Then the descendants of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal; and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know the word that Yahweh said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea concerning you and me.

{I was forty years old} when Moses Yahweh's servant sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I returned {with an honest report}.

My companions who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt, but I remained true to Yahweh my God.

And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land that your foot has trodden on will be an inheritance to you and your sons forever, because you remained true to Yahweh my God.'

So then, look, Yahweh has kept me alive just as he promised these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses while Israel {wandered} in the wilderness. Now look, today {I am eighty-five years old}.

So now give me this hill country that Yahweh spoke [of] on that day, for you heard on that day that the Anakites [were] there, with great and fortified cities. Perhaps Yahweh [is] with me, and I will drive them out just as Yahweh promised."

Thus Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he remained true to Yahweh the God of Israel.

{According to the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua}, he gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a plot of ground among the descendants of Judah, Kiriath Arba, which [is] Hebron ([Arba] was Anak's father).

They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, "Yahweh commanded Moses to give an inheritance to us among our kinsmen." Therefore, according to the {command of Yahweh} he gave them an inheritance among the kinsmen of their father.

The descendants of Joseph spoke with Joshua, saying, "Why have you given us one allotment and one share [as] an inheritance? We are many people, which Yahweh has blessed."

And Joshua said to the {Israelites}, "{How long} [will] you be slack about going to take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

Describe the land [in] seven divisions, and bring [it] to me here; I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.

The Levites among you have no portion, for their inheritance [is] the priesthood of Yahweh; Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahweh's servant gave to them."

And {the men went immediately}, and Joshua commanded the ones going to describe the land, saying, "Go and walk about through the land, write [a description], and return to me, and here I will cast a lot for you before Yahweh at Shiloh."

and Joshua cast a lot for them at Shiloh before Yahweh, and there he divided the land for the {Israelites}, {to each a portion}.

{According to the commandment of Yahweh}, they gave him the city that he requested, Timnath Serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, and he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

These [are] the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes, distributed by allotment [to] the {Israelites}, at Shiloh {before Yahweh} [at] the entrance of the tent of meeting. And they finished dividing the land.

And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,

And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses to give us cities to live [in], with their pasturelands for our livestock."

So, {by command of Yahweh}, the {Israelites} gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands from their inheritance.

The {Israelites} gave to the Levites these cities and their pastureland by lot, just as Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses.

And Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and {settled in it}.

Yahweh gave them rest on every side, according to all that he had sworn to their ancestors, and nobody from all their enemies withstood them, for Yahweh had given all their enemies into their hand.

And {nothing failed from} all the good things that Yahweh promised to the house of Israel; {everything came to pass}.

and he said to them, "You have observed all that Moses Yahweh's servant commanded you, and you have listened to my voice in all that I have commanded you;

you have not forsaken your kinsmen these many days, up to this day, and you have observed the obligation of the command of Yahweh your God.

So then, Yahweh your God has given rest to your kinsmen, just as he promised them; so then, turn and go to your tents to the land of your possession, which Moses Yahweh's servant gave to you beyond the Jordan.

Only be very careful to observe the commandment and law that Moses Yahweh's servant commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

So the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned [home] and departed with the {Israelites} at Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead to the land of their possession, which they had acquired {according to the command of Yahweh} through the hand of Moses.

"Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What [is] this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh?

[Is] not the sin of Peor {enough for us}, from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh,

that you must turn today from following Yahweh? [If] you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel;

if, however, the land of your property [is] unclean, cross [over] to the land of Yahweh's property, where Yahweh's tabernacle resides, and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God.

"Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if [it was] in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day

for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if [it was] to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance.

But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, 'In the future your children may say to our children, '{What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel}?

Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendants of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.' So your children may put an end to our children worshiping Yahweh.

instead, it [is] a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us for performing the serving of Yahweh in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings; so that your children may not say in the future to our children, "You have no portion in Yahweh." '

And we thought, if they say to us and to our children in the future, we can say, 'Look at this replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; rather, it [is] a witness between us and you.'

Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that [is] before his tabernacle."

Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, "Today we know that Yahweh [is] among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the {Israelites} from the hand of Yahweh."

The descendants of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, "Because," [they said], "it [is] a witness between us that Yahweh [is] God."

And it happened, after {a long time}, after Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and [after] Joshua was old and {well-advanced in years},

and you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations {for your sake}, for Yahweh your God [is] fighting for you.

And Yahweh your God will push them {back before you} and drive them {out of your sight}, and you will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God promised to you.

But hold fast to Yahweh your God, just as you have done up to this day.

Yahweh has driven out before you great and strong nations; and as for you, {nobody has withstood} you to this day.

One of your men put to flight a thousand, for Yahweh your God [is] fighting for you, just as he promised you.

Take utmost care for [the sake of] your life to love Yahweh your God,

know for certain that Yahweh your God {will not continue to drive out} these nations from before you; they will be for you a snare and a trap, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

Look! {I am about to die}, and you know in all your hearts and souls that not one thing {failed} from all the good things that Yahweh your God promised concerning you; everything {has been fulfilled}; {not one thing failed}.

But just as all the good things came to you that Yahweh your God promised, so will Yahweh bring to you all the bad things until he has destroyed you from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

If you transgress the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded [to] you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, {Yahweh's anger will be kindled} against you, and you will perish quickly from the good land that he has given to you."

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods.

They cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea over them and covered them; your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for many days.

"So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh.

But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you [are] living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh."

And the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods,

for Yahweh our God brought us and our ancestors from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and did these great signs before our eyes. He protected us along the entire way that we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.

And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites who live [in] the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he [is] our God."

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve Yahweh, for he [is] a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you."

And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve Yahweh."

And Joshua said to the people, "You [are] witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh." And they said, "[We are] witnesses."

He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel."

And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice."

Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which [is] at the shrine of Yahweh.

And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God."

After these things Joshua son of Nun servant of Yahweh died; {he was one hundred and ten years old}.

Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who lived long after Joshua, and who had known all the work that Yahweh did for Israel.