Study Desk

So the people asked me, the Lord , for help. And I caused great trouble to come to the men of Egypt. I caused the sea to cover them. You yourselves saw what I did to the army of Egypt. "‘After that you lived in the desert for a long time.

but I refused to listen to Balaam's prayer. So he asked me to bless you, and I saved you from the enemy.

Then Joshua said to the people, "Now you have heard the Lord's words. So you must respect the Lord and sincerely serve him. Throw away the false gods that your ancestors worshiped. That was something that happened a long time ago on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Now you must serve only the Lord .

The Lord helped us defeat the people living in these lands. He helped us defeat the Amorites who lived in this land where we are now. So we will continue to serve the Lord , because he is our God."

Then Joshua said, "So throw away the false gods that you have among you. Love the Lord , the God of Israel, with all your heart."

So that day Joshua made an agreement for the people. He made this agreement at the town called Shechem. It became a law for them to follow.

Then Joshua said to all the people, "This stone will help you remember what we said today. This stone was here when the Lord was speaking to us today. So this stone will be something that helps you remember what happened today. The stone will be a witness against you. It will stop you from turning against your God."

Then Joshua told the people to go home. So everyone went back to his own land.

Caleb had a younger brother named Kenaz. Kenaz had a son named Othniel. Othniel captured the city of Kiriath Sepher. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife.

Acsah answered him, "Give me a blessing. You gave me dry desert land in the Negev. Please give me some land with water on it." So Caleb gave her what she wanted. He gave her the upper and lower pools of water in that land.

Some Canaanites lived in the city of Zephath. The men of Judah and men from the tribe of Simeon attacked them and completely destroyed the city. So they named the city Hormah.

Moses had promised to give the land near Hebron to Caleb, so that land was given to Caleb's family. The men of Caleb forced the three sons of Anak to leave that place.

The tribe of Benjamin could not force the Jebusites to leave Jerusalem. So even today, the Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem.

There were Canaanites living in the cities of Beth Shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the small towns around the cities. The people from the tribe of Manasseh could not force those people to leave their towns. So the Canaanites stayed. They refused to leave their homes.

There were Canaanites living in Gezer. And the Ephraimites did not make all the Canaanites leave their land. So they continued to live in Gezer with the Ephraimites.

The people of Asher did not force those Canaanites to leave their land, so the Canaanites continued to live with them.

The people of Naphtali did not force the people to leave the cities of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath, so the people of Naphtali continued to live with the people in those cities. Those Canaanites worked as slaves for the people of Naphtali.

So they named the place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord .

Then Joshua told the people to go home, so each tribe went to take their area of land.

So the Israelites did something very evil before the Lord . They began serving the false god Baal.