Study Desk

You will plant vineyards and work hard in them. But you will not gather the grapes or drink the wine from them, because the worms will eat them.

You will have olive trees everywhere on your land. But you will not have any of the oil to use, because the olives will drop to the ground and rot.

You will have sons and daughters. But you will not be able to keep them, because they will be captured and taken away.

"All these curses will come on you. They will keep chasing you and catching you, until you are destroyed, because you did not listen to what the Lord your God told you. You did not obey the commands and laws that he gave you.

You might have as many people as the stars in the sky. But only a few of you will be left, because you did not listen to the Lord your God.

In the morning you will say, ‘I wish it were evening!' In the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!' This will happen because of the fear in your heart and the terrible things you will see.

The answer will be, ‘This happened because the Israelites left the agreement of the Lord , the God of their ancestors. They stopped following the agreement he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.

You must love the Lord your God and obey him. Never leave him, because he is your life. And he will give you a long life in the land that he, the Lord , promised to give to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Be strong and be brave. Don't be afraid of those people because the Lord your God is with you. He will not fail you or leave you."

At that time I will become very angry with them, and I will leave them. I will refuse to help them, and they will be destroyed. Terrible things will happen to them, and they will have many troubles. Then they will say, ‘These bad things happened to us because our God is not with us.'

And I will refuse to help them, because they have done evil and worshiped other gods.

I know that after my death you will become evil. You will turn from the way I commanded you to follow. Terrible things will happen to you in the future, because you want to do what the Lord says is wrong. You will make him angry because of the evil things you do."

This is because you both sinned against me. You were at the waters of Meribah near Kadesh, in the desert of Zin. There, in front of the Israelites, you did not honor me and show that I am holy.

Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don't be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

We are afraid because we have heard about the ways that the Lord helped you. We heard that he dried up the Red Sea when you came out of Egypt. We also heard what you did to the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. We heard how you destroyed those kings living east of the Jordan River.

When we heard about this, we were very afraid. And now, not one of our men is brave enough to fight you, because the Lord your God rules the heavens above and the earth below!

This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men who were able to serve in the army were circumcised. While in the desert, many of the fighting men did not listen to the Lord . So the Lord promised that they would not see the "land where much food grows." He promised our ancestors to give us that land, but because of those men, he forced the people to wander in the desert for 40 years. That way all those fighting men would die. So all the fighting men died, and their sons took their place. But none of the boys who were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them.

The gates of the city of Jericho were closed. The people in the city were afraid because the Israelites were near. No one went into the city, and no one came out.

The city and everything is to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord . Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house will be left alive. These people must not be killed because she helped the two spies.

Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her family, and all those who were with her. Joshua let them live because Rahab helped the spies Joshua had sent out to Jericho. Rahab still lives among the Israelites today.