Study Desk

He has even told you, "For forty years I, the Lord , led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.

Today everyone in our nation is standing here in the Lord 's presence, including leaders and officials, parents and children, and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us. We are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the Lord our God.

In this agreement, the Lord promised that you would be his people and that he would be your God. He first made this promise to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and today the Lord is making this same promise to you. But it isn't just for you; it is also for your descendants.

Moses said to Israel: I have told you everything the Lord your God will do for you, and I've also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him. He will scatter you in faraway countries, but when you realize that he is punishing you,

and he will bless you with many children, large herds and flocks, and abundant crops. The Lord will be happy to do good things for you, just as he did for your ancestors.

But you must decide once and for all to worship him with all your heart and soul and to obey everything in The Book of God's Law.

Right now I call the sky and the earth to be witnesses that I am offering you this choice. Will you choose for the Lord to make you prosperous and give you a long life? Or will he put you under a curse and kill you? Choose life!

Moses and Joshua, I am going to give you the words to a new song. Write them down and teach the song to the Israelites. If they learn it, they will know what I want them to do, and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me.

When I punish the Israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters, I will remind them that they know the words to this song, so they have no excuse for not obeying me. I will give them the land that I promised, but I know the way they are going to live later on.

When only a few of the Lord 's people remain, when their strength is gone, and some of them are slaves, the Lord will feel sorry for them and give them justice.

But first the Lord will say, "You ran for safety to other gods— couldn't they help you?

Your leaders met together and chose the best land for your tribe, but you obeyed the Lord and helped the other tribes.

The Lord 's greatest blessing is for you, tribe of Asher. You will be the favorite of all the other tribes. You will be rich with olive oil

and have strong town gates with bronze and iron bolts. Your people will be powerful for as long as they live.

The people of Israel stayed in the lowlands of Moab, where they mourned and grieved thirty days for Moses, as was their custom.

No one else has ever had the power to do such great things as Moses did for everyone to see.

to go through the camp and tell everyone: In a few days we will cross the Jordan River to take the land that the Lord our God is giving us. So fix as much food as you'll need for the march into the land.

So the king sent soldiers to Rahab's house to arrest the spies. Meanwhile, Rahab had taken the men up to the flat roof of her house and had hidden them under some piles of flax plants that she had put there to dry. The soldiers came to her door and demanded, "Let us have the men who are staying at your house. They are spies." She answered, "Some men did come to my house, but I didn't know where they had come from. They left about sunset, just before it was time to close the town gate. I don't know where they were going, but if you hurry, maybe you can catch them." The guards at the town gate let the soldiers leave Jericho, but they closed the gate again as soon as the soldiers went through. Then the soldiers headed toward the Jordan River to look for the spies at the place where people cross the river.

Then hide in the hills. The men who are looking for you won't be able to find you there. They'll give up and come back after a few days, and you can be on your way."

The spies hid in the hills for three days while the king's soldiers looked for them along the roads. As soon as the soldiers gave up and returned to Jericho,