Joshua 8 Cross References - ISV

¹ The Destruction of AiThe LORD then told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid or lose heart! Take all the fighting men with you, and go up right now to Ai. Take note that I have handed over the king of Ai into your control, along with his people, his city, and his land. ² Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city.”
³ So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night, ⁴ telling them, “Pay attention now! You are to set up an ambush around the city. Don’t go very far from the city, and all of you remain on alert. ⁵ I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we’ll run away from them. ⁶ They’ll come after us until we’ve drawn them away from the city, because they’ll say, ‘They’re running away from us just like they did before.’ While we’re running away from them, ⁷ you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the LORD your God will give it into your control. ⁸ When you’ve taken the city, set it on fire, just as the LORD ordered. Look! These are your orders!” ⁹ So Joshua sent them out, and they set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai.
Joshua spent that night in the camp among the army. ¹⁰ In the morning, Joshua got up early, mustered his army, and set off for Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel in full view of the army. ¹¹ The entire fighting force with him attacked, approaching the city, and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. ¹² Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city, ¹³ stationing their forces with its main encampment north of the city and its rear guard to the west. Joshua spent that night in the valley.
¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw what had happened, he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn’t know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city. ¹⁵ Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness, ¹⁶ everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town. ¹⁷ There wasn’t a single man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t run out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
¹⁸ Then the LORD told Joshua, “Stretch out the battle lance that’s in your hand toward Ai, because I will give it into your control.” So Joshua stretched out the battle lance that was in his hand toward the city. ¹⁹ As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush quickly got up from their place of hiding and attacked. They entered the city, seized it, and immediately set it on fire.
²⁰ Then the men of Ai looked back behind them—and all of a sudden!—smoke from the city was rising into the sky. They were unable to run in any direction, because the Israelis who had fled toward the wilderness had turned around to attack their pursuers. ²¹ When Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel observed that the men who had been in ambush had seized the city and that the smoke from the city was rising, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Then the others came out from the city against them, so the men of Ai were surrounded by the Israelis, some on one side and some on the other. Israel attacked them until no one was left to survive or escape. ²³ But the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.
²⁴ When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them—to the very last of them—had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords. ²⁵ The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000—the entire population of Ai. ²⁶ Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai. ²⁷ Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as their war booty, in accordance with what the LORD had commanded to Joshua. ²⁸ Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day. ²⁹ He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day.
³⁰ Joshua Renews the CovenantThen Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just the way Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelis in the Book of the Law of Moses: “…an altar of uncut stones that hasn’t been worked with iron tools…” and they offered burnt offerings to the LORD on it, along with peace offerings.
³² There Joshua inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to the Israelis. ³³ All Israel, both foreigners and citizens, together with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on opposite sides of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. Half stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the LORD’s servant had commanded at the first, so that they could bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of the Law—both the blessings and the curses—according to everything written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There wasn’t one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

²¹ Look! The LORD your God has given the land that lies before you. Go and possess it, just as the LORD God of your ancestors commanded you. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.’

¹⁸ But you mustn’t fear them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.

⁸ Indeed, the LORD is the one who will keep on walking in front of you. He’ll be with you and won’t leave you or abandon you, so never be afraid and never be dismayed.”

⁹ I’ve commanded you, haven’t I? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be fearful or discouraged, because the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

² The LORD told Joshua, “Look! I have given Jericho over to your control, along with its kings and valiant soldiers.

⁶ At this, Joshua tore his clothes, fell down to the ground on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening—he and the leaders of Israel—and they covered their heads with dust. ⁷ “Lord GOD,” Joshua asked, “Why have you brought this people across the Jordan River? To hand us over to the Amorites so we’ll be destroyed? Wouldn’t it have been better for us to be content to settle on the other side of the Jordan?

⁹ The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of this, will surround us, and eliminate us from the earth! Then what will you do about your great reputation?”

¹ Davidic
Confidence in the LORD The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom will I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom will I be afraid?

³ It was not with their sword that they inherited the land, nor did their own arm deliver them. But it was by your power, your strength, and by the light of your face; because you were pleased with them.

¹¹ The LORD of the heavenly armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Interlude

² “Look! God—yes God—is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

¹⁰ Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you; don’t be anxious, because I am your God. I keep on strengthening you; I’m truly helping you. I’m surely upholding you with my victorious right hand.”
¹¹ The Coming Defeat of God’s Enemies“Look! All who are enraged at you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who contend with you will all die. ¹² Those who quarrel with you will be as nothing; those who fight you like nothing at all!”
¹³ A Call to Courage“For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I’ll help you. ¹⁴ Don’t be afraid, you little worm Jacob, and you insects of Israel! I myself will help you,’ declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
¹⁵ A Promise of Victory“See, I’m making you into a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge. You’ll thresh and crush the mountains, and make the hills like chaff. ¹⁶ You’ll winnow them, and the wind will lift them up, and a tempest will blow them away. Then you’ll rejoice in the LORD, and you’ll make your boast in the Holy One of Israel.”

² When you pass through the waters, I’ll be with you; and through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you. when you walk through fire you won’t be scorched, and the flame won’t set you ablaze.

²⁷ Israel will be Delivered“As for you, my servant Jacob, don’t be afraid, and Israel, don’t be dismayed. For I’ll deliver you from a distant place, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear.

²¹ It is God who alters the times and seasons, and he removes kings and promotes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

³⁷ You, your majesty, king of kings—to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory, ³⁸ so that wherever people, wild animals, or birds of the sky live, he has placed them under your control, giving you dominion over them all—you’re that head of gold.

²⁵ You’ll be driven from people, and you’ll live among wild animals of the field. You’ll eat grass like cattle and be soaked with the dew of the sky while seven years pass you by—until you realize that the Most High is sovereign over human kingdoms and grants them to whomever he desires.

³⁵ All who live on the earth are nothing compared to him. He does what he wishes with the heavenly armies and with those who live on earth. No one can hold back his power or say to him, ‘What did you do?’

²⁶ He asked them, “Why are you afraid, you who have little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

² Then the LORD told me, ‘Don’t fear him, because I’ve delivered him, his army, and his territory into your control. Do to him just as you have done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’

¹⁴ The women, children, all the livestock in the city, and all of the spoil and plunder will belong to you. Appropriate the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God will give you.

²¹ They turned over everyone in the city for destruction and executed them, including both men and women, young and old, and oxen, sheep, and donkeys.

⁷ you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the LORD your God will give it into your control.

⁹ So Joshua sent them out, and they set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai.
Joshua spent that night in the camp among the army.

¹² Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city,

¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw what had happened, he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn’t know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city.

¹⁹ As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush quickly got up from their place of hiding and attacked. They entered the city, seized it, and immediately set it on fire.

²⁴ When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them—to the very last of them—had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords.

²⁷ Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as their war booty, in accordance with what the LORD had commanded to Joshua. ²⁸ Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day. ²⁹ He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day.

¹ The Sun Stands StillKing Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem eventually heard how Joshua had conquered Ai, utterly destroying it, doing to Ai and its king the same thing that he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were now living among them.

²⁸ The Southern CampaignJoshua captured Makkedah that very day, and attacked both it and its king with swords, utterly destroying it along with every person in it, leaving no survivors. He dealt with the king of Makkedah the same way he had dealt with the king of Jericho.

²⁹ So Israel set soldiers in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰ The Israelis went out against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, arraying themselves against Gibeah as they had done previously. ³¹ They attacked the army and were drawn away from the city as they began to inflict casualties on the soldiers along the roads to Bethel and Gibeah, just as they had done the other times. About 30 soldiers from Israel fell in battle there and in the fields.
³² Then the descendants of Benjamin told themselves, “They’re falling right in front of us, just like before!”
But the army of Israel told themselves, “Let’s draw them away by escaping to the highways from the city.” ³³ So the entire army of Israel moved from their location and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamer while that part of their army moved from their ambush positions from Maareh-geba.

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent an ambush to attack from the rear, so Israel was in front of Judah, with the ambush set in place behind them.

²² Right on time, as they began to sing and praise, the LORD ambushed the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who had attacked Judah, and they were defeated.

¹⁶ “Though he hoards silver like dust, and stores away garments like clay, ¹⁷ whatever he stores up, the righteous will wear, and the innocent will inherit that silver!

⁶ In fact, people walk around as shadows. Surely, they busy themselves for nothing, heaping up possessions but not knowing who will get them.

²² A good person leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the wealth of the wicked is reserved for the righteous.

²⁰ The faithful man will prosper with blessings, but whoever is in a hurry to get rich will not escape punishment.

¹¹ As a partridge gathers together eggs that it didn’t lay, so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly. In the middle of his life it will leave him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool.

¹² Lift up the battle standard against Babylon’s walls. Strengthen the guard; post watchmen. Set men in position for an ambush. For the LORD will both plan and carry out what he has declared against the inhabitants of Babylon.

²⁰ But God told him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you’ve accumulated?’ ²¹ That’s how it is with the person who stores up treasures for himself rather than with God.”

³⁹ They were unaware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That’s how it will be when the Son of Man comes.

⁵⁰ that servant’s master will come on a day when he doesn’t expect him and at an hour that he doesn’t know.

⁶ But at midnight there came a shout: ‘The groom is here! Come out to meet him!’

² for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.

¹⁶ everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town.

²⁵ The “lords” of Shechem sent out men to ambush him on the mountain tops, and they robbed everyone who came by them along the roads, and this was reported to Abimelech.

²⁹ So Israel set soldiers in ambush around Gibeah.

³³ So the entire army of Israel moved from their location and arrayed themselves at Baal-tamer while that part of their army moved from their ambush positions from Maareh-geba.

³⁶ Then the descendants of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. The army of Israel pretended to retreat from the army of Benjamin, knowing that they had set some soldiers in ambush near Gibeah.

² This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘I’ll punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, when he set himself against Israel in the way, as they were going up from Egypt.

⁵ Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

¹⁹ Wisdom given as strength to a wise person is better than having ten powerful men in the city.

¹⁶ So I concluded, “Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless, the wisdom of the poor is rejected—his words are never heard.”

²¹ Don’t believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They’ve taken an oath not to eat or drink before they’ve killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”

⁵ The men of Ai killed about 36 of them, pursuing them outside the city gates as far as Shebarim, killing them as they descended. As a result, the army became terrified and lost their confidence.

¹⁶ Future Persecutions
“Pay attention, now! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.

³ Pharaoh will say about the Israelis, ‘They’re wandering aimlessly in the land, and the desert has closed in on them.’

⁹ “The enemy said, ‘I’ll pursue them, I’ll overtake them, I’ll divide the spoil. I’ll satisfy my anger on them, I’ll draw my sword, and my hand will bring them to ruin.’

³² Then the descendants of Benjamin told themselves, “They’re falling right in front of us, just like before!”
But the army of Israel told themselves, “Let’s draw them away by escaping to the highways from the city.”

¹¹ The Wisdom of Fearing GodWhenever a sentence for a crime is not carried out swiftly, the human mind becomes determined to commit evil.

¹² In addition, no human being knows his time: Like fish captured in a cruel net, or as birds caught in a snare, so also are human beings caught by bad timing that surprises them.

¹ The Destruction of AiThe LORD then told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid or lose heart! Take all the fighting men with you, and go up right now to Ai. Take note that I have handed over the king of Ai into your control, along with his people, his city, and his land.

¹ The Healing of NaamanNaaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in the opinion of his master. He was highly favored, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. Though he was a mighty and valiant man, he was suffering from leprosy.

³⁰ No wisdom, insight, or counsel can prevail against the LORD. ³¹ The horse may be prepared for the day of battle, but to the LORD goes the victory.

¹⁶ The People Reaffirm Their Commitment“We’ll do everything that you commanded,” they replied. “We’ll go wherever you send us.

²⁴ Then the army set fire to the city and to everything in it, except that they reserved the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron for the treasury of the LORD.

²⁸ Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day.

⁶ She sent word to Abinoam’s son Barak from Kedesh-naphtali, summoning him. She asked him, “The LORD God of Israel has commanded you, hasn’t he? He told you, ‘Go out, march to Mount Tabor, and take 10,000 men with you from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun.

²⁸ Then Absalom instructed his young men, “Please keep watching Amnon until he’s drunk. Then I’ll tell you, ‘Attack Amnon!’ As soon as I do, kill him and don’t be afraid! You have your orders, so be strong and brave!”

⁸ From there Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel and set up his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

²¹ So the presents went ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp.

² Meanwhile, Joshua had sent some soldiers from Jericho to Ai, which was near Beth-aven, east of Bethel. He ordered them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the soldiers went up and scouted Ai and

²⁸ People from Bethel and Ai: 223

³² People from Bethel and Ai: 123

³ So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his male servants with him, along with his son Isaac. He cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out to go to the place about which God had spoken to him.

¹ Joshua Prepares to Conquer JerichoJoshua got up early the next morning. Accompanied by all the Israelis, he set out from the Acacia groves and arrived at the Jordan River, where they encamped before crossing it.

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests picked up the ark of the LORD.

¹⁶ Achan’s Sin RevealedSo Joshua got up early that morning, brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.

⁶⁰ I hurried and did not procrastinate to keep your commands.

² Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city.”
³ So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night,

⁸ When you’ve taken the city, set it on fire, just as the LORD ordered. Look! These are your orders!”

¹ The Setting of the CovenantThese are the words that Moses spoke to the assembly of Israel east of the Jordan River, in the Arabah desert, opposite Suph between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.

⁵ I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we’ll run away from them.

³⁴ As 10,000 of Israel’s best soldiers came to fight Gibeah, the battle became fierce, but the army of Benjamin didn’t know that disaster was close at hand. ³⁵ The LORD struck Benjamin in the full view of Israel. As a result, the Israelis destroyed 25,100 soldiers of Benjamin that day, all expert swordsmen.
³⁶ Then the descendants of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. The army of Israel pretended to retreat from the army of Benjamin, knowing that they had set some soldiers in ambush near Gibeah.

¹¹ A Rebuke to Egypt’s LeadersZoan’s princes are nothing but fools; the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I’m a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings”?

¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis deluded; the leaders of its tribes have led Egypt astray.

³¹ As these words were being spoken by the king, a voice came out of heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, this is declared to you: ‘The kingdom has been taken from you!

¹ Be Ready for the Day of the LordNow you do not need to have anything written to you about times and dates, brothers, ² for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ When people say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.

³ In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.

⁶¹ The wilderness included Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,

¹ Ephraim’s AllocationThe territorial allotment for the descendants of Joseph proceeded from the Jordan River by Jericho eastward of the Jericho waters into the wilderness, proceeding from Jericho through the hill country of Bethel

¹² Their border started on the north side at the Jordan River, proceeded to the slope of Jericho on the north, then westward through the hill country, and terminated at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

⁵ I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we’ll run away from them. ⁶ They’ll come after us until we’ve drawn them away from the city, because they’ll say, ‘They’re running away from us just like they did before.’ While we’re running away from them,

³¹ They attacked the army and were drawn away from the city as they began to inflict casualties on the soldiers along the roads to Bethel and Gibeah, just as they had done the other times. About 30 soldiers from Israel fell in battle there and in the fields.

³⁶ Then the descendants of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. The army of Israel pretended to retreat from the army of Benjamin, knowing that they had set some soldiers in ambush near Gibeah. ³⁷ The soldiers in ambush rushed out to attack Gibeah, deploying in force and executing the entire city with swords. ³⁸ Meanwhile, the army of Israel had arranged to signal their soldiers who had been hiding in ambush by sending up a cloud of smoke from the city. ³⁹ The army of Israel turned around in the battle, and the army of Benjamin began to attack and kill about 30 soldiers, thinking, “Now we’re really defeating them, just like before.”

¹⁶ The LORD has made himself known, executing judgment. The wicked are ensnared by what their hands have made. Interlude

¹¹ and boasting, “I’m going to invade a land comprised of open country that is at rest, its people living confidently, all of whose inhabitants will be living securely, with neither fortification nor bars on their doors. ¹² I’m going to confiscate anything I can put my hands on. I’ll attack the restored ruins and the people who have been gathered together from the nations, who are acquiring livestock and other goods, and who live at the center of the world’s attention.” ¹³ ‘Businessmen based in Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish, and all of its growling lions will ask you, “Are you coming for war spoils? Have you assembled your armies to carry off silver and gold, and to gather lots of war booty?”’”
¹⁴ God’s Rebuke to Gog“Therefore, Son of Man, prophesy to Gog and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “When the day comes when my people are living securely, won’t you be aware of it? ¹⁵ You’ll come in from your home in the remotest parts of the north. You’ll come with many nations, all of them riding along on horses. You’ll be a huge, combined army. ¹⁶ You’ll come up to invade my people Israel like a storm cloud to cover the land. In the last days, Gog, I’ll bring you up to invade my land so that the world will learn to know me when I show them how holy I am before their very eyes.”’”
¹⁷ A Prediction for the Distant Future“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely you’re the one about whom I spoke years ago in the writings of my servants, Israel’s prophets, aren’t you? They predicted back then that I would bring you up after many years, didn’t they? ¹⁸ So it will be that on that day, when Gog invades the land of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘my zeal will ignite my anger. ¹⁹ Because of my zeal and burning anger, at that time there will be a massive earthquake throughout the land of Israel. ²⁰ I’m going to shake the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the wild beasts, all the creatures that crawl on the earth, and every single human being who lives on the surface of the earth. Mountains will collapse, as will their mountain passages, and every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹ Then I’ll call for war against Gog on top of every mountain,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘and every weapon of war will be turned against their fellow soldier. ²² I’ll judge them with disease and bloodshed. I’ll shower him, his soldiers, and the vast army that accompanies him with a torrential flood, hailstones, fire, and sulfur.

¹⁴ They are demonic spirits that perform signs. They go to the kings of the whole earth and gather them for the war of the great Day of God Almighty.

¹⁹ The Vision of the Judgment of the Beast and False ProphetThen I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ The beast was captured, along with the false prophet who had performed signs on its behalf. By these signs the false prophet had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹ The rest were killed by the sword that belonged to the rider on the horse and that came from his mouth, and all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.

³⁰ But King Sihon of Heshbon did not allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God had hardened his spirit and made him arrogant, in order to deliver him into your control today.

³ So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night,

²⁴ When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them—to the very last of them—had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords. ²⁵ The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000—the entire population of Ai.

²⁰ because the LORD had hardened their hearts so they would fight Israel in war, be completely destroyed without mercy, and be completely wiped out, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹³ He captures the wise in their own craftiness, bringing a quick end to their cunning advice.

¹¹ A Rebuke to Egypt’s LeadersZoan’s princes are nothing but fools; the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I’m a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings”? ¹² Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you, let them make known what the LORD has planned against Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis deluded; the leaders of its tribes have led Egypt astray.

⁵ Then the LORD told Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the Nile River, and over the ponds, and bring up frogs over the land of Egypt.’”

¹⁶ You are to raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, so the Israelis may go into the middle of the sea on dry land.

⁹ Moses told Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out to fight against the Amalekites. Tomorrow I’ll stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses raised his hand, the Israelis prevailed, but when his hand remained at his side, then the Amalekites prevailed. ¹² When Moses’ hands became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down.

²⁶ Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai.

⁶ He had bronze armor on his legs and carried a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.

⁴¹ David Defeats GoliathWith a man carrying his shield in front of him, the Philistine kept coming closer to David.

⁴⁵ Then David told the Philistine, “You come at me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.

²⁵ “For he has raised his fist against God, defying the Almighty.

²³ A quiver of arrows rattles against his side, along with a flashing spear and a lance.

²⁸ He looked off toward Sodom, Gomorrah, and the entire plain, and he saw smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.

²⁰ But what the wicked look for will fail; their way of escape will be taken away from them; their only hope is to take their final breath.”

⁵ they looked and were awestruck; they became afraid and ran away. ⁶ Trembling seized them there, pains like those of a woman in labor,

⁵ Brave men were plundered while they slumbered in their sleep. All the men of the army were immobilized.

¹⁰ It will burn night and day, and will never be extinguished. Its smoke will rise from generation to generation, and it will lie desolate forever and ever. And no one will pass through it.

¹⁴ So the swift runner will not escape, the valiant will not fortify his strength, and the mighty warrior will not save his life. ¹⁵ The skilled archer will not be able to stand, the swift runner will not survive, and the mounted rider will not preserve his own life. ¹⁶ Even the bravest of elite troops will run away naked at that time,” declares the LORD.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people concealed themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains. ¹⁶ They told the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to endure it?”

⁹ The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality with her and lived in luxury with her, will cry and mourn over her when they see the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.

³ A second time they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.”

² So when the LORD your God delivers them to you and you have defeated them, then utterly destroy them. You are not to make any covenant with them nor be gracious to them.

¹¹ They executed all of the people who lived in it, completely destroying it and leaving no one alive. Then he burned Hazor in fire.
¹² So Joshua captured and annihilated all of these cities, along with their kings, completely destroying them, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded.

⁵ The wicked triumph only briefly; the joy of the godless is momentary.

²⁶ “Just as it was in Noah’s time, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed all of them. ²⁸ So it was in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹ But on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed all of them. ³⁰ The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.

³ When people say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.

²⁹ He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day.

¹⁷ Joshua was informed, “The five kings have been discovered hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

⁸ He captured alive Agag king of Amalek, but he completely destroyed all the people, executing them with swords.

²⁰ The beast was captured, along with the false prophet who had performed signs on its behalf. By these signs the false prophet had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

²⁴ But Israel defeated him in battle and took possession of all his lands from Arnon to Jabbok, including the Ammonites, even though the border of the Ammonites was strong.

³⁰ The LORD gave both it and its king into the control of Israel, and Joshua executed both its king and every person in it with swords, leaving no survivors. He dealt with the king the same way he had dealt with the king of Jericho.
³¹ Then Joshua and all of Israel passed from Libnah to Lachish, camped near it, and attacked it. ³² The LORD gave Lachish into the control of Israel, and Joshua captured it the next day. He declared war on the city and executed everyone in it, the same way he had treated Libnah.
³³ Then Horam king of Gezer appeared to help Lachish. So Joshua attacked him and his army, until he left no one remaining. ³⁴ After this, Joshua, accompanied by all of Israel, proceeded from Lachish to Eglon, laid siege to it, and attacked it. ³⁵ They captured it on that day, attacking it in battle. Then Joshua completely destroyed it that day, the same way he had dealt with Lachish.
³⁶ Then Joshua, accompanied by all of Israel, left Eglon for Hebron, where they attacked it, ³⁷ captured it, and executed its inhabitants—its king, all of its cities, and every person in it, leaving no one remaining, the same way he had dealt with Eglon. He completely destroyed it, along with everyone in it.
³⁸ Then Joshua returned, accompanied by the entire fighting force of Israel, to Debir, where they attacked it, ³⁹ captured it, its king, and all of its villages. They executed them, totally destroying it and everyone in it, leaving no one remaining. He dealt with Debir and its king just as he had dealt with Hebron, treating them the same way he had dealt with Libnah and its king.
⁴⁰ So Joshua conquered the entire land, the hill country, the Negev, the Shephelah, and the wilderness highlands, along with all of their kings. He left none of them remaining, but completely destroyed every living person, just as the LORD God of Israel had commanded. ⁴¹ Joshua conquered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, including the entire territory of Goshen as far as Gibeon.

¹⁰ Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor, executing its king, because Hazor used to be the head of all of those kingdoms. ¹¹ They executed all of the people who lived in it, completely destroying it and leaving no one alive. Then he burned Hazor in fire.
¹² So Joshua captured and annihilated all of these cities, along with their kings, completely destroying them, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded. ¹³ However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that had been built on mounds of ruins, except for Hazor only, which Joshua burned. ¹⁴ The Israelis took the spoils of war from these cities, along with their livestock, but they executed every human being until they had completely destroyed them, leaving no one alive.

¹⁶ Destruction of the Canaanites“You are not to leave even one person alive in the cities of these nations that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance. ¹⁷ You must completely destroy the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, just as the LORD your God commanded you, ¹⁸ so they won’t teach you to do all the detestable things that they do for their gods. If you do what they teach you, you will sin against the LORD your God.”

¹⁸ Then the LORD told Joshua, “Stretch out the battle lance that’s in your hand toward Ai, because I will give it into your control.” So Joshua stretched out the battle lance that was in his hand toward the city.

²² concerning anything containing gold, silver, brass, iron, tin, lead,

²⁶ “Take an inventory of the booty that was taken in the battle, both of humans and of animals. Then you, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers of the community

² Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city.”

⁴ So they went out, they and all of their armies with them—a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore—accompanied by many horses and chariots.

¹⁰ Indeed, every animal of the forest is mine, even the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹⁵ I am allowed to do what I want with my own money, am I not? Or are you envious because I’m generous?’

¹⁶ Gather whatever you’ve taken as spoils at the public square of the town, then burn the town, along with whatever you’ve taken, as an offering to the LORD your God. It will remain a permanent mound of ruins, never to be rebuilt again.

⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River at the location where the feet of the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had been standing, and they remain there to this day.

²⁵ ‘Didn’t you hear? I determined it years ago! I planned this from ancient times, and now I’ve brought it to pass, to turn fortified cities into piles of ruins

¹ A Rebuke to DamascusA message about Damascus: “Look! Damascus will cease to be a city. Instead, it will become a pile of ruins.

² For you have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified city into a ruin; the foreigners’ citadel is no longer a city— it will never be rebuilt!

¹¹ “I’ll make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals. I’ll make the towns of Judah desolate, without inhabitants.”

² Therefore, look, the time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I’ll cause a battle cry to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a desolate mound, and its towns will be burned with fire. Israel will take possession of those who possessed him,” says the LORD.

²⁶ Come to her from afar. Open up her barns. Pile her up like heaps of grain, and completely destroy her. Don’t leave any survivors.

¹² “Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the Temple Mount like a forest high place.”

²² Burial of the Executed“If a man is guilty of a capital offense, is executed, and then is impaled on a tree, ²³ his body must not remain overnight on the tree. You must bury him that same day, because cursed of God is the one who has been hanged on a tree. Don’t defile your land that the LORD is about to give you as your inheritance.”

²⁶ piling up a large mound of boulders that remains to this day. After this, the LORD turned his burning anger away, and that is why that place is called “the Valley of Achor” to this day.

²⁶ After this, Joshua struck those kings down, executing them, and hanged them on five gallows until sunset. ²⁷ When evening had come, Joshua gave a command to remove the bodies from the gallows and bury them in the cave where they had hidden. The army sealed the mouth of the cave with large stones that remain there to this very day.
²⁸ The Southern CampaignJoshua captured Makkedah that very day, and attacked both it and its king with swords, utterly destroying it along with every person in it, leaving no survivors. He dealt with the king of Makkedah the same way he had dealt with the king of Jericho.

³⁰ The LORD gave both it and its king into the control of Israel, and Joshua executed both its king and every person in it with swords, leaving no survivors. He dealt with the king the same way he had dealt with the king of Jericho.

³³ Then Horam king of Gezer appeared to help Lachish. So Joshua attacked him and his army, until he left no one remaining.

¹⁷ Meanwhile, Joab’s army grabbed Absalom’s body, tossed it into a large pit in the forest, and filled it up with a huge pile of rocks. Then the Israelis ran away back to their homes.

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and then the king’s anger subsided.

⁴⁰ Having poured contempt on their nobles, causing them to err aimlessly in the way.

⁵ The Lord is at your right hand; he will utterly destroy kings in the time of his wrath.

²³ Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.

¹⁷ The Vision of the Angel’s InvitationThen I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come! Gather for the great supper of God. ¹⁸ Eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of warriors, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, both free and slaves, both unimportant and important.”

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings on it from every clean animal and every clean bird.

⁷ Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I’ll give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel and set up his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

²⁴ You are to make an altar of earth for me, and you are to sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep, and your cattle. Everywhere I cause my name to be remembered, I’ll come to you and bless you.

⁴ “When you have crossed the Jordan River, set up these stones about which I’m commanding you today on Mount Ebal, and coat them with plaster. ⁵ Then build an altar there to the LORD your God, an altar of stones that hasn’t been worked with iron tools. ⁶ Build the altar to the LORD your God with uncut stones, then offer a burnt offering to him.

¹² Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to dine with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

²⁴ You are to make an altar of earth for me, and you are to sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep, and your cattle. Everywhere I cause my name to be remembered, I’ll come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you make an altar of stone for me, you must not build it of cut stones, because if you strike it with your chisel, you will profane it.

⁵ He sent young Israeli men to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifice bulls as peace offerings to the LORD.

⁵ Then build an altar there to the LORD your God, an altar of stones that hasn’t been worked with iron tools. ⁶ Build the altar to the LORD your God with uncut stones, then offer a burnt offering to him. ⁷ Offer a burnt offering there, then eat and rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God.

⁸ This set of instructions is not to cease being a part of your conversations. Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to carry out everything that’s written in it, for then you’ll prosper and succeed.

³⁴ Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of the Law—both the blessings and the curses—according to everything written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There wasn’t one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob’s descendants, to whom the message from the LORD had come that “Israel is to be your name.” ³² So Elijah used the stones to build an altar to the name of the LORD. But then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.

⁶ but he did not execute the children of the murderers, in keeping with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD had commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death because of their children’s sin; nor are children to die because of their fathers’ sin, for each person is to be put to death for his own sin.”

⁸ Hilkiah Discovers an Ancient ArchiveLater on, Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I’ve discovered the Book of the Law in the LORD’s Temple.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he began to read it.

⁴ but he did not execute their children in obedience to what is written in the Law, the writings of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers are not to die because of what their children do, nor are children to die because of what their fathers do, but each person is to die for his own sins.”

¹² They set aside in reserve the burnt offerings, so they could distribute them in proportion to the divisions of their ancestral households for presentation by the people to the LORD, as is required by the book of Moses. They did this with respect to the bulls, also.

¹⁸ Furthermore, they established the priests in their divisions and the descendants of Levi in their positions for the service of God conducted at Jerusalem, as is proscribed in the Book of Moses.

¹ Enemies of Israel Excluded
Later that day the book of Moses was read aloud so the people could hear it, and a written command was discovered therein permanently prohibiting the Ammonites and Moabites from coming into the congregation of God

²⁶ So if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom stand?

² On the day you cross over the Jordan River to the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster. ³ Then inscribe on them all the words of this law when you’ve crossed over into the land that the LORD your God is about to give you—a land flowing with milk and honey—just as the LORD God of your ancestors promised you.

⁸ Inscribe on the stones plainly and distinctly all the words of this Law.”

⁴⁹ A single law exists for the native and the alien who resides among you.”

²² You are to have for yourselves consistent procedures in deciding a case. As it is for the resident alien, so it is for the native born. I am the LORD your God.”

¹⁶ There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the resident alien who lives with you.”

²⁹ You are to have a single law for the one who does things inadvertently, whether for the native-born Israeli or for the resident alien who lives among you.”

²⁹ Declaration of the Blessings and Curses“When the LORD brings you to the land that you are about to enter to inherit, repeat the blessings on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal.

¹¹ Penalties for DisobedienceMoses gave the people these commands that day: ¹² “When you cross the Jordan River, these tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people—Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali are to stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curse. ¹⁴ The descendants of Levi are to declare in a loud voice to every Israeli:

¹⁰ Entering into a Covenant Relationship“All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God—the heads of your tribes, your elders, your magistrates, all the men of Israel, ¹¹ along with your children, your wives, even the foreigner in your camp, including the woodchopper and the water drawer—

⁹ Moses Entrusts the Law to the Levitical PriestsThen Moses wrote down this Law and gave it to the Levitical priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and to all of Israel’s leaders.

¹² Gather the people—the men, women, children, and the foreigners that live in your cities—so they may hear and fear the LORD your God, and so they may be careful to obey the words contained in this Law.

²⁵ he gave this charge to the descendants of Levi who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD:

³ giving orders to the people. They said, “When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then get up, leave where you are, and follow it.

⁶ After this, Joshua instructed the priests, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went on ahead of the people.

¹⁴ The Jordan River Stops FlowingSo the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan River, with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant in full view of the people.

¹⁰ Crossing the Jordan RiverThe priests who were carrying the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan River until everything had been done in accordance with what the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people and with everything that Moses had commanded Joshua. So the people hurried and crossed over.

¹⁸ As soon as the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan River, and the soles of the priests’ feet came up to dry ground, the water of the Jordan River returned to normal, covering its banks as it had done so before.

⁶ The Destruction of JerichoSo Nun’s son Joshua called for the priests. “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant,” he told them, “and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made from rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”

³⁰ Joshua Renews the CovenantThen Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just the way Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelis in the Book of the Law of Moses: “…an altar of uncut stones that hasn’t been worked with iron tools…” and they offered burnt offerings to the LORD on it, along with peace offerings.
³² There Joshua inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to the Israelis.

² Joshua called together all Israel, including their leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers. He told them, “I am old now after having lived many years.

¹ Joshua’s Final ExhortationThen Joshua assembled together all of the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called for the leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers of Israel. They assembled in formation before God,

¹¹ Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, along with the descendants of Levi Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab ¹² and addressed them: “As leaders of your Levitical families, set yourselves apart, both you and your relatives, so you can be qualified to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place I’ve prepared for it. ¹³ Because you didn’t carry it from the very first, the LORD our God attacked us, since we didn’t care for it appropriately.” ¹⁴ So the priests and descendants of Levi set themselves apart to carry the ark of the LORD God of Israel. ¹⁵ The descendants of Levi carried the Ark of God the way Moses had commanded and in accordance with the command from the LORD—that is, with poles on their shoulders.

¹ Rewards for Obedience“You are not to make worthless idols, images, or pillars for yourselves, nor set up for yourselves carved images to bow down to them in the land, because I am the LORD your God.
² “You are to keep my Sabbath and fear my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
³ “If you live by my statutes, obey my commands, and observe them, ⁴ then I’ll send your rain in its season so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will yield their fruit. ⁵ Threshing will extend to the time of vintage and the vintage will extend to the time of sowing, so that you’ll eat your bread to your satisfaction and live securely in your land. ⁶ I’ll give peace in the land so that you’ll lie down without fear. I’ll remove wild beasts from the land, and not even war will come to your land. ⁷ Instead, you’ll pursue your enemies and they’ll die by the sword before you. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
⁹ “I’ll look after you, ensuring that you’ll be fruitful. I’ll increase your number and keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ When you have consumed what was stored of the old, then you’ll take out the old and replace it with what’s new. ¹¹ I’ll set up my tent in your midst and I won’t loathe you. ¹² I’ll walk among you. I will be your God, and you’ll be my people. ¹³ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you will no longer be their slaves, since I’ve broken their oppressive yoke upon you to make you walk upright.”
¹⁴ Cascading Consequences“But if you won’t listen to me and obey all these commands, ¹⁵ and if you refuse my statutes, loathe my ordinances, and fail to carry out all of my commands, thereby breaching my covenant, ¹⁶ then I will certainly do this to you: I’ll appoint sudden terror to infect you like tuberculosis and fever. Your eyes will fail and your life will waste away. You’ll plant in vain, because your enemies will consume what you plant. ¹⁷ I’ll set my face against you so that you’ll be defeated before your enemies. Those who hate you will have dominion over you and you’ll keep fleeing even when no one is pursuing you.
¹⁸ “If, despite all of this, you still don’t listen to me, then I’ll punish you seven times more on account of your sins. ¹⁹ I’ll break your mighty pride. I’ll make the heavens to be like iron and the ground like bronze. ²⁰ Your strength will be spent in vain, because your land won’t yield its produce and the trees of the land won’t yield their fruit.
²¹ “If you live life contrary to me and remain unwilling to listen to me, then I’ll add to your wounds seven times more on account of your sins. ²² I’ll send wild beasts against you from the open country to deprive you of your children, destroy your cattle, and decrease your number so that your roads become desolate.
²³ “If, despite these things, you still won’t return to me, but live life contrary to me, ²⁴ then I’ll certainly oppose you. I’ll take vengeance against you seven fold on account of your sins. ²⁵ I’ll bring the sword against you to execute the vengeance of my covenant. When you gather in your cities, I’ll send a pestilence. As a result, you’ll be delivered into the control of your enemies. ²⁶ When I destroy the source of your bread, ten women will bake bread in one oven. Then they’ll return back your bread by weight. You’ll eat but won’t be satisfied.
²⁷ “If, after all of this time, you don’t listen to me, but instead live life contrary to me, ²⁸ I’ll oppose you with vicious rage. Indeed, I myself will punish you seven fold on account of your sins. ²⁹ At that time, you’ll eat the flesh of your sons and you’ll eat the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰ I’ll destroy your high places and cut down your sun pillars. Then I’ll cast your dead bodies on top of the bodies of your idols. I’ll loathe you. ³¹ I’ll lay your cities to waste and destroy your sanctuaries so I don’t have to smell the scent of your soothing odors. ³² I’ll make the land so desolate that your enemies who live in it will be astonished.”
³³ Captivity among the Nations“I’ll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins. ³⁴ Then the land will finally be pleased with its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time, the land will rest and take its Sabbaths. ³⁵ As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest that it will not have had during your Sabbaths when you were living in it.
³⁶ “As for the remnants among you, I’ll bring despair in their hearts in the land of their enemies so that even the sound of a blown leaf will chase them and they flee as though pursued by the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. ³⁷ They’ll stumble over each other as though fleeing before the sword, even though no one is pursuing.
“You won’t have power to resist your enemies. ³⁸ You’ll perish among the nations and the land of your enemies will consume you. ³⁹ The remnants among you will waste away in the land of your enemies due to their iniquity. Indeed, they’ll also waste away on account of the iniquities of their ancestors with them.”
⁴⁰ Return from Captivity“Nevertheless, when they confess their iniquity, the iniquity of their ancestors, and their unfaithfulness by which they acted unfaithfully against me by living life contrary to me— ⁴¹ causing me to oppose them and take them to the land of their enemies so that the uncircumcised foreskin of their hearts can be humbled and so that they accept the punishment of their iniquity— ⁴² then I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham. I’ll also remember the land. ⁴³ They will leave the land so it can rest while it lies desolate without them. That’s when they’ll receive the punishment of their iniquity, because indeed they will have rejected my ordinances and despised my statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet, despite all of these things, when they’re in the land of their enemies, I won’t reject or despise them so as to completely destroy them and by doing so violate my covenant with them, because I am the LORD their God. ⁴⁵ Instead, on account of them, I’ll remember my covenant with their ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt right before the eyes of the nations, so that I could be their God. I am the LORD.”
⁴⁶ These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD made between himself and the Israelis on Mount Sinai, as recorded by the hand of Moses.

¹⁴ The descendants of Levi are to declare in a loud voice to every Israeli: ¹⁵ “‘Cursed is the one who makes a sculptured or cast image—a detestable thing to the LORD, the work of a craftsman—and sets it up secretly.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁶ “Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother with dishonor.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁷ “‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁸ “‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁹ “‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice due the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁰ “Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his father’s wife, because he has disgraced his father.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²¹ “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with any animal.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²² “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²³ “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁴ “‘Cursed is one who strikes his neighbor secretly.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁵ “‘Cursed is one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁶ “‘Cursed is the one who doesn’t uphold the words of this Law and observe them.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’”

¹⁴ Do not deviate from any of his commands that I’m giving you today—neither to the right nor the left—to follow and serve other gods.”
¹⁵ Reversal of Blessings“But if you don’t obey the LORD your God and faithfully carry out all his commands and statutes that I’m giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overwhelm you.
¹⁶ “Cursed will you be in the city and cursed will you be in the country.
¹⁷ “Cursed will be your grain basket and your kneading bowl.
¹⁸ “Cursed will your children be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.
¹⁹ “Cursed will you be in your comings and goings.”
²⁰ Diseases and Drought“The LORD will send the curse among you, will confuse you, and will rebuke you in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and perish quickly because of your evil deeds, since you will have forsaken him. ²¹ The LORD will cause you to be ill with long-lasting diseases until you are wiped out from the land that you are entering to possess. ²² The LORD will afflict you with tuberculosis, fever, inflammation, high fever, drought, blight, and mildew. These will attack you until you are completely destroyed. ²³ The sky above your head will become bronze while the ground beneath you will become iron. ²⁴ The LORD will change the rain on your land to powder and dust. It will come down from the sky until you are exterminated.”
²⁵ From Defeat to Exile“The LORD will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You’ll go out against them in one direction, but you’ll flee from them in seven directions. Consequently, you’ll be in a state of great terror throughout all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶ Your dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, with no one to chase them away.
²⁷ “The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, skin disease, and festering rashes, and none of them will be curable. ²⁸ The LORD will afflict you with insanity, blindness, and mental confusion. ²⁹ As a result, you’ll wander aimlessly in broad daylight just as a blind person wanders in darkness. You won’t prosper in life. Instead you’ll be oppressed and plundered all day long, with no deliverer.
³⁰ You’ll be engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You’ll build a house but you won’t live in it. You’ll plant a vineyard but you won’t harvest it. ³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered in front of you, and you won’t be able to eat it. Your donkey will be stolen from you while you watch and won’t be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be handed to your enemies and there will be no deliverer. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you watch, and you won’t be able to approach them at all, and you’ll be powerless to help.
³³ “A people whom you don’t know will devour what your land and labor produces. You’ll be only oppressed and discouraged continuously ³⁴ until you are driven insane from what your eyes will see.
³⁵ “The LORD will inflict you with incurable boils on your knees and legs, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
³⁶ “The LORD will banish you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you’ll serve other gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ You’ll become a desolation and a proverb, and you’ll be mocked among the people where the LORD will drive you.”
³⁸ Complete Reversal“You’ll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it. ³⁹ You’ll plant a vineyard, but you won’t drink wine or harvest any grapes, because worms will consume it. ⁴⁰ You’ll have olive trees throughout your territory, but you won’t be able to anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off the trees. ⁴¹ You’ll bear sons and daughters, but they won’t belong to you, because they’ll go into captivity. ⁴² Whirling locusts will consume every tree and the produce of your land. ⁴³ The foreigner in your midst will be elevated higher and higher over you, while you are brought low little by little. ⁴⁴ He will lend to you, but you won’t lend to him. He’ll be the head, but you’ll be the tail. ⁴⁵ All these curses will come upon you and will overwhelm you until you are exterminated, because you didn’t obey the LORD your God to keep his commands and statutes, which he had commanded you. ⁴⁶ These curses will serve as a sign and wonder for you and your descendants as long as you live.”
⁴⁷ Servitude and Bondage“Because you didn’t serve the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly, despite the abundance of everything you have, ⁴⁸ you’ll serve your enemies whom the LORD your God will send against you. You will serve in famine and in drought, in nakedness, and in lack of everything. They’ll set a yoke of iron upon your neck until they have exterminated you.
⁴⁹ “The LORD will raise a distant nation against you from the other side of the earth. Swooping down like a vulture, ⁵⁰ it will be a nation whose language you don’t understand, whose stern appearance neither shows regard nor extends grace to anyone whether old or young. ⁵¹ Its army will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed. ⁵² They’ll besiege all your cities until your high and fortified walls in which you have trusted collapse throughout the land. Indeed, they will besiege all your cities, which the LORD your God gave you.”
⁵³ Cannibalism“You’ll eat your own children—the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God gave you—on account of the siege and the distress with which your enemy will oppress you. ⁵⁴ Even the compassionate man among you—the very sensitive one—will look with evil in his eyes toward his brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving sons, whom he spared. ⁵⁵ He will withhold from each of them the flesh of his sons that he is eating—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in all your cities. ⁵⁶ The most tender and sensitive lady among you, who doesn’t venture to touch the soles of her feet to the ground on account of her daintiness, will look with hostility in her eyes against her beloved husband, her sons, and her daughters. ⁵⁷ She will eat her afterbirth and her newborn children secretly—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.”
⁵⁸ Reduction in Population“If you aren’t careful to observe all the words of this Law that have been written in this book, instructing you to fear this glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God, ⁵⁹ then he will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will inflict on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they won’t be curable. ⁶¹ Moreover, the LORD will inflict you with illnesses and plagues that were not written in this Book of the Law, until you are exterminated. ⁶² Because you will not have obeyed the LORD your God, very few of you will be left—instead of you being as numerous as the stars in the heavens. ⁶³ Just as the LORD delighted to prosper and increase you, so now the LORD will delight to destroy, exterminate, and banish you from the land that you are about to enter to possess.”
⁶⁴ Scattering among the Nations“He’ll scatter you among the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you’ll serve other gods made of wood and stones, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you’ll have no rest. There’ll be no resting place for the soles of your feet. Instead, the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a despairing spirit. ⁶⁶ You’ll cling to life, being fearful by both night and day, with no assurance of survival. ⁶⁷ In the morning you’ll say, ‘I wish it were evening.’ Yet in the evening you’ll say, “I wish it were morning,” on account of what you’ll dread and what you’ll see. ⁶⁸ Finally, the LORD will bring you back to Egypt by ship, a place that I said you’ll never see again. There you’ll try to sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

²⁰ “The LORD won’t forgive such a person. Instead, the zealous anger of the LORD will blaze against him. All the curses that were written in this book will fall on him. Then the LORD will wipe out his memory from under heaven. ²¹ The LORD will set him apart from all the tribes of Israel for destruction, according to the curses of the covenant that were written in this Book of the Law.”

¹⁵ Destruction in Disobedience“Look! Today I have set before you life and what is good, along with death and what is evil. ¹⁶ That’s why I’m commanding you today to love the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by observing his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live long, increase, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter to possess. ¹⁷ But if you turn your heart away, and do not obey, but instead if you stray away to worship and serve other gods, ¹⁸ I’m declaring to you today that you will surely be destroyed. You won’t live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to testify against you today! I’ve set life and death before you today: both blessings and curses. Choose life, that it may be well with you—you and your children. ²⁰ Love the LORD your God, obey his voice, and cling to him, because he is your life—even your long life—so that you may live in the land that the LORD promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

¹⁰ Then he gave these orders: “At the end of seven years, the year designated for release, during the Festival of Tents, ¹¹ when all of Israel comes to appear in the presence of the LORD your God at the place that he’ll choose, read this Law aloud to them. ¹² Gather the people—the men, women, children, and the foreigners that live in your cities—so they may hear and fear the LORD your God, and so they may be careful to obey the words contained in this Law.

² So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought out the Law before the assembled people. Both men and women were in attendance, as well as all who could understand what they were hearing.
³ Ezra read from it, facing the plaza in front of the Water Gate, from early in the morning until mid-day in the presence of the men and women, as well as all who could understand. All the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

³ While they stood there, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for one fourth of the day, and they confessed and worshipped the LORD their God for another fourth of the day.

³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with a very large number of livestock, including sheep and cattle.

² Do not add or subtract a thing to what I’m commanding you. Observe the commands of the LORD your God.

¹¹ along with your children, your wives, even the foreigner in your camp, including the woodchopper and the water drawer—

¹ The People Gather with EzraNow while Ezra was praying and confessing in tears, having prostrated himself to the ground before the Temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelis—men, women, and children—gathered around him. Indeed, the people were crying bitterly.

² So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought out the Law before the assembled people. Both men and women were in attendance, as well as all who could understand what they were hearing.

² “This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s Temple and tell those from all the cities of Judah who are coming to worship at the LORD’s Temple everything that I’ve commanded you to say to them. Don’t leave out a word!

¹⁶ Gather the people! Dedicate the congregation! Bring in the elders. Gather the youngsters and even the nursing infants. Call the bridegroom from his wedding preparations, and the bride from her dressing room.

¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he became furious and told them, “Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these.

²⁷ because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God.

⁵ but when our time there came to an end, we left and proceeded on our journey. All of them accompanied us with their wives and children out of the city. We knelt on the beach, prayed,