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

And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firmly on the dry land in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation finished crossing the Jordan.

On that day Yahweh exalted Joshua {in the sight} of all Israel, and they respected him as they respected Moses all the days of his life.

you will let your children know [by] saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.'

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.

So the young men who were spies went and brought Rahab and her father and mother, her brothers, and all who were with her. And they brought all her family out and set them outside the camp of Israel.

But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute {and her family} and all who [were] with her, and she has lived in the midst of Israel until this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

And Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

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

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.

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."

The one caught with the devoted things will be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because {he transgressed the covenant} of Yahweh, and because he did a disgraceful thing in Israel." '"

So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought forward Israel, {tribe by tribe}, and the tribe of Judah was selected by lot.

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."

And Achan answered Joshua and said, "It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I did:

Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his cattle and donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that [was] his, and they brought them [to] the valley of Achor.

And Joshua said, "Why did you bring us trouble? Yahweh will bring you trouble on this day." And all Israel stoned them [with] stones; and they burned them with fire [after] they stoned them with stones.

Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up [with] the elders of Israel before the people of Ai.

When the king of Ai saw [this], the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle--he and all his army--to the meeting place before the Arabah. He did not know that [there was] an ambush for him behind the city.

Then Joshua and all Israel acted like they were beaten before them, and they fled {in the direction of the wilderness}.

Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city was rising; they returned and struck down the men of Ai.

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.

When Israel finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when all of them had fallen by {the edge of the sword} until they all had perished, all Israel returned [to] Ai and attacked it with {the edge of the sword}.

Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of Yahweh that Joshua commanded.

Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal for Yahweh the God of Israel,

Then all Israel, {foreigner as well as native}, with the elders, officials, and judges stood {on either side} of the ark before the priests and the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. Half of them [stood] in front of Mount Gerizim, and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses Yahweh's servant had commanded before to bless the people of Israel.

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.

they gathered themselves together to fight with one accord against Joshua and Israel.

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}."

And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you [are] living among us; how can we {make a covenant} with you?"

But the {Israelites} did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured {against their leaders}.

But all the leaders of the congregation said, "We have sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel, and so we cannot touch them.

And it happened that when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua captured Ai and had utterly destroyed it (just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he did to Ai and its king) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,

And Yahweh threw them into panic before Israel, who struck them [with] a great blow at Gibeon and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

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.

Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh, on the day Yahweh gave the Amorites over to the {Israelites}, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun in Gibeon, stand still, and moon, in the valley of Aijalon."

There has not been a day like this before it or after, that Yahweh listened to the voice of man; for Yahweh fought for Israel.

And Joshua returned and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal.

And when they brought these kings to Joshua, Joshua called all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of {the fighting men} who had gone with him, "Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came near and put their feet on their necks.

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

And Yahweh also gave it into the hand of Israel, and its king and all the people in it he struck with {the edge of the sword}. He left in it no survivor. He did to its king just as he did to the king of Jericho.

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 Yahweh gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day. He struck it with {the edge of the sword}, and everyone in it, just as he did to Libnah.

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

Then Joshua returned to Debir, and all of Israel with him, and they fought against it,

So Joshua struck all the land--the hill country, the Negev, the Shephelah, and the slopes--and all their kings; he left behind no survivor, and {all that breathed} he utterly destroyed as Yahweh the God of Israel commanded.

all of these kings and their land Joshua captured at one time, because Yahweh the God of Israel fought for Israel.

And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

And all these kings joined forces, and they came and camped together by the waters of Merom to fight with Israel.

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of their presence, for tomorrow at this time I [will] hand them over slain to Israel; you will hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."

And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.

Israel did not burn the cities standing on their mounds, except Hazor alone, [which] Joshua burned.

So Joshua took all this land: the hill country, all the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the Shephelah, the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel and its Shephelah,

For it was Yahweh that {hardened their hearts}, to meet Israel in war in order to utterly destroy them without mercy, that they would destroy them just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

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 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,

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.

But the {Israelites} did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites; Geshur and Maacah live among Israel to this day.

Only the tribe of Levites Moses did not give an inheritance; the offerings made by fire to Yahweh the God of Israel [are] their inheritance, just as he promised to them.

But to the tribe of Levi Moses did not give an inheritance; Yahweh the God of Israel, he [is] their inheritance, just as {he promised them}.

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}.

Thus Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he remained true to Yahweh the God of Israel.

And Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and {settled in it}.

And {nothing failed from} all the good things that Yahweh promised to the house of Israel; {everything came to pass}.

and ten leaders with him, {one leader for each} {family} from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one [was] the head of {his family} among the clans of Israel.

"Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What [is] this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh?

that you must turn today from following Yahweh? [If] you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel;

Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? {And he alone} did not perish because of his iniquity.'"

And the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans of Israel,

"Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if [it was] in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day

But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, 'In the future your children may say to our children, '{What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel}?

Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clans of Israel who [were] with him heard the words that the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and {they were satisfied}.

And it happened, after {a long time}, after Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and [after] Joshua was old and {well-advanced in years},

Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, heads, judges, and officials, and he said to them, "I am old and {well-advanced in years},

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem; he summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officials, and they presented themselves before God.

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods.

Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel."

Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who lived long after Joshua, and who had known all the work that Yahweh did for Israel.

And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out.

And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who saw all the great work Yahweh had done for Israel.

Moreover, that entire generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them who did not know Yahweh or the work he had done for Israel.

So {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he gave them into the hand of plunderers; and they plundered them, and he sold them into the hand of their enemies from all sides. They were unable to withstand their enemies any longer.

{So the anger of Yahweh burned} against Israel, and he said, "Because this people transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors, and have not obeyed my voice,

in order to test Israel whether or not they would observe the way of Yahweh, to walk in it just as their ancestors did."

These [are] the nations that Yahweh left, to test Israel by them ([that is, to test] all those who {had not experienced} any of the wars of Canaan,

in order that the generations of Israel would know war, to teach those {who had not experienced it} before):

They were [left] for testing Israel, to know [whether] they would keep the commands of Yahweh that he commanded their ancestors through the hand of Moses.

And {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim; and the {Israelites} served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.

And the spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into his hand, and {he prevailed over} Cushan-Rishathaim.

And again the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

He gathered to himself the {Ammonites and Amalekites}, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms.

And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel. And the land rested eighty years.

And Shamgar son of Anath came after him, and he killed six hundred Philistines with the goad of an ox; he also delivered Israel.

Now at that time Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, [was] judging Israel.

She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, "Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? 'Go, {march to} Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants of Naphtali and Zebulun.

"When long hair hangs loosely in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, bless Yahweh!