LESSON XXX

JOSHUA'S LAST DAYS

Joshua assigns portions of the land to various tribes.
His parting address to the people: his death and burial.

JOSHUA XIII. 1-XXIV. 33

13 1 Now Joshua was old and well stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and well stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance.

14 6 Then the children of Judah drew nigh unto Joshua in 5 Gilgal and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD spake unto Moses the man of God concerning me and concerning thee in Kadesh-barnea. Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land; 10 and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt but I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to 15 thy children for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he spake, these forty and five years, from the time that the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and 20 five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me : as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, and to go out and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in

25 that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakim were there, and cities great and fenced: it may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as the LORD spake. And Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.

30 16 1 And the lot for the children of Joseph went out from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Beth-el; and it went out from Beth-el to Luz, and passed along unto the border of the Archites to Ataroth; and it went 35 down westward to the border of the Japhletites, unto the border of Beth-horon the nether, even unto Gezer: and the goings out thereof were at the sea. And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwelt in the midst of Ephraim, unto this day, and became servants to do 40 taskwork.

17 1 As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. And the lot was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families. And Manasseh had in 45 Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even the three heights. Yet the children of Manasseh 50 could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out, And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why 55 hast thou given me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as hitherto the LORD hath blessed me? And Joshua said unto them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since 60 the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee. And the

children of Joseph said, The hill country is not enough for us:

and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are in the valley of Jezreel. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, 65 saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only but the hill country shall be thine; for though it is a forest, thou shalt cut it down, and the goings out thereof shall be thine for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they be strong.

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18 2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided their inheritance. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, hath given you? Appoint for you three men for each tribe: 75 and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come unto me. And they shall divide it into seven portions: Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north. 80 And ye shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring the description hither to me and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. And the men arose, and went: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again 85 to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh. And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions in a book, and they came to Joshua unto the camp at Shiloh. And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD.

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24 1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from 95 beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to

possess it; and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 100 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst thereof: and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto the Red Sea. 105 And when they cried out unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt beyond Jordan; and 110 they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, and

ye possessed their land. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still so I delivered 115 you out of his hand. And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho and the men of Jericho fought against you, and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. And 120 I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not laboured, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in 125 Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you

to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. And the 130 people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. Now therefore put away, said he, 135 the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart

unto the LORD, the God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and unto his voice will we hearken. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; 140 and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary 1 of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye 145 deny your God. So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his 150 inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem 155 for an hundred pieces of money and they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

1 For by the sanctuary read in the sanctuary (R).