March Twenty Six

~Good Morning~

It is such a beautiful day. God does make mornings special. 

Thanks for reading my blog. If it is your first time. Please know I am searching for answers and comments from you. Please click comment and let me know some of what you know.

• I thought God was going to get rid of all the people? What am I not understanding? ¹³ But the Israelites failed to drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.
• How does this guy have magic? How does he tell the future? ²² The Israelites had also killed Balaam son of Beor, who used magic to tell the future.
• Please explain the word bless. I thought it would mean give here but it doesn't? I am so confused yet I use it all the time.¹³ So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land.

Joshua 12:7-15:19 (New Living Translation)

Kings Defeated West of the Jordan

 ⁷ The following is a list of the kings that Joshua and the Israelite armies defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir. (Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel as their possession, ⁸ including the hill country, the western foothills,^[a] the Jordan Valley, the mountain slopes, the Judean wilderness, and the Negev. The people who lived in this region were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.) These are the kings Israel defeated: ⁹ The king of Jericho
   The king of Ai, near Bethel
 ¹⁰ The king of Jerusalem
   The king of Hebron
 ¹¹ The king of Jarmuth
   The king of Lachish
 ¹² The king of Eglon
   The king of Gezer
 ¹³ The king of Debir
   The king of Geder
 ¹⁴ The king of Hormah
   The king of Arad
 ¹⁵ The king of Libnah
   The king of Adullam
 ¹⁶ The king of Makkedah
   The king of Bethel
 ¹⁷ The king of Tappuah
   The king of Hepher
 ¹⁸ The king of Aphek
   The king of Lasharon
 ¹⁹ The king of Madon
   The king of Hazor
 ²⁰ The king of Shimron-meron
   The king of Acshaph
 ²¹ The king of Taanach
   The king of Megiddo
 ²² The king of Kedesh
   The king of Jokneam in Carmel
 ²³ The king of Dor in the town of Naphoth-dor^[b]
   The king of Goyim in Gilgal^[c]
 24 The king of Tirzah.
   In all, thirty-one kings were defeated.

Joshua 13

The Land Yet to Be Conquered

 ¹ When Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered. ² This is the territory that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and the Geshurites, ³ and the larger territory of the Canaanites, extending from the stream of Shihor on the border of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron. It includes the territory of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. The land of the Avvites ⁴ in the south also remains to be conquered. In the north, the following area has not yet been conquered: all the land of the Canaanites, including Mearah (which belongs to the Sidonians), stretching northward to Aphek on the border of the Amorites; ⁵ the land of the Gebalites and all of the Lebanon mountain area to the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath; ⁶ and all the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the land of the Sidonians.   “I myself will drive these people out of the land ahead of the Israelites. So be sure to give this land to Israel as a special possession, just as I have commanded you. ⁷ Include all this territory as Israel’s possession when you divide this land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

The Land Divided East of the Jordan

 ⁸ Half the tribe of Manasseh and the tribes of Reuben and Gad had already received their grants of land on the east side of the Jordan, for Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously assigned this land to them. ⁹ Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge (including the town in the middle of the gorge) to the plain beyond Medeba, as far as Dibon. ¹⁰ It also included all the towns of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had reigned in Heshbon, and extended as far as the borders of Ammon. ¹¹ It included Gilead, the territory of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah, all of Mount Hermon, all of Bashan as far as Salecah, ¹² and all the territory of King Og of Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. King Og was the last of the Rephaites, for Moses had attacked them and driven them out. ¹³ But the Israelites failed to drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah, so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.

An Allotment for the Tribe of Levi

 ¹⁴ Moses did not assign any allotment of land to the tribe of Levi. Instead, as the Lord had promised them, their allotment came from the offerings burned on the altar to the Lord, the God of Israel.

The Land Given to the Tribe of Reuben

 ¹⁵ Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the tribe of Reuben. ¹⁶ Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge (including the town in the middle of the gorge) to the plain beyond Medeba. ¹⁷ It included Heshbon and the other towns on the plain—Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill above the valley,²⁰ Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth.
 ²¹ The land of Reuben also included all the towns of the plain and the entire kingdom of Sihon. Sihon was the Amorite king who had reigned in Heshbon and was killed by Moses along with the leaders of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—princes living in the region who were allied with Sihon. ²² The Israelites had also killed Balaam son of Beor, who used magic to tell the future. ²³ The Jordan River marked the western boundary for the tribe of Reuben. The towns and their surrounding villages in this area were given as a homeland to the clans of the tribe of Reuben.

The Land Given to the Tribe of Gad

 ²⁴ Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the tribe of Gad. ²⁵ Their territory included Jazer, all the towns of Gilead, and half of the land of Ammon, as far as the town of Aroer just west of^[d] Rabbah. ²⁶ It extended from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to Lo-debar.^[e] 27 In the valley were Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon. The western boundary ran along the Jordan River, extended as far north as the tip of the Sea of Galilee,^[f] and then turned eastward. ²⁸ The towns and their surrounding villages in this area were given as a homeland to the clans of the tribe of Gad.

The Land Given to the Half-Tribe of Manasseh

 ²⁹ Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh. ³⁰ Their territory extended from Mahanaim, including all of Bashan, all the former kingdom of King Og, and the sixty towns of Jair in Bashan. ³¹ It also included half of Gilead and King Og’s royal cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei. All this was given to the clans of the descendants of Makir, who was Manasseh’s son.
 ³² These are the allotments Moses had made while he was on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River, east of Jericho. ³³ But Moses gave no allotment of land to the tribe of Levi, for the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised that he himself would be their allotment.

Joshua 14

The Land Divided West of the Jordan

 ¹ The remaining tribes of Israel received land in Canaan as allotted by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders. ² These nine and a half tribes received their grants of land by means of sacred lots, in accordance with the Lord’s command through Moses. ³ Moses had already given a grant of land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River, but he had given the Levites no such allotment. ⁴ The descendants of Joseph had become two separate tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. And the Levites were given no land at all, only towns to live in with surrounding pasturelands for their livestock and all their possessions. ⁵ So the land was distributed in strict accordance with the Lord’s commands to Moses.

Caleb Requests His Land

 ⁶ A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land of Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, ⁸ but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. ⁹ So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’ ¹⁰ “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. ¹² So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”
 ¹³ So Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land. ¹⁴ Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ (Previously Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba. It had been named after Arba, a great hero of the descendants of Anak.)
   And the land had rest from war.

Joshua 15

The Land Given to the Tribe of Judah

 ¹ The allotment for the clans of the tribe of Judah reached southward to the border of Edom, as far south as the wilderness of Zin. ² The southern boundary began at the south bay of the Dead Sea,^[g] 3 ran south of Scorpion Pass^[h] into the wilderness of Zin, and then went south of Kadesh-barnea to Hezron. Then it went up to Addar, where it turned toward Karka. ⁴ From there it passed to Azmon until it finally reached the Brook of Egypt, which it followed to the Mediterranean Sea.^[i] This was their^[j] southern boundary.
 ⁵ The eastern boundary extended along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan River.
   The northern boundary began at the bay where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea, ⁶ went up from there to Beth-hoglah, then proceeded north of Beth-arabah to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben’s son.) ⁷ From that point it went through the valley of Achor to Debir, turning north toward Gilgal, which is across from the slopes of Adummim on the south side of the valley. From there the boundary extended to the springs at En-shemesh and on to En-rogel. ⁸ The boundary then passed through the valley of Ben-Hinnom, along the southern slopes of the Jebusites, where the city of Jerusalem is located. Then it went west to the top of the mountain above the valley of Hinnom, and on up to the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. ⁹ From there the boundary extended from the top of the mountain to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,^[k] and from there to the towns on Mount Ephron. Then it turned toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). ¹⁰ The boundary circled west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the town of Kesalon on the northern slope of Mount Jearim, and went down to Beth-shemesh and on to Timnah.¹¹ The boundary then proceeded to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, where it turned toward Shikkeron and Mount Baalah. It passed Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
 ¹² The western boundary was the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea.^[l]
   These are the boundaries for the clans of the tribe of Judah.

The Land Given to Caleb

 ¹³ The Lord commanded Joshua to assign some of Judah’s territory to Caleb son of Jephunneh. So Caleb was given the town of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), which had been named after Anak’s ancestor. ¹⁴ Caleb drove out the three groups of Anakites—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak. ¹⁵ From there he went to fight against the people living in the town of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher). ¹⁶Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” ¹⁷Othniel, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s wife.
 ¹⁸ When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him^[m] to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s the matter?”
 ¹⁹ She said, “Give me another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

March Twenty Five

~Good Morning~

Sooo I am in complete heaven right now. I am sitting on my sofa and Saige came out early this morning so she fell asleep on my chest. She is the worlds best cuddler and hugger. It brings tears to my eyes. And I am not mushy that way. She just melts in your arms like your best  just like your best teddy bear when you were a kid. AHHHHHHHHHH. Motherhood is the best gift ever.

• What is this book? Do we know what is recorded in it?                          Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar^[b]? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.^[c] 14 There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!
• ^{Why were some left alive?I thought all of them were...err..cursed (is that the right word?)...punished?} 
  ²²None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
   ²³ So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

Joshua 10

Israel Defeats the Southern Armies

   Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and completely destroyed^[a] Ai and killed its king, just as he had destroyed the town of Jericho and killed its king. He also learned that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel and were now their allies. ² He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large town—as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were strong warriors. ³ So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent messengers to several other kings: Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon. ⁴ “Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them, “for they have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.” ⁵ So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack. They moved all their troops into place and attacked Gibeon.
 ⁶ The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal. “Don’t abandon your servants now!” they pleaded. “Come at once! Save us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have joined forces to attack us.”
 ⁷ So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon. ⁸“Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.”
 ⁹ Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the Lorddestroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword.
 ¹² On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said,
   “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon,
      and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”
 ¹³ So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.
   Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar^[b]? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.^[c] 14 There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!
 ¹⁵ Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

Joshua Kills the Five Southern Kings

 ¹⁶ During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷ When Joshua heard that they had been found, ¹⁸ he issued this command: “Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks, and place guards at the entrance to keep the kings inside. ¹⁹ The rest of you continue chasing the enemy and cut them down from the rear. Don’t give them a chance to get back to their towns, for the Lord your God has given you victory over them.” ²⁰ So Joshua and the Israelite army continued the slaughter and completely crushed the enemy. They totally wiped out the five armies except for a tiny remnant that managed to reach their fortified towns. ²¹ Then the Israelites returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. After that, no one dared to speak even a word against Israel.
 ²² Then Joshua said, “Remove the rocks covering the opening of the cave, and bring the five kings to me.” ²³ So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. ²⁴ When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told.
 ²⁵ “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua told his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.” ²⁶ Then Joshua killed each of the five kings and impaled them on five sharpened poles, where they hung until evening.
 ²⁷ As the sun was going down, Joshua gave instructions for the bodies of the kings to be taken down from the poles and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Then they covered the opening of the cave with a pile of large rocks, which remains to this very day.

Israel Destroys the Southern Towns

 ²⁸ That same day Joshua captured and destroyed the town of Makkedah. He killed everyone in it, including the king, leaving no survivors. He destroyed them all, and he killed the king of Makkedah as he had killed the king of Jericho. ²⁹ Then Joshua and the Israelites went to Libnah and attacked it. ³⁰ There, too, the Lord gave them the town and its king. He killed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of Libnah as he had killed the king of Jericho. ³¹ From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lachish and attacked it. ³² Here again, the Lord gave them Lachish. Joshua took it on the second day and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Libnah. ³³ During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer arrived with his army to help defend the town. But Joshua’s men killed him and his army, leaving no survivors.
 ³⁴ Then Joshua and the Israelite army went on to Eglon and attacked it. ³⁵ They captured it that day and killed everyone in it. He completely destroyed everyone, just as he had done at Lachish. ³⁶ From Eglon, Joshua and the Israelite army went up to Hebron and attacked it. ³⁷ They captured the town and killed everyone in it, including its king, leaving no survivors. They did the same thing to all of its surrounding villages. And just as he had done at Eglon, he completely destroyed the entire population.
 ³⁸ Then Joshua and the Israelites turned back and attacked Debir. ³⁹ He captured the town, its king, and all of its surrounding villages. He completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He did to Debir and its king just what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.
 ⁴⁰ So Joshua conquered the whole region—the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills,^[d] and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. ⁴¹ Joshua slaughtered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and from the region around the town of Goshen up to Gibeon. ⁴² Joshua conquered all these kings and their land in a single campaign, for the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for his people.
 ⁴³ Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

Joshua 11

Israel Defeats the Northern Armies

 ¹ When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph; ² all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee^[e]; the kings in the Galilean foothills^[f]; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west; ³ the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴ All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. ⁵ The kings joined forces and established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.
 ⁶ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.”
 ⁷ So Joshua and all his fighting men traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly. ⁸ And the Lord gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive. ⁹ Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the Lord had instructed.
 ¹⁰ Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of all these kingdoms.) ¹¹ The Israelites completely destroyed^[g] every living thing in the city, leaving no survivors. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city.
 ¹² Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. ¹³ But the Israelites did not burn any of the towns built on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors. ¹⁵ As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the Lord had given to Moses.
 ¹⁶ So Joshua conquered the entire region—the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley,^[h] the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills. ¹⁷ The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir in the south, as far north as Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories, ¹⁸waging war for a long time to accomplish this. ¹⁹ No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated. ²⁰ For the Lord hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites. So they were completely destroyed without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
 ²¹ During this period Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns. ²²None of the descendants of Anak were left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
 ²³ So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the Lord had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

Joshua 12

Kings Defeated East of the Jordan

 ¹ These are the kings east of the Jordan River who had been killed by the Israelites and whose land was taken. Their territory extended from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon and included all the land east of the Jordan Valley.^[i] 2 King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated. His kingdom included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge to the Jabbok River, which serves as a border for the Ammonites. This territory included the southern half of the territory of Gilead. ³ Sihon also controlled the Jordan Valley and regions to the east—from as far north as the Sea of Galilee to as far south as the Dead Sea,^[j]including the road to Beth-jeshimoth and southward to the slopes of Pisgah.
 ⁴ King Og of Bashan, the last of the Rephaites, lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵ He ruled a territory stretching from Mount Hermon to Salecah in the north and to all of Bashan in the east, and westward to the borders of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. This territory included the northern half of Gilead, as far as the boundary of King Sihon of Heshbon.
 ⁶ Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the Israelites had destroyed the people of King Sihon and King Og. And Moses gave their land as a possession to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

March Twenty Four

~Good Morning~
Any new readers this morning? Don't forget to click the follow button and Please leave me comments. It is how I learn even more. Or add your questions too.

• Wouldn't this take days? There were so many people to go through? ¹⁶ Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out.
• I pictured Joshua's voice sweet when he says this and I was going to question why he would be lying (kind of fooling him into confessing). Now I reread it and I view it as Joshua more demanding him to confess. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.” ²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. ²
• Why were they so barbaric????? Is it necessary?  ²⁹ Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.
• ^{Do we have this book? Do we know what is in it?34} Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction. ³⁵ Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.
•  Isn't life just that easy! Talk to God about everything and he will guide you.¹⁴ So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.
•  Why do they have to stick to a vow that had been made out of deceipt? and I thought they were to take over everything in the land?¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ......
  ²⁶ So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. ²⁷ But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the Lord—wherever the Lord would choose to build it. And that is what they do to this day.
  1 Chronicles 2:7

Joshua 7

Ai Defeats the Israelites

 ¹ But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord.^[a] A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri^[b] son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.

 ² Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven. ³ When they returned, they told Joshua, “There’s no need for all of us to go up there; it won’t take more than two or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don’t make all our people struggle to go up there.”

 ⁴ So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai ⁵ chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries,^[c] and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away.

 ⁶ Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the Lord until evening. ⁷ Then Joshua cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! ⁸ Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? ⁹ For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?”

 ¹⁰ But the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? ¹¹ Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. ¹² That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.

 ¹³ “Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.

 ¹⁴ “In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the Lord will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one. ¹⁵ The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel.”

Achan’s Sin

 ¹⁶ Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. ¹⁷ Then the clans of Judah came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came forward, and the family of Zimri was singled out. ¹⁸ Every member of Zimri’s family was brought forward person by person, and Achan was singled out.

 ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.”

 ²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. ²¹ Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon,^[d] 200 silver coins,^[e] and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound.^[f] I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”

 ²² So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achanad said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. ²³ They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord.

 ²⁴ Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. ²⁵ Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. ²⁶ They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble^[g] ever since. So the Lordwas no longer angry.

Joshua 8

The Israelites Defeat Ai

 ¹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land. ² You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.”

 ³ So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night ⁴ with these orders: “Hide in ambush close behind the town and be ready for action. ⁵ When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them. ⁶We will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then, while we are running from them, ⁷ you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the Lord your God will give it to you. ⁸ Set the town on fire, as the Lord has commanded. You have your orders.”

 ⁹ So they left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night. ¹⁰ Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel. ¹¹ All the fighting men who were with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the town. ¹² That night Joshua sent 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town. ¹³ So they stationed the main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley.

 ¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley.^[h] But he didn’t realize there was an ambush behind the town. ¹⁵ Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten.¹⁶ Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town. ¹⁷ There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel^[i] who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

 ¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded. ¹⁹ As soon as Joshua gave this signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.

 ²⁰ When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers. ²¹ When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped. ²³ Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

 ²⁴ When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside. ²⁵ So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all. ²⁶ For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed.^[j] 27 Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the Lord had commanded Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned the town of Ai,^[k] and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day.

 ²⁹ Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.

The Lord’s Covenant Renewed

 ³⁰ Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal. ³¹ He followed the commands that Moses the Lord’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.”^[l] Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. ³² And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar^[m] the instructions Moses had given them.

 ³³ Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.

 ³⁴ Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction. ³⁵ Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

Joshua 9

The Gibeonites Deceive Israel

 ¹ Now all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about what had happened. These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills,^[n] and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea^[o] as far north as the Lebanon mountains. ² These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites.

 ³ But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴ they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. ⁵ They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. ⁶ When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”

 ⁷ The Israelites replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”

 ⁸ They replied, “We are your servants.”

   “But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”

 ⁹ They answered, “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the Lordyour God and of all he did in Egypt. ¹⁰ We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan (who lived in Ashtaroth). ¹¹ So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us.”’

 ¹² “This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. ¹³These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”

 ¹⁴ So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. ¹⁵ Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.

 ¹⁶ Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby! ¹⁷ The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

   The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty. ¹⁹ But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath. ²¹ Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.

 ²² Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right here among us? ²³ May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.”

 ²⁴ They replied, “We did it because we—your servants—were clearly told that the Lord your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this. ²⁵ Now we are at your mercy—do to us whatever you think is right.”

 ²⁶ So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. ²⁷ But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the Lord—wherever the Lord would choose to build it. And that is what they do to this day.

1 Chronicles 2:7

 ⁷ The son of Carmi (a descendant of Zimri) was Achan,^[a] who brought disaster on Israel by taking plunder that had been set apart for the Lord.^[b]