Study Desk

"‘I thought about destroying the Israelites so that people would forget them completely!

" Lord , bless everything Levi has. Accept what he does. Destroy those who attack him! Defeat his enemies so that they will never attack again."

"Joshua, you must be strong and brave! You must lead these people so that they can take their land. I promised their fathers that I would give them this land.

Then she said to them, "Go into the hills so that the king's men will not accidentally find you. Hide there for three days. After the king's men come back, you can go on your way."

The Lord your God caused the water in the Jordan River to stop flowing so that you could cross it on dry land—just as the Lord had stopped the water at the Red Sea so that we could cross it on dry land.

The Lord did this so that all the people in this country would know that he is very powerful. Then they will always be afraid of the Lord your God."

The Lord made those people feel brave enough to fight against Israel. This was so that Israel could destroy them completely without mercy just as the Lord had commanded Moses to do.

So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that King Sihon of the Amorites had ruled. He ruled in the town of Heshbon, but Moses had defeated him and the leaders of the Midianites. Those leaders were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. (They all fought together with Sihon.) All of them lived in that country.

So that day Moses made a promise to me. He said, ‘The land where you went will become your land. Your children will own that land forever. I will give you that land because you really believed in the Lord , my God.'

So that day Joshua made an agreement for the people. He made this agreement at the town called Shechem. It became a law for them to follow.

Moses had promised to give the land near Hebron to Caleb, so that land was given to Caleb's family. The men of Caleb forced the three sons of Anak to leave that place.

One time the angel of the Lord came to a place called Ophrah and sat under an oak tree. This oak tree belonged to a man named Joash from the Abiezer family. His son Gideon was beating some wheat in a winepress. He was hiding so that the Midianites could not see the wheat. The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "The Lord be with you, brave soldier."

Abimelech quickly said to the servant who carried his weapons, "Take out your sword and kill me. I want you to kill me so that people will not say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.'" So the servant stabbed Abimelech with his sword, and he died.

The elders said to Jephthah, "Come and be our leader so that we can fight the Ammonites."

Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord , "What is your name? We want to know so that we can honor you when what you have said really happens."

When Samson finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down. So that place was named Ramath Lehi.

Micah gave the 28 pounds of silver back to his mother. Then she said, "I will give this silver as a special gift to the Lord . I will give it to my son so that he can make a statue and cover it with the silver. So now, son, I give the silver back to you."

Then her husband went after her. He wanted to speak kindly to her so that she would come back to him. He took with him his servant and two donkeys. The Levite came to her father's house. Her father saw the Levite and came out to greet him. The father was very happy.

Send the bad men from the city of Gibeah to us so that we can put them to death. We must remove the evil from among the Israelites." But the people from the tribe of Benjamin would not listen to the messengers from their relatives, the other Israelites.

The men of Benjamin who are still alive must have children to continue their families. This must be done so that a tribe in Israel will not die out!