# verses

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However, nothing consecrated unconditionally which a person may consecrate to ADONAI out of all he owns - person, animal or field he possesses -is to be sold or redeemed; because everything consecrated unconditionally is especially holy to ADONAI.


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No person who has been sentenced to die, and thus unconditionally consecrated, can be redeemed; he must be put to death.


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''All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to ADONAI; it is holy to ADONAI.


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''All the tenth from the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd's crook, the tenth one will be holy to ADONAI.


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The owner is not to inquire whether the animal is good or bad, and he cannot exchange it; if he does exchange it, both it and the one he substituted for it will be holy; it cannot be redeemed.''


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ADONAI spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said,


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'Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra'el, by clans and families. Record the names of all the men


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twenty years old and over who are subject to military service in Isra'el. You and Aharon are to enumerate them company by company.


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Of the children of Yosef: From Efrayim, Elishama the son of 'Ammihud; From M'nasheh, Gamli'el the son of P'dahtzur.


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These were the ones called from the assembly, the chiefs of their fathers'clans and heads of thousands in Isra'el.


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and, on the first day of the second month, they gathered the whole assembly to state their genealogies by families and clans and recorded the names of all those twenty years old and over, as well as their total numbers.


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The men twenty years old and over who were subject to military service were recorded by name, family and clan, starting with the descendants of Re'uven, Isra'el's firstborn. Here are the totals:


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counted the people of Isra'el by their clans, those twenty years old and over, eligible for military service in Isra'el;


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But those who were L'vi'im, according to the clan of their fathers, were not counted in this census;


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Instead, give the L'vi'im charge over the tabernacle of the testimony, its equipment and everything else connected with it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its equipment, serve in it and set up their camp around it.


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When the tabernacle is to be moved onward, it is the L'vi'im who are to take it down and set it up in the new location; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death.


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But the L'vi'im are to camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that no anger will come upon the assembly of the people of Isra'el. The L'vi'im are to be in charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.'


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'The people of Isra'el are to set up camp by clans, each man with his own banner and under his clan's symbol; they are to camp around the tent of meeting, but at a distance.


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'Those camping on the east side toward the sunrise are to be under the banner of the camp of Y'hudah; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows: Tribe Chief Number Y'hudah Nachshon the son of 'Amminadav 74,600 Yissakhar N'tan'el the son of Tzu'ar 54,400 Z'vulun Eli'av the son of Helon 57,400 Total 186,400 'This group is to set out first.


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'Those camping on the south are to be under the banner of the camp of Re'uven; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows: Tribe Chief Number Re'uven Elitzur the son of Sh'de'ur 46,500 Shim'on Shlumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai 59,300 Gad Elyasaf the son of Re'u'el 45,650 Total 151,450 'This group is to set out second.


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'Then the tent of meeting, with the camp of the L'vi'im, will set out, with the other camps in front and behind. They will go in the same order as their camps are set up - each man will go forward in his position, under his banner.


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'Those camping on the west are to be under the banner of the camp of Efrayim; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows: Tribe Chief Number Efrayim Elishama the son of 'Ammihud 40,500 M'nasheh Gamli'el the son of P'dahtzur 32,200 Binyamin Avidan the son of Gid'oni 35,400 Total 108,100 'This group is to set out third.


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'Those camping on the north are to be under the banner of the camp of Dan; they are to camp according to companies; by tribe and leader they are as follows: Tribe Chief Number Dan Achi'ezer the son of 'Ammishaddai 62,700 Asher Pag'i'el the son of 'Okhran 41,500 Naftali Achira the son of 'Enan 53,400 Total 157,600 'This group is to set out last with their banners.'


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These are the ones counted from the people of Isra'el by clans; the total number recorded in the camps, company by company, was 603,550.


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The people of Isra'el did everything ADONAI had ordered Moshe: they set up camp under their banners, and they set out, each according to his family and clan.


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These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when ADONAI spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai.


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But Nadav and Avihu died in the presence of ADONAI when they offered unauthorized fire before ADONAI in the Sinai Desert, and they had no children; El'azar and Itamar served as cohanim in the presence of Aharon their father.


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They are to carry out his duties and the duties of the whole community before the tent of meeting in performing the service of the tabernacle.


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They are to be in charge of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and to carry out all the duties of the people of Isra'el connected with the service of the tabernacle.


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Assign the L'vi'im to Aharon and his sons; their one responsibility in regard to the people of Isra'el is to serve him.


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You are to appoint Aharon and his sons to carry out the duties of cohanim; anyone else who involves himself is to be put to death.'


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'I have taken the L'vi'im from among the people of Isra'el in lieu of every firstborn male that is first from the womb among the people of Isra'el; the L'vi'im are to be mine.


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All the firstborn males belong to me, because on the day that I killed all the firstborn males in the land of Egypt, I separated for myself all the firstborn males in Isra'el, both human and animal. They are mine; I am ADONAI.'


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In connection with the tent of meeting, the descendants of Gershon were to be in charge of the following: the tabernacle itself, its inner and outer coverings, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting,


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the curtains surrounding the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and the altar, all the fixtures and ropes for these items, and their maintenance.


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They were responsible for the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the utensils the cohanim use when they serve in the Holy Place, the curtain, and everything involved with the maintenance of these things.


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El'azar the son of Aharon the cohen was first among the chiefs of the L'vi'im and supervised those in charge of the Holy Place.


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The chief of the M'rari clan was Tzuri'el the son of Avichayil. They were to camp next to the tabernacle, toward the north.


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The M'rari clans were assigned responsibility for the frames of the tabernacle, along with its crossbars, posts, sockets and fittings, together with their maintenance;


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Those who were to camp in front of the tabernacle on the east, in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moshe, Aharon and his sons who were in charge of the Holy Place. They carried out their responsibility on behalf of the people of Isra'el, and anyone else who involved himself was to be put to death.


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The total number of L'vi'im whom Moshe and Aharon counted by their clans, all the males a month old and over, was 22,000.


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Register all the firstborn males of the people of Isra'el a month old and over, and determine how many there are.


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Then you are to take the L'vi'im for me, ADONAI, in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra'el, and the cattle of the L'vi'im in place of the firstborn of the cattle belonging to the people of Isra'el.'


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The total number of firstborn males registered, a month old and over, of those who were counted, was 22,273.


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'Take the L'vi'im in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra'el, and the cattle of the L'vi'im in place of their cattle; the L'vi'im are to belong to me, ADONAI.


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you are to take five shekels [two ounces] for each of these (use the sanctuary shekel, which is equal to twenty gerahs).


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the amount of money he took from the firstborn of the people of Isra'el was 1,365 shekels, using the sanctuary shekel.


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Moshe gave the redemption-money to Aharon and his sons, in keeping with what ADONAI had said, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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'Take a census of the descendants of K'hat, who are among the descendants of Levi, by clans and families,


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all those from thirty to fifty years old; these will enter the corps doing the work in the tent of meeting.


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'Here is how the descendants of K'hat are to serve in the tent of meeting and deal with the especially holy things:


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when the time comes to break camp, Aharon is to go in with his sons, take down the curtain which serves as a screen, and cover the ark of the testimony with it.


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On that they are to place a covering of fine leather, and on top of that spread an all-blue cloth. Then they are to insert the carrying-poles.


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On the table of showbread they are to spread a blue cloth and place on it the dishes, incense pans, offering bowls and pitchers. The perpetual bread is to remain on the table.


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They are to spread on these things a scarlet cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.


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They are to take a blue cloth and cover the menorah for the light, its lamps, its tongs, its trays and the jars used to add oil to it.


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On the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather and insert its carrying-poles.


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They are to take all the utensils they use when serving in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather and place them on a carrying-frame.


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and place on it all the utensils required for their altar service-the fire pans, meat-hooks, shovels, basins and other utensils for the altar. Then they are to spread over it a fine leather covering and insert its carrying-poles.


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When Aharon and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy utensils, when the camp is about to move forward, then the descendants of K'hat are to come and carry them. But they are not to touch the holy things, so that they won't die. These things are the responsibility of the descendants of K'hat in the tent of meeting.


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'El'azar the son of Aharon the cohen is to be responsible for the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continuing grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including the sanctuary and its furnishings.'


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rather, do this for them, so that they will live and not die: when they approach the especially holy things, Aharon and his sons are to go in -and you are to assign each one his task;


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but the descendants of K'hat are not to go in and look at the holy things as they are being covered; if they do, they will die.'


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count all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will enter the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.


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They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the fine leather covering above it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting,


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the tapestries for the courtyard, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard by the tabernacle and around the altar, along with the ropes and all the utensils they need for their service; and they are to do the work connected with these things.


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Aharon and his sons are to supervise all the work of the Gershon clan in transporting loads and serving, and to assign them who is to carry what.


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This is how the Gershon families are to serve in the tent of meeting, and they are to be under the direction of Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.


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of all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will be in the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.


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'Their service for the tent of meeting will be to carry the frames, crossbars, posts and sockets of the tabernacle;


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also the posts for the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, tent pegs, ropes and other accessories, and everything having to do with their service. You are to assign particular loads to specific persons by name.


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This is how the M'rari families are to serve in the tent of meeting, directed by Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.'


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Moshe, Aharon and the community leaders took a census of the descendants of K'hat by their clans and families,


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all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting.


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These are the ones counted from the K'hat families of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by ADONAI through Moshe.


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all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting,


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These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of Gershon of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by ADONAI.


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These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of M'rari, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by ADONAI through Moshe.


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The census of the L'vi'im, whom Moshe, Aharon and the leaders of Isra'el enumerated by their clans and families,


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all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of those working to serve and working to carry loads in the tent of meeting,


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According to ADONAI's order they were appointed by Moshe, each one to his specific service or work. They were also enumerated, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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'Order the people of Isra'el to expel from the camp everyone with tzara'at, everyone with a discharge and whoever is unclean because of touching a corpse.


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Both male and female you must expel; put them outside the camp; so that they won't defile their camp, where I live among you.'


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The people of Isra'el did this and put them outside the camp - the people of Isra'el did what ADONAI had said to Moshe.


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'Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with ADONAI, he incurs guilt.


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He must confess the sin which he has committed; and he must make full restitution for his guilt, add twenty percent and give it to the victim of his sin.


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But if the person has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the guilt, then what is given in restitution for guilt will belong to ADONAI, that is, to the cohen - in addition to the ram of atonement through which atonement is made for him.


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''Every contribution which the people of Isra'el consecrate and present to the cohen will belong to him.


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Anything an individual consecrates will be his own [to allocate among the cohanim], but what a person gives to the cohen will belong to him.''


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that is, if another man goes to bed with her without her husband's knowledge, so that she becomes impure secretly, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught in the act;


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then, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has become impure - or, for that matter, if the spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has not become impure -


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he is to bring his wife to the cohen, along with the offering for her, two quarts of barley flour on which he has not poured olive oil or put frankincense, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, for recalling guilt to mind.


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The cohen will put holy water in a clay pot, and then the cohen will take some of the dust on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.


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The cohen will place the woman before ADONAI, unbind the woman's hair and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, the grain offering for jealousy; while the cohen has in his hand the water of embitterment and cursing.


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The cohen will make her swear by saying to her, 'If no man has gone to bed with you, if you have not gone astray to make yourself unclean while under your husband's authority, then be free from this water of embitterment and cursing.


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But if you have in fact gone astray while under your husband's authority and become unclean, because some man other than your husband has gone to bed with you . . .'


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then the cohen is to make the woman swear with an oath that includes a curse; the cohen will say to the woman, '. . .may ADONAI make you an object of cursing and condemnation among your people by making your private parts shrivel and your abdomen swell up!


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May this water that causes the curse go into your inner parts and make your abdomen swell and your private parts shrivel up!'- and the woman is to respond, 'Amen! Amen!'


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and make the woman drink the water of embitterment and cursing - the water of cursing will enter her and become bitter.


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Then the cohen is to remove the grain offering for jealousy from the woman's hand, wave the grain offering before ADONAI and bring it to the altar.


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The cohen is to take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar; afterwards, he is to make the woman drink the water.


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When he has made her drink the water, then, if she is unclean and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that causes the curse will enter her and become bitter, so that her abdomen swells and her private parts shrivel up; and the woman will become an object of cursing among her people.


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This is the law for jealousy: when either a wife under her husband's authority goes astray and becomes unclean,


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or the spirit of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife, then he is to place the woman before ADONAI, and the cohen is to deal with her in accordance with all of this law.


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'Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When either a man or a woman makes a special kind of vow, the vow of a nazir, consecrating himself to ADONAI;


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he is to abstain from wine and other intoxicating liquor, he is not to drink vinegar from either source, he is not to drink grape juice, and he is not to eat grapes or raisins.


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As long as he remains a nazir he is to eat nothing derived from the grapevine, not even the grape-skins or the seeds.


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''Throughout the period of his vow as a nazir, he is not to shave his head. Until the end of the time for which he has consecrated himself to ADONAI he is to be holy: he is to let the hair on his head grow long.


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''Throughout the period for which he has consecrated himself to ADONAI, he is not to approach a corpse.


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He is not to make himself unclean for his father, mother, brother or sister when they die, since his consecration to God is on his head.


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''If someone next to him dies very suddenly, so that he defiles his consecrated head, then he is to shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.


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On the eighth day he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the cohen at the entrance to the tent of meeting.


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The cohen is to prepare one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and thus make atonement for him, inasmuch as he sinned because of the dead person. That same day he is to re-consecrate his head;


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he is to consecrate to ADONAI the full period of his being a nazir by bringing a male lamb in its first year as a guilt offering. The previous days will not be counted, because his consecration became defiled.


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''This is the law for the nazir when his period of consecration is over: he is to be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,


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where he will present his offering to ADONAI - one male lamb in its first year without defect as a burnt offering, one female lamb in its first year without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as peace offerings,


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a basket of matzah, loaves made of fine flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers spread with olive oil, their grain offering and their drink offerings.


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and his ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to ADONAI, with the basket of matzah. The cohen will also offer the grain offering and drink offering that go with the peace offering.


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The nazir will shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair removed from his consecrated head and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of peace offerings.


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When the ram has been boiled, the cohen is to take its shoulder, one loaf of matzah from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands of the nazir, after he has shaved his consecrated head.


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The cohen is to wave them as a wave offering before ADONAI; this is set aside for the cohen, along with the breast for waving and the raised-up thigh. Following that, the nazir may drink wine.


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''This is the law for the nazir who makes a vow and for his offering to ADONAI for his being a nazir - in addition to anything more for which he has sufficient means. In keeping with whatever vow he makes, he must do it according to the law for the nazir.''


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'Speak to Aharon and his sons, and tell them that this is how you are to bless the people of Isra'el: you are to say to them,


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Ya'er ADONAI panav eleikha vichunekka. [May ADONAI make his face shine on you and show you his favor.]


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Yissa ADONAI panav eleikha v'yasem l'kha shalom. [May ADONAI lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]'


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On the day Moshe finished putting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it, all its furnishings, and the altar with its utensils. After anointing and consecrating them,


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the leaders of Isra'el, who were heads of their father's clans, made an offering. These were the tribal leaders in charge of those counted in the census.


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They brought their offering before ADONAI, six covered wagons and twelve oxen -a wagon for every two leaders and for each an ox -and presented them in front of the tabernacle.


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'Receive these from them; they are to be used for the service in the tent of meeting. Give them to the L'vi'im, to each as needed for his duties.'


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He gave two wagons and four oxen to the descendants of Gershon, in keeping with the needs of their duties.


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Four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the descendants of M'rari, in keeping with the needs of their duties, directed by Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.


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But to the descendants of K'hat he gave none, because their duties involved the holy articles, which they carried on their own shoulders.


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The leaders brought the offering for dedicating the altar on the day it was anointed. The leaders brought their offering before the altar,


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and ADONAI said to Moshe, 'They are to present their offerings to dedicate the altar, each leader on his own day.'


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He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering;


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nachshon the son of 'Amminadav.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of N'tan'el the son of Tzu'ar.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eli'av the son of Helon.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elitzur the son of Sh'de'ur.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shlumi'el the son of Tzurishaddai.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elyasaf the son of De'u'el.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of 'Ammihud.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamli'el the son of P'dahtzur.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Avidan the son of Gid'oni.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Achi'ezer the son of 'Ammishaddai.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pag'i'el the son of 'Okhran.


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and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Achira the son of 'Enan.


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This was the offering for dedicating the altar which was given by the leaders of Isra'el on the day of its anointing: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins and twelve gold pans.


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Each silver dish weighed 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and each basin seventy shekels [one-and-three-quarters pounds]; all the silver of the vessels weighed 2,400 shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [just over sixty pounds].


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The twelve gold pans, full of incense, weighed ten shekels apiece (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-quarter pound]; all the gold of the pans weighed 120 shekels [three pounds].


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The livestock for the burnt offering consisted of twelve bulls, twelve rams and twelve male lambs in their first year, with their grain offering. There were twelve male goats for a sin offering.


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The livestock for the sacrifice of peace offerings consisted of twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats and sixty male lambs in their first year. This was the offering for dedicating the altar after it had been anointed.


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When Moshe went into the tent of meeting in order to speak with ADONAI, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover on the ark for the testimony, from between the two k'ruvim; and he spoke to him.


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'Tell Aharon, 'When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps are to cast their light forward, in front of the menorah.'


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Aharon did this: he lit its lamps so as to give light in front of the menorah, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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Here is how the menorah was made: it was hammered gold from its base to its flowers, hammered work, following the pattern ADONAI had shown Moshe. This is how he made the menorah.


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Here is how you are to cleanse them: sprinkle the purification water on them, have them shave their whole body with a razor, and have them wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.


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Then they are to take a young bull with its grain offering, which is to be fine flour mixed with olive oil; while you take another bull for a sin offering.


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You are to present the L'vi'im in front of the tent of meeting, and assemble the entire community of the people of Isra'el.


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You will present the L'vi'im before ADONAI, the people of Isra'el will lay their hands on the L'vi'im,


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and Aharon will offer the L'vi'im before ADONAI as a wave offering from the people of Isra'el, so that they may do ADONAI's service.


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The L'vi'im will lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; the one you will offer as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to ADONAI to make atonement for the L'vi'im.


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You are to place the L'vi'im before Aharon and his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to ADONAI.


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In this way you will separate the L'vi'im from the people of Isra'el, and the L'vi'im will belong to me.


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'After that, the L'vi'im will enter and do the service of the tent of meeting. You will cleanse them and offer them as a wave offering,


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because they are entirely given to me from among the people of Isra'el; I have taken them for myself in place of all those who come first out of the womb, that is, the firstborn males of the people of Isra'el.


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For all the firstborn among the people of Isra'el are mine, both humans and animals; on the day I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set them apart for myself.


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and I have given the L'vi'im to Aharon and his sons from among the people of Isra'el to do the service of the people of Isra'el in the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Isra'el, so that no plague will fall on the people of Isra'el in consequence of their coming too close to the sanctuary.'


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This is what Moshe, Aharon and all the community of the people of Isra'el did to the L'vi'im. The people of Isra'el acted in accordance with everything that ADONAI had ordered Moshe in regard to the L'vi'im.


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The L'vi'im purified themselves and washed their clothes. Then Aharon offered them as a holy gift before ADONAI and made atonement for them in order to cleanse them.


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After that, the L'vi'im came to do their service in the tent of meeting in front of Aharon and his sons; they acted in accordance with ADONAI's orders to Moshe in regard to the L'vi'im.


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'Here are instructions concerning the L'vi'im: when they reach the age of twenty-five, they are to begin performing their duties serving in the tent of meeting;


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and when they reach the age of fifty, they are to stop performing this work and not serve any longer.


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They will assist their brothers who are performing their duties in the tent of meeting, but they themselves will not do any of the work. This is what you are to do with the L'vi'im in regard to their duties.'


text:
ADONAI spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt; he said,


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On the fourteenth day of this month, at dusk, you are to observe it - at its designated time. You are to observe it according to all its regulations and rules.'


text:
So they observed Pesach at dusk on the fourteenth day of the month in the Sinai Desert; the people of Isra'el acted in accordance with all that ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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But there were certain people who had become unclean because of someone's corpse, so that they could not observe Pesach on that day. So they came before Moshe and Aharon that day


text:
and said to him, 'We are unclean because of someone's corpse; but why must we be kept from bringing the offering for ADONAI at the time designated for the people of Isra'el?'


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'Tell the people of Isra'el, 'If any of you now or in future generations is unclean because of a corpse, or if he is on a trip abroad, nevertheless he is to observe Pesach.


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But he will observe it in the second month on the fourteenth day at dusk. They are to eat it with matzah and maror,


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they are to leave none of it until morning, and they are not to break any of its bones -they are to observe it according to all the regulations of Pesach.


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But the person who is clean and not on a trip who fails to observe Pesach will be cut off from his people; because he did not bring the offering for ADONAI at its designated time, that person will bear the consequences of his sin.


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If a foreigner is staying with you and wants to observe Pesach for ADONAI, he is to do it according to the regulations and rules of Pesach- you are to have the same law for the foreigner as for the citizen of the land.''


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On the day the tabernacle was put up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, that is, the tent of the testimony; and in the evening, over the tabernacle was what appeared to be fire, which remained until morning.


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Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tent, the people of Isra'el continued their travels; and they camped wherever the cloud stopped.


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At the order of ADONAI, the people of Isra'el traveled; at the order of ADONAI, they camped; and as long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they stayed in camp.


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Even when the cloud remained on the tabernacle for a long time, the people of Isra'el did what ADONAI had charged them to do and did not travel.


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Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle; according to ADONAI's order, they remained in camp; and according to ADONAI's order, they traveled.


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Sometimes the cloud was there only from evening until morning; so that when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled. Or even if it continued up both day and night, when the cloud was up, they traveled.


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Whether it was two days, a month or a year that the cloud remained over the tabernacle, staying on it, the people of Isra'el remained in camp and did not travel; but as soon as it was taken up, they traveled.


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At ADONAI's order, they camped; and at ADONAI's order, they traveled -they did what ADONAI had charged them to do through Moshe.


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'Make two trumpets; make them of hammered silver. Use them for summoning the community and for sounding the call to break camp and move on.


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When they are sounded, the entire community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.


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If only one is sounded, then just the leaders, the heads of the clans of Isra'el, are to assemble before you.


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When you sound a second alarm, the camps to the south will set out; they will sound alarms to announce when to travel.


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It will be the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, who are to sound the trumpets; this will be a permanent regulation for you through all your generations.


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'When you go to war in your land against an adversary who is oppressing you, you are to sound an alarm with the trumpets; then you will be remembered before ADONAI your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.


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'Also on your days of rejoicing, at your designated times and on Rosh-Hodesh, you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; these will be your reminder before your God. I am ADONAI your God.'


text:
On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony;


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and the people of Isra'el moved out in stages from the Sinai Desert. The cloud stopped in the Pa'ran Desert.


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In the lead was the banner of the camp of the descendants of Y'hudah, whose companies moved forward; over his company was Nachshon the son of 'Amminadav.


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Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the descendants of Gershon and the descendants of M'rari set out, carrying the tabernacle.


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Next, the banner of the camp of Re'uven moved forward by companies; over his company was Elitzur the son of Sh'de'ur.


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Then the descendants of K'hat set out, carrying the sanctuary, so that [at the next camp] the tabernacle could be set up before they arrived.


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The banner of the camp of the descendants of Efrayim moved forward by companies; over his company was Elishama the son of 'Ammihud.


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The banner of the camp of the descendants of Dan, forming the rearguard for all the camps, moved forward by companies; over his company was Achi'ezer the son of 'Ammishaddai.


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Moshe said to Hovav the son of Re'u'el the Midyani, Moshe's father-in-law, 'We are traveling to the place about which ADONAI said, 'I will give it to you.'Come with us, and we will treat you well, because ADONAI has promised good things to Isra'el.'


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Moshe continued, 'Please don't leave us, because you know that we have to camp in the desert, and you can serve as our eyes.


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So they set out from ADONAI's mountain and traveled for three days. Ahead of them on this three-day journey went the ark of ADONAI's covenant, searching for a new place to stop.


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When the ark moved forward, Moshe said, 'Arise, ADONAI! May your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!'


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But the people began complaining about their hardships to ADONAI. When ADONAI heard it, his anger flared up, so that fire from ADONAI broke out against them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.


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Next, the mixed crowd that was with them grew greedy for an easier life; while the people of Isra'el, for their part, also renewed their weeping and said, 'If only we had meat to eat!


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We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt - it cost us nothing! -and the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, the garlic!


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The people would go around gathering it and would grind it up in mills or pound it to paste with mortar and pestle. Then they would cook it in pots and make it into loaves that tasted like cakes baked with olive oil.


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Moshe heard the people crying, family after family, each person at the entrance to his tent; the anger of ADONAI flared up violently; and Moshe too was displeased.


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Moshe asked ADONAI, 'Why are you treating your servant so badly? Why haven't I found favor in your sight, so that you put the burden of this entire people on me?


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Did I conceive this people? Was I their father, so that you tell me, 'Carry them in your arms, like a nurse carrying a baby, to the land you swore to their ancestors?'


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Where am I going to get meat to give to this entire people? - because they keep bothering me with their crying and saying, 'Give us meat to eat!'


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If you are going to treat me this way, then just kill me outright! - please, if you have any mercy toward me! -and don't let me go on being this miserable!'


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Bring me seventy of the leaders of Isra'el, people you recognize as leaders of the people and officers of theirs. Bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them stand there with you.


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I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit which rests on you and put it on them. Then they will carry the burden of the people along with you, so that you won't carry it yourself alone.


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'Tell the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; because you cried in the ears of ADONAI, 'If only we had meat to eat! We had the good life in Egypt!' All right, ADONAI is going to give you meat, and you will eat it.


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but a whole month! -until it comes out of your nose and you hate it! -because you have rejected ADONAI, who is here with you, and distressed him with your crying and asking, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'''


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But Moshe said, 'Here I am with six hundred thousand men on foot, and yet you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!'


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


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ADONAI answered Moshe, 'Has ADONAI's arm grown short? Now you will see whether what I said will happen or not!'


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Moshe went out and told the people what ADONAI had said. Then he collected seventy of the leaders of the people and placed them all around the tent.


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ADONAI came down in the cloud, spoke to him, took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy leaders. When the Spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied -then but not afterwards.


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There were two men who stayed in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad, and the Spirit came to rest on them. They were among those listed to go out to the tent, but they hadn't done so, and they prophesied in the camp.


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Y'hoshua, the son of Nun, who from his youth up had been Moshe's assistant, answered, 'My lord, Moshe, stop them!'


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But Moshe replied, 'Are you so zealous to protect me? I wish all of ADONAI's people were prophets! I wish ADONAI would put his Spirit on all of them!'


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and ADONAI sent out a wind which brought quails from across the sea and let them fall near the camp, about a day's trip away on each side of the camp and all around it, covering the ground to a depth of three feet.


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The people stayed up all that day, all night and all the next day gathering the quails - the person gathering the least collected ten heaps; then they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.


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But while the meat was still in their mouth, before they had chewed it up, the anger of ADONAI flared up against the people, and ADONAI struck the people with a terrible plague.


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Therefore that place was named Kivrot-HaTa'avah [graves of greed], because there they buried the people who were so greedy.


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Miryam and Aharon began criticizing Moshe on account of the Ethiopian woman he had married, for he had in fact married an Ethiopian woman.


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They said, 'Is it true that ADONAI has spoken only with Moshe? Hasn't he spoken with us too?'ADONAI heard them.


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Suddenly ADONAI told Moshe, Aharon and Miryam, 'Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.'The three of them went out.


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ADONAI came down in a column of cloud and stood at the entrance to the tent. He summoned Aharon and Miryam, and they both went forward.


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He said, 'Listen to what I say: when there is a prophet among you, I, ADONAI, make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.


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But it isn't that way with my servant Moshe. He is the only one who is faithful in my entire household.


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With him I speak face to face and clearly, not in riddles; he sees the image of ADONAI. So why weren't you afraid to criticize my servant Moshe?'


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But when the cloud was removed from above the tent, Miryam had tzara'at, as white as snow. Aharon looked at Miryam, and she was as white as snow.


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Please don't let her be like a stillborn baby, with its body half eaten away when it comes out of its mother's womb!'


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ADONAI answered Moshe, 'If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn't she hide herself in shame for seven days? So let her be shut out of the camp for seven days; after that, she can be brought back in.'


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Miryam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not travel until she was brought back in.


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'Send men on your behalf to reconnoiter the land of Kena'an, which I am giving to the people of Isra'el. From each ancestral tribe send someone who is a leader in his tribe.'


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Moshe dispatched them from the Pa'ran Desert as ADONAI had ordered; all of them were leading men among the people of Isra'el.


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These are the names of the men Moshe sent out to reconnoiter the land. Moshe gave to Hoshea the son of Nun the name Y'hoshua.


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Moshe sent them to reconnoiter the land of Kena'an, instructing them, 'Go on up to the Negev and into the hills,


text:
and see what the land is like. Notice the people living there, whether they are strong or weak, few or many;


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and what kind of country they live in, whether it is good or bad; and what kind of cities they live in, open or fortified.


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See whether the land is fertile or unproductive and whether there is wood in it or not. Finally, be bold enough to bring back some of the fruit of the land.' When they left it was the season for the first grapes to ripen.


text:
They went up into the Negev and arrived at Hevron; Achiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the 'Anakim, lived there. (Hevron was built seven years before Tzo'an in Egypt.)


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They came to the Eshkol Valley; and there they cut off a branch bearing one cluster of grapes, which they carried on a pole between two of them; they also took pomegranates and figs.


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That place was called the Valley of Eshkol [cluster], because of the cluster which the people of Isra'el cut down there.


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and went to Moshe, Aharon and the entire community of the people of Isra'el at Kadesh in the Pa'ran Desert, where they brought back word to them and to the entire community and showed them the fruit of the land.


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What they told him was this: 'We entered the land where you sent us, and indeed it does flow with milk and honey - here is its fruit!


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However the people living in the land are fierce, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the 'Anakim there.


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'Amalek lives in the area of the Negev; the Hitti, the Y'vusi and the Emori live in the hills; and the Kena'ani live by the sea and alongside the Yarden.'


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Kalev silenced the people around Moshe and said, 'We ought to go up immediately and take possession of it; there is no question that we can conquer it.'


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But the men who had gone with him said, 'We can't attack those people, because they are stronger than we are';


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and they spread a negative report about the land they had reconnoitered for the people of Isra'el by saying, 'The land we passed through in order to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there were giant!


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We saw the N'filim, the descendants of 'Anak, who was from the N'filim; to ourselves we looked like grasshoppers by comparison, and we looked that way to them too!'


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Moreover, all the people of Isra'el began grumbling against Moshe and Aharon; the whole community told them, 'We wish we had died in the land of Egypt! or that we had died here in the desert!


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Why is ADONAI bringing us to this land, where we will die by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be taken as booty! Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?'


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Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before the entire assembled community of the people of Isra'el.


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Y'hoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Y'funeh, from the detachment that had reconnoitered the land, tore their clothes


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and said to the whole community of Isra'el, 'The land we passed through in order to spy it out is an outstandingly good land!


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If ADONAI is pleased with us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us -a land flowing with milk and honey.


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Just don't rebel against ADONAI. And don't be afraid of the people living in the land - we'll eat them up! Their defense has been taken away from them, and ADONAI is with us! Don't be afraid of them!'


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But just as the whole community were saying they should be stoned to death, the glory of ADONAI appeared in the tent of meeting to all the people of Isra'el.


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'How much longer is this people going to treat me with contempt? How much longer will they not trust me, especially considering all the signs I have performed among them?


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I am going to strike them with sickness, destroy them and make from you a nation greater and stronger than they are!'


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However, Moshe replied to ADONAI, 'When the Egyptians hear about this -[and they will,] because it was from among them that you, by your strength, brought this people up -


text:
they will tell the people living in this land. They have heard that you, ADONAI, are with this people; that you, ADONAI, are seen face to face; that your cloud stands over them; that you go ahead of them in a column of cloud by day and a column of fire by night.


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If you kill off this people at a single stroke, then the nations that have heard of your reputation will say


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that the reason ADONAI slaughtered this people in the desert is that he wasn't able to bring them into the land which he swore to give them.


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'ADONAI is slow to anger, rich in grace, forgiving offenses and crimes; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents' offenses to be experienced by their children and even by the third and fourth generations.'


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Please! Forgive the offense of this people according to the greatness of your grace, just as you have borne with this people from Egypt until now.'


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none of the people who saw my glory and the signs I did in Egypt and in the desert, yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice,


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will see the land I swore to their ancestors! None of those who treated me with contempt will see it.


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But my servant Kalev, because he had a different Spirit with him and has fully followed me - him I will bring into the land he entered, and it will belong to his descendants.


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'Now, since the 'Amaleki and the Kena'ani are living in the valley, tomorrow turn around and get yourselves into the desert along the way to the Sea of Suf.'


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'How long am I to put up with this evil community who keep grumbling about me? I have heard the complaints of the people of Isra'el, which they continue to raise against me.


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Tell them this: 'As surely as I live, ADONAI swears, as surely as you have spoken in my ears, I will do this to you:


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your carcasses will fall in this desert! Every single one of you who were included in the census over the age of twenty, you who have complained against me,


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will certainly not enter the land about which I raised my hand to swear that I would have you live in it - except for Kalev the son of Y'funeh and Y'hoshua the son of Nun.


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But your little ones, who you said would be taken as booty - them I will bring in. They will know the land you have rejected.


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and your children will wander about in the desert for forty years bearing the consequences of your prostitutions until the desert eats up your carcasses.


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It will be a year for every day you spent reconnoitering the land that you will bear the consequences of your offenses - forty days, forty years. Then you will know what it means to oppose me!


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I, ADONAI, have spoken.' I will certainly do this to this whole evil community who have assembled together against me - they will be destroyed in this desert and die there.'


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The men whom Moshe had sent to reconnoiter the land and who, when they returned, made the entire community complain against him by giving an unfavorable report about the land -


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those men who gave the unfavorable report about the land died by the plague in the presence of ADONAI.


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Of the men who went to reconnoiter the land, only Y'hoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Y'funeh remained alive.


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They arose early the next morning, came up to the top of the mountain and said, 'Here we are, and we did sin, but now we'll go up to the place ADONAI promised.'


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The 'Amalekim and the Kena'anim are there ahead of you, and you will be struck down by the sword. The reason will be that you have turned away from following ADONAI, so that ADONAI won't be with you.'


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But they were presumptuous and went on up toward the high parts of the hill-country, even though the ark for the covenant of ADONAI - and Moshe - stayed in the camp.


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So the 'Amalekim and the Kena'anim living in that hill-country descended, struck them down and beat them back all the way to Hormah.


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'Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When you have come into the land where you are going to live, which I am giving to you,


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and want to make an offering by fire to ADONAI - a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a special vow, or to be a voluntary offering, or at your designated times, to make a fragrant aroma for ADONAI - then, whether it is comes from the herd or from the flock,


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the person bringing the offering is to present ADONAI with a grain offering consisting of two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of olive oil,


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and one quart of wine for the drink offering. This is what you are to prepare with the burnt offering or for each lamb sacrificed.


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while for the drink offering, you are to present one-and-one-third quarts of wine as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI.


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''When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering, as a sacrifice to fulfill a special vow or as peace offerings for ADONAI,


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there is to be presented with the bull a grain offering of one-and-a-half gallons of fine flour mixed with two quarts of olive oil.


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For the drink offering, present two quarts of wine for an offering made by fire, a fragant aroma for ADONAI.


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''Every citizen is to do these things in this way when presenting an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI.


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If a foreigner stays with you - or whoever may be with you, through all your generations - and he wants to bring an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, he is to do the same as you.


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For this community there will be the same law for you as for the foreigner living with you; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations; the foreigner is to be treated the same way before ADONAI as yourselves.


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Set aside from your first dough a cake as a gift; set it aside as you would set aside a portion of the grain from the threshing-floor.


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yes, everything that ADONAI has ordered you to do through Moshe, from the day ADONAI gave the order and onward through all your generations,


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then, if it was done by mistake by the community and was not known to them, the whole community is to offer one young bull for a burnt offering as a fragrant aroma to ADONAI, with its grain and drink offerings, in keeping with the rule, and one male goat as a sin offering.


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The cohen is to make atonement for the whole community of the people of Isra'el; and they will be forgiven; because it was a mistake; and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire, to ADONAI, and their sin offering before ADONAI for their mistake.


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The whole community of the people of Isra'el will be forgiven, likewise the foreigner staying with them; because for all the people it was a mistake.


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''If an individual sins by mistake, he is to offer a female goat in its first year as a sin offering.


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The cohen will make atonement before ADONAI for the person who makes a mistake by sinning inadvertently; he will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven -


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no matter whether he is a citizen of Isra'el or a foreigner living with them. You are to have one law for whoever it is that does something wrong by mistake.


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''But an individual who does something wrong intentionally, whether a citizen or a foreigner, is blaspheming ADONAI. That person will be cut off from his people.


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Because he has had contempt for the word of ADONAI and has disobeyed his command, that person will be cut off completely; his offense will remain with him.''


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Then ADONAI said to Moshe, 'This man must be put to death; the entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp.'


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So the whole community brought him outside the camp and threw stones at him until he died, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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'Speak to the people of Isra'el, instructing them to make, through all their generations, tzitziyot on the corners of their garments, and to put with the tzitzit on each corner a blue thread.


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It is to be a tzitzit for you to look at and thereby remember all of ADONAI's mitzvot and obey them, so that you won't go around wherever your own heart and eyes lead you to prostitute yourselves;


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I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt in order to be your God. I am ADONAI your God.'


text:
Now Korach the son of Yitz'har, the son of K'hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re'uven, took men and


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rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra'el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation.


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They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, 'You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and ADONAI is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above ADONAI's assembly?'


text:
Then he said to Korach and his whole group, 'In the morning, ADONAI will show who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him. Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself.


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put fire in them; and put incense in them before ADONAI tomorrow. The one whom ADONAI chooses will be the one who is holy! It is you, you sons of Levi, who are taking too much on yourselves!'


text:
Is it for you a mere trifle that the God of Isra'el has separated you from the community of Isra'el to bring you close to himself, so that you can do the work in the tabernacle of ADONAI and stand before the community serving them?


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He has brought you close and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Now you want the office of cohen too!


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That's why you and your group have gathered together against ADONAI! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?'


text:
Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av. But they replied, 'We won't come up!


text:
Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us?


text:
You haven't at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven't put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men's eyes and blind them? We won't come up!'


text:
Moshe was very angry and said to ADONAI, 'Don't accept their grain offering! I haven't taken one donkey from them, I've done nothing wrong to any of them.'


text:
Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before ADONAI his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon - each one his fire pan.'


text:
Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon.


text:
Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of ADONAI appeared to the whole assembly.


text:
They fell on their faces and said, 'Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?'


text:
There he said to the assembly, 'Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins.'


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So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived. Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones.


text:
Moshe said, 'Here is how you will know that ADONAI has sent me to do all these things and that I haven't done them out of my own ambition:


text:
if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then ADONAI has not sent me.


text:
But if ADONAI does something new - if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol - then you will understand that these men have had contempt for ADONAI.'


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the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned.


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So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased.


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'Tell El'azar the son of Aharon the cohen to remove the fire pans from the fire, and scatter the smoldering coals at a distance, because they have become holy.


text:
Also the fire pans of these men, whose sin cost them their lives, have become holy, because they were offered before ADONAI. Therefore, have them hammered into plates to cover the altar. This will be a sign for the people of Isra'el.'


text:
El'azar the cohen took the brass fire pans which the men who had been burned to death had offered, and they hammered them into a covering for the altar,


text:
to remind the people of Isra'el that an ordinary person, not descended from Aharon, is not to approach and burn incense before ADONAI, if he wants to avoid the fate of Korach and his group - as ADONAI had said to him through Moshe.


text:
But the very next day, the whole community of the people of Isra'el complained against Moshe and Aharon: 'You have killed ADONAI's people!'


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However, as the community was assembling against Moshe and Aharon, they looked in the direction of the tent of meeting and saw the cloud cover it and the glory of ADONAI


text:
Moshe said to Aharon, 'Take your fire pan, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, and hurry with it to the assembly to make atonement for them, because anger has gone out from ADONAI, and the plague has already begun!'


text:
Aharon took it, as Moshe had said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. There the plague had already begun among the people, but he added the incense and made atonement for the people.


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'Speak to the people of Isra'el, and take from them staffs, one for each ancestral tribe from each leader of a tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff;


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The staff of the man I am going to choose will sprout buds - in this way I will put a stop to the complaints the people of Isra'el keep making against you.'


text:
Moshe spoke to the people of Isra'el, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, twelve staffs. Aharon's staff was among their staffs.


text:
The next day Moshe went into the tent of the testimony, and there he saw that Aharon's staff for the house of Levi had budded - it had sprouted not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well.


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Moshe brought out all the staffs from before ADONAI to all the people of Isra'el, and they looked, and each man took back his staff.


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Return Aharon's staff to its place in front of the testimony. It is to be kept there as a sign to the rebels, so that they will stop grumbling against me and thus not die.'


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ADONAI said to Aharon, 'You, your sons and your father's family line will be responsible for anything that goes wrong in the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will be responsible for anything wrong in your service as cohanim.


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But you are to bring your kinsmen, the tribe of Levi, along with yourselves, to work together with you and help you - you and your sons with you - when you are there before the tent of meeting.


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They are to be at your disposal and perform all kinds of tasks related to the tent; only they are not to come near the holy furnishings or the altar, so that neither they nor you will die.


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They will work together with you in your duties related to the tent of meeting, whatever the service in the tent may be; but an unauthorized person is not to come near you.


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You will take charge of all the holy things and the altar, so that there will no longer be anger against the people of Isra'el.


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I myself have taken your kinsmen the L'vi'im from among the people of Isra'el; they have been given as a gift to ADONAI for you, so that you can perform the service in the tent of meeting.


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You and your sons with you will exercise your prerogatives and duties as cohanim in regard to everything having to do with the altar and within the curtain. I entrust the service required of cohanim to you; the unauthorized person who tries to perform it is to be put to death.'


text:
ADONAI said to Aharon, 'I myself have put you in charge of the contributions given to me. Everything consecrated by the people of Isra'el I have given and set aside for you and your sons; this is a perpetual law.


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Here is what is to be yours of the especially holy things taken from the fire: every offering they make - that is, every grain offering, sin offering and guilt offering of theirs that they turn over to me - will be especially holy for you and your sons.


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'Also yours is the contribution the people of Isra'el give in the form of wave offerings. I have given these to you, your sons and your daughters with you; this is a perpetual law. Everyone in your family who is clean may eat it.


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All the best of the olive oil, wine and grain, the first portion of what they give to ADONAI, I have given to you.


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The first produce to turn ripe of all that is in their land, which they bring to ADONAI, is to be yours; every clean person in your family may eat it.


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'Everything that comes first out of the womb, of all living things which they offer to ADONAI, whether human or animal, will be yours. However, the firstborn of a human being you must redeem, and the firstborn of an unclean beast you are to redeem.


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The sum to be paid for redeeming anyone a month old or over is to be five shekels of silver [two ounces], as you value it, using the sanctuary shekel (this is the same as twenty gerahs).


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But the firstborn of an ox, sheep or goat you are not to redeem; they are holy - you are to splash their blood against the altar and make their fat go up in smoke as an offering made by fire, as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI.


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All the contributions of holy things which the people of Isra'el offer to ADONAI I have given to you, your sons and your daughters with you; this is a perpetual law, an eternal covenant of salt before ADONAI for you and your descendants with you.'


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ADONAI said to Aharon, 'You are not to have any inheritance or portion in their land; I am your portion and inheritance among the people of Isra'el.


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'To the descendants of Levi I have given the entire tenth of the produce collected in Isra'el. It is their inheritance in payment for the service they render in the tent of meeting.


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From now on, the people of Isra'el are not to approach the tent of meeting, so that they will not bear the consequences of their sin and die.


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Only the L'vi'im are to perform the service in the tent of meeting, and they will be responsible for whatever they do wrong. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations. They are to have no inheritance among the people of Isra'el,


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because I have given to the L'vi'im as their inheritance the tenths of the produce which the people of Isra'el set aside as a gift for ADONAI. This is why I have said to them that they are to have no inheritance among the people of Isra'el.'


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'Tell the L'vi'im, 'When you take from the people of Isra'el the tenth of the produce which I have given you from them as your inheritance, you are to set aside from it a gift for ADONAI, one tenth of the tenth.


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The gift you set aside will be accounted to you as if it were grain from the thresh-ing-floor and grape juice from the wine vat.


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In this way you will set aside a gift for ADONAI from all your tenths that you receive from the people of Isra'el, and from these tenths you are to give to Aharon the cohen the gift set aside for ADONAI.


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From everything given to you, you are to set aside all that is due ADONAI, the best part of it, its holy portion.'


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'Therefore you are to tell them, 'When you set aside from it its best part, it will be accounted to the L'vi'im as if it were grain from the threshing-floor and grape juice from the wine vat.


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You may eat it anywhere, you and your households; because it is your payment in return for your service in the tent of meeting.


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Moreover, because you will have set aside from it its best parts, you will not be committing any sin because of it; for you are not to profane the holy things of the people of Isra'el, or you will die.'' 21; Y'hudah (Jude) 1-25


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'This is the regulation from the Torah which ADONAI has commanded. Tell the people of Isra'el to bring you a young red female cow without fault or defect and which has never borne a yoke.


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You are to give it to El'azar the cohen; it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in front of him.


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El'azar the cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle this blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.


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The heifer is to be burned to ashes before his eyes -its skin, meat, blood and dung is to be burned to ashes.


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The cohen is to take cedar-wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them onto the heifer as it is burning up.


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Then the cohen is to wash his clothes and himself in water, after which he may re-enter the camp; but the cohen will remain unclean until evening.


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The person who burned up the heifer is to wash his clothes and himself in water, but he will remain unclean until evening.


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A man who is clean is to collect the ashes of the heifer and store them outside the camp in a clean place. They are to be kept for the community of the people of Isra'el to prepare water for purification from sin.


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The one who collected the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. For the people of Isra'el and for the foreigner staying with them this will be a permanent regulation.


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He must purify himself with [these ashes] on the third and seventh days; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.


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Anyone who touches a corpse, no matter whose dead body it is, and does not purify himself has defiled the tabernacle of ADONAI. That person will be cut off from Isra'el, because the water for purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.


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'This is the law: when a person dies in a tent, everyone who enters the tent and everything in the tent will be unclean for seven days.


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Also whoever is in an open field and touches a corpse, whether of someone killed by a weapon or of someone who died naturally, or the bone of a person, or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.


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'For the unclean person they are to take some of the ashes of the animal burned up as a purification from sin and add them to fresh water in a container.


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A clean person is to take a bunch of hyssop leaves, dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers, on the people who were there, and on the person who touched the bone or the person killed or the one who died naturally or the grave.


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The clean person will sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day he will purify him; then he will wash his clothes and himself in water; and he will be clean at evening.


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The person who remains unclean and does not purify himself will be cut off from the community because he has defiled the sanctuary of ADONAI. The water for purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.


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This is to be a permanent regulation for them. The person who sprinkles the water for purification is to wash his clothes. Whoever touches the water for purification will be unclean until evening.


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Anything the unclean person touches will be unclean, and anyone who touches him will be unclean until evening.'


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The people of Isra'el, the whole community, entered the Tzin Desert in the first month, and they stayed in Kadesh. There Miryam died, and there she was buried.


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The people quarreled with Moshe and said, 'We wish we had died when our brothers died before ADONAI.


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Why did you make us leave Egypt? To bring us to this terrible place without seed, figs, grapevines, pomegranates or even water to drink?'


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Moshe and Aharon left the assembly, went to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces; and the glory of ADONAI appeared to them.


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'Take the staff, assemble the community, you and Aharon your brother; and before their eyes, tell the rock to produce its water. You will bring them water out of the rock and thus enable the community and their livestock to drink.'


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But after Moshe and Aharon had assembled the community in front of the rock, he said to them, 'Listen here, you rebels! Are we supposed to bring you water from this rock?'


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Then Moshe raised his hand and hit the rock twice with his staff. Water flowed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank.


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But ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon, 'Because you did not trust in me, so as to cause me to be regarded as holy by the people of Isra'el, you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.'


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This is M'rivah Spring [Disputation Spring], where the people of Isra'el disputed with ADONAI, and he was caused to be regarded as holy by them.


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Moshe sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 'This is what your brother Isra'el says: you know all the troubles we have gone through -


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that our ancestors went down into Egypt, we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly.


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But when we cried out to ADONAI, he heard us, sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now here we are in Kadesh, a city at the edge of your territory.


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Please let us pass through your land. We will not go through fields or vineyards, and we won't drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King's Highway, not turning aside either to the right or to the left until we have left your territory.'


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But Edom answered, 'You are not to pass through my land; if you do, I will come out against you with the sword.'


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The people of Isra'el replied, 'We will keep to the highway; if we do drink the water, either we or our livestock, we will pay for it. Just let us pass through on foot - it's nothing.'


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But he said, 'You are not to pass through'; and Edom came out against them with many people and much force.


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'Aharon is about to be gathered to his people, because he is not to enter the land I have given to the people of Isra'el, inasmuch as you rebelled against what I said at the M'rivah Spring.


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remove the garments from Aharon and put them on El'azar his son. Aharon will be gathered to his people - he will die there.'


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Moshe did as ADONAI had ordered. They went up onto Mount Hor before the eyes of the whole community.


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Moshe removed the garments from Aharon, and put them on El'azar his son, and Aharon died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moshe and El'azar came down the mountain.


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When the entire community saw that Aharon was dead, they mourned Aharon thirty days, the whole house of Isra'el.


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Then the king of 'Arad, a Kena'ani who lived in the Negev, heard that Isra'el was approaching by way of Atarim, so he attacked Isra'el and took some of them captive.


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Isra'el made a vow to ADONAI, 'If you will hand this people over to me, I will completely destroy their cities.'


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ADONAI listened to what Isra'el said and handed over the Kena'anim, so they completely destroyed them and their cities and named the place Hormah [complete destruction].


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Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people's tempers grew short because of the detour.


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The people spoke against God and against Moshe: 'Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There's no real food, there's no water, and we're sick of this miserable stuff we're eating!'


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In response, ADONAI sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra'el's people died.


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The people came to Moshe and said, 'We sinned by speaking against ADONAI and against you. Pray to ADONAI that he rid us of these snakes.' Moshe prayed for the people,


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and ADONAI answered Moshe: 'Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.'


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Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.


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From there they traveled and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the desert; this river comes out of the territory of the Emori; for the Arnon is the boundary between Mo'av and the Emori.


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and the slope of the vadis extending as far as the site of 'Ar, which lie next to the territory of Mo'av.'


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From there they went on to Be'er [well]; that is the well about which ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Assemble the people, and I will give them water.'


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sunk by the princes, dug by the people's leaders with the scepter, with their staffs!' From the desert they went to Mattanah,


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and from Bamot to the valley by the plain of Mo'av at the start of the Pisgah range, where it overlooks the desert.


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'Let me pass through your land. We won't turn aside into fields or vineyards, and we won't drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King's Highway until we have left your territory.'


text:
But Sichon would not allow Isra'el to pass through his territory. Instead, Sichon mustered all his people and went out into the desert to fight Isra'el. On reaching Yachatz, he fought Isra'el.


text:
Isra'el defeated him by force of arms and took control of his land from the Arnon to the Yabok River, but only as far as the people of 'Amon, because the territory of the people of 'Amon was well defended.


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Isra'el took all these cities - Isra'el lived in all the cities of the Emori, in Heshbon and all its surrounding towns.


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Heshbon was the city of Sichon, the king of the Emori, who had fought against the former king of Mo'av and conquered all his land up to the Arnon.


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This is why the storytellers say, 'Come to Heshbon! Let it be rebuilt! Let Sichon's city be restored!


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'For fire burst out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sichon. It consumed 'Ar of Mo'av, the lords of Arnon's high places.


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'Woe to you, Mo'av! You are destroyed, people of K'mosh! He let his sons be fugitives and his daughters captives of Sichon, king of the Emori.


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'We shot them down; Heshbon is destroyed, all the way to Divon. We even laid waste to Nofach, which extends as far as Meidva.'


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Moshe sent men to reconnoiter Ya'zer; they captured its towns and drove out the Emori who were there.


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Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan; and 'Og, the king of Bashan, marched out against them, he with all his people, to fight at Edre'i.


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Don't be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with all his people and his land. You will treat him just as you did Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon.'


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So they struck him down, with his sons and all his people, until there was no one left alive; and then they took control of his land.


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Then the people of Isra'el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo'av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho.


text:
Mo'av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo'av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra'el.


text:
So Mo'av said to the leaders of Midyan, 'This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field.' Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo'av at that time.


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He sent messengers to Bil'am the son of B'or, at P'tor by the [Euphrates] River in his native land, to tell him, 'Listen, a people has come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to me.


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Therefore, please come, and curse this people for me, because they are stronger than I am. Maybe I will be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is in fact blessed, and whomever you curse is in fact cursed.'


text:
The leaders of Mo'av and Midyan left, taking with them the payment for divining, came to Bil'am and spoke to him the words of Balak.


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He said to them, 'Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer ADONAI tells me.' So the princes of Mo'av stayed with Bil'am.


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'The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.''


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God answered Bil'am, 'You are not to go with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed.'


text:
Bil'am got up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, 'Return to your own land, because ADONAI refuses to give me permission to go with you.'


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They went to Bil'am and said to him, 'Here is what Balak the son of Tzippor says: 'Please don't let anything keep you from coming to me.


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I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.''


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Bil'am answered the servants of Balak, 'Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of ADONAI my God to do anything, great or small.


text:
God came to Bil'am during the night and said to him, 'If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you.'


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But God's anger flared up because he went, and the angel of ADONAI stationed himself on the path to bar his way. He was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.


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The donkey saw the angel of ADONAI standing on the road, drawn sword in hand; so the donkey turned off the road into the field; and Bil'am had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road.


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Then the angel of ADONAI stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides.


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The donkey saw the angel of ADONAI and pushed up against the wall, crushing Bil'am's foot against the wall. So he beat it again.


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The angel of ADONAI moved ahead and stood in a place so tight that there was no room to turn either right or left.


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Again the donkey saw the angel of ADONAI and lay down under Bil'am, which made him so angry that he hit the donkey with his stick.


text:
But ADONAI enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Bil'am, 'What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?'


text:
Bil'am said to the donkey, 'It's because you've been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot!'


text:
The donkey said to Bil'am, 'I'm your donkey, right? You've ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?''No,' he admitted.


text:
Then ADONAI opened Bil'am's eyes, so that he could see the angel of ADONAI standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face.


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The angel of ADONAI said to him, 'Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me.


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The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn't turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!'


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Bil'am said to the angel of ADONAI, 'I have sinned. I didn't know that you were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases you, I will go back.'


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But the angel of ADONAI said to Bil'am, 'No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say.' So Bil'am went along with the princes of Balak.


text:
When Balak heard that Bil'am had come, he went out to meet him in the city of Mo'av at the Arnon border, in the farthest reaches of the territory.


text:
Balak said to Bil'am, 'I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn't you come to me? Did you think I couldn't pay you enough?'


text:
Bil'am replied to Balak, 'Here, I've come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that God puts in my mouth is what I will say.'


text:
In the morning Balak took Bil'am and brought him up to the high places of Ba'al; from there he could see a portion of the people.


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Bil'am said to Balak, 'Stand by your burnt offering while I go off; maybe ADONAI will come and meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you.' He went off to a bare hill.


text:
God met Bil'am, who said to him, 'I prepared the seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.'


text:
he made his pronouncement: 'Balak, the king of Mo'av, brings me from Aram, from the eastern hills, saying, 'Come, curse Ya'akov for me; come and denounce Isra'el.'


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'How am I to curse those whom God has not cursed? How am I to denounce those whom ADONAI has not denounced?


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'From the top of the rocks I see them, from the hills I behold them yes, a people that will dwell alone and not think itself one of the nations.


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'Who has counted the dust of Ya'akov or numbered the ashes of Isra'el? May I die as the righteous die! May my end be like theirs!'


text:
Balak said to Bil'am, 'What have you done to me?! To curse my enemies is why I brought you; and, here, you have totally blessed them!'


text:
Balak said to him, 'All right, come with me to another place where you can see them. You will see only some of them, not all; but you can curse them for me from there.'


text:
He took him through the field of Tzofim to the top of the Pisgah Range, built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


text:
ADONAI met Bil'am, put a word in his mouth and said, 'Go on back to Balak, and speak as I tell you.'


text:
He came to him and stood by his burnt offering, with all the princes of Mo'av. Balak asked him, 'What did ADONAI say?'


text:
Then Bil'am made his pronouncement: 'Get up, Balak, and listen! Turn your ears to me, son of Tzippor!


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'God is not a human who lies or a mortal who changes his mind. When he says something, he will do it; when he makes a promise, he will fulfill it.


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'No one has seen guilt in Ya'akov, or perceived perversity in Isra'el; ADONAI their God is with them and acclaimed as king among them.


text:
thus one can't put a spell on Ya'akov, no magic will work against Isra'el. It can now be said of Ya'akov and Isra'el, 'What is this that God has done?!'


text:
'Here is a people rising up like a lioness; like a lion he rears himself up -he will not lie down till he eats up the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.'


text:
Balak said to Bil'am, 'Come, I will take you now to another place; maybe it will please God for you to curse them for me from there.'


text:
When Bil'am saw that it pleased ADONAI to bless Isra'el, he didn't go, as at the other times, to make use of divination, but looked out toward the desert.


text:
Bil'am raised his eyes and saw Isra'el encamped tribe by tribe. Then the Spirit of God came upon him,


text:
and he made his pronouncement: 'This is the speech of Bil'am, son of B'or; the speech of the man whose eyes have been opened;


text:
the speech of him who hears God's words; who sees what Shaddai sees, who has fallen, yet has open eyes:


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They spread out like valleys, like gardens by the riverside, like succulent aloes planted by ADONAI, like cedar trees next to the water.


text:
'Water will flow from their branches, their seed will have water aplenty. Their king will be higher than Agag and his kingdom lifted high.


text:
God, who brought them out of Egypt, gives them the strength of a wild ox. They will devour the nations opposing them, break their bones, pierce them with their arrows.


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'When they lie down they crouch like a lion, or like a lioness - who dares to rouse it? Blessed be all who bless you! Cursed be all who curse you!'


text:
Balak blazed with fury against Bil'am. He struck his hands together and said to Bil'am, 'I summoned you to curse my enemies. But here, you have done nothing but bless them - three times already!


text:
Now you had better escape to your own place! I had planned to reward you very well, but now ADONAI has deprived you of payment.'


text:
that even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not of my own accord go beyond the word of ADONAI to do either good or bad? that what ADONAI said is what I would say?


text:
But now that I am going back to my own people, come, I will warn you what this people will do to your people in the acharit-hayamim.


text:
So he made his pronouncement: 'This is the speech of Bil'am, son of B'or; the speech of the man whose eyes have been opened;


text:
the speech of him who hears God's words; who knows what 'Elyon knows, who sees what Shaddai sees, who has fallen, yet has open eyes:


text:
'I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not soon -a star will step forth from Ya'akov, a scepter will arise from Isra'el, to crush the corners of Mo'av and destroy all descendants of Shet.


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He saw 'Amalek and made this pronouncement: 'First among nations was 'Amalek, but destruction will be its end.'


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But ships will come from the coast of Kittim to subdue Ashur and subdue 'Ever, but they too will come to destruction.'


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These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, where the people ate and bowed down to their gods.


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them facing the sun before ADONAI, so that the raging fury of ADONAI will turn away from Isra'el.'


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Moshe said to the judges of Isra'el, 'Each of you is to put to death those in his tribe who have joined themselves to Ba'al-P'or.'


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Just then, in the sight of Moshe and the whole community of Isra'el, as they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting, a man from Isra'el came by, bringing to his family a woman from Midyan.


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When Pinchas the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, saw it, he got up from the middle of the crowd, took a spear in his hand,


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and pursued the man from Isra'el right into the inner part of the tent, where he thrust his spear through both of them -the man from Isra'el and the woman through her stomach. Thus was the plague among the people of Isra'el stopped;


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'Pinchas the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal.


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making a covenant with him and his descendants after him that the office of cohen will be theirs forever.'This is because he was zealous on behalf of his God and made atonement for the people of Isra'el.'


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The name of the man from Isra'el who was killed, put to death with the woman from Midyan, was Zimri the son of Salu, leader of one of the clans from the tribe of Shim'on.


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The name of the woman from Midyan who was killed was Kozbi the daughter of Tzur, and he was head of the people in one of the clans of Midyan.


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because they are treating you as enemies by the trickery they used to deceive you in the P'or incident and in the affair of their sister Kozbi, the daughter of the leader from Midyan, the woman who was killed on the day of the plague in the P'or incident.'


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'Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra'el twenty years old and over, by their ancestral clans, all who are subject to military service in Isra'el.'


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Moshe and El'azar the cohen spoke with them on the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden across from Yericho, explaining,


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'Those twenty years old and over who came out of the land of Egypt, as ADONAI ordered Moshe and the people of Isra'el.'


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[The census results begin with] Re'uven, the firstborn of Isra'el. The descendants of Re'uven were: of Hanokh, the family of the Hanokhi; of Pallu, the family of the Pallu'i;


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and the sons of Eli'av: N'mu'el, Datan and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram, men of reputation in the community, who rebelled against Moshe and Aharon in Korach's group, when they rebelled against ADONAI;


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and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korach when that group died, and the fire consumed 250 men, and they became a warning sign.


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The descendants of Shim'on, by their families, were: of N'mu'el, the family of the N'mu'eli; of Yamin, the family of the Yamini; of Yakhin, the family of the Yakhini;


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The descendants of Gad, by their families, were: of Tz'fon, the family of the Tz'foni; of Haggi, the family of the Haggi; of Shuni, the family of the Shuni;


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The sons of Y'hudah who had descendants were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelani; of Peretz, the family of the Partzi; and of Zerach, the family of the Zarchi.


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The sons of Peretz were: of Hetzron, the family of the Hetzroni; and of Hamul, the family of the Hamuli.


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The descendants of Yissakhar, by their families, were: of Tola, the family of the Tola'i; of Puvah, the family of the Puni;


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The descendants of Z'vulun, by their families, were: of Sered, the family of the Sardi; of Elon, the family of the Eloni; and of Yachle'el, the family of the Yachle'eli.


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The descendants of M'nasheh were: of Makhir, the family of the Makhiri. Makhir was the father of Gil'ad; of Gil'ad, the family of the Gil'adi.


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These are the descendants of Gil'ad: of I'ezer, the family of the I'ezri; of Helek, the family of the Helki;


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Tz'lof'chad the son of Hefer had no sons but daughters; the names of the daughters of Tz'lof'chad were Machlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah.


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These are the descendants of Efrayim, by their families: of Shutelach, the family of the Shutalchi; of Bekher, the family of the Bakhri; and of Tachan, the family of the Tachani.


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These were the families of the descendants of Efrayim, according to those of them that were counted, 32,500. These were the descendants of Yosef, by their families.


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The descendants of Binyamin, by their families were: of Bela, the family of the Bal'i; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbeli; of Achiram, the family of the Achirami;


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The sons of Bela were Ard and Na'aman; [of Ard,] the family of the Ardi; and of Na'aman, the family of the Na'ami.


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The descendants of Dan, by their families, were: of Shucham, the family of the Shuchami. These are the families of Dan, by their families.


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The descendants of Asher, by their families: of Yimnah, the family of the Yimnah; of Yishvi, the family of the Yishvi; and of B'ri'ah, the family of the B'ri'i.


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Of the descendants of B'ri'ah: of Hever, the family of the Hevri; and of Malki'el, the family of the Malki'eli.


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These were the families of the descendants of Asher, according to those of them that were counted, 53,400.


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The descendants of Naftali, by their families: of Yachtze'el, the families of the Yachtze'eli; of Guni, the family of the Guni;


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These are the families of Naftali according to their families; those of them that were counted were 45,400.


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'The land is to be parceled out among these as a possession to be inherited, according to the number of names.


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To those families with more persons you are to give a greater inheritance, and to those with fewer you are to give a smaller inheritance - each family's inheritance is to be given according to the number counted in it.


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However, the land is to be awarded by lot. They will inherit according to the names of the tribes of their ancestors,


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but the inheritance is to be parceled out by lot between the families with more and those with fewer.'


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Those counted among the Levi, by their families, were: of Gershon, the family of the Gershuni, of K'hat, the family of the K'hati; and of M'rari, the family of the M'rari.


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These are the families of Levi: the family of the Livni, the family of the Hevroni, the family of the Machli, the family of the Mushi and the family of the Korchi. K'hat was the father of 'Amram.


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The name of 'Amram's wife was Yokheved the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to 'Amram Aharon, Moshe and their sister Miryam.


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Those males one month old or more counted of the Levi were 23,000. These were not included in the census of the people of Isra'el, because no land for inheritance was given to them among the people of Isra'el.


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These are the ones counted by Moshe and El'azar the cohen, who took a census of the people of Isra'el in the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden across from Yericho.


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But there was not a man among them who had also been included in the census of Moshe and Aharon the cohen when they enumerated the people of Isra'el in the Sinai Desert;


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because ADONAI had said of them, 'They will surely die in the desert.' So there was not left even one of them, except Kalev the son of Y'funeh and Y'hoshua the son of Nun.


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Then the daughters of Tz'lof'chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of M'nasheh, of the families of M'nasheh, the son of Yosef, approached. These were the names of his daughters: Machlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah.


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They stood in front of Moshe, El'azar the cohen, the leaders and the whole community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said,


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'Our father died in the desert. He wasn't part of the group who assembled themselves to rebel against ADONAI in Korach's group, but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons.


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Why should the name of our father be eliminated from his family just because he didn't have a son? Give us property to possess along with the brothers of our father.'


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'The daughters of Tz'lof'chad are right in what they say. You must give them property to be inherited along with that of their father's brothers; have what their father would have inherited pass to them.


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Moreover, say to the people of Isra'el, 'If a man dies and does not have a son, you are to have his inheritance pass to his daughter.


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If his father doesn't have brothers, give his inheritance to the closest relative in his family, and he will possess it. This will be the standard for judgment to be used by the people of Isra'el, as ADONAI ordered Moshe.''


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Climb this mountain in the 'Avarim Range, and look out at the land which I have given the people of Isra'el.


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After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother was gathered;


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because in the Tzin Desert, when the community was disputing with me, you rebelled against my order to uphold my holiness by means of the water, with them looking on.' (This was M'rivat-Kadesh Spring, in the Tzin Desert.)


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to go out and come in ahead of them, to lead them out and bring them in, so that ADONAI's community will not be like sheep without a shepherd.'


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He is to present himself to El'azar the cohen, who is to find out by means of the urim what ADONAI's will is for Y'hoshua's decisions. Then, at his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, both he and all the people of Isra'el with him, the whole community.'


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Moshe did as ADONAI had ordered him. He took Y'hoshua, put him before El'azar the cohen and the whole community,


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'Give an order to the people of Isra'el. Tell them, 'You are to take care to offer me at the proper time the food presented to me as offerings made by fire, providing a fragrant aroma for me.'


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Tell them, 'This is the offering made by fire that you are to bring to ADONAI: male lambs in their first year and without defect, two daily as a regular burnt offering.


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along with two quarts of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with one quart of oil from pressed olives.


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It is the regular burnt offering, the same as was offered on Mount Sinai to give a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire for ADONAI.


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Its drink offering is to be one-quarter hin for one lamb; in the Holy Place you are to pour out a drink offering of intoxicating liquor to ADONAI.


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The other lamb you are to present at dusk; present it with the same kind of grain offering and drink offering as in the morning; it is an offering made by fire, with a fragrant aroma for ADONAI.


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''On Shabbat offer two male lambs in their first year and without defect, with one gallon of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and its drink offering.


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This is the burnt offering for every Shabbat, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.


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''At each Rosh-Hodesh of yours, you are to present a burnt offering to ADONAI consisting of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs in their first year and without defect;


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and two quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each lamb. This will be the burnt offering giving a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire for ADONAI.


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Their drink offerings will be two quarts of wine for a bull, one-and-one-third quarts for the ram, and one quart for each lamb. This is the burnt offering for every Rosh-Hodesh throughout the months of the year.


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Also a male goat is to be offered as a sin offering to ADONAI, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.


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but present an offering made by fire, a burnt offering, to ADONAI, consisting of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect for you)


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with their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil. Offer six quarts for a bull, four quarts for the ram,


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You are to offer these in addition to the morning burnt offering, which is the regular burnt offering.


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In this fashion you are to offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, making a fragrant aroma for ADONAI ; it is to be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.


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''On the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to ADONAI in your feast of Shavu'ot, you are to have a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work;


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but present a burnt offering as a fragrant aroma for ADONAI, consisting of two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs in their first year,


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and their grain offering - fine flour mixed with olive oil, six quarts for each bull, four quarts for the one ram,


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You are to offer these in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering (they are to be without defect for you), with their drink offerings.


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''In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; it is a day of blowing the shofar for you.


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Prepare a burnt offering to make a fragrant aroma for ADONAI - one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs in their first year and without defect -


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with their grain offering, consisting of fine flour mixed with olive oil - six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the ram,


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This is to be in addition to the burnt offering for Rosh-Hodesh with its grain offering, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the rule for them; this will be a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire to ADONAI.


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''On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy convocation. You are to deny yourselves, and you are not to do any kind of work;


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but you are to present a burnt offering to ADONAI to make a fragrant aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect for you),


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with their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the one ram,


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also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.


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''On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you are to have a holy convocation. You are not to do any kind of ordinary work, and you are to observe a feast to ADONAI seven days.


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You are to present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, bringing a fragrant aroma to ADONAI. It is to consist of thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect),


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with their grain offering - fine flour mixed with olive oil, six quarts for each of the thirteen bulls, four quarts for each of the two rams,


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also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain and drink offerings.


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''On the second day you are to present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect;


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with the grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams and lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule;


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also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and their drink offerings.


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''On the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs in their first year, without defect;


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also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offerings.


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''On the eighth day you are to have a festive assembly: you are not to do any kind of ordinary work;


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but you are to present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, giving a fragrant aroma to ADONAI -one bull, one ram, seven male lambs in their first year, without defect;


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with the grain and drink offerings for the bull, the ram and the lambs, according to their number, in keeping with the rule;


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''You are to offer these to ADONAI at your designated times in addition to your vows and voluntary offerings -whether these are your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings or peace offerings.''


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Then Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Isra'el. He said, 'Here is what ADONAI has ordered:


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when a man makes a vow to ADONAI or formally obligates himself by swearing an oath, he is not to break his word but is to do everything he said he would do.


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'When a woman makes a vow to ADONAI, formally obligating herself, while she is a minor living in her father's house;


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then, if her father has heard what she vowed or obligated herself to do and holds his peace, then all her vows remain binding - every obligation she has bound herself to will stand.


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But if on the day her father hears it, he expresses his disapproval, then none of her vows or obligations she has bound herself to will stand; and ADONAI will forgive her, because her father expressed his disapproval.


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and her husband hears but holds his peace with her on the day he learns of it, then her vows and obligations she has bound herself to will stand.


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But if her husband expresses his disapproval on the day he hears it, he will void the vow which is on her and the obligation to which she has bound herself; and ADONAI will forgive her.


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'The vow of a widow, however, or of a divorcee, including everything to which she has obligated herself, will stand against her.


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and her husband heard it but held his peace with her and did not express disapproval, then all her vows and obligations will stand.


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But if her husband makes them null and void on the day he hears them, then whatever she said, vows or binding obligation, will not stand; her husband has voided them; and ADONAI will forgive her.


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But if her husband entirely holds his peace with her day after day, then he confirms all her vows and obligations; he must let them stand, because he held his peace with her on the day he heard them.


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These are the laws which ADONAI ordered Moshe between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, if she is a minor living in her father's house.


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'On behalf of the people of Isra'el, take vengeance on the Midyanim. After that, you will be gathered to your people.'


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Moshe said to the people, 'Equip men from among yourselves for war. They are to go and fight Midyan, in order to carry out ADONAI's vengeance on Midyan.


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So out of the thousands of people in Isra'el, a thousand armed men from each tribe, 12,000 altogether, were mustered for war.


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Moshe sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war; he sent them and Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen to the war, with the holy utensils and the trumpets for sounding the alarm in his care.


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They killed the kings of Midyan along with the others who were slain - Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva, the five kings of Midyan. They also killed Bil'am the son of B'or with the sword.


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The people of Isra'el took captive the women of Midyan and their little ones, and they took as booty all their cattle, flocks and other goods.


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and brought the captives, booty and spoil to Moshe, El'azar the cohen and the community of Isra'el in the camp on the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden across from Yericho.


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But Moshe was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds coming in from the battlefield.


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Why, these are the ones who - because of Bil'am's advice -caused the people of Isra'el to rebel, breaking faith with ADONAI in the P'or incident, so that the plague broke out among ADONAI's community!


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Pitch your tents outside the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a person or touched the corpse of someone slain, purify yourselves on the third and seventh days, you and your captives.


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El'azar the cohen said to the soldiers who had gone to the front, 'This is the regulation from the Torah which ADONAI has ordered Moshe.


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can all withstand fire, so that you are indeed to purify everything made of these materials by having them pass through fire; nevertheless they must also be purified with the water for purification. Everything that can't withstand fire you are to have go through the water.


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On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean; after that you may enter the camp.'


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'Take all the booty, both people and animals, you, El'azar the cohen and the leaders of clans in the community;


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and divide the booty into two parts: half for the experienced soldiers who went out to battle, and half for the rest of the community.


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From the portion of the soldiers who went out to battle, levy a tax for ADONAI consisting of one-five-hundredth of the persons, cattle, donkeys and sheep;


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From the half that goes to the people of Isra'el, you are to take one-fiftieth of the persons, and of the cattle, donkeys and sheep, that is, of all the livestock; and give them to the L'vi'im taking care of the tabernacle of ADONAI.'


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From the half that went to people of Isra'el, which Moshe separated from that of the men who had gone to fight -


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from the people of Isra'el's half, Moshe took one-fiftieth of the persons and animals and gave them to the L'vi'im taking care of the tabernacle of ADONAI, as ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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The officers in charge of the thousands who fought, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, approached Moshe


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and said to him, 'Your servants have counted all the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing.


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We have brought an offering for ADONAI, what every man has obtained in the way of gold jewelry -armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and belts -to make atonement for ourselves before ADONAI.'


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All the gold in this gift which the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds set apart for ADONAI weighed 420 pounds.


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Moshe and El'azar the cohen took the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a reminder for the people of Isra'el before ADONAI.


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The descendants of Re'uven and the descendants of Gad had vast quantities of livestock. When they saw that the land of Ya'zer and the land of Gil'ad were good for livestock,


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the descendants of Gad and of Re'uven came and spoke to Moshe, El'azar the cohen and the community leaders. They said,


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the country that ADONAI conquered before the community of Isra'el, is livestock country; and your servants have livestock.


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If you regard us favorably,' they went on, 'let this land be given to your servants as their possession; and don't have us cross the Yarden.'


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Moshe answered the descendants of Gad and of Re'uven: 'Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here?


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Besides, why are you trying to discourage the people of Isra'el from crossing into the land ADONAI gave them?


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For when they went up to the Eshkol Valley and saw the land, they disheartened the people of Isra'el, so that they wouldn't enter the land ADONAI had given them.


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'None of the people aged twenty or more who came out of Egypt will see the land I swore to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov; because they haven't followed me unreservedly -


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except Kalev the son of Y'funeh the K'nizi and Y'hoshua the son of Nun, because they have followed ADONAI unreservedly.'


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Thus ADONAI's anger blazed against Isra'el, so that he made them wander here and there in the desert forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of ADONAI had died out.


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Now you, another brood of sinners, have arisen in your fathers' place to increase still more the fierce anger of ADONAI toward Isra'el!


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For if you turn away from him, he will leave them in the desert again, and thus you will cause the destruction of all these people!'


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But they came up to him and said, 'Here we will build enclosures for our livestock and cities for our little ones,


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but we ourselves will be armed and ready for action to march at the head of the people of Isra'el, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones will stay in the fortified cities here because of the people now living in the land.


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However, we will not return to our own homes until every man in Isra'el has taken possession of his land for inheritance.


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We will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Yarden, westward; because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Yarden, eastward.'


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Moshe said to them, 'If you will do this - if you will arm yourselves to go before ADONAI to the war,


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and if every one of your soldiers will cross the Yarden before ADONAI, until he has driven out his enemies ahead of him,


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and if the land has been conquered before ADONAI, and only after that do you return - then you will be clear before ADONAI and before Isra'el, and this land here will be yours to possess before ADONAI.


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But if you will not do this, then you have sinned against ADONAI, and you must understand that your sin will find you out.


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Build cities for your little ones and enclosures for your sheep; then do what you said you would do.'


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The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Re'uven said to Moshe, 'Your servants will do as my lord orders.


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but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before ADONAI to do battle, as my lord says.'


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So Moshe gave orders concerning them to El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the clan leaders of the tribes of the people of Isra'el.


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Moshe said to them, 'If the descendants of Gad and of Re'uven cross over the Yarden with you, every man armed for battle, before ADONAI; and if the land is conquered before you, then you are to give them the land of Gil'ad as theirs to possess.


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We will cross over into the land of Kena'an armed before ADONAI, and the land we will possess for inheritance will be on this side of the Yarden.'


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So Moshe gave the descendants of Gad and of Re'uven, and also to the half-tribe of M'nasheh the son of Yosef, the kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori and the kingdom of 'Og king of Bashan - the country and its cities within its borders, along with their surrounding towns.


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The descendants of Machir the son of M'nasheh went to Gil'ad and conquered it, dispossessing the Emori who were there.


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Ya'ir the son of M'nasheh went and captured its villages and called them Havot-Ya'ir [villages of Ya'ir].


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These are the stages in the journey of the people of Isra'el as they left the land of Egypt divided into groups under the leadership of Moshe and Aharon.


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Moshe recorded each of the stages of their journey by order of ADONAI; here are the starting-points of each stage:


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They began their journey from Ram'ses in the first month. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the morning after the Pesach, the people of Isra'el left proudly in view of all the Egyptians;


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while the Egyptians were burying those among them whom ADONAI had killed, all their firstborn; ADONAI had also executed judgment on their gods.


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They moved on from Etam and turned back to Pi-Hachirot, in front of Ba'al-Tz'fon, and camped before Migdol.


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They moved on from P'nei-Hachirot, passed through the sea to the desert, continued three days' journey into the Etam Desert and camped at Marah.


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They moved on from Marah and came to Eilim; in Eilim were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, so they camped there.


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At ADONAI's order Aharon the cohen went up on Mount Hor, and he died there on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the people of Isra'el had left the land of Egypt.


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The Kena'ani king of 'Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Kena'an, had heard that the people of Isra'el were coming;


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They moved on from the 'Avarim Range and camped in the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden, across from Yericho.


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Their camp by the Yarden extended from Beit-HaYeshimot all the way to Avel-HaSheetim in the plains of Mo'av.


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you are to expel all the people living in the land from in front of you. Destroy all their stone figures, destroy all their metal statues and demolish all their high places.


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You will inherit the land by lot according to your families. You are to give more land to the larger families and less to the smaller ones. Wherever the lot falls to any particular person, that will be his property. You will inherit according to the tribes of your ancestors.


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But if you don't drive out the inhabitants of the land from in front of you, then those you allow to remain will become like thorns in your eyes and stings in your sides - they will harass you in the land where you are living.


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to give this order to the people of Isra'el: 'When you enter the land of Kena'an, it will become your land to pass on as an inheritance, the land of Kena'an as defined by these borders.


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'Your southern portion will extend from the Tzin Desert close to the border of Edom. The eastern terminus of your southern border is at the end of the Dead Sea.


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From there your border turns, goes south of the 'Akrabbim Ascent and passes on to Tzin. From there it goes south of Kadesh-Barnea, on to Hatzar-Adar, and on to 'Atzmon.


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Then the border goes down from Sh'fam to Rivlah, on the east side of 'Ayin, then down until it hits the slope east of Lake Kinneret.


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From there it goes down the Yarden River till it flows into the Dead Sea. These will be the borders of your land.'


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Moshe gave this order to the people of Isra'el: 'This is the land in which you will receive inheritances by lot, which ADONAI has ordered to give to the nine tribes and the half-tribe.


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The tribe of the descendants of Re'uven have already received their land for inheritance according to their clans, and so have the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.


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These two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Yarden, across from Yericho and eastward, toward the sunrise.'


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'These are the names of the men who will take possession of the land for you: El'azar the cohen and Y'hoshua the son of Nun.


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from the descendants of Yosef: from the tribe of the descendants of M'nasheh, a leader, Hani'el the son of Efod;


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These are the ones whom ADONAI ordered to divide the inheritance among the people of Isra'el in the land of Kena'an.


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'Order the people of Isra'el to give to the L'vi'im cities to live in from the heritage they will possess, and you are also to give the L'vi'im some of the open land surrounding the cities.


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They are to have the cities to live in, while their open land will be for their livestock, for growing crops and for all their animals.


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The open land around the cities you give to the L'vi'im is to commence at a line drawn around the city wall 1,500 feet outside it and is to extend outward from there.


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Measure 3,000 feet outward from the city wall to the east, south, west and north, with the city in the center. The space between the 1,500-foot line and the 3,000-foot line will be their open land around the cities.


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The cities you give to the L'vi'im are to be the six cities of refuge to which you permit the person who kills someone to flee to; plus an additional forty-two cities.


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As to the cities you will give from those the people of Isra'el possess, from the many you will take many, and from the few you will take few - each tribe will contribute from its cities to the L'vi'im in accordance with the size of its inheritance.'


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you are to designate for yourselves cities that will be cities of refuge for you, to which anyone who kills someone by mistake can flee.


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These cities are to be a refuge for you from the dead person's next-of-kin, who might otherwise avenge his kinsman's death by slaying the killer prior to his standing trial before the community.


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You are to give three cities east of the Yarden and three cities in the land of Kena'an; they will be cities of refuge.


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These six cities will serve as refuge for the people of Isra'el, as well as for the foreigner and resident alien with them; so that anyone who kills someone by mistake may flee there.


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''However, if he hits him with an iron implement and thus causes his death, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.


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Or if he hits him with a stone in his hand big enough to kill someone, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.


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Or if he hits him with a wood utensil in his hand capable of killing someone, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.


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The next-of-kin avenger is to put the murderer to death himself - upon meeting him, he is to put him to death.


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Likewise, if he shoves him out of hatred; or intentionally throws something at him, causing his death;


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or out of hostility strikes him with his hand, so that he dies; then the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer; and the next-of-kin avenger is to put the murderer to death upon meeting him.


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''But suppose he shoves him suddenly, but without hostility; or he throws something at him unintentionally;


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or, without seeing him, being his enemy or seeking to harm him, he throws a stone big enough to cause death; and the person dies.


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Then the community is to judge between the one who struck him and the next-of-kin avenger in accordance with these rules;


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and the community is to save the killer from the next-of-kin avenger. The community is to return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he is to live there until the cohen hagadol, who was anointed with the holy oil, dies.


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and the next-of-kin avenger finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger kills the killer, he will not be guilty of the man's blood;


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because he must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the cohen hagadol. But after the death of the cohen hagadol the killer may return to the land he owns.


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These things shall constitute your standard for judgment through all your generations, wherever you live.


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''If anyone kills someone, the murderer is to be put to death upon the testimony of witnesses; but the testimony of only one witness will not suffice to cause a person to be put to death.


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Also, you are not to accept a ransom in lieu of the life of a murderer condemned to death; rather, he must be put to death.


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Likewise, you are not to accept for someone who has fled to his city of refuge a ransom that would allow him to return to his land before the death of the cohen.


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In this way you will not defile the land in which you are living. For blood defiles the land, and in this land no atonement can be made for the blood shed in it except the blood of him who shed it.


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No, you are not to defile the land in which you live and in which I live; for I, ADONAI, live among the people of Isra'el.''


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The leaders of the clans of the family of the descendants of Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of M'nasheh, of the families of the descendants of Yosef, approached and addressed Moshe and the leaders, the heads of the clans of the people of Isra'el.


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They said, 'ADONAI ordered my lord to give by lot the land to be inherited by the people of Isra'el, and my lord was ordered by ADONAI to give the inheritance of our kinsman Tz'lof'chad to his daughters.


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But if they get married to anyone belonging to another of the tribes of the people of Isra'el, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestors and be added to the inheritance of the tribe they will then belong to; thus it will be taken away from the sum total of our inheritance.


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And when the yovel of the people of Isra'el comes, their inheritance will be added to the land possessed by the tribe they will then belong to and be subtracted from the inheritance belonging to the tribe of our ancestors.'


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Moshe gave this order to the people of Isra'el, in keeping with the word of ADONAI : 'The tribe of the descendants of Yosef is right in what it says.


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Here is what ADONAI has ordered concerning the daughters of Tz'lof'chad: 'Let them be married to whomever they think best, but they must marry only into a family from their father's tribe.


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In this way no inheritance of the people of Isra'el will move from one tribe to another; for each of the people of Isra'el is to hold on to the land for inheritance belonging to his father's tribe.


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Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Isra'el is to become the wife of someone from the family of her father's tribe, so that every one of the people of Isra'el will stay in possession of his ancestors' inheritance.


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Thus no inheritance will move from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Isra'el will hold on to its own inheritance.'


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They were married into the families of the descendants of M'nasheh the son of Yosef, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's family.


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These are the mitzvot and rulings which ADONAI gave through Moshe to the people of Isra'el in the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden, across from Yericho. 4 1-2


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These are the words Moshe spoke to all Isra'el on the far side of the Yarden River, in the desert, in the 'Aravah, across from Suf, between Pa'ran and Tofel, Lavan, Hatzerot and Di-Zahav.


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On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, Moshe spoke to the people of Isra'el, reviewing everything ADONAI had ordered him to tell them.


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This was after he had defeated Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived in Heshbon, and 'Og, king of Bashan, who lived in 'Ashtarot, at Edre'i.


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There, beyond the Yarden, in the land of Mo'av, Moshe took it upon himself to expound this Torah and said:


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Turn, get moving and go to the hill-country of the Emori and all the places near there in the 'Aravah, the hill-country, the Sh'felah, the Negev and by the seashore - the land of the Kena'ani, and the L'vanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates River.


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I have set the land before you! Go in, and take possession of the land ADONAI swore to give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov, and their descendants after them.'


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ADONAI your God has multiplied your numbers, so that there are as many of you today as there are stars in the sky.


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May ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, increase you yet a thousandfold and bless you, as he has promised you!


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Pick for yourselves from each of your tribes men who are wise, understanding and knowledgeable; and I will make them heads over you.'


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So I took the heads of your tribes, men wise and knowledgable, and made them heads over you - leaders in charge of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens, and officers, tribe by tribe.


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At that time I commissioned your judges, 'Hear the cases that arise between your brothers; and judge fairly between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is with him.


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You are not to show favoritism when judging, but give equal attention to the small and to the great. No matter how a person presents himself, don't be afraid of him; because the decision is God's. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me and I will hear it.'


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'So we left Horev and went through all that vast and fearsome desert which you saw on the way to the hill-country of the Emori, as ADONAI our God ordered us; and we arrived at Kadesh-Barnea.


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There I said to you, 'You have come to the hill-country of the Emori, which ADONAI our God is giving to us.


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Look! ADONAI your God has placed the land before you. Go up, take possession, as ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, has told you. Don't be afraid, don't be dismayed.'


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'You approached me, every one of you, and said, 'Let's send men ahead of us to explore the country for us and bring back word concerning what route we should use in going up and what the cities we will encounter are like.'


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They took some of the produce of the land and brought it down to us; they also brought back word to us -'The land ADONAI our God is giving to us is good.'


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and in your tents you complained, 'It's because ADONAI hated us that he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, only to hand us over to the Emori to destroy us.


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What sort of place is it that we're heading for? Our brothers made our courage fail when they said, 'The people are bigger and taller than we are; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and finally, we have seen 'Anakim there.''


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ADONAI your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight on your behalf, just as he accomplished all those things for you in Egypt before your eyes,


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and likewise in the desert, where you saw how ADONAI your God carried you, like a man carries his child, along the entire way you traveled until you arrived at this place.


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even though he went ahead of you, seeking out places for you to pitch your tents and showing you which way to go, by fire at night and by a cloud during the day.'


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'Not a single one of these people, this whole evil generation, will see the good land I swore to give to your ancestors,


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except Kalev the son of Y'funeh -he will see it; I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on, because he has fully followed ADONAI.'


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Y'hoshua the son of Nun, your assistant -he will go in there. So encourage him, because he will enable Isra'el to take possession of it.


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Moreover, your little ones, who you said would be taken as booty, and your children who don't yet know good from bad -they will go in there; I will give it to them, and they will have possession of it.


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'Then you answered me, 'We have sinned against ADONAI. Now we will go up and fight, in accordance with everything ADONAI our God ordered us.'And every man among you put on his arms, considering it an easy matter to go up into the hill-country.


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But ADONAI said to me, 'Tell them, 'Don't go up, and don't fight, because I am not there with you; if you do, your enemies will defeat you.''


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So I told you, but you wouldn't listen. Instead, you rebelled against ADONAI's order, took matters into your own hands and went up into the hill-country;


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where the Emori living in that hill-country came out against you like bees, defeated you in Se'ir and chased you back all the way to Hormah.


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You returned and cried before ADONAI, but ADONAI neither listened to what you said nor paid you any attention.


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'Then we turned and began traveling into the desert along the road to the Sea of Suf, as ADONAI had said to me; and we skirted Mount Se'ir for a long time.


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and give this order to the people: 'You are to pass through the territory of your kinsmen the descendants of 'Esav who live in Se'ir. They will be afraid of you, so be very cautious,


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and don't get into disputes with them; for I am not going to give you any of their land, no, not even enough for one foot to stand on; inasmuch as I have given Mount Se'ir to 'Esav as his possession.


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For ADONAI your God has blessed you in everything your hands have produced. He knows that you have been traveling through this vast desert; these forty years ADONAI your God has been with you; and you have lacked nothing.'


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'So we went on past our kinsmen the descendants of 'Esav living in Se'ir, left the road through the 'Aravah from Eilat and 'Etzyon-Gever, and turned to pass along the road through the desert of Mo'av.


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ADONAI said to me, 'Don't be hostile toward Mo'av or fight with them, because I will not give you any of their land to possess, since I have already given 'Ar to the descendants of Lot as their territory.''


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In Se'ir the Horim used to live, but the descendants of 'Esav dispossessed and destroyed them, settling in their place. Isra'el did similarly in the land it came to possess, which ADONAI gave to them.)


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The time between our leaving Kadesh-Barnea and our crossing Vadi Zered was thirty-eight years - until the whole generation of men capable of bearing arms had been eliminated from the camp, as ADONAI had sworn they would be.


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Moreover, ADONAI's hand was against them to root them out of the camp until the last of them was gone.


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When you approach the descendants of 'Amon, don't bother them or fight with them, for I will not give you any of the territory of the people of 'Amon to possess, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their territory.''


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(This too is considered a land of the Refa'im: Refa'im, whom the Emori call Zamzumim, used to live there.


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They were a large, numerous people, as tall as the 'Anakim; but ADONAI destroyed them as the people of 'Amon advanced and settled in their place -


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just as he destroyed the Horim as descendants of 'Esav advanced into Se'ir and settled in their place, where they live to this day.


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It was the same with the 'Avim, who lived in villages as far away as 'Azah -the Kaftorim, coming from Kaftor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)


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''Get up, get moving, and cross the Arnon Valley! Here, I have put in your hands Sichon the Emori, king of Heshbon, and his land; commence the conquest, begin the battle!


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Today I will start putting the fear and dread of you into all the peoples under heaven, so that the mere mention of your name will make them quake and tremble before you.'


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You will sell me food to eat for money and give me water to drink for money. I only want to pass through.


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Do as the people of 'Esav living in Se'ir and the Mo'avim living in 'Ar did with me, until I cross the Yarden into the land ADONAI our God is giving us.'


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'But Sichon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through his territory, because ADONAI your God had hardened his spirit and made him stubborn, so that he could hand him over to you, as is the case today.


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ADONAI said to me, 'See, I have begun handing over Sichon and his territory before you; start taking possession of his land.'


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At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed every city - men, women, little ones - we left none of them.


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As booty for ourselves we took only the cattle, along with the spoil from the cities we had captured.


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From 'Aro'er, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and from the city in the valley, all the way to Gil'ad, there was not one city too well fortified for us to capture -ADONAI our God gave all of them to us.


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The only land you didn't approach was that of the descendants of 'Amon - the region around the Yabok River, the cities in the hills and wherever else ADONAI our God forbade us to go.


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'Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and 'Og the king of Bashan came out against us with all his people to fight at Edre'i.


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ADONAI said to me, 'Don't be afraid of him; for I have handed him, all his people and his territory over to you; you will do to him as you did to Sichon king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon.'


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So ADONAI our God also handed over to us 'Og the king of Bashan with all his people, and we defeated him until he had no one left.


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At that time we captured all his cities; there was not one city of theirs that we didn't capture. There were sixty cities, all the region of Argov, the kingdom of 'Og in Bashan;


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all of them fortified cities with high walls, gates and bars - in addition to a great number of unwalled towns.


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We completely destroyed them, as we did with Sichon king of Heshbon, annihilating every city -men, women and little ones.


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'At that time we captured the territory of the two kings of the Emori east of the Yarden between the Arnon Valley and Mount Hermon,'


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'all the cities of the plain, all Gil'ad and all Bashan, as far as Salkhah and Edre'i, cities of the kingdom of 'Og in Bashan.'


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'Og king of Bashan was the last survivor of the Refa'im. His bed was made of iron; it is still in Rabbah with the people of 'Amon. It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, using the normal cubit [thirteen-and-a-half by six feet].


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'Of this land that we took possession of then, I assigned to the Re'uveni and the Gadi the territory extending from 'Aro'er along the Arnon Valley together with half the hill-country of Gil'ad, including its cities.


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The rest of Gil'ad and all Bashan, the kingdom of 'Og, I gave to the half-tribe of M'nasheh.' The whole region of Argov together with all of Bashan form what is called the land of Refa'im.


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Ya'ir the son of M'nasheh took all the region of Argov, as far as the border with the G'shuri and the Ma'akhati; he named this whole area, including Bashan, after himself -it remains Havot-Ya'ir to this day.


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and to the Re'uveni and the Gadi I gave the territory from Gil'ad to the Arnon Valley, with the middle of the valley as the border, as far as the Yabok River, which is the border with the people of 'Amon;


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the 'Aravah too, the Yarden being its border, from Kinneret to the Sea of the 'Aravah, the Dead Sea, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah to the east.


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'At that time I gave you this order: 'ADONAI your God has given you this land to possess. But all of you who are fit to fight must cross over, armed, ahead of your brothers the people of Isra'el.


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Your wives, your little ones and your livestock - I know you have much livestock - will stay in your cities which I have given you,


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until ADONAI allows your brothers to rest, as he has allowed you; and they too take possession of the land ADONAI your God is giving them on the west side of the Yarden. At that point you will return, each man to his own possession which I have given you.'


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'Also at that time I gave this order to Y'hoshua: 'Your eyes have seen everything that ADONAI your God has done to these two kings. ADONAI will do the same to all the kingdoms you encounter when you cross over.


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'Adonai ELOHIM, you have begun to reveal your greatness to your servant, and your strong hand - for what other god is there in heaven or on earth that can do the works and mighty deeds that you do?


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Please! Let me go across and see the good land on the other side of the Yarden, that wonderful hill-country and the L'vanon!'


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But ADONAI was angry with me on account of you, and he didn't listen to me. ADONAI said to me, 'Enough from you! Don't say another word to me about this matter!


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Climb up to the top of Pisgah and look out to the west, north, south and east. Look with your eyes - but you will not go across this Yarden.


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However, commission Y'hoshua, encourage him and strengthen him; for he will lead this people across and enable them to inherit the land that you will see.'


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'Now, Isra'el, listen to the laws and rulings I am teaching you, in order to follow them, so that you will live; then you will go in and take possession of the land that ADONAI, the God of your fathers, is giving you.


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In order to obey the mitzvot of ADONAI your God which I am giving you, do not add to what I am saying, and do not subtract from it.


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You saw with your own eyes what ADONAI did at Ba'al-P'or, that ADONAI destroyed from among you all the men who followed Ba'al-P'or;


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Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as ADONAI my God ordered me, so that you can behave accordingly in the land where you are going in order to take possession of it.


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Therefore, observe them; and follow them; for then all peoples will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, 'This great nation is surely a wise and understanding people.'


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For what great nation is there that has God as close to them as ADONAI our God is, whenever we call on him?


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What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today?


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Only be careful, and watch yourselves diligently as long as you live, so that you won't forget what you saw with your own eyes, so that these things won't vanish from your hearts. Rather, make them known to your children and grandchildren -


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the day you stood before ADONAI your God at Horev, when ADONAI said to me, 'Gather the people to me, and I will make them hear my very words, so that they will learn to hold me in awe as long as they live on earth, and so that they will teach their children.'


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You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain; and the mountain blazed with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, clouds and thick mist.


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Then ADONAI spoke to you out of the fire! You heard the sound of words but saw no shape, there was only a voice.


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He proclaimed his covenant to you, which he ordered you to obey, the Ten Words; and he wrote them on two stone tablets.


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At that time ADONAI ordered me to teach you laws and rulings, so that you would live by them in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.


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'Therefore, watch out for yourselves! Since you did not see a shape of any kind on the day ADONAI spoke to you in Horev from the fire,


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do not become corrupt and make yourselves a carved image having the shape of any figure - not a representation of a human being, male or female,


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or a representation of anything that creeps along on the ground, or a representation of any fish in the water below the shoreline.


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For the same reason, do not look up at the sky, at the sun, moon, stars and everything in the sky, and be drawn away to worship and serve them; ADONAI your God has allotted these to all the peoples under the entire sky.


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No, you ADONAI has taken and brought out of the smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of inheritance for him, as you are today.


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'But ADONAI was angry with me on account of you and swore that I would not cross the Yarden and go into that good land, which ADONAI your God is giving you to inherit.


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Rather, I must die in this land and not cross the Yarden; but you are to cross and take possession of that good land.


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Watch out for yourselves, so that you won't forget the covenant of ADONAI your God, which he made with you, and make yourself a carved image, a representation of anything forbidden to you by ADONAI your God.


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'When you have had children and grandchildren, lived a long time in the land, become corrupt and made a carved image, a representation of something, and thus done what is evil in the sight of ADONAI your God and provoked him;


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I call on the sky and the earth to witness against you today that you will quickly disappear from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess. You will not prolong your days there but will be completely destroyed.


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ADONAI will scatter you among the peoples; and among the nations to which ADONAI will lead you away, you will be left few in number.


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There you will serve gods which are the product of human hands, made of wood and stone, which can't see, hear, eat or smell.


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However, from there you will seek ADONAI your God; and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and being.


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In your distress, when all these things have come upon you, in the acharit-hayamim, you will return to ADONAI your God and listen to what he says;


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for ADONAI your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.


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'Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born: since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it?


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Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive?


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Or has God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the very bowels of another nation, by means of ordeals, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and great terrors -like all that ADONAI your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?


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From heaven he caused you to hear his voice, in order to instruct you; and on earth he caused you to see his great fire; and you heard his very words coming out from the fire.


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


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in order to drive out ahead of you nations greater and stronger than you, so that he could bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is the case today;


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know today, and establish it in your heart, that ADONAI is God in heaven above and on earth below - there is no other.


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Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land ADONAI your God is giving you forever.'


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to which a killer might flee, that is, someone who kills by mistake a person whom he did not previously hate, and upon fleeing to one of these cities might live there.


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The cities were Betzer in the desert, in the flatland, for the Re'uveni; Ramot in Gil'ad for the Gadi; and Golan in Bashan for the M'nashi.


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these are the instructions, laws and rulings which Moshe presented to the people of Isra'el after they had come out of Egypt -


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beyond the Yarden River, in the valley across from Beit-P'or, in the land of Sichon king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moshe and the people of Isra'el defeated when they came out of Egypt;


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and they took possession of his land and the land of 'Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Emori, who were beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise;


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'with all the 'Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, all the way to the Dead Sea at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.


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Then Moshe called to all Isra'el and said to them, 'Listen, Isra'el, to the laws and rulings which I am announcing in your hearing today, so that you will learn them and take care to obey them.


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ADONAI did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us -with us, who are all of us here alive today.


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At that time I stood between ADONAI and you in order to tell you what ADONAI was saying; because, on account of the fire, you were afraid and wouldn't go up onto the mountain. He said, t


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You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline -


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you are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, ADONAI your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents, also the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,


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''You are not to misuse the name of ADONAI your God, because ADONAI will not leave unpunished someone who misuses his name.


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but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it you are not to do any kind of work - not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your ox, your donkey or any of your other livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property - so that your male and female servants can rest just as you do.


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You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and ADONAI your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore ADONAI your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat.


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''Honor your father and mother, as ADONAI your God ordered you to do, so that you will live long and have things go well with you in the land ADONAI your God is giving you.


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''Do not covet your neighbor's wife; do not covet your neighbor's house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.'


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'These words ADONAI spoke to your entire gathering at the mountain from fire, cloud and thick mist, in a loud voice; then it ceased. But he wrote them on two stone tablets, which he gave to me.


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When you heard the voice coming out of the darkness, as the mountain blazed with fire, you came to me, all the heads of your tribes and your leaders,


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and said, 'Here, ADONAI our God has shown us his glory and his greatness! We have heard his voice coming from the fire, and we have seen today that God does speak with human beings, and they stay alive.


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But why should we keep risking death? This great fire will consume us! If we hear the voice of ADONAI our God any more, we will die!


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For who is there of all humanity that has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and stayed alive?


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You, go near; and hear everything ADONAI our God says. Then you will tell us everything ADONAI our God says to you; and we will listen to it and do it.'


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'ADONAI heard what you were saying when you spoke to me, and ADONAI said to me, 'I have heard what this people has said when speaking to you, and everything they have said is good.


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Oh, how I wish their hearts would stay like this always, that they would fear me and obey all my mitzvot; so that it would go well with them and their children forever.


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But you, stand here by me; and I will tell you all the mitzvot, laws and rulings which you are to teach them, so that they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.'


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'Therefore you are to be careful to do as ADONAI your God has ordered you; you are not to deviate either to the right or the left.


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You are to follow the entire way which ADONAI your God has ordered you; so that you will live, things will go well with you, and you will live long in the land you are about to possess.


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'Now this is the mitzvah, the laws and rulings which ADONAI your God ordered me to teach you for you to obey in the land you are crossing over to possess,


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so that you will fear ADONAI your God and observe all his regulations and mitzvot that I am giving you - you, your child and your grandchild - as long as you live, and so that you will have long life.


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Therefore listen, Isra'el, and take care to obey, so that things will go well with you, and so that you will increase greatly, as ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, promised you by giving you a land flowing with milk and honey.


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and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.


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'When ADONAI your God has brought you into the land he swore to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov that he would give you - cities great and prosperous, which you didn't build;


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houses full of all sorts of good things, which you didn't fill; water cisterns dug out, which you didn't dig; vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't plant - and you have eaten your fill;


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then be careful not to forget ADONAI, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves.


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because ADONAI, your God, who is here with you, is a jealous God. If you do, the anger of ADONAI your God will flare up against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth.


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Observe diligently the mitzvot of ADONAI your God, and his instructions and laws which he has given you.


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You are to do what is right and good in the sight of ADONAI, so that things will go well with you, and you will enter and possess the good land ADONAI swore to your ancestors,


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'Some day your child will ask you, 'What is the meaning of the instructions, laws and rulings which ADONAI our God has laid down for you?'


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Then you will tell your child, 'We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and ADONAI brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.


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ADONAI worked great and terrible signs and wonders against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household, before our very eyes.


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He brought us out from there in order to bring us to the land he had sworn to our ancestors that he would give us.


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ADONAI ordered us to observe all these laws, to fear ADONAI our God, always for our own good, so that he might keep us alive, as we are today.


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It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to obey all these mitzvot before ADONAI our God, just as he ordered us to do.''


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'ADONAI your God is going to bring you into the land you will enter in order to take possession of it, and he will expel many nations ahead of you -the Hitti, Girgashi, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi, seven nations bigger and stronger than you.


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When he does this, when ADONAI your God hands them over ahead of you, and you defeat them, you are to destroy them completely! Do not make any covenant with them. Show them no mercy.


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Don't intermarry with them -don't give your daughter to his son, and don't take his daughter for your son.


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For he will turn your children away from following me in order to serve other gods. If this happens, the anger of ADONAI will flare up against you, and he will quickly destroy you.


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No, treat them this way: break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, cut down their sacred poles and burn up their carved images completely.


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For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure.


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ADONAI didn't set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples.


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Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.


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From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot, to a thousand generations.


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But he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them. He will not be slow to deal with someone who hates him; he will repay him to his face.


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Therefore, you are to keep the mitzvot, laws and rulings which I am giving you today, and obey them.


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'Because you are listening to these rulings, keeping and obeying them, ADONAI your God will keep with you the covenant and mercy that he swore to your ancestors.


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He will love you, bless you and increase your numbers; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground - your grain, wine, olive oil and the young of your cattle and sheep - in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.


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You will be blessed more than all other peoples; there will not be a sterile male or female among you, and the same with your livestock.


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ADONAI will remove all illness from you - he will not afflict you with any of Egypt's dreadful diseases, which you have known; instead, he will lay them on those who hate you.


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You are to devour all the peoples that ADONAI your God hands over to you - show them no pity, and do not serve their gods, because that will become a trap for you.


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nevertheless, you are not to be afraid of them; you are to remember well what ADONAI your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt -


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the great ordeals which you yourself saw, and the signs, wonders, strong hand and outstretched arm by which ADONAI your God brought you out. ADONAI will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.


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Moreover, ADONAI your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and those who hide themselves perish ahead of you.


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You are not to be frightened of them, because ADONAI your God is there with you, a God great and fearsome.


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ADONAI your God will expel those nations ahead of you little by little; you can't put an end to them all at once, or the wild animals will become too numerous for you.


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Nevertheless, ADONAI your God will give them over to you, sending one disaster after another upon them until they have been destroyed.


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He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their name from under heaven; none of them will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.


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You are to burn up completely the carved statues of their gods. Don't be greedy for the silver or gold on them; don't take it with you, or you will be trapped by it; for it is abhorrent to ADONAI your God.


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Don't bring something abhorrent into your house, or you will share in the curse that is on it; instead, you are to detest it completely, loathe it utterly; for it is set apart for destruction.


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'All the mitzvot I am giving you today you are to take care to obey, so that you will live, increase your numbers, enter and take possession of the land ADONAI swore about to your ancestors.


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You are to remember everything of the way in which ADONAI led you these forty years in the desert, humbling and testing you in order to know what was in your heart - whether you would obey his mitzvot or not.


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He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with man, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of ADONAI.


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During these forty years the clothing you were wearing didn't grow old, and your feet didn't swell up.


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For ADONAI your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams, springs and water welling up from the depths in valleys and on hillsides.


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It is a land of wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;


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a land where you will eat food in abundance and lack nothing in it; a land where the stones contain iron and the hills can be mined for copper.


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So you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless ADONAI your God for the good land he has given you.


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'Be careful not to forget ADONAI your God by not obeying his mitzvot, rulings and regulations that I am giving you today.


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you will become proud-hearted. Forgetting ADONAI your God - who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves;


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who led you through the vast and fearsome desert, with its poisonous snakes, scorpions and waterless, thirsty ground; who brought water out of flint rock for you;


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who fed you in the desert with man, unknown to your ancestors; all the while humbling and testing you in order to do you good in the end -


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you will think to yourself, 'My own power and the strength of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.'


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No, you are to remember ADONAI your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today.


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If you forget ADONAI your God, follow other gods and serve and worship them, I am warning you in advance today that you will certainly perish.


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You will perish just like the nations that ADONAI is causing to perish ahead of you, because you will not have heeded the voice of ADONAI your God.'


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'Listen, Isra'el! You are to cross the Yarden today, to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities fortified up to the sky;


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a people great and tall, the 'Anakim, whom you know about and of whom you have heard it said, 'Who can stand before the descendants of 'Anak?'


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Therefore understand today that ADONAI your God will himself cross ahead of you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them and bring them down before you. Thus will you drive them out and cause them to perish quickly, as ADONAI has said to you.


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'Don't think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you, 'It is to reward my righteousness that ADONAI has brought me in to take possession of this land.' No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that ADONAI is driving them out ahead of you.


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It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which ADONAI swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov.


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Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that ADONAI your God is giving you this good land to possess. 'For you are a stiffnecked people!


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Remember, don't forget, how you made ADONAI your God angry in the desert. From the day you left the land of Egypt till you arrived at this place, you have been rebelling against ADONAI.


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I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets on which was written the covenant ADONAI had made with you. I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights without eating food or drinking water.


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Then ADONAI gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God; and on them was written every word ADONAI had said to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly.


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Then ADONAI said to me, 'Get up, and hurry down from here, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt. So quickly have they turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have made themselves a metal image!'


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Let me alone, so that I can put an end to them and blot out their name from under heaven! I will make out of you a nation bigger and stronger than they.'


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I came down from the mountain. The mountain was blazing fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.


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I looked, and there, you had sinned against ADONAI your God! You had made yourselves a metal calf, you had turned aside quickly from the way ADONAI had ordered you to follow.


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Then I fell down before ADONAI, as I had the first time, for forty days and nights, during which time I neither ate food nor drank water, all because of the sin you committed by doing what was evil in the sight of ADONAI and thus provoking him.


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I was terrified that because of how angry ADONAI was at you, of how heatedly displeased he was, that he would destroy you. But ADONAI listened to me that time too.


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In addition, ADONAI was very angry with Aharon and would have destroyed him; but I prayed for Aharon also at the same time.


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I took your sin, the calf you had made, and burned it up in the fire, beat it to pieces, and ground it up still smaller, until it was as fine as dust; then I threw its dust into the stream coming down from the mountain.


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and when ADONAI sent you off from Kadesh-Barnea by saying, 'Go up and take possession of the land I have given you,' you rebelled against the order of ADONAI your God - you neither trusted him nor heeded what he said.


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'So I fell down before ADONAI for those forty days and nights; and I lay there; because ADONAI had said he would destroy you.


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I prayed to ADONAI ; I said, 'Adonai ELOHIM! Don't destroy your people, your inheritance! You redeemed them through your greatness, you brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand!


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Remember your servants Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov! Don't focus on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or on their sin.


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Otherwise, the land you brought us out of will say, 'It is because ADONAI wasn't able to bring them into the land he promised them and because he hated them that he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.'


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But in fact they are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.'


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'At that time ADONAI said to me, 'Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, come up to me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood.


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I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to put them in the ark.'


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So I made an ark of acacia-wood and cut two stone tablets like the first, then climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.


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He inscribed the tablets with the same inscription as before, the Ten Words which ADONAI proclaimed to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly; and ADONAI gave them to me.


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I turned, came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made; and there they remain; as ADONAI ordered me.


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'The people of Isra'el traveled from the wells of B'nei-Ya'akan to Moserah, where Aharon died and was buried; and El'azar his son took his place, serving in the office of cohen.


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At that time ADONAI set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark for the covenant of ADONAI and to stand before ADONAI to serve him and to bless in his name, as they still do today.


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This is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers; ADONAI is his inheritance, as ADONAI your God had said to him.


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'I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as previously; and ADONAI listened to me that time too -ADONAI would not destroy you.


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Then ADONAI said to me, 'Get up, and go on your way at the head of the people, so that they can enter and take possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.'


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'So now, Isra'el, all that ADONAI your God asks from you is to fear ADONAI your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being;


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See, the sky, the heaven beyond the sky, the earth and everything on it all belong to ADONAI your God.


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Only ADONAI took enough pleasure in your ancestors to love them and choose their descendants after them -yourselves -above all peoples, as he still does today.


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For ADONAI your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes.


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He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.


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He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which you have seen with your own eyes.


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Your ancestors went down into Egypt with only seventy people, but now ADONAI your God has made your numbers as many as the stars in the sky!


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'Therefore, you are to love ADONAI your God and always obey his commission, regulations, rulings and mitzvot.


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Today it is you I am addressing -not your children, who haven't known or experienced the discipline of ADONAI your God, his greatness, his strong hand, his outstretched arm,


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his signs and his actions which he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his entire country.


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They didn't experience what he did to Egypt's army, horses and chariots -how ADONAI overwhelmed them with the water of the Sea of Suf as they were pursuing you, so that they remain destroyed to this day.


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or what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli'av the descendant of Re'uven -how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, tents and every living thing in their company, there in front of all Isra'el.


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Therefore, you are to keep every mitzvah I am giving you today; so that you will be strong enough to go in and take possession of the land you are crossing over to conquer;


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and so that you will live long in the land ADONAI swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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'For the land you are entering in order to take possession of it isn't like the land of Egypt. There you would sow your seed and had to use your feet to operate its irrigation system, as in a vegetable garden.


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But the land you are crossing over to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys, which soaks up water when rain falls from the sky.


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It is a land ADONAI your God cares for. The eyes of ADONAI your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.


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'So if you listen carefully to my mitzvot which I am giving you today, to love ADONAI your God and serve him with all your heart and all your being;


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then, [says ADONAI,] 'I will give your land its rain at the right seasons, including the early fall rains and the late spring rains; so that you can gather in your wheat, new wine and olive oil;


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and I will give your fields grass for your livestock; with the result that you will eat and be satisfied.'


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But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them.


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If you do, the anger of ADONAI will blaze up against you. He will shut up the sky, so that there will be no rain. The ground will not yield its produce, and you will quickly pass away from the good land ADONAI is giving you.


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Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead;


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teach them carefully to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up;


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so that you and your children will live long on the land ADONAI swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth. (vii & Maftir)


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'For if you will take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you, to do them, to love ADONAI your God, to follow all his ways and to cling to him,


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then ADONAI will expel all these nations ahead of you; and you will dispossess nations bigger and stronger than you are.


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Wherever the sole of your foot steps will be yours; your territory will extend from the desert to the L'vanon and from the River, the Euphrates River, to the Western Sea.


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No one will be able to withstand you; ADONAI your God will place the fear and dread of you on all the land you step on, as he told you.


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and the curse, if you don't listen to the mitzvot of ADONAI your God, but turn aside from the way I am ordering you today and follow other gods that you have not known.


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'When ADONAI your God brings you into the land you are entering in order to take possession of it, you are to put the blessing on Mount G'rizim and the curse on Mount 'Eival.


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Both are west of the Yarden, in the direction of the sunset, in the land of the Kena'ani living in the 'Aravah, across from Gilgal, near the pistachio trees of Moreh.


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For you are to cross the Yarden to enter and take possession of the land ADONAI your God is giving you; you are to own it and live in it.


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Here are the laws and rulings you are to observe and obey in the land ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess as long as you live on earth.


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You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree.


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Break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, burn up their sacred poles completely and cut down the carved images of their gods. Exterminate their name from that place.


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Rather, you are to come to the place where ADONAI your God will put his name. He will choose it from all your tribes; and you will seek out that place, which is where he will live, and go there.


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You will bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tenths [that you set aside for ADONAI], the offerings that you give, the offerings you have vowed, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep.


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There you will eat in the presence of ADONAI your God; and you will rejoice over everything you set out to do, you and your households, in which ADONAI your God has blessed you.


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You will not do things the way we do them here today, where everyone does whatever in his own opinion seems right;


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But when you cross the Yarden and live in the land ADONAI your God is having you inherit, and he gives you rest from all your surrounding enemies, so that you are living in safety;


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then you will bring all that I am ordering you to the place ADONAI your God chooses to have his name live -your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tenths, the offering from your hand, and all your best possessions that you dedicate to ADONAI;


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and you will rejoice in the presence of ADONAI your God - you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves and the Levi staying with you, inasmuch as he has no share or inheritance with you.


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but do it in the place ADONAI will choose in one of your tribal territories; there is where you are to offer your burnt offerings and do everything I order you to do.


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However, you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live and whenever you want, in keeping with the degree to which ADONAI your God has blessed you. The unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.


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'You are not to eat on your own property the tenth of your grain, new wine or olive oil [that you set aside for ADONAI], or the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, or any offering you have vowed, or your voluntary offering, or the offering from your hand.


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No, you are to eat these in the presence of ADONAI your God in the place ADONAI your God will choose -you and your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levi who is your guest; and you are to rejoice before ADONAI your God in everything you undertake to do.


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'When ADONAI your God expands your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, 'I want to eat meat,' simply because you want to eat meat, then you may eat meat, as much as you want.


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If the place which ADONAI your God chooses to place his name is too far away from you; then you are to slaughter animals from your cattle or sheep, which ADONAI has given you; and eat on your own property, as much as you want.


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Just take care not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you are not to eat the life with the meat.


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Do not eat it, so that things will go well with you and with your children after you, as you do what ADONAI sees as right.


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Only the things set aside for God which you have, and the vows you have vowed to make, you must take and go to the place which ADONAI will choose.


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There you will offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of ADONAI your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out on the altar of ADONAI your God, and you will eat the meat.


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Obey and pay attention to everything I am ordering you to do, so that things will go well with you and with your descendants after you forever, as you do what ADONAI sees as good and right.


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'When ADONAI your God has cut off ahead of you the nations you are entering in order to dispossess, and when you have dispossessed them and are living in their land;


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be careful, after they have been destroyed ahead of you, not to be trapped into following them; so that you inquire after their gods and ask, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I want to do the same.'


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You must not do this to ADONAI your God! For they have done to their gods all the abominations that ADONAI hates! They even burn up their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods!


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'If a prophet or someone who gets messages while dreaming arises among you and he gives you a sign or wonder,


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and the sign or wonder comes about as he predicted when he said, 'Let's follow other gods, which you have not known; and let us serve them,'


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you are not to listen to what that prophet or dreamer says. For ADONAI your God is testing you, in order to find out whether you really do love ADONAI your God with all your heart and being.


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You are to follow ADONAI your God, fear him, obey his mitzvot, listen to what he says, serve him and cling to him;


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and that prophet or dreamer is to be put to death; because he urged rebellion against ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from a life of slavery; in order to seduce you away from the path ADONAI your God ordered you to follow. This is how you are to rid your community of this wickedness.


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'If your brother the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or your wife whom you love, or your friend who means as much to you as yourself, secretly tries to entice you to go and serve other gods, which you haven't known, neither you nor your ancestors -


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you are not to consent, and you are not to listen to him; and you must not pity him or spare him; and you may not conceal him.


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Rather, you must kill him! Your own hand must be the first one on him in putting him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.


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You are to stone him to death; because he has tried to draw you away from ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery.


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Then all Isra'el will hear about it and be afraid, so that they will stop doing such wickedness as this among themselves.


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certain scoundrels have sprung up among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city by saying, 'Let's go and serve other gods, which you haven't known,'


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then you are to investigate the matter, inquiring and searching diligently. If the rumor is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are being done among you,


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you must put the inhabitants of that city to death with the sword, destroying it completely with the sword, everything in it, including its livestock.


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Heap all its spoils in an open space, and burn the city with its spoils to the ground for ADONAI your God; it will remain a tel forever and not be built again -


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none of what has been set apart for destruction is to stay in your hands. Then ADONAI will turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and increase your numbers, as he swore to your ancestors -


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provided you listen to what ADONAI says and obey all his mitzvot that I am giving you today, thus doing what ADONAI your God sees as right.


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'You are the people of ADONAI your God. You are not to gash yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead,


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because you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you to be his own unique treasure out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.


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Any animal that has a separate hoof that is completely divided and also chews the cud, these animals you may eat.


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But you are not to eat those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof. For example, the camel, the hare and the coney are unclean for you because they chew the cud but don't have a separate hoof;


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while the pig is unclean for you because, although it has a separate hoof, it doesn't chew the cud. You are not to eat meat from these or touch their carcasses.


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'Of all that lives in the water, you may eat these: anything in the water that has fins and scales, these you may eat.


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'You are not to eat any animal that dies naturally; although you may let a stranger staying with you eat it, or sell it to a foreigner; because you are a holy people for ADONAI your God. 'You are not to boil a young animal in its mother's milk.


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and eat it in the presence of ADONAI your God. In the place where he chooses to have his name live you will eat the tenth of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep, so that you will learn to fear ADONAI your God always.


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But if the distance is too great for you, so that you are unable to transport it, because the place where ADONAI chooses to put his name is too far away from you; then, when ADONAI your God prospers you,


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you are to convert it into money, take the money with you, go to the place which ADONAI your God will choose,


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and exchange the money for anything you want - cattle, sheep, wine, other intoxicating liquor, or anything you please - and you are to eat there in the presence of ADONAI your God, and enjoy yourselves, you and your household.


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At the end of every three years you are to take all the tenths of your produce from that year and store it in your towns.


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Then the Levi, because he has no share or inheritance like yours, along with the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your towns, will come, eat and be satisfied - so that ADONAI your God will bless you in everything your hands produce.


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Here is how the sh'mittah is to be done: every creditor is to give up what he has loaned to his fellow member of the community -he is not to force his neighbor or relative to repay it, because ADONAI's time of remission has been proclaimed.


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You may demand that a foreigner repay his debt, but you are to release your claim on whatever your brother owes you.


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In spite of this, there will be no one needy among you; because ADONAI will certainly bless you in the land which ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess -


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if only you will listen carefully to what ADONAI your God says and take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you today.


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Yes, ADONAI your God will bless you, as he promised you - you will lend money to many nations without having to borrow, and you will rule over many nations without their ruling over you.


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'If someone among you is needy, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which ADONAI your God is giving you, you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from giving to your needy brother.


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No, you must open your hand to him and lend him enough to meet his need and enable him to obtain what he wants.


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Guard yourself against allowing your heart to entertain the mean-spirited thought that because the seventh year, the year of sh'mittah is at hand, you would be stingy toward your needy brother and not give him anything; for then he may cry out to ADONAI against you, and it will be your sin.


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Rather, you must give to him; and you are not to be grudging when you give to him. If you do this, ADONAI your God will bless you in all your work, in everything you undertake -


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for there will always be poor people in the land. That is why I am giving you this order, 'You must open your hand to your poor and needy brother in your land.'


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'If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, he is to serve you for six years; but in the seventh year, you are to set him free.


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but supply him generously from your flock, threshing-floor and winepress; from what ADONAI your God has blessed you with, you are to give to him.


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Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and ADONAI your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this order today.


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But if he says to you, 'I don't want to leave you,' because he loves you and your household, and because his life with you is a good one;


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then take an awl, and pierce his ear through, right into the door; and he will be your slave forever. Do the same with your female slave.


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Don't resent it when you set him free, since during his six years of service he has been worth twice as much as a hired employee. Then ADONAI your God will bless you in everything you do.


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'All the firstborn males in your herd of cattle and in your flock you are to set aside for ADONAI your God; you are not to do any work with a firstborn from your herd or shear a firstborn sheep.


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Each year you and your household are to eat it in the presence of ADONAI your God in the place which ADONAI will choose.


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But if it has a defect, is lame or blind, or has some other kind of fault, you are not to sacrifice it to ADONAI your God;


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rather, eat it on your own property; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, like the gazelle or the deer.


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'Observe the month of Aviv, and keep Pesach to ADONAI your God; for in the month of Aviv, ADONAI your God brought you out of Egypt at night.


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You are to sacrifice the Pesach offering from flock and herd to ADONAI your God in the place where ADONAI will choose to have his name live.


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You are not to eat any hametz with it; for seven days you are to eat with it matzah, the bread of affliction; for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste. Thus you will remember the day you left the land of Egypt as long as you live.


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No leaven is to be seen with you anywhere in your territory for seven days. None of the meat from your sacrifice on the first day in the evening is to remain all night until morning.


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You may not sacrifice the Pesach offering in just any of the towns that ADONAI your God is giving you;


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but at the place where ADONAI your God will choose to have his name live - there is where you are to sacrifice the Pesach offering, in the evening, when the sun sets, at the time of year that you came out of Egypt.


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You are to roast it and eat it in the place ADONAI your God will choose; in the morning you will return and go to your tents.


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For six days you are to eat matzah; on the seventh day there is to be a festive assembly for ADONAI your God; do not do any kind of work.


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'You are to count seven weeks; you are to begin counting seven weeks from the time you first put your sickle to the standing grain.


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You are to observe the festival of Shavu'ot [weeks] for ADONAI your God with a voluntary offering, which you are to give in accordance with the degree to which ADONAI your God has prospered you.


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You are to rejoice in the presence of ADONAI your God - you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the L'vi'im living in your towns, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you - in the place where ADONAI your God will choose to have his name live.


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'You are to keep the festival of Sukkot for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing-floor and winepress.


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Rejoice at your festival - you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, the L'vi'im, and the foreigners, orphans and widows living among you.


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Seven days you are to keep the festival for ADONAI your God in the place ADONAI your God will choose, because ADONAI your God will bless you in all your crops and in all your work, so you are to be full of joy!


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'Three times a year all your men are to appear in the presence of ADONAI your God in the place which he will choose - at the festival of matzah, at the festival of Shavu'ot and at the festival of Sukkot. They are not to show up before ADONAI empty-handed,


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but every man is to give what he can, in accordance with the blessing ADONAI your God has given you.


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'You are to appoint judges and officers for all your gates [in the cities] ADONAI your God is giving you, tribe by tribe; and they are to judge the people with righteous judgment.


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You are not to distort justice or show favoritism, and you are not to accept a bribe, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright.


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Justice, only justice, you must pursue; so that you will live and inherit the land ADONAI your God is giving you.


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'You are not to plant any sort of tree as a sacred pole beside the altar of ADONAI your God that you will make for yourselves.


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'You are not to sacrifice to ADONAI your God a cow or sheep that has a defect or anything wrong with it; that would be an abomination to ADONAI your God.


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'If there is found among you, within any of your gates [in any city] that ADONAI your God gives you, a man or woman who does what ADONAI your God sees as wicked, transgressing his covenant


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by going and serving other gods and worshipping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky - something I have forbidden -


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and it is told to you, or you hear about it; then you are to investigate the matter diligently. If it is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are being done in Isra'el;


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then you are to bring the man or woman who has done this wicked thing to your city gates, and stone that man or woman to death.


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The death sentence is to be carried out only if there was testimony from two or three witnesses; he may not be sentenced to death on the testimony of only one witness.


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The witnesses are to be the first to stone him to death; afterwards, all the people are to stone him. Thus you will put an end to this wickedness among you.


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'If a case comes before you at your city gate which is too difficult for you to judge, concerning bloodshed, civil suit, personal injury or any other controversial issue; you are to get up, go to the place which ADONAI your God will choose,


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and appear before the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, and the judge in office at the time. Seek their opinion, and they will render a verdict for you.


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You will then act according to what they have told you there in that place which ADONAI will choose; you are to take care to act according to all their instructions.


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In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you.


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Anyone presumptuous enough not to pay attention to the cohen appointed there to serve ADONAI your God or to the judge - that person must die. Thus you will exterminate such wickedness from Isra'el -


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'When you have entered the land ADONAI your God is giving you, have taken possession of it and are living there, you may say, 'I want to have a king over me, like all the other nations around me.'


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In that event, you must appoint as king the one whom ADONAI your God will choose. He must be one of your kinsmen, this king you appoint over you - you are forbidden to appoint a foreigner over you who is not your kinsman.


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However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as ADONAI told you never to go back that way again.


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Likewise, he is not to acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart will not turn away; and he is not to acquire excessive quantities of silver and gold.


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'When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L'vi'im use.


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It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear ADONAI his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them;


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so that he will not think he is better than his kinsmen; and so that he will not turn aside either to the right or to the left from the mitzvah. In this way he will prolong his own reign and that of his children in Isra'el.


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The cohanim, who are L'vi'im, and indeed the whole tribe of Levi, is not to have a share or an inheritance with Isra'el. Instead, their support will come from the food offered by fire to ADONAI and from whatever else becomes his.


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They will have no inheritance with their brothers, because ADONAI is their inheritance - as he has said to them.


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'The cohanim will have the right to receive from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach.


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You will also give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep.


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For ADONAI your God has chosen him from all your tribes to stand and serve in the name of ADONAI, him and his sons forever.


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'If a Levi from one of your towns anywhere in Isra'el where he is living comes, highly motivated, to the place which ADONAI will choose,


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then he will serve there in the name of ADONAI his God, just like his kinsmen the L'vi'im who stand and serve in the presence of ADONAI.


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Such a Levi will receive the same share as they do, in addition to what he may receive from selling his inherited ancestral property.


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'When you enter the land ADONAI your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations.


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There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer,


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For whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI, and because of these abominations ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you.


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For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners; but you, ADONAI your God does not allow you to do this.


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'ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him,


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just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested ADONAI your God, 'Don't let me hear the voice of ADONAI my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!'


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I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.


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Whoever doesn't listen to my words, which he will speak in my name, will have to account for himself to me.


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''But if a prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name which I didn't order him to say, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet must die.'


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When a prophet speaks in the name of ADONAI, and the prediction does not come true -that is, the word is not fulfilled -then ADONAI did not speak that word. The prophet who said it spoke presumptuously; you have nothing to fear from him.


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'When ADONAI your God cuts off the nations whose land ADONAI your God is giving you, and you take their place and settle in their cities and houses,


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you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in your land that ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.


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Divide the territory of your land, which ADONAI your God is having you inherit, into three parts; and prepare the roads, so that any killer can flee to these cities.


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The killer who will live if he flees there is someone who has killed his fellow member of the community by mistake, who did not hate him in the past.


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An example would be if a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood and takes a stroke with the axe to fell a tree, but the head of the axe flies off the handle, hits his neighbor and kills him. Then he is to flee to one of these cities and live there.


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Otherwise the next-of-kin avenger, in the heat of his anger, may pursue the killer, overtake him because the distance [to the city of refuge] is long, and strike him dead - even though he didn't deserve to die, inasmuch as he hadn't hated him in the past.


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'If ADONAI your God expands your territory, as he swore to your ancestors that he would, and gives you all the land he promised to give to your ancestors -


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provided you keep and observe all these mitzvot I am giving you today, loving ADONAI your God and always following his ways - then you are to add three more cities for yourselves, besides these three;


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so that innocent blood will not be shed in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus blood guilt be on you.


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'However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;


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then the leaders of his own town are to send and bring him back from there and hand him over to the next-of-kin avenger, to be put to death.


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You are not to pity him. Rather, you must put an end to the shedding of innocent blood in Isra'el. Then things will go well with you.


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'You are not to move your neighbor's boundary marker from the place where people put it long ago, in the inheritance soon to be yours in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.


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'One witness alone will not be sufficient to convict a person of any offense or sin of any kind; the matter will be established only if there are two or three witnesses testifying against him.


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then both the men involved in the controversy are to stand before ADONAI, before the cohanim and the judges in office at the time.


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The judges are to investigate carefully. If they find that the witness is lying and has given false testimony against his brother,


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you are to do to him what he intended to do to his brother. In this way, you will put an end to such wickedness among you.


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'When you go out to fight your enemies and see horses, chariots and a force larger than yours, you are not to be afraid of them; because ADONAI your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.


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He should tell them, 'Listen, Isra'el! You are about to do battle against your enemies. Don't be fainthearted or afraid; don't be alarmed or frightened by them;


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because ADONAI your God is going with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies and give you victory.'


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'Then the officials will speak to the soldiers. They are to say, 'Is there a man here who has built a new house, but hasn't dedicated it yet? He should go back home now; otherwise he may die fighting, and another man will dedicate it.


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''Is there a man here who has planted a vineyard, but hasn't yet made use of its fruit? He should go back home; otherwise he may die fighting, and another man will use it.


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''Is there a man here who is engaged to a woman, but hasn't married her yet? He should go back home; otherwise he may die fighting, and another man will marry her.'


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'The officials will then add to what they have said to the soldiers: 'Is there a man here who is afraid and fainthearted? He should go back home; otherwise his fear may demoralize his comrades as well.'


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When the officials have finished speaking with the soldiers, commanders are to be appointed to lead the army.


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If it accepts the terms for peace and opens its gates to you, then all the people there are to be put to forced labor and work for you.


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However, if they refuse to make peace with you but prefer to make war against you, you are to put it under siege.


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However, you are to take as booty for yourself the women, the little ones, the livestock, and everything in the city - all its spoil. Yes, you will feed on your enemies' spoil, which ADONAI your God has given you.


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This is what you are to do to all the towns which are at a great distance from you, which are not the towns of these nations.


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'As for the towns of these peoples, which ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance, you are not to allow anything that breathes to live.


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Rather you must destroy them completely - the Hitti, the Emori, the Kena'ani, the P'rizi, the Hivi and the Y'vusi - as ADONAI your God has ordered you;


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so that they won't teach you to follow their abominable practices, which they do for their gods, thus causing you to sin against ADONAI your God.


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'When, in making war against a town in order to capture it, you lay siege to it for a long time, you are not to destroy its trees, cutting them down with an axe. You can eat their fruit, so don't cut them down. After all, are the trees in the field human beings, so that you have to besiege them too?


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However, if you know that certain trees provide no food, you may destroy them and cut them down, in order to build siege-works against the town making war with you, until it falls.


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'If, in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess, a murder victim is found lying in the countryside; and the perpetrator of the murder is not known;


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then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns.


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After it has been determined which town is the closest, the leaders of that town are to take a young female cow that has never been put to work or yoked for use as a draft animal.


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The leaders of that town are to bring the heifer down to a vadi with a stream in it that never dries up, to a place that is neither plowed nor sown; and they are to break the cow's neck there in the vadi.


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Then the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, are to approach; for ADONAI your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in the name of ADONAI; they will decide the outcome of every dispute and matter involving violence.


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All the leaders of the town nearest the murder victim are to wash their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the vadi.


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Then they are to speak up and say, 'This blood was not shed by our hands, nor have we seen who did it.


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ADONAI, forgive your people Isra'el, whom you redeemed; do not allow innocent blood to be shed among your people Isra'el.' And they will be forgiven this bloodshed.


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Thus you will banish the shedding of innocent blood from among you, by doing what ADONAI sees as right.


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'When you go out to war against your enemies, and ADONAI your God hands them over to you, and you take prisoners,


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and you see among the prisoners a woman who looks good to you, and you feel attracted to her and want her as your wife;


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and remove her prison clothing. She will stay there in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month; after which you may go in to have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife.


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In the event that you lose interest in her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes; but you may not sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you humiliated her.


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'If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and unloved wives have borne him children, and if the firstborn son is the child of the unloved wife;


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then, when it comes time for him to pass his inheritance on to his sons, he may not give the inheritance due the firstborn to the son of the loved wife in place of the son of the unloved one, who is in fact the firstborn.


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No, he must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the unloved wife by giving him a double portion of everything he owns, for he is the firstfruits of his manhood, and the right of the firstborn is his.


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'If a man has a stubborn, rebellious son who will not obey what his father or mother says, and even after they discipline him he still refuses to pay attention to them;


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then his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him out to the leaders of his town, at the gate of that place,


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and say to the leaders of his town, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he doesn't pay attention to us, lives wildly, gets drunk.'


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Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you, and all Isra'el will hear about it and be afraid.


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his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God -so that you will not defile your land, which ADONAI your God is giving you to inherit.


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'You are not to watch your brother's ox or sheep straying and behave as if you hadn't seen it; you must bring them back to your brother.


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If your brother is not close by, or you don't know who the owner is, you are to bring it home to your house; and it will remain with you until your brother asks for it; then you are to give it back to him.


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You are to do the same with his donkey, his coat or anything else of your brother's that he loses. If you find something he lost, you must not ignore it.


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'If you see your brother's donkey or ox collapsed on the road, you may not behave as if you hadn't seen it; you must help him get them up on their feet again.


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'A woman is not to wear men's clothing, and a man is not to put on women's clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI your God.


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'If, as you are walking along, you happen to see a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground with chicks or eggs, and the mother bird is sitting on the chicks or the eggs, you are not to take the mother with the chicks.


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You must let the mother go, but you may take the chicks for yourself; so that things will go well with you, and you will prolong your life.


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'When you build a new house, you must build a low wall around your roof; otherwise someone may fall from it, and you will be responsible for his death.


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'You are not to sow two kinds of seed between your rows of vines; if you do, both the two harvested crops and the yield from the vines must be forfeited.


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'You are to make for yourself twisted cords on the four corners of the garment you wrap around yourself.


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brings false charges against her and defames her character by saying, 'I married this woman, but when I had intercourse with her I did not find evidence that she was a virgin';


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then the girl's father and mother are to take the evidence of the girl's virginity to the leaders of the town at the gate.


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so he has brought false charges that he didn't find evidence of her virginity; yet here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity'-(


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The leaders of that town are to take the man, punish him, 19 and fine him two-and-a-half pounds of silver shekels, which they will give to the girl's father, because he has publicly defamed a virgin of Isra'el. She will remain his wife, and he is forbidden from divorcing her as long as he lives.


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then they are to lead the girl to the door of her father's house, and the men of her town will stone her to death, because she has committed in Isra'el the disgraceful act of being a prostitute while still in her father's house. In this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you.


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'If a man is found sleeping with a woman who has a husband, both of them must die -the man who went to bed with the woman and the woman too. In this way you will expel such wickedness from Isra'el.


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'If a girl who is a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man comes upon her in the town and has sexual relations with her;


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you are to bring them both out to the gate of the city and stone them to death - the girl because she didn't cry out for help, there in the city, and the man because he has humiliated his neighbor's wife. In this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you.


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'But if the man comes upon the engaged girl out in the countryside, and the man grabs her and has sexual relations with her, then only the man who had intercourse with her is to die.


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You will do nothing to the girl, because she has done nothing deserving of death. The situation is like the case of the man who attacks his neighbor and kills him.


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For he found her in the countryside, and the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save her.


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'If a man comes upon a girl who is a virgin but who is not engaged, and he grabs her and has sexual relations with her, and they are caught in the act,


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then the man who had intercourse with her must give to the girl's father one-and-a-quarter pounds of silver shekels, and she will become his wife, because he humiliated her; he may not divorce her as long as he lives.


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'A mamzer may not enter the assembly of ADONAI, nor may his descendants down to the tenth generation enter the assembly of ADONAI.


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'No 'Amoni or Mo'avi may enter the assembly of ADONAI, nor may any of his descendants down to the tenth generation ever enter the assembly of ADONAI,


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because they did not supply you with food and water when you were on the road after leaving Egypt, and because they hired Bil'am the son of B'or from P'tor in Aram-Naharayim to put a curse on you.


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But ADONAI your God would not listen to Bil'am; rather, ADONAI your God turned the curse into a blessing for you; because ADONAI your God loved you.


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'But you are not to detest an Edomi, because he is your brother; and you are not to detest an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.


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If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp; he is not to enter the camp.


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You must include a trowel with your equipment, and when you relieve yourself, you are to dig a hole first and afterwards cover your excrement.


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For ADONAI your God moves about in your camp to rescue you and to hand over your enemies to you. Therefore your camp must be a holy place. [ADONAI] should not see anything indecent among you, or he will turn away from you.


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'If a slave has escaped from his master and taken refuge with you, you are not to hand him back to his master.


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Allow him to stay with you, in whichever place suits him best among your settlements; do not mistreat him.


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'No woman of Isra'el is to engage in ritual prostitution, and no man of Isra'el is to engage in ritual homosexual prostitution.


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Nothing earned through heterosexual or homosexual prostitution is to be brought into the house of ADONAI your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to ADONAI your God.


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'You are not to lend at interest to your brother, no matter whether the loan is of money, food or anything else that can earn interest.


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To an outsider you may lend at interest, but to your brother you are not to lend at interest, so that ADONAI your God will prosper you in everything you set out to do in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.


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'When you make a vow to ADONAI your God, you are not to delay in fulfilling it, for ADONAI your God will certainly demand it of you, and your failure to do so will be your sin.


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but if a vow passes your lips, you must take care to perform it according to what you voluntarily vowed to ADONAI your God, what you promised in words spoken aloud.


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'When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat enough grapes to satisfy your appetite; but you are not to put any in your basket.


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When you enter your neighbor's field of growing grain, you may pluck ears with your hand; but you are not to put a sickle to your neighbor's grain.


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'Suppose a man marries a woman and consummates the marriage but later finds her displeasing, because he has found her offensive in some respect. He writes her a divorce document, gives it to her and sends her away from his house.


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but the second husband dislikes her and writes her a get, gives it to her and sends her away from his house; or the second husband whom she married dies.


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In such a case her first husband, who sent her away, may not take her again as his wife, because she is now defiled. It would be detestable to ADONAI, and you are not to bring about sin in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance.


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'If a man has recently married his wife, he is not to be subject to military service; he is to be free of external obligations and left at home for one year to make his new wife happy.


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'No one may take a mill or even an upper millstone as collateral for a loan, because that would be taking as collateral the debtor's very means of sustenance.


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'If a man kidnaps any of his brothers, fellow members of the community of Isra'el, and makes him his slave or sells him, that kidnapper must die; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you.


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'When there is an outbreak of tzara'at, be careful to observe and do just what the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, teach you. Take care to do as I ordered them.


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'When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you are not to enter his house to take his collateral.


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rather, you must restore the pledged item at sunset; then he will go to sleep wearing his garment and bless you. This will be an upright deed of yours before ADONAI your God.


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'You are not to exploit a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or a foreigner living in your land in your town.


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You are to pay him his wages the day he earns them, before sunset; for he is poor and looks forward to being paid. Otherwise he will cry out against you to ADONAI, and it will be your sin.


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'Fathers are not to be executed for the children, nor are children to be executed for the fathers; every person will be executed for his own sin.


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'You are not to deprive the foreigner or the orphan of the justice which is his due, and you are not to take a widow's clothing as collateral for a loan.


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Rather, remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and ADONAI your God redeemed you from there. That is why I am ordering you to do this.


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'When harvesting the grain in your field, if you forgot a sheaf of grain there, you are not to go back and get it; it will remain there for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, so that ADONAI your God will bless you in all the work you do.


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When you beat your olive tree, you are not to go back over the branches again; the olives that are left will be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow.


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When you gather the grapes from your vineyard, you are not to return and pick grapes a second time; what is left will be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow.


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'If people have a dispute, seek its resolution in court, and the judges render a decision in favor of the righteous one and condemning the wicked one;


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then, if the wicked one deserves to be flogged, the judge is to have him lie down and be flogged in his presence. The number of strokes is to be proportionate to his offense;


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but the maximum number is forty. He is not to exceed this; if he goes over this limit and beats him more than this, your brother will be humiliated before your eyes.


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'If brothers live together, and one of them dies childless, his widow is not to marry someone unrelated to him; her husband's brother is to go to her and perform the duty of a brother-in-law by marrying her.


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The first child she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be eliminated from Isra'el.


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If the man does not wish to marry his brother's widow, then his brother's widow is to go up to the gate, to the leaders, and say, 'My brother-in-law refuses to raise up for his brother a name in Isra'el; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother for me.'


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The leaders of his town are to summon him and speak to him. If, on appearing before them, he continues to say, 'I don't want to marry her,'


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then his brother's widow is to approach him in the presence of the leaders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face and say, 'This is what is done to the man who refuses to build up his brother's family.'


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From that time on, his family is to be known in Isra'el as 'the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.'


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'If men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one comes up to help her husband get away from the man attacking him by grabbing the attacker's private parts with her hand,


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You are to have a correct and fair weight, and you are to have a correct and fair measure, so that you will prolong your days in the land ADONAI your God is giving you.


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how he met you by the road, attacked those in the rear, those who were exhausted and straggling behind when you were tired and weary. He did not fear God.


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Therefore, when ADONAI your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance to possess, you are to blot out all memory of 'Amalek from under heaven. Don't forget!


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'When you have come to the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance, taken possession of it and settled there;


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you are to take the firstfruits of all the crops the ground yields, which you will harvest from your land that ADONAI your God is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place where ADONAI your God will choose to have his name live.


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You will approach the cohen holding office at the time and say to him, 'Today I declare to ADONAI your God that I have come to the land ADONAI swore to our ancestors that he would give us.'


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The cohen will take the basket from your hand and put it down in front of the altar of ADONAI your God.


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'Then, in the presence of ADONAI your God, you are to say, 'My ancestor was a nomad from Aram. He went down into Egypt few in number and stayed. There he became a great, strong, populous nation.


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So we cried out to ADONAI, the God of our ancestors. ADONAI heard us and saw our misery, toil and oppression;


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and ADONAI brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders.


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Therefore, as you see, I have now brought the firstfruits of the land which you, ADONAI, have given me.' You are then to put the basket down before ADONAI your God, prostrate yourself before ADONAI your God,


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and take joy in all the good that ADONAI your God has given you, your household, the Levi and the foreigner living with you.


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'After you have separated a tenth of the crops yielded in the third year, the year of separating a tenth, and have given it to the Levi, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, so that they can have enough food to satisfy them while staying with you;


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you are to say, in the presence of ADONAI your God, 'I have rid my house of the things set aside for God and given them to the Levi, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, in keeping with every one of the mitzvot you gave me. I haven't disobeyed any of your mitzvot or forgotten them.


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I haven't eaten any of this food when mourning, I haven't put any of it aside when unclean, nor have I given any of it for the dead. I have listened to what ADONAI my God has said, and I have done everything you ordered me to do.


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Look out from your holy dwelling-place, from heaven; and bless your people Isra'el and the land you gave us, as you swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.'


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'Today ADONAI your God orders you to obey these laws and rulings. Therefore, you are to observe and obey them with all your heart and all your being.


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You are agreeing today that ADONAI is your God and that you will follow his ways; observe his laws, mitzvot and rulings; and do what he says.


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In turn ADONAI is agreeing today that you are his own unique treasure, as he promised you; that you are to observe all his mitzvot;


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and that he will raise you high above all the nations he has made, in praise, reputation and glory; and that, as he said, you will be a holy people for ADONAI your God.'


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Then Moshe and all the leaders of Isra'el gave orders to the people. They said, 'Observe all the mitzvot I am giving you today.


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When you cross the Yarden to the land ADONAI your God is giving you, you are to set up large stones, put plaster on them,


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and, after crossing over, write this Torah on them, every word -so that you can enter the land ADONAI your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, promised you.


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When you have crossed the Yarden, you are to set up these stones, as I am ordering you today, on Mount 'Eival; and put plaster on them.


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There you are to erect an altar to ADONAI your God, an altar made of stones. You are not to use any iron tool on them,


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but are to build the altar of ADONAI your God of uncut stones; and you are to offer burnt offerings on it to ADONAI your God.


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Also you are to sacrifice peace offerings, eat there and be joyful in the presence of ADONAI your God.


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Next Moshe and the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, spoke to all Isra'el. They said, 'Be quiet; and listen, Isra'el! Today you have become the people of ADONAI your God.


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Therefore you are to listen to what ADONAI your God says and obey his mitzvot and laws, which I am giving you today.'


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'These are the ones who are to stand on Mount G'rizim and bless the people after you have crossed the Yarden: Shim'on, Levi, Y'hudah, Yissakhar, Yosef and Binyamin;


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while these are to stand on Mount 'Eival for the curse: Re'uven, Gad, Asher, Z'vulun, Dan and Naftali.


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''A curse on anyone who makes a carved or metal image, something ADONAI detests, the handiwork of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret!'All the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who causes a blind person to lose his way on the road.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who interferes with justice for the foreigner, orphan or widow.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with his father's wife, because he has violated his father's rights.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with any kind of animal.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with his sister, no matter whether she is the daughter of his father or of his mother.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who secretly attacks a fellow member of the community.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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''A curse on anyone who does not confirm the words of this Torah by putting them into practice.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'


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'If you listen closely to what ADONAI your God says, observing and obeying all his mitzvot which I am giving you today, ADONAI your God will raise you high above all the nations on earth;


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and all the following blessings will be yours in abundance -if you will do what ADONAI your God says:


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'A blessing on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the fruit of your livestock - the young of your cattle and flocks.


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'ADONAI will cause your enemies attacking you to be defeated before you; they will advance on you one way and flee before you seven ways.


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'ADONAI will order a blessing to be with you in your barns and in everything you undertake; he will bless you in the land ADONAI your God is giving you.


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'ADONAI will establish you as a people separated out for himself, as he has sworn to you - if you will observe the mitzvot of ADONAI your God and follow his ways.


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Then all the peoples on earth will see that ADONAI's name, his presence, is with you; so that they will be afraid of you.


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'ADONAI will give you great abundance of good things - of the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your land in the land ADONAI swore to your ancestors to give you.


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ADONAI will open for you his good treasure, the sky, to give your land its rain at the right seasons and to bless everything you undertake. You will lend to many nations and not borrow;


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ADONAI will make you the head and not the tail; and you will be only above, never below - if you will listen to, observe and obey the mitzvot of ADONAI your God


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and not turn away from any of the words I am ordering you today, neither to the right nor to the left, to follow after other gods and serve them.


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'But if you refuse to pay attention to what ADONAI your God says, and do not observe and obey all his mitzvot and regulations which I am giving you today, then all the following curses will be yours in abundance:


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'ADONAI will send on you curses, disasters and frustration in everything you set out to do, until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of your evil actions in abandoning me.


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'ADONAI will bring on you a plague that will stay with you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.


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ADONAI will strike you down with wasting diseases, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, drought, blasting winds and mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish.


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ADONAI will turn the rain your land needs into powder and dust that will fall on you from the sky until you are destroyed.


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'ADONAI your God will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will advance on them one way and flee before them seven. You will become an object of horror to every kingdom on earth.


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Your carcasses will become food for all the birds in the air and the wild animals, and there will be no one to scare them away.


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ADONAI will strike you down with the boils that broke out on the Egyptians, tumors, skin lesions and itching, all incurable.


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You will grope about at noon like a blind person groping in the dark, unable to find your way. 'You will be continually oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to save you.


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You will get engaged to a woman, but another man will marry her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not use its fruit.


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Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you won't eat any of its meat. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force as you watch, and you won't get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you.


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Your sons and daughters will be handed over to another people; you will watch for them longingly all day but not see them; and there will be nothing you can do about it.


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A nation unknown to you will eat the fruit of your land and labor. Yes, you will be continually oppressed and crushed,


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ADONAI will strike you down in the knees and legs with painful and incurable boils; they will spread from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.


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ADONAI will bring you and your king whom you have put over yourselves to a nation you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; and there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone.


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You will be so devastated as to become a proverb and a laughingstock among all the peoples to which ADONAI will drive you.


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You will plant vineyards and dress them but neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.


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You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will fall off unripe.


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You will father sons and daughters, but they won't belong to you, because they will go into captivity.


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'All these curses will come on you, pursuing you and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you didn't pay attention to what ADONAI your God said, observing his mitzvot and regulations that he gave you.


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Because you didn't serve ADONAI your God with joy and gladness in your heart when you had such an abundance of everything;


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ADONAI will send your enemy against you; and you will serve him when you are hungry, thirsty, poorly clothed and lacking everything; he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he destroys you.


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Yes, ADONAI will bring against you a nation from far away that will swoop down on you from the end of the earth like a vulture, a nation whose language you don't understand,


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They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you have been destroyed. They will leave you without grain, wine, olive oil, or your young cattle and sheep - until they have caused you to perish.


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They will besiege all your towns until your high, fortified walls, in which you trusted, collapse everywhere in your land, which ADONAI your God gave you.


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Then, because of the severity of the siege and distress that your enemies are inflicting on you, you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom ADONAI your God has given you.


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Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will be without pity for his brother, his beloved wife or his surviving children,


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to the degree that he will refuse to share with any of them the flesh of his children whom he is eating; because if he did, he would have nothing left for himself -in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in all your towns.


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The most delicate and sensitive woman among you, so sensitive and delicate that she wouldn't think of touching the sole of her foot to the ground, will so begrudge her own beloved husband, son and daughter


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that she will secretly eat the afterbirth that comes out of her and even her own children as she bears them -so desperately hungry will she be in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in your towns.


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'If you will not observe and obey all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, so that you will fear this glorious and awesome name, ADONAI your God;


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then ADONAI will strike down you and your descendants with extraordinary plagues and severe sicknesses that go on and on.


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He will bring back upon you all the diseases the Egyptians had, which you were in dread of; and they will cling to you.


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Not only that, but ADONAI will bring upon you all the sicknesses and plagues that are not written in this book of the Torah - until you are destroyed.


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You will be left few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars in the sky -because you did not pay attention to the voice of ADONAI your God.


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'Thus it will come about that just as once ADONAI took joy in seeking to do you good and increase your numbers, so now ADONAI will take joy in causing you to perish and be destroyed, and you will be plucked off the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.


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ADONAI will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.


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Among these nations you will not find repose, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; rather ADONAI will give you there anguish of heart, dimness of eyes and apathy of spirit.


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Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be afraid night and day and have no assurance that you will stay alive.


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In the morning you will say, 'Oh, how I wish it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'Oh, how I wish it were morning!'-because of the fear overwhelming your heart and the sights your eyes will see.


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Finally, ADONAI will bring you back in ships to Egypt, the place of which I said to you, 'You will never ever see it again'; and there you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you.'


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These are the words of the covenant which ADONAI ordered Moshe to make with the people of Isra'el in the land of Mo'av, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horev.


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Then Moshe summoned all Isra'el and said to them, 'You saw everything ADONAI did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants and to all his land;


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Nevertheless, to this day ADONAI has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see or ears to hear!


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I led you forty years in the desert. Neither the clothes on your body nor the shoes on your feet wore out.


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You didn't eat bread, and you didn't drink wine or other intoxicating liquor; this was so that you would know that 'I am ADONAI your God.'


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When you arrived at this place, Sichon the king of Heshbon and 'Og the king of Bashan advanced against us in battle, and we defeated them,


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Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and obey them; so that you can make everything you do prosper.


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'Today you are standing, all of you, before ADONAI your God - your heads, your tribes, your leaders and your officers - all the men of Isra'el,


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along with your little ones, your wives and your foreigners here with you in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water.


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The purpose is that you should enter into the covenant of ADONAI your God and into his oath which ADONAI your God is making with you today,


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so that he can establish you today for himself as a people, and so that for you he will be God -as he said to you and as he swore to your ancestors, to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov.


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Rather, I am making it both with him who is standing here with us today before ADONAI our God and also with him who is not here with us today.


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For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came directly through the nations you passed through;


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and you saw their detestable things and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold that they had with them.


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So let there not be among you a man, woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away today from ADONAI our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there not be among you a root bearing such bitter poison and wormwood.


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If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, 'I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although 'dry,' [sinful,] will be added to the 'watered' [righteous].'


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But ADONAI will not forgive him. Rather, the anger and jealousy of ADONAI will blaze up against that person. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. ADONAI will blot out his name from under heaven.


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ADONAI will single him out from all the tribes of Isra'el to experience what is bad in all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the Torah.


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'When the next generation, your children who will grow up after you, and the foreigner who arrives from a distant land, see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which ADONAI has made it sick,


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and that the whole land has become burning sulfur and salt, that it isn't being sown or bearing crops or even producing grass - like the overthrow of S'dom, 'Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, which ADONAI overthrew in his furious anger -


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then all the nations will ask, 'Why did ADONAI do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?'


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People will answer, 'It's because they abandoned the covenant of ADONAI, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.


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They went and served other gods, prostrating themselves before them, gods they had not known and which he had not assigned them.


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For this reason, the anger of ADONAI blazed up against this land and brought upon it every curse written in this book;


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and ADONAI, in anger, fury and incensed with indignation, uprooted them from their land and threw them out into another land - as it is today.'


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'Things which are hidden belong to ADONAI our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.


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'When the time arrives that all these things have come upon you, both the blessing and the curse which I have presented to you; and you are there among the nations to which ADONAI your God has driven you; then, at last, you will start thinking about what has happened to you;


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and you will return to ADONAI your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today - you and your children, with all your heart and all your being.


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At that point, ADONAI your God will reverse your exile and show you mercy; he will return and gather you from all the peoples to which ADONAI your God scattered you.


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If one of yours was scattered to the far end of the sky, ADONAI your God will gather you even from there; he will go there and get you.


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ADONAI your God will bring you back into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you prosper there, and you will become even more numerous than your ancestors.


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Then ADONAI your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being, and thus you will live.


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but you will return and pay attention to what ADONAI says and obey all his mitzvot which I am giving you today.


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Then ADONAI your God will give you more than enough in everything you set out to do - the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land will all do well; for ADONAI will once again rejoice to see you do well, just as he rejoiced in your ancestors.


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'However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what ADONAI your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being.


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It isn't in the sky, so that you need to ask, 'Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?'


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Likewise, it isn't beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, 'Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?'


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On the contrary, the word is very close to you - in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it!


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'Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil -


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in that I am ordering you today to love ADONAI your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and ADONAI your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.


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But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them;


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I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.


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'I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants,


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loving ADONAI your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him - for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land ADONAI swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov.'


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'I am 120 years old today. I can't get around any longer; moreover, ADONAI has said to me, 'You will not cross this Yarden.'


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ADONAI your God -he will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess them. Y'hoshua - he will cross over ahead of you, as ADONAI has said.


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ADONAI will do to them what he did to Sichon and 'Og, the kings of the Emori, and to their land -he destroyed them.


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Be strong, be bold, don't be afraid or frightened of them, for ADONAI your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.'


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Next Moshe summoned Y'hoshua and, in the sight of all Isra'el, said to him, 'Be strong, be bold, for you are going with this people into the land ADONAI swore to their ancestors he would give them. You will be the one causing them to inherit it.


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But ADONAI - it is he who will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you, so don't be afraid or downhearted.'


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Then Moshe wrote down this Torah and gave it to the cohanim, the descendants of Levi who carried the ark with the covenant of ADONAI, and to all the leaders of Isra'el.


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Moshe gave them these orders: 'At the end of every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot in the year of sh'mittah,


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when all Isra'el have come to appear in the presence of ADONAI at the place he will choose, you are to read this Torah before all Isra'el, so that they can hear it.


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Assemble the people-the men, the women, the little ones and the foreigners you have in your towns -so that they can hear, learn, fear ADONAI your God and take care to obey all the words of this Torah;


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and so that their children, who have not known, can hear and learn to fear ADONAI your God, for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Yarden to possess.'


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'The time is coming for you to die. Summon Y'hoshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I can commission him.' Moshe and Y'hoshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.


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ADONAI appeared in the tent in a column of cloud; the column of cloud stood above the entrance to the tent.


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ADONAI said to Moshe, 'You are about to sleep with your ancestors. But this people will get up and offer themselves as prostitutes to the foreign gods of the land where they are going. When they are with those gods, they will abandon me and break my covenant which I have made with them.


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Then my anger will flare up, and I will abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be devoured, and many calamities and troubles will come upon them. Then they will ask, 'Haven't these calamities come upon us because our God isn't here with us?'


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But I will be hiding my face from them because of all the evil they will have done in turning to other gods.


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'Therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the people of Isra'el. Have them learn it by heart, so that this song can be a witness for me against the people of Isra'el.


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For when I have brought them into the land I swore to their ancestors, flowing with milk and honey; and they have eaten their fill, grown fat and turned to other gods, serving them and despising me, and broken my covenant;


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then, after many calamities and troubles have come upon them, this song will testify before them as a witness, because their descendants will still be reciting it and will not have forgotten it. For I know how they think even now, even before I have brought them into the land about which I swore.'


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ADONAI also commissioned Y'hoshua the son of Nun with these words: 'Be strong and full of courage; for you are to bring the people of Isra'el into the land about which I swore to them; and I will be with you.'


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'Take this book of the Torah and put it next to the ark with the covenant of ADONAI your God, so that it can be there to witness against you.


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For I know how rebellious and stiffnecked you are! Here, even while I am still alive with you today, you have rebelled against ADONAI; so how much more will you do so after my death?


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Assemble for me all the leaders of your tribes and your officials, so that I can say these things in their hearing, calling heaven and earth to witness against them -


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because I know that after my death you will become very corrupt and turn aside from the way that I have ordered you, and that disaster will come upon you in the acharit-hayamim, because you will do what ADONAI sees as evil and provoke him by your deeds.'


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Then Moshe spoke in the hearing of the whole assembly of Isra'el the words of this song, from beginning to end:


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May my teaching fall like rain. May my speech condense like dew, like light rain on blades of grass, or showers on growing plants.


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The Rock! His work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A trustworthy God who does no wrong, he is righteous and straight.


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You foolish people, so lacking in wisdom, is this how you repay ADONAI? He is your father, who made you his! It was he who formed and prepared you!


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'Remember how the old days were; think of the years through all the ages. Ask your father -he will tell you; your leaders too -they will inform you.


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'When 'Elyon gave each nation its heritage, when he divided the human race, he assigned the boundaries of peoples according to Isra'el's population;


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'He found his people in desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness. He protected him and cared for him, guarded him like the pupil of his eye,


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like an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young, spreads out her wings, takes them and carries them as she flies.


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He made them ride on the heights of the earth. They ate the produce of the fields. He had them suck honey from the rocks and olive oil from the crags,


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curds from the cows and milk from the sheep, with lamb fat, rams from Bashan and goats, with the finest wheat flour; and you drank sparkling wine from the blood of grapes.


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'But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked (you grew fat, thick, gross!). He abandoned God his Maker; he scorned the Rock, his salvation.


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They sacrificed to demons, non-gods, gods that they had never known, new gods that had come up lately, which your ancestors had not feared.


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He said, 'I will hide my face from them and see what will become of them; for they are a perverse generation, untrustworthy children.


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They aroused my jealousy with a non-god and provoked me with their vanities; I will arouse their jealousy with a non-people and provoke them with a vile nation.


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''For my anger has been fired up. It burns to the depths of Sh'ol, devouring the earth and its crops, kindling the very roots of the hills.


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''Fatigued by hunger, they will be consumed by fever and bitter defeat; I will send them the fangs of wild beasts, and the poison of reptiles crawling in the dust.


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Outside, the sword makes parents childless; inside, there is panic, as young men and girls alike are slain, sucklings and graybeards together.


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but I feared the insolence of their enemy, feared that their foes would mistakenly think, 'We ourselves accomplished this; ADONAI had nothing to do with it.'


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After all, how can one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to rout, unless their Rock sells them to their enemies, unless ADONAI hands them over?


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''Rather, their vine is from the vine of S'dom, from the fields of 'Amora -their grapes are poisonous, their clusters are bitter;


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Vengeance and payback are mine for the time when their foot slips; for the day of their calamity is coming soon, their doom is rushing upon them.'


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'Yes, ADONAI will judge his people, taking pity on his servants, when he sees that their strength is gone, that no one is left, slave or free.


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Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let him get up and help you, let him protect you!


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See now that I, yes, I, am he; and there is no god beside me. I put to death, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; no one saves anyone from my hand!


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if I sharpen my flashing sword and set my hand to judgment, I will render vengeance to my foes, repay those who hate me.


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I will make my arrows drunk with blood, my sword will devour flesh the blood of the slain and the captives, flesh from the wild-haired heads of the enemy.''


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'Sing out, you nations, about his people! For he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries and make atonement for the land of his people.'


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Moshe came and proclaimed all the words of this song in the hearing of the people and of Hoshea the son of Nun.


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he said to them, 'Take to heart all the words of my testimony against you today, so that you can use them in charging your children to be careful to obey all the words of this Torah.


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For this is not a trivial matter for you; on the contrary, it is your life! Through it you will live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to possess.'


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'Go up into the 'Avarim Range, to Mount N'vo, in the land of Mo'av across from Yericho; and look out over the land of Kena'an, which I am giving the people of Isra'el as a possession.


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On the mountain you are ascending you will die and be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.


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The reason for this is that both of you broke faith with me there among the people of Isra'el at the M'rivat-Kadesh Spring, in the Tzin Desert; you failed to demonstrate my holiness there among the people of Isra'el.


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So you will see the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Isra'el.'


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'ADONAI came from Sinai; from Se'ir he dawned on his people, shone forth from Mount Pa'ran; and with him were myriads of holy ones; at his right hand was a fiery law for them.


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He truly loves the peoples -all his holy ones are in your hand; sitting at your feet, they receive your instruction,


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Then a king arose in Yeshurun when the leaders of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Isra'el together.


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Of Y'hudah he said: 'Hear, ADONAI, the cry of Y'hudah! Bring him in to his people, let his own hands defend him; but you, help him against his enemies.'


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Of Levi he said: 'Let your tumim and urim be with your pious one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you struggled at M'rivah Spring.


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Of his father and mother he said, 'I don't know them'; he didn't acknowledge his brothers or children. For he observed your word, and he kept your covenant.


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They will teach Ya'akov your rulings, Isra'el your Torah. They will set incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.


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ADONAI, bless his possessions, accept the work he does; but crush his enemies hip and thigh; may those who hate him rise no more.'


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Of Binyamin he said: 'ADONAI's beloved lives securely. He protects him day after day. He lives between his shoulders.'


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Of Yosef he said: 'May ADONAI bless his land with the best from the sky, for the dew, and for what comes from the deep beneath,


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with the best from the earth and all that fills it, and the favor of him who lived in the [burning] bush. May blessing come on the head of Yosef, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.


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His firstborn bull - glory is his; his horns are those of a wild ox; With them he will gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Efrayim; these are the thousands of M'nasheh.'


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They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer righteous sacrifices; for they will draw from the abundance of the seas and from the hidden treasures of the sand.'


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Of Gad he said: 'Blessed is he who makes Gad so large; he lies there like a lion, tearing arm and scalp.


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He chose the best for himself when the princely portion was assigned. When the leaders of the people came, he carried out ADONAI's justice and his rulings concerning Isra'el.'


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Of Naftali he said: 'You, Naftali, satisfied with favor and full of blessing from ADONAI, take possession of the sea and the south.'


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Of Asher he said: 'May Asher be most blessed of sons, may he be the favorite among his brothers and bathe his feet in oil.


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'Yeshurun, there is no one like God, riding through the heavens to help you, riding on the clouds in his majesty.


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The God of old is a dwelling-place, with everlasting arms beneath. He expelled the enemy before you and he said, 'Destroy!'


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So Isra'el lives in security; the fountain of Ya'akov is alone in a land of grain and new wine, where the skies drip with dew.


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Happy are you, Isra'el! 'Who is like you, a people saved by ADONAI, your defender helping you and your sword of triumph? Your enemies will cringe before you, but you will trample down their high places.'


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Moshe ascended from the plains of Mo'av to Mount N'vo, to the summit of Pisgah, across from Yericho. There ADONAI showed him all the land -Gil'ad as far as Dan,


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the Negev, and the 'Aravah, including the valley where Yericho, the City of Date-Palms, as far away as Tzo'ar.


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ADONAI said to him, 'This is the land concerning which I swore to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there.'


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He was buried in the valley across from Beit-P'or in the land of Mo'av, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.


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The people of Isra'el mourned Moshe on the plains of Mo'av for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended.


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Y'hoshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him, and the people of Isra'el heeded him and did what ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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Since that time there has not arisen in Isra'el a prophet like Moshe, whom ADONAI knew face to face.


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What signs and wonders ADONAI sent him to perform in the land of Egypt upon Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land!


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After the death of Moshe the servant of ADONAI, ADONAI said to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, Moshe's assistant,


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'Moshe my servant is dead. So now, get up and cross over this Yarden, you and all the people, to the land I am giving to them, the people of Isra'el.


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All the land from the desert and the L'vanon to the great river, the Euphrates River - all the land of the Hitti - and on to the Great Sea in the west will be your territory.


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No one will be able to withstand you as long as you live. Just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. I will neither fail you nor abandon you.


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'Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them.


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Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go.


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Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed.


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Haven't I ordered you, 'Be strong, be bold'? So don't be afraid or downhearted, because ADONAI your God is with you wherever you go.'


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to go through the camp and order the people, 'Prepare provisions, because in three days you will cross this Yarden to go in and take possession of the land ADONAI your God is giving you.'


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'Remember what Moshe the servant of ADONAI ordered you: 'ADONAI your God has let you rest and will give you this land.'


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Your wives, your little ones and your livestock will stay in the land Moshe gave you on the east side of the Yarden; but you are to cross over armed as a fighting force ahead of your brothers, to help them;


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until ADONAI allows your brothers to rest, as he has allowed you; and they too have taken possession of the land ADONAI your God is giving them. At that point, you will return to the land which is yours and possess it, the land Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you in 'Ever-HaYarden to the east, toward the sunrise.'


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They answered Y'hoshua, 'We will do everything you have ordered us to do, and we will go wherever you send us.


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Just as we listened to everything Moshe said, so will we listen to you. Only may ADONAI your God be with you as he was with Moshe.


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If anyone rebels against your order and doesn't heed what you say in every detail of your order, he will be put to death. Just be strong, be bold!'


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Y'hoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Sheetim with these instructions: 'Go, inspect the land and Yericho.' They left and came to the house of a prostitute named Rachav, where they spent the night.


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The king of Yericho was told about it - 'Tonight some men from Isra'el came here to reconnoiter the land.'


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The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav, 'Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land.'


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However, the woman, after taking the two men and hiding them, replied, 'Yes, the men did come to me; but I didn't know where they had come from.


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The men left around the time when they shut the gate, when it was dark. Where they went I don't know; but if you chase after them quickly, you will overtake them.'


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Actually she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there.


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The men pursued them all the way to the fords at the Yarden; as soon as the pursuit party had left, the gate was shut.


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and said to them, 'I know that ADONAI has given you the land. Fear of you has fallen on us; everyone in the land is terrified at the thought of you.


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We've heard how ADONAI dried up the water in the Sea of Suf ahead of you, when you left Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori on the other side of the Yarden, Sichon and 'Og, that you completely destroyed them.


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As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed us. Because of you, everyone is in a state of depression. For ADONAI your God - he is God in heaven above and on the earth below.


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So, please, swear to me by ADONAI that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father's family. Give me some evidence of your good faith,


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that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers and sisters and all who are theirs, so that we won't be killed.'


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The men replied to her, 'Our lives are certainly worth yours, provided you don't betray our mission. So when ADONAI gives us the land, we will treat you kindly and in good faith.'


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Then she lowered them by a rope through the window; since her house abutted the city wall, indeed was actually built into it.


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She told them, 'Head for the hills, so that the pursuit party won't get their hands on you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned. After that, you can go on your way.'


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when we enter the land, you tie this piece of scarlet cord in the window you let us down from; and you gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and your father's entire household.


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If anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, he will be responsible for his own blood, and we will be guiltless. But everyone who stays with you in the house - we will be responsible for his blood if anyone lays a hand on him.


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However, if you say a word about this business of ours, then we will be free of your oath that you made us swear.'


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'According to your words, so be it,' she said, and sent them away. As they departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.


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They left, arrived in the hills, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had searched for them all the way but hadn't found them.


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Then the two men returned. Descending from the hills they crossed over and came to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, and reported everything that had happened to them.


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'Truly ADONAI has handed over all the land to us,' they told Y'hoshua. 'Everyone in the land is terrified that we're coming.'


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Y'hoshua got up early in the morning, and they left Sheetim and came to the Yarden, he with all the people of Isra'el; they camped there before crossing.


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and gave the people these orders: 'When you see the ark for the covenant of ADONAI your God and the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, carrying it, you are to leave your position and follow it.


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But keep a distance between yourelves and it of about a thousand yards - don't come any closer, so that you will understand which way to go, because you haven't gone this way before.'


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Y'hoshua said to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow ADONAI is going to work wonders among you.'


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Then Y'hoshua said to the cohanim, 'Take the ark for the covenant, and go on ahead of the people.' They took the ark for the covenant and went ahead of the people.


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ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Starting today, I will make you great in full view of all Isra'el; so that they will know that just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you.


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Now you are to order the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant as follows: 'When you come to the edge of the Yarden River, you are to stop in the Yarden itself.''


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Then Y'hoshua said, 'Here is how you will know that the living God is here with you and that, without fail, he will drive out from before you the Kena'ani, the Hitti, the Hivi, the P'rizi, the Girgashi, the Emori and the Y'vusi:


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As soon as the cohanim carrying the ark of ADONAI, the Lord of all the earth, put the soles of their feet in the water of the Yarden, the water of the Yarden will be cut off upstream and stand piled up like an embankment.'


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So the people left their tents to cross the Yarden, with the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant ahead of the people.


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When those carrying the ark had come to the Yarden, and the cohanim carrying the ark had waded into the water (for throughout harvest season the Yarden overflows its banks),


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the water upstream stood piled up like an embankment for a great distance at Adam, the city next to Tzartan; so that the water flowing downstream toward the Sea of the 'Aravah, the Dead Sea, was completely cut off; and the people crossed over right by Yericho.


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The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of ADONAI stood fast on dry ground in the middle of the Yarden, while all Isra'el crossed on dry ground, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Yarden.


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and give them this order: 'Take twelve stones from the middle of the Yarden riverbed, where the cohanim are standing, carry them over with you and set them down in the place where you will camp tonight.''


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Y'hoshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the people of Isra'el, a man from every tribe,


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and said to them, 'Go on ahead of the ark of ADONAI your God into the riverbed of the Yarden. Then, each of you take a stone on his shoulder, corresponding to the number of tribes of the people of Isra'el.


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This will be a sign for you. In the future, when your children ask, 'What do you mean by these stones?'


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you will answer them, 'It's because the water in the Yarden was cut off before the ark for the covenant of ADONAI; when it crossed the Yarden, the water in the Yarden was cut off; and these stones are to be a reminder for the people of Isra'el forever.''


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The people of Isra'el did just as Y'hoshua had ordered. They took twelve stones out of the Yarden riverbed, as ADONAI had said to Y'hoshua, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the people of Isra'el, carried them over with them to the place where they were camping, and set them down there.


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Y'hoshua also set up twelve stones in the Yarden River itself, in the place where the feet of the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant had stood. They are there to this day.


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The cohanim carrying the ark stood in the Yarden riverbed until Y'hoshua had finished saying to the people everything that ADONAI had ordered him to say, in keeping with everything that Moshe had ordered Y'hoshua; then the people hurried across.


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When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of ADONAI passed on, and the cohanim, ahead of the people.


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The descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh went on, armed, ahead of the people of Isra'el, as Moshe had said to them;


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some 40,000 armed soldiers ready for battle crossed in the presence of ADONAI to the plains of Yericho.


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That day ADONAI made Y'hoshua great in full view of all Isra'el. They were in awe of him, just as they had been in awe of Moshe all his life.


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The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of ADONAI came up from the Yarden riverbed, and as soon as the soles of the feet of the cohanim touched dry ground, the water of the Yarden returned to its place and the river overflowed its banks as it had before.


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The people came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern boundary of Yericho.


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Then he said to the people of Isra'el, 'In the future, when your children ask their fathers what these stones mean,


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For ADONAI your God dried up the water in the Yarden from in front of you, until you had crossed, just as ADONAI your God did to the Sea of Suf, which he dried up from in front of us, until we had crossed.


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From this all the peoples of the earth can know that the hand of ADONAI is strong, and you can fear ADONAI your God forever.''


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When all the kings of the Emori on the west side of the Yarden and all the kings of the Kena'ani near the sea heard how ADONAI had dried up the Yarden River ahead of the people of Isra'el until they had crossed it, their hearts failed them, and they fell into depression because of the people of Isra'el.


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It was at that time that ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Make yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the people of Isra'el again, a second time.


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So Y'hoshua made himself knives of flint and circumcised the people of Isra'el at Giv'at-Ha'Aralot [the hill of foreskins].


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The reason Y'hoshua circumcised was that all the people who had left Egypt who were males, all the fighting men, had died in the desert along the way after leaving Egypt.


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For although all the people who left Egypt had been circumcised, all those who had been born in the desert on the way as they went on from Egypt had not been circumcised;


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because the people of Isra'el walked forty years in the desert until the whole nation, that is, the fighting men who had left Egypt, had died out; because they had not heeded what ADONAI said. ADONAI had sworn that he would not allow them to see the land which ADONAI swore to their ancestors that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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So he raised up their children to take their place, and it was these whom Y'hoshua circumcised; till then they had been uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised while traveling.


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When all the nation had been circumcised, every one of them, they stayed where they were in camp until they had healed.


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ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Today I have rolled off from you the stigma of Egypt.' This is why the place has been called Gilgal [rolling] ever since.


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The people of Isra'el camped at Gilgal, and they observed Pesach on the fourteenth day of the month, there on the plains of Yericho.


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The following day, after they had eaten food produced in the land, the man ended. From then on the people of Isra'el no longer had man; instead, that year, they ate the produce of the land of Kena'an.


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One day, when Y'hoshua was there by Yericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Y'hoshua went over to him and asked him, 'Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?'


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'No,' he replied, 'but I am the commander of ADONAI's army; I have come just now.' Y'hoshua fell down with his face to the ground and worshipped him, then asked, 'What does my lord have to say to his servant?'


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The commander of ADONAI's army answered Y'hoshua, 'Take your sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy.' And Y'hoshua did so.


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Yericho had completely barricaded its gates against the people of Isra'el - no one left, and no one entered.


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Seven cohanim are to carry seven shofars in front of the ark. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times, and the cohanim will blow the shofars.


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Then they are to blow a long blast on the shofar. On hearing the sound of the shofar, all the people are to shout as loudly as they can; and the wall of the city will fall down flat. Then the people are to go up into the city, each one straight from where he stands.'


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Y'hoshua the son of Nun called the cohanim and told them, 'Take up the ark for the covenant, and have seven cohanim carry seven shofars ahead of the ark of ADONAI.'


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To the people he said, 'Move on, encircle the city, and have the army march ahead of the ark of ADONAI.'


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When Y'hoshua had spoken to the people, the seven cohanim carrying the seven shofars before ADONAI passed on and blew on the shofars, with the ark for the covenant of ADONAI following them.


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The fighting men went ahead of the cohanim blowing the shofars, while the rearguard marched after the ark, with incessant blowing on the shofars.


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Y'hoshua gave this order to the people: 'Don't shout, don't let your voice be heard, don't let a single word out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout; then you will shout.'


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So he had the ark of ADONAI make a circle around the city, going around it once; then they returned to camp and stayed in the camp.


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The seven cohanim carrying the seven shofars ahead of the ark of ADONAI went on, continually blowing on their shofars, with the fighting men marching ahead of them and the rearguard following after the ark of ADONAI; all the while the blowing on the shofars was incessant.


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The second day, they went around the city once and returned to camp. They did the same for six days.


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On the seventh day, they got up early, at sunrise, and went around the city in the same way seven times. That was the only day they encircled the city seven times.


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The seventh time, when the cohanim blew on their shofars, Y'hoshua said to the people, 'Shout! because ADONAI has given you the city!


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But the city and everything in it is to be set aside for ADONAI and therefore to be destroyed completely; only Rachav the prostitute is to be spared, she and everyone with her in her house, because she hid the messengers we sent.


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So you, keep clear of everything reserved for destruction. If you bring a curse on yourselves by taking anything set aside to be destroyed, you will bring a curse on the whole camp of Isra'el and cause great distress there.


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All the silver and gold, and all the brass and iron utensils are to be separated out for ADONAI and added to the treasury of ADONAI.'


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So the people shouted, with the shofars blowing. When the people heard the sound of the shofars, the people let out a great shout; and the wall fell down flat; so that the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead of him; and they captured the city.


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They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.


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Y'hoshua said to the two men who had reconnoitered the land, 'Go into the prostitute's house and bring the woman out with all that she has, as you swore to her.'


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The young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rachav with her father, mother, brothers and all she had; they brought out all her relatives and put them safely outside the camp of Isra'el.


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Then they burned the city to ashes with everything in it, except for the silver, the gold and the brass and iron utensils, which they put in the treasury of the house of ADONAI.


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But Y'hoshua spared Rachav the prostitute, her father's household and everything she had; and she has continued living with Isra'el from then until now; because she hid the messengers Y'hoshua had sent to reconnoiter Yericho.


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Y'hoshua then made the people take this oath: 'A curse before ADONAI on anyone who rises up and rebuilds this city of Yericho: he will lay its foundation with the loss of his firstborn son and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son.'


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But the people of Isra'el misappropriated some of the goods set aside to be destroyed; for 'Akhan, the son of Karmi, the son of Zavdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Y'hudah, took some of the things reserved for destruction. In consequence, the anger of ADONAI blazed up against the people of Isra'el.


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Y'hoshua sent men from Yericho to 'Ai, which is next to Beit-Aven, east of Beit-El, telling them to go up and spy out the land. So the men went up, reconnoitered 'Ai,


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returned to Y'hoshua and told him, 'Don't have all the people go up; but let perhaps two or three thousand men go up and attack 'Ai. There's no point in making all the people exert themselves to get there, because there are only a few of them.'


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The men of 'Ai killed some thirty-six of them and chased them from before their gate all the way to Sh'varim, attacking them on the descent. The hearts of the people melted and turned to water.


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Y'hoshua tore his clothes and fell to his face on the ground before the ark of ADONAI until evening, he and the leaders of Isra'el, and they put dust on their heads.


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Y'hoshua said, 'Oh, Adonai ELOHIM! Why did you take the trouble to bring this people across the Yarden if you meant to hand us over to the Emori and have us perish? We should have been satisfied to live on the other side of the Yarden!


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Oh, ADONAI! What can I say, after Isra'el has turned their backs and retreated before their enemies?


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For when the Kena'ani and the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe us off the face of the earth. What will you do then to save the honor of your great name?'


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Isra'el has sinned. Yes, they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them. They have taken some of what was to have been set aside for destruction. They have stolen it, lied about it and put it with their own things.


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This is why the people of Isra'el cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs on their enemies, because they have come under a curse. I won't be with you any more unless you destroy the things meant for destruction that you have with you.


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So get up, consecrate the people, and say, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for here is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'Isra'el, you have things under the curse of destruction among you; and you will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove the things that were to have been destroyed from among you.'


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Therefore, tomorrow morning you are to come forward, one tribe at a time; the tribe ADONAI takes is to come forward, one family at a time; the family ADONAI takes is to come forward, one household at a time; and the household ADONAI takes is to come forward, one person at a time.


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The person who is caught with things in his possession that were reserved for destruction is to be burned to ashes, he and everything he has, because he has violated the covenant of ADONAI and has committed a shameful deed in Isra'el.''


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So Y'hoshua got up early in the morning and had Isra'el come forward, one tribe at a time; and the tribe of Y'hudah was taken.


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He had the families of Y'hudah come forward and took the family of the Zarchi. He had the Zarchi family come forward by household leaders, and Zavdi was taken.


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He had his household come forward, one person at a time; and 'Akhan the son of Karmi, the son of Zavdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Y'hudah, was taken.


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Y'hoshua said to 'Akhan, 'My son, swear to ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, that you will tell the truth and confess to him. Tell me, now, what did you do? Don't hide anything from me.'


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'Akhan answered Y'hoshua, 'It is true: I have sinned against ADONAI, the God of Isra'el. Here is exactly what I did:


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when I saw there with the spoil a beautiful robe from Shin'ar, five pounds of silver shekels and a one-and-a-quarter-pound wedge of gold, I really wanted them. So I took them. You will find them hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.'


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Y'hoshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent. It was all there, hidden in his tent, including the silver underneath.


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They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Y'hoshua and all the people of Isra'el, and put them down before ADONAI.


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Y'hoshua, together with all Isra'el, took 'Akhan, the son of Zerach, with the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything he had, and brought them up to the Akhor Valley.


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Y'hoshua said, 'Why have you brought trouble on us? Today ADONAI will bring trouble on you!' Then all Isra'el stoned him to death; they burned them to ashes and stoned them.


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Over him they piled a great mound of stones, which is there to this day. Finally ADONAI turned away from his fierce anger. And this is why that place is called the Valley of Akhor [trouble] to this day.


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ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Don't be afraid or fall into despair! Take all the people who can fight with you, set out, and go up to 'Ai; because now I have handed over to you the king of 'Ai, his people, his city and his land.


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Do to 'Ai and its king as you did to Yericho and its king; but this time, take its spoil and cattle as booty for yourselves. Ambush the city from behind.'


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So Y'hoshua set out for 'Ai with all the people who could fight. Y'hoshua chose 30,000 men, the most courageous of his troops, and sent them out by night.


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He instructed them, 'You are to lie in wait to ambush the city from behind. Stay close to the city; and all of you, be ready.


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I and all the troops with me will approach the city; and when they come out to attack us, as they did before, we will run away from them.


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They will chase after us until we have drawn them away from the city; because they will say, 'They're running away from us, as they did before'; so we'll run away from them.


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Then you will jump up from your ambush position and take possession of the city, for ADONAI your God will hand it over to you.


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When you have captured the city, you are to set it on fire; do according to what ADONAI has said. Those are your orders.'


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Y'hoshua sent them out; and they went to the place for the ambush, staying between Beit-El and 'Ai, to the west of 'Ai; while Y'hoshua camped that night with the people.


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Y'hoshua got up early in the morning, mustered his men and went up to 'Ai ahead of the people, he and the leaders of Isra'el .


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All the troops marching with him went up, advanced, arrived in front of the city and camped on the north side of 'Ai, with a valley between him and 'Ai.


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Thus the people arrayed themselves, with all the army to the north of the city, and their rearguard lying in wait to the west of the city. Y'hoshua spent that night in the valley.


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The king of 'Ai saw this, so the men in the city hurried out early in the morning to battle against Isra'el, he and all his people, at a meeting-place facing the 'Aravah. But he was unaware that behind the city an ambush had been laid against him.


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Y'hoshua and all Isra'el made as if they had been defeated before them and ran off on the road to the desert.


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All the people in 'Ai were summoned together to pursue them, so they chased Y'hoshua and were drawn away from the city.


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Not a man was left in 'Ai or Beit-El who had not gone after Isra'el; pursuing Isra'el, they left the city wide open.


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Then ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Point the spear in your hand toward 'Ai, because I will hand it over to you.' Y'hoshua pointed the spear in his hand toward the city.


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The men in ambush jumped up quickly from their place; the moment he stretched out his hand, they ran, entered the city and captured it; and they hurried to set the city on fire.


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When the men of 'Ai looked behind them, they saw it - there was the smoke from the city, rising to the sky; and they had no power to flee this way or that - at which point the people who had run off toward the desert turned back on the pursuers.


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When Y'hoshua and all Isra'el saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city was going up, they turned back and slaughtered the men of 'Ai;


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while the others came out of the city against them too; so that they were surrounded by Isra'el with some on this side and some on that side. They attacked them, allowing none to remain or escape.


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When Isra'el had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of 'Ai in the countryside, in the desert where they had pursued them, and they had all fallen, consumed by the sword, then all Isra'el returned to 'Ai and defeated it with the sword.


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For Y'hoshua did not withdraw his hand, which he had used to point the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of 'Ai.


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Only the livestock and the spoil of that city did Isra'el take as booty for themselves, in keeping with the order ADONAI had given Y'hoshua.


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So Y'hoshua burned down 'Ai and turned it into a tel forever, so that it remains a ruin to this day.


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The king of 'Ai he hanged on a tree until evening; at sundown Y'hoshua gave an order, so they took his carcass down from the tree, threw it at the entrance of the city gate and piled on it a big heap of stones, which is there to this day.


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as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered the people of Isra'el to do (this is written in the book of the Torah of Moshe), an altar of uncut stones that no one had touched with an iron tool. On it they offered burnt offerings to ADONAI and sacrificed peace offerings.


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He wrote there on the stones a copy of the Torah of Moshe, inscribing it in the presence of the people of Isra'el.


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Then all Isra'el, including their leaders, officials and judges, stood on either side of the ark in front of the cohanim, who were L'vi'im and who carried the ark for the covenant of ADONAI. The foreigners were there along with the citizens. Half of the people were in front of Mount G'rizim and half of them in front of Mount 'Eival, as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered them earlier in connection with blessing the people of Isra'el.


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After this, he read all the words of the Torah, the blessing and the curse, according to everything written in the book of the Torah.


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There was not a word of everything Moshe had ordered that Y'hoshua did not read before all Isra'el assembled, including the women, the little ones and the foreigners living with them.


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When all the kings on the west side of the Yarden in the hills, in the Sh'felah and all along the shore of the Great Sea that fronts the L'vanon - the Hitti, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi - heard what had happened,


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they developed a clever deception: they made themselves look as if they had been on a long journey by putting old sacks on their donkeys and taking used wineskins that had burst and been mended back together.


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They put old, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes; and took as provisions nothing but dried-up bread that was crumbling to pieces.


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Then they went to Y'hoshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Isra'el, 'We have come from a country far away. Now, make a covenant with us.'


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The men of Isra'el said to the Hivi, 'How do we know that you don't live here among us? If you do, we don't want to make a covenant with you.'


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But they answered Y'hoshua, 'We are your servants.' Y'hoshua asked, 'Who are you, and where do you come from?'


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They answered him, 'Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the reputation of ADONAI your God. We have heard reports about him - everything he did in Egypt,


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and everything he did to the two kings of the Emori across the Yarden, Sichon king of Heshbon and 'Og king of Bashan at 'Ashtarot.


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So our leaders and all the people living in our country said to us, 'Take provisions with you for the journey, go to meet them, and say to them, 'We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.'


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Here is the bread which we took for our provisions. It was still warm when we took it out of our homes the day we left to come to you. Now look at it! It's dry and turned to crumbs!


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And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, now they're torn. Likewise these clothes of ours and our shoes are worn out because of the very long journey.'


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so Y'hoshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to spare their lives, and the leading officials of the community swore to them.


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But three days later, after they had made the covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, that they lived there with them.


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The people of Isra'el traveled and arrived at their cities on the third day. Their cities were Giv'on, K'firah, Be'erot and Kiryat-Ye'arim.


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The people of Isra'el did not attack them, because the leading officials of the community had sworn to them by ADONAI, the God of Isra'el; but all the community grumbled against the leaders.


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However, the leaders replied to the whole community, 'We have sworn to them by ADONAI, the God of Isra'el; so we can't touch them.


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Here is what we will do to them: we will let them live, so that God's anger will not be on us because of the oath we swore to them.


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Yes, let them live,' the leaders continued, 'but let them chop wood and draw water for the whole community.' This is what the leaders said.


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Y'hoshua summoned them and said this to them: 'Why have you deceived us by saying, 'We come from a place very far away,' when in fact you are living right here with us?


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Now you have a curse on you: you will be slaves forever, supplying people to chop wood and draw water for the house of my God.'


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They answered Y'hoshua, 'It is because we heard the reports that ADONAI your God had ordered his servant Moshe to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from ahead of you. So we were terrified for our lives on account of you; that's why we did this.


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So Y'hoshua did exactly that: he saved them from the power of the people of Isra'el, so that they didn't kill them.


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But he did that same day make them choppers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of ADONAI in the place which he would choose; and they remain so to this day.


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When Adoni-Tzedek king of Yerushalayim heard how Y'hoshua had taken 'Ai and utterly destroyed it - he had done the same to 'Ai and its king as he had done to Yericho and its king - and how the inhabitants of Giv'on had made peace with Isra'el and were living among them,


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his people became greatly alarmed; because Giv'on was as large as one of the royal cities, larger than 'Ai, and all its men were courageous.


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So Adoni-Tzedek king of Yerushalayim sent this message to Hoham king of Hevron, Pir'am king of Yarmut, Yafia king of Lakhish and D'vir king of 'Eglon:


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'Come up and help me, and we'll attack Giv'on, because it has made peace with Y'hoshua and the people of Isra'el.'


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So the five kings of the Emori - the kings of Yerushalayim, Hevron, Yarmut, Lakhish and 'Eglon - got together, went up with all their armies, pitched camp against Giv'on and made war against it.


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The people of Giv'on sent a message to Y'hoshua at their camp in Gilgal that said, 'Don't ignore your servants! Come up to us quickly, and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Emori living in the hills have gotten together to fight us.'


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ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Don't be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of their men will stand against you.'


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Having spent the entire night marching up from Gilgal, Y'hoshua fell upon them, taking them by surprise.


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ADONAI threw them into confusion before Isra'el and defeated them in a great slaughter at Giv'on, pursuing them along the road that goes up from Beit-Horon, and beating them back to 'Azekah and all the way to Makkedah.


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As they fled before Isra'el down the road to Beit-Horon, ADONAI threw huge hailstones down on them all the way to 'Azekah, and they died; more died because of the hail than because Isra'el had killed them with the sword.


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Then, on the day ADONAI handed over the Emori to the people of Isra'el, Y'hoshua spoke to ADONA I; in the sight of Isra'el he said, 'Sun, stand motionless over Giv'on! Moon, you too, over Ayalon Valley!'


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This is written in the book of Yashar. The sun stood still in the sky and was in no rush to set for nearly a whole day. 14 There has never been a day like that before or since, when ADONAI listened to the voice of a man; it happened because ADONAI was fighting on Isra'el's behalf.


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However, you, don't wait, but keep chasing your enemies, and attack those farthest in the rear. Don't allow them to return to their cities, because ADONAI has handed them over to you.'


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After Y'hoshua and the people of Isra'el had finished killing them off in a very great slaughter, till they had been destroyed, and the remaining remnant had entered the fortified cities,


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all the people returned safely to Y'hoshua at the camp in Makkedah; and no one said a word against any of the people of Isra'el.


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Then Y'hoshua said, 'Open up the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me.


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They did it; they brought the five kings out to him - the kings of Yerushalayim, Hevron, Yarmut, Lakhish and 'Eglon.


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After they had brought the five kings to Y'hoshua, he summoned all the men of Isra'el and said to the commanders of the soldiers who had gone with him, 'Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.' They came and put their feet on their necks.


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Y'hoshua said to them, 'Don't be afraid or confused, but be strong and bold, because this is what ADONAI will do to all your enemies that you fight against.'


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With that, Y'hoshua struck them and put them to death, hanging them on five trees, where they remained hanging until evening.


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At sunset Y'hoshua gave an order, and they lowered them from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, then laid big stones at the mouth of the cave; and there they remain to this day.


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Y'hoshua captured Makkedah that day, defeating it and its king by the sword. He completely destroyed them, everyone there - he left no one; and he did to the king of Makkedah what he had done to the king of Yericho.


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ADONAI also handed it and its king over to Isra'el. He defeated it with the sword, everyone there - he left no one, and he did to its king what he had done to the king of Yericho.


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Y'hoshua went on from Livnah, and all Isra'el with him, to Lakhish; and he pitched camp against it and fought against it.


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ADONAI handed it over to Isra'el; he captured it the second day. He defeated it with the sword, everyone there, exactly as he had done to Livnah.


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But then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lakhish; so Y'hoshua attacked him and his people, until he had no one left with him.


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Y'hoshua went on from Lakhish, and all Isra'el with him, to 'Eglon; and he pitched camp against it and fought against it.


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They captured it that very day. He defeated it with the sword, completely destroying everyone there, exactly as he had done to Lakhish.


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They captured it, defeating it with the sword, including its king, its villages and everyone there; he left no one, exactly as he had done to 'Eglon; but he completely destroyed it and everyone there.


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They captured it, its king and all its villages, defeating them with the sword and utterly destroying everyone there; he left no one. He did to D'vir and it king as he had done to Hevron and as he had done to Livnah and its king.


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So Y'hoshua attacked all the land - the hills, the Negev, the Sh'felah and the mountain slopes - and all their kings; he left none but completely destroyed everything that breathed, as ADONAI the God of Isra'el had ordered.


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Y'hoshua captured all these kings and their land all at the same time, because ADONAI the God of Isra'el fought on Isra'el's behalf.


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When Yavin king of Hatzor heard of it, he informed Yovav king of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Akhshaf;


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the kings to the north, in the hills, in the 'Aravah south of Kinn'rot, in the Sh'felah and in the regions of Dor on the west;


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the Kena'ani to east and west; the Emori, Hitti, P'rizi and Y'vusi in the hills; and the Hivi at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mitzpah.


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So they set out, they and all their armies, many people, in number like the sand at the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.


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All these kings met together, then came and pitched camp together at the Merom Spring, to fight Isra'el.


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ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, 'Don't be afraid on their account; because at this time tomorrow I will hand them over, all of them dead, before Isra'el. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.'


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So Y'hoshua came against them suddenly with all his fighting men and fell on them at the Merom Spring.


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ADONAI handed them over to Isra'el - they attacked and chased them to Greater Tzidon, Misrefot-Mayim and eastward to the Mitzpeh Valley; they attacked them until none of them was left.


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Y'hoshua did to them what ADONAI had ordered - he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.


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Then Y'hoshua turned back and captured Hatzor, striking its king dead with the sword; for in time past Hatzor had been the head of all those kingdoms.


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They put everyone there to death with the sword, completely destroying them; there was nothing left that breathed; and he burned Hatzor to the ground.


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Y'hoshua captured all the cities of those kings and the kings as well; he defeated them with the sword and completely destroyed them, as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered.


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But as for the cities built on their tels, Isra'el burned none of them except Hatzor; Y'hoshua did burn that one.


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All the spoil of these cities and the livestock the people of Isra'el took as booty for themselves; but every human being they put to death with the sword, until they had destroyed them - they left no one breathing.


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Moshe had given orders to Y'hoshua, just as ADONAI had given orders to Moshe his servant, and Y'hoshua acted accordingly-he did everything ADONAI had ordered Moshe.


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So Y'hoshua captured all that land, the hills, the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the Sh'felah, the 'Aravah and the Isra'el hills and Sh'felah,


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from the bare mountain that goes up to Se'ir to Ba'al-Gad in the L'vanon Valley under Mount Hermon; and he took all their kings, struck them and put them to death.


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Not one city made peace with the people of Isra'el, except for the Hivi living in Giv'on; they took everything in battle.


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For it was ADONAI who caused them to harden their hearts and come against Isra'el in battle, so that they would be utterly destroyed, so that they would not find favor but be destroyed, in keeping with the orders ADONAI had given Moshe.


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Y'hoshua at that time came and cut off the 'Anakim from the land - from Hevron, D'vir, 'Anav and from all the hill-country of Y'hudah and Isra'el; Y'hoshua utterly destroyed them and their cities.


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No 'Anakim were left in the land of the people of Isra'el - only in 'Azah, Gat and Ashdod did some remain.


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Y'hoshua took the whole land, in keeping with all that ADONAI had said to Moshe and to Isra'el according to their divisions into tribes. Then the land rested from war.


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These are the kings of the land whom the people of Isra'el defeated and of whose land they took possession, across the Yarden toward the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon and all the 'Aravah eastward:


text:
Sichon king of the Emori, who lived in Heshbon and ruled the territory that includes 'Aro'er, at the edge of the Arnon Valley; the middle of the valley; half of Gil'ad, to the Yabok River, which forms the border with the people of 'Amon;


text:
the 'Aravah to Lake Kinneret eastward and to the sea of the 'Aravah, the Dead Sea, eastward by way of Beit-Yeshimot and on the south under the slopes of Pisgah.


text:
There was also the territory of 'Og king of Bashan, who belonged to the remnant of the Refa'im. He lived at 'Ashtarot and at Edre'i;


text:
and he ruled Mount Hermon; Salkhah; all Bashan, to the border with the G'shuri and the Ma'akhati; and half of Gil'ad, to its border with Sichon king of Heshbon.


text:
Moshe the servant of ADONAI, with the people of Isra'el, defeated them; and Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave it to the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M'nasheh as their possession.


text:
Following are the kings of the land whom Y'hoshua, with the people of Isra'el, defeated in the area west of the Yarden, between Ba'al-Gad in the L'vanon Valley and the bare mountain that goes up to Se'ir. Y'hoshua gave this land, inhabited by the Hitti, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi, to the tribes of Isra'el to possess, according to their divisions, in the hills, the Sh'felah, the 'Aravah, the mountain slopes, the desert and the Negev:


text:
Now Y'hoshua was old; the years had taken their toll. ADONAI said to him, 'You are old, and the years have taken their toll; but there is yet a great deal of land to be possessed.


text:
from the Shichor which fronts Egypt, to the border of 'Ekron (northward from there the land is considered as belonging to the Kena'ani)-that is, the territory of the rulers of the P'lishtim in 'Azah, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gat and 'Ekron; also the 'Avim


text:
to the south; all the land of the Kena'ani; Me'arah, which belongs to the Tzidonim, as far as Afek and on to the border with the Emori;


text:
the land of the Givli; all the L'vanon eastward, from Ba'al-Gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamat.


text:
'As for the inhabitants of the hills between the L'vanon and Misrefot-Mayim, that is, all the Tzidonim, I myself will expel them ahead of the people of Isra'el; all you have to do is assign it to Isra'el as an inheritance, as I have ordered you.


text:
With the half-tribe of M'nasheh, the Re'uveni and the Gadi received their inheritance, which Moshe had given them, beyond the Yarden eastward, just as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had given them -


text:
from 'Aro'er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau between Meidva and Divon,


text:
and all the cities of Sichon king of the Emori who ruled in Heshbon to the border with the people of 'Amon;


text:
and Gil'ad, the territory of the G'shuri and Ma'akhati, all Mount Hermon, all Bashan as far as Salkhah -


text:
that is, all the kingdom of 'Og in Bashan, who ruled in 'Ashtarot and Edre'i. 'Og was one of those remaining from the Refa'im, whom Moshe defeated and expelled.


text:
However, the people of Isra'el expelled neither the G'shuri nor the Ma'akhati, with the consequence that G'shur and Ma'akhat have lived among Isra'el to this day.


text:
Only to the tribe of Levi did Moshe give no inheritance; because the offerings made by fire for ADONAI the God of Isra'el are its inheritance; as [ADONAI] had said to Moshe.


text:
Their territory included 'Aro'er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau near Meidva,


text:
all the cities of the plateau - all the kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori, who ruled in Heshbon. Moshe defeated him with the chiefs of Midyan, along with Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva the princes of Sichon who lived in the land.


text:
Along with the others the people of Isra'el killed with the sword, they also struck down Bil'am the son of B'or, who practiced divination.


text:
The Yarden formed the border for the descendants of Re'uven. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Re'uven by clans, with its cities and villages.


text:
Their territory included Ya'zer; all the cities of Gil'ad; half the land of the people of 'Amon, as far as 'Aro'er fronting Rabbah -


text:
while in the valley it included Beit-Haram, Beit-Nimrah, Sukkot and Tzafon - in other words, the rest of the kingdom of Sichon king of Heshbon; with the Yarden to the far end of Lake Kinneret as its border, their territory extended eastward.


text:
Moshe gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of the M'nasheh; it was for the half-tribe of the descendants of M'nasheh by clans.


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Their territory included Machanayim and all of Bashan - that is, all the kingdom of 'Og king of Bashan; all the villages of Ya'ir in Bashan, sixty cities;


text:
half of Gil'ad; and 'Ashtarot and Edre'i, the cities of the kingdom of 'Og in Bashan. All this was for the descendants of Makhir the son of M'nasheh, or, rather, for half of the descendants of Makhir, by clans.


text:
These are the inheritances which Moshe distributed in the plains of Mo'av, beyond the Yarden and Yericho, eastward.


text:
But to the tribe of Levi Moshe gave no inheritance; ADONAI the God of Isra'el is their inheritance - as he told them.


text:
These are the inheritances which the people of Isra'el took in the land of Kena'an, which El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the heads of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra'el distributed to them


text:
by lot for them to inherit, as ADONAI ordered through Moshe, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe.


text:
Moshe had already given the inheritances to the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Yarden; to the L'vi'im he gave no inheritance among them.


text:
The descendants of Yosef constituted two tribes, M'nasheh and Efrayim; and they gave no portion of the land to the L'vi'im except cities to live in, with the open land surrounding them for their livestock and crops.


text:
The descendants of Y'hudah approached Y'hoshua in Gilgal, and Kalev the son of Y'funeh the K'nizi said to him, 'You know what ADONAI told Moshe the man of God about me and you in Kadesh-Barnea.


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I was forty years old when Moshe the servant of ADONAI sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to reconnoiter the land, and I brought back to him an honest report.


text:
On that day Moshe swore, 'Surely the land where your foot has been will be the inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have followed ADONAI my God completely.'


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Now, look: ADONAI has kept me alive these forty-five years, as he said he would, from the time ADONAI said this to Moshe, when Isra'el was going through the desert. Today I am eighty-five years old,


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but I am as strong today as on the day Moshe sent me - I'm as strong now as I was then, whether for war or simply for going here and there.


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Therefore, give me this hill, the one ADONAI spoke about on that day; for on that day you heard how the 'Anakim were there with great, fortified cities; perhaps ADONAI will be with me, and I will drive them away, as ADONAI said.'


text:
So Hevron became the inheritance of Kalev the son of Y'funeh the K'nizi, as it is to this day; because he followed ADONAI the God of Isra'el completely.


text:
(Hevron was formerly called Kiryat-Arba; this Arba was the greatest man among the 'Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.


text:
The territory chosen by lot for the tribe of the descendants of Y'hudah according to their families extended to the border of Edom in the Tzin Desert, toward the Negev in the far south.


text:
and went out south of the Scorpion Ascent, passed toward Tzin, went up south of Kadesh-Barnea, passed Hetzron, went up toward Adar, turned toward Karka,


text:
passed toward 'Atzmon, and went out at the Vadi of Egypt, with the border ending at the sea; this will be your southern border.


text:
The eastern border was the Dead Sea to where the Yarden entered it. The northern border began at the bay of the sea at the end of the Yarden;


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then the border went up to Beit-Hoglah and passed north of Beit-'Aravah; next the border went up to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re'uven;


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then the border went up to D'vir from the Akhor Valley, then northward facing Gilgal (that is, across from Ma'alei-Adumim, which is on the south side of the vadi); next the border passed to the 'Ein-Shemesh Spring and went out at 'Ein-Rogel.


text:
Then the border went up the Ben-Hinnom Valley to the south side of the Y'vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), and the border continued up to the top of the hill in front of the Hinnom Valley on the west (which is also at the northernmost end of the Refa'im Valley)


text:
From this hilltop the border was drawn to the source of the Neftoach Spring and continued out to the cities of Mount 'Efron; next the border was drawn to Ba'alah (that is, Kiryat-Ye'arim).


text:
Then the border turned from Ba'al westward to Mount Se'ir, passed the spur of Mount Ye'arim (also called K'salon) on the north, went down to Beit-Shemesh and passed Timnah.


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Next the border went out toward the side of 'Ekron northward; and finally, the border was drawn to Shikron, passed Mount Ba'alah, and went out at Yavne'el, with the border ending at the sea.


text:
As for the west border, the Great Sea was its border. These were the borders of the territory of the descendants of Y'hudah, by clans.


text:
To Kalev the son of Y'funeh he gave a portion with the descendants of Y'hudah, as ADONAI had ordered Y'hoshua, namely, Kiryat-Arba (Arba was the father of the 'Anak), also called Hevron.


text:
Kalev expelled from there three descendants of 'Anak - Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai, children of 'Anak.


text:
Kalev said, 'To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter Akhsah as his wife.'


text:
'Otni'el the son of K'naz, Kalev's brother, captured it; so he gave him 'Akhsah his daughter as his wife.


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After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, 'What do you want?'


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She said to him: 'Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water.' So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs.


text:
The cities at the outer part of the tribe of Y'hudah toward the border with Edom in the south were: Kavtze'el, 'Eder, Yagur,


text:
Ashdod, with its towns and villages; 'Azah, with its towns and villages, to the Vadi of Egypt, with the Great Sea as its border.


text:
As for the Y'vusi, who lived in Yerushalayim, the descendants of Y'hudah could not drive them out; so the Y'vusi live with the descendants of Y'hudah in Yerushalayim to this day.


text:
The border of the territory chosen by lot for the descendants of Yosef began from the Yarden at Yericho, at the spring of Yericho on the east, went up from Yericho through the hills and desert to Beit-El,


text:
went down westward to the border with the Yafleti, to the border of Lower Beit-Horon, on to Gezer and ending at the sea.


text:
The border of the descendants of Efrayim according to their families was as follows: the eastern border of their inheritance began at 'Atrot-Adar and went to Upper Beit-Horon;


text:
then the border extended westward, with Mikhm'tat on the north; next the border turned eastward to Ta'anat-Shiloh and passed by it to the east of Yanochah;


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then it went down from Yanochah to 'Atarot, went to Na'arah, extended to Yericho and ended at the Yarden.


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From Tapuach the border went westward to Vadi Kanah and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Efrayim according to their families,


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together with the cities set aside for the descendants of Efrayim inside the territory to be inherited by the descendants of M'nasheh, all the cities with their villages.


text:
They did not drive out the Kena'ani living in Gezer, so the Kena'ani live together with Efrayim to this day, having become slaves to do the heavy work.


text:
This was the territory chosen by lot for the tribe of M'nasheh, for he was the firstborn of Yosef. As for Makhir the firstborn of M'nasheh, the father of Gil'ad, because he was a warrior he got Gil'ad and Bashan.


text:
So the lot was drawn for the other descendants of M'nasheh according to their families - for the descendants of Avi'ezer, Helek, Asri'el, Sh'khem, Hefer and Sh'mida; these were the male descendants of M'nasheh according to their families.


text:
But Tz'lof'chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil'ad, the son of Makhir, the son of M'nasheh, had no sons, only daughters; these are the names of his daughters: Machlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah.


text:
They approached El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, 'ADONAI ordered Moshe to give us an inheritance together with our kinsmen.' Therefore, in keeping with ADONAI's order, he gave them an inheritance together with the kinsmen of their father.


text:
because the daughters of M'nasheh had an inheritance along with his descendants; but the land of Gil'ad belonged to the rest of the descendants of M'nasheh.


text:
The border of M'nasheh began at Asher and went to Mikhm'tat, which is across from Sh'khem; next the border went along to the right, to the people of 'Ein-Tapuach.


text:
The land of Tapuach belonged to M'nasheh, but Tapuach on the border of M'nasheh belonged to the descendants of Efrayim.


text:
The border descended to Vadi Kanah, south of the vadi, by cities which belonged to Efrayim among the cities of M'nasheh; but the border with M'nasheh was on the north side of the vadi, and it ended at the sea.


text:
Southward it was Efrayim's, northward it was M'nasheh's, and the sea was its border; while to the north they extended to Asher, and on the east to Yissakhar.


text:
In Asher and Yissakhar, M'nasheh had Beit-Sh'an and its villages; Yivle'am and its villages; and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, of 'Ein-Dor and its villages, of Ta'anakh and its villages, and of Megiddo and its villages - three districts in all.


text:
But the descendants of M'nasheh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; the Kena'ani wanted to stay in that land.


text:
After the people of Isra'el had become strong, they made the Kena'ani do heavy labor but didn't completely drive them out.


text:
Then the descendants of Yosef spoke to Y'hoshua; they said, 'Why have you given me only one lot and only one portion to inherit? After all, I am a great people, since ADONAI has blessed me so.'


text:
Y'hoshua answered them, 'If you are a great people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the territory of the P'rizi and the Refa'im - since the hills of Efrayim don't give you enough space.'


text:
The descendants of Yosef replied, 'The hills won't be enough for us; and all the Kena'ani living in the valleys have iron chariots - both those in Beit-Sh'an and its villages and those in the Yizre'el Valley.'


text:
Then Y'hoshua said to the house of Yosef, to both Efrayim and M'nasheh, 'You are a great people with much power; you will not have only one lot,


text:
but the hills too will be yours. Although it is a forest, you will clear it, and the resulting open land will be yours. You will drive out the Kena'ani, even though they have iron chariots and are strong.'


text:
The entire community of the people of Isra'el assembled themselves together at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, after the land had been subdued before them.


text:
There still remained among the people of Isra'el seven tribes that had not yet received their inheritance.


text:
Y'hoshua said to the people of Isra'el, 'How long will you delay going in to take possession of the land which ADONAI the God of your ancestors has given you?


text:
Appoint three men for each tribe; I will commission them; and they are to set out, go through the land and describe it according to their inheritance; then they are to come back to me.


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They are to divide it into seven portions, with Y'hudah remaining in its territory to the south and the house of Yosef in their territory to the north.


text:
You will describe seven portions of land and bring the descriptions here to me; then I will cast lots for you here before ADONAI our God.


text:
But the L'vi'im have no share with you, because the office of cohen to ADONAI is their inheritance; and Gad and Re'uven and the half-tribe of M'nasheh have received their inheritance beyond the Yarden to the east, which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave them.'


text:
So the men got up and went. Y'hoshua gave them this commission as they left to describe the land: 'Go; walk through the land; and describe it; then come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before ADONAI in Shiloh.'


text:
The men went and passed through the land, surveying it by cities, dividing it into seven regions and writing the results on a scroll. Then they came to Y'hoshua in the camp at Shiloh.


text:
Y'hoshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before ADONAI, and there Y'hoshua divided the land among the people of Isra'el according to their regions.


text:
The lot for the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin came up according to their families. The border of their territory chosen by lot was between the descendants of Y'hudah and the descendants of Yosef.


text:
On the north side, their border began at the Yarden, went up alongside Yericho on the north, continued up through the hills westward and arrived at the Beit-Aven Desert.


text:
From there the border passed on to Luz, to the south side of Luz (that is, Beit-El); then the border went down to 'Atrot-Adar, by the hill on the south side of Lower Beit-Horon.


text:
The border was delineated as turning at the western corner and heading southward, from the hill located in front of Beit-Horon on the south; and it ended at Kiryat-Ba'al (that is, Kiryat-Ye'arim), a city belonging to the descendants of Y'hudah; this was the west side.


text:
On the south the border extended westward from the most distant part of Kiryat-Ye'arim, going out to the source of the Neftoach Spring.


text:
Then the border went down to the farthest part of the hill located in front of the Ben-Hinnom Valley, north of the Refa'im Valley, south of the Y'vusi; and continued down to 'Ein-Rogel,


text:
where it was drawn to the north; then it went on to 'Ein-Shemesh; continued to G'lilot, which is across from Ma'alei-Adumim; went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re'uven;


text:
Then the border passed alongside Beit-Hoglah, heading north; and the border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the south end of the Yarden; this was the south border.


text:
The Yarden was to be its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin, defined by its surrounding borders, according to their families.


text:
The cities of the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families were: Yericho, Beit-Hoglah, 'Emek-K'tzitz,


text:
Tzela, Elef, Y'vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), Giv'at and Kiryat - fourteen cities, together with their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families.


text:
The second lot came out for Shim'on, for the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on according to their families. Their inheritance was inside the inheritance of the descendants of Y'hudah.


text:
and all the villages surrounding these cities, as far as Ba'alat-Be'er, Ramah of the Negev. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on according to their families.


text:
The inheritance of the descendants of Shim'on was taken out of the allotment for the descendants of Y'hudah, because the portion given to the descendants of Y'hudah was too much for them, so the descendants of Shim'on had an inheritance inside the descendants of Y'hudah.


text:
The third lot came up for the descendants of Z'vulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance began at Sarid.


text:
Then their border went up westward to Mar'alah, extended to Dabeshet and on to the vadi fronting Yokne'am.


text:
Also from Sarid it turned toward the sunrise to the east to the border of Kislot-Tavor, went on to Dovrat and up to Yafia.


text:
From there it passed eastward to Gat-Hefer, on to 'Et-Katzin, went out at Rimmon and reached to Ne'ah.


text:
This is the inheritance of the descendants of Z'vulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.


text:
The fourth lot came out for Yissakhar, for the descendants of Yissakhar according to their families.


text:
Their territory extended to Tavor, Shachatzimah and Beit-Shemesh; and their territory ended at the Yarden - sixteen cities, together with their villages.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Yissakhar according to their families, the cities, with their villages.


text:
The border turned eastward to Beit-Dagon, reached to Z'vulun and the Yiftach'el Valley on its north, then Beit-'Emek and Ne'i'el, went out to Kavul on the left,


text:
The border turned toward Ramah and the fortified city of Tzor; next the border turned to Hosah; and it ended at the sea from Hevel to Akhziv.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.


text:
The sixth lot came out for the descendants of Naftali, for the descendants of Naftali according to their families.


text:
Their border went from Helef and the oak in Tza'ananim, included Adami-Nekev and Yavne'el, went on to Lakum and ended at the Yarden.


text:
Westward the border turned to Aznot-Tavor and went out from there to Hukok, reaching to Z'vulun on the south, Asher on the west and Y'hudah at the Yarden toward the east.


text:
Yir'on, Migdal-El, Horem, Beit-'Anat and Beit-Shemesh - nineteen cities, together with their villages.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Naftali according to their families, the cities with their villages.


text:
The territory of the descendants of Dan was too small for them, so the descendants of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, defeated it by the sword, took possession of it and lived there, calling Leshem 'Dan' after Dan their ancestor.


text:
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.


text:
When they had finished distributing the land for inheritance according to its borders, the people of Isra'el gave an inheritance within their territory to Y'hoshua the son of Nun.


text:
According to ADONAI's order they gave him the city he had asked for, Timnat-Serach in the hills of Efrayim; so he built up the city and lived in it.


text:
These are the inheritances which El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra'el distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before ADONAI at the door of the tent of meeting. Thus they finished dividing up the land.


text:
so that anyone who kills someone by mistake and unknowingly may escape there; they will serve as refuges for you from the next-of-kin avenger.


text:
He is to flee to one of those cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate and state his cause to the city leaders. Then they will bring him into the city with them and give him a place, so that he may live among them.


text:
If the next-of-kin avenger pursues him, they are not to hand over the killer to him; because he struck his fellow community member unknowingly and had not hated him previously.


text:
So he will live in that city until he stands trial before the community, until the death of the cohen hagadol who is in office at the time. When that time comes, the killer may return to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.''


text:
So they set apart Kedesh in the Galil, in the hills of Naftali; Sh'khem in the hills of Efrayim; and Kiryat-Arba (that is, Hevron) in the hills of Y'hudah.


text:
Beyond the Yarden east of Yericho they selected Betzer in the desert, on the plateau, out of the tribe of Re'uven; Ramot in Gil'ad out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of M'nasheh.


text:
These were the cities selected for all the people of Isra'el and for the foreigner living among them, so that anyone who kills any person by mistake could flee there and not die at the hand of the next-of-kin avenger prior to standing trial before the community.


text:
Then the leaders of the ancestral clans of the L'vi'im approached El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra'el.


text:
It was at Shiloh in the land of Kena'an that they spoke to them; they said, 'ADONAI ordered through Moshe that we be given cities to live in, with the surrounding open land for our livestock.'


text:
So out of their inheritance the people of Isra'el gave the L'vi'im the following cities with the surrounding open land:


text:
The lot came out for the families of the K'hati. The descendants of Aharon the cohen, who were of the L'vi'im, received by lot thirteen cities from the tribes of Y'hudah, Shim'on and Binyamin.


text:
The rest of the descendants of K'hat received by lot ten cities from the families of the tribes of Efrayim and Dan and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.


text:
The descendants of Gershon received by lot thirteen cities from the families of the tribes of Yissakhar, Asher, Naftali and the half-tribe of M'nasheh in Bashan.


text:
The descendants of M'rari according to their families received twelve cities from the tribes of Re'uven, Gad and Z'vulun.


text:
The people of Isra'el gave by lot to the L'vi'im these cities with the surrounding open land, as ADONAI had ordered through Moshe.


text:
They gave from the tribe of the descendants of Y'hudah and from the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on these cities here mentioned by name;


text:
they were for the descendants of Aharon, of the families of the K'hati, who were among the descendants of Levi; because theirs was the first lot.


text:
They gave them: Kiryat-Arba - this Arba was the father of 'Anak - (that is, Hevron), in the hills of Y'hudah, with the surrounding open land;


text:
Thus to the descendants of Aharon the cohen they gave: Hevron with its surrounding open land, already a city of refuge for the killer; Livnah with its surrounding open land;


text:
'Ayin with its surrounding open land, Yutah with its surrounding open land and Beit-Shemesh with its surrounding open land - nine cities out of these two tribes.


text:
Out of the tribe of Binyamin: Giv'on with its surrounding open land, Geva with its surrounding open land,


text:
All the cities of the descendants of Aharon, the cohanim, numbered thirteen cities with their surrounding open land.


text:
The families of the descendants of K'hat, who were L'vi'im, that is, the rest of the descendants of K'hat, received the cities of their lot. Out of the tribe of Efrayim


text:
they gave them: Sh'khem with its surrounding open land, in the hills of Efrayim, the city of refuge for the killer; Gezer with its surrounding open land;


text:
Kivtzayim with its surrounding open land and Beit-Horon with its surrounding open land - four cities.


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Out of the tribe of Dan: Elt'ke with its surrounding open land, Gib'ton with its surrounding open land,


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Out of the half-tribe of M'nasheh: Ta'nakh with its surrounding open land and Gat-Rimmon with its surrounding open land - two cities.


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All the cities of the families of the rest of the descendants of K'hat numbered ten with their surrounding open land.


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To the descendants of Gershon, of the families of the L'vi'im, out of the half-tribe of M'nasheh they gave: Golan in Bashan with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; and B'esht'rah with its surrounding open land - two cities.


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Out of the tribe of Yissakhar: Kishyon with its surrounding open land, Dovrat with its surrounding open land,


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Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its surrounding open land, 'Avdon with its surrounding open land,


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Out of the tribe of Naftali: Kedesh in the Galil with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; Hammot-Dor with its surrounding open land; and Kartan with its surrounding open land - three cities.


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All the cities of the Gershuni according to their families were thirteen cities with their surrounding open land.


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To the families of the descendants of M'rari, the rest of the L'vi'im, out of the tribe of Z'vulun: Yokne'am with its surrounding open land, Kartah with its surrounding open land,


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Out of the tribe of Re'uven: Betzer with its surrounding open land, Yachtzah with its surrounding open land,


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Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramot in Gil'ad with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; Machanayim with its surrounding open land;


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Heshbon with its surrounding open land and Ya'zer with its surrounding open land - four cities in all.


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All these were the cities of the descendants of M'rari according to their families, the rest of the families of the L'vi'im; their lot totaled twelve cities.


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All the cities of the L'vi'im, forty-eight cities with their surrounding open land, are to be in among the lands possessed by the people of Isra'el -


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So ADONAI gave Isra'el all the land which he swore to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and lived in it.


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Then ADONAI gave them rest all around, according to everything he had sworn to their ancestors. Not a man from all their enemies stood against them; ADONAI handed all their enemies over to


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Not one good thing that ADONAI had spoken of to the household of Isra'el failed to happen; it all took place.


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and said to them, 'You have done everything Moshe the servant of ADONAI ordered you to do and heeded what I said in all the orders I gave you.


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All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as ADONAI your God ordered.


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Now ADONAI your God has given rest to your kinsmen, as he told them he would. So you too, return to your tents in the land which is your possession, which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you beyond the Yarden.


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Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you - to love ADONAI your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being.'


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(To the one half-tribe of M'nasheh, Moshe had given an inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half, Y'hoshua gave one among their kinsmen on the west side of the Yarden.) When Y'hoshua sent them away to their tents he blessed them,


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saying, 'Return with great riches to your tents - with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron and with great quantities of clothing; share the spoil of your enemies with your kinsmen.'


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So the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh returned; they left the people of Isra'el in Shiloh, in the land of Kena'an, to go to the land of Gil'ad, to the land they were to possess and which they already did possess - according to the order of ADONAI through Moshe.


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When the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe arrived in the area of the land of Kena'an near the Yarden, they built an altar there by the Yarden, a large, impressive altar.


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The people of Isra'el heard of it and said, 'Look! The descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh have built an altar by the frontier of the land of Kena'an, in the area by the Yarden, on the side that belongs to the people of Isra'el.'


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When the people of Isra'el heard of it, the entire community of Isra'el gathered together in Shiloh to wage war against them.


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The people of Isra'el sent Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen into the land of Gil'ad to the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.


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With him were ten leaders, one leader of an ancestral clan for each of the tribes of Isra'el; each one was a head of his ancestral clan among the thousands of Isra'el.


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They came to the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh in the land of Gil'ad and spoke with them; they said,


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'Here is what the whole community of ADONAI is saying: 'What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Isra'el, turning away today from following ADONAI, in that you have built yourselves an altar, thus rebelling today against ADONAI?


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Is the guilt we incurred at P'or not enough for us? We haven't cleansed ourselves from it to this day, even though a plague came on the community of ADONAI.


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Is this why you have to turn away today from following ADONAI? If you rebel against ADONAI today, he will be angry tomorrow with the whole community of Isra'el.


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If the land you have taken possession of is unclean, then cross back over into the land which belongs to ADONAI, where the tabernacle of ADONAI is located, and take a possession among us. But don't rebel against ADONAI, and don't rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of ADONAI our God.


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Didn't Achan the son of Zerach commit a sin in regard to things set aside for destruction, and God's anger fell on the whole community of Isra'el? He was not the only one who died for his crime.''


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Then the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh answered the leaders of the thousands of Isra'el:


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'The Mighty One, God, is ADONAI! He knows, and Isra'el will know - if we acted in rebellion or treachery against ADONAI, don't vindicate us today!


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We haven't built an altar in order to turn away from following ADONAI or to offer on it burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices as peace offerings. If we have, let ADONAI himself require us to atone for it.


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Rather, we did this out of anxiety, because we thought, 'Sometime in the future, your descendants might say to our descendants, 'You don't have anything to do with ADONAI, the God of Isra'el,


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because ADONAI made the Yarden the border between us and you, so you descendants of Re'uven and Gad have no share in ADONAI.'' In this way your descendants could make our descendants stop fearing ADONAI.


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So we said, 'Let us now make preparations and build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,


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but as a witness between us and you, and between our generations who will come after us, so that we may perform the service for ADONAI in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and peace offerings - so that your descendants will not say to our descendants at some future time, 'You have no share in ADONAI.''


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For this reason we said, 'When they accuse us or future generations in this way, we will say, 'Look! Here is a replica of the altar of ADONAI which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.''


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Far be it from us that we should rebel against ADONAI and turn away today from following ADONAI by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices other than the altar of ADONAI our God which stands in front of his tabernacle!'


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When Pinchas the cohen and the leaders of the community, the heads of the thousands of Isra'el who were with him, heard what the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M'nasheh said, it satisfied them.


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Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen said to the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M'nasheh, 'Today we know that ADONAI is here with us, because you have not committed this treasonous act against ADONAI. Now you have saved the people of Isra'el from the anger of ADONAI.'


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So Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen and the leaders returned from the descendants of Re'uven and Gad, from the land of Gil'ad to the land of Kena'an and the people of Isra'el, bringing word back to them.


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What they said satisfied the people of Isra'el. The people of Isra'el blessed God and said no more about going to wage war against the descendants of Re'uven and Gad and destroying the land where they lived.


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The descendants of Re'uven and Gad called the altar ''Ed [a witness]' between us that ADONAI is God.


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A long time afterwards, when ADONAI had given Isra'el rest from all their surrounding enemies, and Y'hoshua was old, with age taking its toll,


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Y'hoshua summoned all Isra'el - their leaders, heads, judges and officials - and said to them, 'I am old; age is taking its toll.


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You have seen everything that ADONAI your God has done to all these nations because of you, for it is ADONAI your God who has fought on your behalf.


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Here, I have allotted to you land for inheritance according to your tribes between the Yarden and the Great Sea to the west; it includes the land of the nations I have destroyed and the nations which remain.


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ADONAI your God will thrust them out ahead of you and drive them out of your sight, so that you will possess their land, as ADONAI your God told you.


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'Therefore be very firm about keeping and doing everything written in the book of the Torah of Moshe and not turning aside from it either to the right or to the left.


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Then you won't become like those nations remaining among you. Don't even mention the name of their gods, let alone have people swear by them, serve them or worship them;


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This is why ADONAI has driven out great, strong nations ahead of you; and it explains why no one has prevailed against you to this day,


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why one man of you has chased a thousand - it is because ADONAI your God has fought on your behalf, as he said to you.


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Otherwise, if you retreat and cling to the remnant of these other nations remaining among you, if you make marriages with them and have children with them and they with you,


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know for certain that ADONAI your God will stop driving out these nations from your sight. Instead, they will become a snare and a trap for you, whipping your sides and pricking your eyes, until you perish from this good land which ADONAI your God has given you.


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'Today I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore consider in all your heart and being that not one of all the good things ADONAI your God said concerning you has failed to happen; it has all come to pass; nothing of it has failed.


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Nevertheless, just as all the good things ADONAI your God promised you have come upon you, likewise ADONAI will bring upon you all the bad things too, until he has destroyed you from this good land which ADONAI your God has given you.


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When you violate the covenant of ADONAI your God, which he ordered you to obey, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of ADONAI will blaze up against you; and you will perish quickly from the good land which he has given you!'


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Y'hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra'el to Sh'khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra'el; and they presented themselves before God.


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Y'hoshua said to all the people, 'This is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the [Euphrates] River-Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor-and they served other gods.


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I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena'an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz'chak.


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I gave to Yitz'chak Ya'akov and 'Esav. To 'Esav I gave Mount Se'ir as his possession, but Ya'akov and his children went down into Egypt.


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I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out.


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Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf.


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But when they cried out to ADONAI, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time.


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I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you.


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Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, rose up and fought against Isra'el. He sent and summoned Bil'am the son of B'or to put a curse on you.


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Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you-the Emori, P'rizi, Kena'ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y'vusi - and I handed them over to you.


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I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori - it wasn't by your sword or your bow.


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Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'


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'Therefore fear ADONAI, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates]River and in Egypt, and serve ADONAI!


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If it seems bad to you to serve ADONAI, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve ADONAI!'


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because it is ADONAI our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through;


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and it was ADONAI who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve ADONAI, for he is our God.'


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Y'hoshua said to the people, 'You can't serve ADONAI; because he is a holy God, a jealous God, and he will not forgive your crimes and sins.


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If you abandon ADONAI and serve foreign gods, he will turn, doing you harm and destroying you after he has done you good.'


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Y'hoshua said to the people, 'You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen ADONAI, to serve him.' They answered, 'We are witnesses.'


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'Now,' Y'hoshua urged, 'put away the foreign gods you have among you, and turn your hearts to ADONAI, the God of Isra'el.'


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The people answered Y'hoshua, 'We will serve ADONAI our God; we will pay attention to what he says.'


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So Y'hoshua made a covenant with the people that day, laying down for them laws and rulings there in Sh'khem.


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Y'hoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God. Then he took a big stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of ADONAI.


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Y'hoshua said to all the people, 'See, this stone will be a witness against us; because it has heard all the words of ADONAI which he said to us; therefore it will be a witness against you, in case you deny your God.'


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They buried him on his property in Timnat-Serach, which is in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga'ash.


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Isra'el served ADONAI throughout Y'hoshua's lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who outlived Y'hoshua and had known all the deeds that ADONAI had done on behalf of Isra'el.


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The bones of Yosef, which the people of Isra'el had brought up from Egypt, they buried in Sh'khem, in the parcel of ground which Ya'akov had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Sh'khem for a hundred pieces of silver; and they became a possession of the descendants of Yosef.


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Finally, El'azar the son of Aharon died; and they buried him on the hill belonging to Pinchas his son, which had been given to him in the hills of Efrayim.


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After the death of Y'hoshua, the people of Isra'el asked ADONAI, 'Who will go up for us first to fight against the Kena'ani?'


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Y'hudah said to his brother Shim'on, 'Come up with me into my assigned territory, so that we can fight against the Kena'ani; and I likewise will go with you into your territory.' So Shim'on went with him.


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Y'hudah went up; and ADONAI gave the Kena'ani and the P'rizi into their hands; of those in Bezek they killed ten thousand men.


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They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him. They killed the Kena'ani and the P'rizi,


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Adoni-Bezek said: 'Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered food under my table; God has paid me back in accordance with what I did.' They brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died there.


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Then the people of Y'hudah fought against Yerushalayim, captured it, overpowered it with the sword, and set the city on fire.


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Afterwards, the people of Y'hudah went down to fight against the Kena'ani who lived in the hill-country, in the Negev, and in the Sh'felah.


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Y'hudah also attacked the Kena'ani living in Hevron (formerly called Kiryat-Arba), and they overpowered Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai.


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Kalev said: 'To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter 'Akhsah as his wife.'


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'Otni'el the son of K'naz, Kalev's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him 'Akhsah his daughter as his wife.


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Next, the descendants of the Keini, Moshe's father-in-law, went up out of the City of Date-Palms with the people of Y'hudah into the Y'hudah Desert south of 'Arad; and they came and settled with the people.


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Y'hudah went with Shim'on his brother; they overpowered the Kena'ani who inhabited Tz'fat, and completely destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.


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Y'hudah also took 'Azah with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory and 'Ekron with its territory.


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ADONAI was with Y'hudah, and they took possession of the hill-country, because they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, since they had iron chariots.


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They gave Hevron to Kalev, as Moshe had said to do; and he drove out from there the three sons of 'Anak.


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The people of Binyamin did not drive out the Y'vusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; rather, the Y'vusi continued living with the people of Binyamin in Yerushalayim, as they do to this day.


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The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him: 'Please show us the way to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly.'


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So he showed them the way into the city, and they overpowered the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free.


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M'nasheh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Sh'an and its villages, Ta'anakh and its villages, Dor and its villages, Yivle'am and its villages or Megiddo and its villages; so that the Kena'ani managed to keep on living in that land.


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In time, when Isra'el had grown strong, they did put the Kena'ani to forced labor but failed to drive them out completely.


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Efrayim did not drive out the Kena'ani living in Gezer; so the Kena'ani continued living in Gezer along with them.


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Z'vulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol; so the Kena'ani continued to live among them but became subject to forced labor.


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so the Asheri lived among the Kena'ani who were living in the land, because they didn't drive them out.


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Naftali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh or Beit-'Anat but lived among the Kena'ani living in the land; however, the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh and Beit-'Anat became forced labor for them.


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The Emori forced the people of Dan into the hills; for they would not let them come down to the valley.


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The Emori had resolved to live in the Heres Hills, in Ayalon and in Sha'alvim; but when the power of the house of Yosef grew greater, they became subject to forced labor.


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Now the angel of ADONAI came up from Gilgal to Bokhim and said, 'I brought you up out of Egypt, led you to the land I swore to your fathers and said, 'I will never break my covenant with you;


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you, for your part, are not to make any covenant with the inhabitants of this land but must tear down their altars.' However, you have paid no attention to what I said. What is this you have done?


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This is why I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will be on your flanks, and their gods will become a snare for you.''


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When the angel of ADONAI spoke these words to all the people of Isra'el, they began crying and wailing at the top of their voices.


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When Y'hoshua had sent the people away, the people of Isra'el had gone each one to his assigned property in order to take possession of the land.


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The people served ADONAI throughout Y'hoshua's life and throughout the lives of all the older men who outlived Y'hoshua and who had seen all the great work of ADONAI which he had done for Isra'el.


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and they buried him near the boundary of his property in Timnat-Heres, in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga'ash.


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When that entire generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation arose that knew neither ADONAI nor the work he had done for Isra'el.


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They abandoned ADONAI, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, selected from the gods of the peoples around them, and worshipped them; this made ADONAI angry.


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The anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el; and he handed them over to pillagers, who plundered them, and to their enemies around them; so that they could no longer resist their enemies.


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Whenever they launched an attack, the power of ADONAI was against them, so that things turned out badly - just as ADONAI had said would happen and had sworn to them. They were in dire distress.


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But then ADONAI raised up judges, who rescued them from the power of those who were plundering them.


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Yet they did not pay attention to their judges, but made whores of themselves to other gods and worshipped them; they quickly turned away from the path on which their ancestors had walked, the way of obeying ADONAI's mitzvot - they failed to do this.


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When ADONAI raised up judges for them, ADONAI was with the judge and delivered them from the hands of their enemies throughout the lifetime of the judge; for ADONAI was moved to pity by their groaning under those oppressing and crushing them.


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But after the judge died, they would relapse into worse behavior than that of their ancestors, following other gods to serve and worship them; they abandoned none of their practices or stubborn ways.


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So the anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el; he said, 'Because this nation violates my covenant, which I ordered their fathers to obey; and they don't pay attention to what I say;


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This is how I will test Isra'el, to see whether or not they will keep the way of ADONAI, living according to it, as their ancestors did.'


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So ADONAI allowed those nations to remain where they were, without quickly driving them out; he did not hand them over to Y'hoshua.


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These are the nations which ADONAI allowed to remain, in order to put to the test all the people of Isra'el who had not known any of the wars with Kena'an.


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This was only so that the generations of Isra'el who had previously known nothing of war might learn about it.


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These nations consisted of the five chiefs of the P'lishtim, all the Kena'ani, the Tzidoni, and the Hivi who lived in the hills of the L'vanon between Mount Ba'al-Hermon and the entrance to Hamat.


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They stayed there to test whether Isra'el would pay attention to the mitzvot of ADONAI, which, through Moshe, he had ordered their ancestors to obey.


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taking their daughters as their wives, giving their own daughters to their sons and serving their gods.


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Thus the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, forgot ADONAI their God, and served the ba'alim and asherim.


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Therefore the anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el, and he gave them over into the hands of Kushan-Rish'atayim king of Aram-Naharayim; and the people of Isra'el served Kushan-Rish'atayim eight years.


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But when the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, ADONAI raised up a savior for the people of Isra'el; and he rescued them; this was 'Otni'el, the son of Kalev's younger brother K'naz.


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The spirit of ADONAI came upon him, and he judged Isra'el. Then he went out to war, and ADONAI gave Kushan-Rish'atayim king of Aram into his hands; his power prevailed against Kushan-Rish'atayim.


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But the people of Isra'el again did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI strengthened 'Eglon the king of Mo'av against Isra'el, because they had done what was evil from ADONAI's perspective.


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In confederation with the people of 'Amon and 'Amalek, 'Eglon went out and defeated Isra'el, capturing the City of Date-Palms;


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But when the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, ADONAI raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, from the tribe of Binyamin, a left-handed man. The people of Isra'el appointed him to take their tribute to 'Eglon the king of Mo'av.


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Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long and strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes.


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But he himself, after reaching the quarries at Gilgal, went back and said, 'King, I have a secret message for you.' The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew.


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Ehud came to him; he was sitting alone by himself in his upstairs room, where it was cool. Ehud said: 'I have a message from God for you.' As the king arose from his seat,


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Ehud reached out with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into the king's belly.


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The hilt too went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, so that it came out behind.


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After Ehud had left, the king's servants came. Seeing that the doors of the upper room were locked, they said, 'He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool room.'


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They waited until they became embarrassed, but he still didn't open the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened them; and there before them lay their master, dead on the ground.


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But while they were delaying, Ehud escaped- he passed beyond the quarries and arrived safely in Se'irah.


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Upon arrival in the hills of Efrayim, he began sounding the call on the shofar; and the people of Isra'el went down with him from the hill-country; he himself took the lead.


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He said to them: 'Follow me, because ADONAI has given your enemy Mo'av into your hands. They went down after him, seized the fords of the Yarden opposite Mo'av and permitted no one to cross.


text:
On that occasion they defeated Mo'av, some ten thousand men, all tough, experienced soldiers; not one of them escaped.


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Thus was Mo'av subdued that day under the power of Isra'el. Then the land had rest for eighty years.


text:
After Ehud came Shamgar the son of 'Anat, who killed 600 P'lishtim with an oxgoad; and he too rescued Isra'el.


text:
So ADONAI handed them over to Yavin king of Kena'an. He ruled from Hatzor; and the commander of his army was Sisra, who lived in Haroshet-HaGoyim.


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The people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, because he had 900 iron chariots, and for twenty years he cruelly oppressed the people of Isra'el.


text:
She used to sit under D'vorah's Palm between Ramah and Beit-El, in the hills of Efrayim; and the people of Isra'el would come to her for judgment.


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She sent for Barak the son of Avino'am, from Kedesh in Naftali, and said to him: 'ADONAI has given you this order: 'Go, march to Mount Tavor, and take with you 10,000 men from the people of Naftali and Z'vulun.


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I will cause Sisra, the commander of Yavin's army, to encounter you at the Kishon River with his chariots and troops; and I will hand him over to you.''


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She replied, 'Yes, I will gladly go with you; but the way you are doing it will bring you no glory; because ADONAI will hand Sisra over to a woman.' Then D'vorah set out and went with Barak to Kedesh.


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Barak summoned Z'vulun and Naftali to come to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him, and D'vorah went up with him.


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Now Hever the Keini had cut himself off from the rest of Kayin, the descendants of Hovav Moshe's father-in-law; he had pitched his tent near the oak at Tza'ananim, which is close to Kedesh.


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So Sisra rallied his chariots, all 900 iron chariots, and all the troops he had with him, from Haroshet-HaGoyim to the Kishon River.


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D'vorah said to Barak: 'Get going! This is the day when ADONAI will hand Sisra over to you! ADONAI has gone out ahead of you!' So Barak went down from Mount Tavor with 10,000 men following him;


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and ADONAI threw Sisra, all his chariots and his entire army into a panic before Barak's sword; so that Sisra got down from his chariot and fled on foot.


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But Barak pursued the chariots and the army all the way to Haroshet-HaGoyim. Sisra's entire army was put to the sword; not one man was left.


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However, Sisra ran on foot to the tent of Ya'el the wife of Hever the Keini, because there was peace between Yavin the king of Hatzor and the family of Hever the Keini.


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Ya'el went out to meet Sisra and said to him, 'Come in, my lord; stay here with me; and don't be afraid.' So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.


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He said to her, 'Please give me a little water to drink - I'm thirsty.' She opened a goatskin of milk, gave him some to drink, and covered him up again.


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He said to her, 'Stand at the entrance to the tent; and if anyone asks you if somebody is here, say, 'No.''


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But when he was deeply asleep, Ya'el the wife of Hever took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, crept in to him quietly and drove the tent peg into his temple, right through to the ground; so that he died without waking up.


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So here is Barak pursuing Sisra, and Ya'el steps out to meet him and says, 'Come, I will show you the man you are looking for.' He goes into her tent; and there is Sisra, lying dead with the tent peg through his temple.


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The hand of the people of Isra'el came down more and more heavily against Yavin the king of Kena'an, until they had completely destroyed Yavin the king of Kena'an.


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'When leaders in Isra'el dedicate themselves, and the people volunteer, you should all bless ADONAI.


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Hear, kings; listen, princes; I will sing to ADONAI! I will sing praise to ADONAI the God of Isra'el.


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'ADONAI, when you went out from Se'ir, when you marched out from the field of Edom; the earth quaked, and the sky shook; yes, the clouds poured down torrents.


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'In the days of Shamgar the son of 'Anat, in the days of Ya'el, the main roads were deserted; travelers walked the byways.


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'They chose new gods when war was at the gates. Was there a shield or spear to be seen among Isra'el's forty thousand men?


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My heart goes out to Isra'el's leaders and to those among the people who volunteer. All of you, bless ADONAI.


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'You who ride white donkeys, sitting on soft saddle-blankets, and you walking on the road, talk about it!


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Louder than the sound of archers at the watering-holes will they sound as they retell the righteous acts of ADONAI, the righteous acts of his rulers in Isra'el. 'Then ADONAI's people marched down to the gates.


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'Awake, awake, D'vorah! Awake, awake, break into song! Arise, Barak! Lead away your captives, son of Avino'am!


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From Efrayim came those rooted in 'Amalek. Behind you, Binyamin is with your peoples. From Makhir the commanders marched down, and from Z'vulun those holding the musterer's staff.


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The princes of Yissakhar were with D'vorah, Yissakhar, along with Barak; into the valley they rushed forth behind him. Among the divisions of Re'uven they made great resolutions in their hearts.


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But why did you stay at the pens for the sheep, and listen to the shepherd's flute playing for the flocks? Concerning the divisions of Re'uven there were great searchings of heart.


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Gil'ad lives beyond the Yarden. Dan - why does he stay by the ships? Asher stayed by the shore of the sea, remaining near its bays.


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'Kings came; they fought. Yes, the kings of Kena'an fought at Ta'anakh, by the waters of Megiddo; but they took no spoil of silver.


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The Kishon River swept them away, that ancient river, the Kishon River. O my soul, march on with strength!


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''Curse Meroz!' said the angel of ADONAI, 'Curse the people living there with a bitter punishment for not coming to help ADONAI, to help ADONAI against the mighty warriors.'


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'Ya'el will be blessed more than all women. The wife of Hever the Keini will be blessed more than any woman in the tent.


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Then she took a tent peg in her left hand and a workman's hammer in her right; with the hammer she struck Sisra, pierced his skull, yes, she shattered and crushed his temple.


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He sank down at her feet, he fell and lay there; he sank at her feet, he fell - where he sank down, there he fell dead.


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'Sisra's mother looks out the window; peering out through the lattice she wonders, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are his horses so slow to return?'


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'Of course! They're collecting and dividing the spoil a girl, two girls for every warrior, for Sisra booty of dyed clothing, a plunder of colorfully embroidered garments, two embroidered scarves for every soldier's neck.'


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'May all your enemies perish like this, ADONAI; but may those who love him be like the sun going forth in its glory!' Then the land had rest for forty years.


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But the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI handed them over to Midyan for seven years.


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Midyan exercised its power harshly against Isra'el, and because of Midyan the people of Isra'el hid themselves in mountains, in caves and in other safe places.


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One time, after Isra'el's sowing season, Midyan, with 'Amalek and others from the east, attacked them.


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They set up camp by them and destroyed the produce of the country all the way to 'Azah; they left nothing for people to live on, no sheep, no oxen, no donkeys.


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For they came up with their cattle and tents, and they came in as thick as locusts; both they and their camels were beyond numbering, and they came into the land to destroy it.


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ADONAI sent a prophet to the people of Isra'el, who said to them: 'ADONAI the God of Isra'el says, 'I brought you up from Egypt, out of a life of slavery.


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I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all your oppressors. I drove them out ahead of you and gave you their land.


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And I said to you: 'I am ADONAI your God; you are not to be afraid of the gods of the Emori in whose land you are living.' But you paid no attention to what I said!''


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Then the angel of ADONAI came and sat under the pistachio tree in 'Ofrah that belonged to Yo'ash the Avi'ezri. His son Gid'on was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from Midyan.


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'Excuse me, sir,' answered Gid'on, 'but if ADONAI is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Didn't ADONAI bring us up from Egypt?' For now ADONAI has abandoned us and handed us over to Midyan.'


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ADONAI turned to him and said, 'Go in this strength of yours and save Isra'el from the hands of Midyan. Haven't I sent you?'


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But Gid'on answered him, 'Forgive me, my Lord, but with what am I to save Isra'el? Why, my family is the poorest in M'nasheh, and I'm the youngest person in my father's house!'


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ADONAI said to him, 'Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man.'


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Gid'on replied, 'If indeed you favor me, would you mind giving me a sign that it is really you talking with me?


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Please don't leave until I go and return with a gift and present it to you.' He replied, 'I'll wait till you come back.'


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Gid'on went in, cooked a young goat and made matzot from a bushel of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them out to him under the pistachio tree and presented them.


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The angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and matzot, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.' Gid'on did so.


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Then the angel of ADONAI reached out with the stick he was holding, touched the meat and matzot, and fire shot up out of the rock and burned up the meat and matzot. Then the angel of ADONAI disappeared before his eyes.


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Gid'on realized that he was the angel of ADONAI and said, 'Oh no! My Lord! ADONAI! Because I've seen the angel of ADONAI face-to-face!'


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Then Gid'on built an altar there to ADONAI and called it 'ADONAI-Shalom'; to this day it remains in 'Ofrah of the Avi'ezri.


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That very night ADONAI said to him, 'Take your father's bull and the other bull, the seven-year-old. Destroy the altar to Ba'al that belongs to your father, cut down the sacred pole next to it,


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and build a proper altar to ADONAI your God on top of this strong-point. Then take the second bull; and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred pole you cut down.'


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Gid'on took ten of his servants and did what ADONAI had told him to do. He didn't do it by day, because he was afraid of the men in his father's household and those from the city, so he did it at night.


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When the men of the city got up the next morning, there was the altar of Ba'al destroyed, the sacred pole cut down, and the second bull a burnt offering on the newly built altar.


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They asked each other, 'Who could have done this?' But after investigating, they concluded that Gid'on the son of Yo'ash had done it.


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'Bring out your son,' the men of the city demanded of Yo'ash, 'so that he may die, because he destroyed the altar of Ba'al and cut down the sacred pole next to it!'


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But Yo'ash said to all those crowding around him, 'You're defending Ba'al, are you? It's your job to save him? Anyone who defends Ba'al will be put to death before morning! If he's a god, let him defend himself! After all, somebody destroyed his altar!'


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Therefore on that day Gid'on was given the name Yeruba'al [let Ba'al defend], because they said, 'Let Ba'al defend himself against him, since he destroyed his altar.'


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Now all Midyan, 'Amalek and the others from the east joined forces, crossed the Yarden, and set up camp in the Yizre'el Valley.


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But the Spirit of ADONAI covered Gid'on. He sounded the call on the shofar, and Avi'ezer rallied behind him.


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He sent messengers throughout all M'nasheh, and they too rallied behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Z'vulun and Naftali; and they came up to join them.


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then, here: I will lay a wool fleece on the threshing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, while all the ground stays dry, I will be convinced that you will save Isra'el through me, as you said you would.'


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And it happened! He got up early in the morning, pressed the fleece together and wrung dew out of it, a bowlful of water.


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But Gid'on said to God, 'Don't be angry with me because I am asking one more thing, let me make one more test, please: this time let it be dry only on the fleece, with dew all over the ground.'


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And that is what God did that night - it was dry only on the fleece, even though there was dew all over the ground.


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Then Yeruba'al, that is, Gid'on, and all the people with him, got up early and set up camp by 'Ein-Harod; the camp of Midyan was north of them, by Giv'at-Moreh, in the valley.


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ADONAI said to Gid'on, 'There are too many people with you for me to hand Midyan over to them, because I don't want Isra'el to be able to boast against me, 'We saved ourselves by our own strength.'


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Therefore, proclaim to the people 'Anyone who is anxious or afraid should go back home, while we stay here on Mount Gil'ad.'' Twenty-two thousand returned, but ten thousand remained.


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ADONAI said to Gid'on, 'There are still too many people. Have them come down to the water, and there I will screen them for you. If I say of anyone, 'This one is for you,' he will go with you; and if I say, 'This one is not for you,' he won't go with you.'


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So he brought the people down to the water, and ADONAI said to Gid'on, 'Put to one side everyone who laps up water with his tongue the way a dog does, and put to the other side everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.'


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Three hundred lapped, putting their hand to their mouth; all the rest of the men got down on their knees to drink water.


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ADONAI said to Gid'on, 'I will use the three hundred men who lapped the water to save you; I will hand Midyan over to you. Let all these others go back home.'


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So they took the provisions and the shofars of the people; then he sent all the men of Isra'el away, each to his tent. But the three hundred men he kept. The camp of Midyan was in the valley below him.


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and after you hear what they are saying, you will have the courage to attack the camp.' So with his servant Purah he went down to the outposts of the camp.


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Now Midyan, 'Amalek and all the others from the east had settled in the valley as thick as locusts; their camels too were beyond counting, like the sand on the seashore.


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Gid'on got there just as a man was telling a comrade about a dream he had had: 'I just now dreamt that a loaf of barley bread fell into the camp of Midyan, came to the tent and struck it so hard that it overturned the tent and knocked it flat.'


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His comrade answered, 'This can only be the sword of Gid'on son of Yo'ash, a man of Isra'el. God has given Midyan and all its army into his hands.'


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When Gid'on heard the dream and its interpretation, he fell on his knees in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Isra'el and said, 'Get up! because ADONAI has handed Midyan's army over to you.'


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He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He put in the hands of all of them shofars and empty pitchers with torches in them.


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Then he said to them, 'Watch me, and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, whatever I do, you do the same.


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When I and everyone with me blow the shofar, then you blow your shofars all around the whole camp, and shout, 'For ADONAI and for Gid'on!'


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Gid'on and the hundred men with him arrived at the edge of the camp a little before midnight, just after they had changed the guard. They blew the shofars and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands.


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All three companies blew the shofars, broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands, keeping their right hands free for the shofars they were blowing; and they shouted, 'The sword for ADONAI and for Gid'on!'


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Then, as every man stood still in place around the camp, the whole camp was thrown into panic, with everyone screaming and trying to escape.


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Gid'on's men blew their 300 shofars, and ADONAI caused everyone in the camp to attack his comrades; and the enemy fled beyond Beit-Sheetah near Tz'rerah, as far as the border of Avel-M'cholah, by Tabat.


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Then men of Isra'el were summoned from Naftali, Asher, and both regions of M'nasheh; and they pursued Midyan.


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Gid'on sent messengers through all the hills of Efrayim, with the message, 'Come down and attack Midyan; and capture the rivers before they get there, as far as Beit-Barah, and also the Yarden.' So all the men of Efrayim came together and seized the rivers as far as Beit-Barah and the Yarden.


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They also captured two chiefs of Midyan, 'Orev and Ze'ev. They put 'Orev to death at the Rock of 'Orev and Ze'ev at Ze'ev's Winepress; then, as they kept pursuing Midyan, they brought the heads of Orev and Ze'ev to Gid'on, who had crossed to the far side of the Yarden.


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But the men of Efrayim complained to Gid'on, 'Why didn't you call on us when you went to fight Midyan? Why did you treat us this way?' They were sharp in their criticism.


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He answered by saying to them, 'How can what I have done be compared with what you have done? Aren't the grapes Efrayim leaves on the vines better than the ones Avi'ezer harvests?


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God handed over to you Midyan's chiefs, 'Orev and Ze'ev. What could I do that matches what you did?' By saying that, he appeased their anger at him.


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By now Gid'on and his three hundred men had come to the Yarden and crossed over. They were exhausted but were still pursuing the enemy.


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In Sukkot he asked the people there, 'Please give some loaves of bread to the men following me, because they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zevach and Tzalmuna the kings of Midyan.'


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But the chiefs of Sukkot said, 'You haven't captured Zevach and Tzalmuna yet, so why should we give bread to your army?'


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Gid'on said: 'If that's your answer, then after ADONAI has put Zevach and Tzalmuna in my hands, I will tear your flesh apart with desert thorns and thistles!'


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From there he went up to P'nu'el and made the same request, and the people of P'nu'el gave the same answer as those of Sukkot.


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So he answered the people of P'nu'el similarly, 'When I return safe and sound, I will break down this tower!'


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Now Zevach and Tzalmuna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all that remained of the entire army of the people from the east; since 120,000 arms-bearing soldiers had fallen.


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Gid'on went up, using the route of the nomads east of Novach and Yogbehah, and struck down the army when they thought they were safe.


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Zevach and Tzalmuna fled, but Gid'on pursued them. Thus he captured the two kings of Midyan, Zevach and Tzalmuna, and routed their whole army in panic.


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he captured a young man from Sukkot and asked him about the chiefs and leaders of Sukkot; he wrote down for him the names of seventy-seven of them.


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Then he came to the people of Sukkot and said: 'You insulted me when you said, 'You haven't captured Zevach and Tzalmuna yet, so why should we give bread to your exhausted men?' Well, here are Zevach and Tzalmuna!'


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And he took the leaders of the city and desert thorns and thistles, and used them to teach the people of Sukkot a lesson!


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Then he said to Zevach and Tzalmuna, 'Tell me about the men you killed at Tavor.' They answered, 'They looked like you, like a king's sons.'


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Gid'on replied, 'They were my brothers, my mother's sons. As surely as ADONAI is alive, I swear that if you had spared them, I would not kill you.'


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Then he ordered his oldest son, Yeter, 'Get up, and kill them!' But the boy didn't draw his sword; being still a boy, he was afraid.


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Then Zevach and Tzalmuna said, 'You, do it. You, kill us. Let a grown man do what takes a grown man's strength.' So Gid'on got up and killed Zevach and Tzalmuna; then he took the ornamental crescents from around their camels' necks.


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The men of Isra'el said to Gid'on: 'Rule over us, you, your son and your grandson, because you saved us from the power of Midyan.


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Then he added, 'But I have this request to make of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from the booty you have taken.' For the enemy soldiers had worn gold earrings, like all the other tribes descended from Yishma'el.


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They replied, 'We're glad to give them to you.' They spread out a robe, and each man threw in the earrings from his booty.


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The gold earrings he requested weighed more than forty-two pounds; and this doesn't include the crescents, pendants and purple cloth worn by the kings of Midyan and the chains around their camels' necks.


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Out of these things Gid'on made a ritual vest, which he located in his city, 'Ofrah. But all Isra'el turned it into an idol there, and it thus became a snare to Gid'on and his family.


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This is how Midyan was defeated by Isra'el, so that they ceased to be a threat. The land had rest forty years during the lifetime of Gid'on;


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Gid'on the son of Yo'ash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Yo'ash, in 'Ofrah of the Avi'ezri.


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But as soon as Gid'on was dead, the people of Isra'el again went astray after the ba'alim and made Ba'al-B'rit their god.


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and they showed no kindness toward the family of Yeruba'al, that is, Gid'on, to repay them for all the good he had done for Isra'el.


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Avimelekh the son of Yeruba'al went to Sh'khem, to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them and with the whole clan of his maternal grandfather. He said,


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'Please ask all the men of Sh'khem, 'Which is better for you - that all seventy sons of Yeruba'al rule over you, or that one person rule over you? And remember that I am your blood relative.''


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His mother's brothers spoke to all the men of Sh'khem and said all this about him, so that they followed their feelings and supported Avimelekh, arguing, 'After all, he's our brother.'


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They also gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Ba'al-B'rit; and he used these to pay good-for-nothing thugs to follow him.


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He went back to his father's house in 'Ofrah and killed his brothers the sons of Yeruba'al, all seventy of them, on a single rock, except for Yotam Yeruba'al's youngest son, who stayed alive because he hid himself.


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All the men of Sh'khem and all Beit-Millo got together and went and made Avimelekh king at the oak by the cult-pillar in Sh'khem.


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When they told this to Yotam, he went and stood on top of Mount G'rizim and shouted, 'Listen to me, you leaders of Sh'khem; then God will listen to you!


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But the olive tree replied, 'Am I supposed to leave my oil, which is used to honor both God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?'


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But the fig tree replied, 'Am I supposed to leave my sweetness and my good fruit just to go and hold sway over the trees?'


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But the grapevine replied, 'Am I supposed to leave my wine, which gives cheer to God and humanity, just to go and hold sway over the trees?'


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The thorn bush replied, 'If you really make me king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the thorn bush and burn down the cedars of the L'vanon!'


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'Here's the point. Have you been honest and straightforward in making Avimelekh king? Have you been fair with Yeruba'al and his household and treated him as he deserves?


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and now you are rebelling against my father's household. You've killed his seventy sons on a single stone and made Avimelekh, the son of his slave-girl, king over the men of Sh'khem, because he's your brother.


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I say this: if you are dealing honestly and righteously with Yeruba'al and his household today, then may you enjoy Avimelekh and may he enjoy you!


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But if not, let fire come out from Avimelekh and burn up the men of Sh'khem and Beit-Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Sh'khem and Beit-Millo and burn up Avimelekh!'


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But God sent a spirit of discord between Avimelekh and the men of Sh'khem, so that the men of Sh'khem dealt treacherously with Avimelekh.


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This came about so that the crime against the seventy sons of Yeruba'al might be avenged and the responsibility for their bloody death be placed on Avimelekh their brother, who murdered them, and on the men of Sh'khem, who helped him kill his brothers.


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So the men of Sh'khem sent out men to ambush him on the mountaintops. They robbed everyone who went past them, and Avimelekh was told about it.


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Ga'al the son of a slave came with his brothers and went on to Sh'khem, and the men of Sh'khem put their trust in him.


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They went out into the field, gathered their grapes and pressed the juice out of them. Then they held a feast and went into the house of their god to eat and drink, and there they insulted Avimelekh.


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Ga'al the son of a slave said, 'Who is Avimelekh? Think of the contrast with Sh'khem! Why should we serve Avimelekh? Isn't he the son of Yeruba'al? Isn't Z'vul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Sh'khem! Why should we serve Avimelekh?


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If I were in control of this people, I'd get rid of Avimelekh!' Then, addressing his words to Avimelekh, he said, 'Come out and fight! I don't care if you make your army even larger!'


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He sent messengers to Avimelekh in Tormah with this message: 'Ga'al the son of a slave and his brothers have come to Sh'khem, and they're inciting the city against you.


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In the morning, get up early, as soon as the sun rises; and attack the city. Then, when Ga'al and the men with him come out to fight you, do whatever you can to them.'


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Ga'al the son of a slave went out and stationed himself at the entrance to the city gate. Then Avimelekh and his men rose from their ambush.


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When Ga'al saw the men, he said to Z'vul, 'Look, there are men coming down from the mountaintops.' Z'vul answered, 'You're seeing the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.'


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Ga'al said again, 'Look, there are men coming down from the main hill in the land, and one group is coming on the road from the Fortuneteller's Oak.


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Z'vul said to him, 'Where's your mouth now? You said, 'Who is Avimelekh? Why should we serve him?' Aren't these the people you despise? Go on out and fight them!'


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But Avimelekh gave chase, and Ga'al took to flight; many fell wounded, strewn all along the way to the city gate.


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Then Avimelekh took up residence in Arumah, and Z'vul drove out Ga'al and his brothers, so that they could not live in Sh'khem.


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He took his men, divided them into three groups, and lay in wait in the field. When he saw the people going out of the city, he came out of hiding and slaughtered them.


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Avimelekh and his group rushed forward and occupied the entrance to the city gate, while the other two groups attacked all those in the field and killed them.


text:
Avimelekh fought against the city all that day; captured it, killed its people, destroyed its buildings and sowed its land with salt.


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When all the men in the fortress at Sh'khem heard about this, they took refuge in the stronghold of the temple of El-B'rit.


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so he led all his men up to Mount Tzalmon, where he took an axe in his hand, cut a branch off a tree, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to those with him, 'Quick! Do just what you saw me do!'


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They all did likewise, each man cutting off his branch; and they followed Avimelekh. They put the branches up against the stronghold, set them on fire, and burned down the stronghold; so that all the people from the Sh'khem fortress died, about a thousand men and women.


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But there was a fortified tower inside the city; and all the men and women took refuge in it, everyone in the city. They shut themselves inside and went up onto the roof of the tower.


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However, when Avimelekh approached the tower, attacked it, and then came up close to the tower's door in order to burn it down,


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He quickly called out to the young man holding his armor, 'Draw your sword, and finish me off, so that people won't say a woman killed me.' So his attendant ran him through, and he died.


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This is how God paid back Avimelekh for the wrong he did to his father in murdering his seventy brothers.


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God also repaid the men of Sh'khem for all the wrong they had done; on them came the curse of Yotam the son of Yeruba'al.


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After Avimelekh there arose to save Isra'el Tola the son of Pu'ah, the son of Dodo, from the tribe of Yissakhar. He lived in Shamir, in the hills of Efrayim.


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He had thirty sons who rode on thirty young donkeys. They owned thirty cities which are called Havot-Ya'ir to this day; they are in the territory of Gil'ad.


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Again the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective - they served the ba'alim, the 'ashtarot, the gods of Aram, the gods of Tzidon, the gods of Mo'av, the gods of the people of 'Amon and the gods of the P'lishtim. They abandoned ADONAI and did not serve him;


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so the anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el, and he handed them over to the P'lishtim and the people of 'Amon.


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For eighteen years, starting that year, they oppressed and persecuted all the people of Isra'el who lived beyond the Yarden, in the territory of the Emorim, in Gil'ad.


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The people of 'Amon also crossed the Yarden to fight Y'hudah, Binyamin and the house of Efrayim; so that Isra'el was greatly distressed.


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Then the people of Isra'el cried to ADONAI, 'We have sinned against you by forsaking our God and serving the ba'alim.'


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ADONAI said to the people of Isra'el, 'I saved you from the Egyptians, the Emorim, the people of 'Amon, and the P'lishtim, didn't I?


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Likewise, when the people of Tzidon, 'Amalek and Ma'on oppressed you, you cried out to me; and I rescued you from their power.


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The people of Isra'el said to ADONAI, 'We have sinned! Treat us in whatever way seems good to you, but save us today, please!'


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Then the people of 'Amon gathered together and set up camp in Gil'ad, while the people of Isra'el assembled and camped at Mitzpah.


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The people, the chiefs of Gil'ad, said to each other, 'Whoever leads the battle against the army of 'Amon will be head over everyone living in Gil'ad.'


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had other sons by his wife; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Yiftach away and told him, 'You will not inherit from our father, because you are another woman's son.'


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Then Yiftach fled from his brothers and lived in the territory of Tov, where he enlisted a gang of rowdies who would go out raiding with him.


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When the army of 'Amon attacked Isra'el, the leaders of Gil'ad went to fetch Yiftach from the territory of Tov


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Yiftach answered the leaders of Gil'ad, 'Didn't you hate me so much that you forced me out of my father's house? Why are you coming to me now, when you're in trouble?'


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The leaders of Gil'ad replied, 'Here is why we've come back to you now: if you lead us in war with the people of 'Amon, you will be head over everyone living in Gil'ad.'


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Yiftach answered them, 'If you bring me back home to fight the army of 'Amon, and ADONAI defeats them for me, I will be your head.'


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The leaders of Gil'ad said to Yiftach, 'ADONAI is witness that we promise to do what you have said.'


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Then Yiftach went with the leaders of Gil'ad, and the people made him head and chief over them. Yiftach repeated all these conditions at Mitzpah in the presence of ADONAI.


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Yiftach sent messengers to the king of the people of 'Amon to say, 'What's your problem with us? Why are you invading our territory?'


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The king of 'Amon answered the messengers of Yiftach, 'Because Isra'el took away my territory when they came up from Egypt. They took everything from the Arnon to the Yabok and the Yarden. Now, restore it peacefully.'


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with this response, 'Here is what Yiftach has to say: 'Isra'el captured neither the territory of Mo'av nor the territory of the people of 'Amon.


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But when Isra'el came up from Egypt, walked through the desert to the Red Sea and arrived at Kadesh,


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then Isra'el sent messengers to the king of Edom, to say, 'Please let us pass through your land.' But the king of Edom wouldn't let them. He sent a similar message to the king of Mo'av, but neither would he, so Isra'el stayed at Kadesh.


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Then they walked through the desert, around the territory of Edom and the territory of Mo'av, past the east border of the territory of Mo'av, and pitched camp on the other side of the Arnon; but they did not cross the border into Mo'av, for the Arnon was the border of Mo'av.


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Isra'el sent messengers to Sichon king of the Emori and king of Heshbon with this message, 'Please let us pass through your land to our own place.'


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But Sichon did not trust that Isra'el would only pass through his land, so he gathered all his people together, pitched camp in Yahatz and fought against Isra'el.


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ADONAI the God of Isra'el handed Sichon and all his people over to Isra'el, and they killed them. Thus Isra'el possessed all the territory of the Emori who lived there.


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They took possession of all the territory of the Emori from the Arnon to the Yabok and from the desert to the Yarden.


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So now that ADONAI the God of Isra'el has expelled the Emori before his people Isra'el, do you think that you will expel us?


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You should just keep the territory your god K'mosh has given you; while we, for our part, will hold onto whatever ADONAI our God has given us of the lands that belonged to others before us.


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Really, are you better than Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av? Did he ever pick a quarrel with Isra'el or fight with us?


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Isra'el lived in Heshbon and its villages, in 'Aro'er and its villages and in all the cities on the banks of the Arnon for three hundred years. Why didn't you take them back during that time?


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No, I have done you no wrong. But you are doing me wrong to war against me. May ADONAI the Judge be judge today between the people of Isra'el and the people of 'Amon.''


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Then the spirit of ADONAI came upon Yiftach; and he passed through Gil'ad and M'nasheh, on through Mitzpeh of Gil'ad, and from there over to the people of 'Amon.


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then whatever comes out the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of 'Amon will belong to ADONAI; I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.'


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He killed them from 'Aro'er until you reach Minnit, twenty cities, all the way to Avel-K'ramim; it was a massacre. So the people of 'Amon were defeated before the people of Isra'el.


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As Yiftach was returning to his house in Mitzpah, his daughter came dancing out to meet him with tambourines. She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter.


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When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, 'Oh, no, my daughter! You're breaking my heart! Why must you be the cause of such pain to me? I made a vow to ADONAI, and I can't go back on my word.'


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She said to him, 'Father, you made a vow to ADONAI; so do whatever you said you would do to me; because ADONAI did take vengeance on your enemies the people of 'Amon.'


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Then she said to her father, 'Just do this one thing for me - let me be alone for two months. I'll go away into the mountains with my friends and mourn, because I will die without getting married.'


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'You may go,' he answered, and he sent her away for two months. She left, she and her friends, and mourned in the mountains that she would die unmarried.


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After two months she returned to her father, and he did with her what he had vowed; she had remained a virgin. So it became a law in Isra'el


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that the women of Isra'el would go every year for four days to lament the daughter of Yiftach from Gil'ad.


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The men of Efrayim assembled, crossed into Tzafon and said to Yiftach, 'Why didn't you call us to go with you when you went over to fight the people of 'Amon? We're ready to burn down your house with you in it!'


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Yiftach answered, 'When my people and I were in a serious dispute with the people of 'Amon, I called you; and you didn't rescue me from their power.


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When I saw that you weren't rescuing me, I put my life in my own hands and went over to attack the people of 'Amon; and ADONAI gave them over into my power. So why have you come up today to fight me?'


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Then Yiftach gathered together all the men of Gil'ad and fought with Efrayim, and the men of Gil'ad defeated Efrayim; because they were saying, 'You Gil'ad men who live in Efrayim and M'nasheh have deserted Efrayim!'


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The men of Gil'ad cut off Efrayim from the crossings over the Yarden, and whenever anyone from Efrayim tried to escape and said, 'Let me go across,' the men of Gil'ad would ask him, 'Are you from Efrayim?' and if he said, 'No,'


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they would tell him to say 'Shibbolet.' If he said, 'Sibbolet,' because he could not make his mouth pronounce it right, they took hold of him and killed him on the spot at the Yarden crossing; at that time 42,000 men of Efrayim died.


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Yiftach judged Isra'el for six years. Then Yiftach from Gil'ad died, and he was buried in one of the cities of Gil'ad.


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He had thirty sons, and he had thirty daughters whom he sent abroad; he brought thirty women from abroad in to marry his sons. He judged Isra'el for seven years.


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He had forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Isra'el for eight years.


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Then Avdon the son of Hillel from Pir'aton died and was buried at Pir'aton in the territory of Efrayim, in the 'Amalek hills.


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Again the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, and ADONAI handed them over to the P'lishtim for forty years.


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There was a man from Tzor'ah from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoach; his wife was barren, childless.


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The angel of ADONAI appeared to the woman and said to her, 'Listen! You are barren, you haven't had a child, but you will conceive and bear a son.


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Now, therefore, be careful not to drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don't eat anything unclean.


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For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb. Moreover, he will begin to rescue Isra'el from the power of the P'lishtim.'


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The woman came and told her husband; she said, 'A man of God came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.


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But he said to me, 'Listen! You will conceive and bear a son, so now don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don't eat anything unclean, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb until the day he dies.''


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Then Manoach prayed to ADONAI, 'Please, Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.'


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God paid attention to what Manoach said, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoach wasn't with her.


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The woman hurried and ran to tell her husband, 'Here! That man, the one who came to me the other day, he's come again!'


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Manoach got up, followed his wife, went to the man and said to him, 'Are you the man who spoke to the woman?' He answered, 'I am.'


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Manoach asked, 'Now, when what you said comes true, what are the guidelines for raising the child? What should be done for him?'


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She shouldn't eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she shouldn't drink wine or other intoxicating liquor, and she shouldn't eat anything unclean. She should do everything I ordered her to do.'


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Manoach said to the angel of ADONAI, 'Please stay with us a bit longer, so that we can cook a young goat for you.'


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The angel of ADONAI said to Manoach, 'Even if I do stay, I won't eat your food; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to ADONAI.' For Manoach did not know that he was the angel of ADONAI.


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Manoach said to the angel of ADONAI, 'Tell us your name, so that when your words come true we can honor you.'


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Manoach took the kid and the grain offering and offered them on the rock to ADONAI. Then, with Manoach and his wife looking on, the angel did something wonderful -


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as the flame went up toward the sky from the altar, the angel of ADONAI went up in the flame from the altar. When Manoach and his wife saw it, they fell to the ground on their faces.


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But the angel of ADONAI did not appear again to Manoach or his wife. Then Manoach realized it had been the angel of ADONAI.


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But his wife said to him, 'If ADONAI had wanted to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, and he wouldn't have shown us all this or told us such things at this time.'


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The Spirit of ADONAI began to stir him when he was in the Camp of Dan, between Tzor'ah and Eshta'ol.


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He came up and told his father and mother, 'I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the P'lishtim. Now get her for me to be my wife.'


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His father and mother replied, 'Isn't there any woman from the daughters of your kinsmen or among all my people? Must you go to the uncircumcised P'lishtim to find a wife?' Shimshon said to his father, 'Get her for me. I like her.'


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His father and mother didn't know that all this came from ADONAI, who was seeking grounds for a quarrel with the P'lishtim. (At that time the P'lishtim were ruling Isra'el.)


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Shimshon went down with his father and mother to Timnah. When they came to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion roared at him.


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The Spirit of ADONAI came powerfully upon Shimshon, and barehanded he tore the lion to pieces as easily as if it had been a young goat. But he didn't tell his father or mother what he had done.


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Awhile later, as he was returning to claim his bride, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion and saw that there was now a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.


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He scraped the honey out into his hands and went on, eating as he went; and when he came to his father and mother, he gave them some; and they ate too. But he didn't tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.


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His father went down to the woman, and there Shimshon gave a banquet - this is what the young men used to do.


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Shimshon said to them, 'Let me present you with a riddle. If you can solve it within the seven days of the banquet and tell me the solution, I will give you thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of good clothes.


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But if you can't solve it, you give me thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of good clothes.' They answered, 'Tell us the riddle, we want to hear it.'


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So he said to them, 'Out of the eater came food; out of the strong came sweetness.' Three days passed, and they couldn't solve the riddle.


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On the seventh day, they said to Shimshon's wife, 'Coax your husband into telling us the solution to the riddle. Otherwise we'll burn down your father's house and you with it. You two called us here to turn us into paupers, didn't you?'


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Shimshon's wife went to him in tears and said, 'You don't love me, you hate me! You told a riddle to my fellow countrymen, and you haven't told me the answer.' He said to her, 'Look, I haven't even told it to my father and mother! Should I tell you?'


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But she had been crying throughout the seven days of the banquet; so on the seventh day, because she had kept pressing him, he told her the solution; and she passed it on to her people.


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Then, before sundown on the seventh day, the men of the city said to him, 'What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion?' Shimshon answered, 'If you hadn't plowed with my young cow, you wouldn't have solved my riddle now.'


