And the children of Joseph spoke unto Joshua, saying, Why have you given us only one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing we are a great people, since the LORD has blessed us until now?

And Joshua answered them, If you are a great people, then get up to the forest country, and clear ground for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim is too narrow for you.

But the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and its villages, and they who are in the valley of Jezreel.

But the mountain country shall be yours; for it is a forest, and you shall cut it down: and all the borders of it shall be yours: for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they are strong.

But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and the half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.

And the border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lies on the south side of lower Bethhoron.

And the border extended from there, and turned the corner at the sea southward, from the hill that lies before Bethhoron southward; and ended at Kiriathbaal, which is Kiriathjearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west side.

And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusites on the south, and descended to Enrogel,

And it went around from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,

And Zelah, Haleph, and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

And all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalathbeer, Ramath of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

And their border went up toward the sea, and Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth, and reached to the brook that is east of Jokneam;

This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

And then the border turns to Ramah, and to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turns to Hosah; and the end is at the sea by the region of Achzib:

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

And they spoke unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the pasture lands for our cattle.

And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the pasture lands round about it.

And now the LORD your God has given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of Jordan.

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD?

Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD'S tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.

The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knows, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require an account;

For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad; you have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

But that it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, you have no part in the LORD.

Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.

And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that has fought for you.

And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God has promised unto you.

Be you therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside from it to the right hand or to the left;

But cleave unto the LORD your God, as you have done unto this day.

For the LORD has driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man has been able to stand before you unto this day.

One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fights for you, as he has promised you.

Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.

And Joshua said unto the people, You cannot serve the LORD: for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it has heard all the words of the LORD which he spoke unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God.

And they buried him within the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered scraps under my table: as I have done, so God has requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.

And Caleb said, He that strikes Kiriathsepher, and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.

And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.

And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled from there the three sons of Anak.

And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Show us, we pray you, the entrance into the city, and we will show you mercy.

And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is its name until this day.

Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.

That through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to test Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;

When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he is relieving himself in his summer chamber.

And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth of the nations.

Now Heber the Kenite, who was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent as far as the oak of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand: is not the LORD gone out before you? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.

Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No.

And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the peg was in his temples.

My heart is toward the rulers of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless you the LORD.

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself,

So let all your enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when it goes forth in its might. And the land had rest forty years.

For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but you have not obeyed my voice.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.

And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.

Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the idol pole that is by it:

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will you plead for Baal? will you save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one has cast down his altar.

And Gideon said unto God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,

Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside it, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise every one that bows down upon his knees to drink.

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else except the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand has God delivered Midian, and all the host.

And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall you do.

And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why have you served us thus, that you called us not, when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they did argue with him sharply.

And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison to you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

And he went up there to Penuel, and spoke unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.

Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? And they answered, As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.

And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise you, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also: for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.

And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Which is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.