But the woman hid the two men and replied, "Yes, these men were clients of mine, but I didn't know where they came from.

When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. I don't know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!"

Now the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people was accomplished, in accordance with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people went across quickly,

Now all the men who left were circumcised, but all the sons born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised.

He replaced them with their sons, whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way.

On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn and marched around the city as before -- only this time they marched around it seven times.

Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent. The things were hidden right in his tent, with the silver underneath.

All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city. They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.

When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah. But he did not realize men were hiding behind the city.

All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.

No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

All the people, rulers, leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there. Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord's servant had previously instructed to them to do for the formal blessing ceremony.

they did something clever. They collected some provisions and put worn-out sacks on their donkeys, along with worn-out wineskins that were ripped and patched.

These wineskins we filled were brand new, but look how they have ripped. Our clothes and sandals have worn out because it has been a very long journey."

Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby.

They said to Joshua, "It was carefully reported to your subjects how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified we would lose our lives, so we did this thing.

All Jerusalem was terrified because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors.

Then Joshua executed them and hung them on five trees. They were left hanging on the trees until evening.

These kings came out with their armies; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots.

No Anakites were left in Israelite territory, though some remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

It encompassed all the cities of the plain and the whole realm of King Sihon of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon. Moses defeated him and the Midianite leaders Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba (they were subjects of Sihon and lived in his territory).

Half of Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities in the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were assigned to the descendants of Makir son of Manasseh, to half the descendants of Makir by their clans.

The land assignments to the nine-and-a-half tribes were made by drawing lots, as the Lord had instructed Moses.

The descendants of Joseph were considered as two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites were allotted no territory, though they were assigned cities in which to live, along with the grazing areas for their cattle and possessions.

The western border was the Mediterranean Sea. These were the borders of the tribe of Judah and its clans.

These cities were located at the southern extremity of Judah's tribal land near the border of Edom: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

These cities were in the lowlands: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

These cities were in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

These cities were in the desert: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,

The men of Judah were unable to conquer the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this very day.

Joseph's descendants, Manasseh and Ephraim, were assigned their land.

Also included were the cities set apart for the tribe of Ephraim within Manasseh's territory, along with their towns.

The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph's firstborn son, was also allotted land. The descendants of Makir, Manasseh's firstborn and the father of Gilead, received land, for they were warriors. They were assigned Gilead and Bashan.

The rest of Manasseh's descendants were also assigned land by their clans, including the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their clans.

for the daughters of Manasseh were assigned land among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

But the men of Manasseh were unable to conquer these cities; the Canaanites managed to remain in those areas.

Whenever the Israelites were strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.

The Jordan River borders it on the east. These were the borders of the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans.

These were the cities of refuge appointed for all the Israelites and for resident foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed someone could escape there and not be executed by the avenger of blood, at least until his case was reviewed by the assembly.

The first lot belonged to the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

The rest of Kohath's descendants were allotted ten cities from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, and from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Gershon's descendants were allotted thirteen cities from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribes of Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

Merari's descendants by their clans were allotted twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

They were assigned to the Kohathite clans of the Levites who were descendants of Aaron, for the first lot belonged to them.

The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted cities from the tribe of Ephraim.

The Merarite clans (the remaining Levites) were allotted twelve cities.

Each of these cities had grazing areas around it; they were alike in this regard.

We swear we have done this because we were worried that in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, 'What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel?

When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites, they were satisfied.

The Israelites were satisfied with their report and gave thanks to God. They said nothing more about launching an attack to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites lived.

The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money. So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph.