Study Desk

"In the future if your children say that, our children can say, ‘See the altar made by our ancestors. It is exactly like the Lord 's altar, but we do not use it for sacrifices. It shows that we are part of Israel.'

But I, the Lord , took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the river and led him through the land of Canaan. And I gave him many children, including his son Isaac.

I gave Isaac two sons named Jacob and Esau. I gave the land around the mountains of Edom to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

"‘Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, east of the Jordan River. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. I destroyed them before you, and you took control of that land.

But the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, prepared to fight against the Israelites. The king sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

but I refused to listen to Balaam. So he asked for good things to happen to you! I saved you and brought you out of his power.

"‘Then you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, where the people of Jericho fought against you. Also, the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites fought against you. But I handed them over to you.

But if you don't want to serve the Lord , you must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord ."

It was the Lord our God who brought our ancestors out of Egypt. We were slaves in that land, but the Lord did great things for us there. He brought us out and protected us while we traveled through other lands.

If you leave the Lord and serve other gods, he will send you great trouble. The Lord may have been good to you, but if you turn against him, he will destroy you."

But the people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the Lord ."

but Adoni-Bezek ran away. The men of Judah chased him, and when they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes.

The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took the land in the mountains, but they could not force out the people living on the plain, because they had iron chariots.

But the people of Benjamin could not make the Jebusite people leave Jerusalem. Since that time the Jebusites have lived with the Benjaminites in Jerusalem.

So the man showed them the way into the city. The men of Joseph attacked with swords the people in Bethel, but they let the man and his family go free.

Later, the Israelites grew strong and forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they did not make all the Canaanites leave their land.

The people of Zebulun did not force out the Canaanites living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun, but Zebulun made them work as slaves.

The Amorites were determined to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Amorites work as slaves.

But you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.' But you did not obey me. How could you do this?

But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord 's commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey.