived within sight of Jebus -- that is, Jerusalem. He had with him two donkeys saddled, his concubine and his servant.


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By the time they were near Jebus, the light was going fast. The servant said to his master, 'Come on, please, let us turn off into this Jebusite town and spend the night there.'


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His master replied, 'We shall not turn off into a town of foreigners, of people who are not Israelites; we shall go on to Gibeah.'


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He then said to his servant, 'Come on, we shall try to reach one or other of those places, either Gibeah or Ramah, and spend the night there.'


text:
So they kept going and went on with their journey. As they approached Gibeah in Benjamin, the sun was setting.


text:
So they turned that way to spend the night in Gibeah. Once inside, the Levite sat down in the town square, but no one offered to take them in for the night.


text:
Eventually, an old man came along at nightfall from his work in the fields. He too was from the highlands of Ephraim, although he was living in Gibeah; the people of the place, however, were Benjaminites.


text:
Looking up, he saw the traveller in the town square. 'Where are you going?' said the old man, 'And where have you come from?'


text:
'We are on our way', the other replied, 'from Bethlehem in Judah to a place deep in the highlands of Ephraim. That is where I come from. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going home, but no one has offered to take me into his house,


text:
although we have straw and provender for our donkeys, and I also have bread and wine for myself, and this maidservant and the young man who is travelling with your servant; we are short of nothing.'


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'Welcome,' said the old man. 'I shall see that you have all you want. You cannot spend the night in the square.'


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So he took him into his house and gave the donkeys provender. The travellers washed their feet, then ate and drank.


text:
While they were enjoying themselves, some townsmen, scoundrels, came crowding round the house; they battered on the door and said to the old man, master of the house, 'Send out the man who went into your house, we should like to have intercourse with him!'


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The master of the house went out to them and said, 'No, brothers, please, do not be so wicked. Since this man is now under my roof, do not commit such an infamy.


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Here is my daughter; she is a virgin; I shall bring her out to you. Ill-treat her, do what you please with her, but do not commit such an infamy against this man.'


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But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them. They had intercourse with her and ill-treated her all night till morning; when dawn was breaking they let her go.


text:
At daybreak the girl came and fell on the threshold of her husband's host, and she stayed there until it was light.


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In the morning her husband got up and, opening the door of the house, was going out to continue his journey when he saw the woman, his concubine, lying at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.


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'Get up,' he said, 'we must leave!' There was no answer. He then loaded her on his donkey and began the journey home.


text:
Having reached his house, he took his knife, took hold of his concubine and cut her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces; he then sent her throughout the territory of Israel.


text:
He gave instructions to his messengers, 'This is what you are to say to all the Israelites, "Has anything like this been done since the day when the Israelites came out of Egypt until today? Take this to heart, discuss it; then give your verdict." ' And all who saw it declared, 'Never has such a thing been done or been seen since the Israelites came out of Egypt until today.'


text:
The Israelites then all turned out and, as one man, the entire community from Dan to Beersheba, including Gilead, assembled in Yahweh's presence at Mizpah.


text:
The leaders of the entire people, of all the tribes of Israel, were present at this assembly of God's people, four hundred thousand trained infantry.


text:
The Benjaminites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites then said, 'Tell us how this crime was committed.'


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'The men of Gibeah ganged up against me and, during the night, surrounded the house where I was lodging. They intended to murder me. They raped my concubine to death.


text:
I then took my concubine, cut her up and sent her throughout the entire territory of the heritage of Israel, since these men had committed a shameful act, an infamy, in Israel.


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The whole people stood up as one man and said, 'None of us will go home, none of us will go back to his house!


text:
and, throughout the tribes of Israel, select ten men out of a hundred, a hundred out of a thousand and a thousand out of ten thousand to collect food for the people, so that, on their arrival, the latter may treat Gibeah in Benjamin as this infamy perpetrated in Israel deserves.'


text:
The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin to say, 'What is this crime which has been committed in your territory?


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Now, give up these men, these scoundrels, living in Gibeah, so that we can put them to death and wipe out this evil from Israel.' The Benjaminites, however, would not listen to their brother Israelites.


text:
At the time, a count was made of the Benjaminites from the various towns: there were twenty-six thousand swordsmen; and the count excluded the inhabitants of Gibeah.


text:
In this great army there were seven hundred first-rate left-handers, every man of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss it.


text:
A count was also held of the men of Israel, excluding Benjamin: there were four hundred thousand men, all experienced swordsmen.


text:
They moved off, up to Bethel, to consult God. The Israelites put the question, 'Which of us is to go first into battle against the Benjaminites?' And Yahweh replied, 'Judah is to go first.'


text:
The men of Israel advanced to do battle with Benjamin; they drew up their battle line in front of Gibeah.


text:
The army of the men of Israel then took fresh heart and again drew up their battle line in the same place as the day before.


text:
The Israelites went and wept before Yahweh until evening; they then consulted Yahweh; they asked, 'Shall we join battle again with the sons of our brother Benjamin?' Yahweh replied, 'March against him!'


text:
and, this second day, Benjamin sallied out from Gibeah to meet them and massacred another eighteen thousand Israelites, all experienced swordsmen.


text:
Then all the Israelites and the whole people went off to Bethel; they wept and sat in Yahweh's presence; they fasted all day till the evening and presented burnt offerings and communion sacrifices before Yahweh.


text:
and Phinehas son of Eleazer, son of Aaron was its minister at the time. They said, 'Ought I to go into battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin again, or should I stop?' Yahweh replied, 'March! For tomorrow I shall deliver him into your hands.'


text:
On the third day the Israelites marched against the Benjaminites and, as before, drew up their line in front of Gibeah.


text:
The Benjaminites sallied out to engage the people and let themselves be drawn away from the town. As before, they began by killing those of the people who were on the roads, one of which runs up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah through open country: some thirty men of Israel.


text:
The Benjaminites thought, 'We have beaten them, as we did the first time,' but the Israelites had decided, 'We shall run away and draw them away from the town along the roads.'


text:
All the Israelites then retreated and reformed at Baal-Tamar, while the Israelite troops in ambush surged from their positions to the west of Gibeah.


text:
Ten thousand picked men, chosen from the whole of Israel, launched their attack on Gibeah. The battle was fierce; and the others knew nothing of the disaster impending.


text:
Yahweh defeated Benjamin before Israel and that day the Israelites killed twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them trained swordsmen.


text:
The Benjaminites saw that they were beaten. The Israelites had given ground to Benjamin, since they were relying on the ambush which they had positioned close to Gibeah.


text:
The troops in ambush threw themselves against Gibeah at top speed; fanning out, they put the whole town to the sword.


text:
Now it had been agreed between the Israelites and those of the ambush that the latter should raise a smoke signal from the town,


text:
whereupon the Israelites in the thick of the battle would turn about. Benjamin began by killing some of the Israelites, about thirty men, and thought, 'We have certainly beaten them, as we did in the first battle.'


text:
But the signal, a column of smoke, began to rise from the town, and the Benjaminites looking back saw the whole town going up in flames to the sky.


text:
The Israelites then turned about, and the Benjaminites were seized with terror, for they saw that disaster had struck them.


text:
They broke before the Israelite onslaught and made for the desert, but the fighters pressed them hard, while the others coming out of the town took and slaughtered them from the rear.


text:
They hemmed in the Benjaminites, pursued them relentlessly, crushing them opposite Gibeah on the east.


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They then turned tail and fled into the desert, towards the Rock of Rimmon. Five thousand of them were picked off on the roads, and the rest were relentlessly pursued as far as Gideon, two thousand of them being killed.


text:
The total number of Benjaminites who fell that day was twenty-five thousand swordsmen, all of them brave men.


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Six hundred men, however, turned tail and escaped into the desert, to the Rock of Rimmon, and there they stayed for four months.


text:
The men of Israel then went back to the Benjaminites, and put them to the sword-people, livestock and everything else that came their way in the town. And they fired all the towns involved.


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The men of Israel had sworn this oath at Mizpah, 'None of us is to give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.'


text:
The people went to Bethel and stayed there until evening, sitting before God and raising their voices, made a great lament,


text:
and exclaiming, 'Yahweh, God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel that a tribe should be missing from Israel today?


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The next day the people got up early and built an altar there; they presented burnt offerings and communion sacrifices.


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The Israelites then said, 'Out of all the tribes of Israel, who has not come to Yahweh, to the assembly?' -- for they had sworn a solemn oath that anyone who did not come to Yahweh at Mizpah would certainly die.


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Now the Israelites felt sorry about Benjamin their brother. 'Today', they said, 'a tribe has been amputated from Israel.


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What shall we do to provide wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by Yahweh not to give them any of our own daughters in marriage?'


text:
They then asked, 'Out of the tribes of Israel, who is it that has not come to Yahweh at Mizpah?' It was discovered that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly;


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for, a muster having been called of the people, none of the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead was present.


text:
The community then despatched twelve thousand of their bravest men there, with these orders: 'Go and slaughter all the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead, including the women and children.


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This is what you are to do. All males and all those women who have ever slept with a man, you will put under the curse of destruction, but the lives of the virgins you will spare.' And this they did.


text:
Among the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man, and brought them to the camp (to Shiloh in the territory of Canaan).


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The whole community then sent messengers to offer peace to the Benjaminites who were at the Rock of Rimmon.


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Benjamin then came home: they were given those of the women of Jabesh in Gilead whose lives had been spared, but there were not enough for all.


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And the elders of the community said, 'What shall we do to provide wives for the survivors, since the women of Benjamin have been wiped out?'


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They went on, 'How can we preserve a remnant for Benjamin so that a tribe may not be lost to Israel?


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We cannot give them our own daughters in marriage' -- for the Israelites had taken an oath, 'Accursed be the man who gives a wife to Benjamin!'


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'However,' they said, 'there is the feast of Yahweh, held every year at Shiloh.' (The town lies north of Bethel, east of the highway that runs from Bethel up to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.)


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Keep watch: when the girls of Shiloh come out in groups to dance, you then come out of the vineyards, each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and make for Benjaminite territory.


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If their fathers or brothers come and complain to us, we shall say, "Let us have them, since we could not take wives for everyone in the battle; and you could not give them to them, or you would then have been guilty." '


text:
The Benjaminites did this and, from the dancers whom they caught, took as many wives as there were men and then, setting off, went back to their heritage, rebuilt the towns and settled down in them.


text:
The Israelites then dispersed, each man to rejoin his tribe and clan, each leaving that place for his own heritage.


text:
In the days when the Judges were governing, a famine occurred in the country and a certain man from Bethlehem of Judah went-he, his wife and his two sons -- to live in the Plains of Moab.


