Study Desk

Moses said to Israel: You must obey everything in The Book of God's Law. Because if you don't respect the Lord ,

and I will be so furious that I will abandon them and ignore their prayers. I will send disasters and suffering that will nearly wipe them out. Finally, they will realize that the disasters happened because I abandoned them.

They will pray to me, but I will ignore them because they were evil and started worshiping other gods.

Tell the heavens to celebrate and all gods to bow down to the Lord , because he will take revenge on those hateful enemies who killed his people. He will forgive the sins of Israel and purify their land.

I know that the Lord has given Israel this land. Everyone shakes with fear because of you.

Joshua told the people, "Make yourselves acceptable to worship the Lord , because he is going to do some amazing things for us."

Joshua told the people, "Make yourselves acceptable to worship the Lord , because he is going to do some amazing things for us." Then Joshua turned to the priests and said, "Take the chest and cross the Jordan River ahead of us." So the priests picked up the chest by its carrying poles and went on ahead. The Lord told Joshua, "Beginning today I will show the people that you are their leader, and they will know that I am helping you as I helped Moses. Now, tell the priests who are carrying the chest to go a little way into the river and stand there." Joshua spoke to the people: Come here and listen to what the Lord our God said he will do! The Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites control the land on the other side of the river. But the living God will be with you and will force them out of the land when you attack. And now, God is going to prove that he's powerful enough to force them out.

because he wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him."

This had to be done, because none of Israel's baby boys had been circumcised during the forty years that Israel had wandered through the desert after leaving Egypt. And why had they wandered for forty years? It was because right after they left Egypt, the men in the army had disobeyed the Lord . And the Lord had said, "None of you men will ever live to see the land that I promised Israel. It is a land rich with milk and honey, and someday your children will live there, but not before you die here in the desert."

"Neither," he answered. "I am here because I am the commander of the Lord 's army." Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. "I am your servant," he said. "Tell me what to do."

Meanwhile, the people of Jericho had been locking the gates in their town wall because they were afraid of the Israelites. No one could go out or come in.

The silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron belong to the Lord and must be put in his treasury. Be careful to follow these instructions, because if you see something you want and take it, the Lord will destroy Israel. And it will be all your fault.

The Lord had said that everything in Jericho belonged to him. But Achan from the Judah tribe took some of the things from Jericho for himself. And so the Lord was angry with the Israelites, because one of them had disobeyed him.

Finally, the Lord told Joshua, "Point your sword at the town of Ai, because now I am going to help you defeat it!" As soon as Joshua pointed his sword at the town,

When Joshua and his troops saw smoke rising from the town, they knew that the other part of their army had captured it. So they turned and attacked. The men of Ai looked back and saw smoke rising from their town. But they could not escape, because the soldiers they had been chasing had suddenly turned and started fighting.

But the Israelites took the animals and the other possessions of the people of Ai, because this was what the Lord had told Joshua to do.

One day, Joshua led the people of Israel to Mount Ebal, where he told some of his men, "Build an altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord . And use stones that have never been cut with iron tools, because that is what Moses taught in The Book of the Law." Joshua offered sacrifices to please the Lord and to ask his blessing. Then with the Israelites still watching, he copied parts of The Book of the Law of Moses onto stones.

We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the Lord your God is so famous. We heard what the Lord did in Egypt

These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.

But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the Lord that they would let these people live. The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack,