Bible in 90 Days

Land for Judah

15 The land that was given to Judah was divided among the families of that tribe. That land went to the border of Edom and south all the way to the desert of Zin at the edge of Teman. ² The southern border of Judah’s land started at the south end of the Dead Sea. ³ The border went south to Scorpion Pass and continued on to Zin. Then the border continued south to Kadesh Barnea. It continued past Hezron to Addar. From Addar the border turned and continued to Karka. ⁴ The border continued to Azmon, the brook of Egypt, and then to the Mediterranean Sea. All that land was on their southern border.

⁵ Their eastern border was the shore of the Dead Sea to the area where the Jordan River flowed into the sea.

Their northern border started at the area where the Jordan River flowed into the Dead Sea. ⁶ Then the northern border went to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah. The border continued to the stone of Bohan. (Bohan was the son of Reuben.) ⁷ Then the northern border went through the Valley of Achor to Debir. There the border turned to the north and went to Gilgal. Gilgal is across from the road that goes through the mountain of Adummim. It is on the south side of the brook. The border continued along the waters of En Shemesh. The border stopped at En Rogel. ⁸ Then the border went through the Valley of Ben Hinnom beside the southern side of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). There the border went to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley. This was at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. ⁹ From there the border went to the spring of water of Nephtoah. Then the border went to the cities near Mount Ephron. There the border turned and went to Baalah. (Baalah is also called Kiriath Jearim.) ¹⁰ At Baalah the border turned west and went to the hill country of Seir. The border continued along the north side of Mount Jearim (Kesalon) and continued down to Beth Shemesh. From there the border went past Timnah. ¹¹ Then the border went to the hill north of Ekron. From there the border turned to Shikkeron and went past Mount Baalah. The border continued on to Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. ¹² The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. So the land of Judah was inside these four borders. The families of Judah lived in this area.

¹³ The Lord had commanded Joshua to give Caleb son of Jephunneh part of the land in Judah. So Joshua gave Caleb the land God had commanded. Joshua gave him the town of Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹⁴ Caleb forced the three Anakite families living in Hebron to leave there. Those families were Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. They were from the family of Anak. ¹⁵ Then Caleb fought against the people living in Debir. (In the past, Debir was also called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹⁶ Caleb said, “I will give my daughter in marriage to the man who attacks and conquers Kiriath Sepher.”

¹⁷ Othniel was the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz. Othniel defeated that city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁸ Acsah went to live with Othniel. Othniel told Acsah^[a] to ask her father Caleb for some more land. Acsah went to her father. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

¹⁹ Acsah answered, “Give me a blessing.^[b] 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.

²⁰ The tribe of Judah got the land that God promised them. Each family group got part of the land.

²¹ The tribe of Judah got all the towns in the southern part of the Negev. These towns were near the border of Edom. Here is a list of the towns:

³³ The tribe of Judah also got these towns in the western foothills:

³⁷ The tribe of Judah was also given these towns:

⁴² The people of Judah also got these towns:

⁴⁸ The people of Judah were also given these towns in the hill country:

⁵² The people of Judah were also given these towns:

⁵⁵ The people of Judah were also given these towns:

⁵⁸ The people of Judah were also given these towns:

⁶¹ The people of Judah were also given these towns in the desert:

⁶³ The army of Judah was not able to force out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So today there are still Jebusites living among the people of Judah in Jerusalem.

Land for Ephraim and Manasseh

16 This is the land that the family of Joseph received. This land started at the Jordan River near Jericho and continued to the waters of Jericho. (This was just east of Jericho.) The border went up from Jericho to the hill country of Bethel. ² Then the border continued from Bethel (Luz) to the Arkite border at Ataroth. ³ Then the border went west to the border of the Japhletites. The border continued to Lower Beth Horon. Then the border went to Gezer and continued to the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴ So the people of Manasseh and Ephraim got their land. (Manasseh and Ephraim were sons of Joseph.)

⁵ This is the land that was given to the people of Ephraim: Their eastern border started at Ataroth Addar near Upper Beth Horon. ⁶ And the western border started at Micmethath. The border turned to the east to Taanath Shiloh and continued east to Janoah. ⁷ Then it went from Janoah down to Ataroth and to Naarah. The border continued until it touched Jericho and ended at the Jordan River. ⁸ The border went from Tappuah west to Kanah Ravine and ended at the sea. This is all the land that was given to the Ephraimites. Each family in that tribe got a part of this land. ⁹ Many of the border towns of Ephraim were actually in Manasseh’s borders, but the Ephraimites got the towns and the fields around them. ¹⁰ But the Ephraimites were not able to force the Canaanites to leave the town of Gezer. So the Canaanites still live among the Ephraimites today, although they did become slaves of the Ephraimites.

17 Then land was given to the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s first son. Manasseh’s first son was Makir, the father of Gilead.^[c] Makir was a great soldier, so the areas of Gilead and Bashan were given to his family. ² Land was also given to the other families in the tribe of Manasseh. These families were Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. All these men were the other sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. The families of these men got their share of the land.

³ Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. Hepher was the son of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Makir, and Makir was the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he had five daughters. The daughters were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ The daughters went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and all the leaders. The daughters said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land the same as our male relatives.” So Eleazar obeyed the Lord and gave the daughters some land, just like their uncles.

⁵ So the tribe of Manasseh had ten areas of land west of the Jordan River and two more areas of land, Gilead and Bashan, on the other side of the Jordan River. ⁶ So these women from the tribe of Manasseh got land the same as the men. The land of Gilead was given to the rest of the families of Manasseh.

⁷ The lands of Manasseh were in the area between Asher and Micmethath. This is near Shechem. The border went south to the En Tappuah area. ⁸ The land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town itself did not. The town of Tappuah was at the border of Manasseh’s land, and it belonged to the people of Ephraim. ⁹ The border of Manasseh continued south to Kanah Ravine. This area belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, but the cities belonged to the people of Ephraim. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the river and it continued west to the Mediterranean Sea. ¹⁰ The land to the south belonged to Ephraim. And the land to the north belonged to Manasseh. The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. The border touched Asher’s land in the north and Issachar’s land in the east.

¹¹ The people of Manasseh had towns in the area of Issachar and Asher. Beth Shean, Ibleam, and the small towns around them also belonged to them. The people of Manasseh also lived in Dor, Endor, Taanach, Megiddo, and the small towns around these cities. They also lived in the three towns of Naphoth. ¹² The people of Manasseh were not able to defeat those cities. So the Canaanites continued to live there. ¹³ But the Israelites grew strong. When this happened, they forced the Canaanites to work for them. But they did not force them to leave that land.

¹⁴ The tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua and said, “You gave us only one area of land, but we are many people. Why did you give us only one part of all the land that the Lord gave his people?”

¹⁵ Joshua answered them, “If you have too many people, go up to the wooded area in the hill country and clear that land for a place to live. That land now belongs to the Perizzites and the Rephaites. But if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go take that land.”

¹⁶ The people of Joseph said, “It is true that the hill country of Ephraim is not large enough for us. But the Canaanites living there have powerful weapons—they have iron chariots! And they control Jezreel Valley, Beth Shean, and all the small towns in that area.”

¹⁷ Then Joshua said to the people of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, “You have many people and you are very strong, so you should get more than one share of the land. ¹⁸ You will take these mountains. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. You can take it from the Canaanites and force them to leave. You can defeat them, even if they are strong and have iron chariots.”

Dividing the Rest of the Land

18 All the Israelites gathered together at Shiloh where they set up the Meeting Tent. The Israelites controlled that country. They had defeated all the enemies in that land. ² But at this time there were still seven tribes of Israel that had not yet received their land.

³ So Joshua said to the Israelites, “Why do you wait so long to take your land? The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given this land to you. ⁴ So each of your tribes should choose three men. I will send them out to study the land. They will describe that land, and then they will come back to me. ⁵ They will divide the land into seven parts. The people of Judah will keep their land in the south. The people of Joseph will keep their land in the north. ⁶ But you should describe the land and divide it into seven parts. Bring the map to me, and we will throw lots to let the Lord our God decide how to divide the land among the tribes. ⁷ The Levites don’t get a share of the land. Their share is to serve the Lord as priests. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received the land that was promised to them. They are on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, the Lord’s servant, gave them that land.”

⁸ So the men who were chosen went to look at the land and write down what they saw. Joshua told them, “Go through the land and describe it in writing. Then come back to me at Shiloh. I will throw lots and let the Lord decide how you will share the land.”

⁹ So the men went into the land. As they walked through it, they wrote down what they saw. They listed all the cities and divided the land into seven parts. Then they went back to Joshua at Shiloh. ¹⁰ Joshua threw lots for them in front of the Lord at Shiloh. In this way Joshua divided the land and gave each tribe its part of the land.

Land for Benjamin

¹¹ The tribe of Benjamin was given the land that was between the areas of Judah and Joseph. Each family in the tribe of Benjamin got its land. This is the land that was chosen for Benjamin: ¹² The northern border started at the Jordan River. It went along the northern edge of Jericho. Then the border went west into the hill country. It continued until it was just east of Beth Aven. ¹³ Then the border went south to Luz (Bethel), then down to Ataroth Addar. Ataroth Addar is on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon. ¹⁴ At the hill south of Beth Horon, the border turned south and went along the west side of the hill. The border went to Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim). This town belonged to the people of Judah. This was the western border.

¹⁵ The southern border started near Kiriath Jearim and went to the River of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the border went down to the bottom of the hill near the valley of Ben Hinnom, north of Rephaim Valley. It continued down Hinnom Valley just south of the Jebusite city. Then the border went on to En Rogel. ¹⁷ There it turned north, went to En Shemesh, and then continued on to Geliloth. (Geliloth is near the Adummim Pass in the mountains.) The border went down to the Great Stone that was named for Bohan, the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ It continued to the northern part of Beth Arabah. Then the border went down into the Jordan Valley. ¹⁹ Then it went to the northern part of Beth Hoglah and ended at the north shore of the Dead Sea. This is where the Jordan River flows into that sea. That was the southern border.

²⁰ The Jordan River was the eastern border. So this was the land that was given to the tribe of Benjamin. These were the borders on all sides. ²¹ Each family got its land. These are their cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²² Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. There were twelve cities and the fields around them.

²⁵ The tribe of Benjamin also got Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. There were 14 cities and the fields around them. The tribe of Benjamin got all these areas.

Land for Simeon

19 Then Joshua gave all the families in the tribe of Simeon their share of the land. The land they got was inside the area that belonged to Judah. ² This is the land that was given to that tribe: Beersheba (also called Sheba), Moladah, ³ Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, ⁶ Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen. There were 13 towns and all the fields around them.

⁷ They also got the towns of Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan. There were four towns and all the fields around them. ⁸ They also got all the fields around the cities as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah in the Negev). So this was the area that was given to the tribe of Simeon. Each family got its land. ⁹ Simeon’s share of land was within the area that Judah got. The people of Judah had more land than they needed, so the people of Simeon got part of their land.

Land for Zebulun

¹⁰ The next tribe to get their land was Zebulun. Each family in Zebulun got the land that was promised to them. The border of Zebulun went as far as Sarid. ¹¹ Then the border went west to Maralah and just touched Dabbesheth. Then it went along the ravine near Jokneam. ¹² Then the border turned to the east. It went from Sarid to Kisloth Tabor. Then it went on to Daberath and to Japhia. ¹³ Then the border continued to the east to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin. It ended at Rimmon. Then it turned and went to Neah. ¹⁴ At Neah the border turned again, went north to Hannathon, and then continued to the Valley of Iphtah El. ¹⁵ Inside this border were the cities of Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. In all, there were twelve towns and all the fields around them.

¹⁶ So these are the towns and fields around them that were given to Zebulun. Each family in Zebulun got its part of the land.

Land for Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth part of the land was given to the tribe of Issachar. Each family in that tribe got its part of the land. ¹⁸ This is the land that was given to that tribe: Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez.

²² The border of their land touched Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh. It ended at the Jordan River. In all, there were 16 towns and the fields around them. ²³ These cities and towns were part of the land that was given to the tribe of Issachar. Each family got its part of the land.

Land for Asher

²⁴ The fifth part of land was given to the tribe of Asher. Each family in that tribe got its part of the land. ²⁵ This is the land that was given to that tribe: Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal.

The western border continued to Mount Carmel and Shihor Libnath. ²⁷ Then the border turned to the east. It went to Beth Dagon. The border touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah El. Then it went north of Beth Emek and Neiel. It passed north of Cabul. ²⁸ Then the border went to Abdon,^[d] Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah. It continued to the Greater Sidon area. ²⁹ Then the border went back south to Ramah. It continued to the strong city of Tyre. Then the border turned and went to Hosah. It ended at the sea, near Aczib, ³⁰ Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob.

In all there were 22 towns and the fields around them. ³¹ These cities and the fields around them were given to the tribe of Asher. Each family in that tribe got its share of the land.

Land for Naphtali

³² The sixth part of land was given to the tribe of Naphtali. Each family in that tribe got its share of the land. ³³ The border of their land started at the large tree near Zaanannim. This is near Heleph. Then the border went through Adami Nekeb and Jabneel. It continued to Lakkum and ended at the Jordan River. ³⁴ Then the border went to the west through Aznoth Tabor. It ended at Hukkok. The southern border touched Zebulun and the western border touched Asher. The border went to Judah, at the Jordan River to the east. ³⁵ There were some very strong cities inside these borders. They were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh. In all, there were 19 towns and all the fields around them.

³⁹ These cities and the fields around them were given to the tribe of Naphtali. Each family in that tribe got its land.

Land for Dan

⁴⁰ Then land was given to the tribe of Dan. Each family in that tribe got its land. ⁴¹ This is the land that was given to them: Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me Jarkon, Rakkon, and the area near Joppa.

⁴⁷ But the people of Dan had trouble taking their land. There were strong enemies there and the people of Dan could not easily defeat them. So the people of Dan went to the northern part of Israel and fought against Laish.^[e] They defeated Laish and killed the people who lived there. So the people of Dan lived in the town of Laish. They changed the name to Dan because that was the name of the father of their tribe. ⁴⁸ All these cities and fields around them were given to the tribe of Dan. Each family got its share of the land.

Land for Joshua

⁴⁹ So the leaders finished dividing the land and giving it to the different tribes. After they finished, all the Israelites decided to give Joshua son of Nun some land too. This was land that was promised to him. ⁵⁰ The Lord had commanded that he get this land. So they gave Joshua the town of Timnath Serah^[f] in the hill country of Ephraim. This was the town that Joshua told them he wanted. So he built the town stronger and lived there.

⁵¹ All these lands were given to the different tribes of Israel. Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of each tribe met together at Shiloh to divide the land. They met before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. So they finished dividing the land.

Cities of Safety

20 Then the Lord said to Joshua: ² “Through Moses, I told you to choose some cities to be cities of safety. ³ Anyone who kills someone accidentally can go to a city of safety to hide from the relatives who want to kill him.

⁴ “If you accidentally kill someone and you run away to one of those cities, you must stop at the entrance of the city and tell the leaders of the people what happened. Then the leaders can allow you to enter the city. They will give you a place to live among them. ⁵ If someone chases you and follows you to that city, the leaders of the city must not give you up. They must protect you because you came to them for safety after killing someone by accident—you were not angry and did not plan to kill the person. It was something that just happened. ⁶ You should stay in that city until the court has judged you and until the high priest dies. Then you may go back to your hometown.”

⁷ So the Israelites chose some cities to be called cities of safety. These are the cities: Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim; Kiriath Arba (Hebron) in the hill country of Judah; ⁸ Bezer, east of the Jordan River across from Jericho, in the desert area in the land of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead in the land of Gad; and Golan in Bashan in the land of Manasseh.

⁹ All Israelites or any foreigners living among them who killed someone by accident were allowed to run away to one of these cities of safety. They could be safe there and not be killed by anyone chasing them. The court in that city would judge them.

Towns for Priests and Levites

21 The family rulers of the Levite tribe went to talk to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the rulers of the other tribes of Israel. ² At Shiloh in the land of Canaan, the Levite rulers said to them, “The Lord gave Moses a command. He commanded that you give us towns to live in and that you give us fields where our animals can eat.” ³ So the Israelites obeyed this command from the Lord and gave the Levites these towns and the land around them for their animals:

⁴ The Kohath family groups were descendants of Aaron the priest from the tribe of Levi. Part of the Kohath family was given 13 towns in the areas that belonged to Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

⁵ The other Kohath families were given ten towns in the areas that belonged to Ephraim, Dan, and half of Manasseh.

⁶ The people from the Gershon family were given 13 towns. These towns were in the areas that belonged to Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half of Manasseh that was in Bashan.

⁷ The people from the Merari family were given 12 towns. These towns came from the areas that belonged to Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸ So the Israelites gave the Levites these towns and the fields around them, just as the Lord had told Moses.

⁹ These are the names of the towns that were in the areas that belonged to Judah and Simeon. ¹⁰ The first choice of towns was given to the Levites from the Kohath family group. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath Arba. (This is Hebron. It was named for a man named Arba. Arba was the father of Anak.) They also gave them some land near the town for their animals. ¹² But the fields and the small towns around the city of Kiriath Arba belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh. ¹³ So they gave the city of Hebron to Aaron’s descendants. (Hebron was a city of safety.) They also gave Aaron’s descendants the towns of Libnah, ¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa, ¹⁵ Holon, Debir, ¹⁶ Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh. They also gave them some of the land near these towns for their animals. These two tribes gave them nine towns.

¹⁷ They also gave Aaron’s descendants cities that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. These cities were Gibeon, Geba, ¹⁸ Anathoth, and Almon. They gave them these four towns and some of the land near the towns for their animals. ¹⁹ In all, they gave 13 towns to the priests. (All priests were descendants of Aaron.) They also gave them some land near each town for their animals.

²⁰ The other people from the Kohathite family groups were given towns that were in the areas that belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. They got these towns: ²¹ the city of Shechem from the hill country of Ephraim (which was a city of safety), Gezer, ²² Kibzaim, and Beth Horon. In all, Ephraim gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals.

²³ The tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, ²⁴ Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. In all, Dan gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals.

²⁵ Half the tribe of Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath Rimmon. In all, this half of Manasseh gave them two towns and some land around each town for their animals.

²⁶ In all, the rest of the people from the Kohath family groups got ten towns and some land around each town for their animals.

²⁷ The Gershon family groups were also from the tribe of Levi. They got these towns:

Half the tribe of Manasseh gave them Golan in Bashan. (Golan was a city of safety.) Manasseh also gave them Be Eshtarah. In all, this half of Manasseh gave them two towns and some land around each town for their animals.

²⁸ The tribe of Issachar gave them Kishion, Daberath, ²⁹ Jarmuth, and En Gannim. In all, Issachar gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals.

³⁰ The tribe of Asher gave them Mishal, Abdon, ³¹ Helkath, and Rehob. In all, Asher gave them four towns and some land around each town for their animals.

³² 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.

³³ In all, the Gershon family groups got 13 towns and some land around each town for their animals.

^34-39 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.

⁴⁰ In all, the last family of Levites, the Merari family, got 12 towns.

⁴¹ 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. ⁴² Each of these towns had some land in it for their animals. That was true for every town.

⁴³ So the Lord kept the promise that he had made to the Israelites and gave the people all the land that he had promised. The people took the land and lived there. ⁴⁴ And the Lord allowed them to have peace on all sides of their land, just as he had promised their ancestors. None of their enemies defeated them. The Lord allowed the Israelites to defeat every enemy. ⁴⁵ The Lord kept every promise that he made to the Israelites. There were no promises that he failed to keep. Every promise came true.

Three Tribes Go Home

22 Then Joshua called a meeting of all the people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. ² Joshua said to them, “Moses was the Lord’s servant. You obeyed everything that Moses told you to do. And you also obeyed all of my commands. ³ All this time you have supported all the other Israelites. You carefully obeyed all the commands that the Lord your God gave you. ⁴ The Lord your God promised to give the Israelites peace. And now, he has kept his promise, so now you can go home. The Lord’s servant Moses gave you the land on the east side of the Jordan River. Now you can go home to that land. ⁵ But remember—continue to obey the law that the Lord’s servant Moses gave you. You must love the Lord your God and obey his commands. You must continue to follow him and serve him the very best that you can.”

⁶ Then Joshua said goodbye to them, and they left and went home. ⁷ Moses had given the land of Bashan to half of the Manasseh tribe. Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan River to the other half of the Manasseh tribe. Joshua blessed them and sent them home. ⁸ He said, “You have become very rich. You have many animals. You have gold, silver, and expensive jewelry. You have many beautiful clothes. You have taken many things from your enemies. Go home and divide these things among yourselves.”

⁹ So the people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh left the other Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan. They went back home to Gilead. This was their own land, the land that Moses gave them, as the Lord had commanded.

¹⁰ They went to the place called Geliloth, near the Jordan River in the land of Canaan. There they built a beautiful altar. ¹¹ But the other Israelites who were still at Shiloh heard about the altar that these three tribes built. They heard that the altar was at the border of Canaan at the place called Geliloth. It was near the Jordan River on Israel’s side. ¹² All the Israelites became very angry with these three tribes. They met together and decided to fight against them.

¹³ So the Israelites sent some men to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The leader of these men was Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest. ¹⁴ They also sent ten of the leaders of the tribes there. There was one man from each family group of Israel who was at Shiloh.

¹⁵ So these eleven men went to Gilead. They went to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The eleven men said to them, ¹⁶ “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. ¹⁷ Remember what happened at Peor? Was the sin we committed there not bad enough? Because of that sin, the Lord punished his people with a terrible sickness. And we are still suffering from that sin. ¹⁸ And now you are doing the same thing. You are turning against the Lord. Will you refuse to follow the Lord? If you don’t stop what you are doing, he will be angry with everyone in Israel.

¹⁹ “‘If your land is not a good place to worship God, come over to the Lord’s land. This is where the Lord’s Tent is. You can have some of the land and live here. But don’t turn against the Lord or against us by building another altar. We already have the altar of the Lord our God at the Meeting Tent.

²⁰ “‘Remember how Achan son of Zerah refused to obey the command about things that must be destroyed. That one man broke God’s law, but all the Israelites were punished. Achan died because of his sin, but also many other people died.’”

²¹ The people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh answered the eleven men. They said, ²² “The Lord is our God!^[g] Again we say that the Lord is our God! And God knows why we did this thing. We want you to know also. You can judge what we did. If you think we did it because we are against the Lord or refuse to obey him, you can kill us today. ²³ 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. ²⁴ But that is not why we built it. We built it because we were afraid that in the future your descendants might not accept us as part of God’s people. So your children might say to our children, ‘You people have no reason to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ²⁵ The Lord separated you people of Reuben and Gad from us by giving you the land on the other side of the Jordan River. So you are not part of the Lord’s people.’ If your children said that, it might make our children stop worshiping the Lord.

²⁶ “So we decided to build this altar. But we did not plan to use it for burning offerings and sacrifices. ²⁷ The real reason we wanted our altar was to show our people that we worship the same God you do. This altar will be the proof to you and us and to all our future children that we worship the Lord. We give our sacrifices, grain offerings, and fellowship offerings to the Lord. We wanted your children to grow up and know that we are also Israelites like yourselves. ²⁸ 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.’

²⁹ “The truth is, we don’t want to be against the Lord. We don’t want to stop following him now. We know that the only true altar is the one that is in front of the Holy Tent. That altar belongs to the Lord our God.”

³⁰ Phinehas the priest and the leaders with him heard what the people from Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh said. They were satisfied that they were telling the truth. ³¹ So Phinehas the priest said, “Now we know that the Lord is with us and that you did not turn against him. We are happy that the Israelites will not be punished by the Lord.”

³² Then Phinehas and the leaders left that place and went home. They left the people of Reuben and Gad in the land of Gilead and went back to Canaan. They went back to the Israelites and told them what had happened. ³³ The Israelites were also satisfied. They were happy and thanked God. They decided not to go and fight against the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. They decided not to destroy the land where those people live.

³⁴ The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Proof That We Believe the Lord is God.”

Joshua Encourages the People

23 The Lord gave Israel peace from their enemies around them. He made Israel safe. Many years passed, and Joshua became very old. ² At this time Joshua called a meeting of all the older leaders, heads of families, judges, and officers of the Israelites. Joshua said, “I have grown very old. ³ You have seen what the Lord did to our enemies. He did this to help us. The Lord your God fought for you. ⁴ Remember that I told you that your people could have the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. I promised to give you that land, but you don’t control it yet. I have taken the land away from those nations, but they are still living there. ⁵ But the Lord your God will force the people living there to leave. You will take that land. The Lord will force them to leave, just as he promised.

⁶ “You must be careful to obey every command written in the Book of the Law^[h] of Moses. Never turn away from that law. ⁷ There are still some people living among us who are not Israelites. They worship their own gods. Don’t become friends with them. Don’t serve or worship their gods. ⁸ You must continue to follow the Lord your God. You have done this in the past, and you must continue to do it.

⁹ “The Lord helped you defeat many great and powerful nations. He forced them to leave. No nation has been able to defeat you. ¹⁰ With his help, one man from Israel could defeat 1000 enemy soldiers, because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised. ¹¹ So you must continue to love the Lord your God.

¹² “Never stop following him. Don’t become friends with those people who did not leave when you took the land. They are not part of Israel. Don’t marry any of their people. If you become friends with those people, ¹³ 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.

¹⁴ “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. ¹⁵ Every good promise that the Lord your God made to us has come true. But in the same way, the Lord will make his other promises come true: If you do wrong, bad things will happen to you. You will be forced to leave this good land that the Lord your God has given to you. ¹⁶ This will happen if you refuse to keep your agreement with the Lord your God. You will lose this land if you go and serve other gods. You must not worship those other gods. If you do, the Lord will become very angry with you. Then you will quickly be forced to leave this good land that he gave you.”

Joshua Says Goodbye

24 Joshua called all the tribes of Israel to meet together at Shechem. Then Joshua called the older leaders, heads of the families, judges, and the officers of Israel. These men stood before God.

² Then Joshua spoke to all the people. He said, “I am telling you what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you: ‘A long time ago, your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. I am talking about men like Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. At that time they worshiped other gods. ³ But I took your father Abraham out of the land on the other side of the River. I led him through the land of Canaan and gave him many children. I gave Abraham his son Isaac. ⁴ And I gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. To Esau, I gave the land around the mountains of Seir. Jacob and his sons did not live there. They went to live in the land of Egypt.

⁵ “‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt. I wanted them to bring my people out of Egypt. I caused many terrible things to happen to the people of Egypt. Then I brought your people out of Egypt. ⁶ When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, they came to the Red Sea, and the men of Egypt were chasing them. There were chariots and men on horses. ⁷ 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. ⁸ Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, east of the Jordan River. Those people fought against you, but I allowed you to defeat them. I gave you the power to destroy them, and you took control of that land.

⁹ “‘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, ¹⁰ but I refused to listen to Balaam’s prayer. So he asked me to bless you, and I saved you from the enemy.

¹¹ “‘Then you went across the Jordan River to the city of Jericho. The people in Jericho fought against you. Also, the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites fought against you. But I allowed you to defeat them all. ¹² As your army went forward, I sent the Hornet^[i] ahead of them and made the people leave the land, as I did to the two Amorite kings.^[j] It was not your swords and bows that brought you victory!

¹³ “‘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.’”

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ “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.”

¹⁶ Then the people answered, “We will never stop following the Lord. We will never serve other gods! ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.”

¹⁹ Then Joshua said, “You will not be able to continue serving the Lord. God is holy. And God hates his people worshiping other gods. He will not forgive you if you turn against him like that. ²⁰ If you leave the Lord and serve other gods, he will cause terrible things to happen to you. He will destroy you. He has been good to you, but if you turn against him he will destroy you.”

²¹ Then the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”

²² Then Joshua said, “Look around at yourselves and the people with you. Do you all know and agree that you have chosen to serve the Lord? Are you all witnesses to this?”

The people answered, “Yes, it is true. We all see that we have chosen to serve the Lord.”

²³ 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.”

²⁴ Then the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him.”

²⁵ 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. ²⁶ Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he found a large stone to be the proof of this agreement. He put the stone under the oak tree near the Lord’s Holy Tent.

²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ Then Joshua told the people to go home. So everyone went back to his own land.

Joshua Dies

²⁹ After that the Lord’s servant Joshua son of Nun died. He was 110 years old. ³⁰ Joshua was buried on his own land at Timnath Serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

³¹ The Israelites served the Lord during the time Joshua was living. After Joshua died, the people continued to serve the Lord while their leaders were alive. These were the leaders who had seen what the Lord had done for Israel.

Joseph Comes Home

³² When the Israelites left Egypt, they carried the bones from the body of Joseph with them. They buried the bones of Joseph at Shechem on the land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of the man named Shechem. Jacob had bought that land for 100 pieces of pure silver. This land belonged to Joseph’s children.

³³ Aaron’s son, Eleazar, died and was buried at Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim. Gibeah had been given to Eleazar’s son Phinehas.

Judah Fights the Canaanites

1 After Joshua died, the Israelites prayed to the Lord, “Which of our tribes should be the first to go and fight for us against the Canaanites?”

² The Lord said to the Israelites, “The tribe of Judah will go. I will let them take this land.”

³ The men of Judah went to their relatives from the tribe of Simeon and asked for help. They said, “Brothers, if you will come and help us fight for the land God gave us, we will go and help you fight for your land.” The men of Simeon agreed and went with them.

⁴ The Lord helped the men of Judah defeat the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They killed 10,000 men at the city of Bezek. ⁵ In the city of Bezek, they found the ruler of Bezek^[k] and fought him, and they defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

⁶ The ruler of Bezek tried to escape, but the men of Judah chased him and caught him. When they caught him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ Then the ruler of Bezek said, “I cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. And they had to eat pieces of food that fell from my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” The men of Judah took the ruler of Bezek to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ The men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They used their swords to kill the people of Jerusalem. Then they burned the city. ⁹ Later, they went down to fight against some more Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the western foothills.

¹⁰ Then the men of Judah went to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the city of Hebron. (Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba.) They defeated the men named Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.^[l]

Caleb and His Daughter

¹¹ The men of Judah left that place. They went to the city of Debir to fight against the people there. (In the past, Debir was called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹² Before they started to fight, Caleb made a promise to the men. He said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to whoever attacks and conquers Kiriath Sepher.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ Acsah went to live with Othniel. Othniel told Acsah^[m] to ask her father for some land. She went to her father. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What is wrong?”

¹⁵ Acsah answered him, “Give me a blessing.^[n] 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.

¹⁶ The Kenites left the City of Palm Trees^[o] and went with the men of Judah. They went to the desert of Judah to live with the people there. This was in the Negev near the city Arad. (The Kenites were from the family of Moses’ father-in-law.)

¹⁷ 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.^[p]

¹⁸ The men of Judah also captured the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron and all the small towns around them.

¹⁹ The Lord was on the side of the men of Judah when they fought. They took the land in the hill country, but they failed to take the land in the valleys, because the people living there had iron chariots.

²⁰ 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^[q] to leave that place.

²¹ The tribe of Benjamin could not force the Jebusites to leave Jerusalem. So even today,^[r] the Jebusites live with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem.

Joseph’s Descendants Capture Bethel

²² The descendants of Joseph went to fight against the city of Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ They sent some spies to the city of Bethel (which was then called Luz). ²⁴ While the spies were watching, they saw a man come out of the city. They said to the man, “Show us a secret way into the city. If you help us, we will not hurt you.”

²⁵ The man showed the spies the secret way into the city. The men of Joseph used their swords to kill the people of Bethel. But they did not hurt the man who helped them or anyone in his family. The man and his family were allowed to go free. ²⁶ He went to the land where the Hittites lived and built a city. He named it Luz, and that city is still called Luz today.

Other Tribes Fight the Canaanites

²⁷ 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. ²⁸ Later, the Israelites grew stronger and forced the Canaanites to work as slaves for them. But the Israelites could not force all the Canaanites to leave their land.

²⁹ 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.

³⁰ Some Canaanites lived in the cities of Kitron and Nahalol. The people of Zebulun did not force those people to leave their land. They stayed and lived with the people of Zebulun. But the people of Zebulun made them work as slaves.

³¹ The people of Asher did not force the other people to leave the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Aczib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob. ³² The people of Asher did not force those Canaanites to leave their land, so the Canaanites continued to live with them.

³³ 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.

³⁴ The Amorites forced the tribe of Dan to live in the hill country. They had to stay in the hills because the Amorites would not let them come down to live in the valleys. ³⁵ The Amorites decided to stay in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. Later, when the descendants of Joseph grew stronger, they made the Amorites work as slaves for them. ³⁶ The land of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and up into the hill country past Sela.

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim

2 The angel of the Lord went up to the city of Bokim from the city of Gilgal. The angel spoke this message from the Lord to the Israelites: “I brought you out of Egypt and led you to the land that I promised to give to your ancestors. I told you I would never break my agreement with you. ² But in return, you must never make any agreement with the people living in that land. You must destroy their altars. I told you that, but you didn’t obey me.

³ “Now I will tell you this, ‘I will not force the other people to leave this land any longer. These people will become a problem for you. They will be like a trap to you. Their false gods will become like a net to trap you.’”

⁴ After the angel gave the Israelites this message from the Lord, the people cried loudly. ⁵ So they named the place Bokim.^[s] There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Disobedience and Defeat

⁶ Then Joshua told the people to go home, so each tribe went to take their area of land. ⁷ The Israelites served the Lord as long as Joshua was alive, and they continued serving the Lord during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua had died. These old men had seen all the great things the Lord had done for the Israelites. ⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. ⁹ The Israelites buried Joshua on the land that he had been given. That was at Timnath Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

¹⁰ After that whole generation died, the next generation grew up. This new generation did not know about the Lord or what he had done for the Israelites. ¹¹ So the Israelites did something very evil before the Lord. They began serving the false god Baal. ¹² It was the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped, who had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But they stopped following him and began to worship the false gods of the people living around them. This made the Lord angry. ¹³ The Israelites stopped following the Lord and began worshiping Baal and Ashtoreth.

¹⁴ The Lord was angry with the Israelites, so he let enemies attack them and take their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them. The Israelites could not protect themselves from their enemies. ¹⁵ When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost. They lost because the Lord was not on their side. He had already warned them that they would lose if they served the gods of the people living around them. The Israelites suffered very much.

¹⁶ Then the Lord chose leaders called judges. These leaders saved the Israelites from the enemies who took their possessions. ¹⁷ But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. The Israelites were not faithful to God—they followed other gods.^[t] In the past, the ancestors of the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s commands. But now the Israelites changed and stopped obeying the Lord.

¹⁸ Many times the enemies of Israel did bad things to the people, so the Israelites would cry for help. And each time the Lord felt sorry for the people and sent a judge to save them from their enemies. The Lord was always with those judges. Each time the Israelites were saved from their enemies. ¹⁹ But when each judge died, the Israelites again sinned and started worshiping the false gods. They acted worse than their ancestors did. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.

²⁰ So the Lord became angry with the Israelites, and he said, “This nation has broken the agreement that I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. ²¹ So I will no longer defeat the nations and clear the way for the Israelites. Those nations were still in this land when Joshua died, and I will let them stay in this land. ²² I will use them to test the Israelites. I will see if the Israelites can keep the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.” ²³ The Lord allowed those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them to leave the country. He did not help Joshua’s army defeat them.

3 The Lord did not force all the other nations to leave Israel’s land. He wanted to test the Israelites. None of the Israelites living at this time had fought in the wars to take the land of Canaan. So he let those other nations stay in their country. (He did this to teach the Israelites who had not fought in those wars.) These are the nations the Lord left in the land: ³ the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ⁴ He left those nations in the land to test the Israelites. He wanted to see if the Israelites would obey the Lord’s commands that he had given to their ancestors through Moses.

⁵ The Israelites lived with the Canaanites, Hittites, the Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people. They allowed their own daughters to marry the sons of those people. The Israelites also began to worship their gods.

Othniel, the First Judge

⁷ The Lord saw that the Israelites did evil things. They forgot about the Lord their God and served the false gods Baal and Asherah. ⁸ The Lord was angry with the Israelites, so he allowed King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim^[u] to defeat the Israelites and to rule over them. The Israelites were under that king’s rule for eight years. ⁹ But the Israelites cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent a man named Othniel to save them. He was the son of Kenaz, who was Caleb’s younger brother. Othniel saved the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord filled Othniel, and he became a judge for the Israelites. He led the Israelites to war. The Lord helped Othniel defeat King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram. ¹¹ So the land was at peace for 40 years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud, the Judge

¹² Again the Israelites did things the Lord considered evil, and the Lord saw them doing these things. So the Lord gave King Eglon of Moab power to defeat the Israelites. ¹³ Eglon got help from the Ammonites and the Amalekites. They joined him and attacked the Israelites. Eglon and his army defeated the Israelites and forced them to leave the City of Palm Trees.^{[v] 14} King Eglon of Moab ruled over the Israelites for 18 years.

¹⁵ The Israelites cried to the Lord for help, so he sent a man named Ehud son of Gera to save them. Ehud was from the tribe of Benjamin and was trained to fight with his left hand. The Israelites sent Ehud with a gift to King Eglon of Moab. ¹⁶ Ehud made himself a sword with two sharp edges that was about 12 inches^[w] long. He tied the sword to his right thigh and hid it under his uniform.

¹⁷ So Ehud brought the gift to King Eglon of Moab. Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ After offering the gift, Ehud left the palace with the men who had carried the gift. ¹⁹ When Ehud reached the statues^[x] near Gilgal, he turned and went back to King Eglon and said, “King, I have a secret message for you.”

The king told him to be quiet and then sent all the servants out of the room. ²⁰ Ehud went to King Eglon. The king was sitting all alone in the upper room of his palace.

Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” The king stood up from his throne. He was very close to Ehud. ²¹ As the king was getting up from his throne,^[y] Ehud reached with his left hand and took out the sword that was tied to his right thigh. Then he pushed the sword into the king’s belly. ²² The sword went into Eglon’s belly so far that even the handle sank in and the fat closed around it. The point of the blade came out his back. Ehud left the sword inside Eglon.

²³ Then Ehud went out of the private room, closed the doors to the upper room, and locked the king inside. ²⁴ Ehud then left the main room, and the servants went back in. The servants found the doors to the upper room locked, so they said, “The king must be relieving himself in his private toilet.” ²⁵ The servants waited for a long time, but the king never opened the doors to the upper room. Finally, the servants got worried. They got the key and unlocked the doors. When the servants entered, they saw their king lying dead on the floor.

²⁶ While the servants were waiting for the king, Ehud had time to escape. He passed by the statues and went toward the place named Seirah. ²⁷ When Ehud came to Seirah, he blew a trumpet there in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites heard the trumpet and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.