I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then.

Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”

Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance.

Therefore, Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he remained loyal to the Lord, the God of Israel.

It proceeded to Azmon and to the Brook of Egypt and so the border ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This is your southern border.

Then the border ascended to Debir from the Valley of Achor, turning north to the Gilgal that is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, which is south of the ravine. The border proceeded to the waters of En-shemesh and ended at En-rogel.

From there the border ascended the Valley of Hinnom to the southern Jebusite slope (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.

From the top of the hill the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, went to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then curved to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).

The border turned westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, went to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), descended to Beth-shemesh, and proceeded to Timnah.

He gave Caleb son of Jephunneh the following portion among the descendants of Judah based on the Lord’s instruction to Joshua: Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron; Arba was the father of Anak).

From there he marched against the inhabitants of Debir whose name used to be Kiriath-sepher,

and Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah as a wife to the one who strikes down and captures Kiriath-sepher.”

So Othniel son of Caleb’s brother, Kenaz, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as a wife.

When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor),

Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, with their villages;

Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah—two cities, with their villages.

It then descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.

This was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn. Gilead and Bashan came to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, who was a man of war.

They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our male relatives.” So they gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the Lord’s instruction.

As a result, 10 tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan,

Ephraim’s territory was to the south and Manasseh’s to the north, with the Sea as its border. They reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.

Joseph’s descendants said to Joshua, “Why did you give us only one tribal allotment as an inheritance? We have many people, because the Lord has been blessing us greatly.”

“If you have so many people,” Joshua replied to them, “go to the forest and clear an area for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, because Ephraim’s hill country is too small for you.”

But the descendants of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who inhabit the valley area have iron chariots, both at Beth-shean with its towns and in the Jezreel Valley.”

So Joshua replied to Joseph’s family (that is, Ephraim and Manasseh), “You have many people and great strength. You will not have just one allotment,

because the hill country will be yours also. It is a forest; clear it and its outlying areas will be yours. You can also drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

Then they are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south and Joseph’s family in their territory in the north.

But the Levites among you do not get a portion, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave them.”

As the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them to write down a description of the land, saying, “Go and survey the land, write a description of it, and return to me. I will then cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.”

From there the border went toward Luz, to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); it then went down by Ataroth-addar, over the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side of their border.

It curved northward and went to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—14 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the south).

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans.

The third lot came up for Zebulun’s descendants by their clans.

The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid;

Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon.

The boundary then turned to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre; it turned back to Hosah and ended at the sea, including Mahalab, Achzib,

Their boundary went from Heleph and from the oak in Zaanannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan.

“Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to his own city from which he fled.”

So they designated Kedesh in the hill country of Naphtali in Galilee, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

The Israelites gave these cities with their pasturelands around them to the Levites by lot, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) with its surrounding pasturelands in the hill country of Judah. Arba was the father of Anak.

But they gave the fields and villages of the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

Now that He has given your brothers rest, just as He promised them, return to your homes in your own land that Moses the Lord’s servant gave you across the Jordan.

“This is what the Lord’s entire community says: ‘What is this treachery you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against the Lord today?

Wasn’t the sin of Peor, which brought a plague on the Lord’s community, enough for us, so that we have not cleansed ourselves from it even to this day,

But if the land you possess is defiled, cross over to the land the Lord possesses where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.

“Yahweh is the God of gods! Yahweh is the God of gods! He knows, and may Israel also know. Do not spare us today, if it was in rebellion or treachery against the Lord

that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him. May the Lord Himself hold us accountable if we intended to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it.

For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!’ So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.

“Therefore we said: Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice.

Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord!’

We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar that our fathers made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

We would never rebel against the Lord or turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God, which is in front of His tabernacle.”

Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Him. As a result, you have delivered the Israelites from the Lord’s power.”

So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar: It is a witness between us that the Lord is God.

See, I have allotted these remaining nations to you as an inheritance for your tribes, including all the nations I have destroyed, from the Jordan westward to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Lord your God will force them back on your account and drive them out before you so that you can take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

“Be very strong and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left

Instead, remain faithful to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

One of you routed a thousand because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as He promised.

Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.

and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea.

“‘You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho—as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites—fought against you, but I handed them over to you.

But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.”

For the Lord our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through.

The Lord drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the Lord, because He is our God.”

But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins.

And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone—it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God.”

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, “Who will be the first to fight for us against the Canaanites?”

The Lord answered, “Judah is to go. I have handed the land over to him.”

Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come with me to my territory, and let us fight against the Canaanites. I will also go with you to your territory.” So Simeon went with him.

Caleb said, “Whoever strikes down and captures Kiriath-sepher, I will give my daughter Achsah to him as a wife.”

So Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as his wife.

When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised. Then Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak who lived there.

The spies saw a man coming out of the town and said to him, “Please show us how to get into town, and we will treat you well.”

Then the man went to the land of the Hittites, built a town, and named it Luz. That is its name to this day.

When Israel became stronger, they made the Canaanites serve as forced labor but never drove them out completely.

Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron or the residents of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced labor.

Naphtali did not drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or the residents of Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.

The Amorites refused to leave Har-heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. When the house of Joseph got the upper hand, the Amorites were made to serve as forced labor.

The territory of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim, that is from Sela upward.

You are not to make a covenant with the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done?

Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them, just as He had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did.

I did this to test Israel and to see whether they would keep the Lord’s way by walking in it, as their fathers had.”

These nations included: the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.

The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.

The Israelites cried out to the Lord. So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites.

Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him to Eglon king of Moab with tribute money.

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Move on, for this is the day the Lord has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the Lord gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him.

Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’”

My heart is with the leaders of Israel,
with the volunteers of the people.
Praise the Lord!

Jael is most blessed of women,
the wife of Heber the Kenite;
she is most blessed among tent-dwelling women.