They will teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law; they will offer incense as a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar.

Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him; he protects him all the time, and the Lord places him on his chest.

May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor, and may his horns be those of a wild ox; with them may he gore all peoples, all the far reaches of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

They will summon peoples to the mountain, there they will sacrifice proper sacrifices; for they will enjoy the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the shores.

Of Gad he said: Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad. Like a lioness he will dwell; he will tear at an arm -- indeed, a scalp.

Of Dan he said: Dan is a lion's cub; he will leap forth from Bashan.

The bars of your gates will be made of iron and bronze, and may you have lifelong strength.

Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it, but you will not cross over there."

Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone.

This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.

"Go through the camp and command the people, 'Prepare your supplies, for within three days you will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to you.'"

They told Joshua, "We will do everything you say. We will go wherever you send us.

Just as we obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. But may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses!

Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed. But be strong and brave!"

that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us from death."

The men said to her, "If you die, may we die too! If you do not report what we've been up to, then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance to you."

Anyone who leaves your house will be responsible for his own death -- we are innocent in that case! But if anyone with you in the house is harmed, we will be responsible.

Joshua told the people, "Ritually consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform miraculous deeds among you."

The Lord told Joshua, "This very day I will begin to honor you before all Israel so they will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

Joshua continued, "This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

When the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Ruler of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up."

The stones will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, 'Why are these stones important to you?'

tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing. These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites."

When you hear the signal from the ram's horn, have the whole army give a loud battle cry. Then the city wall will collapse and the warriors should charge straight ahead."

But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster.

At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: "The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the Lord. He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!"

When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?"

The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation. I will no longer be with you, unless you destroy what has contaminated you.

Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: 'Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord God of Israel says, "You are contaminated, O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you."

Joshua said, "Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you today!" All Israel stoned him to death. (They also stoned and burned the others.)

I and all the troops who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them.

They will attack us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, 'They are retreating from us like before.' We will retreat from them.

Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you.

Then Joshua said to them, "Don't be afraid and don't panic! Be strong and brave, for the Lord will do the same thing to all your enemies you fight.

The Lord told Joshua, "Don't be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."

I will drive out before the Israelites all who live in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, all the Sidonians; you be sure to parcel it out to Israel as I instructed you."

That day Moses made this solemn promise: 'Surely the land on which you walked will belong to you and your descendants permanently, for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.'

Now, assign me this hill country which the Lord promised me at that time! No doubt you heard at that time that the Anakites live there in large, fortified cities. But, assuming the Lord is with me, I will conquer them, as the Lord promised."

Caleb said, "To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife."

Joshua said to the family of Joseph -- to both Ephraim and Manasseh: "You have many people and great military strength. You will not have just one tribal allotment.

The whole hill country will be yours; though it is a forest, you can clear it and it will be entirely yours. You can conquer the Canaanites, though they have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels and are strong."

Pick three men from each tribe. I will send them out to walk through the land and make a map of it for me.

Divide it into seven regions. Judah will stay in its territory in the south, and the family of Joseph in its territory in the north.

But as for you, map out the land into seven regions and bring it to me. I will draw lots for you here before the Lord our God.

But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land east of the Jordan which Moses the Lord's servant assigned them."

When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, "Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh."

Anyone who accidentally kills someone can escape there; these cities will be a place of asylum from the avenger of blood.

If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering tokens of peace on it, the Lord himself will punish us.

but as a reminder to us and you, and to our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, 'You have no right to worship the Lord.'

We said, 'If in the future they say such a thing to us or to our descendants, we will reply, "See the model of the Lord's altar that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you."'

The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them, so you can occupy their land as the Lord your God promised you.

know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God gave you.

But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you.

If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear quickly from the good land which he gave to you."

If you have no desire to worship the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the Lord!"

The Lord drove out from before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship the Lord, for he is our God!"

Joshua warned the people, "You will not keep worshiping the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you; he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, though he once treated you well."

The people said to Joshua, "No! We really will worship the Lord!"

The people said to Joshua, "We will worship the Lord our God and obey him."

Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against you, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness against you if you deny your God."

The men of Judah said to their relatives, the men of Simeon, "Invade our allotted land with us and help us attack the Canaanites. Then we will go with you into your allotted land." So the men of Simeon went with them.

Caleb said, "To the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher I will give my daughter Acsah as a wife."

the spies spotted a man leaving the city. They said to him, "If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you."

The Lord's angelic messenger went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my agreement with you,

At that time I also warned you, 'If you disobey, I will not drive out the Canaanites before you. They will ensnare you and their gods will lure you away.'"

So I will no longer remove before them any of the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died.

I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army. I will hand him over to you."

Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me, I will not go."

She said, "I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame on the expedition you are undertaking, for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman." Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, "Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for." He went with her into the tent, and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead with the tent peg in his temple.

Hear, O kings! Pay attention, O rulers! I will sing to the Lord! I will sing to the Lord God of Israel!

The Lord said to him, "Ah, but I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army."

Do not leave this place until I come back with a gift and present it to you." The Lord said, "I will stay here until you come back."

But Joash said to all those who confronted him, "Must you fight Baal's battles? Must you rescue him? Whoever takes up his cause will die by morning! If he really is a god, let him fight his own battles! After all, it was his altar that was pulled down."

Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it is dry, then I will be sure that you will use me to deliver Israel, as you promised."

The Lord spoke to Gideon again, "There are still too many men. Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. When I say, 'This one should go with you,' pick him to go; when I say, 'This one should not go with you,' do not take him."

The Lord said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army and I will hand Midian over to you. The rest of the men should go home."

and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave and attack the camp." So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp.

Gideon said, "Since you will not help, after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh your skin with desert thorns and briers."

He also threatened the men of Penuel, warning, "When I return victoriously, I will tear down this tower."

Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you."

He quickly called to the young man who carried his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so they will not say, 'A woman killed him.'" So the young man stabbed him and he died.

But since you abandoned me and worshiped other gods, I will not deliver you again.

The leaders of Gilead said to one another, "Who is willing to lead the charge against the Ammonites? He will become the leader of all who live in Gilead!"

The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "That may be true, but now we pledge to you our loyalty. Come with us and fight with the Ammonites. Then you will become the leader of all who live in Gilead."

Jephthah said to the leaders of Gilead, "All right! If you take me back to fight with the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me, I will be your leader."

The leaders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The Lord will judge any grievance you have against us, if we do not do as you say."

You have the right to take what Chemosh your god gives you, but we will take the land of all whom the Lord our God has driven out before us.

then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites -- he will belong to the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice."

The Ephraimites assembled and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, "Why did you go and fight with the Ammonites without asking us to go with you? We will burn your house down right over you!"

The Lord's angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, "You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son.

Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean.

Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines."

He said to me, 'Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.'"

Manoah prayed to the Lord, "Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God to visit us again, so he can teach us how we should raise the child who will be born."

She should not drink anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. She should obey everything I commanded her to do."

The Lord's messenger said to Manoah, "If I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, you should offer it." (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the Lord's messenger.)

Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!"