The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel’s Failure to Complete the Conquest of Canaan
1 [a]After the death of Joshua the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory alloted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Per′izzites into their hand; and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek. 5 They came upon Ado′ni-be′zek at Bezek, and fought against him, and defeated the Canaanites and the Per′izzites. 6 Ado′ni-be′zek fled; but they pursued him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. 7 And Ado′ni-be′zek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their great toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has requited me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. 9 And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who dwelt in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10 And Judah went against the Canaanites who dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kir′iath-ar′ba); and they defeated Sheshai and Ahi′man and Talmai.
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kir′iath-se′pher. 12 And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kir′iath-se′pher and takes it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as wife.” 13 And Oth′ni-el the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field; and she alighted from her ass, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 15 She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
16 And the descendants of the Ken′ite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad; and they went and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Judah also took Gaza with its territory, and Ash′kelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron. 20 And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said; and he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jeb′usites who dwelt in Jerusalem; so the Jeb′usites have dwelt with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel; and the Lord was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph sent to spy out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Pray, show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 And he showed them the way into the city; and they smote the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city, and called its name Luz; that is its name to this day.
27 Manas′seh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she′an and its villages, or Ta′anach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ib′leam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megid′do and its villages; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
29 And E′phraim did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
30 Zeb′ulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Na′halol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob; 32 but the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
33 Naph′tali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she′mesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-she′mesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain; 35 the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Har-heres, in Ai′jalon, and in Sha-al′bim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily upon them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrab′bim, from Sela and upward.
Israel’s Disobedience
2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries[b] to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” 4 When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim;[c] and they sacrificed there to the Lord.
Death of Joshua
6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work which the Lord had done for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten years. 9 And they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Tim′nath-he′res, in the hill country of E′phraim, north of the mountain of Ga′ash.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Exhortation to Watch
34 “But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; 35 for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. 36 But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.”
37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
22 Now the feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death; for they feared the people.
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve; 4 he went away and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and engaged to give him money. 6 So he agreed, and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude.
The Preparation of the Passover
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus[a] sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house which he enters, 11 and tell the householder, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished; there make ready.” 13 And they went, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover.
BOOK IV
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place[a]
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man back to the dust,
and sayest, “Turn back, O children of men!”
4 For a thousand years in thy sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream,
like grass which is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by thy anger;
by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under thy wrath,
our years come to an end[b] like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are threescore and ten,
or even by reason of strength fourscore;
yet their span[c] is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of thy anger,
and thy wrath according to the fear of thee?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on thy servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work be manifest to thy servants,
and thy glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Assurance of God’s Protection
91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,
who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
4 he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,[d]
the Most High your habitation,
10 no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.
24 He who spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,
but the belly of the wicked suffers want.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.