But if you report this business of ours, we will be released from your oath that you made us swear."

The two men returned and went down from the mountain, and they crossed [over] and came to Joshua son of Nun, and they told him everything that happened to them.

Joshua rose early in the morning, and they set out from Acacia Grove. And they came up to the Jordan, he and all the {Israelites}, and they spent the night there before they crossed [over].

and they commanded the people: "When you see the Levitical priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God you must set out from your place and go after it.

Joshua said, "By this you will know that [the] living God [is] in your midst, and he will certainly drive out the Canaanites {from before you}, and the Hittites, Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

So then, take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, {one from each tribe}.

And it happened, when the people set out from their tents to cross [over] the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were {ahead of the people}.

the waters flowing down from above stood [still]; they stood up [in] one heap very far from Adam, the city that [is] beside Zarethan, while [the waters] flowing down to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, {were completely cut off}; and the people crossed [over] opposite Jericho.

"Take twelve men from the people, {one man from each tribe},

and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you, and set them up in {the place where you will camp tonight}.'"

So Joshua summoned the twelve men whom he had appointed from the {Israelites}, one from each tribe.

you will say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off {from before} the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones will be as a memorial for the {Israelites} for eternity."

Thus the {Israelites} did as Joshua commanded. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan as Yahweh told Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the {Israelites}, and they carried them over with them to {the camp}, and they put them there.

"Command the priests carrying the ark of the testimony {to come up} from the Jordan."

So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, "Come up from the Jordan."

And it happened that when the priests carrying the ark came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet {touched dry land}, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as before.

And the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.

And those twelve stones that they took from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

This [is] the reason why Joshua circumcised all the people: all the males who went out from Egypt, all the warriors, died in the wilderness as they went out from Egypt {on the journey}.

For all the people who left were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness {on the journey} [after] they left from Egypt were not circumcised.

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you." Therefore, the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

On the next day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate from the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted corn.

And the manna ceased the day after, when they [started] eating the produce of the land, and there was no longer manna for the {Israelites}. They ate from the crop of the land of Canaan in that year.

The commander of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you [are] standing [is] holy." And Joshua did so.

But Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You will not shout, and you will not let your voice be heard; a word will not go out from your mouth until the day I say to you 'Shout!' Then you will shout."

As for you, keep [away] from the things devoted to destruction so that you do not take them and bring about your own destruction, making the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it.

Then Joshua said to the two men who spied on the land, "Go [to] the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, just as you swore to her."

But the {Israelites} broke faith concerning the devoted things. Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things; and {Yahweh's anger was kindled} against the {Israelites}.

Now Joshua sent men from Jericho [to] Ai, which [is] near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, "Go up and spy out Ai." And the men went up and spied out Ai.

So about three thousand from the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.

The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, and they chased them from the gate up to Shebarim and killed them on the slope. And the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

Please, my Lord! What can I say after {Israel has fled from its enemies}?

The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear [of this], and they will surround us and cut off our name from the land. What will you do, for your great name?"

Israel has sinned and {transgressed my covenant} that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things; they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put [them] among their belongings.

The {Israelites} were unable to stand before their enemies; {they fled from their enemies} because they have become a thing devoted for destruction. {I will be with you no more} unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: "[There are] devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things from your midst."

And Joshua said to Achan, "My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and give him a doxology in court. Tell me, please, what you have done; do not hide [it] from me."

I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold [that] weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They [are] hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver [is] under it."

And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the {Israelites}. And they spread them out before the presence of Yahweh.

Then {they placed} on top of him a great pile of stones [that remains] to this day. And Yahweh {turned from his burning anger}, and thus the name of that place to this day is called the valley of Achor.

You will do to Ai and its king that which you did to Jericho and its king; you may take only its spoils and livestock as booty for yourself. Set for yourself an ambush against the city [from] behind [it]."

And he commanded them, saying, "Look, you are to lay an ambush against the city from behind. Do not go very far from the city and be ready.

Then I and all of the people who [are] with me will approach the city. And when they go out to meet us {as before}, we will flee from them.

They will come out after us until we draw them away from the city, because they will think, '[They are] fleeing from us {as before}.' So we will flee from them.

Then you will rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will give it into your hand.

All of the people who [were] in the city were called to pursue after them. As they pursued after Joshua, they were drawn away from the city.

The moment he stretched out his hand, those in the ambush stood up quickly from their place and ran. And they went [into] the city and captured it, quickly setting the city ablaze with fire.

Then the men of Ai looked behind them, and they saw smoke from the city rising to the sky; {they had no power to flee this way or that}, and the people fleeing the wilderness turned around to the pursuers.

Then the others from the city came out to meet them, {and they found themselves surrounded by Israel}, {some on one side, and others on the other side}. And they struck them down until no survivor or fugitive [was] left.

The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the time of evening, and as the sun went down Joshua commanded [them], and they brought down his dead body from the tree. Then they threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and they raised over it a great heap of stones [that remains] to this day.

There was not a word from all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before the assembly of all Israel, and the women, the little children, and the traveling foreigners among them.

And they went to Joshua at the camp [at] Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far land; so then {make a covenant with us}."

They said to Joshua, "We [are] your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who [are] you, and from where do you come?"

And they said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far land because of the name of Yahweh your God; we have heard of his reputation, of all that he did in Egypt,

This [is] our bread; [it was] hot [when] we took it from our houses as provisions on the day we set out to come to you. But now, look, it is dry and crumbled.

These [are] the wineskins that we filled new, but look, they have burst; and these [are] our clothes and sandals that have worn out from the very long journey."

So the leaders took from their provisions, but {they did not ask direction from Yahweh}.

And Joshua summoned them and said, "Why have you deceived us saying, 'We [are] very far from you' when you [are] living among us?

So he did this to them: he saved them from the hand of the {Israelites}, and they did not kill them.

So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and {all the fighting men} with him, {all the best warriors}.

Joshua came upon them suddenly {by marching up} all night from Gilgal.

And as they were fleeing from Israel, [they were] on the slope of Beth-horon, and Yahweh threw huge stones from the heavens on them as far as Azekah; and more died by the hail stones than those whom the {Israelites} killed by the sword.

But do not stay [there]; pursue after your enemies and attack them from the rear. Do not allow them to go into their cities, for Yahweh your God has given them into your hand."

And Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave, and bring to me those five kings from the cave."

And they did so, and brought him these five kings from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.

And it happened {at the time of sunset}, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they put large stones against the mouth of the cave, [which are there] to this very day.

And Joshua passed on, and all of Israel with him, from Makkedah [to] Libnah, and he fought against Libnah.

And Joshua passed on, and all of Israel with him, from Libnah to Lachish, and {he laid siege to it} and fought against it.

And Joshua passed on, and all of Israel with him, from Lachish to Eglon, and {they laid siege to it} and fought against it.

And Joshua went up, and all Israel with him, from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it

Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen up to Gibeon;

from Mount Halak [that] rises to Seir and to Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon {at the foot of} Mount Hermon; he captured all their kings, struck them, and killed them.

At that time Joshua came and exterminated the Anakites from the hill country, from Hebron, Debir, Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.

Joshua took all the land according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel, according to their tribal divisions, and the land rested from war.

These [are] the kings of the land whom the {Israelites} defeated, and of whose land they took possession beyond the Jordon {to the east}, from the wadi of Arnon up to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah to the east:

Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, [from] the middle of the valley and half of Gilead, up to the {Jabbok River}, [which marks] the border of the {Ammonites};

These [are] the kings of the land whom Joshua and the {Israelites} defeated beyond to the Jordan to the west, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon, and up to Mount Halak, [which] rises to Seir. And Joshua gave it [as] a possession to the tribes of Israel according to their allotments,

from the Shihor, which [is] {east of Egypt}, up to the border of Ekron to [the] north, which is reckoned as Canaanite; [there are] five Philistine rulers: the Gazites, Ashdodites, Ashkelonites, Gittites, Ekronites, and the Avvim.

and the land of the Gebalites, and all the Lebanon, {toward the east}, from Baal Gad {at the foot of} Mount Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath;

all the inhabitants of the hill country, from the Lebanon up to Misrephoth Maim, and all [the] Sidonians. I will drive them out from before the {Israelites}; only allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I have commanded you.

from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, and the city which [is] in the middle of the wadi, and all the plateau [from] Medeba up to Dibon;

all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei--he was left over from the survivors of the Rephaim; these Moses had defeated and driven out.

Their territory was from Aroer, which [was] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, and the city that [is] in the middle of the valley, and all the plateau by Medeba;

and from Heshbon up to Ramah-Mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim up to the territory to Debir;

Their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the settlements of Jair, which [are] in Bashan, sixty cities,

{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}.

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}.

And the name of Hebron formerly [was] Kiriath Arba; [Arba was] the greatest person among the Anakites. And the land rested from war.

Their southern border was from the end of the Salt Sea, from the bay facing southward;

[The] eastern border [is] the Salt Sea up to the mouth of the Jordan. [The] border on [the] northern side [runs] from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan;

and the border goes up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and to the north, turning to Gilgal, which [is] opposite the ascent of Adummim, which [is] south of the wadi; and the border passes on to the waters of En Shemesh, and it ends at En Rogel.

Then the border goes up [by] the Valley of Ben Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites from [the] south (that [is], Jerusalem); and the border goes up to the top of the mountain that [lies] opposite the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim to the north;

then the border turns from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and continues from there to the cities of Mount Ephron; the border [then] turns [to] Baalah (that [is], Kiriath Jearim);

and the border goes around from Baalah to the west, to Mount Seir, and passes on to the slope of Mount Jearim from the north (that [is], Kesalon), and goes down [to] Beth Shemesh, and passes [along by] Timnah.

Caleb drove out from there three of Anak's sons, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.

And from there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir [was] Kiriath Sepher).

When she came [to him] she urged him to ask her father for a field. So she dismounted from the donkey, and Caleb said to her, "{What do you want}?"

from Ekron to the sea, and all that {were near} Ashdod and their villages.

The allotment of the descendants of Joseph went from [the] Jordan by Jericho, at the waters of Jericho to the east, [into] the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country [to] Bethel;

it continues from Bethel to Luz, and it passes [along] to the territory of the Arkites at Ataroth.