Study Desk

Helkath, and Rehob. In all, Asher gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals.

The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee. (Kedesh was a city of safety.) Naphtali also gave them Hammoth Dor and Kartan. In all, Naphtali gave them three towns and some land around each town for their animals.

In all, the Gershon family groups got 13 towns and some land around each town for their animals.

The other Levite group was the Merari family group. They were given these towns: The tribe of Zebulun gave them Jokneam, Kartah, Dimnah, and Nahalal. In all, Zebulun gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals. The tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer, Jahaz, Kedemoth, and Mephaath. In all, Reuben gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals. The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead. (Ramoth was a city of safety.) They also gave them Mahanaim, Heshbon, and Jazer. In all, Gad gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals.

So the Levites were given a total of 48 towns and some land around each town for their animals. All these towns were in areas that belonged to the other tribes.

Each of these towns had some land in it for their animals. That was true for every town.

"All the Lord 's people sent us to ask you this: ‘Why did you do this thing against the God of Israel? Why did you stop following the Lord ? Why did you build an altar for yourselves? You know that this is against the Lord 's command.

Do you think we built our own altar because we want to turn away from the Lord ? Do you think we built another altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fellowship offerings? If that is why we built this altar, we ask the Lord himself to punish us.

"So we decided to build this altar. But we did not plan to use it for burning offerings and sacrifices.

In the future, if it happens that your children say that we don't belong to Israel, then our children can say, ‘Look, our fathers who lived before us made an altar. That altar is exactly like the Lord 's altar at the Holy Tent. We don't use this altar for sacrifices—this altar is proof that we are part of Israel.'

You have seen what the Lord did to our enemies. He did this to help us. The Lord your God fought for you.

With his help, one man from Israel could defeat 1000 enemy soldiers, because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised.

the Lord your God will not help you defeat your enemies. They will become like a trap for you. They will cause you pain—like smoke and dust in your eyes. And you will be forced to leave this good land. The Lord your God gave you this land. But you can lose it if you don't obey this command.

"It is almost time for me to die. You know and really believe that the Lord has done many great things for you. You know that the Lord your God has not failed in any of his promises. He has kept every promise that he has made to us.

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.

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

"‘I, the Lord, gave that land to you. You didn't work for that land—I gave it to you. You did not build those cities—I gave them to you. And now you live in that land and in those cities. You have vineyards and olive trees, but you did not have to plant those gardens.'"

"But maybe you don't want to serve the Lord . You must choose for yourselves today. Today you must decide who you will serve. Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land? You must choose for yourselves. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord ."

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

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.