Study Desk

The Israelites were happy and praised God. There was no more talk about going to war and wiping out the tribes of Reuben and Gad.

The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar "A Reminder to Us All That the Lord Is Our God."

You have seen how the Lord your God fought for you and helped you defeat the nations who lived in this land.

Any one of you can defeat a thousand enemy soldiers, because the Lord God fights for you, just as he promised.

Be sure to always love the Lord your God.

Yes, when the Lord makes a promise, he does what he has promised. But when he makes a threat, he will also do what he has threatened. The Lord is our God. He gave us this wonderful land and made an agreement with us that we would worship only him. But if you worship other gods, it will make the Lord furious. He will start getting rid of you, and soon not one of you will be left in this good land that he has given you.

Then Joshua told everyone to listen to this message from the Lord , the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods. This continued until the time of your ancestor Terah and his two sons, Abraham and Nahor.

The Lord is our God. We were slaves in Egypt as our ancestors had been, but we saw the Lord work miracles to set our people free and to bring us out of Egypt. Even though other nations were all around us, the Lord protected us wherever we went.

And when we fought the Amorites and the other nations that lived in this land, the Lord made them run away. Yes, we will worship and obey the Lord , because the Lord is our God.

Joshua said: The Lord is fearsome; he is the one true God, and I don't think you are able to worship and obey him in the ways he demands. You would have to be completely faithful, and if you sin or rebel, he won't let you get away with it.

Joshua said, "But you still have some idols, like those the other nations worship. Get rid of your idols! You must decide once and for all that you really want to obey the Lord God of Israel."

The people said, "The Lord is our God, and we will worship and obey only him."

and wrote them down in The Book of the Law of God. Then he set up a large stone under the oak tree at the place of worship in Shechem

and told the people, "Look at this stone. It has heard everything that the Lord has said to us. Our God can call this stone as a witness if we ever reject him."

The people of Judah went to their relatives, the Simeon tribe, and said, "Canaanites live in the land God gave us. Help us fight them, and we will help you." Troops from Simeon came to help Judah.

and he said, "I've cut off the thumbs and big toes of seventy kings and made those kings crawl around under my table for scraps of food. Now God is paying me back." The army of Judah took the king of Bezek along with them to Jerusalem, where he died.

Ehud went with the other Israelites as far as the statues at Gilgal. Then he turned back and went upstairs to the cool room where Eglon had his throne. Ehud said, "Your Majesty, I need to talk with you in private." Eglon replied, "Don't say anything yet!" His officials left the room, and Eglon stood up as Ehud came closer. "Yes," Ehud said, "I have a message for you from God!"

One day, Barak the son of Abinoam was in Kedesh in Naphtali, and Deborah sent word for him to come and talk with her. When he arrived, she said: I have a message for you from the Lord God of Israel! You are to get together an army of ten thousand men from the Naphtali and Zebulun tribes and lead them to Mount Tabor.

Listen, kings and rulers, while I sing for the Lord , the God of Israel.

Our Lord , God of Israel, when you came from Seir, where the Edomites live,