It turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrise to the border of Chisloth Tabor. It went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia.

From there it passed along eastward to Gath Hepher, to Eth Kazin; and it went out to Rimmon which stretches to Neah.

The border turned around it on the north to Hannathon; and it ended at the valley of Iphtah El;

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

The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the children of Issachar according to their families.

Their border was to Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

The border reached to Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh. Their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.

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

The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.

Allammelech, Amad, Mishal. It reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihor Libnath.

It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah El northward to Beth Emek and Neiel. It went out to Cabul on the left hand,

and Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, even to great Sidon.

The border turned to Ramah, to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah, and it ended at the sea; Mehebel, Achzib,

Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty-two cities with their villages.

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

The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.

Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, Adaminekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakkum. It ended at the Jordan.

The border turned westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there to Hukkok. It reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrise.

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

The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.

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

So they made an end of distributing the land for inheritance by its borders. The children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.

According to the commandment of the LORD, they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and lived there.

The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,

He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them.

He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the manslayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.'"

These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands before the congregation.

Then the heads of ancestral houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of ancestral houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.

They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for our livestock."

The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of the LORD, these cities with their suburbs.

The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun.

The children of Israel gave these cities with their suburbs by lot to the Levites, as the LORD commanded by Moses.

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

To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah with its suburbs,

Ain with its suburbs, Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth Shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; two cities.

They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be Eshterah with its suburbs; two cities.

All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, Kartah with its suburbs,

All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities.

So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it.

The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. The LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of the LORD your God.

Now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan.

Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents.

Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half gave Joshua among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,

and spoke to them, saying, "Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with brass, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers."

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 to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

When they came to the region about the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to look at.

The children of Israel heard this, "Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that pertains to the children of Israel."

When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war.

The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,

"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, to rebel this day against the LORD?

Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD,

that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? It will be, seeing that you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD's tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

"El, God, the LORD. El, God, the LORD. He knows; and Israel shall know. If it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against the LORD, do not save us this day,

that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let the LORD himself require it.

If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, 'In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, "What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

Therefore we said, 'Let's now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;' that your children may not tell our children in time to come, 'You have no portion in the LORD.'

Therefore we said, 'It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, "Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you."'

Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle."

Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, "Today we know that the LORD is in the midst of 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 Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the leaders, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad lived.

It happened after many days, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,

that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, "I am old and well advanced in years.

You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the LORD your God who has fought for you.

Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.

The LORD your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as the LORD your God spoke to you.

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

that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them;

but hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

For the LORD has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.

One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is the LORD your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.

Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.

Else if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you;

know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.

It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which the LORD your God spoke to you, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you,

when you disobey the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you."

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.

I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in its midst: and afterward I brought you out.

I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Sea of Suf.

When they cried out to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and you lived in the wilderness many days.

Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;

but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.

You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.

I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.

If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond 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."

The people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;