# verses

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 at the jubilee, however, the field shall revert to the hereditary owner of this land from whom it had been purchased.


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 "Every valuation shall be made according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel. There are twenty gerahs to the shekel.


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 "Note that a first-born animal, which as such already belongs to the LORD, may not be dedicated by vow to him. If it is an ox or a sheep, it shall be ceded to the LORD;


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 but if it is an unclean animal, it may be redeemed by paying one fifth more than its fixed value. If it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at its fixed value.


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 "Note, also, that any one of his possessions which a man vows as doomed to the LORD, whether it is a human being or an animal or a hereditary field, shall be neither sold nor ransomed; everything that is thus doomed becomes most sacred to the LORD.


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 "All tithes of the land, whether in grain from the fields or in fruit from the trees, belong to the LORD, as sacred to him.


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 The tithes of the herd and the flock shall be determined by ceding to the LORD as sacred every tenth animal as they are counted by the herdsman's rod.


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 It shall not matter whether good ones or bad ones are thus chosen, and no exchange may be made. If any exchange is attempted, both the original animal and its substitute shall be treated as sacred, without the right of being bought back."


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 In the year following that of the Israelites' departure from the land of Egypt, on the first day of the second month, the LORD said to Moses in the meeting tent in the desert of Sinai:


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 "Take a census of the whole community of the Israelites, by clans and ancestral houses, registering each male individually.


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 You and Aaron shall enroll in companies all the men in Israel of twenty years or more who are fit for military service.


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 from Ephraim: Elishama, son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh: Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur, for the descendants of Joseph;


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 These were councilors of the community, princes of their ancestral tribes, chiefs of the troops of Israel.


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 and assembled the whole community on the first day of the second month. Every man of twenty years or more then declared his name and lineage according to clan and ancestral house,


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 Of the descendants of Reuben, the first-born of Israel, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Simeon, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Gad, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Judah, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Issachar, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Zebulun, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Joseph-- Of the descendants of Ephraim, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Manasseh, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Benjamin, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Dan, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Asher, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 Of the descendants of Naphtali, registered by lineage in clans and ancestral houses: when all the males of twenty years or more who were fit for military service were polled,


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 It was these who were registered, each according to his ancestral house, in the census taken by Moses and Aaron and the twelve princes of Israel.


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 The total number of the Israelites of twenty years or more who were fit for military service, registered by ancestral houses,


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 "The tribe of Levi alone you shall not enroll nor include in the census along with the other Israelites.


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 You are to give the Levites charge of the Dwelling of the commandments with all its equipment and all that belongs to it. It is they who shall carry the Dwelling with all its equipment and who shall be its ministers. They shall therefore camp around the Dwelling.


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 When the Dwelling is to move on, the Levites shall take it down; when the Dwelling is to be pitched, it is the Levites who shall set it up. Any layman who comes near it shall be put to death.


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 the Levites shall camp around the Dwelling of the commandments. Otherwise God's wrath will strike the Israelite community. The Levites, then, shall have charge of the Dwelling of the commandments."


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 "The Israelites shall camp, each in his own division, under the ensigns of their ancestral houses. They shall camp around the meeting tent, but at some distance from it.


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 "Encamped on the east side, toward the sunrise, shall be the divisional camp of Judah, arranged in companies. (The prince of the Judahites was Nahshon, son of Amminadab,


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 The total number of those registered by companies in the camp of Judah was one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred.) These shall be first on the march.


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 "On the south side shall be the divisional camp of Reuben, arranged in companies. (Their prince was Elizur, son of Shedeur,


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 The total number of those registered by companies in the camp of Reuben was one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty.) These shall be second on the march.


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 "Then the meeting tent and the camp of the Levites shall set out in the middle of the line. As in camp, so also on the march, every man shall be in his proper place, with his own division.


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 "On the west side shall be the divisional camp of Ephraim, arranged in companies. (Their prince was Elishama, son of Ammihud,


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 The total number of those registered by companies in the camp of Ephraim was one hundred and eight thousand one hundred.) These shall be third on the march.


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 "On the north side shall be the divisional camp of Dan, arranged in companies. (Their prince was Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai,


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 The total number of those registered by companies in the camp of Dan was one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred.) These shall be the last of the divisions on the march."


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 This was the census of the Israelites taken by ancestral houses. The total number of those registered by companies in the camps was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.


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 The Levites, however, were not registered with the other Israelites, for so the LORD had commanded Moses.


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 The Israelites did just as the LORD had commanded Moses; both in camp and on the march they were in their own divisions, every man according to his clan and his ancestral house.


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 The following were the descendants of Aaron and Moses at the time that the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.


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 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests who were ordained to exercise the priesthood.


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 But when Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire before the LORD in the desert of Sinai, they met death in the presence of the LORD, and left no sons. Thereafter only Eleazar and Ithamar performed the priestly functions under the direction of their father Aaron.


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 They shall discharge his obligations and those of the whole community before the meeting tent by serving at the Dwelling.


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 They shall have custody of all the furnishings of the meeting tent and discharge the duties of the Israelites in the service of the Dwelling.


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 You shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been set aside from among the Israelites as dedicated to me.


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 But only Aaron and his descendants shall you appoint to have charge of the priestly functions. Any layman who comes near shall be put to death."


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 "It is I who have chosen the Levites from the Israelites in place of every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites. The Levites, therefore, are mine,


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 because every first-born is mine. When I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I made all the first-born in Israel sacred to me, both of man and of beast. They belong to me; I am the LORD."


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 "Take a census of the Levites by ancestral houses and clans, registering every male of a month or more."


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 The descendants of Merari, by clans, were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites by ancestral houses.


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 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites.


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 When all their males of a month or more were registered, they numbered seven thousand five hundred.


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 At the meeting tent they had charge of whatever pertained to the Dwelling, the tent and its covering, the curtain at the entrance of the meeting tent,


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 the hangings of the court, the curtain at the entrance of the court enclosing both the Dwelling and the altar, and the ropes.


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 To Kohath belonged the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.


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 When all their males of a month or more were registered, they numbered eight thousand three hundred. They had charge of the sanctuary.


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 They had charge of whatever pertained to the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils with which the ministry of the sanctuary was exercised, and the veil.


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 The chief prince of the Levites, however, was Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest; he was supervisor over those who had charge of the sanctuary.


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 The prince of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel, son of Abihail. They camped at the north side of the Dwelling.


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 The Merarites were charged with the care of whatever pertained to the boards of the Dwelling, its bars, columns, pedestals, and all its fittings,


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 East of the Dwelling, that is, in front of the meeting tent, toward the sunrise, were camped Moses and Aaron and the latter's sons. They discharged the obligations of the sanctuary for the Israelites. Any layman who came near was to be put to death.


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 The total number of male Levites a month old or more whom Moses had registered by clans in keeping with the LORD'S command, was twenty-two thousand.


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 The LORD then said to Moses, "Take a census of all the first-born males of the Israelites a month old or more, and compute their total number.


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 Then assign the Levites to me, the LORD, in place of all the first-born of the Israelites, as well as their cattle in place of all the first-born among the cattle of the Israelites."


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 When all the first-born males of a month or more were registered, they numbered twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.


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 "Take the Levites in place of all the first-born of the Israelites, and the Levites' cattle in place of their cattle, that the Levites may belong to me. I am the LORD.


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 As ransom for the two hundred and seventy-three first-born of the Israelites who outnumber the Levites,


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 you shall take five shekels for each individual, according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.


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 So Moses took the silver as ransom from those who were left when the rest had been redeemed by the Levites.


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 From the first-born of the Israelites he received in silver one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels according to the sanctuary standard.


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 "Among the Levites take a total of the Kohathites, by clans and ancestral houses, all the men of the Kohathites


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 between thirty and fifty years of age; these are to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent.


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 In breaking camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the commandments with it.


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 Over these they shall put a cover of tahash skin, and on top of this spread an all-violet cloth. They shall then put the poles in place.


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 On the table of the Presence they shall spread a violet cloth and put on it the plates and cups, as well as the bowls and pitchers for libations; the established bread offering shall remain on the table.


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 Over these they shall spread a scarlet cloth and cover all this with tahash skin. They shall then put the poles in place.


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 They shall use a violet cloth to cover the lampstand with its lamps, trimming shears, and trays, as well as the various containers of oil from which it is supplied.


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 The lampstand with all its utensils they shall then enclose in a covering of tahash skin, and place on a litter.


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 Over the golden altar they shall spread a violet cloth, and cover this also with a covering of tahash skin. They shall then put the poles in place.


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 Taking the utensils of the sanctuary service, they shall wrap them all in violet cloth and cover them with tahash skin. They shall then place them on a litter.


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 On this they shall put all the utensils with which it is served: the fire pans, forks, shovels, basins, and all the utensils of the altar. They shall then spread a covering of tahash skin over this, and put the poles in place.


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 "Only after Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all their utensils on breaking camp, shall the Kohathites enter to carry them. But they shall not touch the sacred objects; if they do they will die. These, then, are the objects in the meeting tent that the Kohathites shall carry.


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 "Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, shall be in charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the established cereal offering, and the anointing oil. He shall be in charge of the whole Dwelling with all the sacred objects and utensils that are in it."


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 That they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects, this is what you shall do for them: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign to each of them his task and what he must carry;


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 but the Kohathites shall not go in to look upon the sacred objects, even for an instant; if they do, they will die."


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 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age; these are to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent.


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 they shall carry the sheets of the Dwelling, the meeting tent with its covering and the outer wrapping of tahash skin, the curtain at the entrance of the meeting tent,


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 the hangings of the court, the curtain at the entrance of the court that encloses both the Dwelling and the altar, together with their ropes and all other objects necessary in their use. Whatever is to be done with these things shall be their task.


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 The service of the Gershonites shall be entirely under the direction of Aaron and his sons, with regard to what they must do and what they must carry; you shall make each man of them responsible for what he is to carry.


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 This, then, is the task of the Gershonites in the meeting tent; and they shall be under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.


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 all their men between thirty and fifty years of age; these are to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent.


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 This is what they shall be responsible for carrying, all the years of their service in the meeting tent: the boards of the Dwelling with its bars, columns and pedestals,


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 and the columns of the surrounding court with their pedestals, pegs and ropes. You shall designate for each man of them all the objects connected with his service, which he shall be responsible for carrying.


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 This, then, is the task of the clans of the Merarites during all their service in the meeting tent under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest."


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 So Moses and Aaron and the princes of the community made a registration among the Kohathites, by clans and ancestral houses,


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 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age. These were to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent;


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 Such was the census of all the men of the Kohathite clans who were to serve in the meeting tent, which Moses took, together with Aaron, as the LORD bade him.


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 Such was the census of all the men of the Gershonite clans who were to serve in the meeting tent, which Moses took, together with Aaron, at the LORD'S bidding.


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 of all the men from thirty up to fifty years of age. These were to undertake obligatory tasks in the meeting tent;


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 Such was the census of the men of the Merarite clans which Moses took, together with Aaron, as the LORD bade him.


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 Therefore, when Moses and Aaron and the Israelites princes had completed the registration among the Levites, by clans and ancestral houses,


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 of all the men between thirty and fifty years of age who were to undertake tasks of service or transport of the meeting tent,


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 According to the LORD'S bidding to Moses, they gave them their individual assignments for service and for transport; so the LORD had commanded Moses.


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 "Order the Israelites to expel from camp every leper, and everyone suffering from a discharge, and everyone who has become unclean by contact with a corpse.


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 Male and female alike, you shall compel them to go out of the camp; they are not to defile the camp in which I dwell."


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 "Tell the Israelites: If a man (or a woman) commits a fault against his fellow man and wrongs him, thus breaking faith with the LORD,


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 he shall confess the wrong he has done, restore his ill-gotten goods in full, and in addition give one fifth of their value to the one he has wronged.


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 However, if the latter has no next of kin to whom restoration of the ill-gotten goods can be made, the goods to be restored shall be the LORD'S and shall fall to the priest; this is apart from the atonement ram with which the priest makes amends for the guilty man.


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 Likewise, every sacred contribution that the Israelites are bound to make shall fall to the priest.


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 Each Israelite man may dispose of his own sacred contributions; they become the property of the priest to whom he gives them."


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 by having intercourse with another man, though her husband has not sufficient evidence of the fact, so that her impurity remains unproved for lack of a witness who might have caught her in the act;


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 or if a man is overcome by a feeling of jealousy that makes him suspect his wife, whether she was actually impure or not:


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 he shall bring his wife to the priest and shall take along as an offering for her a tenth of an ephah of barley meal. However, he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense over it, since it is a cereal offering of jealousy, a cereal offering for an appeal in a question of guilt.


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 In an earthen vessel he shall meanwhile put some holy water, as well as some dust that he has taken from the floor of the Dwelling.


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 Then, as the woman stands before the LORD, the priest shall uncover her head and place in her hands the cereal offering of her appeal, that is, the cereal offering of jealousy, while he himself shall hold the bitter water that brings a curse.


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 Then he shall adjure the woman, saying to her, 'If no other man has had intercourse with you, and you have not gone astray by impurity while under the authority of your husband, be immune to the curse brought by this bitter water.


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 But if you have gone astray while under the authority of your husband and have acted impurely by letting a man other than your husband have intercourse with you'--


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 so shall the priest adjure the woman with this oath of imprecation-- 'may the LORD make you an example of malediction and imprecation among your people by causing your thighs to waste away and your belly to swell!


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 May this water, then, that brings a curse, enter your body to make your belly swell and your thighs waste away!' And the woman shall say, 'Amen, amen!'


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 The priest shall put these imprecations in writing and shall then wash them off into the bitter water,


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 But first he shall take the cereal offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, and having waved this offering before the LORD, shall put it near the altar,


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 where he shall take a handful of the cereal offering as its token offering and burn it on the altar. Only then shall he have the woman drink the water.


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 Once she has done so, if she has been impure and unfaithful to her husband, this bitter water that brings a curse will go into her, and her belly will swell and her thighs will waste away, so that she will become an example of imprecation among her people.


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 If, however, the woman has not defiled herself, but is still pure, she will be immune and will still be able to bear children.


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 "This, then, is the law for jealousy: When a woman goes astray while under the authority of her husband and acts impurely,


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 or when such a feeling of jealousy comes over a man that he becomes suspicious of his wife, he shall have her stand before the LORD, and the priest shall apply this law in full to her.


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 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man (or a woman) solemnly takes the nazirite vow to dedicate himself to the LORD,


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 he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he may neither drink wine vinegar, other vinegar, of any kind of grape juice, nor eat either fresh or dried grapes.


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 As long as he is a nazirite he shall not eat anything of the produce of the vine; not even unripe grapes or grapeskins.


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 While he is under the nazirite vow, no razor shall touch his hair. Until the period of his dedication to the LORD is over, he shall be sacred, and shall let the hair of his head grow freely.


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 Not even for his father or mother, his sister or brother, should they die, may he become unclean, since his head bears his dedication to God.


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 "If someone dies very suddenly in his presence, so that his dedicated head becomes unclean, he shall shave his head on the day of his purification, that is, on the seventh day.


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 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the meeting tent.


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 The priest shall offer up the one as a sin offering and the other as a holocaust, thus making atonement for him for the sin he has committed by reason of the dead person. On the same day he shall reconsecrate his head


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 and begin anew the period of his dedication to the LORD as a nazirite, bringing a yearling lamb as a guilt offering. The previous period is not valid, because his dedicated head became unclean.


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 "This is the ritual for the nazirite: On the day he completes the period of his dedication he shall go to the entrance of the meeting tent,


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 bringing as his offering to the LORD one unblemished yearling lamb for a holocaust, one unblemished yearling ewe lamb for a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a peace offering, along with their cereal offerings and libations,


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 and a basket of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and of unleavened wafers spread with oil.


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 The priest shall present them before the LORD, and shall offer up the sin offering and the holocaust for him.


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 He shall then offer up the ram as a peace offering to the LORD, with its cereal offering and libation, and the basket of unleavened cakes.


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 Then at the entrance of the meeting tent the nazirite shall shave his dedicated head, collect the hair, and put it in the fire that is under the peace offering.


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 After the nazirite has shaved off his dedicated hair, the priest shall take a boiled shoulder of the ram, as well as one unleavened cake and one unleavened wafer from the basket, and shall place them in the hands of the nazirite.


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 The priest shall then wave them as a wave offering before the LORD. They become sacred and shall belong to the priest, along with the breast of the wave offering and the leg of the raised offering. Only after this may the nazirite drink wine.


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 "This, then, is the law for the nazirite; this is the offering to the LORD which is included in his vow of dedication apart from anything else which his means may allow. Thus shall he carry out the law of his dedication in keeping with the vow he has taken."


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 "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:


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 Now, when Moses had completed the erection of the Dwelling and had anointed and consecrated it with all its equipment (as well as the altar with all its equipment),


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 an offering was made by the princes of Israel, who were heads of ancestral houses; the same princes of the tribes who supervised the census.


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 The offering they brought before the LORD consisted of six baggage wagons and twelve oxen, that is, a wagon for every two princes, and an ox for every prince. These they presented as their offering before the Dwelling.


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 "Accept their offering, that these things may be put to use in the service of the meeting tent. Assign them to the Levites, to each group in proportion to its duties."


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 and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites in proportion to their duties, under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.


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 He gave none to the Kohathites, because they had to carry on their shoulders the sacred objects which were their charge.


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 For the dedication of the altar also, the princes brought offerings before the altar on the day it was anointed.


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 But the LORD said to Moses, "Let one prince a day present his offering for the dedication of the altar."


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 The one who presented his offering on the first day was Nahshon, son of Amminadab, prince of the tribe of Judah.


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 His offering consisted of one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels according to the sanctuary standard and one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, both filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Nahshon, son of Amminadab.


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 He presented as his offering one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels according to the sanctuary standard and one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, both filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Nethanel, son of Zuar.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Eliab, son of Helon.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Elizur, son of Shedeur.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Eliasaph, son of Reuel.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Elishama, son of Ammihud.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Abidan, son of Gideoni.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai.


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 His offering consisted of one silver plate weighing one hundred and thirty shekels according to the sanctuary standard and one silver basin weighing seventy shekels, both filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering;


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Pagiel, son of Ochran.


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 and two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five yearling lambs for a peace offering. This was the offering of Ahira, son of Enan.


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 These were the offerings for the dedication of the altar, given by the princes of Israel on the occasion of its anointing: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, and twelve gold cups.


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 Each silver plate weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each silver basin seventy, so that all the silver of these vessels amounted to two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary standard.


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 The twelve gold cups that were filled with incense weighed ten shekels apiece, according to the sanctuary standard, so that all the gold of the cups amounted to one hundred and twenty shekels.


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 The animals for the holocausts were, in all, twelve young bulls, twelve rams, and twelve yearling lambs, with their cereal offerings; those for the sin offerings were twelve goats.


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 The animals for the peace offerings were, in all, twenty-four oxen, sixty rams, sixty goats, and sixty yearling lambs. These, then, were the offerings for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.


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 When Moses entered the meeting tent to speak with him, he heard the voice addressing him from above the propitiatory on the ark of the commandments, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him....


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 "Give Aaron this command: When you set up the seven lamps, have them throw their light toward the front of the lampstand."


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 Aaron did so, setting up the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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 The lampstand was made of beaten gold in both its shaft and its branches, according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses.


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 This is what you shall do to them to purify them. Sprinkle them with the water of remission; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.


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 They shall take a young bull, along with its cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil; you shall take another young bull for a sin offering.


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 Then have the Levites come forward in front of the meeting tent, where you shall assemble also the whole community of the Israelites.


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 Let Aaron then offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, thus devoting them to the service of the LORD.


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 The Levites in turn shall lay their hands on the heads of the bullocks, which shall then be immolated, the one as a sin offering and the other as a holocaust to the LORD, in atonement for the Levites.


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 Thus, then, shall you have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the LORD;


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 "Only then shall the Levites enter upon their service in the meeting tent. You shall purify them and offer them as a wave offering;


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 because they, among the Israelites, are strictly dedicated to me; I have taken them for myself in place of every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites.


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 Indeed, all the first-born among the Israelites, both of man and of beast, belong to me; I consecrated them to myself on the day I slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt.


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 and I have given these dedicated Israelites to Aaron and his sons to discharge the duties of the Israelites in the meeting tent and to make atonement for them, so that no plague may strike among the Israelites should they come near the sanctuary."


text:
 Thus, then, did Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites deal with the Levites, carrying out exactly the command which the LORD had given Moses concerning them.


text:
 When the Levites had cleansed themselves of sin and washed their clothes, Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the LORD, and made atonement for them to purify them.


text:
 Only then did they enter upon their service in the meeting tent under the supervision of Aaron and his sons. The command which the LORD had given Moses concerning the Levites was carried out.


text:
 "This is the rule for the Levites. Each from his twenty-fifth year onward shall perform the required service in the meeting tent.


text:
 His service with his fellow Levites shall consist in sharing their responsibilities in the meeting tent, but he shall not do the work. This, then, is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites."


text:
 In the first month of the year following their departure from the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses in the desert of Sinai,


text:
 The evening twilight of the fourteenth day of this month is the prescribed time when you shall celebrate it, observing all its rules and regulations."


text:
 And they did so, celebrating the Passover in the desert of Sinai during the evening twilight of the fourteenth day of the first month, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


text:
 There were some, however, who were unclean because of a human corpse and so could not keep the Passover that day. These men came up to Moses and Aaron that same day


text:
 and said, "Although we are unclean because of a corpse, why should we be deprived of presenting the LORD'S offering at its proper time along with the other Israelites?"


text:
 "Speak to the Israelites and say: If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean because of a corpse, or if he is absent on a journey, he may still keep the LORD'S Passover.


text:
 But he shall keep it in the second month, during the evening twilight of the fourteenth day of that month, eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs,


text:
 and not leaving any of it over till morning, nor breaking any of its bones, but observing all the rules of the Passover.


text:
 However, anyone who is clean and not away on a journey, who yet fails to keep the Passover, shall be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD'S offering at the prescribed time. That man shall bear the consequences of his sin.


text:
 "If an alien who lives among you wishes to keep the LORD'S Passover, he too shall observe the rules and regulations for the Passover. You shall have the same law for the resident alien as for the native of the land."


text:
 On the day when the Dwelling was erected, the cloud covered the Dwelling, the tent of the commandments; but from evening until morning it took on the appearance of fire over the Dwelling.


text:
 It was always so: during the day the Dwelling was covered by the cloud, which at night had the appearance of fire.


text:
 Whenever the cloud rose from the tent, the Israelites would break camp; wherever the cloud came to rest, they would pitch camp.


text:
 At the bidding of the LORD the Israelites moved on, and at his bidding they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the Dwelling, they remained in camp.


text:
 Even when the cloud tarried many days over the Dwelling, the Israelites obeyed the LORD and would not move on;


text:
 yet sometimes the cloud was over the Dwelling only for a few days. It was at the bidding of the LORD that they stayed in camp, and it was at his bidding that they departed.


text:
 Sometimes the cloud remained there only from evening until morning; and when it rose in the morning, they would depart. Or if the cloud lifted during the day, or even at night, they would then set out.


text:
 Whether the cloud tarried over the Dwelling for two days or for a month or longer, the Israelites remained in camp and did not depart; but when it lifted, they moved on.


text:
 Thus, it was always at the bidding of the LORD that they encamped, and at his bidding that they set out; ever heeding the charge of the LORD, as he had bidden them through Moses.


text:
 "Make two trumpets of beaten silver, which you shall use in assembling the community and in breaking camp.


text:
 When both are blown, the whole community shall gather round you at the entrance of the meeting tent;


text:
 but when one of them is blown, only the princes, the chiefs of the troops of Israel, shall gather round you.


text:
 when you sound the second alarm, those encamped on the south side shall set out; when you sound the third alarm, those encamped on the west side shall set out; when you sound the fourth alarm, those encamped on the north side shall set out. Thus shall the alarm be sounded for them to depart.


text:
 "It is the sons of Aaron, the priests, who shall blow the trumpets; and the use of them is prescribed by perpetual statute for you and your descendants.


text:
 When in your own land you go to war against an enemy that is attacking you, you shall sound the alarm on the trumpets, and the LORD, your God, will remember you and save you from your foes.


text:
 On your days of celebration, your festivals, and your new-moon feasts, you shall blow the trumpets over your holocausts and your peace offerings; this will serve as a reminder of you before your God. I, the LORD, am your God."


text:
 In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud rose from the Dwelling of the commandments.


text:
 The Israelites moved on from the desert of Sinai by stages, until the cloud came to rest in the desert of Paran.


text:
 the camp of the Judahites, under its own standard and arranged in companies, was the first to set out. Nahshon, son of Amminadab, was over their host,


text:
 Then, after the Dwelling was dismantled, the clans of Gershon and Merari set out, carrying the Dwelling.


text:
 The camp of the Reubenites, under its own standard and arranged in companies, was the next to set out, with Elizur, son of Shedeur, over their host,


text:
 The clan of Kohath then set out, carrying the sacred objects for the Dwelling, which was to be erected before their arrival.


text:
 The camp of the Ephraimites next set out, under its own standard and arranged in companies, with Elishama, son of Ammihud, over their host,


text:
 Finally, as rear guard for all the camps, the camp of the Danites set out, under its own standard and arranged in companies, with Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai, over their host,


text:
 Moses said to his brother-in-law Hobab, son of Reuel the Midianite, "We are setting out for the place which the LORD has promised to give us. Come with us, and we will be generous toward you, for the LORD has promised prosperity to Israel."


text:
 But he answered, "No, I will not come. I am going instead to my own country and to my own kindred."


text:
 Moses said, "Please, do not leave us; you know where we can camp in the desert, and you will serve as eyes for us.


text:
 They moved on from the mountain of the LORD, a three days' journey, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD which was to seek out their resting place went the three days' journey with them.


text:
 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, "Arise, O LORD, that your enemies may be scattered, and those who hate you may flee before you."


text:
 And when it came to rest, he would say, "Return, O LORD, you who ride upon the clouds, to the troops of Israel."


text:
 Now the people complained in the hearing of the LORD; and when he heard it his wrath flared up so that the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.


text:
 The foreign elements among them were so greedy for meat that even the Israelites lamented again, "Would that we had meat for food!


text:
 We remember the fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt, and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.


text:
 When they had gone about and gathered it up, the people would grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar, then cook it in a pot and make it into loaves, which tasted like cakes made with oil.


text:
 When Moses heard the people, family after family, crying at the entrance of their tents, so that the LORD became very angry, he was grieved.


text:
 "Why do you treat your servant so badly?" Moses asked the LORD. "Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people?


text:
 Was it I who conceived all this people? or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers?


text:
 Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, 'Give us meat for our food.'


text:
 If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress."


text:
 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent. When they are in place beside you,


text:
 I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself.


text:
 "To the people, however, you shall say: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, when you shall have meat to eat. For in the hearing of the LORD you have cried, 'Would that we had meat for food! Oh, how well off we were in Egypt!' Therefore the LORD will give you meat for food,


text:
 but for a whole month-- until it comes out of your very nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. For you have spurned the LORD who is in your midst, and in his presence you have wailed, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'"


text:
 But Moses said, "The people around me include six hundred thousand soldiers; yet you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month.'


text:
 Can enough sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them? If all the fish of the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?"


text:
 The LORD answered Moses, "Is this beyond the LORD'S reach? You shall see now whether or not what I have promised you takes place."


text:
 So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. Gathering seventy elders of the people, he had them stand around the tent.


text:
 The LORD then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.


text:
 Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit came to rest on them also, and they prophesied in the camp.


text:
 But Moses answered him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"


text:
 There arose a wind sent by the LORD, that drove in quail from the sea and brought them down over the camp site at a height of two cubits from the ground for the distance of a day's journey all around the camp.


text:
 All that day, all night, and all the next day the people gathered in the quail. Even the one who got the least gathered ten homers of them. Then they spread them out all around the camp.


text:
 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it could be consumed, the LORD'S wrath flared up against the people, and he struck them with a very great plague.


text:
 So that place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because it was there that the greedy people were buried.


text:
 While they were in Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman.


text:
 They complained, "Is it through Moses alone that the LORD speaks? Does he not speak through us also?" And the LORD heard this.


text:
 So at once the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the meeting tent." And the three of them went.


text:
 Then the LORD came down in the column of cloud, and standing at the entrance of the tent, called Aaron and Miriam. When both came forward,


text:
 he said, "Now listen to the words of the LORD: Should there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal myself to him, in dreams will I speak to him;


text:
 face to face I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the LORD he beholds. Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?"


text:
 and the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white leper! When Aaron turned and saw her a leper,


text:
 "Ah, my lord!" he said to Moses, "please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed!


text:
 Let her not thus be like the stillborn babe that comes forth from its mother's womb with its flesh half consumed."


text:
 But the LORD answered Moses, "Suppose her father had spit in her face, would she not hide in shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; only then may she be brought back."


text:
 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not start out again until she was brought back.


text:
 "Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe, all of them princes."


text:
 So Moses dispatched them from the desert of Paran, as the LORD had ordered. All of them were leaders among the Israelites;


text:
 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent out to reconnoiter the land. But Hoshea, son of Nun, Moses called Joshua.


text:
 In sending them to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, Moses said to them, "Go up here in the Negeb, up into the highlands,


text:
 Is the country in which they live good or bad? Are the towns in which they dwell open or fortified?


text:
 Is the soil fertile or barren, wooded or clear? And do your best to get some of the fruit of the land." It was then the season for early grapes.


text:
 So they went up and reconnoitered the land from the desert of Zin as far as where Rehob adjoins Labo of Hamath.


text:
 Going up by way of the Negeb, they reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, descendants of the Anakim, were living. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)


text:
 They also reached the Wadi Eshcol, where they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes on it, which two of them carried on a pole, as well as some pomegranates and figs.


text:
 met Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites in the desert of Paran at Kadesh, made a report to them all, and showed them the fruit of the country.


text:
 They told Moses: "We went into the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit.


text:
 However, the people who are living in the land are fierce, and the towns are fortified and very strong. Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there.


text:
 Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the seacoast and the banks of the Jordan."


text:
 Caleb, however, to quiet the people toward Moses, said, "We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly do so."


text:
 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We cannot attack these people; they are too strong for us."


text:
 So they spread discouraging reports among the Israelites about the land they had scouted, saying, "The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge men,


text:
 veritable giants (the Anakim were a race of giants); we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them."


text:
 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, the whole community saying to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that here in the desert we were dead!


text:
 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land only to have us fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will be taken as booty. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"


text:
 while Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who had been in the party that scouted the land, tore their garments


text:
 and said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The country which we went through and explored is a fine, rich land.


text:
 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us in and give us that land, a land flowing with milk and honey.


text:
 But do not rebel against the LORD! You need not be afraid of the people of that land; they are but food for us! Their defense has left them, but the LORD is with us. Therefore, do not be afraid of them."


text:
 In answer, the whole community threatened to stone them. But then the glory of the LORD appeared at the meeting tent to all the Israelites.


text:
 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn me? How long will they refuse to believe in me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?


text:
 I will strike them with pestilence and wipe them out. Then I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."


text:
 But Moses said to the LORD: "Are the Egyptians to hear of this? For by your power you brought out this people from among them.


text:
 And are they to tell of it to the inhabitants of this land? It has been heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people; you, LORD, who plainly reveal yourself! Your cloud stands over them, and you go before them by day in a column of cloud and by night in a column of fire.


text:
 'The LORD was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them; that is why he slaughtered them in the desert.'


text:
 'The LORD is slow to anger and rich in kindness, forgiving wickedness and crime; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness.'


text:
 Pardon, then, the wickedness of this people in keeping with your great kindness, even as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now."


text:
 of all the men who have seen my glory and the signs I worked in Egypt and in the desert, and who nevertheless have put me to the test ten times already and have failed to heed my voice,


text:
 not one shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers. None of these who have spurned me shall see it.


text:
 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me unreservedly, I will bring him into the land where he has just been, and his descendants shall possess it.


text:
 But now, since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn away tomorrow and set out in the desert on the Red Sea road."


text:
 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the Israelites against me.


text:
 Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall. Of all your men of twenty years or more, registered in the census, who grumbled against me,


text:
 not one shall enter the land where I solemnly swore to settle you, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.


text:
 Your little ones, however, who you said would be taken as booty, I will bring in, and they shall appreciate the land you spurned.


text:
 here where your children must wander for forty years, suffering for your faithlessness, till the last of you lies dead in the desert.


text:
 Forty days you spent in scouting the land; forty years shall you suffer for your crimes: one year for each day. Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.


text:
 I, the LORD, have sworn to do this to all this wicked community that conspired against me: here in the desert they shall die to the last man."


text:
 And so it happened to the men whom Moses had sent to reconnoiter the land and who on returning had set the whole community grumbling against him by spreading discouraging reports about the land;


text:
 Of all the men who had gone to reconnoiter the land, only Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, survived.


text:
 Early the next morning they started up into the foothills, saying, "Here we are, ready to go up to the place that the LORD spoke of: for we were indeed doing wrong."


text:
 Do not go up, because the LORD is not in your midst; if you go, you will be beaten down before your enemies.


text:
 For there the Amalekites and Canaanites face you, and you will fall by the sword. You have turned back from following the LORD; therefore the LORD will not be with you."


text:
 Yet they dared to go up into the foothills, even though neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp.


text:
 And the Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down and defeated them, beating them back as far as Hormah.


text:
 "Give the Israelites these instructions: When you have entered the land that I will give you for your homesteads,


text:
 if you make to the LORD a sweet-smelling oblation from the herd or from the flock, in holocaust, in fulfillment of a vow, or as a freewill offering, or for one of your festivals,


text:
 whoever does so shall also present to the LORD a cereal offering consisting of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil,


text:
 as well as a libation of a fourth of a hin of wine, with each lamb sacrificed in holocaust or otherwise.


text:
 With each sacrifice of a ram you shall present a cereal offering of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil,


text:
 When you sacrifice an ox as a holocaust, or in fulfillment of a vow, or as a peace offering to the LORD,


text:
 with it you shall present a cereal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil,


text:
 "All the native-born shall make these offerings in the same way, whenever they present a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


text:
 Likewise, in any future generation, any alien residing with you permanently or for a time, who presents a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD, shall do as you do.


text:
 There is but one rule for you and for the resident alien, a perpetual rule for all your descendants. Before the LORD you and the alien are alike,


text:
 with the same law and the same application of it for the alien residing among you as for yourselves."


text:
 consisting of a cake of your first batch of dough. You shall offer it just as you offer a contribution from the threshing floor.


text:
 Throughout your generations you shall give a contribution to the LORD from your first batch of dough.


text:
 "When through inadvertence you fail to carry out any of these commandments which the LORD gives to Moses,


text:
 and through Moses to you, from the time the LORD first issues the commandment down through your generations:


text:
 if the community itself unwittingly becomes guilty of the fault of inadvertence, the whole community shall offer the holocaust of one young bull as a sweet-smelling oblation pleasing to the LORD, along with its prescribed cereal offering and libation, as well as one he-goat as a sin offering.


text:
 Then the priest shall make atonement for the whole Israelite community; thus they will be forgiven the inadvertence for which they have brought their holocaust as an oblation to the LORD.


text:
 Not only the whole Israelite community, but also the aliens residing among you, shall be forgiven, since the fault of inadvertence affects all the people.


text:
 "However, if it is an individual who sins inadvertently, he shall bring a yearling she-goat as a sin offering,


text:
 and the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for him who sinned inadvertently; when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.


text:
 You shall have but one law for him who sins inadvertently, whether he be a native Israelite or an alien residing with you.


text:
 "But anyone who sins defiantly, whether he be a native or an alien, insults the LORD, and shall be cut off from among his people.


text:
 Since he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, he must be cut off. He has only himself to blame."


text:
 Then the LORD said to Moses, "This man shall be put to death; let the whole community stone him outside the camp."


text:
 So the whole community led him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD had commanded Moses.


text:
 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them that they and their descendants must put tassels on the corners of their garments, fastening each corner tassel with a violet cord.


text:
 When you use these tassels, let the sight of them remind you to keep all the commandments of the LORD, without going wantonly astray after the desires of your hearts and eyes.


text:
 Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, (and Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, son of Pallu, son of Reuben) took


text:
 two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders in the community, members of the council and men of note. They stood before Moses,


text:
 and held an assembly against Moses and Aaron, to whom they said, "Enough from you! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the LORD is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the LORD'S congregation?"


text:
 Then he said to Korah and to all his band, "May the LORD make known tomorrow morning who belongs to him and who is the holy one and whom he will have draw near to him! Whom he chooses, he will have draw near him.


text:
 and put fire in them and place incense in them before the LORD tomorrow. He whom the LORD then chooses is the holy one. Enough from you Levites!"


text:
 Is it too little for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the community of Israel, to have you draw near him for the service of the LORD'S Dwelling and to stand before the community to minister for them?


text:
 He has allowed you and your kinsmen, the descendants of Levi, to approach him, and yet you now seek the priesthood too.


text:
 It is therefore against the LORD that you and all your band are conspiring. For what has Aaron done that you should grumble against him?"


text:
 Are you not satisfied with having led us here away from a land flowing with milk and honey, to make us perish in the desert, that you must now lord it over us?


text:
 Far from bringing us to a land flowing with milk and honey, or giving us fields and vineyards for our inheritance, will you also gouge out our eyes? No, we will not go."


text:
 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Pay no heed to their offering. I have never taken a single ass from them, nor have I wronged any one of them."


text:
 Moses said to Korah, "You and all your band shall appear before the LORD tomorrow-- you and they and Aaron too.


text:
 Then each of your two hundred and fifty followers shall take his own censer, put incense in it, and offer it to the LORD; and you and Aaron, each with his own censer, shall do the same."


text:
 So they all took their censers, and laying incense on the fire they had put in them, they took their stand by the entrance of the meeting tent along with Moses and Aaron.


text:
 Then, when Korah had assembled all his band against them at the entrance of the meeting tent, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire community,


text:
 But they fell prostrate and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will one man's sin make you angry with the whole community?"


text:
 "Speak to the community and tell them: Withdraw from the space around the Dwelling" (of Korah, Dathan and Abiram).


text:
 Then he warned the community, "Keep away from the tents of these wicked men and do not touch anything that is theirs: otherwise you too will be swept away because of all their sins."


text:
 When Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrances of their tents with their wives and sons and little ones,


text:
 Moses said, "This is how you shall know that it was the LORD who sent me to do all I have done, and that it was not I who planned it:


text:
 if these men die an ordinary death, merely suffering the fate common to all mankind, then it was not the LORD who sent me.


text:
 But if the LORD does something entirely new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them alive down into the nether world, with all belonging to them, then you will know that these men have defied the LORD."


text:
 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their families (and all of Korah's men) and all their possessions.


text:
 They went down alive to the nether world with all belonging to them; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the community.


text:
 So they withdrew from the space around the Dwelling (of Korah, Dathan and Abiram). And fire from the LORD came forth which consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.


text:
 "Tell Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, to remove the censers from the embers; and scatter the fire some distance away,


text:
 for these sinners have consecrated the censers at the cost of their lives. Have them hammered into plates to cover the altar, because in being presented before the LORD they have become sacred. In this way they shall serve as a sign to the Israelites."


text:
 So Eleazar the priest had the bronze censers of those burned during the offering hammered into a covering for the altar,


text:
 in keeping with the orders which the LORD had given him through Moses. This cover was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no layman, no one who was not a descendant of Aaron, should approach the altar to offer incense before the LORD, lest he meet the fate of Korah and his band.


text:
 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "It is you who have slain the LORD'S people."


text:
 But while the community was deliberating against them, Moses and Aaron turned toward the meeting tent, and the cloud now covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.


text:
 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, and bring it quickly to the community to make atonement for them; for wrath has come forth from the LORD and the blow is falling."


text:
 Obeying the orders of Moses, Aaron took his censer and ran in among the community, where the blow was already falling on the people. Then, as he offered the incense and made atonement for the people,


text:
 Yet fourteen thousand seven hundred died from the scourge, in addition to those who died because of Korah.


text:
 "Speak to the Israelites and get one staff from them for each ancestral house, twelve staffs in all, one from each of their tribal princes. Mark each man's name on his staff;


text:
 and mark Aaron's name on Levi's staff, for the head of Levi's ancestral house shall also have a staff.


text:
 There the staff of the man of my choice shall sprout. Thus will I suppress from my presence the Israelites' grumbling against you."


text:
 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their princes gave him staffs, twelve in all, one from each tribal prince; and Aaron's staff was with them.


text:
 The next day, when Moses entered the tent, Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth not only shoots, but blossoms as well, and even bore ripe almonds!


text:
 Moses thereupon brought out all the staffs from the LORD'S presence to the Israelites. After each prince identified his own staff and took it,


text:
 the LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the commandments, to be kept there as a warning to the rebellious, so that their grumbling may cease before me; if it does not, they will die."


text:
 The LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons as well as the other members of your ancestral house shall be responsible for the sanctuary; but the responsibility of the priesthood shall rest on you and your sons alone.


text:
 Bring with you also your other kinsmen of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, as your associates and assistants, while you and your sons are in front of the tent of the commandments.


text:
 They shall look after your persons and the whole tent; however, they shall not come near the sacred vessels or the altar, lest both they and you die.


text:
 As your associates they shall have charge of all the work connected with the meeting tent. But no layman shall come near you.


text:
 You shall have charge of the sanctuary and of the altar, that wrath may not fall again upon the Israelites.


text:
 "Remember, it is I who have taken your kinsmen, the Levites, from the body of the Israelites; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD for the service of the meeting tent.


text:
 But only you and your sons are to have charge of performing the priestly functions in whatever concerns the altar and the room within the veil. I give you the priesthood as a gift. Any layman who draws near shall be put to death."


text:
 The LORD said to Aaron, "I myself have given you charge of the contributions made to me in the various sacred offerings of the Israelites; by perpetual ordinance I have assigned them to you and to your sons as your priestly share.


text:
 You shall have the right to share in the oblations that are most sacred, in whatever they offer me as cereal offerings or sin offerings or guilt offerings; these shares shall accrue to you and to your sons.


text:
 In eating them you shall treat them as most sacred; every male among you may partake of them. As sacred, they belong to you.


text:
 "You shall also have what is removed from the gift in every wave offering of the Israelites; by perpetual ordinance I have assigned it to you and to your sons and daughters. All in your family who are clean may partake of it.


text:
 I have also assigned to you all the best of the new oil and of the new wine and grain that they give to the LORD as their first fruits;


text:
 and likewise, of whatever grows on their land, the first products that they bring in to the LORD shall be yours; all of your family who are clean may partake of them.


text:
 Every living thing that opens the womb, whether of man or of beast, such as are to be offered to the LORD, shall be yours; but you must let the first-born of man, as well as of unclean animals, be redeemed.


text:
 The ransom for a boy is to be paid when he is a month old; it is fixed at five silver shekels according to the sanctuary standard, twenty gerahs to the shekel.


text:
 But the first-born of cattle, sheep or goats shall not be redeemed; they are sacred. Their blood you must splash on the altar and their fat you must burn as a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


text:
 Their meat, however, shall be yours, just as the breast and the right leg of the wave offering belong to you.


text:
 By perpetual ordinance I have assigned to you and to your sons and daughters all the contributions from the sacred gifts which the Israelites make to the LORD; this is an inviolable covenant to last forever before the LORD, for you and for your descendants."


text:
 Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You shall not have any heritage in the land of the Israelites nor hold any portion among them; I will be your portion and your heritage among them.


text:
 "To the Levites, however, I hereby assign all tithes in Israel as their heritage in recompense for the service they perform in the meeting tent.


text:
 The Israelites may no longer approach the meeting tent; else they will incur guilt deserving death.


text:
 Only the Levites are to perform the service of the meeting tent, and they alone shall be held responsible; this is a perpetual ordinance for all your generations. The Levites, therefore, shall not have any heritage among the Israelites,


text:
 for I have assigned to them as their heritage the tithes which the Israelites give as a contribution to the LORD. That is why I have ordered that they are not to have any heritage among the Israelites."


text:
 "Give the Levites these instructions: When you receive from the Israelites the tithes I have assigned you from them as your heritage, you are to make a contribution from them to the LORD, a tithe of the tithes;


text:
 and your contribution will be credited to you as if it were grain from the threshing floor or new wine from the press.


text:
 Thus you too shall make a contribution from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites, handing over to Aaron the priest the part to be contributed to the LORD.


text:
 From all the gifts that you receive, and from the best parts, you are to consecrate to the LORD your own full contribution.


text:
 "Tell them also: Once you have made your contribution from the best part, the rest of the tithes will be credited to you Levites as if it were produce of the threshing floor or of the winepress.


text:
 Your families, as well as you, may eat them anywhere, since they are your recompense for service at the meeting tent.


text:
 You will incur no guilt so long as you make a contribution of the best part. Do not profane the sacred gifts of the Israelites and so bring death on yourselves."


text:
 "This is the regulation which the law of the LORD prescribes. Tell the Israelites to procure for you a red heifer that is free from every blemish and defect and on which no yoke has ever been laid.


text:
 This is to be given to Eleazar the priest, to be led outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.


text:
 Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the meeting tent.


text:
 and the priest shall take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is being burned.


text:
 The priest shall then wash his garments and bathe his body in water. He remains unclean until the evening, and only afterward may he return to the camp.


text:
 Likewise, he who burned the heifer shall wash his garments, bathe his body in water, and be unclean until evening.


text:
 Finally, a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them in a clean place outside the camp. There they are to be kept for preparing lustral water for the Israelite community. The heifer is a sin offering.


text:
 He who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer shall also wash his garments and be unclean until evening. This is a perpetual ordinance, both for the Israelites and for the aliens residing among them.


text:
 he shall purify himself with the water on the third and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean again. But if he fails to purify himself on the third and on the seventh day, he will not become clean.


text:
 Everyone who fails to purify himself after touching the body of any deceased person, defiles the Dwelling of the LORD and shall be cut off from Israel. Since the lustral water has not been splashed over him, he remains unclean: his uncleanness still clings to him.


text:
 "This is the law: When a man dies in a tent, everyone who enters the tent, as well as everyone already in it, shall be unclean for seven days;


text:
 Moreover, everyone who in the open country touches a dead person, whether he was slain by the sword or died naturally, or who touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.


text:
 For anyone who is thus unclean, ashes from the sin offering shall be put in a vessel, and spring water shall be poured on them.


text:
 Then a man who is clean shall take some hyssop, dip it in this water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the vessels and persons that were in it, or on him who touched a bone, a slain person or other dead body, or a grave.


text:
 The clean man shall sprinkle the unclean on the third and on the seventh day; thus purified on the seventh day, he shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water, and in the evening he will be clean again.


text:
 Any unclean man who fails to have himself purified shall be cut off from the community, because he defiles the sanctuary of the LORD. As long as the lustral water has not been splashed over him, he remains unclean.


text:
 This shall be a perpetual ordinance for you. "One who sprinkles the lustral water shall wash his garments, and anyone who comes in contact with this water shall be unclean until evening.


text:
 Moreover, whatever the unclean person touches becomes unclean itself, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean until evening."


text:
 The whole Israelite community arrived in the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people settled at Kadesh. It was here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried.


text:
 The people contended with Moses, exclaiming, "Would that we too had perished with our kinsmen in the LORD'S presence!


text:
 Why did you lead us out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place which has neither grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates? Here there is not even water to drink!"


text:
 But Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the meeting tent, where they fell prostrate. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them,


text:
 "Take the staff and assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron, and in their presence order the rock to yield its waters. From the rock you shall bring forth water for the community and their livestock to drink."


text:
 He and Aaron assembled the community in front of the rock, where he said to them, "Listen to me, you rebels! Are we to bring water for you out of this rock?"


text:
 Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, and water gushed out in abundance for the community and their livestock to drink.


text:
 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you were not faithful to me in showing forth my sanctity before the Israelites, you shall not lead this community into the land I will give them."


text:
 These are the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites contended against the LORD, and where he revealed his sanctity among them.


text:
 From Kadesh Moses sent men to the king of Edom with the message: "Your brother Israel has this to say: You know of all the hardships that have befallen us,


text:
 how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we stayed a long time, how the Egyptians maltreated us and our fathers,


text:
 and how, when we cried to the LORD, he heard our cry and sent an angel who led us out of Egypt. Now here we are at the town of Kadesh at the edge of your territory.


text:
 Kindly let us pass through your country. We will not cross any fields or vineyards, nor drink any well water, but we will go straight along the royal road without turning to the right or to the left, until we have passed through your territory."


text:
 But Edom answered him, "You shall not pass through here; if you do, I will advance against you with the sword."


text:
 The Israelites insisted, "We want only to go up along the highway. If we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. Surely there is no harm in merely letting us march through."


text:
 But Edom still said, "No, you shall not pass through," and advanced against them with a large and heavily armed force.


text:
 Therefore, since Edom refused to let them pass through their territory, Israel detoured around them.


text:
 "Aaron is about to be taken to his people; he shall not enter the land I am giving to the Israelites, because you both rebelled against my commandment at the waters of Meribah.


text:
 Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar; for there Aaron shall be taken in death."


text:
 Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain. When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,


text:
 all the community understood that Aaron had passed away; and for thirty days the whole house of Israel mourned him.


text:
 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that the Israelites were coming along the way of Atharim, he engaged them in battle and took some of them captive.


text:
 Israel then made this vow to the LORD: "If you deliver this people into my hand, I will doom their cities."


text:
 Later, when the LORD heeded Israel's prayer and delivered up the Canaanites, they doomed them and their cities. Hence that place was named Hormah.


text:
 From Mount Hor they set out on the Red Sea road, to bypass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey,


text:
 the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!"


text:
 In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.


text:
 Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people,


text:
 and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover."


text:
 Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered.


text:
 Setting out from there, they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, in the desert that extends from the territory of the Amorites; for the Arnon forms Moab's boundary with the Amorites.


text:
 From there they went to Beer, where there was the well of which the LORD said to Moses, "Bring the people together, and I will give them water."


text:
 The well that the princes sank, that the nobles of the people dug, with their scepters and their staffs." From Beer they went to Mattanah,


text:
 "Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, nor will we drink any well water, but we will go straight along the royal road until we have passed through your territory."


text:
 Sihon, however, would not let Israel pass through his territory, but mustered all his forces and advanced into the desert against Israel. When he reached Jahaz, he engaged Israel in battle.


text:
 But Israel defeated him at the point of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and as far as the country of the Ammonites, whose boundary was at Jazer.


text:
 Israel seized all the towns here and settled in these towns of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its dependencies.


text:
 Now Heshbon was the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had seized all his land from Jazer to the Arnon.


text:
 That is why the poets say: "Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt, let Sihon's capital be firmly constructed.


text:
 For fire went forth from Heshbon and a blaze from the city of Sihon; It consumed the cities of Moab and swallowed up the high places of the Arnon.


text:
 Woe to you, O Moab! You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He let his sons become fugitives and his daughters be taken captive by the Amorite king Sihon.


text:
 Moses sent spies to Jazer; Israel then captured it with its dependencies and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.


text:
 Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan. But Og, king of Bashan, advanced against them with all his people to give battle at Edrei.


text:
 The LORD, however, said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him; for into your hand I will deliver him with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon."


text:
 So they struck him down with his sons and all his people, until not a survivor was left to him, and they took possession of his land.


text:
 Then the Israelites moved on and encamped in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.


text:
 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Soon this horde will devour all the country around us as an ox devours the grass of the field." And Balak, Zippor's son, who was king of Moab at that time,


text:
 sent messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor on the Euphrates, in the land of the Amawites, summoning him with these words, "A people has come here from Egypt who now cover the face of the earth and are settling down opposite us!


text:
 Please come and curse this people for us; they are stronger than we are. We may then be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed and whoever you curse is cursed."


text:
 Then the elders of Moab and of Midian left with the divination fee in hand and went to Balaam. When they had given him Balak's message,


text:
 he said to them in reply, "Stay here overnight, and I will give you whatever answer the LORD gives me." So the princes of Moab lodged with Balaam.


text:
 'This people that came here from Egypt now cover the face of the earth. Please come and lay a curse on them for us; we may then be able to give them battle and drive them out.'"


text:
 The next morning Balaam arose and told the princes of Balak, "Go back to your own country, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you."


text:
 On coming to Balaam they told him, "This is what Balak, son of Zippor, has to say: Please do not refuse to come to me.


text:
 I will reward you very handsomely and will do anything you ask of me. Please come and lay a curse on this people for me."


text:
 But Balaam replied to Balak's officials, "Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD, my God.


text:
 That night God came to Balaam and said to him, "If these men have come to summon you, you may go with them; yet only on the condition that you do exactly as I tell you."


text:
 But now the anger of God flared up at him for going, and the angel of the LORD stationed himself on the road to hinder him as he was riding along on his ass, accompanied by two of his servants.


text:
 When the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing on the road with sword drawn, she turned off the road and went into the field, and Balaam had to beat her to bring her back on the road.


text:
 Then the angel of the LORD took his stand in a narrow lane between vineyards with a stone wall on each side.


text:
 When the ass saw the angel of the LORD there, she shrank against the wall; and since she squeezed Balaam's leg against it, he beat her again.


text:
 The angel of the LORD then went ahead, and stopped next in a passage so narrow that there was no room to move either to the right or to the left.


text:
 When the ass saw the angel of the LORD there, she cowered under Balaam. So, in anger, he again beat the ass with his stick.


text:
 But now the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she asked Balaam, "What have I done to you that you should beat me these three times?"


text:
 "You have acted so willfully against me," said Balaam to the ass, "that if I but had a sword at hand, I would kill you here and now."


text:
 But the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your own beast, and have you not always ridden upon me until now? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way before?" "No," replied Balaam.


text:
 Then the LORD removed the veil from Balaam's eyes, so that he too saw the angel of the LORD standing on the road with sword drawn; and he fell on his knees and bowed to the ground.


text:
 But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who have come armed to hinder you because this rash journey of yours is directly opposed to me.


text:
 When the ass saw me, she turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would have killed you; her I would have spared."


text:
 Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. Yet I did not know that you stood against me to oppose my journey. Since it has displeased you, I will go back home."


text:
 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but you may say only what I tell you." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.


text:
 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the boundary city Ir-Moab on the Arnon at the end of the Moabite territory.


text:
 And he said to Balaam, "I sent an urgent summons to you! Why did you not come to me? Did you think I could not reward you?"


text:
 Balaam answered him, "Well, I have come to you after all. But what power have I to say anything? I can speak only what God puts in my mouth."


text:
 Here Balak slaughtered oxen and sheep, and sent portions to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.


text:
 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars, and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams for me here."


text:
 So he did as Balaam had ordered, offering a bullock and a ram on each altar. And Balak said to him, "I have erected the seven altars, and have offered a bullock and a ram on each."


text:
 Balaam then said to him, "Stand here by your holocaust while I go over there. Perhaps the LORD will meet me, and then I will tell you whatever he lets me see." He went out on the barren height,


text:
 When he had put an utterance in Balaam's mouth, the LORD said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."


text:
 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with all the princes of Moab.


text:
 Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: From Aram has Balak brought me here, Moab's king, from the Eastern Mountains: "Come and lay a curse for me on Jacob, come and denounce Israel."


text:
 For from the top of the crags I see him, from the heights I behold him. Here is a people that lives apart and does not reckon itself among the nations.


text:
 Who has ever counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered Israel's wind-borne particles? May I die the death of the just, may my descendants be as many as theirs!


text:
 "What have you done to me?" cried Balak to Balaam. "It was to curse my foes that I brought you here; instead, you have even blessed them."


text:
 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place from which you can see only some and not all of them, and from there curse them for me."


text:
 So he brought him to the lookout field on the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bullock and a ram on each of them.


text:
 Then the LORD met Balaam, and having put an utterance in his mouth, he said to him, "Go back to Balak, and speak accordingly."


text:
 So he went back to Balak, who was still standing by his holocaust together with the princes of Moab. When Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"


text:
 Balaam gave voice to his oracle: Be aroused, O Balak, and hearken; give ear to my testimony, O son of Zippor!


text:
 God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human, that he should change his mind. Is he one to speak and not act, to decree and not fulfill?


text:
 Misfortune is not observed in Jacob, nor misery seen in Israel. The LORD, his God, is with him; with him is the triumph of his King.


text:
 No, there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor omen against Israel. It shall yet be said of Jacob, and of Israel, "Behold what God has wrought!"


text:
 Here is a people that springs up like a lioness, and stalks forth like a lion; It rests not till it has devoured its prey and has drunk the blood of the slain.


text:
 Then Balak said to Balaam, "Come, let me bring you to another place; perhaps God will approve of your cursing them for me from there."


text:
 Balaam then said to him, "Here build me seven altars; and here prepare for me seven bullocks and seven rams."


text:
 Balaam, however, perceiving that the LORD was pleased to bless Israel, did not go aside as before to seek omens, but turned his gaze toward the desert.


text:
 and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,


text:
 The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:


text:
 His wells shall yield free-flowing waters, he shall have the sea within reach; His king shall rise higher than.... and his royalty shall be exalted.


text:
 It is God who brought him out of Egypt, a wild bull of towering might. He shall devour the nations like grass, their bones he shall strip bare.


text:
 He lies crouching like a lion, or like a lioness; who shall arouse him? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you!


text:
 Balak beat his palms together in a blaze of anger at Balaam and said to him, "It was to curse my foes that I summoned you here; yet three times now you have even blessed them instead!


text:
 Be off at once, then, to your home. I promised to reward you richly, but the LORD has withheld the reward from you!"


text:
 'Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord to anything, good or evil, contrary to the command of the LORD'? Whatever the LORD says I must repeat.


text:
 "But now that I am about to go to my own people, let me first warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come."


text:
 Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true,


text:
 The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured and with eyes unveiled.


text:
 I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel, That shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites,


text:
 Upon seeing Amalek, Balaam gave voice to his oracle: First of the peoples was Amalek, but his end is to perish forever.


text:
 Upon seeing the Kenites, he gave voice to his oracle: Your abode is enduring, O smith, and your nest is set on a cliff;


text:
 to deliver his people from the hands of the Kittim? When they have conquered Asshur and conquered Eber, He too shall perish forever.


text:
 While Israel was living at Shittim, the people degraded themselves by having illicit relations with the Moabite women.


text:
 These then invited the people to the sacrifices of their god, and the people ate of the sacrifices and worshiped their god.


text:
 When Israel thus submitted to the rites of Baal of Peor, the LORD'S anger flared up against Israel,


text:
 and he said to Moses, "Gather all the leaders of the people, and hold a public execution of the guilty ones before the LORD, that his blazing wrath may be turned away from Israel."


text:
 So Moses told the Israelite judges, "Each of you shall kill those of his men who have submitted to the rites of Baal of Peor."


text:
 Yet a certain Israelite came and brought in a Midianite woman to his clansmen in the view of Moses and of the whole Israelite community, while they were weeping at the entrance of the meeting tent.


text:
 When Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, and taking a lance in hand,


text:
 followed the Israelite into his retreat where he pierced the pair of them, the Israelite and the woman. Thus the slaughter of Israelites was checked;


text:
 "Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger from the Israelites by his zeal for my honor among them; that is why I did not put an end to the Israelites for the offense to my honor.


text:
 which shall be for him and for his descendants after him the pledge of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous on behalf of his God and thus made amends for the Israelites."


text:
 The Israelite slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu, prince of an ancestral house of the Simeonites.


text:
 The slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, who was head of a clan, an ancestral house, in Midian.


text:
 for they have been your enemies by their wily dealings with you as regards Peor and as regards their kinswoman Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite prince, who was killed at the time of the slaughter because of Peor."


text:
 "Take a census, by ancestral houses, throughout the community of the Israelites of all those of twenty years or more who are fit for military service in Israel."


text:
 So on the plains of Moab along the Jericho stretch of the Jordan, Moses and the priest Eleazar registered


text:
 those of twenty years or more, as the LORD had commanded Moses. The Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were as follows:


text:
 Of Reuben, the first-born of Israel, the Reubenites by clans were: through Hanoch the clan of the Hanochites, through Pallu the clan of the Palluites,


text:
 These were the clans of the Reubenites, of whom forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty men were registered.


text:
 and the descendants of Eliab were Dathan and Abiram-- the same Dathan and Abiram, councilors of the community, who revolted against Moses and Aaron (like Korah's band when it rebelled against the LORD).


text:
 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them as a warning (Korah too and the band that died when the fire consumed two hundred and fifty men.


text:
 The Simeonites by clans were: through Nemuel the clan of the Nemuelites, through Jamin the clan of the Jaminites, through Jachin the clan of the Jachinites,


text:
 These were the clans of the Simeonites, of whom twenty-two thousand two hundred men were registered.


text:
 The Gadites by clans were: through Zephon the clan of the Zephonites, through Haggi the clan of the Haggites, through Shuni the clan of the Shunites,


text:
 The Judahites by clans were: through Shelah the clan of the Shelahites, through Perez the clan of the Perezites, through Zerah the clan of the Zerahites.


text:
 The Perezites were: through Hezron the clan of the Hezronites, through Hamul the clan of the Hamulites.


text:
 The Issacharites by clans were: through Tola the clan of the Tolaites, through Puvah the clan of the Puvahites,


text:
 The Zebulunites by clans were: through Sered the clan of the Seredites, through Elon the clan of the Elonites, through Jahleel the clan of the Jahleelites.


text:
 The Manassehites by clans were: through Machir the clan of the Machirites, through Gilead, a descendant of Machir, the clan of the Gileadites.


text:
 The Gileadites were: through Abiezer the clan of the Abiezrites, through Helek the clan of the Helekites,


text:
 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, had no sons, but only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.


text:
 The Ephraimites by clans were: through Shuthelah the clan of the Shuthelahites, through Becher the clan of the Bechrites, through Tahan the clan of the Tahanites.


text:
 These were the clans of the Ephraimites, of whom thirty-two thousand five hundred men were registered. These were the descendants of Joseph by clans.


text:
 The Benjaminites by clans were: through Bela the clan of the Belaites, through Ashbel the clan of the Ashbelites, through Ahiram the clan of the Ahiramites,


text:
 The descendants of Bela were Arad and Naaman: through Arad the clan of the Aradites, through Naaman the clan of the Naamanites.


text:
 The Asherites by clans were: through Imnah the clan of the Imnites, through Ishvi the clan of the Ishvites, through Beriah the clan of the Beriites,


text:
 The Naphtalites by clans were: through Jahzeel the clan of the Jahzeelites, through Guni the clan of the Gunites,


text:
 These six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty were the Israelites who were registered.


text:
 "Among these groups the land shall be divided as their heritage in keeping with the number of individuals in each group.


text:
 To a large group you shall assign a large heritage, to a small group a small heritage, each group receiving its heritage in proportion to the number of men registered in it.


text:
 The Levites registered by clans were: through Gershon the clan of the Gershonites, through Kohath the clan of the Kohathites, through Merari the clan of the Merarites.


text:
 These also were clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. Among the descendants of Kohath was Amram,


text:
 whose wife was named Jochebed. She also was of the tribe of Levi, born to the tribe in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.


text:
 The total number of male Levites one month or more of age, who were registered, was twenty-three thousand. They were not registered with the other Israelites, however, for no heritage was given them among the Israelites.


text:
 These, then, were the men registered by Moses and the priest Eleazar in the census of the Israelites taken on the plains of Moab along the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.


text:
 Among them there was not a man of those who had been registered by Moses and the priest Aaron in the census of the Israelites taken in the desert of Sinai.


text:
 For the LORD had told them that they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.


text:
 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph, had daughters named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They came forward,


text:
 and standing in the presence of Moses, the priest Eleazar, the princes, and the whole community at the entrance of the meeting tent, said:


text:
 "Our father died in the desert. Although he did not join those who banded together against the LORD (in Korah's band), he died for his own sin without leaving any sons.


text:
 But why should our father's name be withdrawn from his clan merely because he had no son? Let us, therefore, have property among our father's kinsmen."


text:
 "The plea of Zelophehad's daughters is just; you shall give them hereditary property among their father's kinsmen, letting their father's heritage pass on to them.


text:
 Therefore, tell the Israelites: If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall let his heritage pass on to his daughter;


text:
 if his father had no brothers, you shall give his heritage to his nearest relative in his clan, who shall then take possession of it." This is the legal norm for the Israelites, as the LORD commanded Moses.


text:
 The LORD said to Moses, "Go up here into the Abarim Mountains and view the land that I am giving to the Israelites.


text:
 because in the rebellion of the community in the desert of Zin you both rebelled against my order to manifest my sanctity to them by means of the water." (This is the water of Meribah of Kadesh in the desert of Zin.)


text:
 who shall act as their leader in all things, to guide them in all their actions; that the LORD'S community may not be like sheep without a shepherd."


text:
 And the LORD replied to Moses, "Take Joshua, son of Nun, a man of spirit, and lay your hand upon him.


text:
 Have him stand in the presence of the priest Eleazar and of the whole community, and commission him before their eyes.


text:
 He shall present himself to the priest Eleazar, to have him seek out for him the decisions of the Urim in the LORD'S presence; and as he directs, Joshua, all the Israelites with him, and the community as a whole shall perform all their actions."


text:
 Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. Taking Joshua and having him stand in the presence of the priest Eleazar and of the whole community,


text:
 "Give the Israelites this commandment: At the times I have appointed, you shall be careful to present to me the food offerings that are offered to me as sweet-smelling oblations.


text:
 "You shall tell them therefore: This is the oblation which you shall offer to the LORD: two unblemished yearling lambs each day as the established holocaust,


text:
 each with a cereal offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil of crushed olives.


text:
 This is the established holocaust that was offered at Mount Sinai as a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


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 And as the libation for the first lamb, you shall pour out to the LORD in the sanctuary a fourth of a hin of wine.


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 The other lamb, to be offered during the evening twilight, you shall offer with the same cereal offering and the same libation as in the morning, as a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


text:
 "On the sabbath day you shall offer two unblemished yearling lambs, with their cereal offering, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and with their libations.


text:
 Each sabbath there shall be the sabbath holocaust in addition to the established holocaust and its libation.


text:
 "On the first of each month you shall offer as a holocaust to the LORD two bullocks, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 with three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as the cereal offering for each bullock, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as the cereal offering for the ram,


text:
 and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as the cereal offering for each lamb, that the holocaust may be a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


text:
 Their libations shall be half a hin of wine for each bullock, a third of a hin for the ram, and a fourth of a hin for each lamb. This is the new moon holocaust for every new moon of the year.


text:
 Moreover, one goat shall be sacrificed as a sin offering to the LORD. These are to be offered in addition to the established holocaust and its libation.


text:
 and the fifteenth day of this month is the pilgrimage feast. For seven days unleavened bread is to be eaten.


text:
 As an oblation you shall offer a holocaust to the LORD, which shall consist of two bullocks, one ram, and seven yearling lambs that you are sure are unblemished,


text:
 with their cereal offerings of fine flour mixed with oil; offering three tenths of an ephah for each bullock, two tenths for the ram,


text:
 you shall make exactly the same offerings each day for seven days as food offerings, in addition to the established holocaust with its libation, for a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


text:
 "On the day of first fruits, on your feast of Weeks, when you present to the LORD the new cereal offering, you shall hold a sacred assembly, and do no sort of work.


text:
 You shall offer as a sweet-smelling holocaust to the LORD two bullocks, one ram, and seven yearling lambs that you are sure are unblemished,


text:
 You shall make these offerings, together with their libations, in addition to the established holocaust with its cereal offering.


text:
 "On the first day of the seventh month you shall hold a sacred assembly, and do no sort of work; it shall be a day on which you sound the trumpet.


text:
 You shall offer as a sweet-smelling holocaust to the LORD one bullock, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs,


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


text:
 These are to be offered in addition to the ordinary new-moon holocaust with its cereal offering, and in addition to the established holocaust with its cereal offering, together with the libations prescribed for them, as a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD.


text:
 "On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall hold a sacred assembly, and mortify yourselves, and do no sort of work.


text:
 You shall offer as a sweet-smelling holocaust to the LORD one bullock, one ram, and seven yearling lambs that you are sure are unblemished,


text:
 Moreover, one goat shall be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are to be offered in addition to the atonement sin offering, the established holocaust with its cereal offering, and their libations.


text:
 "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall hold a sacred assembly, and do no sort of work; then, for seven days following, you shall celebrate a pilgrimage feast to the LORD.


text:
 You shall offer as a sweet-smelling holocaust to the LORD thirteen bullocks, two rams, and fourteen yearling lambs that are unblemished,


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


text:
 Moreover, one goat shall be sacrificed as a sin offering. These are to be offered in addition to the established holocaust with its cereal offering and libation.


text:
 "On the second day you shall offer twelve bullocks, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 with their cereal offerings and libations as prescribed for the bullocks, rams and lambs in proportion to their number,


text:
 as well as one goat for a sin offering, besides the established holocaust with its cereal offering and libation.


text:
 "On the third day you shall offer eleven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 "On the fourth day you shall offer ten bullocks, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 "On the fifth day you shall offer nine bullocks, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 "On the sixth day you shall offer eight bullocks, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 "On the seventh day you shall offer seven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 You shall offer up in holocaust as a sweet-smelling oblation to the LORD one bullock, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs,


text:
 "These are the offerings you shall make to the LORD on your festivals, besides whatever holocausts, cereal offerings, libations, and peace offerings you present as your votive or freewill offerings."


text:
 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or binds himself under oath to a pledge of abstinence, he shall not violate his word, but must fulfill exactly the promise he has uttered.


text:
 "When a woman, while still a maiden in her father's house, makes a vow to the LORD, or binds herself to a pledge,


text:
 if her father learns of her vow or the pledge to which she bound herself and says nothing to her about it, then any vow or any pledge she has made remains valid.


text:
 But if on the day he learns of it her father expresses to her his disapproval, then any vow or any pledge she has made becomes null and void; and the LORD releases her from it, since her father has expressed to her his disapproval.


text:
 and her husband learns of it, yet says nothing to her that day about it, then the vow or pledge she had made remains valid.


text:
 But if on the day he learns of it her husband expresses to her his disapproval, he thereby annuls the vow she had made or the rash pledge to which she had bound herself, and the LORD releases her from it.


text:
 The vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, or any pledge to which such a woman binds herself, is valid.


text:
 and her husband learns of it yet says nothing to express to her his disapproval, then any vow or any pledge she has made remains valid.


text:
 But if on the day he learns of them her husband annuls them, then whatever she has expressly promised in her vow or in her pledge becomes null and void; since her husband has annulled them, the LORD releases her from them.


text:
 "Any vow or any pledge that she makes under oath to mortify herself, her husband can either allow to remain valid or render null and void.


text:
 But if her husband, day after day, says nothing at all to her about them, he thereby allows as valid any vow or any pledge she has made; he has allowed them to remain valid, because on the day he learned of them he said nothing to her about them.


text:
 If, however, he countermands them some time after he first learned of them, he is responsible for her guilt."


text:
 These are the statutes which the LORD prescribed through Moses concerning the relationship between a husband and his wife, as well as between a father and his daughter while she is still a maiden in her father's house.


text:
 So Moses told the people, "Select men from your midst and arm them for war, to attack the Midianites and execute the LORD'S vengeance on them.


text:
 From the clans of Israel, therefore, a thousand men of each tribe were levied, so that there were twelve thousand men armed for war.


text:
 Moses sent them out on the campaign, a thousand from each tribe, with Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest for the campaign, who had with him the sacred vessels and the trumpets for sounding the alarm.


text:
 They waged war against the Midianites, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and killed every male among them.


text:
 Besides those slain in battle, they killed the five Midianite kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba; and they also executed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword.


text:
 But the Israelites kept the women of the Midianites with their little ones as captives, and all their herds and flocks and wealth as spoil,


text:
 Then they took all the booty, with the people and beasts they had captured, and brought the captives, together with the spoils and booty,


text:
 to Moses and the priest Eleazar and to the Israelite community at their camp on the plains of Moab, along the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.


text:
 When Moses and the priest Eleazar, with all the princes of the community, went outside the camp to meet them,


text:
 Moses became angry with the officers of the army, the clan and company commanders, who were returning from combat.


text:
 "Why, they are the very ones who on Balaam's advice prompted the unfaithfulness of the Israelites toward the LORD in the Peor affair, which began the slaughter of the LORD'S community.


text:
 "Moreover, you shall stay outside the camp for seven days, and those of you who have slain anyone or touched anyone slain in battle shall purify yourselves on the third and on the seventh day. This applies both to you and to your captives.


text:
 Eleazar the priest told the soldiers who had returned from combat: "This is what the law, as prescribed by the LORD to Moses, ordains:


text:
 you shall put into the fire, that it may become clean; however, it must also be purified with lustral water. But whatever cannot stand fire you shall put into the water.


text:
 On the seventh day you shall wash your clothes, and then you will again be clean. After that you may enter the camp."


text:
 "With the help of the priest Eleazar and of the heads of the ancestral houses, count up all the human captives and the beasts that have been taken;


text:
 then divide them evenly, giving half to those who took active part in the war by going out to combat, and half to the rest of the community.


text:
 You shall levy a tax for the LORD on the warriors who went out to combat: one out of every five hundred persons, oxen, asses and sheep


text:
 in their half of the spoil you shall turn over to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to the LORD.


text:
 From the Israelites' half you shall take one out of every fifty persons, and the same from the different beasts, oxen, asses and sheep, and give them to the Levites, who have charge of the LORD'S Dwelling."


text:
 This booty, what was left of the loot which the soldiers had taken, amounted to six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,


text:
 The half that fell to those who had gone out to combat was: three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,


text:
 The taxes contributed to the LORD, Moses gave to the priest Eleazar, as the LORD had commanded him.


text:
 The half for the other Israelites, which fell to the community when Moses had taken it from the soldiers, was:


text:
 From this, the Israelites' share, Moses, as the LORD had ordered, took one out of every fifty, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites, who had charge of the LORD'S Dwelling.


text:
 and said to him, "Your servants have counted up the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.


text:
 So, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD, each of us will bring as an offering to the LORD some gold article he has picked up, such as an anklet, a bracelet, a ring, an earring, or a necklace."


text:
 The gold that they gave as a contribution to the LORD amounted in all to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. This was from the clan and company commanders;


text:
 Moses, then, and the priest Eleazar accepted the gold from the clan and company commanders, and put it in the meeting tent as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.


text:
 Now the Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. Noticing that the land of Jazer and of Gilead was grazing country,


text:
 which the LORD has laid low before the community of Israel, is grazing country. Now, since your servants have livestock,"


text:
 they continued, "if we find favor with you, let this land be given to your servants as their property. Do not make us cross the Jordan."


text:
 But Moses answered the Gadites and Reubenites: "Are your kinsmen, then, to engage in war, while you remain here?


text:
 They went up to the Wadi Eshcol and reconnoitered the land, then so discouraged the Israelites that they would not enter the land the LORD had given them.


text:
 'Because they have not followed me unreservedly, none of these men of twenty years or more who have come up from Egypt shall ever see this country I promised under oath to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,


text:
 except the Kenizzite Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun, who have followed the LORD unreservedly.'


text:
 So in his anger with the Israelites the LORD made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD had died out.


text:
 And now here you are, a brood of sinners, rising up in your fathers' place to add still more to the LORD'S blazing wrath against the Israelites.


text:
 If you turn away from following him, he will make them stay still longer in the desert, and so you will bring about the ruin of this whole nation."


text:
 But they were insistent with him: "We wish only to build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and towns for our families;


text:
 but we ourselves will march as troops in the van of the Israelites, until we have led them to their destination. Meanwhile our families can remain here in the fortified towns, safe from attack by the natives.


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


text:
 and will not claim any heritage with them once we cross the Jordan, so long as we receive a heritage for ourselves on this eastern side of the Jordan."


text:
 and to cross the Jordan in full force before the LORD until he has driven his enemies out of his way


text:
 and the land is subdued before him, then you may return here, quit of every obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this region shall be your possession before the LORD.


text:
 But if you do not do this, you will sin against the LORD, and you can be sure that you will not escape the consequences of your sin.


text:
 Build the towns, then, for your families, and the folds for your flocks, but also fulfill your express promise."


text:
 all your servants will go across as armed troops to battle before the LORD, just as your lordship says."


text:
 Moses, therefore, gave this order in their regard to the priest Eleazar, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral tribes of the Israelites:


text:
 "If all the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you as combat troops before the LORD, you shall give them Gilead as their property when the land has been subdued before you.


text:
 But if they will not go across with you as combat troops before the LORD, you shall bring their wives and children and livestock across before you into Canaan, and they shall have their property with you in the land of Canaan."


text:
 To this the Gadites and Reubenites replied, "We will do what the LORD has commanded us, your servants.


text:
 We ourselves will go across into the land of Canaan as troops before the LORD, but we will retain our hereditary property on this side of the Jordan."


text:
 So Moses gave them (the Gadites and Reubenites, as well as half the tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan,) the land with its towns and the districts that surrounded them.


text:
 Nebo, Baal-meon (names to be changed!), and Sibmah. These towns, which they rebuilt, they called by their old names.


text:
 The descendants of Machir, son of Manasseh, invaded Gilead and captured it, driving out the Amorites who were there.


text:
 Jair, a Manassehite clan, campaigned against the tent villages, captured them and called them Havvoth-jair.


text:
 Nobah also campaigned against Kenath, captured it with its dependencies and called it Nobah after his own name.


text:
 The following are the stages by which the Israelites journeyed up by companies from the land of Egypt under the guidance of Moses and Aaron.


text:
 By the LORD'S command Moses recorded the starting places of the various stages. The starting places of the successive stages were:


text:
 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the Passover morrow the Israelites went forth in triumph, in view of all Egypt,


text:
 While the Egyptians buried their first-born all of whom the LORD had struck down; on their gods, too, the LORD executed judgments.


text:
 Setting out from Etham, they turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is opposite Baal-zephon, and they camped opposite Migdol.


text:
 Setting out from Pi-hahiroth, they crossed over through the sea into the desert, and after a three days' journey in the desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.


text:
 Setting out from Marah, they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.


text:
 (Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the LORD'S command, and there he died in the fortieth year from the departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.


text:
 Now, when the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming....)


text:
 Setting out from the Abarim Mountains, they camped on the plains of Moab along the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.


text:
 The LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab beside the Jericho stretch of the Jordan and said to him:


text:
 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you; destroy all their stone figures and molten images, and demolish all their high places.


text:
 "You shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land as your property.


text:
 You shall apportion the land among yourselves by lot, clan by clan, assigning a large heritage to a large group and a small heritage to a small group. Wherever anyone's lot falls, there shall his property be within the heritage of his ancestral tribe.


text:
 "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those whom you allow to remain will become as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you in the country where you live,


text:
 "Give the Israelites this order: When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the territory that shall fall to you as your heritage-- the land of Canaan with its boundaries:


text:
 "Your southern boundary shall be at the desert of Zin along the border of Edom; on the east it shall begin at the end of the Salt Sea,


text:
 and turning south of the Akrabbim Pass, it shall cross Zin, and extend south of Kadesh-barnea to Hazar-addar; thence it shall cross to Azmon,


text:
 "For your western boundary you shall have the Great Sea with its coast; this shall be your western boundary.


text:
 "The following shall be your boundary on the north: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor,


text:
 and shall continue it from Mount Hor to Labo in the land of Hamath, with the boundary extending through Zedad.


text:
 Thence the boundary shall reach to Ziphron and terminate at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern boundary.


text:
 From Shepham the boundary shall go down to Ar-Baal, east of Ain, and descending further, shall strike the ridge on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth;


text:
 thence the boundary shall continue along the Jordan and terminate with the Salt Sea. "This is the land that shall be yours, with the boundaries that surround it."


text:
 Moses also gave this order to the Israelites: "This is the land, to be apportioned among you by lot, which the LORD has commanded to be given to the nine and one half tribes.


text:
 For all the ancestral houses of the tribe of Reuben, and the ancestral houses of the tribe of Gad, as well as half of the tribe of Manasseh, have already received their heritage;


text:
 these two and one half tribes have received their heritage on the eastern side of the Jericho stretch of the Jordan, toward the sunrise."


text:
 "These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land among you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua, son of Nun,


text:
 These are they whom the LORD commanded to assign the Israelites their heritage in the land of Canaan.


text:
 The LORD gave these instructions to Moses on the plains of Moab beside the Jericho stretch of the Jordan:


text:
 "Tell the Israelites that out of their hereditary property they shall give the Levites cities for homes, as well as pasture lands around the cities.


text:
 The cities shall serve them to dwell in, and the pasture lands shall serve their herds and flocks and other animals.


text:
 The pasture lands of the cities to be assigned the Levites shall extend a thousand cubits from the city walls in each direction.


text:
 Thus you shall measure out two thousand cubits outside the city along each side-- east, south, west and north-- with the city lying in the center. This shall serve them as the pasture lands of their cities.


text:
 "Now these are the cities you shall give to the Levites: the six cities of asylum which you must establish as places where a homicide can take refuge, and in addition forty-two other cities--


text:
 In assigning the cities from the property of the Israelites, take more from a larger group and fewer from a smaller one, so that each group will cede cities to the Levites in proportion to its own heritage."


text:
 select for yourselves cities to serve as cities of asylum, where a homicide who has killed someone unintentionally may take refuge.


text:
 These cities shall serve you as places of asylum from the avenger of blood, so that a homicide shall not be put to death unless he is first tried before the community.


text:
 These six cities of asylum shall serve not only the Israelites but all the resident or transient aliens among them, so that anyone who has killed another unintentionally may take refuge there.


text:
 "If a man strikes another with an iron instrument and causes his death, he is a murderer and shall be put to death.


text:
 If a man strikes another with a death-dealing stone in his hand and causes his death, he is a murderer and shall be put to death.


text:
 If a man strikes another with a death-dealing club in his hand and causes his death, he is a murderer and shall be put to death.


text:
 "If a man pushes another out of hatred, or after lying in wait for him throws something at him, and causes his death,


text:
 or if he strikes another out of enmity and causes his death, he shall be put to death as a murderer. The avenger of blood may execute the murderer on sight.


text:
 "However, if a man pushes another accidentally and not out of enmity, or if without lying in wait for him he throws some object at him,


text:
 or without seeing him throws a death-dealing stone which strikes him and causes his death, although he was not his enemy nor seeking to harm him:


text:
 then the community, deciding the case between the slayer and the avenger of blood in accordance with these norms,


text:
 shall free the homicide from the avenger of blood and shall remand him to the city of asylum where he took refuge; and he shall stay there until the death of the high priest who has been anointed with sacred oil.


text:
 If the homicide of his own accord leaves the bounds of the city of asylum where he has taken refuge,


text:
 and the avenger of blood finds him beyond these bounds and kills him, the avenger incurs no bloodguilt;


text:
 the homicide was bound to stay in his city of asylum until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the homicide return to his own district.


text:
 "Whenever someone kills another, the evidence of witnesses is required for the execution of the murderer. The evidence of a single witness is not sufficient for putting a person to death.


text:
 "You shall not accept indemnity in place of the life of a murderer who deserves the death penalty; he must be put to death.


text:
 Nor shall you accept indemnity to allow a refugee to leave his city of asylum and again dwell elsewhere in the land before the death of the high priest.


text:
 You shall not desecrate the land where you live. Since bloodshed desecrates the land, the land can have no atonement for the blood shed on it except through the blood of him who shed it.


text:
 Do not defile the land in which you live and in the midst of which I dwell; for I am the LORD who dwells in the midst of the Israelites."


text:
 The heads of the ancestral houses in the clan of descendants of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh-- one of the Josephite clans-- came up and laid this plea before Moses and the priest Eleazar and before the princes who were the heads of the ancestral houses of the other Israelites.


text:
 They said: "The LORD commanded you, my lord, to apportion the land by lot among the Israelites; and you, my lord, were also commanded by the LORD to give the heritage of our kinsman Zelophehad to his daughters.


text:
 But if they marry into one of the other Israelite tribes, their heritage will be withdrawn from our ancestral heritage and will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry; thus the heritage that fell to us by lot will be diminished.


text:
 When the Israelites celebrate the jubilee year, the heritage of these women will be permanently added to that of the tribe into which they marry and will be withdrawn from that of our ancestral tribe."


text:
 So Moses gave this regulation to the Israelites according to the instructions of the LORD: "The tribe of the Josephites are right in what they say.


text:
 This is what the LORD commands with regard to the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry into a clan of their ancestral tribe,


text:
 so that no heritage of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another, but all the Israelites will retain their own ancestral heritage.


text:
 Therefore, every daughter who inherits property in any of the Israelite tribes shall marry someone belonging to a clan of her own ancestral tribe, in order that all the Israelites may remain in possession of their own ancestral heritage.


text:
 Thus, no heritage can pass from one tribe to another, but all the Israelite tribes will retain their own ancestral heritage."


text:
 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, Zelophehad's daughters, married relatives on their father's side


text:
 within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph; hence their heritage remained in the tribe of their father's clan.


text:
 These are the commandments and decisions which the LORD prescribed for the Israelites through Moses, on the plains of Moab beside the Jericho stretch of the Jordan.


text:
 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan ( in the desert, in the Arabah, opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab;


text:
 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites all the commands that the LORD had given him in their regard.


text:
 After he had defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei,


text:
 Leave here and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the surrounding regions, the land of the Canaanites in the Arabah, the mountains, the foothills, the Negeb and the seacoast; to Lebanon, and as far as the Great River (the Euphrates).


text:
 I have given that land over to you. Go now and occupy the land I swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I would give to them and to their descendants.'


text:
 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over, and bless you as he promised!


text:
 Choose wise, intelligent and experienced men from each of your tribes, that I may appoint them as your leaders.'


text:
 So I took outstanding men of your tribes, wise and experienced, and made them your leaders as officials over thousands, over hundreds, over fifties and over tens, and other tribal officers.


text:
 I charged your judges at that time, 'Listen to complaints among your kinsmen, and administer true justice to both parties even if one of them is an alien.


text:
 In rendering judgment, do not consider who a person is; give ear to the lowly and to the great alike, fearing no man, for judgment is God's. Refer to me any case that is too hard for you and I will hear it.'


text:
 "Then, in obedience to the command of the LORD, our God, we set out from Horeb and journeyed through the whole desert, vast and fearful as you have seen, in the direction of the hill country of the Amorites. We had reached Kadesh-barnea


text:
 when I said to you, 'You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD, our God, is giving us.


text:
 The LORD, your God, has given this land over to you. Go up and occupy it, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, commands you. Do not fear or lose heart.'


text:
 Then all of you came up to me and said, 'Let us send men ahead to reconnoiter the land for us and report to us on the road we must follow and the cities we must take.'


text:
 Then, taking along some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, 'The land which the LORD, our God, gives us is good.'


text:
 you set to murmuring in your tents, 'Out of hatred for us the LORD has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites and destroy us.


text:
 What shall we meet with up there? Our kinsmen have made us fainthearted by reporting that the people are stronger and taller than we, and their cities are large and fortified to the sky; besides, they saw the Anakim there.'


text:
 The LORD, your God, who goes before you, will himself fight for you, just as he took your part before your very eyes in Egypt,


text:
 as well as in the desert, where you saw how the LORD, your God, carried you, as a man carries his child, all along your journey until you arrived at this place.'


text:
 who journeys before you to find you a resting place-- by day in the cloud, and by night in the fire, to show the way you must go.


text:
 and he swore, 'Not one man of this evil generation shall look upon the good land I swore to give to your fathers,


text:
 except Caleb, son of Jephunneh; he shall see it. For to him and to his sons I will give the land he trod upon, because he has followed the LORD unreservedly.'


text:
 but your aide Joshua, son of Nun, shall enter. Encourage him, for he is to give Israel its heritage.


text:
 Your little ones, who you said would become booty, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad-- they shall enter; to them I will give it, and they shall occupy it.


text:
 "In reply you said to me, 'We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up ourselves and fight, just as the LORD, our God, commanded us.' And each of you girded on his weapons, making light of going up into the hill country.


text:
 But the LORD said to me, 'Warn them: Do not go up and fight, lest you be beaten down before your enemies, for I will not be in your midst.'


text:
 I gave you this warning but you would not listen. In defiance of the LORD'S command you arrogantly marched off into the hill country.


text:
 Then the Amorites living there came out against you and, like bees, chased you, cutting you down in Seir as far as Hormah.


text:
 "When we did turn and proceed into the desert on the Red Sea road, as the LORD had commanded me, we circled around the highlands of Seir for a long time.


text:
 Give this order to the people: You are now about to pass through the territory of your kinsmen, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. Though they are afraid of you, be very careful


text:
 not to come in conflict with them, for I will not give you so much as a foot of their land, since I have already given Esau possession of the highlands of Seir.


text:
 The LORD, your God, has blessed you in all your undertakings; he has been concerned about your journey through this vast desert. It is now forty years that he has been with you, and you have never been in want.'


text:
 "Then we left behind us the Arabah route, Elath, Ezion-geber, and Seir, where our kinsmen, the descendants of Esau, live; and we went on toward the desert of Moab.


text:
 And the LORD said to me, 'Do not show hostility to the Moabites or engage them in battle, for I will not give you possession of any of their land, since I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their own.


text:
 In Seir, however, the former inhabitants were the Horites; the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, clearing them out of the way and taking their place, just as the Israelites have done in the land of their heritage which the LORD has given them.)


text:
 Thirty-eight years had elapsed between our departure from Kadesh-barnea and that crossing; in the meantime the whole generation of soldiers had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn they should.


text:
 As you come opposite the Ammonites, do not show hostility or come in conflict with them, for I will not give you possession of any land of the Ammonites, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their own.


text:
 (This also was considered a country of the Rephaim from its former inhabitants, whom the Ammonites called Zamzummim,


text:
 a people strong and numerous and tall like the Anakim. But these, too, the LORD cleared out of the way for the Ammonites, who ousted them and took their place.


text:
 He had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who dwell in Seir, by clearing the Horites out of their way, so that the descendants of Esau have taken their place down to the present.


text:
 So also the Caphtorim, migrating from Caphtor, cleared away the Avvim, who once dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, and took their place.)


text:
 "'Advance now across the Wadi Arnon. I now deliver into your hands Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin the occupation; engage him in battle.


text:
 This day I will begin to put a fear and dread of you into every nation under the heavens, so that at the mention of your name they will quake and tremble before you.'


text:
 "So I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon, king of Heshbon, with this offer of peace:


text:
 'Let me pass through your country by the highway; I will go along it without turning aside to the right or to the left.


text:
 For the food I eat which you will supply, and for the water you give me to drink, you shall be paid in silver. Only let me march through,


text:
 as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar have done, until I cross the Jordan into the land which the LORD, our God, is about to give us.'


text:
 But Sihon, king of Heshbon, refused to let us pass through his land, because the LORD, your God, made him stubborn in mind and obstinate in heart that he might deliver him up to you, as indeed he has now done.


text:
 "Then the LORD said to me, 'Now that I have already begun to hand over to you Sihon and his land, begin the actual occupation.'


text:
 but since the LORD, our God, had delivered him to us, we defeated him and his sons and all his people.


text:
 At that time we seized all his cities and doomed them all, with their men, women and children; we left no survivor.


text:
 From Aroer on the edge of the Wadi Arnon and from the city in the wadi itself, as far as Gilead, no city was too well fortified for us to whom the LORD had delivered them up.


text:
 However, in obedience to the command of the LORD, our God, you did not encroach upon any of the Ammonite land, neither the region bordering on the Wadi Jabbok, nor the cities of the highlands.


text:
 "Then we turned and proceeded toward Bashan. But Og, king of Bashan, advanced against us with all his people to give battle at Edrei.


text:
 The LORD, however, said to me, 'Do not be afraid of him, for I have delivered him into your hand with all his people and his land. Do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.'


text:
 And thus the LORD, our God, delivered into our hands Og, king of Bashan, with all his people. We defeated him so completely that we left him no survivor.


text:
 At that time we captured all his cities, none of them eluding our grasp, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan: sixty cities in all,


text:
 to say nothing of the great number of unwalled towns. All the cities were fortified with high walls and gates and bars.


text:
 As we had done to Sihon, king of Heshbon, so also here we doomed all the cities, with their men, women and children;


text:
 "And so at that time we took from the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan the territory from the Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon


text:
 comprising all the cities of the plateau and all Gilead and all the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan including Salecah and Edrei.


text:
 (Og, king of Bashan, was the last remaining survivor of the Rephaim. He had a bed of iron, nine regular cubits long and four wide, which is still preserved in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)


text:
 "When we occupied the land at that time, I gave Reuben and Gad the territory from Aroer, on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, halfway up into the highlands of Gilead, with the cities therein.


text:
 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, the whole Argob region, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All this region of Bashan was once called a land of the Rephaim.


text:
 Jair, a Manassehite clan, took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and called it after his own name Bashan Havvoth-jair, the name it bears today.)


text:
 and to Reuben and Gad the territory from Gilead to the Wadi Arnon-- including the wadi bed and its banks-- and to the Wadi Jabbok, which is the border of the Ammonites,


text:
 as well as the Arabah with the Jordan and its eastern banks from Chinnereth to the Salt Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.


text:
 "At that time I charged them as follows: 'The LORD, your God, has given you this land as your own. But all you troops equipped for battle must cross over in the vanguard of your brother Israelites.


text:
 Only your wives and children, as well as your livestock, of which I know you have a large number, shall remain behind in the towns I have given you,


text:
 until the LORD has settled your kinsmen as well, and they too possess the land which the LORD, your God, will give them on the other side of the Jordan. Then you may all return to the possessions I have given you.'


text:
 "It was then that I instructed Joshua, 'Your eyes have seen all that the LORD, your God, has done to both these kings; so, too, will the LORD do to all the kingdoms which you will encounter over there.


text:
 'O Lord GOD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and might. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds as mighty as yours?


text:
 Ah, let me cross over and see this good land beyond the Jordan, this fine hill country, and the Lebanon!'


text:
 But the LORD was angry with me on your account and would not hear me. 'Enough!' the LORD said to me. 'Speak to me no more of this.


text:
 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look out to the west, and to the north, and to the south, and to the east. Look well, for you shall not cross this Jordan.


text:
 Commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall cross at the head of this people and shall put them in possession of the land you are to see.'


text:
 "Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.


text:
 In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.


text:
 You have seen with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal-peor: the LORD, your God, destroyed from your midst everyone that followed the Baal of Peor;


text:
 Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.


text:
 Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'


text:
 For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?


text:
 Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?


text:
 "However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children.


text:
 There was the day on which you stood before the LORD, your God, at Horeb, and he said to me, 'Assemble the people for me; I will have them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me as long as they live in the land and may so teach their children.'


text:
 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, which blazed to the very sky with fire and was enveloped in a dense black cloud.


text:
 Then the LORD spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.


text:
 He proclaimed to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep: the ten commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone.


text:
 The LORD charged me at that time to teach you the statutes and decrees which you are to observe over in the land you will occupy.


text:
 "You saw no form at all on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. Be strictly on your guard, therefore,


text:
 not to degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman,


text:
 And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or any star among the heavenly hosts, do not be led astray into adoring them and serving them. These the LORD, your God, has let fall to the lot of all other nations under the heavens;


text:
 but you he has taken and led out of that iron foundry, Egypt, that you might be his very own people, as you are today.


text:
 Since the LORD was angered against me on your account and swore that I should not cross the Jordan nor enter the good land which he is giving you as a heritage,


text:
 I myself shall die in this country without crossing the Jordan; but you will cross over and take possession of that good land.


text:
 Take heed, therefore, lest, forgetting the covenant which the LORD, your God, has made with you, you fashion for yourselves against his command an idol in any form whatsoever.


text:
 "When you have children and grandchildren, and have grown old in the land, should you then degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol in any form and by this evil done in his sight provoke the LORD, your God,


text:
 I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that you shall all quickly perish from the land which you will occupy when you cross the Jordan. You shall not live in it for any length of time but shall be promptly wiped out.


text:
 The LORD will scatter you among the nations, and there shall remain but a handful of you among the nations to which the LORD will lead you.


text:
 There you shall serve gods fashioned by the hands of man out of wood and stone, gods which can neither see nor hear, neither eat nor smell.


text:
 Yet there too you shall seek the LORD, your God; and you shall indeed find him when you search after him with your whole heart and your whole soul.


text:
 In your distress, when all these things shall have come upon you, you shall finally return to the LORD, your God, and heed his voice.


text:
 Since the LORD, your God, is a merciful God, he will not abandon and destroy you, nor forget the covenant which under oath he made with your fathers.


text:
 "Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?


text:
 Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?


text:
 Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire.


text:
 For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,


text:
 driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.


text:
 This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.


text:
 You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."


text:
 that a homicide might take refuge there if he unwittingly killed his neighbor to whom he had previously borne no malice, and that he might save his life by fleeing to one of these cities:


text:
 Bezer in the desert, in the region of the plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.


text:
 These are the ordinances, statutes and decrees which he proclaimed to them when they had come out of Egypt


text:
 and were beyond the Jordan in the ravine opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon and whom Moses and the Israelites defeated after coming out of Egypt.


text:
 They occupied his land and the land of Og, king of Bashan, as well-- the land of these two kings of the Amorites in the region east of the Jordan:


text:
 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and decrees which I proclaim in your hearing this day, that you may learn them and take care to observe them.


text:
 not with our fathers did he make this covenant, but with us, all of us who are alive here this day.


text:
 Since you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain, I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to announce to you these words of the LORD:


text:
 you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation


text:
 but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.


text:
 'You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain.


text:
 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then, whether by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or ass or any of your beasts, or the alien who lives with you. Your male and female slave should rest as you do.


text:
 For remember that you too were once slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, brought you from there with his strong hand and outstretched arm. That is why the LORD, your God, has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.


text:
 'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD, your God, has commanded you, that you may have a long life and prosperity in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.


text:
 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. 'You shall not desire your neighbor's house or field, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything that belongs to him.'


text:
 "These words, and nothing more, the LORD spoke with a loud voice to your entire assembly on the mountain from the midst of the fire and the dense cloud. He wrote them upon two tablets of stone and gave them to me.


text:
 But when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, you came to me in the person of all your tribal heads and elders,


text:
 and said, 'The LORD, our God, has indeed let us see his glory and his majesty! We have heard his voice from the midst of the fire and have found out today that a man can still live after God has spoken with him.


text:
 But why should we die now? Surely this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD, our God, any more, we shall die.


text:
 For what mortal has heard, as we have, the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of fire, and survived?


text:
 Go closer, you, and hear all that the LORD, our God, will say, and then tell us what the LORD, our God, tells you; we will listen and obey.'


text:
 "The LORD heard your words as you were speaking to me and said to me, 'I have heard the words these people have spoken to you, which are all well said.


text:
 Would that they might always be of such a mind, to fear me and to keep all my commandments! Then they and their descendants would prosper forever.


text:
 Then you wait here near me and I will give you all the commandments, the statutes and decrees you must teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.'


text:
 "Be careful, therefore, to do as the LORD, your God, has commanded you, not turning aside to the right or to the left,


text:
 but following exactly the way prescribed for you by the LORD, your God, that you may live and prosper, and may have long life in the land which you are to occupy.


text:
 "These then are the commandments, the statutes and decrees which the LORD, your God, has ordered that you be taught to observe in the land into which you are crossing for conquest,


text:
 so that you and your son and your grandson may fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life.


text:
 Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them, that you may grow and prosper the more, in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers, to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.


text:
 Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.


text:
 "When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,


text:
 with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill,


text:
 lest the wrath of the LORD, your God, flare up against you and he destroy you from the face of the land; for the LORD, your God, who is in your midst, is a jealous God.


text:
 But keep the commandments of the LORD, your God, and the ordinances and statutes he has enjoined on you.


text:
 Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that you may, according to his word, prosper, and may enter in and possess the good land which the LORD promised on oath to your fathers,


text:
 "Later on, when your son asks you what these ordinances, statutes and decrees mean which the LORD, our God, has enjoined on you,


text:
 you shall say to your son, 'We were once slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand


text:
 and wrought before our eyes signs and wonders, great and dire, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and his whole house.


text:
 He brought us from there to lead us into the land he promised on oath to our fathers, and to give it to us.


text:
 Therefore, the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes in fear of the LORD, our God, that we may always have as prosperous and happy a life as we have today;


text:
 and our justice before the LORD, our God, is to consist in carefully observing all these commandments he has enjoined on us.'


text:
 "When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which you are to enter and occupy, and dislodges great nations before you-- the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites: seven nations more numerous and powerful than you--


text:
 and when the LORD, your God, delivers them up to you and you defeat them, you shall doom them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy.


text:
 You shall not intermarry with them, neither giving your daughters to their sons nor taking their daughters for your sons.


text:
 For they would turn your sons from following me to serving other gods, and then the wrath of the LORD would flare up against you and quickly destroy you.


text:
 "But this is how you must deal with them: Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, chop down their sacred poles, and destroy their idols by fire.


text:
 For you are a people sacred to the LORD, your God; he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own.


text:
 It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations.


text:
 It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.


text:
 Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed, the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant down to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments,


text:
 but who repays with destruction the person who hates him; he does not dally with such a one, but makes him personally pay for it.


text:
 You shall therefore carefully observe the commandments, the statutes and the decrees which I enjoin on you today.


text:
 "As your reward for heeding these decrees and observing them carefully, the LORD, your God, will keep with you the merciful covenant which he promised on oath to your fathers.


text:
 He will love and bless and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your soil, your grain and wine and oil, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks, in the land which he swore to your fathers he would give you.


text:
 You will be blessed above all peoples; no man or woman among you shall be childless nor shall your livestock be barren.


text:
 The LORD will remove all sickness from you; he will not afflict you with any of the malignant diseases that you know from Egypt, but will leave them with all your enemies.


text:
 "You shall consume all the nations which the LORD, your God, will deliver up to you. You are not to look on them with pity, lest you be ensnared into serving their gods.


text:
 Perhaps you will say to yourselves, 'These nations are greater than we. How can we dispossess them?'


text:
 But do not be afraid of them. Rather, call to mind what the LORD, your God, did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:


text:
 the great testings which your own eyes have seen, the signs and wonders, his strong hand and outstretched arm with which the LORD, your God, brought you out. The same also will he do to all the nations of whom you are now afraid.


text:
 Moreover, the LORD, your God, will send hornets among them, until the survivors who have hidden from you are destroyed.


text:
 Therefore, do not be terrified by them, for the LORD, your God, who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God.


text:
 He will dislodge these nations before you little by little. You cannot exterminate them all at once, lest the wild beasts become too numerous for you.


text:
 The LORD, your God, will deliver them up to you and will rout them utterly until they are annihilated.


text:
 He will deliver their kings into your hand, that you may make their names perish from under the heavens. No man will be able to stand up against you, till you have put an end to them.


text:
 The images of their gods you shall destroy by fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD, your God.


text:
 You shall not bring any abominable thing into your house, lest you be doomed with it; loathe and abhor it utterly as a thing that is doomed.


text:
 "Be careful to observe all the commandments I enjoin on you today, that you may live and increase, and may enter in and possess the land which the LORD promised on oath to your fathers.


text:
 Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments.


text:
 He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.


text:
 For the LORD, your God, is bringing you into a good country, a land with streams of water, with springs and fountains welling up in the hills and valleys,


text:
 a land where you can eat bread without stint and where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones contain iron and in whose hills you can mine copper.


text:
 But when you have eaten your fill, you must bless the LORD, your God, for the good country he has given you.


text:
 Be careful not to forget the LORD, your God, by neglecting his commandments and decrees and statutes which I enjoin on you today:


text:
 you then become haughty of heart and unmindful of the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery;


text:
 who guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its saraph serpents and scorpions, its parched and waterless ground; who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock


text:
 and fed you in the desert with manna, a food unknown to your fathers, that he might afflict you and test you, but also make you prosperous in the end.


text:
 Otherwise, you might say to yourselves, 'It is my own power and the strength of my own hand that has obtained for me this wealth.'


text:
 Remember then, it is the LORD, your God, who gives you the power to acquire wealth, by fulfilling, as he has now done, the covenant which he swore to your fathers.


text:
 But if you forget the LORD, your God, and follow other gods, serving and worshiping them, I forewarn you this day that you will perish utterly.


text:
 Like the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so shall you too perish for not heeding the voice of the LORD, your God.


text:
 "Hear, O Israel! You are now about to cross the Jordan to enter in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than yourselves, having large cities fortified to the sky,


text:
 the Anakim, a people great and tall. You know of them and have heard it said of them, 'Who can stand up against the Anakim?'


text:
 Understand, then, today that it is the LORD, your God, who will cross over before you as a consuming fire; he it is who will reduce them to nothing and subdue them before you, so that you can drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD promised you.


text:
 After the LORD, your God, has thrust them out of your way, do not say to yourselves, 'It is because of my merits that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land'; for it is really because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you.


text:
 No, it is not because of your merits or the integrity of your heart that you are going in to take possession of their land; but the LORD, your God, is driving these nations out before you on account of their wickedness and in order to keep the promise which he made on oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


text:
 Understand this, therefore: it is not because of your merits that the LORD, your God, is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.


text:
 "Bear in mind and do not forget how you angered the LORD, your God, in the desert. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you arrived in this place, you have been rebellious toward the LORD.


text:
 when I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you. Meanwhile I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking,


text:
 till the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone inscribed, by God's own finger, with a copy of all the words that the LORD spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.


text:
 Then, at the end of the forty days and forty nights, when the LORD had given me the two stone tablets of the covenant,


text:
 he said to me, 'Go down from here now, quickly, for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have become depraved; they have already turned aside from the way I pointed out to them and have made for themselves a molten idol.


text:
 'Let me be, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under the heavens. I will then make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'


text:
 "When I had come down again from the blazing, fiery mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in both my hands,


text:
 I saw how you had sinned against the LORD, your God: you had already turned aside from the way which the LORD had pointed out to you by making for yourselves a molten calf!


text:
 Then, as before, I lay prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking, because of all the sin you had committed in the sight of the LORD and the evil you had done to provoke him.


text:
 For I dreaded the fierce anger of the LORD against you: his wrath would destroy you. Yet once again the LORD listened to me.


text:
 With Aaron, too, the LORD was deeply angry, and would have killed him had I not prayed for him also at that time.


text:
 Then, taking the calf, the sinful object you had made, and fusing it with fire, I ground it down to powder as fine as dust, which I threw into the wadi that went down the mountainside.


text:
 And when he sent you up from Kadesh-barnea to take possession of the land he was giving you, you rebelled against this command of the LORD, your God, and would not trust or obey him.


text:
 "Those forty days, then, and forty nights, I lay prostrate before the LORD, because he had threatened to destroy you.


text:
 This was my prayer to him: O Lord GOD, destroy not your people, the heritage which your majesty has ransomed and brought out of Egypt with your strong hand.


text:
 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Look not upon the stubbornness of this people nor upon their wickedness and sin,


text:
 lest the people from whose land you have brought us say, 'The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he promised them'; or 'Out of hatred for them, he brought them out to slay them in the desert.'


text:
 They are, after all, your people and your heritage, whom you have brought out by your great power and with your outstretched arm.


text:
 "At that time the LORD said to me, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the former; then come up the mountain to me. Also make an ark of wood.


text:
 I will write upon the tablets the commandments that were on the former tablets that you broke, and you shall place them in the ark.'


text:
 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the former, and went up the mountain carrying the two tablets.


text:
 The LORD then wrote on them, as he had written before, the ten commandments which he spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. After the LORD had given them to me,


text:
 I turned and came down the mountain, and placed the tablets in the ark I had made. There they have remained, in keeping with the command the LORD gave me.


text:
 (The Israelites set out from Beeroth Bene-jaakan for Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, his son Eleazar succeeding him in the priestly office.


text:
 From there they set out for Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah for Jotbathah, a region where there is water in the wadies.)


text:
 "At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to be in attendance before the LORD and minister to him, and to give blessings in his name, as they have done to this day.


text:
 For this reason, Levi has no share in the heritage with his brothers; the LORD himself is his heritage, as the LORD, your God, has told him.


text:
 "After I had spent these other forty days and forty nights on the mountain, and the LORD had once again heard me and decided not to destroy you,


text:
 he said to me, 'Go now and set out at the head of your people, that they may enter in and occupy the land which I swore to their fathers I would give them.'


text:
 "And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul,


text:
 Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it.


text:
 Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants, in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.


text:
 For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;


text:
 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.


text:
 The LORD, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; hold fast to him and swear by his name.


text:
 He is your glory, he, your God, who has done for you those great and terrible things which your own eyes have seen.


text:
 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy strong, and now the LORD, your God, has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.


text:
 "Love the LORD, your God, therefore, and always heed his charge: his statutes, decrees and commandments.


text:
 It is not your children, who have not known it from experience, but you yourselves who must now understand the discipline of the LORD, your God; his majesty, his strong hand and outstretched arm;


text:
 the signs and deeds he wrought among the Egyptians, on Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and on all his land;


text:
 what he did to the Egyptian army and to their horses and chariots, engulfing them in the water of the Red Sea as they pursued you, and bringing ruin upon them even to this day;


text:
 and what he did to the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, when the ground opened its mouth and swallowed them up out of the midst of Israel, with their families and tents and every living thing that belonged to them.


text:
 Keep all the commandments, then, which I enjoin on you today, that you may be strong enough to enter in and take possession of the land into which you are crossing,


text:
 and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers he would give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.


text:
 "For the land which you are to enter and occupy is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you would sow your seed and then water it by hand, as in a vegetable garden.


text:
 No, the land into which you are crossing for conquest is a land of hills and valleys that drinks in rain from the heavens,


text:
 a land which the LORD, your God, looks after; his eyes are upon it continually from the beginning of the year to the end.


text:
 If, then, you truly heed my commandments which I enjoin on you today, loving and serving the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul,


text:
 I will give the seasonal rain to your land, the early rain and the late rain, that you may have your grain, wine and oil to gather in;


text:
 For then the wrath of the LORD will flare up against you and he will close up the heavens, so that no rain will fall, and the soil will not yield its crops, and you will soon perish from the good land he is giving you.


text:
 "Therefore, take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your forehead.


text:
 so that, as long as the heavens are above the earth, you and your children may live on in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers he would give them.


text:
 "For if you are careful to observe all these commandments I enjoin on you, loving the LORD, your God, and following his ways exactly, and holding fast to him,


text:
 the LORD will drive all these nations out of your way, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.


text:
 Every place where you set foot shall be yours: from the desert and from Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.


text:
 None shall stand up against you; the LORD, your God, will spread the fear and dread of you through any land where you set foot, as he promised you.


text:
 a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today, to follow other gods, whom you have not known.


text:
 When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which you are to enter and occupy, then you shall pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, the curse on Mount Ebal.


text:
 (Are they not beyond the Jordan, on the other side of the western road in the country of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite the Gilgal beside the terebinth of Moreh?)


text:
 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. When, therefore, you take possession of it and settle there,


text:
 "These are the statutes and decrees which you must be careful to observe in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to occupy, as long as you live on its soil.


text:
 Destroy without fail every place on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree where the nations you are to dispossess worship their gods.


text:
 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, destroy by fire their sacred poles, and shatter the idols of their gods, that you may stamp out the remembrance of them in any such place.


text:
 Instead, you shall resort to the place which the LORD, your God, chooses out of all your tribes and designates as his dwelling


text:
 and there you shall bring your holocausts and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, your votive and freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.


text:
 There, too, before the LORD, your God, you and your families shall eat and make merry over all your undertakings, because the LORD, your God, has blessed you.


text:
 since you have not yet reached your resting place, the heritage which the LORD, your God, will give you.


text:
 But after you have crossed the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage, when he has given you rest from all your enemies round about and you live there in security,


text:
 then to the place which the LORD, your God, chooses as the dwelling place for his name you shall bring all the offerings I command you: your holocausts and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, and every special offering you have vowed to the LORD.


text:
 You shall make merry before the LORD, your God, with your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as with the Levite who belongs to your community but has no share of his own in your heritage.


text:
 but offer them up in the place which the LORD chooses from among your tribes; there you shall make whatever offerings I enjoin upon you.


text:
 "However, in any of your communities you may slaughter and eat to your heart's desire as much meat as the LORD, your God, has blessed you with; and the unclean as well as the clean may eat it, as they do the gazelle or the deer.


text:
 Moreover, you shall not, in your own communities, partake of your tithe of grain or wine or oil, of the first-born of your herd or flock, of any offering you have vowed, of your freewill offerings, or of your personal contributions.


text:
 These you must eat before the LORD, your God, in the place he chooses, along with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who belongs to your community; and there, before the LORD, you shall make merry over all your undertakings.


text:
 "After the LORD, your God, has enlarged your territory, as he promised you, when you wish meat for food, you may eat it at will, to your heart's desire;


text:
 and if the place which the LORD, your God, chooses for the abode of his name is too far, you may slaughter in the manner I have told you any of your herd or flock that the LORD has given you, and eat it to your heart's desire in your own community.


text:
 But make sure that you do not partake of the blood; for blood is life, and you shall not consume this seat of life with the flesh.


text:
 Abstain from it, that you and your children after you may prosper for doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.


text:
 However, any sacred gifts or votive offerings that you may have, you shall bring with you to the place which the LORD chooses,


text:
 and there you must offer both the flesh and the blood of your holocausts on the altar of the LORD, your God; of your other sacrifices the blood indeed must be poured out against the altar of the LORD, your God, but their flesh may be eaten.


text:
 Be careful to heed all these commandments I enjoin on you, that you and your descendants may always prosper for doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD, your God.


text:
 "When the LORD, your God, removes the nations from your way as you advance to dispossess them, be on your guard! Otherwise, once they have been wiped out before you and you have replaced them and are settled in their land,


text:
 you will be lured into following them. Do not inquire regarding their gods, 'How did these nations worship their gods? I, too, would do the same.'


text:
 You shall not thus worship the LORD, your God, because they offered to their gods every abomination that the LORD detests, even burning their sons and daughters to their gods.


text:
 "Every command that I enjoin on you, you shall be careful to observe, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it.


text:
 urging you to follow other gods, whom you have not known, and to serve them: even though the sign or wonder he has foretold you comes to pass,


text:
 pay no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer; for the LORD, your God, is testing you to learn whether you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul.


text:
 The LORD, your God, shall you follow, and him shall you fear; his commandment shall you observe, and his voice shall you heed, serving him and holding fast to him alone.


text:
 But that prophet or that dreamer shall be put to death, because, in order to lead you astray from the way which the LORD, your God, has directed you to take, he has preached apostasy from the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and ransomed you from that place of slavery. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 "If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or your intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known,


text:
 but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you.


text:
 You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.


text:
 that certain scoundrels have sprung up among you and have led astray the inhabitants of their city to serve other gods whom you have not known,


text:
 you must inquire carefully into the matter and investigate it thoroughly. If you find that it is true and an established fact that this abomination has been committed in your midst,


text:
 you shall put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, dooming the city and all life that is in it, even its cattle, to the sword.


text:
 Having heaped up all its spoils in the middle of its square, you shall burn the city with all its spoils as a whole burnt offering to the LORD, your God. Let it be a heap of ruins forever, never to be rebuilt.


text:
 You shall not retain anything that is doomed, that the blazing wrath of the LORD may die down and he may show you mercy and in his mercy for you may multiply you as he promised your fathers on oath;


text:
 because you have heeded the voice of the LORD, your God, keeping all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, doing what is right in his sight.


text:
 "You are children of the LORD, your God. You shall not gash yourselves nor shave the hair above your foreheads for the dead.


text:
 For you are a people sacred to the LORD, your God, who has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own.


text:
 But you shall not eat any of the following that only chew the cud or only have cloven hoofs: the camel, the hare and the rock badger, which indeed chew the cud, but do not have hoofs and are therefore unclean for you;


text:
 and the pig, which indeed has hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their dead bodies you shall not touch.


text:
 "You must not eat any animal that has died of itself, for you are a people sacred to the LORD, your God. But you may give it to an alien who belongs to your community, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.


text:
 then in the place which the LORD, your God, chooses as the dwelling place of his name you shall eat in his presence your tithe of the grain, wine and oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, that you may learn always to fear the LORD, your God.


text:
 If, however, the journey is too much for you and you are not able to bring your tithe, because the place which the LORD, your God, chooses for the abode of his name is too far for you, considering how the LORD has blessed you,


text:
 you may exchange the tithe for money and, with the purse of money in hand, go to the place which the LORD, your God, chooses.


text:
 You may then exchange the money for whatever you desire, oxen or sheep, wine or strong drink, or anything else you would enjoy, and there before the LORD, your God, you shall partake of it and make merry with your family.


text:
 But do not neglect the Levite who belongs to your community, for he has no share in the heritage with you.


text:
 "At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithes of your produce for that year and deposit them in community stores,


text:
 that the Levite who has no share in the heritage with you, and also the alien, the orphan and the widow who belong to your community, may come and eat their fill; so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all that you undertake.


text:
 which shall be observed as follows. Every creditor shall relax his claim on what he has loaned his neighbor; he must not press his neighbor, his kinsman, because a relaxation in honor of the LORD has been proclaimed.


text:
 Nay, more! since the LORD, your God, will bless you abundantly in the land he will give you to occupy as your heritage, there should be no one of you in need.


text:
 If you but heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and carefully observe all these commandments which I enjoin on you today,


text:
 you will lend to many nations, and borrow from none; you will rule over many nations, and none will rule over you, since the LORD, your God, will bless you as he promised.


text:
 If one of your kinsmen in any community is in need in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand to him in his need.


text:
 Be on your guard lest, entertaining the mean thought that the seventh year, the year of relaxation, is near, you grudge help to your needy kinsman and give him nothing; else he will cry to the LORD against you and you will be held guilty.


text:
 When you give to him, give freely and not with ill will; for the LORD, your God, will bless you for this in all your works and undertakings.


text:
 The needy will never be lacking in the land; that is why I command you to open your hand to your poor and needy kinsman in your country.


text:
 "If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, sells himself to you, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall dismiss him from your service, a free man.


text:
 but shall weight him down with gifts from your flock and threshing floor and wine press, in proportion to the blessing the LORD, your God, has bestowed on you.


text:
 For remember that you too were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD, your God, ransomed you. That is why I am giving you this command today.


text:
 If, however, he tells you that he does not wish to leave you, because he is devoted to you and your household, since he fares well with you,


text:
 you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear into the door, and he shall then be your slave forever. Your female slave, also, you shall treat in the same way.


text:
 You must not be reluctant to let your slave go free, since the service he has given you for six years was worth twice a hired man's salary; then also the LORD, your God, will bless you in everything you do.


text:
 "You shall consecrate to the LORD, your God, all the male firstlings of your herd and of your flock. You shall not work the firstlings of your cattle, nor shear the firstlings of your flock.


text:
 Year after year you and your family shall eat them before the LORD, your God, in the place he chooses.


text:
 If, however, a firstling is lame or blind or has any other serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD, your God,


text:
 but in your own communities you may eat it, the unclean and the clean eating it alike, as you would a gazelle or a deer.


text:
 "Observe the month of Abib by keeping the Passover of the LORD, your God, since it was in the month of Abib that he brought you by night out of Egypt.


text:
 You shall offer the Passover sacrifice from your flock or your herd to the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses as the dwelling place of his name.


text:
 You shall not eat leavened bread with it. For seven days you shall eat with it only unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, that you may remember as long as you live the day of your departure from the land of Egypt; for in frightened haste you left the land of Egypt.


text:
 Nothing leavened may be found in all your territory for seven days, and none of the meat which you sacrificed on the evening of the first day shall be kept overnight for the next day.


text:
 only at the place which he chooses as the dwelling place of his name, and in the evening at sunset, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt, shall you sacrifice the Passover.


text:
 You shall cook and eat it at the place the LORD, your God, chooses; then in the morning you may return to your tents.


text:
 For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh there shall be a solemn meeting in honor of the LORD, your God; on that day you shall not do any sort of work.


text:
 "You shall count off seven weeks, computing them from the day when the sickle is first put to the standing grain.


text:
 You shall then keep the feast of Weeks in honor of the LORD, your God, and the measure of your own freewill offering shall be in proportion to the blessing the LORD, your God, has bestowed on you.


text:
 In the place which the LORD, your God, chooses as the dwelling place of his name, you shall make merry in his presence together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who belongs to your community, as well as the alien, the orphan and the widow among you.


text:
 "You shall celebrate the feast of Booths for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press.


text:
 You shall make merry at your feast, together with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and also the Levite, the alien, the orphan and the widow who belong to your community.


text:
 For seven days you shall celebrate this pilgrim feast in honor of the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses; since the LORD, your God, has blessed you in all your crops and in all your undertakings, you shall do nought but make merry.


text:
 "Three times a year, then, every male among you shall appear before the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, and at the feast of Booths. No one shall appear before the LORD empty-handed,


text:
 but each of you with as much as he can give, in proportion to the blessings which the LORD, your God, has bestowed on you.


text:
 "You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes to administer true justice for the people in all the communities which the LORD, your God, is giving you.


text:
 You shall not distort justice; you must be impartial. You shall not take a bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes even of the wise and twists the words even of the just.


text:
 Justice and justice alone shall be your aim, that you may have life and may possess the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.


text:
 "You shall not plant a sacred pole of any kind of wood beside the altar of the LORD, your God, which you will build;


text:
 "You shall not sacrifice to the LORD, your God, from the herd or from the flock an animal with any serious defect; that would be an abomination to the LORD, your God.


text:
 "If there is found among you, in any one of the communities which the LORD, your God, gives you, a man or a woman who does evil in the sight of the LORD, your God, and transgresses his covenant,


text:
 by serving other gods, or by worshiping the sun or the moon or any of the host of the sky, against my command;


text:
 and if, on being informed of it, you find by careful investigation that it is true and an established fact that this abomination has been committed in Israel:


text:
 you shall bring the man (or woman) who has done the evil deed out to your city gates and stone him to death.


text:
 The testimony of two or three witnesses is required for putting a person to death; no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.


text:
 At the execution, the witnesses are to be the first to raise their hands against him; afterward all the people are to join in. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 "If in your own community there is a case at issue which proves too complicated for you to decide, in a matter of bloodshed or of civil rights or of personal injury, you shall then go up to the place which the LORD, your God, chooses,


text:
 to the levitical priests or to the judge who is in office at that time. They shall study the case and then hand down to you their decision.


text:
 According to this decision that they give you in the place which the LORD chooses, you shall act, being careful to do exactly as they direct.


text:
 You shall carry out the directions they give you and the verdict they pronounce for you, without turning aside to the right or to the left from the decision they hand down to you.


text:
 Any man who has the insolence to refuse to listen to the priest who officiates there in the ministry of the LORD, your God, or to the judge, shall die. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 "When you have come into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, and have occupied it and settled in it, should you then decide to have a king over you like all the surrounding nations,


text:
 you shall set that man over you as your king whom the LORD, your God, chooses. He whom you set over you as king must be your kinsman; a foreigner, who is no kin of yours, you may not set over you.


text:
 But he shall not have a great number of horses; nor shall he make his people go back again to Egypt to acquire them, against the LORD'S warning that you must never go back that way again.


text:
 Neither shall he have a great number of wives, lest his heart be estranged, nor shall he accumulate a vast amount of silver and gold.


text:
 When he is enthroned in his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law made from the scroll that is in the custody of the levitical priests.


text:
 He shall keep it with him and read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the LORD, his God, and to heed and fulfill all the words of this law and these statutes.


text:
 Let him not become estranged from his countrymen through pride, nor turn aside to the right or to the left from these commandments. Then he and his descendants will enjoy a long reign in Israel.


text:
 "The whole priestly tribe of Levi shall have no share in the heritage with Israel; they shall live on the oblations of the LORD and the portions due to him.


text:
 Levi shall have no heritage among his brothers; the LORD himself is his heritage, as he has told him.


text:
 The priests shall have a right to the following things from the people: from those who are offering a sacrifice, whether the victim is from the herd or from the flock, the priest shall receive the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach.


text:
 You shall also give him the first fruits of your grain and wine and oil, as well as the first fruits of the shearing of your flock;


text:
 for the LORD, your God, has chosen him and his sons out of all your tribes to be always in attendance to minister in the name of the LORD.


text:
 "When a Levite goes from one of your communities anywhere in Israel in which he ordinarily resides, to visit, as his heart may desire, the place which the LORD chooses,


text:
 he may minister there in the name of the LORD, his God, like all his fellow Levites who are in attendance there before the LORD.


text:
 He shall then receive the same portions to eat as the rest, along with his monetary offerings and heirlooms.


text:
 "When you come into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of the peoples there.


text:
 Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner,


text:
 Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, and because of such abominations the LORD, your God, is driving these nations out of your way.


text:
 Though these nations whom you are to dispossess listen to their soothsayers and fortune-tellers, the LORD, your God, will not permit you to do so.


text:
 "A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen.


text:
 This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.'


text:
 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.


text:
 If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it.


text:
 But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak, or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.'


text:
 know that, even though a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if his oracle is not fulfilled or verified, it is an oracle which the LORD did not speak. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously, and you shall have no fear of him.


text:
 "When the LORD, your God, removes the nations whose land he is giving you, and you have taken their place and are settled in their cities and houses,


text:
 You shall thereby divide into three regions the land which the LORD, your God, will give you as a heritage, and so arrange the routes that every homicide will be able to find a refuge.


text:
 "It is in the following case that a homicide may take refuge in such a place to save his life: when someone unwittingly kills his neighbor to whom he had previously borne no malice.


text:
 For example, if he goes with his neighbor to a forest to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, its head flies off the handle and hits his neighbor a mortal blow, he may take refuge in one of these cities to save his life.


text:
 Should the distance be too great, the avenger of blood may in the heat of his anger pursue the homicide and overtake him and strike him dead, even though he does not merit death since he had previously borne the slain man no malice.


text:
 "But if the LORD, your God, enlarges your territory, as he swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land he promised your fathers he would give


text:
 in the event that you carefully observe all these commandments which I enjoin on you today, loving the LORD, your God, and ever walking in his ways: then add three cities to these three.


text:
 Thus, in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage, innocent blood will not be shed and you will not become guilty of bloodshed.


text:
 "However, if someone lies in wait for his neighbor out of hatred for him, and rising up against him, strikes him mortally, and then takes refuge in one of these cities,


text:
 the elders of his own city shall send for him and have him taken from there, and shall hand him over to be slain by the avenger of blood.


text:
 Do not look on him with pity, but purge from Israel the stain of shedding innocent blood, that you may prosper.


text:
 "You shall not move your neighbor's landmarks erected by your forefathers in the heritage you receive in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you to occupy.


text:
 "One witness alone shall not take the stand against a man in regard to any crime or any offense of which he may be guilty; a judicial fact shall be established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.


text:
 the two parties in the dispute shall appear before the LORD in the presence of the priests or judges in office at that time;


text:
 and if after a thorough investigation the judges find that the witness is a false witness and has accused his kinsman falsely,


text:
 you shall do to him as he planned to do to his kinsman. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 Do not look on such a man with pity. Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot!


text:
 "When you go out to war against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid of them, for the LORD, your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, will be with you.


text:
 'Hear, O Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Be not weakhearted or afraid; be neither alarmed nor frightened by them.


text:
 For it is the LORD, your God, who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and give you victory.'


text:
 "Then the officials shall say to the soldiers, 'Is there anyone who has built a new house and not yet had the housewarming? Let him return home, lest he die in battle and another dedicate it.


text:
 Is there anyone who has planted a vineyard and never yet enjoyed its fruits? Let him return home, lest he die in battle and another enjoy its fruits in his stead.


text:
 Is there anyone who has betrothed a woman and not yet taken her as his wife? Let him return home, lest he die in battle and another take her to wife.'


text:
 In fine, the officials shall say to the soldiers, 'Is there anyone who is afraid and weakhearted? Let him return home, lest he make his fellows as fainthearted as himself.'


text:
 "When the officials have finished speaking to the soldiers, military officers shall be appointed over the army.


text:
 If it agrees to your terms of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people to be found in it shall serve you in forced labor.


text:
 but the women and children and livestock and all else in it that is worth plundering you may take as your booty, and you may use this plunder of your enemies which the LORD, your God, has given you.


text:
 "That is how you shall deal with any city at a considerable distance from you, which does not belong to the peoples of this land.


text:
 But in the cities of those nations which the LORD, your God, is giving you as your heritage, you shall not leave a single soul alive.


text:
 You must doom them all-- the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-- as the LORD, your God, has commanded you,


text:
 lest they teach you to make any such abominable offerings as they make to their gods, and you thus sin against the LORD, your God.


text:
 "When you are at war with a city and have to lay siege to it for a long time before you capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them. You may eat their fruit, but you must not cut down the trees. After all, are the trees of the field men, that they should be included in your siege?


text:
 However, those trees which you know are not fruit trees you may destroy, cutting them down to build siegeworks with which to reduce the city that is resisting you.


text:
 "If the corpse of a slain man is found lying in the open on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you to occupy, and it is not known who killed him,


text:
 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distances to the cities that are in the neighborhood of the corpse.


text:
 When it is established which city is nearest the corpse, the elders of that city shall take a heifer that has never been put to work as a draft animal under a yoke,


text:
 and bringing it down to a wadi with an everflowing stream at a place that has not been plowed or sown, they shall cut the heifer's throat there in the wadi.


text:
 The priests, the descendants of Levi, shall also be present, for the LORD, your God, has chosen them to minister to him and to give blessings in his name, and every case of dispute or violence must be settled by their decision.


text:
 Then all the elders of that city nearest the corpse shall wash their hands over the heifer whose throat was cut in the wadi,


text:
 Absolve, O LORD, your people Israel, whom you have ransomed, and let not the guilt of shedding innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel.' Thus they shall be absolved from the guilt of bloodshed,


text:
 and you shall purge from your midst the guilt of innocent blood, that you may prosper for doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.


text:
 "When you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD, your God, delivers them into your hand, so that you take captives,


text:
 if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife,


text:
 you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails


text:
 and lay aside her captive's garb. After she has mourned her father and mother for a full month, you may have relations with her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife.


text:
 However, if later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; but you shall not sell her or enslave her, since she was married to you under compulsion.


text:
 "If a man with two wives loves one and dislikes the other; and if both bear him sons, but the first-born is of her whom he dislikes:


text:
 when he comes to bequeath his property to his sons he may not consider as his first-born the son of the wife he loves, in preference to his true first-born, the son of the wife whom he dislikes.


text:
 On the contrary, he shall recognize as his first-born the son of her whom he dislikes, giving him a double share of whatever he happens to own, since he is the first fruits of his manhood, and to him belong the rights of the first-born.


text:
 "If a man has a stubborn and unruly son who will not listen to his father or mother, and will not obey them even though they chastise him,


text:
 his father and mother shall have him apprehended and brought out to the elders at the gate of his home city,


text:
 where they shall say to those city elders, 'This son of ours is a stubborn and unruly fellow who will not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'


text:
 Then all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel, on hearing of it, shall fear.


text:
 it shall not remain on the tree overnight. You shall bury it the same day; otherwise, since God's curse rests on him who hangs on a tree, you will defile the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.


text:
 "You shall not see your kinsman's ox or sheep driven astray without showing concern about it; see to it that it is returned to your kinsman.


text:
 If this kinsman does not live near you, or you do not know who he may be, take it to your own place and keep it with you until he claims it; then give it back to him.


text:
 You shall do the same with his ass, or his garment, or anything else which your kinsman loses and you happen to find; you may not be unconcerned about them.


text:
 You shall not see your kinsman's ass or ox foundering on the road without showing concern about it; see to it that you help him lift it up.


text:
 "A woman shall not wear an article proper to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's dress; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, your God.


text:
 "If, while walking along, you chance upon a bird's nest with young birds or eggs in it, in any tree or on the ground, and the mother bird is sitting on them, you shall not take away the mother bird along with her brood;


text:
 you shall let her go, although you may take her brood away. It is thus that you shall have prosperity and a long life.


text:
 "When you build a new house, put a parapet around the roof; otherwise, if someone falls off, you will bring bloodguilt upon your house.


text:
 "You shall not sow your vineyard with two different kinds of seed; if you do, its produce shall become forfeit, both the crop you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.


text:
 and makes monstrous charges against her and defames her by saying, 'I married this woman, but when I first had relations with her I did not find her a virgin,'


text:
 the father and mother of the girl shall take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the elders at the city gate.


text:
 There the father of the girl shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man in marriage, but he has come to dislike her,


text:
 and now brings monstrous charges against her, saying: I did not find your daughter a virgin. But here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity!' And they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the city.


text:
 besides fining him one hundred silver shekels, which they shall give to the girl's father, because the man defamed a virgin in Israel. Moreover, she shall remain his wife, and he may not divorce her as long as he lives.


text:
 they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her father's house and there her townsmen shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 "If a man is discovered having relations with a woman who is married to another, both the man and the woman with whom he has had relations shall die. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 "If, however, it is in the open fields that a man comes upon such a betrothed maiden, seizes her and has relations with her, the man alone shall die.


text:
 You shall do nothing to the maiden, since she is not guilty of a capital offense. This case is like that of a man who rises up against his neighbor and murders him:


text:
 it was in the open fields that he came upon her, and though the betrothed maiden may have cried out for help, there was no one to come to her aid.


text:
 "If a man comes upon a maiden that is not betrothed, takes her and has relations with her, and their deed is discovered,


text:
 the man who had relations with her shall pay the girl's father fifty silver shekels and take her as his wife, because he has deflowered her. Moreover, he may not divorce her as long as he lives.


text:
 "No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may be admitted into the community of the LORD.


text:
 No child of an incestuous union may be admitted into the community of the LORD, nor any descendant of his even to the tenth generation.


text:
 No Ammonite or Moabite may ever be admitted into the community of the LORD, nor any descendants of theirs even to the tenth generation,


text:
 because they would not succor you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because Moab hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor in Aram Naharaim, to curse you;


text:
 though the LORD, your God, would not listen to Balaam and turned his curse into a blessing for you, because he loves you.


text:
 But do not abhor the Edomite, since he is your brother, nor the Egyptian, since you were an alien in his country.


text:
 "When you are in camp during an expedition against your enemies, you shall keep yourselves from everything offensive.


text:
 If one of you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp, and not return until,


text:
 toward evening, he has bathed in water; then, when the sun has set, he may come back into the camp.


text:
 You shall also keep a trowel in your equipment and with it, when you go outside to ease nature, you shall first dig a hole and afterward cover up your excrement.


text:
 Since the LORD, your God, journeys along within your camp to defend you and to put your enemies at your mercy, your camp must be holy; otherwise, if he sees anything indecent in your midst, he will leave your company.


text:
 Let him live with you wherever he chooses, in any one of your communities that pleases him. Do not molest him.


text:
 "There shall be no temple harlot among the Israelite women, nor a temple prostitute among the Israelite men.


text:
 You shall not offer a harlot's fee or a dog's price as any kind of votive offering in the house of the LORD, your God; both these things are an abomination to the LORD, your God.


text:
 "You shall not demand interest from your countrymen on a loan of money or of food or of anything else on which interest is usually demanded.


text:
 You may demand interest from a foreigner, but not from your countryman, so that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings on the land you are to enter and occupy.


text:
 "When you make a vow to the LORD, your God, you shall not delay in fulfilling it; otherwise you will be held guilty, for the LORD, your God, is strict in requiring it of you.


text:
 But you must keep your solemn word and fulfill the votive offering you have freely promised to the LORD.


text:
 "When you go through your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat as many of his grapes as you wish, but do not put them in your basket.


text:
 When you go through your neighbor's grainfield, you may pluck some of the ears with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor's grain.


text:
 "When a man, after marrying a woman and having relations with her, is later displeased with her because he finds in her something indecent, and therefore he writes out a bill of divorce and hands it to her, thus dismissing her from his house:


text:
 and the second husband, too, comes to dislike her and dismisses her from his house by handing her a written bill of divorce; or if this second man who has married her, dies;


text:
 then her former husband, who dismissed her, may not again take her as his wife after she has become defiled. That would be an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring such guilt upon the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage.


text:
 "When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to the wife he has married.


text:
 "No one shall take a hand mill or even its upper stone as a pledge for debt, for he would be taking the debtor's sustenance as a pledge.


text:
 "If any man is caught kidnaping a fellow Israelite in order to enslave him and sell him, the kidnaper shall be put to death. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.


text:
 "In an attack of leprosy you shall be careful to observe exactly and to carry out all the directions of the levitical priests. Take care to act in accordance with the instructions I have given them.


text:
 "When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, you shall not enter his house to receive a pledge from him,


text:
 but shall wait outside until the man to whom you are making the loan brings his pledge outside to you.


text:
 but shall return it to him at sunset that he himself may sleep in it. Then he will bless you, and it will be a good deed of yours before the LORD, your God.


text:
 "You shall not defraud a poor and needy hired servant, whether he be one of your own countrymen or one of the aliens who live in your communities.


text:
 You shall pay him each day's wages before sundown on the day itself, since he is poor and looks forward to them. Otherwise he will cry to the LORD against you, and you will be held guilty.


text:
 "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; only for his own guilt shall a man be put to death.


text:
 "You shall not violate the rights of the alien or of the orphan, nor take the clothing of a widow as a pledge.


text:
 For, remember, you were once slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God, ransomed you from there; that is why I command you to observe this rule.


text:
 "When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf there, you shall not go back to get it; let it be for the alien, the orphan or the widow, that the LORD, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings.


text:
 When you knock down the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not go over the branches a second time; let what remains be for the alien, the orphan and the widow.


text:
 When you pick your grapes, you shall not go over the vineyard a second time; let what remains be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.


text:
 "When men have a dispute and bring it to court, and a decision is handed down to them acquitting the innocent party and condemning the guilty party,


text:
 if the latter deserves stripes, the judge shall have him lie down and in his presence receive the number of stripes his guilt deserves.


text:
 Forty stripes may be given him, but no more; lest, if he were beaten with more stripes than these, your kinsman should be looked upon as disgraced because of the severity of the beating.


text:
 "When brothers live together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not marry anyone outside the family; but her husband's brother shall go to her and perform the duty of a brother-in-law by marrying her.


text:
 The first-born son she bears shall continue the line of the deceased brother, that his name may not be blotted out from Israel.


text:
 If, however, a man does not care to marry his brother's wife, she shall go up to the elders at the gate and declare, 'My brother-in-law does not intend to perform his duty toward me and refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel.'


text:
 Thereupon the elders of his city shall summon him and admonish him. If he persists in saying, 'I am not willing to marry her,'


text:
 his sister-in-law, in the presence of the elders, shall go up to him and strip his sandal from his foot and spit in his face, saying publicly, 'This is how one should be treated who will not build up his brother's family!'


text:
 "When two men are fighting and the wife of one intervenes to save her husband from the blows of his opponent, if she stretches out her hand and seizes the latter by his private parts,


text:
 But use a true and just weight, and a true and just measure, that you may have a long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.


text:
 how without fear of any god he harassed you along the way, weak and weary as you were, and cut off at the rear all those who lagged behind.


text:
 Therefore, when the LORD, your God, gives you rest from all your enemies round about in the land which he is giving you to occupy as your heritage, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget!


text:
 "When you have come into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage, and have occupied it and settled in it,


text:
 you shall take some first fruits of the various products of the soil which you harvest from the land which the LORD, your God, gives you, and putting them in a basket, you shall go to the place which the LORD, your God, chooses for the dwelling place of his name.


text:
 There you shall go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, 'Today I acknowledge to the LORD, my God, that I have indeed come into the land which he swore to our fathers he would give us.'


text:
 The priest shall then receive the basket from you and shall set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God.


text:
 Then you shall declare before the LORD, your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as an alien. But there he became a nation great, strong and numerous.


text:
 we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and he heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression.


text:
 He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders;


text:
 Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, O LORD, have given me.' And having set them before the LORD, your God, you shall bow down in his presence.


text:
 Then you and your family, together with the Levite and the aliens who live among you, shall make merry over all these good things which the LORD, your God, has given you.


text:
 "When you have finished setting aside all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithes, and you have given them to the Levite, the alien, the orphan and the widow, that they may eat their fill in your own community,


text:
 you shall declare before the LORD, your God, 'I have purged my house of the sacred portion and I have given it to the Levite, the alien, the orphan and the widow, just as you have commanded me. In this I have not broken or forgotten any of your commandments:


text:
 I have not eaten any of the tithe as a mourner; I have not brought any of it out as one unclean; I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have thus hearkened to the voice of the LORD, my God, doing just as you have commanded me.


text:
 Look down, then, from heaven, your holy abode, and bless your people Israel and the soil you have given us in the land flowing with milk and honey which you promised on oath to our fathers.'


text:
 "This day the LORD, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.


text:
 Today you are making this agreement with the LORD: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice.


text:
 And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments,


text:
 he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised."


text:
 Then Moses, with the elders of Israel, gave the people this order: "Keep all these commandments which I enjoin on you today.


text:
 On the day you cross the Jordan into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.


text:
 Also write on them, at the time you cross, all the words of this law, that you may thus enter into the land flowing with milk and honey, which the LORD, your God, and the God of your fathers, is giving you as he promised you.


text:
 When, moreover, you have crossed the Jordan, besides setting up on Mount Ebal these stones concerning which I command you today, and coating them with plaster,


text:
 You shall make this altar of the LORD, your God, with undressed stones, and shall offer on it holocausts to the LORD, your God.


text:
 You shall also sacrifice peace offerings and eat them there, making merry before the LORD, your God.


text:
 Moses, with the levitical priests, then said to all Israel: "Be silent, O Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the LORD, your God.


text:
 You shall therefore hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes which I enjoin on you today."


text:
 "When you cross the Jordan, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin shall stand on Mount Gerizim to pronounce blessings over the people,


text:
 'Cursed be the man who makes a carved or molten idol-- an abomination to the LORD, the product of a craftsman's hands-- and sets it up in secret!' And all the people shall answer, 'Amen!'


text:
 'Cursed be he who violates the rights of the alien, the orphan or the widow!' And all the people shall answer, 'Amen!'


text:
 'Cursed be he who has relations with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed!' And all the people shall answer, 'Amen!'


text:
 'Cursed be he who has relations with his sister or his half-sister!' And all the people shall answer, 'Amen!'


text:
 'Cursed be he who accepts payment for slaying an innocent man!' And all the people shall answer, 'Amen!'


text:
 'Cursed be he who fails to fulfill any of the provisions of this law!' And all the people shall answer, 'Amen!'


text:
 "Thus, then, shall it be: if you continue to heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and are careful to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, the LORD, your God, will raise you high above all the nations of the earth.


text:
 When you hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, all these blessings will come upon you and overwhelm you:


text:
 "Blessed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!


text:
 "The LORD will beat down before you the enemies that rise up against you; though they come out against you from but one direction, they will flee before you in seven.


text:
 The LORD will affirm his blessing upon you, on your barns and on all your undertakings, blessing you in the land that the LORD, your God, gives you.


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 Provided that you keep the commandments of the LORD, your God, and walk in his ways, he will establish you as a people sacred to himself, as he swore to you;


text:
 so that, when all the nations of the earth see you bearing the name of the LORD, they will stand in awe of you.


text:
 The LORD will increase in more than goodly measure the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil, in the land which he swore to your fathers he would give you.


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 The LORD will open up for you his rich treasure house of the heavens, to give your land rain in due season, blessing all your undertakings, so that you will lend to many nations and borrow from none.


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 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail, and you will always mount higher and not decline, as long as you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I order you today to observe carefully;


text:
 not turning aside to the right or to the left from any of the commandments which I now give you, in order to follow other gods and serve them.


text:
 "But if you do not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, and are not careful to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overwhelm you:


text:
 "Cursed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!


text:
 "The LORD will put a curse on you, defeat and frustration in every enterprise you undertake, until you are speedily destroyed and perish for the evil you have done in forsaking me.


text:
 The LORD will bring a pestilence upon you that will persist until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering to occupy.


text:
 The LORD will strike you with wasting and fever, with scorching, fiery drought, with blight and searing wind, that will plague you until you perish.


text:
 For rain the LORD will give your land powdery dust, which will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed.


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 The LORD will let you be beaten down before your enemies; though you advance against them from one direction, you will flee before them in seven, so that you will become a terrifying example to all the kingdoms of the earth.


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 Your carcasses will become food for all the birds of the air and for the beasts of the field, with no one to frighten them off.


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 The LORD will strike you with Egyptian boils and with tumors, eczema and the itch, until you cannot be cured.


text:
 so that even at midday you will grope like a blind man in the dark, unable to find your way. "You will be oppressed and robbed continually, with no one to come to your aid.


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 Though you betroth a wife, another man will have her. Though you build a house, you will not live in it. Though you plant a vineyard, you will not enjoy its fruits.


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 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, and you will not eat of its flesh. Your ass will be stolen in your presence, but you will not recover it. Your flocks will be given to your enemies, with no one to come to your aid.


text:
 Your sons and daughters will be given to a foreign nation while you look on and grieve for them in constant helplessness.


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 A people whom you do not know will consume the fruit of your soil and of all your labor, and you will be oppressed and crushed at all times without surcease,


text:
 The LORD will strike you with malignant boils of which you cannot be cured, on your knees and legs, and from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head.


text:
 "The LORD will bring you, and your king whom you have set over you, to a nation which you and your fathers have not known, and there you will serve strange gods of wood and stone,


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 and will call forth amazement, reproach and barbed scorn from all the nations to which the LORD will lead you.


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 "Though you spend much seed on your field, you will harvest but little, for the locusts will devour the crop.


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 Though you plant and cultivate vineyards, you will not drink or store up the wine, for the grubs will eat the vines clean.


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 Though you have olive trees throughout your country, you will have no oil for ointment, for your olives will drop off unripe.


text:
 The alien residing among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower.


text:
 "All these curses will come upon you, pursuing you and overwhelming you, until you are destroyed, because you would not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, nor keep the commandments and statutes he gave you.


text:
 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and utter poverty, you will serve the enemies whom the LORD will send against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck, until he destroys you.


text:
 "The LORD will raise up against you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, that swoops down like an eagle, a nation whose tongue you do not understand,


text:
 They will consume the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you are destroyed; they will leave you no grain or wine or oil, no issue of your herds or young of your flocks, until they have brought about your ruin.


text:
 They will besiege you in each of your communities, until the great, unscalable walls you trust in come tumbling down all over your land. They will so besiege you in every community throughout the land which the LORD, your God, has given you,


text:
 that in the distress of the siege to which your enemy subjects you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the LORD, your God, has given you.


text:
 The most refined and fastidious man among you will begrudge his brother and his beloved wife and his surviving children,


text:
 any share in the flesh of his children that he himself is using for food when nothing else is left him in the straits of the siege to which your enemy will subject you in all your communities.


text:
 The most refined and delicate woman among you, so delicate and refined that she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge her beloved husband and her son and daughter


text:
 the afterbirth that issues from her womb and the infant she brings forth when she secretly uses them for food for want of anything else, in the straits of the siege to which your enemy will subject you in your communities.


text:
 "If you are not careful to observe every word of the law which is written in this book, and to revere the glorious and awesome name of the LORD, your God,


text:
 he will smite you and your descendants with severe and constant blows, malignant and lasting maladies.


text:
 He will again afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt which you dread, and they will persist among you.


text:
 Should there be any kind of sickness or calamity not mentioned in this book of the law, that too the LORD will bring upon you until you are destroyed.


text:
 Of you who were numerous as the stars in the sky, only a few will be left, because you would not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God.


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 "Just as the LORD once took delight in making you grow and prosper, so will he now take delight in ruining and destroying you, and you will be plucked out of the land you are now entering to occupy.


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 The LORD will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve strange gods of wood and stone, such as you and your fathers have not known.


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 Among these nations you will find no repose, not a foot of ground to stand upon, for there the LORD will give you an anguished heart and wasted eyes and a dismayed spirit.


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 You will live in constant suspense and stand in dread both day and night, never sure of your existence.


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 In the morning you will say, 'Would that it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'Would that it were morning!' for the dread that your heart must feel and the sight that your eyes must see.


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 The LORD will send you back in galleys to Egypt, to the region I told you that you were never to see again; and there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer."


text:
 These are the words of the covenant which the LORD ordered Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them at Horeb.


text:
 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "You have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt before your very eyes to Pharaoh and all his servants and to all his land;


text:
 But not even at the present day has the LORD yet given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.


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 'I led you for forty years in the desert. Your clothes did not fall from you in tatters nor your sandals from your feet;


text:
 bread was not your food, nor wine or beer your drink. Thus you should know that I, the LORD, am your God.'


text:
 When we came to this place, Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, came out to engage us in battle, but we defeated them


text:
 and took over their land, which we then gave as a heritage to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.


text:
 Keep the terms of this covenant, therefore, and fulfill them, that you may succeed in whatever you do.


text:
 "You are all now standing before the LORD, your God-- your chiefs and judges, your elders and officials, and all of the men of Israel,


text:
 together with your wives and children and the aliens who live in your camp, down to those who hew wood and draw water for you--


text:
 that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD, your God, which he concluded with you today under this sanction of a curse;


text:
 so that he may now establish you as his people and he may be your God, as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


text:
 it is just as much with those who are not here among us today as it is with those of us who are now here present before the LORD, our God.


text:
 "You know in what surroundings we lived in the land of Egypt and what we passed by in the nations we traversed,


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 Let there be, then, no man or woman, no clan or tribe among you, who would now turn away their hearts from the LORD, our God, to go and serve these pagan gods! Let there be no root that would bear such poison and wormwood among you.


text:
 If any such person, upon hearing the words of this curse, should beguile himself into thinking that he can safely persist in his stubbornness of heart, as though to sweep away both the watered soil and the parched ground,


text:
 the LORD will never consent to pardon him. Instead, the LORD'S wrath and jealousy will flare up against that man, and every curse mentioned in this book will alight on him. The LORD will blot out his name from under the heavens


text:
 and will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for doom, in keeping with all the curses of the covenant inscribed in this book of the law.


text:
 "Future generations, your own descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigners who will come here from far-off lands, when they see the calamities of this land and the ills with which the LORD has smitten it--


text:
 all its soil being nothing but sulphur and salt, a burnt-out waste, unsown and unfruitful, without a blade of grass, destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his furious wrath--


text:
 they and all the nations will ask, 'Why has the LORD dealt thus with this land? Why this fierce outburst of wrath?'


text:
 And the answer will be, 'Because they forsook the covenant which the LORD, the God of their fathers, had made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,


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 and they went and served other gods and adored them, gods whom they did not know and whom he had not let fall to their lot:


text:
 that is why the LORD was angry with this land and brought on it all the imprecations listed in this book;


text:
 in his furious wrath and tremendous anger the LORD uprooted them from their soil and cast them out into a strange land, where they are today.'


text:
 (Both what is still hidden and what has already been revealed concern us and our descendants forever, that we may carry out all the words of this law.)


text:
 "When all these things which I have set before you, the blessings and the curses, are fulfilled in you, and from among whatever nations the LORD, your God, may have dispersed you, you ponder them in your heart:


text:
 then, provided that you and your children return to the LORD, your God, and heed his voice with all your heart and all your soul, just as I now command you,


text:
 the LORD, your God, will change your lot; and taking pity on you, he will again gather you from all the nations wherein he has scattered you.


text:
 Though you may have been driven to the farthest corner of the world, even from there will the LORD, your God, gather you; even from there will he bring you back.


text:
 The LORD, your God, will then bring you into the land which your fathers once occupied, that you too may occupy it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.


text:
 The LORD, your God, will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, that you may love the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and so may live.


text:
 But all those curses the LORD, your God, will assign to your enemies and the foes who persecuted you.


text:
 You, however, must again heed the LORD'S voice and carry out all his commandments which I now enjoin on you.


text:
 Then the LORD, your God, will increase in more than goodly measure the returns from all your labors, the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil; for the LORD, your God, will again take delight in your prosperity, even as he took delight in your fathers',


text:
 if only you heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul.


text:
 It is not up in the sky, that you should say, 'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'


text:
 Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'


text:
 No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.


text:
 If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.


text:
 If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,


text:
 I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land which you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.


text:
 I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live,


text:
 by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land which the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."


text:
 he said to them, "I am now one hundred and twenty years old and am no longer able to move about freely; besides, the LORD has told me that I shall not cross this Jordan.


text:
 It is the LORD, your God, who will cross before you; he will destroy these nations before you, that you may supplant them. (It is Joshua who will cross before you, as the LORD promised.)


text:
 The LORD will deal with them just as he dealt with Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites whom he destroyed, and with their country.


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 When, therefore, the LORD delivers them up to you, you must deal with them exactly as I have ordered you.


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 Be brave and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you."


text:
 Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, "Be brave and steadfast, for you must being this people into the land which the LORD swore to their fathers he would give them; you must put them in possession of their heritage.


text:
 It is the LORD who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed."


text:
 When Moses had written down this law, he entrusted it to the levitical priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel,


text:
 giving them this order: "On the feast of Booths, at the prescribed time in the year of relaxation which comes at the end of every seven-year period,


text:
 when all Israel goes to appear before the LORD, your God, in the place which he chooses, you shall read this law aloud in the presence of all Israel.


text:
 Assemble the people-- men, women and children, as well as the aliens who live in your communities-- that they may hear it and learn it, and so fear the LORD, your God, and carefully observe all the words of this law.


text:
 Their children also, who do not know it yet, must hear it and learn it, that they too may fear the LORD, your God, as long as you live on the land which you will cross the Jordan to occupy."


text:
 The LORD said to Moses, "The time is now approaching for you to die. Summon Joshua, and present yourselves at the meeting tent that I may give him his commission." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the meeting tent.


text:
 And the LORD appeared at the tent in a column of cloud, which stood still at the entrance of the tent.


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 The LORD said to Moses, "Soon you will be at rest with your fathers, and then this people will take to rendering wanton worship to the strange gods among whom they will live in the land they are about to enter. They will forsake me and break the covenant which I have made with them.


text:
 At that time my anger will flare up against them; I will forsake them and hide my face from them, so that they will become a prey to be devoured, and many evils and troubles will befall them. At that time they will indeed say, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have befallen us?'


text:
 Yet I will be hiding my face from them at that time only because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods.


text:
 Write out this song, then, for yourselves. Teach it to the Israelites and have them recite it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.


text:
 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey which I promised on oath to their fathers, and they have eaten their fill and grown fat, if they turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant;


text:
 then, when many evils and troubles befall them, this song, which their descendants will not have forgotten to recite, will bear witness against them. For I know what they are inclined to do even at the present time, before I have brought them into the land which I promised on oath to their fathers."


text:
 Then the LORD commissioned Joshua, son of Nun, and said to him, "Be brave and steadfast, for it is you who must bring the Israelites into the land which I promised them on oath. I myself will be with you."


text:
 "Take this scroll of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD, your God, that there it may be a witness against you.


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 For I already know how rebellious and stiff-necked you will be. Why, even now, while I am alive among you, you have been rebels against the LORD! How much more, then, after I am dead!


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 Therefore, assemble all your tribal elders and your officials before me, that I may speak these words for them to hear, and so may call heaven and earth to witness against them.


text:
 For I know that after my death you are sure to become corrupt and to turn aside from the way along which I directed you, so that evil will befall you in some future age because you have done evil in the LORD'S sight, and provoked him by your deeds."


text:
 Then Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end, for the whole assembly of Israel to hear:


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 May my instruction soak in like the rain, and my discourse permeate like the dew, Like a downpour upon the grass, like a shower upon the crops.


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 The Rock-- how faultless are his deeds, how right all his ways! A faithful God, without deceit, how just and upright he is!


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 Is the LORD to be thus repaid by you, O stupid and foolish people? Is he not your father who created you? Has he not made you and established you?


text:
 Think back on the days of old, reflect on the years of age upon age. Ask your father and he will inform you, ask your elders and they will tell you:


text:
 When the Most High assigned the nations their heritage, when he parceled out the descendants of Adam, He set up the boundaries of the peoples after the number of the sons of God;


text:
 He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert. He shielded them and cared for them, guarding them as the apple of his eye.


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 As an eagle incites its nestlings forth by hovering over its brood, So he spread his wings to receive them and bore them up on his pinions.


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 He had them ride triumphant over the summits of the land and live off the products of its fields, Giving them honey to suck from its rocks and olive oil from its hard, stony ground;


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 Butter from its cows and milk from its sheep, with the fat of its lambs and rams; Its Bashan bulls and its goats, with the cream of its finest wheat; and the foaming blood of its grapes you drank.


text:
 (So Jacob ate his fill,) the darling grew fat and frisky; you became fat and gross and gorged. They spurned the God who made them and scorned their saving Rock.


text:
 They offered sacrifice to demons, to "no-gods," to gods whom they had not known before, To newcomers just arrived, of whom their fathers had never stood in awe.


text:
 'I will hide my face from them," he said, "and see what will then become of them. What a fickle race they are, sons with no loyalty in them!


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 "Since they have provoked me with their 'no-god' and angered me with their vain idols, I will provoke them with a 'no-people'; with a foolish nation I will anger them.


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 "For by my wrath a fire is enkindled that shall rage to the depths of the nether world, Consuming the earth with its yield, and licking with flames the roots of the mountains.


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 "Emaciating hunger and consuming fever and bitter pestilence, And the teeth of wild beasts I will send among them, with the venom of reptiles gliding in the dust.


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 "Snatched away by the sword in the street and by sheer terror at home Shall be the youth and the maiden alike, the nursing babe as well as the hoary old man.


text:
 Had I not feared the insolence of their enemies, feared that these foes would mistakenly boast, 'Our own hand won the victory; the LORD had nothing to do with it.'"


text:
 "How could one man rout a thousand, or two men put ten thousand to flight, Unless it was because their Rock sold them and the LORD delivered them up?"


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 They are a branch of Sodom's vinestock, from the vineyards of Gomorrah. Poisonous are their grapes and bitter their clusters.


text:
 Against the day of vengeance and requital, against the time they lose their footing?" Close at hand is the day of their disaster and their doom is rushing upon them!


text:
 Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people; on his servants he shall have pity. When he sees their strength failing, and their protected and unprotected alike disappearing,


text:
 Let those who ate the fat of your sacrifices and drank the wine of your libations Rise up now and help you! Let them be your protection!


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 "Learn then that I, I alone, am God, and there is no god besides me. It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them, and from my hand there is no rescue.


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 I will sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver. "With vengeance I will repay my foes and requite those who hate me.


text:
 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall gorge itself with flesh-- With the blood of the slain and the captured, Flesh from the heads of the enemy leaders."


text:
 Exult with him, you heavens, glorify him, all you angels of God; For he avenges the blood of his servants and purges his people's land.


text:
 So Moses, together with Joshua, son of Nun, went and recited all the words of this song for the people to hear.


text:
 he said, "Take to heart all the warning which I have now given you and which you must impress on your children, that you may carry out carefully every word of this law.


text:
 For this is no trivial matter for you; rather, it means your very life, since it is by this means that you are to enjoy a long life on the land which you will cross the Jordan to occupy."


text:
 "Go up on Mount Nebo, here in the Abarim Mountains (it is in the land of Moab facing Jericho), and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their possession.


text:
 Then you shall die on the mountain you have climbed, and shall be taken to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and there was taken to his people;


text:
 because both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the desert of Zin by failing to manifest my sanctity among the Israelites.


text:
 You may indeed view the land at a distance, but you shall not enter that land which I am giving to the Israelites."


text:
 He said: "The LORD came from Sinai and dawned on his people from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and advanced from Meribath-kadesh, While at his right hand a fire blazed forth and his wrath devastated the nations.


text:
 But all his holy ones were in his hand; they followed at his feet and he bore them up on his pinions.


text:
 and he became king of his darling. When the chiefs of the people assembled and the tribes of Israel came together.


text:
 The following is for Judah. He said: "The LORD hears the cry of Judah; you will bring him to his people. His own hands defend his cause and you will be his help against his foes."


text:
 Of Levi he said: "To Levi belong your Thummim, to the man of your favor your Urim; For you put him to the test at Massah and you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.


text:
 He said of his father, 'I regard him not'; his brothers he would not acknowledge, and his own children he refused to recognize. Thus the Levites keep your words, and your covenant they uphold.


text:
 They promulgate your decisions to Jacob and your law to Israel. They bring the smoke of sacrifice to your nostrils, and burnt offerings to your altar.


text:
 Bless, O LORD, his possessions and accept the ministry of his hands. Break the backs of his adversaries and of his foes, that they may not rise."


text:
 Of Benjamin he said: "Benjamin is the beloved of the LORD, who shelters him all the day, while he abides securely at his breast."


text:
 Of Joseph he said: "Blessed by the LORD is his land with the best of the skies above and of the abyss crouching beneath;


text:
 With the best of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. These shall come upon the head of Joseph and upon the brow of the prince among his brothers,


text:
 The majestic bull, his father's first-born, whose horns are those of the wild ox With which to gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth." (These are the myriads of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh.)


text:
 You who invite the tribes to the mountains where feasts are duly held, Because you suck up the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand."


text:
 Of Gad he said: "Blessed be he who has made Gad so vast! He lies there like a lion that has seized the arm and head of the prey.


text:
 He saw that the best should be his when the princely portion was assigned, while the heads of the people were gathered. He carried out the justice of the LORD and his decrees respecting Israel."


text:
 Of Naphtali he said: "Naphtali is enriched with favors and filled with the blessings of the LORD; The lake and south of it are his possession!"


text:
 Of Asher he said: "More blessed than the other sons be Asher! May he be the favorite among his brothers, as the oil of his olive trees runs over his feet!


text:
 "There is no god like the God of the darling, who rides the heavens in his power, and rides the skies in his majesty;


text:
 He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy. He drove the enemy out of your way and the Amorite he destroyed.


text:
 Israel has dwelt securely, and the fountain of Jacob has been undisturbed In a land of grain and wine, where the heavens drip with dew.


text:
 How fortunate you are, O Israel! Where else is a nation victorious in the LORD? The LORD is your saving shield, and his sword is your glory. Your enemies fawn upon you, as you stride upon their heights."


text:
 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land-Gilead, and as far as Dan,


text:
 the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms, and as far as Zoar.


text:
 The LORD then said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over."


text:
 and he was buried in the ravine opposite Beth-peor in the land of Moab, but to this day no one knows the place of his burial.


text:
 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.


text:
 For thirty days the Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses.


text:
 Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the Israelites gave him their obedience, thus carrying out the LORD'S command to Moses.


text:
 He had no equal in all the signs and wonders the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land,


text:
 "My servant Moses is dead. So prepare to cross the Jordan here, with all the people into the land I will give the Israelites.


text:
 Your domain is to be all the land of the Hittites, from the desert and from Lebanon east to the great river Euphrates and west to the Great Sea.


text:
 No one can withstand you while you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses: I will not leave you nor forsake you.


text:
 Be firm and steadfast, so that you may give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers I would give them.


text:
 Above all, be firm and steadfast, taking care to observe the entire law which my servant Moses enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go.


text:
 Keep this book of the law on your lips. Recite it by day and by night, that you may observe carefully all that is written in it; then you will successfully attain your goal.


text:
 I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go."


text:
 "Go through the camp and instruct the people, 'Prepare your provisions, for three days from now you shall cross the Jordan here, to march in and take possession of the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you.'"


text:
 "Remember what Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you when he said, 'The LORD, your God, will permit you to settle in this land.'


text:
 Your wives, your children, and your livestock shall remain in the land Moses gave you here beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you must cross over armed ahead of your kinsmen and you must help them


text:
 until the LORD has settled your kinsmen, and they like you possess the land which the LORD, your God, is giving them. Afterward you may return and occupy your own land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, has given you east of the Jordan."


text:
 "We will do all you have commanded us," they answered Joshua, "and we will go wherever you send us. We will obey you as completely as we obeyed Moses.


text:
 If anyone rebels against your orders and does not obey every command you give him, he shall be put to death. But be firm and steadfast."


text:
 Then Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent out two spies from Shittim, saying, "Go, reconnoiter the land and Jericho." When the two reached Jericho, they went into the house of a harlot named Rahab, where they lodged.


text:
 But a report was brought to the king of Jericho that some Israelites had come there that night to spy out the land.


text:
 So the king of Jericho sent Rahab the order, "Put out the visitors who have entered your house, for they have come to spy out the entire land."


text:
 The woman had taken the two men and hidden them, so she said, "True, the men you speak of came to me, but I did not know where they came from.


text:
 At dark, when it was time for the gate to be shut, they left, and I do not know where they went. You will have to pursue them immediately to overtake them."


text:
 But the pursuers set out along the way to the fords of the Jordan, and once they had left, the gate was shut.


text:
 and said: "I know that the LORD has given you the land, that a dread of you has come upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are overcome with fear of you.


text:
 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and how you dealt with Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, whom you doomed to destruction.


text:
 At these reports, we are disheartened; everyone is discouraged because of you, since the LORD, your God, is God in heaven above and on earth below.


text:
 Now then, swear to me by the LORD that, since I am showing kindness to you, you in turn will show kindness to my family; and give me an unmistakable token


text:
 that you are to spare my father and mother, brothers and sisters, and all their kin, and save us from death."


text:
 "We pledge our lives for yours," the men answered her. "If you do not betray this errand of ours, we will be faithful in showing kindness to you when the LORD gives us the land."


text:
 Then she let them down through the window with a rope; for she lived in a house built into the city wall.


text:
 "Go up into the hill country," she suggested to them, "that your pursuers may not find you. Hide there for three days, until they return; then you may proceed on your way."


text:
 When we come into the land, tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you are letting us down; and gather your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.


text:
 Should any of them pass outside the doors of your house, he will be responsible for his own death, and we shall be guiltless. But we shall be responsible if anyone in the house with you is harmed.


text:
 "Let it be as you say," she replied, and bade them farewell. When they were gone, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.


text:
 They went up into the hills, where they stayed three days until their pursuers, who had sought them all along the road without finding them, returned.


text:
 Then the two came back down from the hills, crossed the Jordan to Joshua, son of Nun, and reported all that had befallen them.


text:
 They assured Joshua, "The LORD has delivered all this land into our power; indeed, all the inhabitants of the land are overcome with fear of us."


text:
 Early the next morning, Joshua moved with all the Israelites from Shittim to the Jordan, where they lodged before crossing over.


text:
 and issued these instructions to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD, your God, which the levitical priests will carry, you must also break camp and follow it,


text:
 that you may know the way to take, for you have not gone over this road before. But let there be a space of two thousand cubits between you and the ark. Do not come nearer to it."


text:
 Joshua also said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will perform wonders among you."


text:
 And he directed the priests to take up the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people; and they did so.


text:
 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses.


text:
 Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come to a halt in the Jordan when they reach the edge of the waters."


text:
 He continued: "This is how you will know that there is a living God in your midst, who at your approach will dispossess the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.


text:
 When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, it will cease to flow; for the water flowing down from upstream will halt in a solid bank."


text:
 The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them.


text:
 No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan, which overflows all its banks during the entire season of the harvest,


text:
 than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for a very great distance indeed, from Adam, a city in the direction of Zarethan; while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho.


text:
 While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.


text:
 and instruct them to take up twelve stones from this spot in the bed of the Jordan where the priests have been standing motionless. Carry them over with you, and place them where you are to stay tonight."


text:
 Joshua said to them: "Go to the bed of the Jordan in front of the ark of the LORD, your God; lift to your shoulders one stone apiece, so that they will equal in number the tribes of the Israelites.


text:
 In the future, these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you what these stones mean to you,


text:
 you shall answer them, 'The waters of the Jordan ceased to flow before the ark of the covenant of the LORD when it crossed the Jordan.' Thus these stones are to serve as a perpetual memorial to the Israelites."


text:
 The twelve Israelites did as Joshua had commanded: they took up as many stones from the bed of the Jordan as there were tribes of the Israelites, and carried them along to the camp site, where they placed them, according to the LORD'S direction.


text:
 Joshua also had twelve stones set up in the bed of the Jordan on the spot where the priests stood who were carrying the ark of the covenant. They are there to this day.


text:
 The priests carrying the ark remained in the bed of the Jordan until everything had been done that the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell the people. The people crossed over quickly,


text:
 and when all had reached the other side, the ark of the LORD, borne by the priests, also crossed to its place in front of them.


text:
 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, armed, marched in the vanguard of the Israelites, as Moses had ordered.


text:
 About forty thousand troops equipped for battle passed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho.


text:
 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and thenceforth during his whole life they respected him as they had respected Moses.


text:
 and when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the bed of the Jordan, as the soles of their feet regained the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course and as before overflowed all its banks.


text:
 The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and camped in Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.


text:
 saying to the Israelites, "In the future, when the children among you ask their fathers what these stones mean,


text:
 For the LORD, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you crossed over, just as the LORD, your God, had done at the Red Sea, which he dried up in front of us until we crossed over;


text:
 in order that all the peoples of the earth may learn that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and that you may fear the LORD, your God, forever."


text:
 When all the kings of the Amorites to the west of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites by the sea heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they crossed over, they were disheartened and lost courage at their approach.


text:
 On this occasion the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelite nation for the second time."


text:
 under these circumstances: Of all the people who came out of Egypt, every man of military age had died in the desert during the journey after they left Egypt.


text:
 Though all the men who came out were circumcised, none of those born in the desert during the journey after the departure from Egypt were circumcised.


text:
 Now the Israelites had wandered forty years in the desert, until all the warriors among the people that came forth from Egypt died off because they had not obeyed the command of the LORD. For the LORD swore that he would not let them see the land flowing with milk and honey which he had promised their fathers he would give us.


text:
 It was the children whom he raised up in their stead whom Joshua circumcised, for these were yet with foreskins, not having been circumcised on the journey.


text:
 When the rite had been performed, the whole nation remained in camp where they were, until they recovered.


text:
 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the place is called Gilgal to the present day.


text:
 While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth of the month.


text:
 On the day after the Passover they ate of the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain. On that same day


text:
 after the Passover on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. No longer was there manna for the Israelites, who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.


text:
 While Joshua was near Jericho, he raised his eyes and saw one who stood facing him, drawn sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of us or of our enemies?"


text:
 He replied, "Neither. I am the captain of the host of the LORD and I have just arrived." Then Joshua fell prostrate to the ground in worship, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"


text:
 The captain of the host of the LORD replied to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy." And Joshua obeyed.


text:
 Now Jericho was in a state of siege because of the presence of the Israelites, so that no one left or entered.


text:
 with seven priests carrying ram's horns ahead of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, and have the priests blow the horns.


text:
 When they give a long blast on the ram's horns and you hear that signal, all the people shall shout aloud. The wall of the city will collapse, and they will be able to make a frontal attack."


text:
 Summoning the priests, Joshua, son of Nun, then ordered them to take up the ark of the covenant with seven of the priests carrying ram's horns in front of the ark of the LORD.


text:
 And he ordered the people to proceed in a circle around the city, with the picked troops marching ahead of the ark of the LORD.


text:
 At this order they proceeded, with the seven priests who carried the ram's horns before the LORD blowing their horns, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD following them.


text:
 In front of the priests with the horns marched the picked troops; the rear guard followed the ark, and the blowing of horns was kept up continually as they marched.


text:
 But the people had been commanded by Joshua not to shout or make any noise or outcry until he gave the word: only then were they to shout.


text:
 So he had the ark of the LORD circle the city, going once around it, after which they returned to camp for the night.


text:
 The seven priests bearing the ram's horns marched in front of the ark of the LORD, blowing their horns. Ahead of these marched the picked troops, while the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, and the blowing of horns was kept up continually.


text:
 On this second day they again marched around the city once before returning to camp; and for six days in all they did the same.


text:
 On the seventh day, beginning at daybreak, they marched around the city seven times in the same manner; on that day only did they march around the city seven times.


text:
 The seventh time around, the priests blew the horns and Joshua said to the people, "Now shout, for the LORD has given you the city


text:
 and everything in it. It is under the LORD'S ban. Only the harlot Rahab and all who are in the house with her are to be spared, because she hid the messengers we sent.


text:
 But be careful not to take, in your greed, anything that is under the ban; else you will bring upon the camp of Israel this ban and the misery of it.


text:
 All silver and gold, and the articles of bronze or iron, are sacred to the LORD. They shall be put in the treasury of the LORD."


text:
 As the horns blew, the people began to shout. When they heard the signal horn, they raised a tremendous shout. The wall collapsed, and the people stormed the city in a frontal attack and took it.


text:
 They observed the ban by putting to the sword all living creatures in the city: men and women, young and old, as well as oxen, sheep and asses.


text:
 Joshua directed the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the harlot's house and bring out the woman with all her kin, as you swore to her you would do."


text:
 The spies entered and brought out Rahab, with her father, mother, brothers, and all her kin. Her entire family they led forth and placed them outside the camp of Israel.


text:
 The city itself they burned with all that was in it, except the silver, gold, and articles of bronze and iron, which were placed in the treasury of the house of the LORD.


text:
 Because Rahab the harlot had hidden the messengers whom Joshua had sent to reconnoiter Jericho, Joshua spared her with her family and all her kin, who continue in the midst of Israel to this day.


text:
 On that occasion Joshua imposed the oath: Cursed before the LORD be the man who attempts to rebuild this city, Jericho. He shall lose his first-born when he lays its foundation, and he shall lose his youngest son when he sets up its gates.


text:
 But the Israelites violated the ban; Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zerah, son of Zara of the tribe of Judah, took goods that were under the ban, and the anger of the LORD flared up against the Israelites.


text:
 Joshua next sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Bethel on its eastern side, with instructions to go up and reconnoiter the land. When they had explored Ai,


text:
 they returned to Joshua and advised, "Do not send all the people up; if only about two or three thousand go up, they can overcome Ai. The enemy there are few; you need not call for an effort from all the people."


text:
 who killed some thirty-six of them. They pressed them back across the clearing in front of the city gate till they broke ranks, and defeated them finally on the descent, so that the confidence of the people melted away like water.


text:
 Joshua, together with the elders of Israel, rent his garments and lay prostrate before the ark of the LORD until evening; and they threw dust on their heads.


text:
 "Alas, O Lord GOD," Joshua prayed, "why did you ever allow this people to pass over the Jordan, delivering us into the power of the Amorites, that they might destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell on the other side of the Jordan.


text:
 When the Canaanites and the other inhabitants of the land hear of it, they will close in around us and efface our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?"


text:
 Israel has sinned: they have violated the covenant which I enjoined on them. They have stealthily taken goods subject to the ban, and have deceitfully put them in their baggage.


text:
 If the Israelites cannot stand up to their enemies, but must turn their back to them, it is because they are under the ban. I will not remain with you unless you remove from among you whoever has incurred the ban.


text:
 Rise, sanctify the people. Tell them to sanctify themselves before tomorrow, for the LORD, the God of Israel, says: You are under the ban, O Israel. You cannot stand up to your enemies until you remove from among you whoever has incurred the ban.


text:
 In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes. The tribe which the LORD designates shall come forward by clans; the clan which the LORD designates shall come forward by families; the family which the LORD designates shall come forward one by one.


text:
 He who is designated as having incurred the ban shall be destroyed by fire, with all that is his, because he has violated the covenant of the LORD and has committed a shameful crime in Israel."


text:
 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was designated.


text:
 Then he had the clans of Judah come forward, and the clan of Zerah was designated. He had the clan of Zerah come forward by families, and Zabdi was designated.


text:
 Finally he had that family come forward one by one, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, was designated.


text:
 Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give to the LORD, the God of Israel, glory and honor by telling me what you have done; do not hide it from me."


text:
 Achan answered Joshua, "I have indeed sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I have done:


text:
 Among the spoils, I saw a beautiful Babylonian mantle, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight; in my greed I took them. They are now hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."


text:
 The messengers whom Joshua sent hastened to the tent and found them hidden there, with the silver underneath.


text:
 They took them from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out before the LORD.


text:
 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, son of Zerah, with the silver, the mantle, and the bar of gold, and with his sons and daughters, his ox, his ass and his sheep, his tent, and all his possessions, and led them off to the Valley of Achor.


text:
 Joshua said, "The LORD bring upon you today the misery with which you have afflicted us!" And all Israel stoned him to death


text:
 and piled a great heap of stones over him, which remains to the present day. Then the anger of the LORD relented. That is why the place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.


text:
 The LORD then said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the army with you and prepare to attack Ai. I have delivered the king of Ai into your power, with his people, city, and land.


text:
 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king; except that you may take its spoil and livestock as booty. Set an ambush behind the city."


text:
 So Joshua and all the soldiers prepared to attack Ai. Picking out thirty thousand warriors, Joshua sent them off by night


text:
 with these orders: "See that you ambush the city from the rear, at no great distance; then all of you be on the watch.


text:
 The rest of the people and I will come up to the city, and when they make a sortie against us as they did the last time, we will flee from them.


text:
 They will keep coming out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will think we are fleeing from them as we did the last time. When this occurs,


text:
 rise from ambush and take possession of the city, which the LORD, your God, will deliver into your power.


text:
 When you have taken the city, set it afire in obedience to the LORD'S command. These are my orders to you."


text:
 Then Joshua sent them away. They went to the place of ambush, taking up their position to the west of Ai, toward Bethel. Joshua, however, spent that night in the plain.


text:
 Early the next morning Joshua mustered the army and went up to Ai at its head, with the elders of Israel.


text:
 When all the troops he led were drawn up in position before the city, they pitched camp north of Ai, on the other side of the ravine.


text:
 Thus the people took up their stations, with the main body north of the city and the ambush west of it, and Joshua waited overnight among his troops.


text:
 The king of Ai saw this, and he and all his army came out very early in the morning to engage Israel in battle at the descent toward the Arabah, not knowing that there was an ambush behind the city.


text:
 Since they were drawn away from the city, with every man engaged in this pursuit of Joshua and the Israelites, not a soldier remained in Ai (or Bethel), and the city was open and unprotected.


text:
 Then the LORD directed Joshua, "Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will deliver it into your power." Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward the city,


text:
 and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose from their post, rushed in, captured the city, and immediately set it on fire.


text:
 By the time the men of Ai looked back, the smoke from the city was already sky-high. Escape in any direction was impossible, because the Israelites retreating toward the desert now turned on their pursuers;


text:
 for when Joshua and the main body of Israelites saw that the city had been taken from ambush and was going up in smoke, they struck back at the men of Ai.


text:
 Since those in the city came out to intercept them, the men of Ai were hemmed in by Israelites on either side, who cut them down without any fugitives or survivors


text:
 All the inhabitants of Ai who had pursued the Israelites into the desert were slain by the sword there in the open, down to the last man. Then all Israel returned and put to the sword those inside the city.


text:
 Joshua kept the javelin in his hand stretched out until he had fulfilled the doom on all the inhabitants of Ai.


text:
 However, the Israelites took for themselves as booty the livestock and the spoil of that city, according to the command of the LORD issued to Joshua.


text:
 Then Joshua destroyed the place by fire, reducing it to an everlasting mound of ruins, as it remains today.


text:
 He had the king of Ai hanged on a tree until evening; then at sunset Joshua ordered the body removed from the tree and cast at the entrance of the city gate, where a great heap of stones was piled up over it, which remains to the present day.


text:
 of unhewn stones on which no iron tool had been used, in keeping with the command to the Israelites of Moses, the servant of the LORD, as recorded in the book of the law. On this altar they offered holocausts and peace offerings to the LORD.


text:
 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed upon the stones a copy of the law written by Moses.


text:
 And all Israel, stranger and native alike, with their elders, officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark facing the levitical priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. Half of them were facing Mount Gerizim and half Mount Ebal, thus carrying out the instructions of Moses, the servant of the LORD, for the blessing of the people of Israel on this first occasion.


text:
 Then were read aloud all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses, exactly as written in the book of the law.


text:
 Every single word that Moses had commanded, Joshua read aloud to the entire community, including the women and children, and the strangers who had accompanied Israel.


text:
 When the news reached the kings west of the Jordan, in the mountain regions and in the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon: Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites,


text:
 put into effect a device of their own. They chose provisions for a journey, making use of old sacks for their asses, and old wineskins, torn and mended.


text:
 They wore old, patched sandals and shabby garments; and all the bread they took was dry and crumbly.


text:
 Thus they journeyed to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, where they said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land to propose that you make an alliance with us."


text:
 But the men of Israel replied to the Hivites, "You may be living in land that is ours. How, then, can we make an alliance with you?"


text:
 But they answered Joshua, "We are your servants." Then Joshua asked them, "Who are you? Where do you come from?"


text:
 They answered him, "Your servants have come from a far-off land, because of the fame of the LORD, your God. For we have heard reports of all that he did in Egypt


text:
 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.


text:
 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, 'Take along provisions for the journey and go to meet them. Say to them: We are your servants; we propose that you make an alliance with us.'


text:
 This bread of ours was still warm when we brought it from home as provisions the day we left to come to you, but now it is dry and crumbled.


text:
 Here are our wineskins, which were new when we filled them, but now they are torn. Look at our garments and sandals, which are worn out from the very long journey."


text:
 So Joshua made an alliance with them and entered into an agreement to spare them, which the princes of the community sealed with an oath.


text:
 Three days after the agreement was entered into, the Israelites learned that these people were from nearby, and would be living in Israel.


text:
 The third day on the road, the Israelites came to their cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim,


text:
 but did not attack them, because the princes of the community had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. When the entire community grumbled against the princes,


text:
 these all remonstrated with the people, "We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and so we cannot harm them.


text:
 Let us therefore spare their lives and so deal with them that we shall not be punished for the oath we have sworn to them."


text:
 Thus the princes recommended that they be let live, as hewers of wood and drawers of water for the entire community; and the community did as the princes advised them.


text:
 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, "Why did you lie to us and say that you lived at a great distance from us, when you will be living in our very midst?


text:
 For this are you accursed: every one of you shall always be a slave (hewers of wood and drawers of water) for the house of my God."


text:
 They answered Joshua, "Your servants were fully informed of how the LORD, your God, commanded his servant Moses that you be given the entire land and that all its inhabitants be destroyed before you. Since, therefore, at your advance, we were in great fear for our lives, we acted as we did.


text:
 at the same time he made them, as they still are, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of the LORD, in the place of the LORD'S choice.


text:
 Now Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that, in the capture and destruction of Ai, Joshua had done to that city and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king. He heard also that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made their peace with Israel, remaining among them,


text:
 and that there was great fear abroad, because Gibeon was large enough for a royal city, larger even than the city of Ai, and all its men were brave.


text:
 So Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent for Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon,


text:
 to come to his aid for an attack on Gibeon, since it had concluded peace with Joshua and the Israelites.


text:
 The five Amorite kings, of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon, united all their forces and marched against Gibeon, where they took up siege positions.


text:
 Thereupon, the men of Gibeon sent an appeal to Joshua in his camp at Gilgal: "Do not abandon your servants. Come up here quickly and save us. Help us, because all the Amorite kings of the mountain country have joined forces against us."


text:
 Meanwhile the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your power. Not one of them will be able to withstand you."


text:
 the LORD threw them into disorder before him. The Israelites inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon and pursued them down the Beth-horon slope, harrassing them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.


text:
 While they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon, the LORD hurled great stones from the sky above them all the way to Azekah, killing many. More died from these hailstones than the Israelites slew with the sword.


text:
 On this day, when the LORD delivered up the Amorites to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the LORD, and said in the presence of Israel: Stand still, O sun, at Gibeon, O moon, in the valley of Aijalon!


text:
 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, while the nation took vengeance on its foes. Is this not recorded in the Book of Jashar? The sun halted in the middle of the sky; not for a whole day did it resume its swift course.


text:
 Never before or since was there a day like this, when the LORD obeyed the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel.


text:
 But do not remain there yourselves. Pursue your enemies, and harry them in the rear. Do not allow them to escape to their cities, for the LORD, your God, has delivered them into your power."


text:
 Once Joshua and the Israelites had finally inflicted the last blows in this very great slaughter, and the survivors had escaped from them into the fortified cities,


text:
 all the army returned safely to Joshua and the camp at Makkedah, no man uttering a sound against the Israelites.


text:
 Obediently, they brought out to him from the cave the five kings, of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon.


text:
 When they had done so, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the soldiers who had marched with him, "Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings." They came forward and put their feet upon their necks.


text:
 Then Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid or dismayed, be firm and steadfast. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies against whom you fight."


text:
 Thereupon Joshua struck and killed them, and hanged them on five trees, where they remained hanging until evening.


text:
 At sunset they were removed from the trees at the command of Joshua and cast into the cave where they had hidden; over the mouth of the cave large stones were placed, which remain until this very day.


text:
 Makkedah, too, Joshua captured and put to the sword at that time. He fulfilled the doom on the city, on its king, and on every person in it, leaving no survivors. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah what he had done to the king of Jericho.


text:
 Libnah also, with its king, the LORD delivered into the power of Israel. He put it to the sword with every person there, leaving no survivors. Thus he did to its king what he had done to the king of Jericho.


text:
 Joshua next passed on with all Israel from Libnah to Lachish, where they set up a camp during the attack.


text:
 The LORD delivered Lachish into the power of Israel, so that on the second day Joshua captured it and put it to the sword with every person in it, just as he had done to Libnah.


text:
 At that time Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his people, leaving him no survivors.


text:
 and captured it the same day, putting it to the sword. He fulfilled the doom that day on every person in it, just as he had done at Lachish.


text:
 and captured. They put it to the sword with its king, all its towns, and every person there, leaving no survivors, just as Joshua had done to Eglon. He fulfilled the doom on it and on every person there.


text:
 capturing it with its king and all its towns. They put them to the sword and fulfilled the doom on every person there, leaving no survivors. Thus was done to Debir and its king what had been done to Hebron, as well as to Libnah and its king.


text:
 Joshua conquered the entire country; the mountain regions, the Negeb, the foothills, and the mountain slopes, with all their kings. He left no survivors, but fulfilled the doom on all who lived there, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.


text:
 All these kings and their lands Joshua captured in a single campaign, for the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.


text:
 When Jabin, king of Hazor, learned of this, he sent a message to Jobab, king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,


text:
 and to the northern kings in the mountain regions and in the Arabah near Chinneroth, in the foothills, and in Naphath-dor to the west.


text:
 These were Canaanites to the east and west, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the mountain regions, and Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.


text:
 They came out with all their troops, an army numerous as the sands on the seashore, and with a multitude of horses and chariots.


text:
 All these kings joined forces and marched to the waters of Merom, where they encamped together to fight against Israel.


text:
 The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for by this time tomorrow I will stretch them slain before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."


text:
 The LORD delivered them into the power of the Israelites, who defeated them and pursued them to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth-maim, and eastward to the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them all down, leaving no survivors.


text:
 At that time Joshua, turning back, captured Hazor and slew its king with the sword; for Hazor formerly was the chief of all those kingdoms.


text:
 He also fulfilled the doom by putting every person there to the sword, till none was left alive. Hazor itself he burned.


text:
 Joshua thus captured all those kings with their cities and put them to the sword, fulfilling the doom on them, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.


text:
 However, Israel did not destroy by fire any of the cities built on raised sites, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.


text:
 The Israelites took all the spoil and livestock of these cities as their booty; but the people they put to the sword, until they had exterminated the last of them, leaving none alive.


text:
 As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua acted accordingly. He left nothing undone that the LORD had commanded Moses should be done.


text:
 So Joshua captured all this land: the mountain regions, the entire Negeb, all the land of Goshen, the foothills, the Arabah, as well as the mountain regions and foothills of Israel,


text:
 from Mount Halak that rises toward Seir as far as Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley at the foot of Mount Hermon. All their kings he captured and put to death.


text:
 With the exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon, no city made peace with the Israelites; all were taken in battle.


text:
 For it was the design of the LORD to encourage them to wage war against Israel, that they might be doomed to destruction and thus receive no mercy, but be exterminated, as the LORD had commanded Moses.


text:
 At that time Joshua penetrated the mountain regions and exterminated the Anakim in Hebron, Debir, Anab, the entire mountain region of Judah, and the entire mountain region of Israel. Joshua fulfilled the doom on them and on their cities,


text:
 so that no Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites. However, some survived in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.


text:
 Thus Joshua captured the whole country, just as the LORD had foretold to Moses. Joshua gave it to Israel as their heritage, apportioning it among the tribes. And the land enjoyed peace.


text:
 The kings of the land east of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon, including all the eastern section of the Arabah, whom the Israelites conquered and whose lands they occupied, were:


text:
 First, Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. His domain extended from Aroer, which is on the bank of the Wadi Arnon, to include the wadi itself, and the land northward through half of Gilead to the Wadi Jabbok,


text:
 as well as the Arabah from the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth, as far south as the eastern side of the Salt Sea of the Arabah in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to a point under the slopes of Pisgah.


text:
 He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all Bashan as far as the boundary of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and over half of Gilead as far as the territory of Sihon, king of Heshbon.


text:
 After Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites conquered them, he assigned their land to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, as their property.


text:
 This is a list of the kings whom Joshua and the Israelites conquered west of the Jordan and whose land, from Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley to Mount Halak which rises toward Seir, Joshua apportioned to the tribes of Israel.


text:
 It included the mountain regions and foothills, the Arabah, the slopes, the desert, and the Negeb, belonging to the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.


text:
 When Joshua was old and advanced in years, the LORD said to him: "Though now you are old and advanced in years, a very large part of the land still remains to be conquered.


text:
 (from the stream adjoining Egypt to the boundary of Ekron in the north is reckoned Canaanite territory, though held by the five lords of the Philistines in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron); also where the Avvim are in the south;


text:
 all the land of the Canaanites from Mearah of the Sidonians to Aphek, and the boundaries of the Amorites;


text:
 and the Gebalite territory; and all the Lebanon on the east, from Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to Labo in the land of Hamath.


text:
 At the advance of the Israelites I will drive out all the Sidonian inhabitants of the mountain regions between Lebanon and Misrephoth-maim; at least include these areas in the division of the Israelite heritage, just as I have commanded you.


text:
 Now, therefore, apportion among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh the land which is to be their heritage."


text:
 Now the other half of the tribe of Manasseh as well as the Reubenites and Gadites, had received their heritage which Moses, the servant of the LORD, had given them east of the Jordan:


text:
 from Aroer on the bank of the Wadi Arnon and the city in the wadi itself, through the tableland of Medeba and Dibon,


text:
 with the rest of the cities of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the boundary of the Ammonites;


text:
 also Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah,


text:
 the entire kingdom in Bashan of Og, a survivor of the Rephaim, who reigned at Ashtaroth and Edrei. Though Moses conquered and occupied these territories,


text:
 the Israelites did not dislodge the Geshurites and Maacathites, so that Geshur and Maacath survive in the midst of Israel to this day.


text:
 However, to the tribe of Levi Moses assigned no heritage since, as the LORD had promised them, the LORD, the God of Israel, is their heritage.


text:
 Their territory reached from Aroer, on the bank of the Wadi Arnon, and the city in the wadi itself, through the tableland about Medeba,


text:
 to include Heshbon and all its towns which are on the tableland, Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,


text:
 and the other cities of the tableland and, generally, of the kingdom of Sihon. This Amorite king, who reigned in Heshbon, Moses had killed, with his vassals, the princes of Midian, who were settled in the land: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba;


text:
 and among their slain followers the Israelites put to the sword also the soothsayer Balaam, son of Beor.


text:
 The boundary of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan. These cities and their villages were the heritage of the clans of the Reubenites.


text:
 Their territory included Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, toward Rabbah (that is,


text:
 and in the Jordan valley: Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, Zaphon, the other part of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon, with the bank of the Jordan to the southeastern tip of the Sea of Chinnereth.


text:
 Their territory included Mahanaim, all of Bashan, the entire kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and all the villages of Jair, which are sixty cities in Bashan.


text:
 Half of Gilead, with Ashtaroth and Edrei, once the royal cities of Og in Bashan, fell to the descendants of Machir, son of Manasseh, for half the clans descended from Machir.


text:
 These are the portions which Moses gave when he was in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho.


text:
 However, Moses gave no heritage to the tribe of Levi, since the LORD himself, the God of Israel, is their heritage, as he promised.


text:
 Here follow the portions which the Israelites received in the land of Canaan. Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the heads of families in the tribes of the Israelites determined


text:
 their heritage by lot, in accordance with the instructions the LORD had given through Moses concerning the remaining nine and a half tribes.


text:
 For to two and a half tribes Moses had already given a heritage beyond the Jordan; and though the Levites were given no heritage among the tribes,


text:
 the descendants of Joseph formed two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites themselves received no share of the land except cities to live in, with their pasture lands for the cattle and flocks.


text:
 Thus, in apportioning the land, did the Israelites carry out the instructions of the LORD to Moses.


text:
 When the Judahites came up to Joshua in Gilgal, the Kenizzite Caleb, son of Jephunneh, said to him: "You know what the LORD said to the man of God, Moses, about you and me in Kadesh-barnea.


text:
 I was forty years old when the servant of the LORD, Moses, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to reconnoiter the land; and I brought back to him a conscientious report.


text:
 My fellow scouts who went up with me discouraged the people, but I was completely loyal to the LORD, my God.


text:
 On that occasion Moses swore this oath, 'The land where you have set foot shall become your heritage and that of your descendants forever, because you have been completely loyal to the LORD, my God.'


text:
 Now, as he promised, the LORD has preserved me while Israel was journeying through the desert, for the forty-five years since the LORD spoke thus to Moses; and although I am now eighty-five years old,


text:
 I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me forth, with no less vigor whether for war or for ordinary tasks.


text:
 Give me, therefore, this mountain region which the LORD promised me that day, as you yourself heard. True, the Anakim are there, with large fortified cities, but if the LORD is with me I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD promised."


text:
 Therefore Hebron remains the heritage of the Kenizzite Caleb, son of Jephunneh, to the present day, because he was completely loyal to the LORD, the God of Israel.


text:
 Hebron was formerly called Kiriath-arba, for Arba, the greatest among the Anakim. And the land enjoyed peace.


text:
 The lot for the clans of the Judahite tribe fell in the extreme south toward the boundary of Edom, the desert of Zin in the Negeb.


text:
 southward below the pass of Akrabbim, across through Zin, up to a point south of Kadesh-barnea, across to Hezron, and up to Addar; from there, looping around Karka,


text:
 it crossed to Azmon and then joined the Wadi of Egypt before coming out at the sea. (This is your southern boundary.)


text:
 The northern boundary climbed from the bay where the Jordan meets the sea, up to Beth-hoglah, and ran north of Beth-arabah, up to Eben-Bohan-ben-Reuben.


text:
 Thence it climbed to Debir, north of the vale of Achor, in the direction of the Gilgal that faces the pass of Adummim, on the south side of the wadi; from there it crossed to the waters of En-shemesh and emerged at En-rogel.


text:
 Climbing again to the Valley of Ben-hinnom on the southern flank of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem), the boundary rose to the top of the mountain at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim, which bounds the Valley of Hinnom on the west.


text:
 From the top of the mountain it ran to the fountain of waters of Nephtoah, extended to the cities of Mount Ephron, and continued to Baalah, or Kiriath-jearim.


text:
 From Baalah the boundary curved westward to Mount Seir and passed north of the ridge of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon); thence it descended to Beth-shemesh, and ran across to Timnah.


text:
 It then extended along the northern flank of Ekron, continued through Shikkeron, and across to Mount Baalah, thence to include Jabneel, before it came out at the sea.


text:
 The western boundary was the Great Sea and its coast. This was the complete boundary of the clans of the Judahites.


text:
 As the LORD had commanded, Joshua gave Caleb, son of Jephunneh, a portion among the Judahites, namely, Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron.


text:
 And Caleb drove out from there the three Anakim, the descendants of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.


text:
 From there he marched up against the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly called Kiriath-sepher.


text:
 Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it."


text:
 Othniel, son of Caleb's brother Kenaz, captured it, and so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage.


text:
 On the day of her marriage to Othniel, she induced him to ask her father for some land. Then, as she alighted from the ass, Caleb asked her, "What is troubling you?"


text:
 She answered, "Give me an additional gift! Since you have assigned to me land in the Negeb, give me also pools of water." So he gave her the upper and the lower pools.


text:
 The cities of the tribe of the Judahites in the extreme southern district toward Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,


text:
 Ashdod and its towns and villages; Gaza and its towns and villages, as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coast of the Great Sea.


text:
 Maarath, Beth-anoth and Eltekon; six cities and their villages. Tekoa, Ephrathah (that is, Bethlehem), Peor, Etam, Kulom, Tatam, Zores, Karim, Gallim, Bether and Manoko; eleven cities and their villages.


text:
 (But the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem the Judahites could not drive out; so the Jebusites dwell in Jerusalem beside the Judahites to the present day.)


text:
 The lot that fell to the Josephites extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho east of the desert; then the boundary went up from Jericho to the heights at Bethel.


text:
 and descended westward to the border of the Japhletites, to that of the Lower Beth-horon, and to Gezer, ending thence at the sea.


text:
 the dividing line for the heritage of the clans of the Ephraimites ran from east of Ataroth-addar to Upper Bethhoron


text:
 and thence to the sea. From Michmethath on the north, their boundary curved eastward around Taanath-shiloh, and continued east of it to Janoah;


text:
 From Tappuah the boundary ran westward to the Wadi Kanah and ended at the sea. This was the heritage of the clans of the Ephraimites,


text:
 including the villages that belonged to each city set aside for the Ephraimites within the territory of the Manassehites.


text:
 But they did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, who live on within Ephraim to the present day, though they have been impressed as laborers.


text:
 Now as for the lot that fell to the tribe of Manasseh as the first-born of Joseph: since his eldest son, Machir, the father of Gilead, was a warrior, who had already obtained Gilead and Bashan,


text:
 the allotment was now made to the other descendants of Manasseh, the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher and Shemida, the other male children of Manasseh, son of Joseph.


text:
 Furthermore, Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had had no sons, but only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


text:
 These presented themselves to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the princes, saying, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us a heritage among our kinsmen." So in obedience to the command of the LORD a heritage was given to each of them among their father's kinsmen.


text:
 since these female descendants of Manasseh received each a portion among his sons. The land of Gilead fell to the rest of the Manassehites.


text:
 Manasseh bordered on Asher. From Michmethath near Shechem, another boundary ran southward to include the natives of En-Tappuah,


text:
 because the district of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, although Tappuah itself was an Ephraimite city on the border of Manasseh.


text:
 This same boundary continued down to the Wadi Kanah. The cities that belonged to Ephraim from among the cities in Manasseh were those to the south of that wadi; thus the territory of Manasseh ran north of the wadi and ended at the sea.


text:
 The land on the south belonged to Ephraim and that on the north to Manasseh; with the sea as their common boundary, they reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.


text:
 Moreover, in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh was awarded Beth-shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, Dor and its towns and the natives there, Endor and its towns and natives, Taanach and its towns and natives, and Megiddo and its towns and natives (the third is Naphath-dor).


text:
 When the Israelites grew stronger they impressed the Canaanites as laborers, but they did not drive them out.


text:
 The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, "Why have you given us only one lot and one share as our heritage? Our people are too many, because of the extent to which the LORD has blessed us."


text:
 Joshua answered them, "If you are too many, go up to the forest and clear out a place for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, since the mountain regions of Ephraim are so narrow."


text:
 For the Josephites said, "Our mountain regions are not enough for us; on the other hand, the Canaanites living in the valley region all have iron chariots, in particular those in Beth-shean and its towns, and those in the valley of Jezreel."


text:
 Joshua therefore said to Ephraim and Manasseh, the house of Joseph, "You are a numerous people and very strong. You shall have not merely one share,


text:
 for the mountain region which is now forest shall be yours when you clear it. Its adjacent land shall also be yours if, despite their strength and iron chariots, you drive out the Canaanites."


text:
 After they had subdued the land, the whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, where they set up the meeting tent.


text:
 Joshua therefore said to the Israelites, "How much longer will you put off taking steps to possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?


text:
 Choose three men from each of your tribes; I will commission them to begin a survey of the land, which they shall describe for purposes of inheritance. When they return to me


text:
 you shall divide it into seven parts. Judah is to retain its territory in the south, and the house of Joseph its territory in the north.


text:
 You shall bring here to me the description of the land in seven sections. I will then cast lots for you here before the LORD, our God.


text:
 For the Levites have no share among you, because the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage; while Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received the heritage east of the Jordan which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them."


text:
 When those who were to map out the land were ready for the journey, Joshua instructed them to survey the land, prepare a description of it, and return to him; then he would cast lots for them there before the LORD in Shiloh.


text:
 So they went through the land, listed its cities in writing in seven sections, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.


text:
 Joshua then divided up the land for the Israelites into their separate shares, casting lots for them before the LORD in Shiloh.


text:
 One lot fell to the clans of the tribe of Benjaminites. The territory allotted them lay between the descendants of Judah and those of Joseph.


text:
 Their northern boundary began at the Jordan and went over the northern flank of Jericho, up westward into the mountains, till it reached the desert of Beth-aven.


text:
 From there it crossed over to the southern flank of Luz (that is, Bethel). Then it ran down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountaintop south of Lower Beth-horon.


text:
 For the western border, the boundary line swung south from the mountaintop opposite Bethhoron till it reached Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), which city belonged to the Judahites. This was the western boundary.


text:
 The southern boundary began at the limits of Kiriath-jearim and projected to the spring at Nephtoah.


text:
 It went down to the edge of the mountain on the north of the Valley of Rephaim, where it faces the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and continuing down the Valley of Hinnom along the southern flank of the Jebusites, reached En-rogel.


text:
 Inclining to the north, it extended to En-shemesh, and thence to Geliloth, opposite the pass of Adummim. Then it dropped to Eben-Bohan-ben-Reuben,


text:
 From there the boundary continued across the northern flank of Beth-hoglah and extended to the northern tip of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.


text:
 The Jordan bounded it on the east. This was how the heritage of the clans of the Benjaminites was bounded on all sides.


text:
 Now the cities belonging to the clans of the tribe of the Benjaminites were: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,


text:
 Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This was the heritage of the clans of Benjaminites.


text:
 The second lot fell to Simeon. The heritage of the clans of the tribe of Simeonites lay within that of the Judahites.


text:
 besides all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer (that is, Ramoth-negeb). This was the heritage of the clans of the tribe of the Simeonites.


text:
 This heritage of the Simeonites was within the confines of the Judahites; for since the portion of the latter was too large for them, the Simeonites obtained their heritage within it.


text:
 Their boundary went up west... and through Mareal, reaching Dabbesheth and the wadi that is near Jokneam.


text:
 From there it continued eastward to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin, extended to Rimmon, and turned to Neah.


text:
 Thus, with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem, there were twelve cities and their villages


text:
 The boundary reached Tabor, Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh, ending at the Jordan. These sixteen cities and their villages


text:
 In the other direction, it ran eastward of Beth-dagon, reached Zebulun and the valley of Iphtahel; then north of Beth-emek and Neiel, it extended to Cabul,


text:
 Then the boundary turned back to Ramah and to the fortress city of Tyre; thence it cut back to Hosah and ended at the sea. Thus, with Mahalab, Achzib,


text:
 extended from Heleph, from the oak at Zaanannim to Lakkum, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, and ended at the Jordan.


text:
 In the opposite direction, westerly, it ran through Aznoth-tabor and from there extended to Hukkok; it touched Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and the Jordan on the east.


text:
 But the territory of the Danites was too small for them; so the Danites marched up and attacked Leshem, which they captured and put to the sword. Once they had taken possession of Leshem, they renamed the settlement after their ancestor Dan.


text:
 When the last of them had received the portions of the land they were to inherit, the Israelites assigned a heritage in their midst to Joshua, son of Nun.


text:
 In obedience to the command of the LORD, they gave him the city which he requested, Timnah-serah in the mountain region of Ephraim. He rebuilt the city and made it his home.


text:
 These are the final portions into which Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the heads of families in the tribes of the Israelites divided the land by lot in the presence of the LORD, at the door of the meeting tent in Shiloh.


text:
 to which one guilty of accidental and unintended homicide may flee for asylum from the avenger of blood.


text:
 To one of these cities the killer shall flee, and standing at the entrance of the city gate, he shall plead his case before the elders, who must receive him and assign him a place in which to live among them.


text:
 Though the avenger of blood pursues him, they are not to deliver up the homicide who slew his fellow man unintentionally and not out of previous hatred.


text:
 Once he has stood judgment before the community, he shall live on in that city till the death of the high priest who is in office at the time. Then the killer may go back home to his own city from which he fled."


text:
 So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the mountain region of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountain region of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the mountain region of Judah.


text:
 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they designated Bezer on the open tableland in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh.


text:
 These were the designated cities to which any Israelite or stranger living among them who had killed a person accidentally might flee to escape death at the hand of the avenger of blood, until he could appear before the community.


text:
 The heads of the Levite families came up to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the other tribes of the Israelites


text:
 at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and said to them, "The LORD commanded, through Moses, that cities be given us to dwell in, with pasture lands for our livestock."


text:
 Out of their own heritage, in obedience to this command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites the following cities with their pasture lands.


text:
 When the first lot among the Levites fell to the clans of the Kohathites, the descendants of Aaron the priest obtained thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.


text:
 The rest of the Kohathites obtained ten cities by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.


text:
 The Gershonites obtained thirteen cities by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.


text:
 These cities with their pasture lands the Israelites allotted to the Levites in obedience to the LORD'S command through Moses.


text:
 and assigned them to the descendants of Aaron in the Kohathite clan of the Levites, since the first lot fell to them:


text:
 first, Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the mountain region of Judah, with the adjacent pasture lands,


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 although the open country and villages belonging to the city had been given to Caleb, son of Jephunneh, as his property.


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 Thus to the descendants of Aaron the priest were given the city of asylum for homicides at Hebron, with its pasture lands; also, 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 cities from the two tribes mentioned.


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 From the tribe of Benjamin they obtained the four cities of Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,


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 These cities which with their pasture lands belonged to the priestly descendants of Aaron, were thirteen in all.


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 The rest of the Kohathite clans among the Levites obtained by lot, from the tribe of Ephraim, four cities.


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 They were assigned, with its pasture lands, the city of asylum for homicides at Shechem in the mountain region of Ephraim; also Gezer with its pasture lands,


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 From the tribe of Dan they obtained the four cities of Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,


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 and from the half-tribe of Manasseh the two cities of Taanach with its pasture lands and Ibleam with its pasture lands.


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 These cities which with their pasture lands belonged to the rest of the Kohathite clans were ten in all.


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 The Gershonite clan of the Levites received from the half-tribe of Manasseh two cities: the city of asylum for homicides at Golan, with its pasture lands; and also Beth-ashtaroth with its pasture lands.


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 From the tribe of Issachar they obtained the four cities of Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,


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 and from the tribe of Naphtali, three cities: the city of asylum for homicides at Kedesh in Galilee, with its pasture lands; also Hammath with its pasture lands, and Rakkath with its pasture lands.


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 The Merarite clans, the last of the Levites, received from the tribe of Zebulun the four cities of Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,


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 also, across the Jordan, from the tribe of Reuben, four cities: the city of asylum for homicides at Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,


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 and from the tribe of Gad a total of four cities: the city of asylum for homicides at Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, also Mahanaim with its pasture lands,


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 The cities which were allotted to the Merarite clans, the last of the Levites, were therefore twelve in all.


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 Thus the total number of cities within the territory of the Israelites which, with their pasture lands, belonged to the Levites, was forty-eight.


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 And so the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to their fathers he would give them. Once they had conquered and occupied it,


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 the LORD gave them peace on every side, just as he had promised their fathers. Not one of their enemies could withstand them; the LORD brought all their enemies under their power.


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 Not a single promise that the LORD made to the house of Israel was broken; every one was fulfilled.


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 and said to them: "You have done all that Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you, and have obeyed every command I gave you.


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 For many years now you have not once abandoned your kinsmen, but have faithfully carried out the commands of the LORD, your God.


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 Since, therefore, the LORD, your God, has settled your kinsmen as he promised them, you may now return to your tents beyond the Jordan; to your own land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you.


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 But be very careful to observe the precept and law which Moses, the servant of the LORD, enjoined upon you: love the LORD, your God; follow him faithfully; keep his commandments; remain loyal to him; and serve him with your whole heart and soul."


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 (For, to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had assigned land in Bashan; and to the other half Joshua had given a portion along with their kinsmen west of the Jordan.) What Joshua said to them when he sent them off to their tents with his blessing was,


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 "Now that you are returning to your own tents with great wealth, with very numerous livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and with a very large supply of clothing, divide these spoils of your enemies with your kinsmen there."


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 So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the other Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and returned to the land of Gilead, their own property, which they had received according to the LORD'S command through Moses.


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 When the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, they built there at the Jordan a conspicuously large altar.


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 The other Israelites heard the report that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar in the region of the Jordan facing the land of Canaan, across from them,


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 First, however, they sent to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead an embassy consisting of Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest,


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 and ten princes, one from every tribe of Israel, each one being both prince and military leader of his ancestral house.


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 When these came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, they said to them:


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 "The whole community of the LORD sends this message: What act of treachery is this you have committed against the God of Israel? You have seceded from the LORD this day, and rebelled against him by building an altar of your own!


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 We are still not free of that; must you now add to it? You are rebelling against the LORD today and by tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel!


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 If you consider the land you now possess unclean, cross over to the land the LORD possesses, where the Dwelling of the LORD stands, and share that with us. But do not rebel against the LORD, nor involve us in rebellion, by building an altar of your own in addition to the altar of the LORD, our God.


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 When Achan, son of Zerah, violated the ban, did not wrath fall upon the entire community of Israel? Though he was but a single man, he did not perish alone for his guilt!"


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 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the military leaders of the Israelites: "The LORD is the God of gods.


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 The LORD, the God of gods, knows and Israel shall know. If now we have acted out of rebellion or treachery against the LORD, our God,


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 and if we have built an altar of our own to secede from the LORD, or to offer holocausts, grain offerings or peace offerings upon it, the LORD himself will exact the penalty.


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 We did it rather out of our anxious concern lest in the future your children should say to our children: 'What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?


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 For the LORD has placed the Jordan as a boundary between you and us. You descendants of Reuben and Gad have no share in the LORD.' Thus your children would prevent ours from revering the LORD.


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 So we decided to guard our interests by building this altar of our own: not for holocausts or for sacrifices,


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 but as evidence for you on behalf of ourselves and our descendants, that we have the right to worship the LORD in his presence with our holocausts, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Now in the future your children cannot say to our children, 'You have no share in the LORD.'


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 Our thought was, that if in the future they should speak thus to us or to our descendants, we could answer: 'Look at the model of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for holocausts or for sacrifices, but to witness between you and us.'


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 Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD or to secede now from the LORD by building an altar for holocaust, grain offering, or sacrifice in addition to the altar of the LORD, our God, which stands before his Dwelling."


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 When Phinehas the priest and the princes of the community, the military leaders of the Israelites, heard what the Reubenites, the Gadites and the Manassehites had to say, they were satisfied.


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 Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, said to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the Manassehites, "Now we know that the LORD is with us. Since you have not committed this act of treachery against the LORD, you have kept the Israelites free from punishment by the LORD."


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 Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and reported the matter to them.


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 The report satisfied the Israelites, who blessed God and decided against declaring war on the Reubenites and Gadites or ravaging the land they occupied.


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 The Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar its name as a witness among them that the LORD is God.


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 Many years later, after the LORD had given the Israelites rest from all their enemies round about them, and when Joshua was old and advanced in years,


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 he summoned all Israel (including their elders, leaders, judges and officers) and said to them: "I am old and advanced in years.


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 You have seen all that the LORD, your God, has done for you against all these nations; for it has been the LORD, your God, himself who fought for you.


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 Bear in mind that I have apportioned among your tribes as their heritage the nations that survive (as well as those I destroyed) between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west.


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 The LORD, your God, will drive them out and dislodge them at your approach, so that you will take possession of their land as the LORD, your God, promised you.


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 Therefore strive hard to observe and carry out all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, not straying from it in any way,


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 or mingling with these nations while they survive among you. You must not invoke their gods, or swear by them, or serve them, or worship them,


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 At your approach the LORD has driven out large and strong nations, and to this day no one has withstood you.


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 One of you puts to flight a thousand, because it is the LORD, your God, himself who fights for you, as he promised you.


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 For if you ever abandon him and ally yourselves with the remnant of these nations while they survive among you, by intermarrying and intermingling with them,


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 know for certain that the LORD, your God, will no longer drive these nations out of your way. Instead they will be a snare and a trap for you, a scourge for your sides and thorns for your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD, your God, has given you.


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 "Today, as you see, I am going the way of all men. So now acknowledge with your whole heart and soul that not one of all the promises the LORD, your God, made to you has remained unfulfilled. Every promise has been fulfilled for you, with not one single exception.


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 But just as every promise the LORD, your God, made to you has been fulfilled for you, so will he fulfill every threat, even so far as to exterminate you from this good land which the LORD, your God, has given you.


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 If you transgress the covenant of the LORD, your God, which he enjoined on you, serve other gods and worship them, the anger of the LORD will flare up against you and you will quickly perish from the good land which he has given you."


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 Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning their elders, their leaders, their judges and their officers. When they stood in ranks before God,


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 Joshua addressed all the people: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: In times past your fathers, down to Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, dwelt beyond the River and served other gods.


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 But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac.


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 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir in which to settle, while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.


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 Afterward I led you out of Egypt, and when you reached the sea, the Egyptians pursued your fathers to the Red Sea with chariots and horsemen.


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 Because they cried out to the LORD, he put darkness between your people and the Egyptians, upon whom he brought the sea so that it engulfed them. After you witnessed what I did to Egypt, and dwelt a long time in the desert,


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 I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your power. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them (the two kings of the Amorites) before you.


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 Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, prepared to war against Israel. He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you;


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 Once you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you, but I delivered them also into your power.


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 And I sent the hornets ahead of you which drove them (the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites) out of your way; it was not your sword or your bow.


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 "I gave you a land which you had not tilled and cities which you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.


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 "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.


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 If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."


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 For it was the LORD, our God, who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a state of slavery. He performed those great miracles before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among all the peoples through whom we passed.


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 At our approach the LORD drove out (all the peoples, including) the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."


text:
 Joshua in turn said to the people, "You may not be able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God who will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.


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 If, after the good he has done for you, you forsake the LORD and serve strange gods, he will do evil to you and destroy you."


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 Joshua therefore said to the people, "You are your own witnesses that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are, indeed!"


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 "Now, therefore, put away the strange gods that are among you and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."


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 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem,


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 which he recorded in the book of the law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was in the sanctuary of the LORD.


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 And Joshua said to all the people, "This stone shall be our witness, for it has heard all the words which the LORD spoke to us. It shall be a witness against you, should you wish to deny your God."


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 He was buried within the limits of his heritage at Timnath-serah in the mountain region of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.


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 Israel served the LORD during the entire lifetime of Joshua and that of the elders who outlived Joshua and knew all that the LORD had done for Israel.


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 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried in Shechem in the plot of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of money. This was a heritage of the descendants of Joseph.


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 When Eleazar, son of Aaron, also died, he was buried on the hill which had been given to his son Phinehas in the mountain region of Ephraim.


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 After the death of Joshua the Israelites consulted the LORD, asking, "Who shall be first among us to attack the Canaanites and to do battle with them?"


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 Judah then said to his brother Simeon, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, and let us engage the Canaanites in battle. I will likewise accompany you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him.


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 When the forces of Judah attacked, the LORD delivered the Canaanites and Perizzites into their power, and they slew ten thousand of them in Bezek.


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 It was in Bezek that they came upon Adonibezek and fought against him. When they defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites,


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 Adonibezek fled. They set out in pursuit, and when they caught him, cut off his thumbs and his big toes.


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 At this Adonibezek said, "Seventy kings, with their thumbs and big toes cut off, used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so has God repaid me." He was brought to Jerusalem, and there he died.


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 (The Judahites fought against Jerusalem and captured it, putting it to the sword; then they destroyed the city by fire.)


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 Afterward the Judahites went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the mountain region, in the Negeb, and in the foothills.


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 Judah also marched against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron, which was formerly called Kiriath-arba, and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.


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 From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly called Kiriath-sepher.


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 And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it."


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 Othniel, son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, captured it; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage.


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 On the day of her marriage to Othniel she induced him to ask her father for some land. Then, as she alighted from the ass, Caleb asked her, "What is troubling you?"


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 Give me an additional gift," she answered. "Since you have assigned land in the Negeb to me, give me also pools of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and the lower pool.


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 The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, came up with the Judahites from the city of palms to the desert at Arad (which is in the Negeb). But they later left and settled among the Amalekites.


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 Judah then went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who dwelt in Zephath. After having doomed the city to destruction, they renamed it Hormah.


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 Judah, however, did not occupy Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, or Ekron with its territory.


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 Since the LORD was with Judah, he gained possession of the mountain region. Yet he could not dislodge those who lived on the plain, because they had iron chariots.


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 The Benjaminites did not dislodge the Jebusites who dwelt in Jerusalem, with the result that the Jebusites live in Jerusalem beside the Benjaminites to the present day.


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 The scouts saw a man coming out of the city and said to him, "Show us a way into the city, and we will spare you."


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 He showed them a way into the city, which they then put to the sword; but they let the man and his whole clan go free.


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 He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, as it is still called.


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 Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean with its towns or of Taanach with its towns. Neither did he dislodge the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, those of Ibleam and its towns, or those of Megiddo and its towns. The Canaanites kept their hold in this district.


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 When the Israelites grew stronger, they impressed the Canaanites as laborers, but did not drive them out.


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 Similarly, the Ephraimites did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, and so the Canaanites live in Gezer in their midst.


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 Zebulun did not dislodge the inhabitants of Kitron or those of Nahalol; the Canaanites live among them, but have become forced laborers.


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 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or those of Sidon, or take possession of Mahaleb, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik or Rehob.


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 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or those of Beth-anath, and so they live among the Canaanite natives of the land. However, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath have become forced laborers for them.


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 The Amorites hemmed in the Danites in the mountain region, not permitting them to go down into the plain.


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 The Amorites had a firm hold in Harheres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but as the house of Joseph gained the upper hand, they were impressed as laborers.


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 An angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, "It was I who brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land which I promised on oath to your fathers. I said that I would never break my covenant with you,


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 but that you were not to make a pact with the inhabitants of this land, and you were to pull down their altars. Yet you have not obeyed me. What did you mean by this?


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 For now I tell you, I will not clear them out of your way; they shall oppose you and their gods shall become a snare for you."


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 When Joshua dismissed the people, each Israelite went to take possession of his own hereditary land.


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 The people served the LORD during the entire lifetime of Joshua, and of those elders who outlived Joshua and who had seen all the great work which the LORD had done for Israel.


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 and they buried him within the borders of his heritage at Timnath-heres in the mountain region of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.


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 But once the rest of that generation were gathered to their fathers, and a later generation arose that did not know the LORD, or what he had done for Israel,


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 Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had led them out of the land of Egypt, they followed the other gods of the various nations around them, and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD.


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 the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel, and he delivered them over to plunderers who despoiled them. He allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies round about whom they were no longer able to withstand.


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 Whatever they undertook, the LORD turned into disaster for them, as in his warning he had sworn he would do, till they were in great distress.


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 they did not listen to their judges, but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods. They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken, and did not follow their example of obedience to the commandments of the LORD.


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 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge and save them from the power of their enemies as long as the judge lived; it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries of affliction under their oppressors.


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 But when the judge died, they would relapse and do worse than their fathers, following other gods in service and worship, relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct.


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 In his anger toward Israel the LORD said, "Inasmuch as this nation has violated my covenant which I enjoined on their fathers, and has disobeyed me,


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 I for my part will not clear away for them any more of the nations which Joshua left when he died."


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 Through these nations the Israelites were to be made to prove whether or not they would keep to the way of the LORD and continue in it as their fathers had done;


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 therefore the LORD allowed them to remain instead of expelling them immediately, or delivering them into the power of Israel.


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 The following are the nations which the LORD allowed to remain, so that through them he might try all those Israelites who had no experience of the battles with Canaan


text:
 training them in battle, those generations only of the Israelites who would not have had that previous experience):


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 the five lords of the Philistines; and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwell in the mountain region of Lebanon between Baal-hermon and the entrance to Hamath.


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 These served to put Israel to the test, to determine whether they would obey the commandments the LORD had enjoined on their fathers through Moses.


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 Besides, the Israelites were living among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.


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 In fact, they took their daughters in marriage, and gave their own daughters to their sons in marriage, and served their gods.


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 Because the Israelites had offended the LORD by forgetting the LORD, their God, and serving the Baals and the Asherahs,


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 the anger of the LORD flared up against them, and he allowed them to fall into the power of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim, whom they served for eight years.


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 But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a savior, Othniel, son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, who rescued them.


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 The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the LORD delivered Cushan-risha-thaim, king of Aram, into his power, so that he made him subject.


text:
 Again the Israelites offended the LORD, who because of this offense strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel.


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 In alliance with the Ammonites and Amalekites, he attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the city of palms.


text:
 But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a savior, the Benjaminite Ehud, son of Gera, who was left-handed. It was by him that the Israelites sent their tribute to Eglon, king of Moab.


text:
 Ehud made himself a two-edged dagger a foot long, and wore it under his clothes over his right thigh.


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 He returned, however, from where the idols are, near Gilgal, and said, "I have a private message for you, O king." And the king said, "Silence!" Then when all his attendants had left his presence,


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 and Ehud went in to him where he sat alone in his cool upper room, Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So the king rose from his chair,


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 and then Ehud with his left hand drew the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon's belly.


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 The hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not withdraw the dagger from his body.


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 When Ehud had left and the servants came, they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, and thought, "He must be easing himself in the cool chamber."


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 They waited until they finally grew suspicious. Since he did not open the doors of the upper room, they took the key and opened them. There on the floor, dead, lay their lord!


text:
 On his arrival he sounded the horn in the mountain region of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the mountains with him as their leader.


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 "Follow me," he said to them, "for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your power." So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, permitting no one to cross.


text:
 On that occasion they slew about ten thousand Moabites, all of them strong and valiant men. Not a man escaped.


text:
 Thus was Moab brought under the power of Israel at that time; and the land had rest for eighty years.


text:
 After him there was Shamgar, son of Anath, who slew six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He, too, rescued Israel.


text:
 So the LORD allowed them to fall into the power of the Canaanite king, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-ha-goiim.


text:
 But the Israelites cried out to the LORD; for with his nine hundred iron chariots he sorely oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.


text:
 She used to sit under Deborah's palm tree, situated between Ramah and Bethel in the mountain region of Ephraim, and there the Israelites came up to her for judgment.


text:
 She sent and summoned Barak, son of Abinoam, from Kedesh of Naphtali. "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands," she said to him; "go, march on Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand Naphtalites and Zebulunites.


text:
 I will lead Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, out to you at the Wadi Kishon, together with his chariots and troops, and will deliver them into your power."


text:
 But Barak answered her, "If you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go."


text:
 "I will certainly go with you," she replied, "but you shall not gain the glory in the expedition on which you are setting out, for the LORD will have Sisera fall into the power of a woman." So Deborah joined Barak and journeyed with him to Kedesh.


text:
 Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men followed him. Deborah also went up with him.


text:
 Now the Kenite Heber had detached himself from his own people, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and had pitched his tent by the tere-binth of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.


text:
 So Sisera assembled from Harosheth-ha-goiim at the Wadi Kishon all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all his forces.


text:
 Deborah then said to Barak, "Be off, for this is the day on which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your power. The LORD marches before you." So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by his ten thousand men.


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 And the LORD put Sisera and all his chariots and all his forces to rout before Barak. Sisera himself dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot.


text:
 Barak, however, pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-goiim. The entire army of Sisera fell beneath the sword, not even one man surviving.


text:
 Sisera, in the meantime, had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of the Kenite Heber, since Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of the Kenite Heber were at peace with one another.


text:
 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come in, my lord, come in with me; do not be afraid." So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug.


text:
 He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink. I am thirsty." But she opened a jug of milk for him to drink, and then covered him over.


text:
 "Stand at the entrance of the tent," he said to her. "If anyone comes and asks, 'Is there someone here?' say, 'No!'"


text:
 Instead Jael, wife of Heber, got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand. While Sisera was sound asleep, she stealthily approached him and drove the peg through his temple down into the ground, so that he perished in death.


text:
 Then when Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, "Come, I will show you the man you seek." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg through his temple.


text:
 their power weighed ever heavier upon him, till at length they destroyed the Canaanite king, Jabin.


text:
 Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes! I to the LORD will sing my song, my hymn to the LORD, the God of Israel.


text:
 O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, The earth quaked and the heavens were shaken, while the clouds sent down showers.


text:
 Mountains trembled in the presence of the LORD, the One of Sinai, in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.


text:
 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of slavery caravans ceased: Those who traveled the roads went by roundabout paths.


text:
 Gone was freedom beyond the walls, gone indeed from Israel. When I, Deborah, rose, when I rose, a mother in Israel,


text:
 New gods were their choice; then the war was at their gates. Not a shield could be seen, nor a lance, among forty thousand in Israel!


text:
 Sing of them to the strains of the harpers at the wells, where men recount the just deeds of the LORD, his just deeds that brought freedom to Israel.


text:
 Awake, awake, Deborah! awake, awake, strike up a song. Strength! arise, Barak, make despoilers your spoil, son of Abinoam.


text:
 From Ephraim, princes were in the valley; behind you was Benjamin, among your troops. From Machir came down commanders, from Zebulun wielders of the marshal's staff.


text:
 With Deborah were the princes of Issachar; Barak, too, was in the valley, his course unchecked. Among the clans of Reuben great were the searchings of heart.


text:
 Why do you stay beside your hearths listening to the lowing of the herds? Among the clans of Reuben great were the searchings of heart!


text:
 Gilead, beyond the Jordan, rests; why does Dan spend his time in ships? Asher, who dwells along the shore, is resting in his coves.


text:
 The kings came and fought; then they fought, those kings of Canaan, At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; no silver booty did they take.


text:
 "Curse Meroz," says the LORD, "hurl a curse at its inhabitants! For they came not to my help, as warriors to the help of the LORD."


text:
 With her left hand she reached for the peg, with her right, for the workman's mallet. She hammered Sisera, crushed his head; she smashed, stove in his temple.


text:
 At her feet he sank down, fell, lay still; down at her feet he sank and fell; where he sank down, there he fell, slain.


text:
 From the window peered down and wailed the mother of Sisera, from the lattice: "Why is his chariot so long in coming? why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?"


text:
 "They must be dividing the spoil they took: there must be a damsel or two for each man, Spoils of dyed cloth as Sisera's spoil, an ornate shawl or two for me in the spoil."


text:
 May all your enemies perish thus, O LORD! but your friends be as the sun rising in its might! And the land was at rest for forty years.


text:
 The Israelites offended the LORD, who therefore delivered them into the power of Midian for seven years,


text:
 so that Midian held Israel subject. For fear of Midian the Israelites established the fire signals on the mountains, the caves for refuge, and the strongholds.


text:
 And it used to be that when the Israelites had completed their sowing, Midian, Amalek and the Kedemites would come up,


text:
 encamp opposite them, and destroy the produce of the land as far as the outskirts of Gaza, leaving no sustenance in Israel, nor sheep, oxen or asses.


text:
 For they would come up with their livestock, and their tents would become as numerous as locusts; and neither they nor their camels could be numbered, when they came into the land to lay it waste.


text:
 he sent a prophet to the Israelites who said to them, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I led you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the place of slavery.


text:
 I rescued you from the power of Egypt and of all your other oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.


text:
 And I said to you: I, the LORD, am your God; you shall not venerate the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you did not obey me."


text:
 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. While his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press to save it from the Midianites,


text:
 "My Lord," Gideon said to him, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are his wondrous deeds of which our fathers told us when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' For now the LORD has abandoned us and has delivered us into the power of Midian."


text:
 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go with the strength you have and save Israel from the power of Midian. It is I who send you."


text:
 But he answered him, "Please, my lord, how can I save Israel? My family is the meanest in Manasseh, and I am the most insignificant in my father's house."


text:
 Do not depart from here, I pray you, until I come back to you and bring out my offering and set it before you." He answered, "I will await your return."


text:
 So Gideon went off and prepared a kid and an ephah of flour in the form of unleavened cakes. Putting the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out to him under the terebinth and presented them.


text:
 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and unleavened cakes and lay them on this rock; then pour out the broth." When he had done so,


text:
 the angel of the LORD stretched out the tip of the staff he held, and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Thereupon a fire came up from the rock which consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the angel of the LORD disappeared from sight.


text:
 Gideon, now aware that it had been the angel of the LORD, said, "Alas, Lord GOD, that I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"


text:
 So Gideon built there an altar to the LORD and called it Yahweh-shalom. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


text:
 That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the seven-year-old spare bullock and destroy your father's altar to Baal and cut down the sacred pole that is by it.


text:
 You shall build, instead, the proper kind of altar to the LORD, your God, on top of this stronghold. Then take the spare bullock and offer it as a holocaust on the wood from the sacred pole you have cut down."


text:
 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded him. But through fear of his family and of the townspeople, he would not do it by day, but did it at night.


text:
 Early the next morning the townspeople found that the altar of Baal had been destroyed, the sacred pole near it cut down, and the spare bullock offered on the altar that was built.


text:
 They asked one another, "Who did this?" Their inquiry led them to the conclusion that Gideon, son of Joash, had done it.


text:
 So the townspeople said to Joash, "Bring out your son that he may die, for he has destroyed the altar of Baal and has cut down the sacred pole that was near it."


text:
 But Joash replied to all who were standing around him, "Do you intend to act in Baal's stead, or be his champion? If anyone acts for him, he shall be put to death by morning. If he whose altar has been destroyed is a god, let him act for himself!"


text:
 So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because of the words, "Let Baal take action against him, since he destroyed his altar."


text:
 Then all Midian and Amalek and the Kedemites mustered and crossed over into the valley of Jezreel, where they encamped.


text:
 He sent messengers, too, throughout Manasseh, which also obeyed his summons; through Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, likewise, he sent messengers and these tribes advanced to meet the others.


text:
 I am putting this woolen fleece on the threshing floor. If dew comes on the fleece alone, while all the ground is dry, I shall know that you will save Israel through me, as you promised."


text:
 That is what took place. Early the next morning he wrung the dew from the fleece, squeezing out of it a bowlful of water.


text:
 Gideon then said to God, "Do not be angry with me if I speak once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece. Let the fleece alone be dry, but let there be dew on all the ground."


text:
 Early the next morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) encamped by Enharod with all his soldiers. The camp of Midian was in the valley north of Gibeath-hammoreh.


text:
 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many soldiers with you for me to deliver Midian into their power, lest Israel vaunt itself against me and say, 'My own power brought me the victory.'


text:
 Now proclaim to all the soldiers, 'If anyone is afraid or fearful, let him leave.'" When Gideon put them to this test on the mountain, twenty-two thousand of the soldiers left, but ten thousand remained.


text:
 The LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many soldiers. Lead them down to the water and I will test them for you there. If I tell you that a certain man is to go with you, he must go with you. But no one is to go if I tell you he must not."


text:
 When Gideon led the soldiers down to the water, the LORD said to him, "You shall set to one side everyone who laps up the water as a dog does with its tongue; to the other, everyone who kneels down to drink."


text:
 Those who lapped up the water raised to their mouths by hand numbered three hundred, but all the rest of the soldiers knelt down to drink the water.


text:
 The LORD said to Gideon, "By means of the three hundred who lapped up the water I will save you and will deliver Midian into your power. So let all the other soldiers go home."


text:
 Their horns, and such supplies as the soldiers had with them, were taken up, and Gideon ordered the rest of the Israelites to their tents, but kept the three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.


text:
 When you hear what they are saying, you will have the courage to descend on the camp." So he went down with his aide Purah to the outposts of the camp.


text:
 The Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Kedemites lay in the valley, as numerous as locusts. Nor could their camels be counted, for these were as many as the sands on the seashore.


text:
 When Gideon arrived, one man was telling another about a dream. "I had a dream," he said, "that a round loaf of barley bread was rolling into the camp of Midian. It came to our tent and struck it, and as it fell it turned the tent upside down."


text:
 "This can only be the sword of the Israelite Gideon, son of Joash," the other replied. "God has delivered Midian and all the camp into his power."


text:
 When Gideon heard the description and explanation of the dream, he prostrated himself. Then returning to the camp of Israel, he said, "Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your power."


text:
 He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and provided them all with horns and with empty jars and torches inside the jars.


text:
 "Watch me and follow my lead," he told them. "I shall go to the edge of the camp, and as I do, you must do also.


text:
 When I and those with me blow horns, you too must blow horns all around the camp and cry out, 'For the LORD and for Gideon!'"


text:
 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the posting of the guards. They blew the horns and broke the jars they were holding.


text:
 All three companies blew horns and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hands, and in their right the horns they were blowing, and cried out, "A sword for the LORD and Gideon!"


text:
 They all remained standing in place around the camp, while the whole camp fell to running and shouting and fleeing.


text:
 But the three hundred men kept blowing the horns, and throughout the camp the LORD set the sword of one against another. The army fled as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zarethan, near the border of Abel-meholah at Tabbath.


text:
 The Israelites were called to arms from Naphtali, from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.


text:
 Gideon also sent messengers throughout the mountain region of Ephraim to say, "Go down to confront Midian, and seize the water courses against them as far as Beth-barah, as well as the Jordan." So all the Ephraimites were called to arms, and they seized the water courses as far as Beth-barah, and the Jordan as well.


text:
 They captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian and carried the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.


text:
 But the Ephraimites said to him, "What have you done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?" And they quarreled bitterly with him.


text:
 "What have I accomplished now in comparison with you?" he answered them. "Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?


text:
 Into your power God delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" When he said this, their anger against him subsided.


text:
 When Gideon reached the Jordan and crossed it with his three hundred men, they were exhausted and famished.


text:
 So he said to the men of Succoth, "Will you give my followers some loaves of bread? They are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian."


text:
 But the princes of Succoth replied, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give food to your army?"


text:
 Gideon said, "Very well; when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my power, I will grind your flesh in with the thorns and briers of the desert."


text:
 He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request of them, but the men of Penuel answered him as had the men of Succoth.


text:
 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their force of about fifteen thousand men; these were all who were left of the whole Kedemite army, a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen having fallen.


text:
 Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the camp when it felt secure.


text:
 Zebah and Zalmunna fled. He pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, captive, throwing the entire army into panic.


text:
 He captured a young man of Succoth, who upon being questioned listed for him the seventy-seven princes and elders of Succoth.


text:
 So he went to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you taunted me, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give food to your weary followers?'"


text:
 He took the elders of the city, and thorns and briers of the desert, and ground these men of Succoth into them.


text:
 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "Where now are the men you killed at Tabor?" "They all resembled you," they replied. "They appeared to be princes."


text:
 "They were my brothers, my mother's sons," he said. "As the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I should not kill you."


text:
 Then he said to his first-born, Jether, "Go, kill them." Since Jether was still a boy, he was afraid and did not draw his sword.


text:
 Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, kill us yourself, for a man's strength is like the man." So Gideon stepped forward and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. He also took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.


text:
 The Israelites then said to Gideon, "Rule over us-- you, your son, and your son's son-- for you rescued us from the power of Midian."


text:
 But Gideon answered them, "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The LORD must rule over you."


text:
 Gideon went on to say, "I should like to make a request of you. Will each of you give me a ring from his booty?" (For being Ishmaelites, the enemy had gold rings.)


text:
 "We will gladly give them," they replied, and spread out a cloak into which everyone threw a ring from his booty.


text:
 The gold rings that he requested weighed seventeen hundred gold shekels, in addition to the crescents and pendants, the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the trappings that were on the necks of their camels.


text:
 Gideon made an ephod out of the gold and placed it in his city Ophrah. However, all Israel paid idolatrous homage to it there, and caused the ruin of Gideon and his family.


text:
 Thus was Midian brought into subjection by the Israelites; no longer did they hold their heads high. And the land had rest for forty years, during the lifetime of Gideon.


text:
 At a good old age Gideon, son of Joash, died and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


text:
 But after Gideon was dead, the Israelites again abandoned themselves to the Baals, making Baal of Berith their god


text:
 and forgetting the LORD, their God, who had delivered them from the power of their enemies all around them.


text:
 Nor were they grateful to the family of Jerubbaal (Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.


text:
 Abimelech, son of Jerubbaal, went to his mother's kinsmen in Shechem, and said to them and to the whole clan to which his mother's family belonged,


text:
 "Put this question to all the citizens of Shechem: 'Which is better for you: that seventy men, or all Jerubbaal's sons, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?' You must remember that I am your own flesh and bone."


text:
 When his mother's kin repeated these words to them on his behalf, all the citizens of Shechem sympathized with Abimelech, thinking, "He is our kinsman."


text:
 They also gave him seventy silver shekels from the temple of Baal of Berith, with which Abimelech hired shiftless men and ruffians as his followers.


text:
 He then went to his ancestral house in Ophrah, and slew his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. Only the youngest son of Jerubbaal, Jotham, escaped, for he was hidden.


text:
 Then all the citizens of Shechem and all Beth-millo came together and proceeded to make Abimelech king by the terebinth at the memorial pillar in Shechem.


text:
 When this was reported to him, Jotham went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and standing there, cried out to them in a loud voice: "Hear me, citizens of Shechem, that God may then hear you!


text:
 Once the trees went to anoint a king over themselves. So they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.'


text:
 But the olive tree answered them, 'Must I give up my rich oil, whereby men and gods are honored, and go to wave over the trees?'


text:
 But the fig tree answered them, 'Must I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?'


text:
 But the vine answered them, 'Must I give up my wine that cheers gods and men, and go to wave over the trees?'


text:
 But the buckthorn replied to the trees, 'If you wish to anoint me king over you in good faith, come and take refuge in my shadow. Otherwise, let fire come from the buckthorn and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'


text:
 "Now then, if you have acted in good faith and honorably in appointing Abimelech your king, if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and with his family, and if you have treated him as he deserved--


text:
 but you have risen against his family this day and have killed his seventy sons upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman--


text:
 if, then, you have acted in good faith and with honor toward Jerubbaal and his family this day, rejoice in Abimelech and may he in turn rejoice in you.


text:
 But if not, let fire come forth from Abimelech to devour the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo, and let fire come forth from the citizens and from Beth-millo to devour Abimelech."


text:
 God put bad feelings between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who rebelled against Abimelech.


text:
 This was to repay the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal and to avenge their blood upon their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and upon the citizens of Shechem, who encouraged him to kill his brothers.


text:
 The citizens of Shechem then set men in ambush for him on the mountaintops, and these robbed all who passed them on the road. But it was reported to Abimelech.


text:
 Now Gaal, son of Ebed, came over to Shechem with his kinsmen. The citizens of Shechem put their trust in him,


text:
 and went out into the fields, harvested their grapes and trod them out. Then they held a festival and went to the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.


text:
 Gaal, son of Ebed, said, "Who is Abimelech? And why should we of Shechem serve him? Were not the son of Jerubbaal and his lieutenant Zebul once subject to the men of Hamor, father of Shechem? Why should we serve him?


text:
 Would that this people were entrusted to my command! I would depose Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, 'Get a larger army and come out!'"


text:
 and sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah with the information: "Gaal, son of Ebed, and his kinsmen have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you.


text:
 Promptly at sunrise tomorrow morning, make a raid on the city. When he and his followers come out against you, deal with him as best you can."


text:
 During the night Abimelech advanced with all his soldiers and set up an ambush for Shechem in four companies.


text:
 Gaal, son of Ebed, went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. When Abimelech and his soldiers rose from their place of ambush,


text:
 Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, "There are men coming down from the hilltops!" But Zebul answered him, "You see the shadow of the hills as men."


text:
 But Gaal went on to say, "Men are coming down from the region of Tabbur-Haares, and one company is coming by way of Elon-Meonenim."


text:
 Zebul said to him, "Where now is the boast you uttered, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Are these not the men for whom you expressed contempt? Go out now and fight with them."


text:
 But Abimelech routed him, and he fled before him; and many fell slain right up to the entrance of the gate.


text:
 Abimelech returned to Arumah, but Zebul drove Gaal and his kinsmen from Shechem, which they had occupied.


text:
 who divided the men he had into three companies, and set up an ambush in the fields. He watched till he saw the people leave the city, and then rose against them for the attack.


text:
 Abimelech and the company with him dashed in and stood by the entrance of the city gate, while the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and attacked them.


text:
 That entire day Abimelech fought against the city, and captured it. He then killed its inhabitants and demolished the city, sowing the site with salt.


text:
 When they heard of this, all the citizens of Migdal-shechem went into the crypt of the temple of El-berith.


text:
 So he went up Mount Zalmon with all his soldiers, took his axe in his hand, and cut down some brushwood. This he lifted to his shoulder, then said to the men with him, "Hurry! Do just as you have seen me do."


text:
 So all the men likewise cut down brushwood, and following Abimelech, placed it against the crypt. Then they set the crypt on fire over their heads, so that every one of the citizens of Migdal-shechem, about a thousand men and women, perished.


text:
 Now there was a strong tower in the middle of the city, and all the men and women, in a word all the citizens of the city, fled there, shutting themselves in and going up to the roof of the tower.


text:
 Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, advancing to the very entrance of the tower to set it on fire.


text:
 But a certain woman cast the upper part of a millstone down on Abimelech's head, and it fractured his skull.


text:
 He immediately called his armor-bearer and said to him, "Draw your sword and dispatch me, lest they say of me that a woman killed me." So his attendant ran him through and he died.


text:
 God also brought all their wickedness home to the Shechemites, for the curse of Jotham, son of Jerubbaal, overtook them.


text:
 After Abimelech there rose to save Israel the Issacharite Tola, son of Puah, son of Dodo, a resident of Shamir in the mountain region of Ephraim.


text:
 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty saddle-asses and possessed thirty cities in the land of Gilead; these are called Havvoth-jair to the present day.


text:
 The Israelites again offended the LORD, serving the Baals and Ashtaroths, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. Since they had abandoned the LORD and would not serve him,


text:
 the LORD became angry with Israel and allowed them to fall into the power of (the Philistines and) the Ammonites.


text:
 For eighteen years they afflicted and oppressed the Israelites in Bashan, and all the Israelites in the Amorite land beyond the Jordan in Gilead.


text:
 The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in great distress.


text:
 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you; we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."


text:
 The LORD answered the Israelites: "Did not the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines,


text:
 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Midianites oppress you? Yet when you cried out to me, and I saved you from their grasp,


text:
 But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do to us whatever you please. Only save us this day."


text:
 And they cast out the foreign gods from their midst and served the LORD, so that he grieved over the misery of Israel.


text:
 The Ammonites had gathered for war and encamped in Gilead, while the Israelites assembled and encamped in Mizpah.


text:
 And among the people the princes of Gilead said to one another, "The one who begins the war against the Ammonites shall be leader of all the inhabitants of Gilead."


text:
 Gilead's wife had also borne him sons, and on growing up the sons of the wife had driven Jephthah away, saying to him, "You shall inherit nothing in our family, for you are the son of another woman."


text:
 So Jephthah had fled from his brothers and had taken up residence in the land of Tob. A rabble had joined company with him, and went out with him on raids.


text:
 "Are you not the ones who hated me and drove me from my father's house?" Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead. "Why do you come to me now, when you are in distress?"


text:
 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "In any case, we have now come back to you; if you go with us to fight against the Ammonites, you shall be the leader of all of us who dwell in Gilead."


text:
 Jephthah answered the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me back to fight against the Ammonites and the LORD delivers them up to me, I shall be your leader."


text:
 The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD is witness between us that we will do as you say."


text:
 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. In Mizpah, Jephthah settled all his affairs before the LORD.


text:
 Then he sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites to say, "What have you against me that you come to fight with me in my land?"


text:
 He answered the messengers of Jephthah, "Israel took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and the Jordan when they came up from Egypt. Now restore the same peaceably."


text:
 saying to him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.


text:
 For when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the desert to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh.


text:
 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, 'Let me pass through your land.' But the king of Edom did not give consent. They also sent to the king of Moab, but he too was unwilling. So Israel remained in Kadesh.


text:
 Then they went through the desert, and bypassing the land of Edom and the land of Moab, went east of the land of Moab and encamped across the Arnon. Thus they did not go through the territory of Moab, for the Arnon is the boundary of Moab.


text:
 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon. Israel said to him, 'Let me pass through your land to my own place.'


text:
 But Sihon refused to let Israel pass through his territory. On the contrary, he gathered all his soldiers, who encamped at Jahaz and fought Israel.


text:
 But the LORD, the God of Israel, delivered Sihon and all his men into the power of Israel, who defeated them and occupied all the land of the Amorites dwelling in that region,


text:
 If now the LORD, the God of Israel, has cleared the Amorites out of the way of his people, are you to dislodge Israel?


text:
 Should you not possess that which your god Chemosh gave you to possess, and should we not possess all that the LORD, our God, has cleared out for us?


text:
 Again, are you any better than Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he war against them


text:
 when Israel occupied Heshbon and its villages, Aroer and its villages, and all the cities on the banks of the Arnon? Three hundred years have passed; why did you not recover them during that time?


text:
 I have not sinned against you, but you wrong me by warring against me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites!"


text:
 The spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and through Mizpah-Gilead as well, and from there he went on to the Ammonites.


text:
 "whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a holocaust."


text:
 Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his power,


text:
 so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them, from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all) and as far as Abel-keramin. Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection by the Israelites.


text:
 When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her.


text:
 When he saw her, he rent his garments and said, "Alas, daughter, you have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract."


text:
 "Father," she replied, "you have made a vow to the LORD. Do with me as you have vowed, because the LORD has wrought vengeance for you on your enemies the Ammonites."


text:
 Then she said to her father, "Let me have this favor. Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains to mourn my virginity with my companions."


text:
 "Go," he replied, and sent her away for two months. So she departed with her companions and mourned her virginity on the mountains.


text:
 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed. She had not been intimate with man. It then became a custom in Israel


text:
 for Israelite women to go yearly to mourn the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days of the year.


text:
 The men of Ephraim gathered together and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why do you go on to fight with the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house over you."


text:
 Jephthah answered them, "My soldiers and I were engaged in a critical contest with the Ammonites. I summoned you, but you did not rescue me from their power.


text:
 When I saw that you would not effect a rescue, I took my life in my own hand and went on to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my power. Why, then, do you come up against me this day to fight with me?"


text:
 Then Jephthah called together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim, whom they defeated; for the Ephraimites had said, "You of Gilead are Ephraimite fugitives in territory belonging to Ephraim and Manasseh."


text:
 The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan toward Ephraim. When any of the fleeing Ephraimites said, "Let me pass," the men of Gilead would say to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he answered, "No!"


text:
 they would ask him to say "Shibboleth." If he said "Sibboleth," not being able to give the proper pronunciation, they would seize him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell at that time.


text:
 After having judged Israel for six years, Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.


text:
 He had thirty sons. He also had thirty daughters married outside the family, and he brought in as wives for his sons thirty young women from outside the family. After having judged Israel for seven years,


text:
 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy saddle-asses. After having judged Israel for eight years,


text:
 the Pirathonite Abdon, son of Hillel, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim on the mountain of the Amalekites.


text:
 The Israelites again offended the LORD, who therefore delivered them into the power of the Philistines for forty years.


text:
 There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children.


text:
 An angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Though you are barren and have had no children, yet you will conceive and bear a son.


text:
 As for the son you will conceive and bear, no razor shall touch his head, for this boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb. It is he who will begin the deliverance of Israel from the power of the Philistines."


text:
 The woman went and told her husband, "A man of God came to me; he had the appearance of an angel of God, terrible indeed. I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.


text:
 But he said to me, 'You will be with child and will bear a son. So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb, until the day of his death.'"


text:
 Manoah then prayed to the LORD. "O LORD, I beseech you," he said, "may the man of God whom you sent, return to us to teach us what to do for the boy who will be born."


text:
 God heard the prayer of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field. Since her husband Manoah was not with her,


text:
 the woman ran in haste and told her husband. "The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me," she said to him;


text:
 so Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he reached the man, he said to him, "Are you the one who spoke to my wife?" "Yes," he answered.


text:
 Then Manoah asked, "Now, when that which you say comes true, what are we expected to do for the boy?"


text:
 The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "Your wife is to abstain from all the things of which I spoke to her.


text:
 She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor take wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. Let her observe all that I have commanded her."


text:
 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Can we persuade you to stay, while we prepare a kid for you?"


text:
 But the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "Although you press me, I will not partake of your food. But if you will, you may offer a holocaust to the LORD."Not knowing that it was the angel of the LORD,


text:
 Then Manoah took the kid with a cereal offering and offered it on the rock to the LORD, whose works are mysteries. While Manoah and his wife were looking on,


text:
 as the flame rose to the sky from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell prostrate to the ground;


text:
 but the angel of the LORD was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah, realizing that it was the angel of the LORD,


text:
 But his wife pointed out to him, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a holocaust and cereal offering from our hands! Nor would he have let us see all this just now, or hear what we have heard."


text:
 On his return he told his father and mother, "There is a Philistine woman I saw in Timnah whom I wish you to get as a wife for me."


text:
 His father and mother said to him, "Can you find no wife among your kinsfolk or among all our people, that you must go and take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson answered his father, "Get her for me, for she pleases me."


text:
 Now his father and mother did not know that this had been brought about by the LORD, who was providing an opportunity against the Philistines; for at that time they had dominion over Israel.


text:
 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. When they had come to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came roaring to meet him.


text:
 But the spirit of the LORD came upon Samson, and although he had no weapons, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a kid.


text:
 However, on the journey to speak for the woman, he did not mention to his father or mother what he had done.


text:
 Later, when he returned to marry the woman who pleased him, he stepped aside to look at the remains of the lion and found a swarm of bees and honey in the lion's carcass.


text:
 So he scooped the honey out into his palms and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some to eat, without telling them that he had scooped the honey from the lion's carcass.


text:
 His father also went down to the woman, and Samson gave a banquet there, since it was customary for the young men to do this.


text:
 Samson said to them, "Let me propose a riddle to you. If within the seven days of the feast you solve it for me successfully, I will give you thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of garments.


text:
 But if you cannot answer it for me, you must give me thirty tunics and thirty sets of garments." "Propose your riddle," they responded; "we will listen to it."


text:
 So he said to them, "Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." After three days' failure to answer the riddle,


text:
 they said on the fourth day to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband to answer the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your family. Did you invite us here to reduce us to poverty?"


text:
 At Samson's side, his wife wept and said, "You must hate me; you do not love me, for you have proposed a riddle to my countrymen, but have not told me the answer." He said to her, "If I have not told it even to my father or my mother, must I tell it to you?"


text:
 But she wept beside him during the seven days the feast lasted. On the seventh day, since she importuned him, he told her the answer, and she explained the riddle to her countrymen.


text:
 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him, "What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?" He replied to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle."


text:
 The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty of their men and despoiled them; he gave their garments to those who had answered the riddle. Then he went off to his own family in anger,


text:
 After some time, in the season of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife, bringing a kid. But when he said, "Let me be with my wife in private," her father would not let him enter,


text:
 saying, "I thought it certain you wished to repudiate her; so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more beautiful than she; you may have her instead."


text:
 So Samson left and caught three hundred foxes. Turning them tail to tail, he tied between each pair of tails one of the torches he had at hand.


text:
 He then kindled the torches and set the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning both the shocks and the standing grain, and the vineyards and olive orchards as well.


text:
 When the Philistines asked who had done this, they were told, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because his wife was taken and given to his best man." So the Philistines went up and destroyed her and her family by fire.


text:
 And with repeated blows, he inflicted a great slaughter on them. Then he went down and remained in a cavern of the cliff of Etam.


text:
 When the men of Judah asked, "Why have you come up against us?" they answered, "To take Samson prisoner; to do to him as he has done to us."


text:
 Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cavern in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are our rulers? Why, then, have you done this to us?" He answered them, "As they have done to me, so have I done to them."


text:
 They said to him, "We have come to take you prisoner, to deliver you over to the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves."


text:
 "No," they replied,"we will certainly not kill you but will only bind you and deliver you over to them." So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the cliff.


text:
 When he reached Lehi, and the Philistines came shouting to meet him, the spirit of the LORD came upon him: the ropes around his arms became as flax that is consumed by fire and his bonds melted away from his hands.


text:
 Near him was the fresh jawbone of an ass; he reached out, grasped it, and with it killed a thousand men.


text:
 Then Samson said, "With the jawbone of an ass I have piled them in a heap; With the jawbone of an ass I have slain a thousand men."


text:
 Being very thirsty, he cried to the LORD and said, "You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Must I now die of thirst or fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"


text:
 Then God split the cavity in Lehi, and water issued from it, which Samson drank till his spirit returned and he revived. Hence that spring in Lehi is called En-hakkore to this day.


text:
 Informed that Samson had come there, the men of Gaza surrounded him with an ambush at the city gate all night long. And all the night they waited, saying, "Tomorrow morning we will kill him."


text:
 Samson rested there until midnight. Then he rose, seized the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He hoisted them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the ridge opposite Hebron.


text:
 The lords of the Philistines came to her and said, "Beguile him and find out the secret of his great strength, and how we may overcome and bind him so as to keep him helpless. We will each give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."


text:
 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you may be bound so as to be kept helpless."


text:
 "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not dried," Samson answered her, "I shall be as weak as any other man."


text:
 So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not dried, and she bound him with them.


text:
 She had men lying in wait in the chamber and so she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the strings as a thread of tow is severed by a whiff of flame; and the secret of his strength remained unknown.


text:
 "If they bind me tight with new ropes, with which no work has been done," he answered her, "I shall be as weak as any other man."


text:
 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them. Then she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" For there were men lying in wait in the chamber. But he snapped them off his arms like thread.


text:
 Delilah said to Samson again, "Up to now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be bound." He said to her, "If you weave my seven locks of hair into the web and fasten them with the pin, I shall be as weak as any other man."


text:
 So while he slept, Delilah wove his seven locks of hair into the web, and fastened them in with the pin. Then she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" Awakening from his sleep, he pulled out both the weaver's pin and the web.


text:
 Then she said to him, "How can you say that you love me when you do not confide in me? Three times already you have mocked me, and not told me the secret of your great strength!"


text:
 She importuned him continually and vexed him with her complaints till he was deathly weary of them.


text:
 So he took her completely into his confidence and told her, "No razor has touched my head, for I have been consecrated to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I shall be as weak as any other man."


text:
 When Delilah saw that he had taken her completely into his confidence, she summoned the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this time, for he has opened his heart to me." So the lords of the Philistines came and brought up the money with them.


text:
 She had him sleep on her lap, and called for a man who shaved off his seven locks of hair. Then she began to mistreat him, for his strength had left him.


text:
 When she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!", and he woke from his sleep, he thought he could make good his escape as he had done time and again, for he did not realize that the LORD had left him.


text:
 But the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. Then they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters, and he was put to grinding in the prison.


text:
 The lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to make merry. They said, "Our god has delivered into our power Samson our enemy."


text:
 When the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, "Our god has delivered into our power our enemy, the ravager of our land, the one who has multiplied our slain." Then they stationed him between the columns.


text:
 When their spirits were high, they said, "Call Samson that he may amuse us." So they called Samson from the prison, and he played the buffoon before them.


text:
 Samson said to the attendant who was holding his hand, "Put me where I may touch the columns that support the temple and may rest against them."


text:
 The temple was full of men and women: all the lords of the Philistines were there, and from the roof about three thousand men and women looked on as Samson provided amusement.


text:
 Samson cried out to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, remember me! Strengthen me, O God, this last time that for my two eyes I may avenge myself once and for all on the Philistines."


text:
 Samson grasped the two middle columns on which the temple rested and braced himself against them, one at his right hand, the other at his left.


text:
 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He pushed hard, and the temple fell upon the lords and all the people who were in it. Those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his lifetime.


text:
 All his family and kinsmen went down and bore him up for burial in the grave of his father Manoah between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had judged Israel for twenty years.


text:
 He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred shekels of silver over which you pronounced a curse in my hearing when they were taken from you, are in my possession. It was I who took them; so now I will restore them to you."


text:
 When he restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she took two hundred of them and gave them to the silversmith, who made of them a carved idol overlaid with silver.


text:
 Then his mother said, "May the LORD bless my son! I have consecrated the silver to the LORD as my gift in favor of my son, by making a carved idol overlaid with silver." It remained in the house of Micah.


text:
 Thus the layman Micah had a sanctuary. He also made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.


text:
 From that city he set out to find another place of residence. On his journey he came to the house of Micah in the mountain region of Ephraim.


text:
 Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" He answered him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and am on my way to find some other place of residence."


text:
 "Stay with me," Micah said to him. "Be father and priest to me, and I will give you ten silver shekels a year, a set of garments, and your food."


text:
 Therefore Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, since the Levite has become my priest."


text:
 At that time there was no king in Israel. Moreover the tribe of Danites were in search of a district to dwell in, for up to that time they had received no heritage among the tribes of Israel.


text:
 So the Danites sent from their clan a detail of five valiant men of Zorah and Eshtaol, to reconnoiter the land and scout it. With their instructions to go and scout the land, they traveled as far as the house of Micah in the mountain region of Ephraim, where they passed the night.


text:
 Near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite and turned in that direction. "Who brought you here and what are you doing here?" they asked him. "What is your interest here?"


text:
 They said to him, "Consult God, that we may know whether the undertaking we are engaged in will succeed."


text:
 The priest said to them, "Go and prosper: the LORD is favorable to the undertaking you are engaged in."


text:
 So the five men went on and came to Laish. They saw that the people dwelling there lived securely after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and trusting, with no lack of any natural resources. They were distant from the Sidonians and had no contact with other people.


text:
 they replied, "Come, let us attack them, for we have seen the land and it is very good. Are you going to hesitate? Do not be slothful about beginning your expedition to possess the land.


text:
 Those against whom you go are a trusting people, and the land is ample. God has indeed given it into your power: a place where no natural resource is lacking."


text:
 So six hundred men of the clan of the Danites, fully armed with weapons of war, set out from where they were in Zorah and Eshtaol,


text:
 and camped in Judah, up near Kiriath-jearim; hence to this day the place, which lies west of Kiriath-jearim, is called Mahaneh-dan.


text:
 The five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land of Laish said to their kinsmen, "Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household idols, and a carved idol overlaid with silver? Now decide what you must do!"


text:
 So turning in that direction, they went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him.


text:
 The six hundred men girt with weapons of war, who were Danites, stood by the entrance of the gate, and the priest stood there also.


