Category: Joshua

The books of Joshua and Judges tell the story of the early years of Israel as a nation. They describe how the Israelites conquer and occupy the land of Canaan, and then struggle to live up to their covenant with God. The Bible’s drama here moves to an important new stage—God’s people are in God’s land. Yet it becomes clear that the road to reconciliation between God and humanity will not be easy.

The story describes the preparations and battles of Israel’s invasion, as well as how the land was divided among the tribes. Since pockets of resistance remained, Joshua in his final speech urges each tribe to take full possession of its territory. Next he leads the people to renew their commitment to the covenant relationship with God.

Judges then relates the troubling cycle of Israel’s repeated covenant breaking, falling under the rule of other nations, and then crying out to God for help. God responds by raising up “judges” to fight for them and save them. But the relief is temporary as Israel falls back into wrongdoing once again. (“Judges” are both military leaders and legal authorities.)

Just as Israel was made up of twelve tribes, so the book tells of twelve judges. But as the people persist in going their own way, we see that they have rejected their true Judge and Ruler. As the anarchy and atrocities increase, Israel’s need for a king becomes more evident. By the end the questions are urgent: Can Israel fulfill its destiny and calling to be God’s light to the nations? Who can rule Israel to help it find its proper role in the drama?

Joshua Installed as Leader

1 After the death of Moses the servant of theLord, theLordsaid to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide:

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.

3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.

4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for theLordyour God will be with you wherever you go.”

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:

11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land theLordyour God is giving you for your own.’ ”

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of theLordgave you after he said, ‘TheLordyour God will give you rest by giving you this land.’

14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them

15 until theLordgives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land theLordyour God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of theLordgave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may theLordyour God be with you as he was with Moses.

18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/1-776a64c73a6b2e780e2a485a5b34e615.mp3?version_id=111—

Rahab and the Spies

1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”

3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”

6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)

7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof

9 and said to them, “I know that theLordhas given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.

10 We have heard how theLorddried up the water of the Red Seafor you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for theLordyour God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

12 “Now then, please swear to me by theLordthat you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”

14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when theLordgives us the land.”

15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.

16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”

17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us

18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.

19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them.

20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”

So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them.

23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them.

24 They said to Joshua, “TheLordhas surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/2-c3cd79859035375d219886a699559061.mp3?version_id=111—

Crossing the Jordan

1 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp,

3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of theLordyour God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.

4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubitsbetween you and the ark; do not go near it.”

5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow theLordwill do amazing things among you.”

6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.

7 And theLordsaid to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.

8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ”

9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of theLordyour God.

10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.

11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.

12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of theLord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of theLordstopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/3-8ffec116749243349aa3b16da6b6c5b6.mp3?version_id=111—

1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, theLordsaid to Joshua,

2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of theLordyour God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,

6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’

7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of theLord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as theLordhad told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.

9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had beenin the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything theLordhad commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,

11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of theLordand the priests came to the other side while the people watched.

12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.

13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before theLordto the plains of Jericho for war.

14 That day theLordexalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

15 Then theLordsaid to Joshua,

16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of theLord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.

21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’

22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

23 For theLordyour God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. TheLordyour God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Seawhen he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.

24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of theLordis powerful and so that you might always fear theLordyour God.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/4-30dd12ac61c5667c33d2495ae22fc5e2.mp3?version_id=111—

1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how theLordhad dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until theyhad crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

Circumcision and Passover at Gilgal

2 At that time theLordsaid to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.”

3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt.

5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not.

6 The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed theLord. For theLordhad sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way.

8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

9 Then theLordsaid to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgalto this day.

10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.

11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain.

12 The manna stopped the day afterthey ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

The Fall of Jericho

13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of theLordI have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lordhave for his servant?”

15 The commander of theLord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/5-7de3db3f0eac5b1f9a9ae24fde9199be.mp3?version_id=111—

1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

2 Then theLordsaid to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.

4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.

5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of theLordand have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.”

7 And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of theLord.”

8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before theLordwent forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of theLord’s covenant followed them.

9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding.

10 But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”

11 So he had the ark of theLordcarried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.

12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of theLord.

13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of theLordand blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of theLord, while the trumpets kept sounding.

14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times.

16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For theLordhas given you the city!

17 The city and all that is in it are to be devotedto theLord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent.

18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it.

19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to theLordand must go into his treasury.”

20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.

21 They devoted the city to theLordand destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.”

23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of theLord’s house.

25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

26 At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before theLordis the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:

“At the cost of his firstborn son

he will lay its foundations;

at the cost of his youngest

he will set up its gates.”

27 So theLordwas with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/6-cf1b72c8675e1a638067299d4e05a26b.mp3?version_id=111—

Achan’s Sin

1 But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So theLord’s anger burned against Israel.

2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.”

4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai,

5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of theLord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads.

7 And Joshua said, “Alas, SovereignLord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!

8 Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies?

9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?”

10 TheLordsaid to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?

11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions.

12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what theLord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

14 “ ‘In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe theLordchooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan theLordchooses shall come forward family by family; and the family theLordchooses shall come forward man by man.

15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of theLordand has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’ ”

16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen.

17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen.

18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen.

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to theLord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against theLord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done:

21 When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,two hundred shekelsof silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.

23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before theLord.

24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.

25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? TheLordwill bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.

26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then theLordturned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achorever since.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/7-f6ccf1aab689dca31deeac7813bbcb56.mp3?version_id=111—

Ai Destroyed

1 Then theLordsaid to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.

2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”

3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night

4 with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert.

5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them.

6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them,

7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. TheLordyour God will give it into your hand.

8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what theLordhas commanded. See to it; you have my orders.”

9 Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

10 Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai.

11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city.

12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.

16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.

17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

18 Then theLordsaid to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.

19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.

20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers.

21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai.

22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.

23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it.

25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.

26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyedall who lived in Ai.

27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as theLordhad instructed Joshua.

28 So Joshua burned Aiand made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day.

29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to theLord, the God of Israel,

31 as Moses the servant of theLordhad commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to theLordburnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.

32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.

33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of theLord, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of theLordhad formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.

35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/8-b88e912d511317bc1266ad49aa54a184.mp3?version_id=111—

The Gibeonite Deception

1 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)—

2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.

3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loadedwith worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.

5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy.

6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”

7 The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”

8 “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

9 They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of theLordyour God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt,

10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.

11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.” ’

12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is.

13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”

14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of theLord.

15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them.

17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim.

18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by theLord, the God of Israel.

The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders,

19 but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by theLord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now.

20 This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.”

21 They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.

22 Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us?

23 You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how theLordyour God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.

25 We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”

26 So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them.

27 That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of theLordat the place theLordwould choose. And that is what they are to this day.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/JOS/9-3ad20be3f389444abf9dd1b13888968e.mp3?version_id=111—