Study Desk

The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord . Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies.

But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They retreat from them because they themselves have now been condemned to destruction! I will not stay with you any longer unless you destroy the things you were ordered not to take!

Get up! Purify the people and get them ready to come before me. Tell them to be ready tomorrow, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have this to say: ‘Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy! You cannot stand against your enemies until you get rid of these things!'

When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke rising to the sky. There was no way for them to escape, because the Israelites who had run toward the barren country now turned around to attack them.

Then they told him this story: "We have come from a very distant land, sir, because we have heard of the Lord your God. We have heard about everything that he did in Egypt

But the Israelites could not kill them, because their leaders had made a solemn promise to them in the name of the Lord , Israel's God. All the people complained to the leaders about this,

We must let them live because of our promise; if we don't, God will punish us.

Because you did this, God has condemned you. Your people will always be slaves, cutting wood and carrying water for the sanctuary of my God."

They answered, "We did it, sir, because we learned that it was really true that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to kill the people living in it as you advanced. We did it because we were terrified of you; we were in fear of our lives.

The people of Jerusalem were greatly alarmed at this because Gibeon was as large as any of the cities that had a king; it was larger than Ai, and its men were good fighters.

"Come and help me attack Gibeon, because its people have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites."

Then Joshua said to his officers, "Don't be afraid or discouraged. Be determined and confident because this is what the Lord is going to do to all your enemies."

Joshua conquered all these kings and their territory in one campaign because the Lord , Israel's God, was fighting for Israel.

Because I did, Moses promised me that my children and I would certainly receive as our possession the land which I walked over.

Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, because he faithfully obeyed the Lord , the God of Israel.

The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, "Why have you given us only one part of the land to possess as our own? There are very many of us because the Lord has blessed us."

The Levites, however, will not receive a share of the land with the rest of you, because their share is to serve as the Lord 's priests. And of course, the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh have already received their land east of the Jordan, which Moses, the Lord 's servant, gave to them."

If the one looking for revenge follows you there, the people of the city must not hand you over to that one. They must protect you because you killed the person accidentally and not out of anger.

The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies.