Bible in 90 Days

15 The territory chosen by lot for the tribe of the descendants of Y’hudah according to their families extended to the border of Edom in the Tzin Desert, toward the Negev in the far south.

² Their southern border began at the far shore of the Dead Sea, from the bay facing southward, ³ and went out south of the Scorpion Ascent, passed toward Tzin, went up south of Kadesh-Barnea, passed Hetzron, went up toward Adar, turned toward Karka, ⁴ passed toward ‘Atzmon, and went out at the Vadi of Egypt, with the border ending at the sea; this will be your southern border.

⁵ The eastern border was the Dead Sea to where the Yarden entered it.

The northern border began at the bay of the sea at the end of the Yarden; ⁶ then the border went up to Beit-Hoglah and passed north of Beit-‘Aravah; next the border went up to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re’uven; ⁷ then the border went up to D’vir from the Akhor Valley, then northward facing Gilgal (that is, across from Ma‘alei-Adumim, which is on the south side of the vadi); next the border passed to the ‘Ein-Shemesh Spring and went out at ‘Ein-Rogel. ⁸ Then the border went up the Ben-Hinnom Valley to the south side of the Y’vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), and the border continued up to the top of the hill in front of the Hinnom Valley on the west (which is also at the northernmost end of the Refa’im Valley) ⁹ From this hilltop the border was drawn to the source of the Neftoach Spring and continued out to the cities of Mount ‘Efron; next the border was drawn to Ba‘alah (that is, Kiryat-Ye‘arim). ¹⁰ Then the border turned from Ba‘al westward to Mount Se‘ir, passed the spur of Mount Ye‘arim (also called K’salon) on the north, went down to Beit-Shemesh and passed Timnah. ¹¹ Next the border went out toward the side of ‘Ekron northward; and finally, the border was drawn to Shikron, passed Mount Ba‘alah, and went out at Yavne’el, with the border ending at the sea.

¹² As for the west border, the Great Sea was its border. These were the borders of the territory of the descendants of Y’hudah, by clans.

¹³ To Kalev the son of Y’funeh he gave a portion with the descendants of Y’hudah, as Adonai had ordered Y’hoshua, namely, Kiryat-Arba (Arba was the father of the ‘Anak), also called Hevron. ¹⁴ Kalev expelled from there three descendants of ‘Anak — Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai, children of ‘Anak. ¹⁵ From there he went up to fight the inhabitants of D’vir (D’vir was formerly called Kiryat-Sefer). ¹⁶ Kalev said, “To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter Akhsah as his wife.” ¹⁷ ‘Otni’el the son of K’naz, Kalev’s brother, captured it; so he gave him ‘Akhsah his daughter as his wife. ¹⁸ After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, “What do you want?” ¹⁹ She said to him: “Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water.” So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs.

²⁰ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Y’hudah, by clans.

²¹ The cities at the outer part of the tribe of Y’hudah toward the border with Edom in the south were: Kavtze’el, ‘Eder, Yagur, ²² Kinah, Dimonah, ‘Ad‘adah, ²³ Kedesh, Hatzor, Yitnan, ²⁴ Zif, Telem, Be‘alot, ²⁵ Hatzor, Hadatah, K’riot, Hetzron (which is Hatzor), ²⁶ Amam, Sh’ma, Moladah, ²⁷ Hatzar-Gadah, Heshmon, Beit-Pelet, ²⁸ Hatzar-Shu‘al, Be’er-Sheva, Bizyot-Yah, ²⁹ Ba‘alah, ‘Iyim, ‘Etzem, ³⁰ El-Tolad, K’sil, Hormah, ³¹ Ziklag, Madmanah, Sansanah, ³² L’va’ot, Shilchim, ‘Ayin and Rimmon — twenty-nine cities in all, together with their villages.

³³ In the Sh’felah: Eshta’ol, Tzor‘ah, Ashnah, ³⁴ Zanoach, ‘Ein-Ganim, Tapuach, ‘Enam, ³⁵ Yarmut, ‘Adulam, Sokhoh, ‘Azekah, ³⁶ Sh’arim, ‘Aditayim, G’derah and G’derotayim — fourteen cities, together with their villages. ³⁷ Tz’nan, Hadashah, Migdal-Gad, ³⁸ Dil‘an, Mitzpeh, Yokte’el, ³⁹ Lakhish, Bozkat, ‘Eglon, ⁴⁰ Kabon, Lachmas, Kitlish, ⁴¹ G’derot, Beit-Dagon, Na‘amah and Makkedah — sixteen cities, together with their villages. ⁴² Livnah, ‘Eter, ‘Ashan, ⁴³ Yiftach, Ashnah, N’tziv, ⁴⁴ Ke‘ilah, Akhziv and Mareshah — nine cities, together with their villages. ⁴⁵ ‘Ekron, with its towns and villages — ⁴⁶ from ‘Ekron to the sea; all those near Ashdod, with their villages; ⁴⁷ Ashdod, with its towns and villages; ‘Azah, with its towns and villages, to the Vadi of Egypt, with the Great Sea as its border.

⁴⁸ In the hills: Shamir, Yatir, Sokhoh, ⁴⁹ Danah, Kiryat-Sanna (that is, D’vir), ⁵⁰ ‘Anav, Esht’moh, ‘Anim, ⁵¹ Goshen, Holon and Giloh — eleven cities, together with their villages. ⁵² Arav, Dumah, Esh’an, ⁵³ Yanum, Beit-Tapuach, Afekah, ⁵⁴ Humtah, Kiryat-Arba (that is, Hevron) and Tzi‘or — nine cities, together with their villages. ⁵⁵ Ma‘on, Karmel, Zif, Yutah, ⁵⁶ Yizre‘el, Yokde‘am, Zanoach, ⁵⁷ Kayin, Giv‘ah and Timnah — ten cities, together with their villages. ⁵⁸ Halchul, Beit-Tzur, G’dor, ⁵⁹ Ma‘arat, Beit-‘Anot, Elt’kon — six cities, together with their villages. ⁶⁰ Kiryat-Ba‘al (that is, Kiryat-Ye‘arim) and Rabbah — two cities, together with their villages.

⁶¹ In the desert: Beit-‘Aravah, Middin, S’khakhah, ⁶² Nivshan, ‘Ir-Hamelach and ‘Ein-Gedi — six cities, together with their villages.

⁶³ As for the Y’vusi, who lived in Yerushalayim, the descendants of Y’hudah could not drive them out; so the Y’vusi live with the descendants of Y’hudah in Yerushalayim to this day.

16 The border of the territory chosen by lot for the descendants of Yosef began from the Yarden at Yericho, at the spring of Yericho on the east, went up from Yericho through the hills and desert to Beit-El, ² went out from Beit-El to Luz, passed on to the border with the Arki to ‘Atarot, ³ went down westward to the border with the Yafleti, to the border of Lower Beit-Horon, on to Gezer and ending at the sea. ⁴ So the descendants of Yosef, M’nasheh and Efrayim took the inheritance.

⁵ The border of the descendants of Efrayim according to their families was as follows: the eastern border of their inheritance began at ‘Atrot-Adar and went to Upper Beit-Horon; ⁶ then the border extended westward, with Mikhm’tat on the north; next the border turned eastward to Ta’anat-Shiloh and passed by it to the east of Yanochah; ⁷ then it went down from Yanochah to ‘Atarot, went to Na‘arah, extended to Yericho and ended at the Yarden. ⁸ From Tapuach the border went westward to Vadi Kanah and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Efrayim according to their families, ⁹ together with the cities set aside for the descendants of Efrayim inside the territory to be inherited by the descendants of M’nasheh, all the cities with their villages. ¹⁰ They did not drive out the Kena‘ani living in Gezer, so the Kena‘ani live together with Efrayim to this day, having become slaves to do the heavy work.

17 This was the territory chosen by lot for the tribe of M’nasheh, for he was the firstborn of Yosef. As for Makhir the firstborn of M’nasheh, the father of Gil‘ad, because he was a warrior he got Gil‘ad and Bashan. ² So the lot was drawn for the other descendants of M’nasheh according to their families — for the descendants of Avi‘ezer, Helek, Asri’el, Sh’khem, Hefer and Sh’mida; these were the male descendants of M’nasheh according to their families.

³ But Tz’lof’chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil‘ad, the son of Makhir, the son of M’nasheh, had no sons, only daughters; these are the names of his daughters: Machlah, No‘ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. ⁴ They approached El‘azar the cohen, Y’hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, “Adonai ordered Moshe to give us an inheritance together with our kinsmen.” Therefore, in keeping with Adonai’s order, he gave them an inheritance together with the kinsmen of their father. ⁵ Thus ten parts fell to M’nasheh, in addition to the land of Gil‘ad and Bashan beyond the Yarden, ⁶ because the daughters of M’nasheh had an inheritance along with his descendants; but the land of Gil‘ad belonged to the rest of the descendants of M’nasheh.

⁷ The border of M’nasheh began at Asher and went to Mikhm’tat, which is across from Sh’khem; next the border went along to the right, to the people of ‘Ein-Tapuach. ⁸ The land of Tapuach belonged to M’nasheh, but Tapuach on the border of M’nasheh belonged to the descendants of Efrayim. ⁹ The border descended to Vadi Kanah, south of the vadi, by cities which belonged to Efrayim among the cities of M’nasheh; but the border with M’nasheh was on the north side of the vadi, and it ended at the sea. ¹⁰ Southward it was Efrayim’s, northward it was M’nasheh’s, and the sea was its border; while to the north they extended to Asher, and on the east to Yissakhar.

¹¹ In Asher and Yissakhar, M’nasheh had Beit-Sh’an and its villages; Yivle‘am and its villages; and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, of ‘Ein-Dor and its villages, of Ta‘anakh and its villages, and of Megiddo and its villages — three districts in all. ¹² But the descendants of M’nasheh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; the Kena‘ani wanted to stay in that land. ¹³ After the people of Isra’el had become strong, they made the Kena‘ani do heavy labor but didn’t completely drive them out.

¹⁴ Then the descendants of Yosef spoke to Y’hoshua; they said, “Why have you given me only one lot and only one portion to inherit? After all, I am a great people, since Adonai has blessed me so.” ¹⁵ Y’hoshua answered them, “If you are a great people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the territory of the P’rizi and the Refa’im — since the hills of Efrayim don’t give you enough space.” ¹⁶ The descendants of Yosef replied, “The hills won’t be enough for us; and all the Kena‘ani living in the valleys have iron chariots — both those in Beit-Sh’an and its villages and those in the Yizre‘el Valley.” ¹⁷ Then Y’hoshua said to the house of Yosef, to both Efrayim and M’nasheh, “You are a great people with much power; you will not have only one lot, ¹⁸ but the hills too will be yours. Although it is a forest, you will clear it, and the resulting open land will be yours. You will drive out the Kena‘ani, even though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

18 The entire community of the people of Isra’el assembled themselves together at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, after the land had been subdued before them. ² There still remained among the people of Isra’el seven tribes that had not yet received their inheritance. ³ Y’hoshua said to the people of Isra’el, “How long will you delay going in to take possession of the land which Adonai the God of your ancestors has given you? ⁴ Appoint three men for each tribe; I will commission them; and they are to set out, go through the land and describe it according to their inheritance; then they are to come back to me. ⁵ They are to divide it into seven portions, with Y’hudah remaining in its territory to the south and the house of Yosef in their territory to the north. ⁶ You will describe seven portions of land and bring the descriptions here to me; then I will cast lots for you here before Adonai our God. ⁷ But the L’vi’im have no share with you, because the office of cohen to Adonai is their inheritance; and Gad and Re’uven and the half-tribe of M’nasheh have received their inheritance beyond the Yarden to the east, which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave them.”

⁸ So the men got up and went. Y’hoshua gave them this commission as they left to describe the land: “Go; walk through the land; and describe it; then come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Adonai in Shiloh.” ⁹ The men went and passed through the land, surveying it by cities, dividing it into seven regions and writing the results on a scroll. Then they came to Y’hoshua in the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ Y’hoshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Adonai, and there Y’hoshua divided the land among the people of Isra’el according to their regions.

¹¹ The lot for the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin came up according to their families. The border of their territory chosen by lot was between the descendants of Y’hudah and the descendants of Yosef.

¹² On the north side, their border began at the Yarden, went up alongside Yericho on the north, continued up through the hills westward and arrived at the Beit-Aven Desert. ¹³ From there the border passed on to Luz, to the south side of Luz (that is, Beit-El); then the border went down to ‘Atrot-Adar, by the hill on the south side of Lower Beit-Horon.

¹⁴ The border was delineated as turning at the western corner and heading southward, from the hill located in front of Beit-Horon on the south; and it ended at Kiryat-Ba‘al (that is, Kiryat-Ye‘arim), a city belonging to the descendants of Y’hudah; this was the west side.

¹⁵ On the south the border extended westward from the most distant part of Kiryat-Ye‘arim, going out to the source of the Neftoach Spring. ¹⁶ Then the border went down to the farthest part of the hill located in front of the Ben-Hinnom Valley, north of the Refa’im Valley, south of the Y’vusi; and continued down to ‘Ein-Rogel, ¹⁷ where it was drawn to the north; then it went on to ‘Ein-Shemesh; continued to G’lilot, which is across from Ma‘alei-Adumim; went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re’uven; ¹⁸ passed alongside the ‘Aravah, heading north; and went down to the ‘Aravah. ¹⁹ Then the border passed alongside Beit-Hoglah, heading north; and the border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the south end of the Yarden; this was the south border.

²⁰ The Yarden was to be its border on the east side.

This was the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin, defined by its surrounding borders, according to their families.

²¹ The cities of the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families were: Yericho, Beit-Hoglah, ‘Emek-K’tzitz, ²² Beit-‘Aravah, Tz’marayim, Beit-El, ²³ ‘Avim, Parah, ‘Ofrah, ²⁴ K’far-Ha‘amonah, ‘Ofni and Geva — twelve cities, together with their villages. ²⁵ Giv‘on, Ramah, Be’erot, ²⁶ Mitzpeh, K’firah, Motzah, ²⁷ Rekem, Yirpe’el, Tar’alah, ²⁸ Tzela, Elef, Y’vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), Giv‘at and Kiryat — fourteen cities, together with their villages.

This is the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families.

19 The second lot came out for Shim‘on, for the tribe of the descendants of Shim‘on according to their families. Their inheritance was inside the inheritance of the descendants of Y’hudah. ² For their inheritance they had Be’er-Sheva, Sheva, Moladah, ³ Hatzar-Shu‘al, Balah, ‘Etzem, ⁴ El-Tolad, B’tul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beit-Markavot, Hatzar-Susah, ⁶ Beit-L’va’ot and Sharuchen — thirteen cities, together with their villages; ⁷ ‘Ayin, Rimmon, ‘Eter and ‘Ashan — four cities, together with their villages; ⁸ and all the villages surrounding these cities, as far as Ba‘alat-Be’er, Ramah of the Negev. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Shim‘on according to their families. ⁹ The inheritance of the descendants of Shim‘on was taken out of the allotment for the descendants of Y’hudah, because the portion given to the descendants of Y’hudah was too much for them, so the descendants of Shim‘on had an inheritance inside the descendants of Y’hudah.

¹⁰ The third lot came up for the descendants of Z’vulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance began at Sarid. ¹¹ Then their border went up westward to Mar‘alah, extended to Dabeshet and on to the vadi fronting Yokne‘am. ¹² Also from Sarid it turned toward the sunrise to the east to the border of Kislot-Tavor, went on to Dovrat and up to Yafia. ¹³ From there it passed eastward to Gat-Hefer, on to ‘Et-Katzin, went out at Rimmon and reached to Ne‘ah. ¹⁴ Then the border turned on the north side to Hanaton, ending in the Yiftach’el Valley. ¹⁵ Also Katat, Nahalal, Shimron, Yid’alah and Beit-Lechem — twelve cities, together with their villages. ¹⁶ This is the inheritance of the descendants of Z’vulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Yissakhar, for the descendants of Yissakhar according to their families. ¹⁸ Their territory included Yizre‘el, K’sulot, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hafarayim, Shi’on, Anacharat, ²⁰ Rabit, Kishyon, Evetz, ²¹ Remet, ‘Ein-Ganim, ‘Ein-Hadah and Beit-Patzetz. ²² Their territory extended to Tavor, Shachatzimah and Beit-Shemesh; and their territory ended at the Yarden — sixteen cities, together with their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Yissakhar according to their families, the cities, with their villages.

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their families. ²⁵ Their territory included Helkat, Hali, Beten, Akhshaf, ²⁶ Alamelekh, ‘Am‘ad and Mish’al. It extended to the Karmel on the west and to Shichor-Livnat. ²⁷ The border turned eastward to Beit-Dagon, reached to Z’vulun and the Yiftach’el Valley on its north, then Beit-‘Emek and Ne‘i’el, went out to Kavul on the left, ²⁸ then ‘Evron, Rechov, Hamon, Kanah and on to greater Tzidon. ²⁹ The border turned toward Ramah and the fortified city of Tzor; next the border turned to Hosah; and it ended at the sea from Hevel to Akhziv. ³⁰ Also included were ‘Umah, Afek and Rechov — twenty cities, together with their villages. ³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

³² The sixth lot came out for the descendants of Naftali, for the descendants of Naftali according to their families. ³³ Their border went from Helef and the oak in Tza‘ananim, included Adami-Nekev and Yavne’el, went on to Lakum and ended at the Yarden. ³⁴ Westward the border turned to Aznot-Tavor and went out from there to Hukok, reaching to Z’vulun on the south, Asher on the west and Y’hudah at the Yarden toward the east. ³⁵ The fortified cities were Tzidim, Tzer, Hamat, Rakat, Kinneret, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hatzor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edre‘i, ‘Ein-Hatzor, ³⁸ Yir’on, Migdal-El, Horem, Beit-‘Anat and Beit-Shemesh — nineteen cities, together with their villages. ³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Naftali according to their families, the cities with their villages.

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families. ⁴¹ The territory of their inheritance included Tzor‘ah, Eshta’ol, ‘Ir-Shemesh, ⁴² Sha‘alabin, Ayalon, Yitlah, ⁴³ Eilon, Timnah, ‘Ekron, ⁴⁴ Elt’keh, Gib’ton, Ba‘alat, ⁴⁵ Y’hud, B’nei-Brak, Gat-Rimmon, ⁴⁶ Yarkon Springs and Rakon, with the border fronting Yafo. ⁴⁷ The territory of the descendants of Dan was too small for them, so the descendants of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, defeated it by the sword, took possession of it and lived there, calling Leshem “Dan” after Dan their ancestor. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the land for inheritance according to its borders, the people of Isra’el gave an inheritance within their territory to Y’hoshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ According to Adonai’s order they gave him the city he had asked for, Timnat-Serach in the hills of Efrayim; so he built up the city and lived in it.

⁵¹ These are the inheritances which El‘azar the cohen, Y’hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra’el distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before Adonai at the door of the tent of meeting. Thus they finished dividing up the land.

20 Adonai said to Y’hoshua, ² “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘Select the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moshe; ³ so that anyone who kills someone by mistake and unknowingly may escape there; they will serve as refuges for you from the next-of-kin avenger. ⁴ He is to flee to one of those cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate and state his cause to the city leaders. Then they will bring him into the city with them and give him a place, so that he may live among them. ⁵ If the next-of-kin avenger pursues him, they are not to hand over the killer to him; because he struck his fellow community member unknowingly and had not hated him previously. ⁶ So he will live in that city until he stands trial before the community, until the death of the cohen hagadol who is in office at the time. When that time comes, the killer may return to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in the Galil, in the hills of Naftali; Sh’khem in the hills of Efrayim; and Kiryat-Arba (that is, Hevron) in the hills of Y’hudah. ⁸ Beyond the Yarden east of Yericho they selected Betzer in the desert, on the plateau, out of the tribe of Re’uven; Ramot in Gil‘ad out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of M’nasheh.

⁹ These were the cities selected for all the people of Isra’el and for the foreigner living among them, so that anyone who kills any person by mistake could flee there and not die at the hand of the next-of-kin avenger prior to standing trial before the community.

21 Then the leaders of the ancestral clans of the L’vi’im approached El‘azar the cohen, Y’hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra’el. ² It was at Shiloh in the land of Kena‘an that they spoke to them; they said, “Adonai ordered through Moshe that we be given cities to live in, with the surrounding open land for our livestock.” ³ So out of their inheritance the people of Isra’el gave the L’vi’im the following cities with the surrounding open land:

⁴ The lot came out for the families of the K’hati. The descendants of Aharon the cohen, who were of the L’vi’im, received by lot thirteen cities from the tribes of Y’hudah, Shim‘on and Binyamin. ⁵ The rest of the descendants of K’hat received by lot ten cities from the families of the tribes of Efrayim and Dan and the half-tribe of M’nasheh. ⁶ The descendants of Gershon received by lot thirteen cities from the families of the tribes of Yissakhar, Asher, Naftali and the half-tribe of M’nasheh in Bashan. ⁷ The descendants of M’rari according to their families received twelve cities from the tribes of Re’uven, Gad and Z’vulun. ⁸ The people of Isra’el gave by lot to the L’vi’im these cities with the surrounding open land, as Adonai had ordered through Moshe.

⁹ They gave from the tribe of the descendants of Y’hudah and from the tribe of the descendants of Shim‘on these cities here mentioned by name; ¹⁰ they were for the descendants of Aharon, of the families of the K’hati, who were among the descendants of Levi; because theirs was the first lot. ¹¹ They gave them: Kiryat-Arba — this Arba was the father of ‘Anak — (that is, Hevron), in the hills of Y’hudah, with the surrounding open land; ¹² but the fields and villages of the city they gave to Kalev the son of Y’funeh as his possession. ¹³ Thus to the descendants of Aharon the cohen they gave: Hevron with its surrounding open land, already a city of refuge for the killer; Livnah with its surrounding open land; ¹⁴ Yatir with its surrounding open land; Esht’moa with its surrounding open land; ¹⁵ Holon with its surrounding open land; D’vir with its surrounding open land; ¹⁶ ‘Ayin with its surrounding open land, Yutah with its surrounding open land and Beit-Shemesh with its surrounding open land — nine cities out of these two tribes. ¹⁷ Out of the tribe of Binyamin: Giv‘on with its surrounding open land, Geva with its surrounding open land, ¹⁸ ‘Anatot with its surrounding open land and ‘Almon with its surrounding open land — four cities. ¹⁹ All the cities of the descendants of Aharon, the cohanim, numbered thirteen cities with their surrounding open land.

²⁰ The families of the descendants of K’hat, who were L’vi’im, that is, the rest of the descendants of K’hat, received the cities of their lot. Out of the tribe of Efrayim ²¹ they gave them: Sh’khem with its surrounding open land, in the hills of Efrayim, the city of refuge for the killer; Gezer with its surrounding open land; ²² Kivtzayim with its surrounding open land and Beit-Horon with its surrounding open land — four cities. ²³ Out of the tribe of Dan: Elt’ke with its surrounding open land, Gib’ton with its surrounding open land, ²⁴ Ayalon with its surrounding open land and Gat-Rimmon with its surrounding open land — four cities. ²⁵ Out of the half-tribe of M’nasheh: Ta‘nakh with its surrounding open land and Gat-Rimmon with its surrounding open land — two cities. ²⁶ All the cities of the families of the rest of the descendants of K’hat numbered ten with their surrounding open land.

²⁷ To the descendants of Gershon, of the families of the L’vi’im, out of the half-tribe of M’nasheh they gave: Golan in Bashan with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; and B’esht’rah with its surrounding open land — two cities. ²⁸ Out of the tribe of Yissakhar: Kishyon with its surrounding open land, Dovrat with its surrounding open land, ²⁹ Yarmut with its surrounding open land and ‘Ein-Ganim with its surrounding open land — four cities. ³⁰ Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its surrounding open land, ‘Avdon with its surrounding open land, ³¹ Helkat with its surrounding open land and Rechov with its surrounding open land — four cities. ³² Out of the tribe of Naftali: Kedesh in the Galil with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; Hammot-Dor with its surrounding open land; and Kartan with its surrounding open land — three cities. ³³ All the cities of the Gershuni according to their families were thirteen cities with their surrounding open land.

³⁴ To the families of the descendants of M’rari, the rest of the L’vi’im, out of the tribe of Z’vulun: Yokne‘am with its surrounding open land, Kartah with its surrounding open land, ³⁵ Dimnah with its surrounding open land and Nahalal with its surrounding open land — four cities. {⁽³⁶⁾ Out of the tribe of Re’uven: Betzer with its surrounding open land, Yachtzah with its surrounding open land, ⁽³⁷⁾ K’demot with its surrounding open land and Mefa‘at with its surrounding open land — four cities.}* ^36 (38) Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramot in Gil‘ad with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; Machanayim with its surrounding open land; ^37 (39) Heshbon with its surrounding open land and Ya‘zer with its surrounding open land — four cities in all. ^38 (40) All these were the cities of the descendants of M’rari according to their families, the rest of the families of the L’vi’im; their lot totaled twelve cities.

^39 (41) All the cities of the L’vi’im, forty-eight cities with their surrounding open land, are to be in among the lands possessed by the people of Isra’el — ^40 (42) these cities, each with its surrounding open land; thus is it to be with all these cities.

^41 (43) So Adonai gave Isra’el all the land which he swore to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and lived in it. ^42 (44) Then Adonai gave them rest all around, according to everything he had sworn to their ancestors. Not a man from all their enemies stood against them; Adonai handed all their enemies over to them. ^43 (45) Not one good thing that Adonai had spoken of to the household of Isra’el failed to happen; it all took place.

22 Then Y’hoshua called the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh, ² and said to them, “You have done everything Moshe the servant of Adonai ordered you to do and heeded what I said in all the orders I gave you. ³ All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as Adonai your God ordered. ⁴ Now Adonai your God has given rest to your kinsmen, as he told them he would. So you too, return to your tents in the land which is your possession, which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you beyond the Yarden. ⁵ Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you — to love Adonai your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being.” ⁶ Then Y’hoshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. ⁷ (To the one half-tribe of M’nasheh, Moshe had given an inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half, Y’hoshua gave one among their kinsmen on the west side of the Yarden.) When Y’hoshua sent them away to their tents he blessed them, ⁸ saying, “Return with great riches to your tents — with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron and with great quantities of clothing; share the spoil of your enemies with your kinsmen.”

⁹ So the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh returned; they left the people of Isra’el in Shiloh, in the land of Kena‘an, to go to the land of Gil‘ad, to the land they were to possess and which they already did possess — according to the order of Adonai through Moshe. ¹⁰ When the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe arrived in the area of the land of Kena‘an near the Yarden, they built an altar there by the Yarden, a large, impressive altar. ¹¹ The people of Isra’el heard of it and said, “Look! The descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh have built an altar by the frontier of the land of Kena‘an, in the area by the Yarden, on the side that belongs to the people of Isra’el.”

¹² When the people of Isra’el heard of it, the entire community of Isra’el gathered together in Shiloh to wage war against them. ¹³ The people of Isra’el sent Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen into the land of Gil‘ad to the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh. ¹⁴ With him were ten leaders, one leader of an ancestral clan for each of the tribes of Isra’el; each one was a head of his ancestral clan among the thousands of Isra’el. ¹⁵ They came to the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh in the land of Gil‘ad and spoke with them; they said, ¹⁶ “Here is what the whole community of Adonai is saying: ‘What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Isra’el, turning away today from following Adonai, in that you have built yourselves an altar, thus rebelling today against Adonai? ¹⁷ Is the guilt we incurred at P‘or not enough for us? We haven’t cleansed ourselves from it to this day, even though a plague came on the community of Adonai. ¹⁸ Is this why you have to turn away today from following Adonai? If you rebel against Adonai today, he will be angry tomorrow with the whole community of Isra’el. ¹⁹ If the land you have taken possession of is unclean, then cross back over into the land which belongs to Adonai, where the tabernacle of Adonai is located, and take a possession among us. But don’t rebel against Adonai, and don’t rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of Adonai our God. ²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerach commit a sin in regard to things set aside for destruction, and God’s anger fell on the whole community of Isra’el? He was not the only one who died for his crime.’”

²¹ Then the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh answered the leaders of the thousands of Isra’el: ²² “The Mighty One, God, is Adonai! He knows, and Isra’el will know — if we acted in rebellion or treachery against Adonai, don’t vindicate us today! ²³ We haven’t built an altar in order to turn away from following Adonai or to offer on it burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices as peace offerings. If we have, let Adonai himself require us to atone for it. ²⁴ Rather, we did this out of anxiety, because we thought, ‘Sometime in the future, your descendants might say to our descendants, “You don’t have anything to do with Adonai, the God of Isra’el, ²⁵ because Adonai made the Yarden the border between us and you, so you descendants of Re’uven and Gad have no share in Adonai.”’ In this way your descendants could make our descendants stop fearing Adonai. ²⁶ So we said, ‘Let us now make preparations and build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, ²⁷ but as a witness between us and you, and between our generations who will come after us, so that we may perform the service for Adonai in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and peace offerings — so that your descendants will not say to our descendants at some future time, “You have no share in Adonai.”’ ²⁸ For this reason we said, ‘When they accuse us or future generations in this way, we will say, “Look! Here is a replica of the altar of Adonai which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.”’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against Adonai and turn away today from following Adonai by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices other than the altar of Adonai our God which stands in front of his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Pinchas the cohen and the leaders of the community, the heads of the thousands of Isra’el who were with him, heard what the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M’nasheh said, it satisfied them. ³¹ Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen said to the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M’nasheh, “Today we know that Adonai is here with us, because you have not committed this treasonous act against Adonai. Now you have saved the people of Isra’el from the anger of Adonai.” ³² So Pinchas the son of El‘azar the cohen and the leaders returned from the descendants of Re’uven and Gad, from the land of Gil‘ad to the land of Kena‘an and the people of Isra’el, bringing word back to them. ³³ What they said satisfied the people of Isra’el. The people of Isra’el blessed God and said no more about going to wage war against the descendants of Re’uven and Gad and destroying the land where they lived. ³⁴ The descendants of Re’uven and Gad called the altar “‘Ed [a witness]” between us that Adonai is God.

23 A long time afterwards, when Adonai had given Isra’el rest from all their surrounding enemies, and Y’hoshua was old, with age taking its toll, ² Y’hoshua summoned all Isra’el — their leaders, heads, judges and officials — and said to them, “I am old; age is taking its toll. ³ You have seen everything that Adonai your God has done to all these nations because of you, for it is Adonai your God who has fought on your behalf. ⁴ Here, I have allotted to you land for inheritance according to your tribes between the Yarden and the Great Sea to the west; it includes the land of the nations I have destroyed and the nations which remain. ⁵ Adonai your God will thrust them out ahead of you and drive them out of your sight, so that you will possess their land, as Adonai your God told you.

⁶ “Therefore be very firm about keeping and doing everything written in the book of the Torah of Moshe and not turning aside from it either to the right or to the left. ⁷ Then you won’t become like those nations remaining among you. Don’t even mention the name of their gods, let alone have people swear by them, serve them or worship them; ⁸ but cling to Adonai your God, as you have done to this day. ⁹ This is why Adonai has driven out great, strong nations ahead of you; and it explains why no one has prevailed against you to this day, ¹⁰ why one man of you has chased a thousand — it is because Adonai your God has fought on your behalf, as he said to you.

¹¹ “Therefore take great care to love Adonai your God. ¹² Otherwise, if you retreat and cling to the remnant of these other nations remaining among you, if you make marriages with them and have children with them and they with you, ¹³ know for certain that Adonai your God will stop driving out these nations from your sight. Instead, they will become a snare and a trap for you, whipping your sides and pricking your eyes, until you perish from this good land which Adonai your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Today I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore consider in all your heart and being that not one of all the good things Adonai your God said concerning you has failed to happen; it has all come to pass; nothing of it has failed. ¹⁵ Nevertheless, just as all the good things Adonai your God promised you have come upon you, likewise Adonai will bring upon you all the bad things too, until he has destroyed you from this good land which Adonai your God has given you. ¹⁶ When you violate the covenant of Adonai your God, which he ordered you to obey, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of Adonai will blaze up against you; and you will perish quickly from the good land which he has given you!”

24 Y’hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra’el to Sh’khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra’el; and they presented themselves before God. ² Y’hoshua said to all the people, “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the [Euphrates] River — Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor — and they served other gods. ³ I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena‘an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz’chak. ⁴ I gave to Yitz’chak Ya‘akov and ‘Esav. To ‘Esav I gave Mount Se‘ir as his possession, but Ya‘akov and his children went down into Egypt. ⁵ I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out. ⁶ Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf. ⁷ But when they cried out to Adonai, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time. ⁸ I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you. ⁹ Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, rose up and fought against Isra’el. He sent and summoned Bil‘am the son of B‘or to put a curse on you. ¹⁰ But I refused to listen to Bil‘am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him. ¹¹ Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you — the Emori, P’rizi, Kena‘ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y’vusi — and I handed them over to you. ¹² I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori — it wasn’t by your sword or your bow. ¹³ Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

¹⁴ “Therefore fear Adonai, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates]River and in Egypt, and serve Adonai! ¹⁵ If it seems bad to you to serve Adonai, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve Adonai!”

¹⁶ The people answered, “Far be it from us that we would abandon Adonai to serve other gods; ¹⁷ because it is Adonai our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through; ¹⁸ and it was Adonai who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve Adonai, for he is our God.”

¹⁹ Y’hoshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Adonai; because he is a holy God, a jealous God, and he will not forgive your crimes and sins. ²⁰ If you abandon Adonai and serve foreign gods, he will turn, doing you harm and destroying you after he has done you good.”

²¹ But the people said to Y’hoshua, “No, but we will serve Adonai.”

²² Y’hoshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Adonai, to serve him.”

They answered, “We are witnesses.”

²³ “Now,” Y’hoshua urged, “put away the foreign gods you have among you, and turn your hearts to Adonai, the God of Isra’el.”

²⁴ The people answered Y’hoshua, “We will serve Adonai our God; we will pay attention to what he says.”

²⁵ So Y’hoshua made a covenant with the people that day, laying down for them laws and rulings there in Sh’khem. ²⁶ Y’hoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God. Then he took a big stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of Adonai. ²⁷ Y’hoshua said to all the people, “See, this stone will be a witness against us; because it has heard all the words of Adonai which he said to us; therefore it will be a witness against you, in case you deny your God.” ²⁸ Then Y’hoshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

²⁹ After this, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, the servant of Adonai, died; he was 110 years old. ³⁰ They buried him on his property in Timnat-Serach, which is in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga‘ash.

³¹ Isra’el served Adonai throughout Y’hoshua’s lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who outlived Y’hoshua and had known all the deeds that Adonai had done on behalf of Isra’el.

³² The bones of Yosef, which the people of Isra’el had brought up from Egypt, they buried in Sh’khem, in the parcel of ground which Ya‘akov had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Sh’khem for a hundred pieces of silver; and they became a possession of the descendants of Yosef.

³³ Finally, El‘azar the son of Aharon died; and they buried him on the hill belonging to Pinchas his son, which had been given to him in the hills of Efrayim.

1 After the death of Y’hoshua, the people of Isra’el asked Adonai, “Who will go up for us first to fight against the Kena‘ani?” ² Adonai said: “Y’hudah will go up; here, I have handed the land over to him.” ³ Y’hudah said to his brother Shim‘on, “Come up with me into my assigned territory, so that we can fight against the Kena‘ani; and I likewise will go with you into your territory.” So Shim‘on went with him. ⁴ Y’hudah went up; and Adonai gave the Kena‘ani and the P’rizi into their hands; of those in Bezek they killed ten thousand men. ⁵ They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him. They killed the Kena‘ani and the P’rizi, ⁶ but Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ Adoni-Bezek said: “Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered food under my table; God has paid me back in accordance with what I did.” They brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died there.

⁸ Then the people of Y’hudah fought against Yerushalayim, captured it, overpowered it with the sword, and set the city on fire. ⁹ Afterwards, the people of Y’hudah went down to fight against the Kena‘ani who lived in the hill-country, in the Negev, and in the Sh’felah. ¹⁰ Y’hudah also attacked the Kena‘ani living in Hevron (formerly called Kiryat-Arba), and they overpowered Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai.

¹¹ From there they attacked the inhabitants of D’vir (D’vir was formerly called Kiryat-Sefer). ¹² Kalev said: “To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter ‘Akhsah as his wife.” ¹³ ‘Otni’el the son of K’naz, Kalev’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him ‘Akhsah his daughter as his wife. ¹⁴ After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, “What do you want?” ¹⁵ She said to him: “Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water.” So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs.

¹⁶ Next, the descendants of the Keini, Moshe’s father-in-law, went up out of the City of Date-Palms with the people of Y’hudah into the Y’hudah Desert south of ‘Arad; and they came and settled with the people.

¹⁷ Y’hudah went with Shim‘on his brother; they overpowered the Kena‘ani who inhabited Tz’fat, and completely destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. ¹⁸ Y’hudah also took ‘Azah with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory and ‘Ekron with its territory. ¹⁹ Adonai was with Y’hudah, and they took possession of the hill-country, because they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, since they had iron chariots.

²⁰ They gave Hevron to Kalev, as Moshe had said to do; and he drove out from there the three sons of ‘Anak.

²¹ The people of Binyamin did not drive out the Y’vusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; rather, the Y’vusi continued living with the people of Binyamin in Yerushalayim, as they do to this day.

²² The house of Yosef likewise attacked Beit-El; and Adonai was with them. ²³ The house of Yosef sent spies to Beit-El (the city was formerly called Luz). ²⁴ The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him: “Please show us the way to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly.” ²⁵ So he showed them the way into the city, and they overpowered the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free. ²⁶ He went into the land of the Hittim, built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁷ M’nasheh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Sh’an and its villages, Ta‘anakh and its villages, Dor and its villages, Yivle‘am and its villages or Megiddo and its villages; so that the Kena‘ani managed to keep on living in that land. ²⁸ In time, when Isra’el had grown strong, they did put the Kena‘ani to forced labor but failed to drive them out completely.

²⁹ Efrayim did not drive out the Kena‘ani living in Gezer; so the Kena‘ani continued living in Gezer along with them.

³⁰ Z’vulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol; so the Kena‘ani continued to live among them but became subject to forced labor.

³¹ Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of ‘Akko, Tzidon, Achlav, Akhziv, Helbah, Afik or Rechov; ³² so the Asheri lived among the Kena‘ani who were living in the land, because they didn’t drive them out.

³³ Naftali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh or Beit-‘Anat but lived among the Kena‘ani living in the land; however, the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh and Beit-‘Anat became forced labor for them.

³⁴ The Emori forced the people of Dan into the hills; for they would not let them come down to the valley. ³⁵ The Emori had resolved to live in the Heres Hills, in Ayalon and in Sha‘alvim; but when the power of the house of Yosef grew greater, they became subject to forced labor. ³⁶ So the territory of the Emori was from the Scorpion Ascent and the Rock upward.

2 Now the angel of Adonai came up from Gilgal to Bokhim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt, led you to the land I swore to your fathers and said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you; ² you, for your part, are not to make any covenant with the inhabitants of this land but must tear down their altars.’ However, you have paid no attention to what I said. What is this you have done? ³ This is why I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will be on your flanks, and their gods will become a snare for you.’” ⁴ When the angel of Adonai spoke these words to all the people of Isra’el, they began crying and wailing at the top of their voices. ⁵ So they called the name of that place Bokhim [crying] and sacrificed there to Adonai.

⁶ When Y’hoshua had sent the people away, the people of Isra’el had gone each one to his assigned property in order to take possession of the land. ⁷ The people served Adonai throughout Y’hoshua’s life and throughout the lives of all the older men who outlived Y’hoshua and who had seen all the great work of Adonai which he had done for Isra’el. ⁸ When Y’hoshua the son of Nun, the servant of Adonai, died, he was 110 years old; ⁹ and they buried him near the boundary of his property in Timnat-Heres, in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga‘ash.

¹⁰ When that entire generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation arose that knew neither Adonai nor the work he had done for Isra’el. ¹¹ Then the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective and served the ba‘alim. ¹² They abandoned Adonai, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, selected from the gods of the peoples around them, and worshipped them; this made Adonai angry. ¹³ They abandoned Adonai and served Ba‘al and the ‘ashtarot. ¹⁴ The anger of Adonai blazed against Isra’el; and he handed them over to pillagers, who plundered them, and to their enemies around them; so that they could no longer resist their enemies. ¹⁵ Whenever they launched an attack, the power of Adonai was against them, so that things turned out badly — just as Adonai had said would happen and had sworn to them. They were in dire distress.

¹⁶ But then Adonai raised up judges, who rescued them from the power of those who were plundering them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not pay attention to their judges, but made whores of themselves to other gods and worshipped them; they quickly turned away from the path on which their ancestors had walked, the way of obeying Adonai’s mitzvot — they failed to do this. ¹⁸ When Adonai raised up judges for them, Adonai was with the judge and delivered them from the hands of their enemies throughout the lifetime of the judge; for Adonai was moved to pity by their groaning under those oppressing and crushing them. ¹⁹ But after the judge died, they would relapse into worse behavior than that of their ancestors, following other gods to serve and worship them; they abandoned none of their practices or stubborn ways. ²⁰ So the anger of Adonai blazed against Isra’el; he said, “Because this nation violates my covenant, which I ordered their fathers to obey; and they don’t pay attention to what I say; ²¹ in the future, I will not expel ahead of them any of the nations that Y’hoshua left when he died. ²² This is how I will test Isra’el, to see whether or not they will keep the way of Adonai, living according to it, as their ancestors did.” ²³ So Adonai allowed those nations to remain where they were, without quickly driving them out; he did not hand them over to Y’hoshua.

3 These are the nations which Adonai allowed to remain, in order to put to the test all the people of Isra’el who had not known any of the wars with Kena‘an. ² This was only so that the generations of Isra’el who had previously known nothing of war might learn about it. ³ These nations consisted of the five chiefs of the P’lishtim, all the Kena‘ani, the Tzidoni, and the Hivi who lived in the hills of the L’vanon between Mount Ba‘al-Hermon and the entrance to Hamat. ⁴ They stayed there to test whether Isra’el would pay attention to the mitzvot of Adonai, which, through Moshe, he had ordered their ancestors to obey. ⁵ So the people of Isra’el lived among the Kena‘ani, Hitti, Emori, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi; ⁶ taking their daughters as their wives, giving their own daughters to their sons and serving their gods.

⁷ Thus the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, forgot Adonai their God, and served the ba‘alim and asherim. ⁸ Therefore the anger of Adonai blazed against Isra’el, and he gave them over into the hands of Kushan-Rish‘atayim king of Aram-Naharayim; and the people of Isra’el served Kushan-Rish‘atayim eight years. ⁹ But when the people of Isra’el cried out to Adonai, Adonai raised up a savior for the people of Isra’el; and he rescued them; this was ‘Otni’el, the son of Kalev’s younger brother K’naz. ¹⁰ The spirit of Adonai came upon him, and he judged Isra’el. Then he went out to war, and Adonai gave Kushan-Rish‘atayim king of Aram into his hands; his power prevailed against Kushan-Rish‘atayim. ¹¹ So the land had rest for forty years, until ‘Otni’el the son of K’naz died.

¹² But the people of Isra’el again did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, so Adonai strengthened ‘Eglon the king of Mo’av against Isra’el, because they had done what was evil from Adonai’s perspective. ¹³ In confederation with the people of ‘Amon and ‘Amalek, ‘Eglon went out and defeated Isra’el, capturing the City of Date-Palms; ¹⁴ and the people of Isra’el served ‘Eglon the king of Mo’av eighteen years.

¹⁵ But when the people of Isra’el cried out to Adonai, Adonai raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, from the tribe of Binyamin, a left-handed man. The people of Isra’el appointed him to take their tribute to ‘Eglon the king of Mo’av. ¹⁶ Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long and strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes. ¹⁷ Then he presented the tribute to ‘Eglon king of Mo’av. Now ‘Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had brought it. ¹⁹ But he himself, after reaching the quarries at Gilgal, went back and said, “King, I have a secret message for you.” The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew. ²⁰ Ehud came to him; he was sitting alone by himself in his upstairs room, where it was cool. Ehud said: “I have a message from God for you.” As the king arose from his seat, ²¹ Ehud reached out with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into the king’s belly. ²² The hilt too went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, so that it came out behind. ²³ Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shut the doors of the upstairs room behind him and locked them. ²⁴ After Ehud had left, the king’s servants came. Seeing that the doors of the upper room were locked, they said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool room.” ²⁵ They waited until they became embarrassed, but he still didn’t open the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened them; and there before them lay their master, dead on the ground.

²⁶ But while they were delaying, Ehud escaped — he passed beyond the quarries and arrived safely in Se‘irah. ²⁷ Upon arrival in the hills of Efrayim, he began sounding the call on the shofar; and the people of Isra’el went down with him from the hill-country; he himself took the lead.