The Daily Audio Bible

13 Now Joshua was old. He had lived many years. The Lord said to him, “You are old and have lived many years. And there is very much land yet to be taken. ² This is the land that is left. There is all the land of the Philistines and the Geshurites, ³ from the Shihor east of Egypt as far as the land of Ekron in the north (it is thought of as Canaanite). There are the five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron, and those of the Avvim. ⁴ In the south, there is all the land of the Canaanite, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the land of the Amorite, ⁵ and the land of the Gebalite. There is all of Lebanon east from Baal-gad at the base of Mount Hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. ⁶ I will drive out from in front of the people of Israel all those living in the hill country from Lebanon as far as Misrephoth-maim, all the Sidonians. Give the land as a gift to Israel, as I have told you. ⁷ Divide this land for a gift to the nine families and to the half-family group of Manasseh.”

⁸ The other half-family group, the Reubenites and the Gadites received their gift of land which Moses gave them east of the Jordan, just as the Lord’s servant Moses gave it to them. ⁹ It spread from Aroer, beside the Arnon valley, and the city in the center of the valley, and the plain of Medeba as far as Dibon, ¹⁰ and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. And it went as far as the land of the Ammonites, ¹¹ and Gilead, and the land of the Geshurites and Maacathites. They received all Mount Hermon, all Bashan as far as Salecah, ¹² and all the nation of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He alone was left of the Rephaim still living.) For Moses had won the war against them and had driven them out. ¹³ But the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. For Geshur and Maacath live among Israel to this day. ¹⁴ Moses did not give any land to the family of Levi. Gifts given on the altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their share, as He said to him.

¹⁵ Moses gave land to the family group of the Reubenites by their families. ¹⁶ Their land was from Aroer beside the Arnon valley, and the city in the center of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba, ¹⁷ with Heshbon and all its cities on the plain. There was Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Bethbaal-meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah. There was Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, ²⁰ Beth-peor, the hill-sides of Pishgah, and Beth-jeshimoth. ²¹ There were all the cities of the plain, and all the nation of Sihon king of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon. Moses won the war against Sihon and the leaders of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. ²² The sons of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam, the son of Beor, the one who told what would happen in the future. ²³ The side of the land belonging to the people of Reuben was the Jordan. This is what was given to the people of Reuben for their families with their cities and towns.

²⁴ Moses gave land to the family group of the Gadites for their families. ²⁵ Their land was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead. And it was half the land of the Ammonites, as far as Aroer which is east of Rabbah. ²⁶ It went from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the land of Debir. ²⁷ In the valley there was Bethharam, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon. They were given the rest of the nation of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan along its side. It went up to the south end of the Sea of Chinnereth east of the Jordan. ²⁸ This is what was given to the people of Gad for their families with their cities and towns.

²⁹ Moses gave land to the half-family group of Manasseh. It was divided among the families of the half-family group of the sons of Manasseh. ³⁰ Their land was from Mahanaim through all Bashan, all the nation of Og king of Bashan. It was all the towns of Jair which are in Bashan, sixty cities. ³¹ It was half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the nation of Og in Bashan. These were given to the people of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir by their families.

³² These are the lands which Moses divided in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan east of Jericho. ³³ But Moses did not give any land to the family of Levi. The Lord, the God of Israel, is their share, as He had told them.

14 These are the lands which the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan. They were given to them as a gift by Eleazar the religious leader, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the families of the people of Israel. ² Their share was decided upon by drawing names, as the Lord told Moses, for the nine families and the half-family group. ³ For Moses had given land to the two families and the half-family group east of the Jordan. But he did not give land to the Levites among them. ⁴ Because the sons of Joseph were two families, Manasseh and Ephraim. And they did not give part of the land to the Levites. They only gave them cities to live in, with fields for their animals and whatever they had. ⁵ The people of Israel did just as the Lord had told Moses. They divided the land.

⁶ Then the sons of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God about you and me in Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when the Lord’s servant Moses sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land. I returned with news for him as it was in my heart. ⁸ My brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people weak with fear. But I followed the Lord my God with all my heart. ⁹ So Moses promised on that day, ‘For sure the land where your foot has stepped will be a gift to you and your children forever. Because you have followed the Lord my God with all your heart.’ ¹⁰ Now see, the Lord has let me live, as He said, these forty-five years since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel walked in the desert. Today I am eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me. I am as strong now as I was then, for war, or for anything. ¹² So now give me this hill country the Lord spoke about on that day. For you heard then that big powerful men were there, with strong cities with high walls. If the Lord will be with me, I will drive them out just as the Lord said.”

¹³ So Joshua prayed that God would favor him. And he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his share. ¹⁴ Hebron became the land of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day. Because he followed the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. ¹⁵ The name of Hebron had been Kiriath-arba. For Arba was the most powerful among the big powerful men. Then the land had rest from war.

The Picture-Story of the Woman Whose Husband Had Died

18 Jesus told them a picture-story to show that men should always pray and not give up. ² He said, “There was a man in one of the cities who was head of the court. His work was to say if a person was guilty or not. This man was not afraid of God. He did not respect any man. ³ In that city there was a woman whose husband had died. She kept coming to him and saying, ‘Help me! There is someone who is working against me.’ ⁴ For awhile he would not help her. Then he began to think, ‘I am not afraid of God and I do not respect any man. ⁵ But I will see that this woman whose husband has died gets her rights because I get tired of her coming all the time.’” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the sinful man who is head of the court. ⁷ Will not God make the things that are right come to His chosen people who cry day and night to Him? Will He wait a long time to help them? ⁸ I tell you, He will be quick to help them. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

The Picture-Story of the Proud Religious Law-Keepers and the Tax-Gatherers

⁹ Jesus told another picture-story to some people who trusted in themselves and thought they were right with God. These people did not think well of other men. ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Two men went up to the house of God to pray. One of them was a proud religious law-keeper. The other was a man who gathered taxes. ¹¹ The proud religious law-keeper stood and prayed to himself like this, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men. I am not like those who steal. I am not like those who do things that are wrong. I am not like those who do sex sins. I am not even like this tax-gatherer. ¹² I go without food two times a week so I can pray better. I give one-tenth part of the money I earn.’ ¹³ But the man who gathered taxes stood a long way off. He would not even lift his eyes to heaven. But he hit himself on his chest and said, ‘God, have pity on me! I am a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went back to his house forgiven, and not the other man. For whoever makes himself look more important than he is will find out how little he is worth. Whoever does not try to honor himself will be made important.”

Jesus Gives Thanks for Little Children ^(A)

¹⁵ People took their little children to Jesus so He could put His hand on them. When His followers saw it, they spoke sharp words to the people. ¹⁶ Jesus called the followers to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me. Do not try to stop them. The holy nation of God is made up of ones like these. ¹⁷ For sure, I tell you, whoever does not receive the holy nation of God as a child will not go into the holy nation.”

A Prayer for the Nation’s Good

85 O Lord, You showed favor to Your land. You have returned those of Jacob who were taken away. ² You have forgiven the sins of Your people. You have covered all their sin. ³ You have taken away all Your anger. You have turned away from Your burning anger.

⁴ O God Who saves us, give us life again. Make Your anger toward us stop. ⁵ Will You be angry with us forever? Will You spread out Your anger to families of all times? ⁶ Will You not bring us back to life again so that Your people may be happy in You? ⁷ Show us Your loving-kindness, O Lord, and save us.

⁸ I will listen to what God the Lord will say. For He will speak peace to His people, to those who are right with Him. But do not let them turn again to foolish things. ⁹ For sure His saving power is near those who fear Him, so His shining-greatness may live in the land. ¹⁰ Loving-kindness and truth have met together. Peace and what is right and good have kissed each other. ¹¹ Truth comes up from the earth. And what is right and good looks down from heaven. ¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good. And our land will give its fruit. ¹³ What is right and good will go before Him and make a way for His steps.

⁷ There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing. Another pretends to be poor, but has many riches.

⁸ A rich man can use his riches to save his life, but the poor man does not hear strong words spoken to him.