until the LORD gives relief to your relatives, as he did to you. Then they'll take the land that the LORD your God is giving them as their inheritance. You'll return to the land of your heritage and receive the inheritance that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan River, in the direction of the sunrise."

We'll listen and obey you in everything, just like we did with Moses. Only may the LORD your God be with you, just as he was with Moses.

Now the woman had taken the two men and hid them. So she replied, "The men really did come to me, but I didn't know from where they came.

because we heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Reed Sea right in front of you as you were coming out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan River to Sihon and Og whom you completely destroyed.

The Israelis did just as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River just as the LORD had spoken to Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the Israelis, and they carried them over to where they would be pitching camp, and they put them down there.

The commander of the LORD's Army replied to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you're standing is holy." So Joshua did so.

On the second day they marched around the city once and then went back to camp. They did this for six days.

Joshua then spoke to Achan, "My son, give glory and praise to the LORD God of Israel. Tell me right now what you did. Don't hide anything."

Joshua announced, "Why did you bring trouble to us? Today the LORD is bringing trouble to you!" So all Israel stoned him to death, incinerated them, and buried them with stones,

Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city."

I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we'll run away from them.

They'll come after us until we've drawn them away from the city, because they'll say, "They're running away from us just like they did before.' While we're running away from them,

When the king of Ai saw what had happened, he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn't know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city.

There wasn't a single man left in Ai or Bethel who didn't run out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai.

There wasn't one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

So they responded to Joshua, "We are your servants." Joshua asked them, "Who are you? And where did you come from?"

They answered, "Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation of the LORD your God, because we've heard a report about all that he did in Egypt,

along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.

So the leaders of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not ask the LORD about it.

The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders.

Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and asked them, "Why did you deceive us by saying "We live far away from you,' even though you were, in fact, living in our midst?

They replied to Joshua, "Because your servants had been informed that the LORD your God had certainly commanded his servant Moses to give you the entire land and to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land before you. So we were terrified for our lives because of you. That's why we did this.

So this is what Joshua did for them: he saved them from the Israelis, and they did not kill them.

So they did. They brought out these five kings to him from within the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that had been built on mounds of ruins, except for Hazor only, which Joshua burned.

Joshua did just what the LORD had commanded his servant Moses and just what Moses had commanded him, leaving nothing unfinished.

the Israelis did not drive out the descendants of Geshur or the descendants of Maacath Geshur and Maacath live within the territory of Israel to this day.

since Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe across the Jordan River. However, he did not give an inheritance to the descendants of Levi who lived among them,

since the descendants of Joseph constituted two tribes Manasseh and Ephraim. They did not allot a portion to the descendants of Levi in the land, since they were given cities to live in, along with pastures for their livestock and property.

So the Israelis did just as the LORD had commanded Moses they divided the land.

However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live within the territory of Ephraim to this day, but they serve as forced laborers.

The descendants of Manasseh did not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites predominated in that territory.

Later on, when the Israelis had become strong, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but they never did expel them completely.

At that time, the descendants of Joseph asked Joshua, "Why did you give us only one allotment and portion for an inheritance, since we're numerous and the LORD has blessed us all along?"

Didn't Zerah's son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God, and as a result God became angry at the entire community of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.'"

But we did this because we were concerned for a reason, since we thought, "Sometime in the future your descendants may say to our descendants, "What do you have in common with the LORD, the God of Israel?

"Later I commissioned Moses and Aaron, and I inflicted plagues on Egypt by what I did among them. Afterwards, I brought all of you out.

But when they cried out to the LORD, he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon the Egyptians, and swallowed them up. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.

"Next, you crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Jericho. But the citizens of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, so I gave them into your control.

I gave you a land for which you never worked and cities that you didn't build, but that you have lived in. You're eating from vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant.'

since the LORD our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the nations through whose territory we passed.