The Book of Josue, Chapter 1
1 Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant
of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Josue the son of Nun,
the minister of Moses, and said to him:
2 Moses my servant is dead: arise, and pass over this
Jordan, thou and thy people with thee, into the land which
I will give to the children of Israel.
3 I will deliver to you every place that the sole of your
foot shall tread upon, as I have said to Moses.
4 From the desert and from Libanus unto the great river
Euphrates, all the land of the Hethites unto the great sea
toward the going; down of the sun, shall be your border.
5 No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy
life: as I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee:
I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 Take courage, and be strong: for thou shalt divide by lot
to this people the land, for which I swore to their
fathers, that I would deliver it to them.
7 Take courage therefore, and be very valiant: that thou
mayst observe and do all the law, which Moses my servant
hath commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or
to the left, that thou mayst understand all things which
thou dost.
8 Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth: but
thou shalt meditate on it day and night, that thou mayst
observe and do all things that are written in it: then
shalt thou direct thy way, and understand it.
9 Behold I command thee, take courage, end be strong. Fear
not and be not dismayed: because the Lord thy God is with
thee in all things whatsoever thou shalt go to.
10 And Josue commanded the princes of the people, saying:
Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the
people, and say:
11 Prepare you victuals: for after the third day you shall
pass over the Jordan and shall go in to possess the land,
which the Lord your God will give you.
12 And he said to the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the
half tribe of Manasses:
13 Remember the word, which Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded you, saying: The Lord your God hath given you
rest, and all this land.
14 Your wives, and children, and cattle shall remain in the
land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan: but
pass you over armed before your brethren, all of you that
are strong of hand, and fight for them,
15 Until the Lord give rest to your brethren as he hath given
you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your
God will give them: and so you shall return into the land
of your possession, and you shall dwell in it, which Moses
the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan, toward
the rising of the sun.
16 And they made answer to Josue, and said: All that thou
hast commanded us we will do; and whithersoever thou shalt
send us, we will go.
17 As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee
also: only be the Lord thy God with thee, as he was with
Moses.
18 He that shall gainsay thy mouth, and not obey all thy
words, that thou shalt command him, let him die: only take
thou courage, and do manfully.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 2
1 And Josue the son of Nun sent from Setim two men, to spy
secretly: and said to them: Go, and view the land and the
city of Jericho. n They went and entered into the house of
a woman that was a harlot named Rahab, and lodged with
her.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, and was said : Behold
there are men come in hither, by night, of the children of
Israel, to spy the land.
3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: Bring forth
the men that came to thee, and are entered into thy house:
for they are spies, and are come to view all the land.
4 And the woman taking the men, hid them, and said: I
confess they came to me, but I knew not whence they were:
5 And at the time of shutting the gate in the dark, they
also went out together. I know not whither they are gone:
pursue after them quickly, and you will overtake them.
6 But she made the men go up to the top of her house, and
covered them with the stalks of flax, which was there.
7 Now they that were sent, pursued after them, by the way
that leadeth to the fords of the Jordan: and as soon as
they were gone out, the gate was presently shut.
8 The men that were hidden were not yet asleep, when behold
the woman went up to them, and said:
9 I know that the Lord hath given this land to you: for the
dread of you is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of
the land have lost all strength.
10 We have heard that
8 the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea at your going
in, when you came out of Egypt: and what things you did to
the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the
Jordan: Sehon and Og whom you slew.
11 And hearing these things we were affrighted, and our heart
fainted away, neither did there remain any spirit in us at
your coming in: for the Lord your God he is God in heaven
above, and in the earth beneath.
12 Now therefore swear ye to me by the Lord, that as I have
shewn mercy to you, so you also will shew mercy to my
father's house: and give me a true token,
13 That you will save my father and mother, my brethren end
sisters, and all things that are theirs, and deliver our
souls from death.
14 They answered her: Be our lives for you unto death, only
if thou betray us not. And when the Lord shall have
delivered us the land, we will shew thee mercy and truth.
15 Then she let them down with a cord out of a window: for
her house joined close to the wall.
16 And she said to them: Get ye up to the mountains, lest
perhaps they meet you as they return: and there lie ye hid
three days, till they come back, and so you shall go on
your way.
17 And they said to her: We shall be blameless of this oath,
which thou hast made us swear:
18 If when we come into the land, this scarlet cord be a
sign, and thou tie it in the window, by which thou hast
let us down: and gather together thy father and mother,
and brethren and all thy kindred into thy house.
19 Whosoever shall go out of the door of thy house, his blood
shall be upon his own head, and we shall be quit. But the
blood of all that shall be with thee in the house, shall
light upon our head, if any man touch them.
20 But if thou wilt betray us, and utter this word abroad, we
shall be quit of this oath which thou hast made us swear.
21 And she answered: As you have spoken, so be it done. And
sending them on their way, she hung the scarlet cord in
the window.
22 But they went and came to the mountains, and stayed there
three days till they that pursued them were returned. For
having sought them through all the way, they found them
not.
23 And when they were gone back into the city, the spies
returned, and came down from the mountain: and passing
over the Jordan, they came to Josue the son of Nun, and
told him all that befel them.
24 And said: The Lord hath delivered all this land into our
hands, and all the inhabitants thereof are overthrown with
fear.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 3
1 And Josue rose before daylight, and removed the camp: and
they departed from Setim, and came to the Jordan, he, and
all the children of Israel, and they abode there for three
days.
2 After which, the heralds went through the midst of the
camp,
3 And began to proclaim: When you shall see the ark of the
covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the race
of Levi carrying it, rise you up also, and follow them as
they go before:
4 And let there be between you and the ark the space of two
thousand cubits: that you may see it afar off, and know
which way you must go: for you have not gone this way
before: and take care you come not near the ark.
5 And Josue said to the people: Be ye sanctified: for to
morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
6 And he said to the priests: Take up the ark of the
covenant, and go before the people. And they obeyed his
commands, and took it up and walked before them.
7 And the Lord said to Josue: This day will I begin to exalt
thee before Israel: that they may know that as I was with
Moses, so I am with thee also.
8 And do thou command the priests that carry the ark of the
covenant, and say to them: When you shall have entered
into part of the water of the Jordan, stand in it.
9 And Josue said to the children of Israel: Come hither and
hear the word of the Lord your God.
10 And again he said: By this you shall know that the Lord
the living God is in the midst of you, and that he shall
destroy before your sight the Chanaanite and the Hethite,
the Hevite and the Pherezite, the Gergesite also and the
Jebusite, and the Amorrhite.
11 Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the
earth shall go before you into the Jordan.
12 Prepare ye twelve men of the tribes of Israel, one of
every tribe.
13 And when the priests, that carry the ark of the Lord the
God of the whole earth, shall set the soles of their feet
in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are beneath
shall run down and go off: and those that come from above,
shall stand together upon a heap.
14 So the people went out of their tents, to pass over the
Jordan: and the priests that carried the ark of the
covenant. went on before them.
15 And as soon as they came into the Jordan, and their feet
were dipped in part of the water, (now the Jordan, it
being harvest time, had filled the banks of its channel,)
16 The waters that came down from above stood in one place,
and swelling up like a mountain, were seen afar off from
the city that is called Adom, to the place of Sarthan: but
those that were beneath, ran down into the sea of the
wilderness (which now is called the Dead Sea) until they
wholly failed.
17 And the people marched over against Jericho: and the
priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
stood girded upon the dry ground in the midst of the
Jordan, and all the people passed over through the channel
that was dried up.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 4
1 And when they were passed over, the Lord said to Josue:
2 Choose twelve men, one of every tribe:
3 And command them to take out of the midst of the Jordan,
where the feet of the priests stood, twelve very hard
stones, which you shall set in the place of the camp,
where you shall pitch your tents this night.
4 And Josue called twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the
children of Israel, one out of every tribe,
5 And he said to them: Go before the ark of the Lord your
God to the midst of the Jordan, and carry from thence
every man a stone on your shoulders, according to the
number of the children of Israel,
6 That it may be a sign among you end when your children
shall ask you to morrow, saying: What mean these stones?
7 You shall answer them: The waters of the Jordan ran off
before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, when it passed
over the same: therefore were these atones set for a
monument of the children of Israel for ever.
8 The children of Israel therefore did as Josue commanded
them, carrying out of the channel of the Jordan twelve
stones, as the Lord had commanded him, according to the
number of the children of Israel, unto the place wherein
they camped, and there they set them.
9 And Josue put other twelve stones in the midst of the
channel of the Jordan, where the priests stood that
carried the ark of the covenant: and they are there until
this present day.
10 Now the priests that carried the ark, stood in the midst
of the Jordan till all things were accomplished which the
Lord had commanded Josue to speak to the people, and Moses
had said to him. And the people made haste and passed
over.
11 And when they had all passed over, the ark also of the
Lord passed over, and the priests went before the people.
12 The children of Ruben also and Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasses, went armed before the children of Israel as
Moses had commanded them.
13 And forty thousand fighting men by their troops, and
bands, marched through the plains and fields of the city
of Jericho.
14 In that day the Lord magnified Josue in the sight of all
Israel, that they should fear him, as they had feared
Moses, while he lived.
15 And he said to him:
16 Command the priests, that carry the ark of the covenant,
to come up out of the Jordan.
17 And he commanded them, saying: Come ye up out of the
Jordan.
18 And when they that carried the ark of the covenant of the
Lord, were come up, and began to tread on the dry ground,
the waters returned into the channel, and ran as they were
wont before.
19 And the people came up out of the Jordan, the tenth day of
the first month, and camped in Galgal, over against the
east side of the city of Jericho.
20 And the twelve stones which they had taken out of the
channel of the Jordan, Josue pitched in Galgal,
21 And said to the children of Israel: When your children
shall ask their fathers, to morrow, and shall say to them:
What mean these stones?
22 You shall teach them and say: Israel passed over this
Jordan through the dry channel.
23 The Lord your God drying up the waters thereof in your
sight, until you passed over:
24 As he had done before in the Red Sea, which he dried up
till we passed through :
25 That all the people of the earth may learn the most mighty
hand of the Lord, that you also may fear the Lord your God
for ever.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 5
1 Now when all the kings of the Amorrhites, who dwelt beyond
the Jordan westward, and all the kings of Chanaan, who
possessed the places near the great sea, had heard that
the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the
children of Israel, till they passed over, their heart
failed them, and there remained no spirit in them, fearing
the coming in of the children of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said to Josue: Make thee knives of
stone, and circumcise the second time the children of
Israel.
3 He did what the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the
children of Israel in the hill of the foreskins.
4 Now this is the cause of the second circumcision: All the
people that came out of Egypt that were males, all the men
fit for war, died in the desert, during the time of the
long going about in the way.
5 Now these were all circumcised. But the people that were
born in the desert,
6 Luring the forty years of the journey in the wide
wilderness, were uncircumcised: till all they were
consumed that had not heard the voice of the Lord, and to
whom he had sworn before, that he would not shew them the
land flowing with milk and honey.
7 The children of these succeeded in the place of their
fathers, and were circumcised by Josue: for they were
uncircumcised even as they were born, and no one had
circumcised them in the way.
8 Now after they were all circumcised, they remained in the
same place of the camp, until they were healed.
9 And the Lord said to Josue: This day have I taken away
from you the reproach of Egypt. And the name of that place
was called Galgal, until this present day.
10 And the children of Israel abode in Galgal, and they kept
the phase on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening,
in the plains of Jericho:
11 And they ate on the next day unleavened bread of the corn
of the land, and frumenty of the same year.
12 And the manna ceased after they ate of the corn of the
land, neither did the children of Israel use that food any
more, but they ate of the corn of the present year of the
land of Chanaan.
13 And when Josue was in the field of the city of Jericho, he
lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against
him: holding a drawn sword, and he went to him, and said:
Art thou one of ours, or of our adversaries?
14 And he answered: No: but I am prince of the host of the
Lord, and now I am come.
15 Josue fell on his face to the ground. And worshipping,
add: What saith my lord to his servant?
16 Loose, saith he, thy shoes from off thy feet: for the
place whereon thou standest is holy. And Josue did as was
commanded him.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 6
1 Now Jericho was close shut up and fenced, for fear of the
children of Israel, and no man durst go out or come in.
2 And the Lord said to Josue: Behold I have given into thy
hands Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the valiant
men.
3 Go round about the city, all ye fighting men, once a day:
so shall ye do for six days.
4 And on the seventh day the priests shall take the seven
trumpets, which are used in the jubilee, and shall go
before the ark of the covenant: and you shall go about the
city seven times, and the priests shall sound the
trumpets.
5 And when the voice of the trumpet shall give a longer and
broken tune, and shall sound in your ears, all the people
shall shout together with a very great shout, and the
walls of the city shall fall to the ground, and they shall
enter in every one at the place against which they shall
stand.
6 Then Josue the son of Nun called the priests, and said to
them: Take the ark of the covenant: and let seven other
priests take the seven trumpets of the jubilee, and march
before the ark of the Lord.
7 And he said to the people: Go, and compass the city,
armed, marching before the ark of the Lord.
8 And when Josue had ended his words, and the seven priests
blew the seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant of
the Lord,
9 And all the armed men went before, the rest of the common
people followed the ark, and the sound of the trumpets was
heard on all sides.
10 But Josue had commanded the people, saying: You shall not
shout, nor shall your voice be heard, nor any word go out
of your mouth: until the day come wherein I shall say to
you: Cry, and shout.
11 So the ark of the Lord went about the city once a day, and
returning into the camp, abode there.
12 And Josue rising before day, the priests took the ark of
the Lord,
13 And seven of them seven trumpets, which are used in the
jubilee: and they went before the ark of the Lord walking
and sounding the trumpets: and the armed men went before
them, and the rest of the common people followed the ark,
and they blew the trumpets.
14 And they went round about the city the second day once,
and returned into the camp. So they did six days.
15 But the seventh day, rising up early, they went about the
city, as it was ordered, seven times.
16 And when in the seventh going about the priests sounded
with the trumpets, Josue said to all Israel: Shout: for
the Lord hath delivered the city to you:
17 And let this city be an anathema, and all things that are
in it, to the Lord. Let only Rahab the harlot live, with
all that are with her in the house: for she hid the
messengers whom we sent.
18 But beware ye lest you touch ought of those things that
are forbidden, and you be guilty of transgression, and all
the camp of Israel be under sin, and be troubled.
19 But whatsoever gold or silver there shall be, or vessels
of brass and iron, let it be consecrated to the Lord, laid
up in his treasures.
20 So all the people making a shout, and the trumpets
sounding, when the voice and the sound thundered in the
ears of the multitude, the walls forth- with fell down:
and every man went up by the place that was over against
him: s and they took the city,
21 And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and
old. The oxen also and the sheep, and the asses, they slew
with the edge of the sword.
22 But Josue said to the two men that had been sent for
spies: Go into the harlot's house, and bring her out, and
all things that are hers, as you assured her by oath.
23 And the young men went in and brought out Rahab, and her
parents, her brethren also and all her goods and her
kindred, and made them to stay without the camp.
24 But they burned the city, and all things that were
therein; except the gold and silver, and vessels of brass
and iron, which they consecrated into the treasury of the
Lord.
25 But Josue saved Rahab the harlot and her father's house,
and all she had, and they dwelt in the midst of Israel
until this present day: because she hid the messengers
whom he had sent to spy out Jericho. At that time, Josue
made an imprecation, saying:
26 Cursed be the man before the Lord, that shall raise up and
build the city of Jericho. In his firstborn may he lay the
foundation thereof, and in the last of his children set up
its gates.
27 And the Lord was with Josue, and his name was noised
throughout all the land.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 7
1 But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment,
and took to their own use of the anathema. For Achan the
son of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare of the
tribe of Juda, took something of the anathema: and the
Lord was angry against the children of Israel.
2 And when Josue sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is
beside Bethaven, on the east side of the town of Bethel,
he said to them: Go up, and view the country: and they
fulfilled his command, and viewed Hai.
3 And returning they said to him: Let not all the people go
up, but let two or three thousand men go and destroy the
city: why should all the people be troubled in vain
against enemies that are very few?
4 There went up therefore three thou- sand fighting men: who
immediately turned their backs,
5 And were defeated by the men of the city of Hai, and there
fell of them six and thirty men : and the enemies pursued
them from the gate as far as Sabarim, and they slew them
as they fled by the descent: and the heart of the people
was struck with fear, and melted like water.
6 But Josue rent his garments, and fell flat on the ground
before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and
all the ancients of Israel: and they put dust upon their
heads.
7 And Josue said: Alas, O Lord God, why wouldst thou bring
this people over the river Jordan, to deliver us into the
hand of the Amorrhite, and to destroy us? would God, we
had stayed beyond the Jordan as we began.
8 My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their
backs to their enemies?
9 The Chanaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land will
hear of it, and being gathered together will surround us
and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do
to thy great name?
10 And the Lord said to Josue: Arise, why liest thou flat on
the ground?
11 Israel hath sinned, and transgressed my covenant: and they
have taken of the anathema, and have stolen and lied, and
have hidden it among their goods.
12 Neither can Israel stand before his enemies, but he shall
flee from them: because he is defiled with the anathema.
I will be no more with you, till you destroy him that is
guilty of this wickedness.
13 Arise, sanctify the people, and say to them: Be ye
sanctified against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God
of Israel: The anathema is in the midst of thee, O Israel:
thou canst not stand before thy enemies, till he be
destroyed out of thee that is defiled with this
wickedness.
14 And you shall come in the morning every one by your
tribes: and what tribe soever the lot shall find, it shall
come by its kindreds and the kindred by its houses, and
the house by the men.
15 And whosoever he be that shall be found guilty of this
fact, he shall be burnt with fire with all his substance,
because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and
hath done wickedness in Israel.
16 Josue, therefore, when he rose in the morning, made Israel
to come by their tribes, and the tribe of Juda was found,
17 Which being brought by its families, it was found to be
the family of Zare. Bringing that also by the houses, he
found it to be Zabdi.
18 And bringing his house man by man, he found Achan the son
of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare of the tribe
of Juda.
19 And Josue said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord
God of Israel, and confess, and tell me what thou hast
done, hide it not.
20 And Achan answered Josue, and said to him: Indeed I have
sinned against the Lord the God of Israel, and thus and
thus have I done.
21 For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment exceeding
good, and two hundred sides of silver, and a golden rule
of fifty sides: and I coveted them, and I took them away,
and hid them in the ground is the midst of my tent, and
the silver I covered with the earth that I dug up.
22 Josue therefore sent ministers: who running to his tent,
found all hidden in the same place, together with the
silver.
23 And taking them away out of the tent, they brought them to
Josue, and to all the children of Israel, and threw them
down before the Lord.
24 Then Josue and all Israel with him took Achan the son of
Zare, and the silver and the garments, and the golden
rule, his sons also and his daughters, his oxen and asses
and sheep, the tent also, and all the goods: and brought
them to the valley of Achor:
25 Where Josue said: Because thou hast troubled us, the Lord
trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him: and all
things that were his, were consumed with fire.
26 And they gathered together upon him a great heap of
stones, which remaineth until this present day. And the
wrath of the Lord was turned away from them. And the name
of that place was called the Valley of Achor, until this
day.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 8
1 And the Lord said to Josue: Fear not, nor be thou
dismayed: take with thee all the multitude of fighting
men, arise and go up to the town of Hai. Behold I have
delivered into thy hand the king thereof, and the people,
and the city, and the land.
2 And thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king
thereof, as thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king
thereof: but the spoils and all the cattle you shall take
for a prey to yourselves: lay an ambush for the city
behind it.
3 And Josue arose, and all the army of the fighting men with
him, to go up against Hai: and he sent thirty thousand
chosen valiant men in the night,
4 And commanded them, saying: Lay an ambush behind the city:
and go not very far from it: and be ye all ready.
5 But I and the rest of the multitude which is with me; will
approach on the contrary side against the city. And when
they shall come out against us, we will flee, and turn our
backs, as we did before:
6 Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city: for
they will think that we flee as before.
7 And whilst we are fleeing, and they pursuing, you shall
arise out of the ambush, and shall destroy the city: and
the Lord your God will deliver it into our hands.
8 And when you shall have taken it, set it on fire, and you
shall do all things so as I have commanded.
9 And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of
the ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west
side of the city of Hai. But Josue stayed that night in
the midst of the people,
10 And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers,
and went up with the ancients in the front of the army
environed with the aid of the fighting men.
11 And when they were come, and were gone up over against the
city, they stood on the north side of the city, between
which and them there was a valley in the midst.
12 And he had chosen five thousand men, and set them to lie
in ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the
same city:
13 But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the
north side, so that the last of that multitude reached to
the west side of the city. So Josue went that night, and
stood in the midst of the valley.
14 And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the
morning, and went out with all the army of the city, and
set it in battle array toward the desert, not knowing that
there lay an ambush behind his back.
15 But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they
were afraid, and fleeing by the way of the wilderness.
16 But they shouting together, and encouraging one another,
pursued them. And when they were come from the city,
17 And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel,
that did not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open
as they had rushed out,
18 The Lord said to Josue: Lift up the shield that is in thy
hand, towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to
thee.
19 And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the
ambush that lay hid, rose up immediately: and going to the
city, took it and set it on fire.
20 And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking
back and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven,
had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially
as they that had counterfeited flight, end were going
toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against
them that pursued.
21 So Josue and all Israel seeing that the city was taken,
and that the smoke of the city rose up, returned and slew
the men of Hai.
22 And they also that had taken and set the city on fire,
issuing out of the city to meet their own men, began to
cut off the enemies who were surrounded by them. So that
the enemies being cut off on both sides, not one of so
great a multitude was saved.
23 And they took the king of the city of Hai alive, and
brought him to Josue.
24 So all being slain that had pursued after Israel in his
flight to the wilderness, and tailing by the sword in the
same place, the children of Israel returned and laid waste
the city.
25 And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and
women, was twelve thousand persons all of the city of Hai.
26 But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched
out on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants
of Hai were slain.
27 And the children of Israel divided among them the cattle
and the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.
28 And he burned the city, and made it a heap for ever:
29 And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet until the evening
and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and
they took down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it
in the very entrance of the city, heaping upon it a great
heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day.
30 Then Josue built an altar to the Lord the God of Israel in
mount Hebal,
31 As Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the
children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the
law of Moses: an altar of unhewn stones which iron had not
touched: and he offered upon it holocausts to the Lord,
and immolated victims of peace offerings.
32 And he wrote upon stones the Deuteronomy of the law of
Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.
33 And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes and
judges stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests
that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the
stranger and he that was born among them, half of them by
mount Garizim, and half by mount Hebal, as Moses the
servant of the Lord had commanded. And first he blessed
the people of Israel.
34 After this he read all the words of the blessing and the
cursing and all things that were written in the hook of
the law.
35 He left out nothing of those things which Moses had
commanded, but he repeated all before all the people of
Israel, with the women and children and strangers that
dwelt among them.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 9
1 Now When these things were heard of, all the kings beyond
the Jordan, that dwelt in the mountains and in the plains,
in the places near the sea, and on the coasts of the great
sea, they also that dwell by Libanus, the Hethite and the
Amorrhite, the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite,
and the Jebusite,
2 Gathered themselves together, to fight against Josue and
Israel with one mind, and one resolution.
3 But they that dwelt in Gabaon, hearing all that Josue had
done to Jericho and Hai:
4 Cunningly devising took for themselves provisions, laying
old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles rent and
sewed up again,
5 And very old shoes, which for a show of age were clouted
with patches, and old garments upon them: the leaves also,
which they carried for provisions by the way, were hard,
and broken into pieces:
6 And they went to Josue, who then abode in the camp at
Galgal, and said to him, and to all Israel with him: We
are come from a far country, desiring to make peace with
you. And the children of Israel answered them, and said:
7 Perhaps you dwell in the land which falls to our lot; if
so, we can make no league with you.
8 But they said to Josue: We are thy servants. Josue said to
them: Who are you? and whence came you?
9 They answered: From a very far country thy servants are
come in the name of the Lord thy God. For we have heard
the fame of his power, all the things that he did in
Egypt.
10 And to the two kings of the Amorrhites that were beyond
the Jordan, Sehon king of Hesebon, and Og king of Basan,
that was in Astaroth:
11 And our ancients, and all the inhabitants of our country
said to us: Take with you victuals for a long way, and go
meet them, and say: We are your servants, make ye a league
with us.
12 Behold, these leaves we took hot, when we set out from our
houses to come to you, now they are become dry, and broken
in pieces, by being exceeding old.
13 These bottles of wine when we filled them were new, now
they are rent and burst. These garments we have on, and
the shoes we have on our feet, by reason of the very long
journey are worn out, and almost consumed.
14 They took therefore of their victuals, and consulted not
the mouth of the Lord.
15 And Josue made peace with them, and entering into a league
promised that they should not be slain: the princes also
of the multitude swore to them.
16 Now three days after the league was made, they heard that
they dwelt nigh, and they should be among them.
17 And the children of Israel removed the camp, and came into
their cities on the third day, the names of which are
Gabaon, and Caphira, and Beroth, and Cariathiarim.
18 And they slew them not, because the princes of the
multitude had sworn in the name of the Lord the God of
Israel. Then all the common people murmured against the
princes.
19 And they answered them: We have sworn to them in the name
of the Lord the God of Israel, and therefore we may not
touch them.
20 But this we mill do to them: Let their lives be saved,
lest the wrath of the Lord be stirred up against us, if we
should be forsworn.
21 But so let them live, as to serve the whole multitude in
hewing wood, and bringing in water. As they were speaking
these things,
22 Josue called the Gabaonites and said to them: Why would
you impose upon us, saying: We dwell far off from you,
whereas you are in the midst of us?
23 Therefore you shall be under a curse, and your race shall
always be hewers of wood, and carriers of water unto the
house of my God.
24 They answered: It was told us thy servants, that the Lord
thy God had promised his servant Moses to give you all the
land, and to destroy all the inhabitants thereof.
Therefore we feared exceedingly and provided for our
lives. compelled by the dread we had of you and we took
this counsel.
25 And now we are in thy hand: deal with us as it seemeth
good and right unto thee.
26 So Josue did as he had said, and delivered them from the
hand of the children of Israel, that they should not be
slain.
27 And he gave orders in that day that they should be in the
service of all the people, and of the altar of the Lord,
hewing wood and carrying water, until this present time,
in the place which the Lord hath chosen.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 10
1 When Adonisedec king of Jerusalem had heard these things,
to wit, that Josue had taken Hai, and had destroyed it,
(for as he had done to Jericho and the king thereof, so
did he to Hai, and its king,) and that the Gabaonites were
gone over to Israel, and were their confederates,
2 He was exceedingly afraid. For Gabaon was a great city,
and one of the royal cities, and greater than the town of
Hai, and all its fighting men were most valiant.
3 Therefore Adonisedec king of Jerusalem sent to Oham king
of Hebron, and to Pharam king of Jerimoth, and to Japhia
king of Lachis, and to Dabir king of Eglon, saying:
4 Come up to me, and bring help, that we may take Gabaon,
because it hath gone over to Josue, and to the children of
Israel.
5 So the five kings of the Amorrhites being assembled
together went up: the king of Jerusalem, the king of
Hebron, the king of Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king
of Eglon, they and their armies, and camped about Gabaon,
laying siege to it.
6 But the inhabitants of the city of Gabaon which was
besieged, sent to Josue, who then abode in the camp at
Galgal, and said to him: Withdraw not thy hands from
helping thy servants: come up quickly and save us, and
bring us succour: for all the kings of the Amorrhites, who
dwell in the mountains, are gathered together against us.
7 And Josue went up from Galgal, and all the army of the
warriors with him, most valiant men.
8 And the Lord said to Josue: Fear them not: for I have
delivered them into thy hands: none of them shall be able
to stand against thee.
9 So Josue going up from Galgal all the night, came upon
them suddenly.
10 And the Lord troubled them at the sight of Israel: and he
slew them with a great slaughter in Gabaon, and pursued
them by the way of the ascent to Beth-horon, and cut them
off all the way to Azeca and Maceda.
11 And when they were fleeing from the children of Israel,
and were in the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord cast down
upon them great stones from heaven as far as Azeca: and
many more were killed with the hailstones than were slain
by the swords of the children of Israel.
12 Then Josue spoke to the Lord, in the day that he delivered
the Amorrhite in the sight of the children of Israel, and
he said before them: Move not, O sun, toward Gabaon, nor
thou, O moon, toward the valley of Ajalon.
13 And the sun and the moon stood still, till the people
revenged themselves of their enemies. Is not this written
in the book of the just? So the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down the space of
one day.
14 There was not before nor after so long a day, the Lord
obeying the voice of a man, and fighting for Israel.
15 And Josue returned with all Israel into the camp of
Galgal.
16 For the five kings were fled, and had hidden themselves in
a cave of the city of Maceda.
17 And it was told Josue that the five kings were found
hidden in a cave of the city of Maceda.
18 And he commanded them that were with him, saying: Roll
great stones to the mouth of the cave, and set careful
men, to keep them shut up:
19 And stay you not, but pursue after the enemies, and kill
all the hindermost of them as they flee, and do not suffer
them whom the Lord God hath delivered into your hands to
shelter themselves in their cities.
20 So the enemies being slain with a great slaughter, and
almost utterly consumed, they that were able to escape
from Israel, entered into fenced cities.
21 And all the army returned to Josue in Maceda, where the
camp then was, in good health and without the loss of any
one: and no man durst move his tongue against the children
of Israel.
22 And Josue gave orders, saying: Open the mouth of the cave,
and bring forth to me the five kings that lie hid therein.
23 And the ministers did as they were commanded: and they
brought out to him the five kings out of the cave: the
king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of
Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of Eglon.
24 And when they were Drought out to him, he called all the
men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the army that
were with him: Go, and set your feet on the necks of these
kings. And when they had gone, and put their feet upon the
necks of them lying under them,
25 He said again to them: Fear not, neither be ye dismayed,
take courage and be strong: for so will the Lord do to all
your enemies, against whom you fight.
26 And Josue struck, and slew them, and hanged them upon five
gibbets, and they hung until the evening.
27 And when the sun was down, he commanded the soldiers to
take them down from the gibbets. And after they were taken
down, they cast them into the cave where they had lain
hid, and put great stones at the mouth thereof, which
remain until this day.
28 The same day Josue took Maceda and destroyed it, with the
edge of the sword, and killed the king and all the
inhabitants thereof: he left not in it the least remains.
And he did to the king of Maceda, as he had done to the
king of Jericho.
29 And he passed from Maceda with all Israel to Lebna, and
fought against it:
30 And the Lord delivered it with the king thereof into the
hands of Israel: and they destroyed the city with the edge
of the sword, and all the inhabitants thereof. They left
not in it any remains. And they did to the king of Lebna,
as they had done to the king of Jericho.
31 From Lebna he passed unto Lachis, with all Israel: and
investing it with his army, besieged it.
32 And the Lord delivered Lachis into the hands of Israel,
and he took it the following day, and put it to the sword,
and every soul that was in it, as he had done to Lebna.
33 At that time Horam king of Gazer, came up to succour
Lachis: and Josue slew him with all his people, so as to
leave none alive.
34 And he passed from Lachis to Eglon, and surrounded it,
35 And took it the same day: and put to the sword all the
souls that were in it, according to all that he had done
to Lachis.
36 He went up also with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron, and
fought against it:
37 Took it, and destroyed it with the edge of the sword: the
king also thereof, and all the towns of that country, and
all the souls that dwelt in it: he left not therein any
remains: as he had done to Eglon, so did he also to
Hebron, putting to the sword all that he found in it.
38 Returning from thence to Dabir,
39 He took it and destroyed it: the king also thereof and all
the towns round about he destroyed with the edge of the
sword: he left not in it any remains: as he had done to
Hebron and Lebna and to their kings, so did he to Dabir
and to the king thereof.
40 So Josue conquered all the country of the hills and of the
south and of the plain, and of Asedoth, with their kings:
he left not any remains therein, but slew all that
breathed, as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded him,
41 From Cadesbarne even to Gaza. All the land of Gosen even
to Gabaon,
42 And all their kings, and their lands he took and wasted at
one onset: for the Lord the God of Israel fought for him.
43 And he returned with all Israel to the place of the camp
in Galgal.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 11
1 And when Jabin king of Asor had heard these things, he
sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Semeron,
and to the king of Achsaph:
2 And to the kings of the north, that dwelt in the mountains
and in the plains over against the south side of Ceneroth,
and in the levels and the countries of Dor by the sea side
:
3 To the Chanaanites also on the ease and on the west, and
the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the
Jebusite in the mountains: to the Hevite also who dwelt at
the foot of Hermon in the land of Maspha.
4 And they all came out with their troops, a people
exceeding numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore,
their horses also and chariots a very great multitude,
5 And all these kings assembled together at the waters of
Merom, to fight against Israel.
6 And the Lord said to Josue: Fear them not: for to morrow
at this same hour I will deliver all these to be slain in
the sight of Israel: thou shalt hamstring their horses,
and thou shalt burn their chariots with fire.
7 And Josue came, and all the army with him, against them to
the waters of Merom on a sudden, and fell upon them.
8 And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel. And
they defeated them, and chased them as far as the great
Sidon, and the waters of Maserophot, and the field of
Masphe, which is on the east side thereof. He slew them
all, so as to leave no remains of them:
9 And he did as the Lord had commanded him, he hamstringed
their horses and burned their chariots.
10 And presently turning back he took Asor: and slew the king
thereof with the sword. Now Asor of old was the head of
all these kingdoms.
11 And he cut off all the souls that abode there: he left not
in it any remains, but utterly destroyed all, and burned
the city itself with fire.
12 And he took and put to the sword and destroyed all the
cities round about, and their kings, as Moses the servant
of God had commanded him.
13 Except the cities that were on hills and high places, the
rest Israel burned: only Asor that was very strong he
consumed with fire.
14 And the children of Israel divided among themselves all
the spoil of these cities and the cattle, killing all the
men.
15 As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses
command Josue, and he accomplished all: he left not one
thing undone of all the commandments which the Lord had
commanded Moses.
16 So Josue took all the country of the hills, and of the
south, and the land of Gosen, and the plains and the west
country, and the mountain of Israel, and the plains
thereof:
17 And part of the mountain that goeth up to Seir as far as
Baalgad, by the plain of Libanus under mount Hermon: all
their kings he took, smote and slew.
18 Josue made war a long time against these kings.
19 There was hot a city that delivered itself to the children
of Israel, except the Hevite, who dwelt in Gabaon: for he
took all by fight.
20 For it was the sentence of the Lord, that their hearts
should be hardened, and they should fight against Israel,
and fall, and should not deserve any clemency, and should
be destroyed as the Lord had commanded Moses.
21 At that time Josue came and cut off the Enacims from the
mountains, from Hebron, and Dabir, and Anab, and from all
the mountain of Juda and Israel, and destroyed their
cities.
22 He left not any of the stock of the Enacims, in the land
of the children of Israel: except the cities of Gaza, and
Geth, and Azotus, in which alone they were left.
23 So Josue took all the land, as the Lord spoke to Moses,
and delivered it in possession to the children of Israel,
according to their divisions and tribes. And the land
rested from wars.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 12
1 These are the kings, whom the children of Israel slew and
possessed their land beyond the Jordan towards the rising
of the sun, from the torrent Arnon unto mount Hermon, and
all the east country that looketh towards the wilderness.
2 Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon, and
had dominion from Aroer, which is seated upon the bank of
the torrent Arnon, and of the middle part in the valley,
and of half Galaad, as far as the torrent Jaboc, which is
the border of the children of Ammon.
3 And from the wilderness, to the sea of Ceneroth towards
the east, and to the sea of the wilderness, which is the
most salt sea, on the east side by the way that leadeth to
Bethsimoth: and on the south side that lieth under
Asedoth, Phasga.
4 The border of Og the king of Basan, of the remnant of the
Raphaims who dwelt in Astaroth, and in Edrai, and had
dominion in mount Hermon, and in Salecha, and in all
Basan, unto the herders
5 Of Gessuri and Machati, and of half Galaad: the borders of
Sehon the king of Hesebon.
6 Moses the servant of the Lord, and the children of Israel
slew them, and Moses delivered their land in possession to
the Rubenites, and Gadites, and the half tribe of
Manasses.
7 These are the kings of the land, whom Josue and the
children of Israel slew beyond the Jordan on the west side
from Baalgad in the held of Libanus, unto the mount, part
of which goeth up into Seir: and Josue delivered it in
possession to the tribes of Israel, to every one their
divisions,
8 As well in the mountains as in the plains and the
champaign countries. In Asedoth, and in the wilderness,
and in the south was the Hethite and the Amorrhite, the
Chanaanite and the Pherezite, the Hevite and the Jebusite.
9 The king of Jericho one: the king of Hai, which is on the
side of Bethel, one:
10 The king of Jerusalem one, the king of Hebron one.
11 The king of Jerimoth one, the king of Lachis one,
12 The king of Eglon one, the king of Gazer one,
13 The king of Dabir one, the king of Gader one,
14 The king of Herma one, the king of Hered one,
15 The king of Lebna one, the king of Odullam one,
16 The king of Maceda one, the king of Bethel one,
17 The king of Taphua one, the king of Opher one,
18 The king of Aphec one, the king of Saron one,
19 The king of Madon one, the king of Asor one,
20 The king of Semeron one, the king of Achsaph one,
21 The king of Thenac one, the king of Megeddo one,
22 The king of Cades one, the king of Jachanan of Carmel one,
23 The king of Dor, and of the province of Dor one, the king
of the nations of Galgal one,
24 The king of Thersa one: all the kings thirty and one.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 13
1 Josue was old, and far advanced in years, and the Lord
said to him: Thou art grown old, and advanced in age, and
there is a very large country left, which is not yet
divided by lot:
2 To wit, all Galilee, Philistia, and all Gessuri.
3 From the troubled river, that watereth Egypt, unto the
borders of Accaron northward: the land of Chanaan, which
is divided among the lords of the Philistines, the
Gazites, the Azotians, the Ascalonites, the Gethites, and
the Accronites.
4 And on the south side are the Hevites, all the land of
Chanaan, and Maara of the Sidonians as far as Apheca, and
the borders of the Amorrhite,
5 And his confines. The country also of Libanus towards the
east from Baalgad under mount Hermon to the entering into
Emath.
6 Of all that dwell in the mountains from Libanus, to the
waters of Maserephoth, and all the Sidonians. I am he that
will cut them off from before the face of the children of
Israel. So let their land come in as a part of the
inheritance of Israel, as I have commanded thee.
7 And now divide the land in possession to the nine tribes,
and to the half tribe of Manasses,
8 With whom Ruben and Gad have possessed the land, which
Moses the servant of the Lord delivered to them beyond the
river Jordan, on the east side.
9 From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Amen,
and in the midst of the valley and all the plains of
Medaba, as far as Dibon:
10 And all the cities of Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who
reigned in Hesebon, unto the borders of the children of
Ammon.
11 And Galaad, and the borders of Gessuri and Machati, and
all mount Hermon, and all Basan as far as Salecha,
12 All the kingdom of Og in Basan, who reigned in Astaroth
and Edrai, he was of the remains of the Raphaims: and
Moses overthrew and destroyed them.
13 And the children of Israel would not destroy Gessuri and
Machati: and they have dwelt in the midst of Israel, until
this present day.
14 But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession: but the
sacrifices and victims of the Lord God of Israel, are his
inheritance, as he spoke to him.
15 And Moses gave a possession to the children of Ruben
according to their kindreds.
16 And their border was from Aroer, which is on the bank of
the torrent Arnon, and in the midst of the valley of the
same torrent: all the plain, that leadeth to Medaba,
17 And Hesebon, and all their villages, which are in the
plains. Dibon also, and Bamothbaal, and the town of
Baalmaon,
18 And Jassa, and Cidimoth, and Mephaath,
19 And Cariathaim, and Sabama, and Sarathasar in the mountain
of the valley.
20 Bethphogor and Asedoth, Phasga and Bethiesimoth,
21 And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdoms of
Sehon king of the Amorrhites, that reigned in Hesebon,
whom Moses slew with the princes of Madian: Hevi, and
Recem, and Sur and Hur, and Rebe, dukes of Sehon
inhabitants of the land.
22 Balaam also the son of Beer the soothsayer, the children
of Israel slew with the sword among the rest that were
slain.
23 And the river Jordan was the herder of the children of
Ruben. This is the possession of the Rubenites, by their
kindreds, of cities and villages.
24 And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad and to his children by
their kindreds a possession, of which this is the
division.
25 The border of Jaser, and all the cities of Galaad, and
half the land of the children of Ammon: as far as Aroer
which is over against Rabba:
26 And from Hesebon unto Ramoth, Masphe and Betonim: and from
Manaim unto the borders of Dabir.
27 And in the valley Betharan and Bethnemra, and Socoth, and
Saphon the other part of the kingdom of Sehon king of
Hesebon: the limit of this also is the Jordan, as far as
the uttermost part of the sea of Cenereth beyond the
Jordan on the east side.
28 This is the possession of the children of Gad by their
families, their cities, and villages.
29 He gave also to the half tribe of Manasses and his
children possession according to their kindreds,
30 The beginning whereof is this: from Manaim all Basan, and
all the kingdoms of Og king of Basan, and all the villages
of Jair, which are in Basan, threescore towns.
31 And half Galaad, and Astaroth, and Edrai, cities of the
kingdom of Og in Basan: to the children of Machir, the son
of Manasses, to one? half of the children of Machir
according to their kindreds.
32 This possession Moses divided in the plains of Moab,
beyond the Jordan, over against Jericho on the east side.
33 But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession: because
the Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession, as
he spoke to them.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 14
1 This is what the children of Israel possessed in the land
of Chanaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of
Nun, and the princes of the families by the tribes of
Israel gave to them:
2 Dividing all by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand
of Moses, to the nine tribes, and the half tribe.
3 For to two tribes and a half Moses had given possession
beyond the Jordan: besides the Levites, who received no
land among their brethren:
4 But in their place succeeded the children of Joseph
divided into two tribes, of Manasses and Ephraim: neither
did the Levites receive other portion of land, but cities
to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed their beasts and
flocks.
5 As the Lord had commanded Moses, so did the children of
Israel, and they divided the land.
6 Then the children of Juda came to Josue in Galgal, and
Caleb the son of Jephone the Cenezite spoke to him: Thou
knowest what the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God
concerning me and thee in Cadesbarne.
7 I was forty Bears old when Moses the servant of the Lord
sent me m from Cadesbarne, to view the land, and I brought
him word again as to me seemed true.
8 But my brethren, that had gone up with me, discouraged the
heart of the people: and I nevertheless followed the Lord
my God.
9 And Moses swore in that day, saying: The land which thy
foot hath trodden upon shall be thy possession, and thy
children's for ever, because thou hast followed the Lord
my God.
10 The Lord therefore hath granted me life, as he promised
until this present day. It is forty and five years since
the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel journeyed
through the wilderness: this day I am eighty-five years
old,
11 As strong as I was at that time when I was sent to view
the land : the strength of that time continueth in me
until this day, as well to fight as to march.
12 Give me therefore this mountain, which the Lord promised,
in thy hearing also, wherein are the Enacims, and cities
great and strong: if so be the Lord will be with me, and
I shall be able to destroy them, as he promised me.
13 And Josue blessed him, and gave him Hebron in possession.
14 And from that time Hebron belonged to Caleb the son of
Jephone the Cenezite, until this present day: because he
followed the Lord the God of Israel.
15 The name of Hebron before was called Cariath-Arbe: Adam
the greatest among the Enacims was laid there: and the
land rested from wars.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 15
1 Now the lot of the children of Juda by their kindreds was
this: From the frontier of Edom, to the desert of Sin
southward, and to the uttermost part of the south coast.
2 Its beginning was from the top of the most salt sea, and
from the bay thereof, that looketh to the south.
3 And it goeth out towards the ascent of the Scorpion, and
passeth on to Sina: and ascendeth into Cadesbarne, and
reacheth into Esron, going up to Addar, and compassing
Carcaa.
4 And from thence passing along into Asemona, and reaching
the torrent of Egypt: and the bounds thereof shall be the
great sea, this shall be the limit of the south coast.
5 But on the east side the beginning shall be the most salt
sea even to the end of the Jordan: and towards the north,
from the bay of the sea unto the same river Jordan.
6 And the border goeth up into Beth-Hagla, and passeth by
the north into Beth-Araba: going up to the stone of Boen
the son of Ruben.
7 And reaching as far as the borders of Debara from the
valley of Achor, and so northward looking towards Galgal,
which is opposite to the ascent of Adommin, on the south
side of the torrent: and the border passeth the waters
that are called the fountain of the sun: and the goings
out thereof shall be at the fountain Rogel.
8 And it goeth up by the valley of the son of Ennom on the
side of the Jebusite towards the south, the same is
Jerusalem: and thence ascending to the top of the
mountain, which is over against Geennom to the west in the
end of the valley of Raphaim, northward.
9 And it passeth on from the top of the mountain to the
fountain of the water of Nephtoa: and reacheth to the
towns of mount Ephron: and it bendeth towards Baala, which
is Cariathiarim, that is to say, the city of the woods.
10 And it compasseth from Baala westward unto mount Seir: and
passeth by the side of mount Jarim to the north into
Cheslon: and goeth down into Bethsames, and passeth into
Thamna.
11 And it reacheth northward to a part of Accaron at the
side: and bendeth to Sechrona, and passeth mount Baala:
and cometh into Jebneel, and is bounded westward with the
great sea.
12 These are the borders round about of the children of Juda
in their kindreds.
13 But to Caleb the son of Jephone he gave a portion in the
midst of the children of Juda, as the Lord had commanded
him: Cariath-Arbe the father of Enac. which is Hebron.
14 And Caleb destroyed out of it the three sons of Ehac,
Sesai and Ahiman. and Tholmai of the race of Enac.
15 And going up from thence he came to the inhabitants of
Dabir, which before was called Cariath-Sepher, that is to
say, the city of letters.
16 And Caleb said: He that shall smite Cariath-Sepher, and
take it, I will give him Axa my daughter to wife.
17 And Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of
Caleb, took it: and he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.
18 And as they were going together, she was moved by her
husband to ask a field of her father, and she sighed as
she sat on her ass. And Caleb said to her: What aileth
thee?
19 But she answered: Give me a blessing: thou hast given me
a southern and dry land, give me also a land that is
watered. And Caleb gave her the upper and the nether
watery ground.
20 This is the possession of the tribe of the children of
Juda by their kindreds.
21 And the cities from the uttermost parts of the children of
Juda by the borders of Edom to the south, were Cabseel and
Eder and Jagur,
22 And Cina and Dimona and Adada,
23 And Cades and Asor and Jethnam,
24 Ziph and Telem and Baloth,
25 New Asor and Carioth, Hesron, which is Asor.
26 Amam, Sama and Molada,
27 And Asergadda and Hassemon and Bethphelet,
28 And Hasersual and Bersabee and Baziothia,
29 And Baala and Jim and Esem,
30 And Eltholad and Cesil and Harma,
31 And Siceleg and Medemena and Sensenna,
32 Lebaoth and Selim and Aen and Remmon: all the cities
twenty-nine, and their villages.
33 But in the plains: Estaol and Sarea and Asena,
34 And Zanoe and Engannim and Taphua and Enaim,
35 And Jerimoth and Adullam, Socho and Azeca,
36 And Saraim and Adithaim and Gedera and Gederothaim:
fourteen cities, and their villages.
37 Sanan and Hadassa and Magdalgad,
38 Delean and Masepha and Jecthel,
39 Lachis and Bascath and Eglon,
40 Chebbon and Leheman and Cethlis,
41 And Gideroth and Bethdagon and Naama and Maceda: sixteen
cities, and their villages.
42 Labana and Ether and Asan,
43 Jephtha and Esna and Nesib,
44 And Ceila and Achzib and Maresa: nine cities, and their
villages.
45 Accaron with the towns and villages thereof.
46 From Accaron even to the sea: all places that lie towards
Azotus and the villages thereof.
47 Azotus with its towns and villages. Gaza with its towns
and villages, even to the torrent of Egypt, and the great
sea that is the border thereof.
48 And in the mountain Samir and Jether and Socoth,
49 And Danna and Cariath-senna, this is Dabir :
50 Anab and Istemo and Anim,
51 Gosen and Olon and Gilo: eleven cities and their villages.
52 Arab and Ruma and Esaan,
53 And Janum and Beththaphua and Apheca,
54 Athmatha and Cariath-Arbe, this is Hebron and Sior: nine
cities and their villages.
55 Maon and Carmel and Ziph and Jota,
56 Jezrael and Jucadam and Zanoe,
57 Accain, Gabaa and Thamna: ten cities and their villages.
58 Halhul, and Bessur, and Gedor,
59 Mareth, and Bethanoth, and Eltecon: six cities and their
villages.
60 Cariathbaal, the same is Cariathiarim, the city of woods,
and Arebba: two cities and their villages.
61 In the desert Betharaba, Meddin and Sachacha,
62 And Nebsan, and the city of salt, and Engaddi: six cities
and their villages.
63 But the children of Juda could not destroy the Jebusite
that dwelt in Jerusalem: and the Jebusite dwelt with the
children of Juda in Jerusalem until this present day.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 16
1 And the lot of the sons of Joseph fell from the Jordan
over against Jericho and the waters thereof, on the east:
the wilderness which goeth up from Jericho to the mountain
of Bethel:
2 And goeth out from Bethel to Luza: and passeth the border
of Archi, to Ataroth,
3 And goeth down westward, by the border of Jephleti, unto
the borders of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gazer :and
the countries of it are ended by the great sea:
4 And Manasses and Ephraim the children of Joseph possessed
it.
5 And the border of the children of Ephraim was according to
their kindreds: and their possession towards the east was
Ataroth-addar unto Beth-horon the upper.
6 And the confines go out unto the sea: but Machmethath
looketh to the north, and it goeth round the borders
eastward into Thanath-selo: and passeth along on the east
side to Janoe.
7 And it goeth down from Janoe into Ataroth and Naaratha:
and it cometh to Jericho, and goeth out to the Jordan.
8 From Taphua it passeth on towards the sea into the valley
of reeds, and the goings out thereof are at the most salt
sea. This is the possession of the tribe of the children
of Ephraim by their families.
9 And there were cities with their villages separated for
the children of Ephraim in the midst of the possession of
the children of Manasses.
10 And the children of Ephraim slew not the Chanaanite, who
dwelt in Gazer: and the Chanaanite dwelt in the midst of
Ephraim until this day, paying tribute.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 17
1 And this lot fell to the tribe of Manasses (for he is the
firstborn of Joseph) to Machir the firstborn of Manasses
the father of Galaad, who was a warlike man, and had for
possession Galaad and Basan.
2 And to the rest of the children of Manasses according to
their families: to the children of Abiezer, and to the
children of Helec, and to the children of Esriel, and to
the children of Sechem, and to the children of Hepher, and
to the children of Semida: these are the male children of
Manasses the son of Joseph, by their kindreds.
3 But Salphaad the son of Hepher the son of Galaad the son
of Machir the son of Manasses had no sons, but only
daughters: whose names are these, Maala and Noa and Hegla
and Melcha and Thersa.
4 And they came in the presence of Eleazar the priest and of
Josue the son of Nun, and of the princes, saying: The Lord
commanded by the hand of Moses, that a possession should
be given us in the midst of our brethren. And he gave them
according to the commandment of the Lord a possession
amongst the brethren of their father.
5 And there fell ten portions to Manasses, beside the land
of Galaad and Basan beyond the Jordan.
6 For the daughters of Manasses possessed inheritance in the
midst of his sons. And the land of Galaad fell to the lot
of the rest of the children of Manasses.
7 And the border of Manasses was from Aser, Machmethath
which looketh towards Sichem: and it goeth out on the
right hand by the inhabitants of the fountain of Taphua.
8 For the lot of Manasses took in the land of Taphua, which
is on the borders of Manasses, and belongs to the children
of Ephraim.
9 And the border goeth down to the valley of the reeds, to
the south of the torrent of the cities of Ephraim, which
are in the midst of the cities of Manasses: the border of
Manasses is on the north side of the torrent, and the
outgoings of it are at the sea:
10 So that the possession of Ephraim is on the south, and on
the north that of Manasses, and the sea is the border of
both, and they are joined together in the tribe of Aser on
the north, and in the tribe of Issachar on the east.
11 And the inheritance of Manasses in Issachar and in Aser,
was Bethsan and its villages, and Jeblaam with its
villages, and the inhabitants of Dor, with the towns
thereof: the inhabitants also of Endor with the villages
thereof: and in like manner the inhabitants of Thenac with
the villages thereof: and the inhabitants of Mageddo with
their villages, and the third part of the city of Nopheth.
12 Neither could the children of Manasses overthrow these
cities, but the Chanaanite began to dwell in his land.
13 But after that the children of Israel were grown strong,
they subdued the Chanaanites, and made them their
tributaries, and they did not kill them.
14 And the children of Joseph spoke to Josue, and said: Why
hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to possess,
whereas I am of so great a multitude, and the Lord hath
blessed me?
15 And Josue said to them: If thou be a great people, go up
into the woodland, and cut down room for thyself in the
land of the Pherezite and the Raphaims: because the
possession of mount Ephraim is too narrow for thee.
16 And the children of Joseph answered him: We cannot go up
to the mountains, for the Chanaanites that dwell in the
low lands, wherein are situate Bethsan with its towns, and
Jezrael in the midst of the valley, have chariots of iron
17 And Josue said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and
Manasses: Thou art a great people, and of great strength,
thou shalt not have one lot only:
18 But thou shalt pass to the mountain, and shalt cut down
the wood, and make thyself room to dwell in: and mayst
proceed farther, when thou hast destroyed the Chanaanites,
who as thou sayest have iron chariots, and are very
strong.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 18
1 And all the children of Israel assembled together in Silo,
and there they set up the tabernacle of the testimony, and
the land was subdued before them.
2 But there remained seven tribes of the children of Israel,
which as yet had not received their possessions.
3 And Josue said to them: How long are you indolent and
slack, and go not in to possess the land which the Lord
the God of your fathers hath given you?
4 Choose of every tribe three men, that I may send them, and
they may go and compass the land, and mark it out
according to the number of each multitude: and bring back
to me what they have marked out.
5 Divide to yourselves the land into seven parts: let Juda
be in his bounds on the south side, and the house of
Joseph on the north.
6 The land in the midst between these mark ye out into seven
parts; and you shall come hither to me, that I may cast
lots for you before the Lord your God.
7 For the Levites have no part among you, but the priesthood
of the Lord is their inheritance. And Gad and Ruben, and
the half tribe of Manasses have already received their
possessions beyond the Jordan eastward: which Moses the
servant of the Lord gave them.
8 And when the men were risen up, to go to mark out the
land, Josue commanded them, saying: Go round the land and
mark it out, and return to me: that I may cast lots for
you before the Lord in Silo.
9 So they went: and surveying it divided it into seven
parts, writing them down in a book. And they returned to
Josue, to the camp in Silo.
10 And he cast lots before the Lord in Silo, and divided the
land to the children of Israel into seven parts.
11 And first came up the lot of the children of Benjamin by
their families, to possess the land between the children
of Juda, and the children of Joseph.
12 And their border northward was from the Jordan: going
along by the side of Jericho on the north side, and thence
going up westward to the mountains, and reaching to the
wilderness of Bethaven,
13 And passing along southward by Luza, the same is Bethel:
and it goeth down into Ataroth-addar to the mountain, that
is on the south of the nether Beth-horon.
14 And it bendeth thence going round towards the sea, south
of the mountain that looketh towards Beth-horon to the
southwest: and the outgoings thereof are into Cariathbaal,
which is called also Cariathiarim, a city of the children
of Juda. This is their coast towards the sea, westward.
15 But on the south side the border goeth out from part of
Cariathiarim towards the sea, and cometh to the fountain
of the waters of Nephtoa.
16 And it goeth down to that part of the mountain that
looketh on the valley of the children of Ennom: and is
over against the north quarter in the furthermost part of
the valley of Raphaim, and it goeth down into Geennom
(that is the valley of Ennom) by the side of the Jebusite
to the south: and cometh to the fountain of Rogel,
17 Passing thence to the north, and going out to Ensemes,
that is to say, the fountain of the sue:
18 And it passeth along to the hills that are over against
the ascent of Adommim: and it goeth down to Abenboen, that
is, the stone of Been the son of Ruben: and it passeth on
the north side to the champaign countries; and goeth down
into the plain,
19 And it passeth by Bethhagla northward: and the outgoings
thereof are towards the north of the most salt sea at the
south end of the Jordan:
20 Which is the border of it on the east side. This is the
possession of the children of Benjamin by their borders
round about, and their families.
21 And their cities were, Jericho and Bethhagla and
Vale-Casis,
22 Betharaba and Samaraim and Bethel,
23 And Avim and Aphara and Ophera,
24 The town Emona and Ophni and Gabee: twelve cities, and
their villages.
25 Gabam and Rama and Beroth,
26 And Mesphe, and Caphara, and Amosa,
27 And Recem, Jarephel and Tharela,
28 And Sela, Eleph and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gabaath and
Cariath: fourteen cities, and their villages. This is the
possession of the children of Benjamin by their families.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 19
1 And the second lot came forth for the children of Simeon
by their kindreds: and their inheritance was
2 In the midst of the possession of the children of Juda:
Bersabee and Sabee and Molada,
3 And Hasersual, Bala and Asem,
4 And Eltholad, Bethul and Harma,
5 And Siceleg and Bethmarchaboth and Hasersusa,
6 And Bethlebaoth and Sarohen: thirteen cities, and their
villages.
7 Ain and Remmon and Athor and Asan: four cities, and their
villages.
8 And all the villages round about these cities to Baalath
Beer Ramath to the south quarter. This is the inheritance
of the children of Simeon according to their kindreds,
9 In the possession and lot of the children of Juda: because
it was too great, and therefore the children of Simeon had
their possession in the midst of their inheritance.
10 And the third lot fell to the children of Zabulon by their
kindreds: and the border of their possession was unto
Sarid.
11 And it went up from the sea and from Merala, and came to
Debbaseth: as far as the torrent, which is over against
Jeconam.
12 And it returneth from Sarid eastward to the borders of
Ceseleththabor: and it goeth out to Dabereth, and
ascendeth towards Japhie.
13 And it passeth along from thence to the east side of
Gethhepher and Thacasin: and goeth out to Remmon, Amthar
and Noa.
14 And it turneth about to the north of Hanathon: and the
outgoings thereof are the valley of Jephtahel,
15 And Cateth and Naalol and Semeron and Jedala and
Bethlehem: twelve cities and their villages.
16 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of
Zabulon by their kindreds, the cities and their villages.
17 The fourth lot came out to Issachar by their kindreds.
18 And his inheritance was Jezrael and Casaloth and Sunem,
19 And Hapharaim and Seen and Anaharath,
20 And Rabboth and Cesion, Abes,
21 And Rameth and Engannim and Enhadda and Bethpheses.
22 And the border thereof cometh to Thabor and Sehesima and
Bethsames: and the outgoings thereof shall be at the
Jordan: sixteen cities, and their villages.
23 This is the possession of the sons of Issachar by their
kindreds, the cities and their villages.
24 And the fifth lot fell to the tribe of the children of
Aser by their kindreds:
25 And their border was Halcath and Chali and Beten and
Axaph,
26 And Elmelech and Amaad and Messal: and it reacheth to
Carmel by the sea and Sihor and Labanath,
27 And it returneth towards the east to Bethdagon: and
passeth along to Zabulon and to the valley of Jephthael
towards the north to Bethemec and Nehiel. And it goeth out
to the left side of Cabul,
28 And to Abaran and Rohob and Hamon and Cana, as far as the
great Sidon.
29 And it returneth to Horma to the strong city of Tyre, and
to Hosa: and the outgoings thereof shall be at the sea
from the portion of Achziba:
30 And Amma and Aphec and Rohob: twenty-two cities, and their
villages.
31 This is the possession of the children of Aser by their
kindreds, and the cities and their villages.
32 The sixth lot came out to the sons of Nephtali by their
families:
33 And the border began from Heleph and Elon to Saananim, and
Adami, which is Neceb, and Jebnael even to Lecum: and
their outgoings unto the Jordan:
34 And the border returneth westward to Azanotthabor, and
goeth out from thence to Hucuca, and passeth along to
Zabulon southward, and to Aser westward, and to Juda upon
the Jordan towards the rising of the sun.
35 And the strong cities are Assedim, Ser, and Emath, and
Reccath and Cenereth,
36 And Edema and Arama, Asor,
37 And Cedes and Edri, Enhasor,
38 And Jeron and Magdalel, Herem, and Bethanath and
Bethsames: nineteen cities, and their villages.
39 This is the possession of the tribe of the children of
Nephtali by their kindreds, the cities and their villages.
40 The seventh lot came out to the tribe of the children of
Dan by their families:
41 And the border of their possession was Saraa and Esthaol,
and Hirsemes, that is, the city of the sun.
42 Selebin and Aialon and Jethela,
43 Elon and Themna and Acron,
44 Elthece, Gebbethon and Balaath,
45 And Jud and Bane and Barach and Gethremmon :
46 And Mejarcon and Arecon, with the border that looketh
towards Joppe,
47 And is terminated there. And the children of Dan went up
and fought against Lesem, and took it: and they put it to
the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt in it, calling the
name of it Lesem Dan, by the name of Dan their father.
48 This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of Dan, by
their kindreds, the cities and their villages.
49 And when he had made an end of dividing the land by lot to
each one by their tribes, the children of Israel gave a
possession to Josue the son of Nun in the midst of them,
50 According to the commandment of the Lord, the city which
he asked for, Thamnath Saraa, in mount Ephraim: and he
built up the city, and dwelt in it.
51 These are the possessions which Eleazar the priest, and
Josue the son of Nun, and the princes of the families, and
of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed by
lot in Silo, before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the testimony, and they divided the land.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 20
1 And the Lord spoke to Josue, saying: Speak to the children
of Israel and say to them:
2 Appoint cities of refuge, a of which I spoke to you by the
hand of Moses:
3 That whosoever shall kill a person unawares may flee to
them: and may escape the wrath of the kinsman, who is the
avenger of blood:
4 And when he shall flee to one of these cities: he shall
stand before the gate of the city, and shall speak to the
ancients of that city, such things as prove him innocent:
and so shall they receive him, and give him a place to
dwell in.
5 And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they shall
not deliver him into his hands, because he slew his
neighbour unawares, and is not proved to have been his
enemy two or three days before.
6 And he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before
judgment to give an account of his fact, and till the
death of the high priest, who shall be at that time: then
shall the manslayer return, and go into his own city and
house from whence he fled.
7 And they appointed Cedes in Galilee of mount Nephtali, and
Sichem in mount Ephraim, and Cariath-Arbe, the same is
Hebron in the mountain of Juda.
8 And beyond the Jordan to the east of Jericho, they
appointed Bosor, which is upon the plain of the wilderness
of the tribe of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad of the tribe
of Cad, and Gaulon in Basan of the tribe of Manasses.
9 These cities were appointed for all the children of
Israel, and for the strangers, that dwelt among them: that
whosoever had killed a person unawares might flee to them,
and not die by the hand of the kinsman, coveting to
revenge the blood that was shed, until he should stand
before the people to lay open his cause.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 21
1 Then the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar
the priest, and to Josue the son of Nun, and to the
princes of the kindreds of all the tribes of the children
of Israel:
2 And they spoke to them in Silo in the land of Chanaan, and
said: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities
should be given us to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed
our cattle.
3 And the children of Israel gave out of their possessions
according to the commandment of the Lord, cities and their
suburbs.
4 And the lot came out for the family of Caath of the
children of Aaron the priest out of the tribes of Juda,
and of Simeon, and of Benjamin, thirteen cities.
5 And to the rest of the children of Caath, that is, to the
Levites, who remained, out of the tribes of Ephraim, and
of Dan, and the half tribe of Manasses, ten cities.
6 And the lot came out to the children of Gerson, that they
should take of the tribes of Issachar and of Aser and of
Nephtali, and of the half tribe of Manasses in Basan,
thirteen cities.
7 And to the sons of Merari by their kindreds, of the tribes
of Ruben and or Cad and of Zabulon, twelve cities.
8 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities
and their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of
Moses, giving to every one by lot.
9 Of the tribes of the children of Juda and of Simeon Josue
gave cities: whose names are these,
10 To the sons of Aaron, of the families of Caath of the race
of Levi (for the first lot came out for them)
11 The city of Arbe the father of Enac, which is called
Hebron, in the mountain of Juda, and the suburbs thereof
round about.
12 But the fields and the villages thereof he had given to
Caleb the son of Jephone for his possession.
13 He gave therefore to the children of Aaron the priest,
Hebron a city of refuge, and the suburbs thereof: and
Lobna with the suburbs thereof,
14 And Jether and Estemo,
15 And Holon, and Dabir,
16 And Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs :
nine cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said.
17 And out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, Gabaon,
and Gabae,
18 And Anathoth and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.
19 All the cities together of the children of Aaron the
priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.
20 And to the rest of the families of the children of Caath
of the race of Levi was given this possession.
21 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Sichem one of the cities of
refuge, with the suburbs thereof in mount Ephraim, and
Cater,
22 And Cibsaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four
cities.
23 And of the tribe of Dan, Eltheco and Gabathon,
24 And Aialon and Gethremmon, with their suburbs, four
cities.
25 And of the half tribe of Manasses, Thanac and Gethremmon,
with their suburbs, two cities.
26 All the cities were ten, with their suburbs, which were
given to the children of Caath, of the inferior degree.
27 To the children of Gerson also of the race of Levi out of
the half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon in Basan, one of the
cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their suburbs, two
cities.
28 And of the tribe of Issachar, Cesion, and Dabereth,
29 And Jaramoth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four
cities.
30 And of the tribe of Aser, Masal and Abdon,
31 And Helcath, and Rohob, with their suburbs, four cities.
32 Of the tribe also of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee, one of
the cities of refuge: and Hammoth Dor, and Carthan, with
their suburbs, three cities.
33 All the cities of the families of Gerson, were thirteen,
with their suburbs.
34 And to the children of Merari, Levites of the inferior
degree, by their families were given of the tribe of
Zabulon, Jecnam and Cartha,
35 And Damna and Naalol, four cities with their suburbs;
36 Of the tribe of Ruben beyond the Jordan over against
Jericho, Bosor in the wilderness, one of the cities of
refuge, Miser and Jaser and Jethson and Mephaath, four
cities with their suburbs.
37 Of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad, one of the cities
of refuge, and Manaim and Hesebon and Jaser, four cities
with their suburbs.
38 All the cities of the children of Merari by their families
and kindreds, were twelve.
39 So all the cities of the Levites within the possession of
the children of Israel were forty-eight,
40 With their suburbs, each distributed by the families.
41 And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had
sworn to give to their fathers: and they possessed it and
dwelt in it.
42 And he gave them peace from all nations round about: and
none of their enemies durst stand against them, but were
brought under their dominion.
43 Not so much as one word, which he had promised to perform
unto them, was made void, but all came to pass.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 22
1 At the same time Josue called the Rubenites, and the
Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses,
2 And said to them: You have done all that Moses the servant
of the Lord commanded you: you have also obeyed me in all
things,
3 Neither have you left your brethren this long time, until
this present day, keeping the commandment of the Lord your
God.
4 Therefore as the Lord your God hath given your brethren
rest and peace, as he promised: return, and go to your
dwellings, and to the land of your possession, which Moses
the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan:
5 Yet so that you observe attentively, and in work fulfil
the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the
Lord commanded you: that you love the Lord your God, and
walk in all his ways, and keep all his commandments, and
cleave to him, and serve him with all your heart, and with
all your soul.
6 And Josue blessed them, and sent them away, and they
returned to their dwellings.
7 Now to half the tribe of Manasses, Moses had given a
possession in Basan: and therefore to the half that
remained, Josue gave a lot among the rest of their
brethren beyond the Jordan to the west. And when he sent
them away to their dwellings and had blessed them,
8 He said to them : With much substance and riches, you
return to your settlements, with silver and gold, brass
and iron, and variety of raiment: divide the prey of your
enemies with your brethren.
9 So the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the
half tribe of Manasses returned, and parted from the
children of Israel in Silo, which is in Chanaan, to go
into Galaad the land of their possession, which they had
obtained according to the commandment of the Lord by the
hand of Moses.
10 And when they were come to the banks of the Jordan, in the
land of Chanaan, they built an altar immensely great near
the Jordan.
11 And when the children of Israel had heard of it, and
certain messengers had brought them an account that the
children of Ruben, and of Cad, and the half tribe of
Manasses had built an altar in the land of Chanaan, upon
the banks of the Jordan, over against the children of
Israel:
12 They all assembled in Silo, to go up and fight against
them.
13 And in the mean time they sent to them into the land of
Galaad, Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest,
14 And ten princes with him, one of every tribe.
15 Who came to the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and the
half tribe of Manasses, into the land of Galaad, and said
to them:
16 Thus saith all the people of the Lord: What meaneth this
transgression? Why have you forsaken the Lord the God of
Israel, building a sacrilegious altar, and revolting from
the worship of him?
17 Is it a small thing to you that you sinned with
Beelphegor, and the stain of that crime remaineth in us to
this day? and many of the people perished.
18 And you have forsaken the Lord to day, and to morrow his
wrath will rage against all Israel.
19 But if you think the land of your possession to be
unclean, pass over to the land wherein is the tabernacle
of the Lord, and dwell among us: only depart not from the
Lord, and from our society, by building an altar beside
the altar of the Lord our God.
20 Did not Achan the son of Zare transgress the commandment
of the Lord, and his wrath lay upon all the people of
Israel? And he was but one man, and would to God he alone
had perished in his wickedness.
21 And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half
tribe of Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of
Israel:
22 The Lord the most mighty God, the Lord the most mighty
God, he knoweth, and Israel also shall understand: If with
the design of transgression we have set up this altar, let
him not save us, but punish us immediately:
23 And if we did it with that mind, that we might lay upon it
holocausts, and sacrifice, and victims of peace offerings,
let him require and judge:
24 And not rather with this thought and design, that we
should say: To morrow your children will say to our
children: What have you to do with the Lord the God of
Israel?
25 The Lord hath put the river Jordan for a border between us
and you, O ye children of Ruben, and ye children of Gad:
and therefore you have no part in the Lord. And by this
occasion you children shall turn away our children from
the fear of the Lord. We therefore thought, it best,
26 And said: Let us build us an altar, not for holocausts,
nor to offer victims,
27 But for a testimony between us and you, and our posterity
and yours, that we may serve the Lord, and that we may
have a right to offer both holocausts, and victims and
sacrifices of peace offerings: and that your children to
morrow may not say to our children: You have no part in
the Lord.
28 And if they will say so, they shall answer them: Behold
the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for
holocausts, nor for sacrifice, but for a testimony between
us and you.
29 God keep us from any such wickedness that we should revolt
from the Lord, and leave off following his steps, by
building an altar to offer holocausts, and sacrifices, and
victims, beside the altar of the Lord our God, which is
erected before his tabernacle.
30 And when Phinees the priest, and the princes of the
embassage, who were with him, had heard this, they were
satisfied: and they admitted most willingly the words of
the children of Ruben, and Gad, and of the half tribe of
Manasses.
31 And Phinees the priest the son of Eleazar said to them:
Now we know that the Lord is with us, because you are not
guilty of this revolt, and you have delivered the children
of Israel from the hand of the Lord.
32 And he returned with the princes from the children of
Ruben and Gad, out of the land of Galaad, into the land of
Chanaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word
again.
33 And the saying pleased all that heard it. And the children
of Israel praised God, and they no longer said that they
would go up against them, and fight, and destroy the land
of their possession.
34 And the children of Ruben, and the children of Cad called
the altar which they had built, Our testimony, that the
Lord is God.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 23
1 And when a long time was passed, after that the Lord had
given peace to Israel, all the nations round about being
subdued, and Josue being now old, and far advanced in
years:
2 Josue called for all Israel, and for the elders, and for
the princes, and for the judges, and for the masters, and
said to them: I am old, and far advanced in years:
3 And you see all that the Lord your God hath done to all
the nations round about, how he himself hath fought for
you:
4 And now since he hath divided to you by lot all the land,
from the east of the Jordan unto the great sea, and many
nations yet remain:
5 The Lord your God will destroy them, and take them away
from before your face, and you shall possess the land as
he hath promised you.
6 Only take courage, and be careful to observe all things
that are written in the book of the law of Moses: and turn
not aside from them neither to the right hand nor to the
left:
7 Lest after that you are come in among the Gentiles, who
will remain among you, you should swear by the name of
their gods, and serve them, and adore them:
8 But cleave ye unto the Lord your God: as you have done
until this day.
9 And then the Lord God will take away before your eyes
nations that are great and very strong, and no man shall
be able to resist you.
10 One of you shall chase a thousand men of the enemies:
because the Lord your God himself will fight for you, as
he hath promised.
11 This only take care of with all diligence, that you love
the Lord your God.
12 But if you will embrace the errors of these nations that
dwell among you, and make marriages with them, and join
friendships:
13 Know ye for a certainty that the Lord your God will not
destroy them be- fore your face, but they shall be a pit
and a snare in your way, and a stumblingblock at your
side, and stakes in your eyes, till he take you away and
destroy you from off this excellent land, which he hath
given you.
14 Behold this day I am going into the way of all the earth,
and you shall know with all your mind that of all the
words which the Lord promised to perform for you, not one
hath failed.
15 Therefore as he hath fulfilled in deed, what he promised,
and all things prosperous have come: so Will he bring upon
you all the evils he hath threatened, till he take you
away and destroy you from off this excellent land, which
he hath given you,
16 When you shall have transgressed the covenant of the Lord
your God, which he hath made with you, and shall have
served strange gods, and adored them : then shall the
indignation of the Lord rise up quickly and speedily
against you, and you shall be taken away from this
excellent land, which he hath delivered to you.
The Book of Josue, Chapter 24
1 And Josue gathered together all the tribes of Israel in
Sichem, and called for the ancients, and the princes, and
the judges, and the masters: and they stood in the sight
of the Lord:
2 And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord the
God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side
of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and
they served strange gods.
3 And I took your father Abraham from the borders of
Mesopotamia: and brought him into the land of Chanaan: and
I multiplied his seed,
4 And gave him Isaac: and to him again I gave Jacob and
Esau. And I gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession:
but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with many
signs and wonders.
6 And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and you
came to the sea: and the Egyptians pursued your fathers
with chariots and horsemen, as far as the Red Sea.
7 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: and he put
darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the
sea upon them, and covered them. Your eyes saw all that I
did in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time:
8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, who
dwelt beyond the Jordan. And when they fought against you,
I delivered them into your hands, and you possessed their
land, and slew them.
9 And Balac son of Sephor king of Moab arose and fought
against Israel. And he sent and called for Balaam son of
Beor, to curse you:
10 And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed
you by him, and I delivered you out of his hand.
11 And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho.
And the men of that city fought against you, the
Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the
Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hevite, and the
Jebusite: and I delivered them into your hands.
12 And I sent before you hornets: and I drove them out from
their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with
thy sword nor with thy bow.
13 And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and
cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and
oliveyards, which you planted not.
14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect
and most sincere heart: and put away the gods which your
fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the
Lord.
15 But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have
your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom
you would rather serve, whether the gods which your
fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the
Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my
house we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered, and said: God forbid we should
leave the Lord, and serve strange gods.
17 The Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: and did very
great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way
by which we journeyed, and among all the people through
whom we passed.
18 And he hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite the
inhabitant of the land into which we are come. Therefore
we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.
19 And Josue said to the people: You will not be able to
serve the Lord: for he is a holy God, and mighty and
jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins.
20 If you leave the Lord, and serve strange gods, he will
turn, and will afflict you, and will destroy you after all
the good he hath done you.
21 And the people said to Josue: No, it shall not be so as
thou sayest, but we will serve the Lord.
22 And Josue said to the people: You are witnesses, that you
yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they
answered: We are witnesses.
23 Now therefore, said he, put away strange gods from among
you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of
Israel.
24 And the people said to Josue: We will serve the Lord our
God, and we will be obedient to his commandments.
25 Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set
before the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.
26 And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of
the Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under the
oak that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.
27 And he said to all the people: Behold this stone shall be
a testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the words of
the Lord, which he hath spoken to you: lest perhaps
hereafter you will deny it, and lie to the Lord your God.
28 And he sent the people away every one to their own
possession.
29 And after these things Josue the son of Null the servant
of the Lord died, being a hundred and ten years old:
30 And they buried him in the border of his possession in
Thamnathsare, which is situate in mount Ephraim, on the
north side of mount Gaas.
31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Josue, and of
the ancients that lived a long time after Josue, and that
had known all the works of the Lord which he had done in
Israel.
32 And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had
taken out of Egypt, they buried in Sichem, in that part of
the field which Jacob had bought of the sons of Hemor the
father of Sichem, for a hundred young ewes, and it was in
the possession of the sons of Joseph.
33 Eleazar also the son of Aaron died: and they buried him in
Gabaath that belongeth to Phinees his son, which was given
him in mount Ephraim.
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