# verse

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"Set aside and consecrate the fiftieth year to declare liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. It is to be a jubilee for you. Every person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. "Likewise, every person is to return to his clan.


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The fiftieth year is to be a year of jubilee for you. You are not to sow or harvest the spilled kernels that grow of itself or pick grapes from the untrimmed vines


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So if you had sold property to a neighbor or had acquired land from your neighbor, you are not to cheat one another.


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According to the number of years after the jubilee, you may buy from your neighbor. And according to the number of years with crops, he may sell to you.


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If the number of years are more, increase the selling price. If the years be few, decrease its selling price, because he's selling to you according to the volume of produce.


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"Now if you ask, 'What will we eat during the seventh year? After all, we may not plant or even gather our produce!'


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I'll command my blessing on you during the sixth year so that it will yield produce for three years!


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That way, you are to sow in the eighth year, eating the produce from the old harvest. Until the ninth year when its produce comes in, you'll eat from the old harvest."


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"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me.


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"If your brother is poor so that he had to a sell portion of his inheritance, then his nearest kinsman redeemer is to come and redeem what his brother has sold.


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If a person doesn't have a kinsman redeemer but has become rich and found sufficient means for his redemption,


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then let him account for the years for which it was sold, return the excess to the person to whom it was sold, and then return to his property.


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If he's not able to redeem it back for himself, then what he sold is to remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee, it is to be returned so he may return to his property.


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"If a person sells a residential house in a walled city, then he is to redeem it within the year in which it was sold. He may have right to its redemption for a full year.


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But if it's not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house next to which is a wall is to belong to the one who bought it, in perpetuity throughout his generations. It is not to be returned in the jubilee.


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"However, the houses in the villages that don't have walls around them are to be categorized along with the fields of the land. It may be redeemed, so it is to be returned in the jubilee.


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"Nevertheless, the cities that belong to the descendants of Levi-that is, the houses in the cities that belong to them-are to belong to the descendants of Levi perpetually as part of their right of redemption.


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If someone from the descendants of Levi redeems the houses in the cities that they own, they are to be returned in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the descendants of Levi are to remain their property among the Israelis.


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Also, the open land of their cities is not to be sold, because it is to remain their perpetual inheritance."


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If your relative becomes poor so that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler.


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You are not to take interest or profit from him. Instead, you are to fear your God and let your relative live with you.


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I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.


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"If your brother with you becomes poor, so that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave.


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Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or traveler who lives with you until the year of jubilee.


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Since they're my servants whom I've brought out from the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.


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"As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations.


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You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property.


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"You may give them as inherited property to your children after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness.


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"If a resident alien or traveler becomes rich, but your relative who lives next to him is so poor that he sells himself to that resident alien or traveler among you or to a member of the resident alien's family,


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His uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him or any blood relative from his clan may redeem him. If he becomes rich, then he may redeem himself.


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"He is to bring an accounting to the one who bought him, starting from the year he had sold himself until the year of jubilee. The price of his sale is to correspond to the number of years comparable to the time a hired servant stays with him.


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But if only a few years are left until the year of jubilee, he is to bring an accounting of the years that he is to refund for his redemption.


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Like a hired servant, he is to remain with him year after year, but he is not to rule over him with what you see as severity.


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"If he isn't redeemed by these, then he is to be set free in the year of jubilee-he and his children with him


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because the Israelis are my servants. They're my servants, since I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."


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"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.


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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.


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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.


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"I'll give peace in the land so that you'll lie down without fear. I'll remove wild beasts from the land, not even war will come to your land.


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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.


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"I'll look after you, ensuring that you'll be fruitful. I'll increase your number and keep my covenant with you.


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When you have consumed what was stored of the old, then you'll take out the old and replace it with what's new.


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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."


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and if you refuse my statutes, loathe my ordinances, fail to do all my commands, thereby breaching my covenant,


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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.


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"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.


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"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.


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Your strength will be spent in vain, because your land won't yield its produce and the trees of the land won't yield its fruit.


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"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.


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I'll send the 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.


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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.


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"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.


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I'll oppose you with vicious rage. Indeed, I myself will punish you seven fold on account of your sins.


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"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.


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I'll lay your cities to waste and destroy your sanctuaries so I don't have to smell the scent of your soothing odors.


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"I'll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins.


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"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.


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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.


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"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.


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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.


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The remnants among you will waste away on account of their iniquity in the land of your enemies. Indeed, they'll also waste away on account of the iniquities of their ancestors with them.


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"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,


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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,


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then I'll remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham. I'll also remember the land.


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"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.


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"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.


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Instead, on account of them, I'll remember my covenant with their ancestors when I brought them out from the land of Egypt right before the eyes of the nations, so that I could be their God. I am the LORD."


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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.


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"Tell the Israelis that when a person makes a special vow based on the appropriate value of people who belong to the LORD,


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if your valuation of the vow is for a male from 20 to 60 sixty years old, the valuation is to be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.


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"If she is a female from 20 to 60 years old, then your valuation is to be 30 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary.


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"If a person is from five to 20 twenty years, then your valuation for a male is to be 20 shekels and for a female ten shekels.


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"If a person is from one month to five years old, then your valuation for a male is to be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation is to be three shekels of silver.


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"If a person is 60 or more years old, then your valuation for a male is to be fifteen shekels and for a female ten shekels.


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"But if he be too poor to be valuated, then cause him to stand before the priest and let the priest set a value on him according to the ability of the one making the vow.


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"If it's an animal from which they make an offering to the LORD, everything that he gives to the LORD from it will be holy.


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He is not to substitute it or exchange it-the good with the bad or the bad with the good. "If he ever makes an exchange of an animal for an animal, then it and what's being exchanged is holy.


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"If any animal is unclean, which cannot be brought to the LORD as an offering, make the animal stand in the presence of the priest,


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then the priest will evaluate it as to whether it is good or bad. According to your-that is, the priest's-valuation, so it is to be.


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"If a person consecrates his house to be holy to the LORD, then the priest is to set a value for it as to its worth, whether good or bad. As the priest sets value on it, so it will stand.


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"And if he that consecrated it wishes to redeem his house, he is to add one fifth to your valuation, after which it is to belong to him.


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"If a person consecrates a portion of the field from his inheritance to the LORD, then your valuation is to be based on its capacity for yielding a harvest. Each homer of barley is to be valued at 50 shekels of silver.


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"If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, then the priest is to account to him the silver according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, with a deduction corresponding to your valuation.


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"If the one who consecrated the field intends to redeem it, then he is to add one fifth of your valuation to it in silver, then it is to be established as his.


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"But if he won't redeem the field, but instead sells it to another person, then it is not to be redeemed anymore.


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When the field is released in the jubilee, it will be holy to the LORD. As a field that's devoted, it is to belong to the priest as his inheritance.


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then the priest is to account to him the evaluated worth until the year of jubilee. Then he is to give the amount of valuation on that day as a holy gift to the LORD.


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"During the year of jubilee, the field is to be returned by the one who originally sold it, that is, to the owner of the land.


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Every valuation is to be according to the shekel of the sanctuary, evaluated at 20 gerahs to the shekel.


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"No person is to consecrate the first born, because the first born of the animals already belongs to the LORD. Whether ox or goat, it belongs to the LORD.


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If it's an unclean animal, then he is to ransom it according to your valuation, adding a fifth to it. If it's not redeemed then it is to be sold according to your valuation.


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"However, any devoted thing, that a person consecrates to the LORD from what he owns, whether man, animals, or inherited fields, is not to be sold or redeemed. Any devoted thing is most sacred. It belongs to the LORD.


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But anyone who is completely devoted from among human beings is not to be ransomed. He is certainly to be put to death.


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"Any tithes of the land from grain grown on the land or from fruit grown on the trees belong to the LORD. It's sacred to the LORD.


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He is not to examine it to see if it's good or bad or even exchange it. If he does exchange it, what has been exchanged as well as its substitute is sacred. It is not to be redeemed."


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In the Sinai desert, the LORD spoke to Moses inside the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month of the second year after they had left the land of Egypt. He said,


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"Take a census of the entire Israeli community, numbering them by their tribes and by ancestral houses. List the names of every male one-by-one,


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from 20 years and upward. You and Aaron are to register everyone in Israel who is able to go to war, company by company.


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"From Joseph's descendants through Ephraim: Ammihud's son Elishama. From Manasseh: Pedahzur's son Gamaliel.


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These men were appointed from within their communities, since they were leaders of their ancestral houses and heads of the tribes of Israel.


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They assembled the entire community together during the second month. Then they recorded their ancestries according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as well as the names of the men 20 years old and above individually,


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The genealogies of the descendants of Reuben, the first born of Israel, were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Simeon's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Gad's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Judah's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Issachar's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Zebulun's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Joseph's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Manasseh's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Benjamin's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Dan's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Asher's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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The genealogies of Naphtali's descendants were recorded individually according to their tribes and ancestral houses, as were the names of all the men 20 years and above who could serve in the army.


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These individuals were the ones whom Moses and Aaron registered from the twelve leaders of Israel, each person from his ancestral house.


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Everyone was numbered from the descendants of Israel, from their ancestral houses, from all the men who were 20 years and above and who could serve in the army.


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Instead, appoint the descendants of Levi over the Tent of Meeting, all the vessels, and everything in it. They are to carry the tent and all the vessels in it. They are to attend to it and camp around it.


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Whenever the tent is ready for travel, the descendants of Levi are to take it down. "When it's time to encamp, the descendants of Levi are to set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it is to be executed.


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Then the Israelis are to encamp around the tent, arranged according to their company and the standard of their army.


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But the descendants of Levi are to encamp on all sides of the Tent of Meeting so that divine wrath won't fall on the congregation of Israel. The descendants of Levi are to take care of the Tent of Meeting."


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The Israelis observed everything that the LORD had commanded Moses, doing exactly what they were told.


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"Every single Israeli is to encamp beneath his standard with the emblem of his ancestral house. The Israelis are to encamp from a distance, but surrounding the Tent of Meeting."


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"The encampment of Judah is to settle east toward the sunrise under their standard. The leader of Judah is to be Amminadab's son Nahshon.


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"The tribe of Issachar is to encamp beside Judah. The leader of Issachar is to be Zuar's son Nethanel.


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All those numbered by division in the camp of Judah total 185 families and 1,400. They are to be the first to travel."


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"Toward the south is to be the division of the camp of Reuben under their standard. The leader of Reuben is to be Shedeur's son Elizur.


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"The tribe of Simeon is to camp beside Reuben. The leader of Simeon is to be Zurishaddai's son Shelumiel.


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All those numbered by division in the camp of Reuben total 150 families and 1,450. They are to be the second to travel."


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"Then the Tent of Meeting is to travel with the camp of the descendants of Levi in the middle of the camps. They are to travel just as they have camped, each as designated under his standard."


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"Toward the west is to be the division of the camp of Ephraim under their standard. The leader of Ephraim is to be Ammihud's son Elishama.


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"The tribe of Manasseh is to encamp beside them. The leader of Manasseh is to be Pedahzur's son Gamaliel.


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All those numbered by division in the camp Ephraim total 107 families and 1,100. They are to be the third to travel."


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"Toward the north is to be the division of the camp of Dan under their standard. The leader of Dan is to be Ammishaddai's son Ahiezer.


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All those numbered by division in the camp of Dan total 156 families and 1,600. They are to be the last to travel under their standards."


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Here is a summary of the census of the Israelis according to the tribes of their ancestral houses: All the divisions in the camps numbered 598 families and  5,550,


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but the descendants of Levi were not numbered along with the other Israelis, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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So the Israelis did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses; that is, they encamped under their standard as each person traveled with his own tribe and ancestral house.


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This is a record of the genealogies of Aaron and Moses current as of the day on which the LORD addressed Moses on Mount Sinai.


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Nadab and Abihu died in the LORD's presence when they offered unauthorized fire before him in the Sinai wilderness. Since they didn't have their own children, Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priest under the authority of Aaron their father.


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They are to take care of his needs and the needs of the whole congregation at the Tent of Meeting by performing duties at the tent.


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They are to take charge of the utensils at the Tent of Meeting and meet the needs of the Israelis by performing duties on behalf of the tent.


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Appoint Aaron and his sons so that they are to take responsibility for their priesthood. Any unauthorized person who approaches it is to be put to death."


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"I'm taking the descendants of Levi for myself from among the Israelis in place of every first-born who opens the womb. The descendants of Levi belong to me


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because all the first-born belong to me. When I destroyed all the first born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated all the first-born in Israel for myself-from human beings to livestock. They belong to me, since I am the LORD."


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"Number the descendants of Levi according to their ancestral houses and tribes, numbering every male from a month old and above."


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These are the names of Kohath's descendants according to their families: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.


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Merari's descendants according to their families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the descendants of Levi according to their ancestral house.


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The families of Libni and Shimei were descendants of Gershon. As families of the descendants of Gershon,


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The duties of the descendants of Gershon at the Tent of Meeting pertained to the tent, the tent covering, the curtain to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,


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the hangings at the courtyard, the curtain to the entrance of the courtyard that surrounded the tent, the altar, and all of the tent cords in use.


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The families of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel were descendants of Kohath. As families of the descendants of Kohath,


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all the males a month old and above numbered 8 families and 600. They were tasked to care of the sanctuary.


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Their duties pertained to the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, and all the curtains in use.


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The chief of all the leaders of the descendants of Levi was Aaron the priest's son Eleazar. He was assigned to oversee those who were in charge of the services of the sanctuary.


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The leader of the tribe and family of Merari was Abihail's son Zuriel. The descendants of Merari encamped beside the tent toward the north.


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The duties of the caretakers from the descendants of Merari included the boards of the tent, its bars, crossbars, sockets, all its utensils for their services,


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In front of the tent and east of the Tent of Meeting, Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons encamped facing the east. They were tasked to perform the duties of the sanctuary and care for the needs of the Israelis. Any unauthorized person who approached was to be executed.


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As the LORD had instructed, everyone counted by Moses and Aaron from the descendants of Levi, according to their tribe, all males from a month old and above numbered 21 families and 1,000.


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Later the LORD instructed Moses: "Number all the first-born males of Israel from a month old and above and list their names.


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Separate the descendants of Levi for me-since I am the LORD-in place of all the first-born sons of Israel. Also separate the livestock of the descendants of Levi in place of all the first born of the livestock of Israel."


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All the first-born males according to the list of their names from a month old and above numbered 21 families and 1,273.


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"Separate the descendants of Levi in place of all the first born sons of Israel and the livestock of the descendants of Levi in place of their livestock. The descendants of Levi belong to me, since I am the LORD.


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You are to pay a ransom of the 273 first-born sons of Israel who exceed the census number of the descendants of Levi,


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so collect five shekels for each individual, denominated in shekels of the sanctuary, that is, the shekel that weighs 20 gerahs.


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So Moses took the ransom money to account for the difference in the total number of those redeemed by the descendants of Levi.


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From the first born of the Israelis, Moses took money amounting to 1,365 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary.


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Moses gave the ransom money to Aaron and his sons according to the LORD's instructions, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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"Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the descendants of Levi according to their tribes and ancestral houses


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from 30 years and older through the age of 50 years, from everyone who can enter the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting.


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"Here's what the descendants of Kohath are to do regarding the Tent of Meeting and what's inside the Most Holy Place:


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When the camp is about to travel, Aaron and his sons are to come and take down the veil of the curtain and cover the Ark of the Testimony with it.


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They are to set a leather-dyed skin covering over it, cover it with a pure blue cloth, and then insert its poles.


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"They are to spread a blue cloth over the table of the bread of the Presence and on top of it the dishes, pans, bowls, pitchers for drink offerings, and the bread of presence are to be on it continuously.


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They are to spread over them a scarlet cloth and a leather-dyed skin covering and then insert its poles.


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"They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lamp stand for the light with its lamp, lamp-snuffers, censer, and all the utensils for its oil with which they minister.


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Then they are to put them with all the other utensils on the leather-dyed skin covering and set them on the beams for transport.


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"On the golden altar, they are to spread a blue cloth and cover it with a leather-dyed skin covering and then insert its poles.


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Then they are to take all the utensils for service with which they minister at the sanctuary; set them on the blue cloth; cover them with the leather-dyed skin covering and then set them on the beams for transport.


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Then they are to put all the instruments with which they minister there-trays, forks, shovels, bowls, and all the utensils of the altar. They are to spread over it a leather-dyed skin covering and then insert its poles.


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"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the utensils of the sanctuary, and the camp is about to travel, then the descendants of Kohath are to come and carry them, but they are not to touch the most sacred objects, so they won't die. These are the duties of the descendants of Kohath at the Tent of Meeting."


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"Now the duty of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest is to maintain the oil for the light, the spiced incense, the daily offerings, the oil for anointing, and to carry out all the duties of the tent and the sanctuary, and to maintain its utensils."


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"You are not to eliminate the tribe of the families of the descendants of Kohath from the descendants of Levi.


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But do this for them so that they may live and not die when they approach the Most Holy Place: Aaron and his sons are to go in and set specific responsibilities for each of them to carry out.


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Count their number from between 30 to 50 years old, including everyone who can enter the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting.


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They are to carry the curtain of the tent, the covering of the Tent of Meeting, the dyed leather covering that goes over it, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,


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the hangings for the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the gate of the courtyard that surrounds the tent, the altar, the ropes, all the service utensils, and everything made for them. This is to be their service area.


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"The descendants of Gershon are to carry out the instructions of Aaron and his sons. You are to assign them their responsibilities to carry out.


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This is the work of the tribes of Gershon at the Tent of Meeting-their duties under the supervision of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.


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from 30 to 50 years old as you count them, including everyone who can enter service and perform work at the Tent of Meeting.


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This is to be their area of responsibility to carry out with respect to their service at the Tent of Meeting: the board of the tent, its bars, its crossbars, its sockets,


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the pillars around the courtyard, their sockets, their pegs, their ropes, and all the utensils for all their services. "Assign the utensils by name to each person whose responsibility it will be to carry them.


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This is the work of the tribes of the descendants of Merari with reference to their service at the Tent of Meeting under the supervision of the priest's son Ithamar."


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Moses and Aaron and the congregational leaders numbered the descendants of Kohath according to their tribes and ancestral houses


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from 30 to 50 fifty years old; that is, everyone who entered the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting.


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from the tribe of the descendants of Kohath, everyone who were to serve at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to what the LORD had said, under the supervision of Moses.


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from 30 to 50 years old; that is, everyone who entered the service to perform work at the Tent of Meeting.


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from the tribes of the descendants of Gershon, everyone who were to serve at the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to what the LORD had said.


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from the tribes of the descendants of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to what the LORD had said, under the supervision of Moses.


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The total of those who were numbered from the descendants of Levi by Moses and Aaron; that is, from the leaders of Israel counted according to their tribes and ancestral houses


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They were numbered under the supervision of Moses according to what the LORD had said. Each person was assigned a responsibility to carry out, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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"Command the Israelis to send outside the encampment every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is ritually defiled by contact with a corpse.


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Whether male or female, send them outside the camp so that they won't defile their camp, because I live among them."


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"Instruct the Israelis that whenever a man or woman does something contained in the list of the sins of man, thereby acting treacherously against the LORD, then that person stands guilty.


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He is to confess the sin that he had committed, pay its full compensation, add one fifth to it, and give the compensation to whomever he offended.


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But if the person has no related redeemer to whom compensation may be made, the payment is to be brought to the LORD and given to the priest, in addition to a ram for atonement with which he is to be atoned.


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Every offering from all the most sacred things of the Israelis that they bring to the priest is to belong to him.


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Furthermore, everyone's sacred things belong to him, and as well as regarding whatever a person gives to the priest.


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"Instruct the Israelis what to do if a man's wife turns astray so that she unfaithfully acts against him,


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a man has sexual relations with her and she conceals it from her husband, keeping it secret although she has defiled herself with there being no witnesses against her, but she was caught anyway.


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If an attitude of jealousy overcomes him so that he becomes jealous at his wife when she is defiled, or if an attitude of jealousy overcomes him and he becomes jealous of his wife even though she isn't defiled,


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then that man is to bring his wife to the priest along with an offering for her consisting of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. "He is not to pour oil or set frankincense over it, because it's to be a jealousy offering, a memorial offering that will serve as a reminder of iniquity.


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The priest is to put some holy water into an earthen vessel, take some dust from the floor of the tent, and put it into the water.


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"The priest is to have the woman stand in the LORD's presence, uncover her head, and put the grain offering as a memorial, a reminder of jealousy, into her hands. The priest is also to have in his hand the contaminated water that carries a curse.


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"The priest is to administer this oath to the woman: 'If indeed another man didn't have sexual relations with you and you didn't become unfaithful to your husband, then may you be free from these waters that bring a curse.


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But if you have become unfaithful to your husband and have become defiled because a man who isn't your husband has had sexual relations with you...'


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then the priest is to have the woman commit to an oath by saying to the woman, 'May the LORD make you a curse and a curse among your people. When the LORD makes your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell


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and this water that brings a curse enters your abdomen, making it swell and your thigh waste away.' "Then the woman is to say 'Amen.'


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"Then the priest is to write all of these words in a document and wipe it off with the contaminated water.


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The woman is to drink the bitter water that brings a curse and the water that brings a curse is to be considered contaminated.


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The priest is to take the offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, wave the offering in the LORD's presence, and have her approach the altar.


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"The priest is to take a handful of grain from the memorial and offer a sacrifice on the altar, after which he is to have the woman drink the water.


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When he has had her drink the water, if she was defiled and had acted unfaithfully toward her husband, then the contaminated water that brings a curse will enter her and infect her, causing her abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away.


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Then she is to be a cursed woman among her people. "But if the woman isn't defiled, then she is to be freed and will be able to bear children.


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This is the law in cases of jealousy when a woman defiles herself while under her husband's authority.


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When a man becomes under the control of an attitude of jealousy regarding his wife, he is to present her to the Lord, and the priest is to apply this entire statute to her.


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"Tell the Israelis that a man or woman who commits to the vow of the Nazirite, is to be separated to the LORD,


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then is to remain separate from wine and strong drink. He is not to drink vinegar or strong drink made from wine. He is not to drink grape juice or eat grapes, whether fresh or dried.


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"During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to eat any product from the grapevine, from seed to the skin.


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"During the entire time of his dedication, he is not to allow a razor to pass over his head until the days of his holy consecration to the LORD have been fulfilled. He is to let the locks on his head grow long.


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He is not to defile himself on account of his father, mother, brother, and sister when they die, because the crown of his consecration to God is on his head.


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When someone suddenly dies beside him, so that his consecrated head is defiled, then he is to shave his head on the day of his purification. Seven days later he is to shave it again.


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On the eighth day, he is to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.


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"Then the priest is to offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to make atonement for him because of the guilt he incurred on account of his contact with the dead body. Then he is to consecrate his head on that day.


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He is to dedicate to the LORD the days of his consecration by bringing a year old male lamb as his offering. The previous time will have failed because his consecration became defiled.


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"This is the law of the Nazirite: When the days of his consecration are completed, he is to come to the entrance at the Tent of Meeting.


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He is to bring an offering to the LORD, a year old male lamb, and a year old ewe female lamb, both without blemish, for a sin offering and a ram without blemish for a peace offering,


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a basket of unleavened bread made from choice flour, cakes mixed with oil, a wafer of unleavened bread smeared with oil, along with grain and drink offerings.


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He is to offer the ram, a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, along with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest is to present his grain and drink offerings.


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"The Nazirite is then to shave his head of consecration at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He is to take the lock of his head of consecration and set it over the fire where the peace offering for sacrifice is.


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Then the priest is to take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one cake of unleavened bread from the basket, and one wafer of unleavened bread. He is to place them in the hands of the Nazirite, after he himself has shaved his symbol of consecration.


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The priest is to wave the offerings, that is, the breast and the thigh offering in the LORD's presence. Then the Nazirite may drink wine afterward.


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"This is to be the law of the Nazirite when he commits his offering to the LORD on account of his consecration, over and beyond what he owns alone plus whatever he can provide, based on the vow from his own mouth that he vows to fulfill on account of the law of his consecration."


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The same day that Moses finished setting up, anointing, and consecrating the tent and its utensils, he also anointed and consecrated the altar and its utensils.


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Then the presiding leaders of Israel, as heads of the ancestral houses, brought an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes who supervised the census.


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They brought their offering into the LORD's presence, consisting of six covered carts and twelve oxen-one cart each from two leaders and an ox from each one. After they presented them in front of the tent,


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"Take these gifts from them and use them in service at the Tent of Meeting. Present them to the descendants of Levi, distributing them to each person according to his work."


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But he gave none of them to the descendants of Kohath, because their responsibility was to carry the holy things on their shoulders.


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The leaders brought the offerings for the dedication of the altar the same day that it was anointed. After the leaders brought their offering to the altar,


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the LORD told Moses, "They are to present their offerings, one leader per day, for the dedication of the altar."


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as his offering a silver dish weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl weighing 70 shekels (calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary), both filled with choice flour mixed with oil for grain-offerings;


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Amminadab's son Nahshon.


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as his offering a silver dish weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl weighing 70 shekels (calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary), both filled with choice flour mixed with oil for grain offerings;


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Zuar's son Nathaniel.


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Helon's son Eliab.


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as his offering a silver dish weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl weighing 70 shekels (calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary), both filled with choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering, two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Shedeur's son Elizur.


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as his offering a silver dish weighing 130 shekels and a silver bowl weighing 70 shekels (calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary), both filled with choice flour mixed with oil for grain offering;


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Zurishaddai's son Shelumiel.


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as his offering a silver dish weighing 130 thirty shekels and a silver bowl weighing 70 shekels (calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary), both filled with choice flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Deuel's son Eliasaph.


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Ammihud's son Elishama.


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Pedahzur's son Gamaliel.


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Ammishaddai's son Ahiezer.


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Ochran's son Pagiel.


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Their sacrifice for a peace offering consisted of two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one year old lambs. These were the offerings presented by Enan's son Ahira.


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This was what was presented at the dedication of the altar from the leaders of Israel on the same day that it was anointed: twelve silver bowls, twelve silver basins, twelve gold ladles.


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Each bowl weighed 130 silver shekels and each basin weighed 70 shekels. All the silver vessels weighed a total of 2,400 shekels, calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary.


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Also, twelve gold ladles filled with incense were presented, each ladle weighing ten shekels (calculated according to the shekel of the sanctuary). All of the gold of the ladles weighed 120 shekels.


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All the livestock for burnt offerings totaled twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve sheep in their first year with corresponding meal offerings, and twelve male goats for sin offerings.


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All the livestock for peace offerings totaled 24 bulls, 60 rams, 60 male goats, and 60 one year old lambs-all this was for the altar's dedication after it was anointed.


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When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard a voice speaking to him above the Mercy Seat over the Ark of the Testimony. He spoke to him from between the two cherubim.


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"Tell Aaron, 'When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps will illuminate the area in front of the lamp stand.'"


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So Aaron did so, setting up the lamps to illuminate the area in front of the lamp stand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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This was how the lamp stand was crafted from hammered gold: From its base to its flowers, it was made of hammered gold. Moses crafted the lamp stand just as the LORD had showed him.


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This is what you are to do for them in order to purify them: Sprinkle purifying water over them, have them shave their skin, and then have them wash their garments, and they will be purified.


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They are to take a young bull along with its meal offering made of flour mixed with oil. "Then you are to take a second young bull as sin offering.


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Assemble the descendants of Levi in front of the appointed place of meeting, and assemble the whole congregation of Israel, too.


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Bring the descendants of Levi into the LORD's presence and have the Israelis lay their hands on the descendants of Levi.


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"Then Aaron is to present the descendants of Levi as a wave offering before the LORD from the Israelis, because they are to work in the service of the LORD.


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The descendants of Levi are then to lay their hands on the head of the bulls, offering one for a sin offering and the other one for a burnt offering to the LORD to atone for the descendants of Levi.


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"You are to make the descendants of Levi stand in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Then you are to wave them as wave-offerings to the LORD.


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This is how you are to separate the descendants of Levi from among the Israelis. The descendants of Levi belong to me.


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"After this, the descendants of Levi are to come to serve at the appointed place of meeting, after you have purified them and presented them as wave offerings,


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since they've been set apart for me from among the Israelis. "I've taken them for myself instead of the first to open the womb-every first born of the Israelis,


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Since every firstborn of Israel belongs to me, from human beings to livestock. "On the same day that I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated them to myself,


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I've set the descendants of Levi apart from the Israelis so that Aaron and his sons would work in service at the appointed place of meeting, making atonement on behalf of the Israelis so that there won't be a plague among the Israelis whenever they approach the sanctuary."


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So Moses and Aaron and the Israelis did this on behalf of the descendants of Levi. The Israelis did everything that the LORD commanded concerning the descendants of Levi.


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The descendants of Levi therefore purified themselves, washed their clothes, and then Aaron presented them as wave offerings to the LORD. Aaron provided atonement for them to purify them.


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After this, the descendants of Levi entered into their work of service at the appointed place, in the presence of Aaron and his sons. They did everything that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the descendants of Levi.


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"Now regarding a descendant of Levi who is 25 years and above, he is to enter work in the service at the appointed place of meeting,


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He may minister to his brothers at the Tent of Meeting by keeping watch, but he is not to engage in service. This how you are to act with respect to the obligations of the descendants of Levi.


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The LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai during the first month of the second year that they had left Egypt,


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on the fourteenth day of this month. You are to observe it at this appointed time between the evenings. You are to observe it according to all its decrees and laws."


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They observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight, in the Wilderness of Sinai. The Israelis did everything that the LORD had commanded through Moses.


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But there were men who couldn't observe the Passover that day because they had come in contact with a corpse. That very day, they approached Moses and Aaron


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and asked, "Why can't we bring an offering to the LORD at the appointed time among the Israelis, even though we are unclean because we came in contact with a corpse?"


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"Instruct the Israelis that when any of you or your descendants becomes unclean due to contact with a corpse, or if he is on a long journey, he nevertheless is to observe the LORD's Passover.


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On fourteenth day of the second month at twilight, they are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.


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They are not to leave any of it to remain until morning nor are they to break any of its bones. They are to observe it according to all the statutes of the Passover.


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"Now as to the person who is clean and isn't traveling, but fails to observe the Passover, that person is to be eliminated from his people, because he didn't bring an offering to the LORD at its appointed time. That person is to bear his sin.


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"If a resident alien lives with you and wants to observe the LORD's Passover, let him observe it according to the statutes and laws of the Passover. You are to maintain the same statute for the resident alien as you do for the native of the land.


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On the same morning that the tent was set up, a cloud covered the tent, that is, the Tent of Testimony, and in the evening fire appeared over the tent until morning.


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Whenever the cloud above the tent ascended, the Israelis would travel and encamp in the place where the cloud settled.


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According to whatever the LORD said, the Israelis would travel. According to whatever the LORD said, they would camp as long as the cloud remained over the Tent of Meeting.


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When the cloud over the tent remained for a longer time, the Israelis did what the LORD had instructed and didn't travel.


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There were times when the cloud remained over the tent for a number of days. They camped in accordance with the LORD's instructions and they traveled in accordance with LORD's instructions.


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There were times when the cloud remained from evening until morning, but when the cloud ascended in the morning, they would journey. Whether by day or by night, they would travel whenever the cloud ascended.


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Whether for two days, a month, or for longer periods, whenever the cloud would remain above the tent, the Israelis would remain in camp, not traveling. But whenever it ascended, then they would travel.


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According to what the LORD said, they would remain in camp, and according to what the LORD said, they would travel. They kept the commands that the LORD had given through Moses.


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"Make two trumpets, crafting them from beaten silver, for use in calling the congregation together and for notifying the camps to set out for travel.


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Sound them when the whole assembly is to gather together at the entrance of the appointed place of meeting.


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"When one trumpet is blown, the elders and the heads of the thousands of the Israelis are to gather to you.


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"When you sound the alarm the second time, those encamped on the south are to begin to travel. Alarms are to be sounded for their travels.


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"But when you blow the trumpet to assemble the whole congregation, don't use the same sound as you do for sounding an alarm.


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"The descendants of Aaron the priest are to blow the trumpets. Have them do this for you permanently throughout your generations to come."


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When you wage war in your land against an enemy who is hostile to you, you are to sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before the face of the LORD your God and you will be delivered from your enemies.


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At the beginning of the month, during your time of rejoicing at the appointed place, sound the trumpet over your burnt offering, then sacrifice your peace offering, since they are to be your memorial before the LORD your God. I am the LORD your God.


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On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year, the cloud was lifted up from the Tent of Meeting,


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The standard of the camp of Judah was the first to travel, accompanied by its army with Amminadab's son Nahshon in charge.


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Then the standard of the camp of Reuben set out, accompanied by its army, with Shedeur's son Elizur in charge.


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Then the descendants of Kohath, carrying the sanctuary, set out, since the tent was to be set up before they arrive.


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After this, the standard of the camp of Ephraim set out, accompanied by its army with Ammihud's son Elishama in charge.


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Then the standard of the camp of Dan set out, functioning as the rear guard for all the encampments, accompanied by its army with Ammishaddai's son Ahiezer.


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Then Moses told Reuel's son Hobab, Moses' relative by marriage from Midian, "We are traveling to the place about which the LORD said 'I will give it to you.' So come with us and we'll be good to you, because the LORD has spoken good things about Israel."


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Then Moses responded, "Please don't leave us now, since you know where we can camp in the wilderness. You could be our guide.


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So they traveled from the mountain of the LORD, a three-day trip, with the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD traveling in front of them-a three day trip to explore a place for them to rest.


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Whenever the ark was ready to travel, Moses would say: "Arise, LORD, to scatter your enemies, so that whoever hates you will flee from your presence."


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Whenever the ark was being readied to rest, he would say: "Return, LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel."


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Eventually, the people began complaining about their distress, and the LORD heard them. When the LORD heard, his anger flared up and the LORD's fire incinerated some of them within the outskirts of the camp.


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Meanwhile, certain riff-raff among the people had an insatiable appetite for food. As a result, they wept and turned back, and the Israelis cried out, "If only somebody would feed us some meat!


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How we remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt for free! And the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic!


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People would go out to gather it, then they would grind it in mills or pound it in mortars, and then they would boil it in pots or make cakes out of it that tasted like butter cakes.


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Moses heard the people weeping throughout their entire families. Everyone gathered at the entrance of their tents so that the LORD was very angry. Moses thought the situation was bad,


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so he asked the LORD, "Why did you bring all this trouble to your servant? Why haven't I found favor in your eyes? After all, you're putting the burden of this entire people on me!


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"Did I conceive this people or give birth to them, so that you would tell me to carry them near my heart like a wet nurse carries a suckling baby to the land that you promised to their forefathers?


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Where am I going to get meat to give this people? After all, they're crying in front of me, 'Give us meat to eat!'


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If this is how you treat me, please kill me right now, if I've found favor in your eyes, because I don't want to keep staring at all of this misery!"


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Then the LORD told Moses, "Gather together for me 70 men who are elders of Israel, men whom you know to be elders of the people and officers over them. Then bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them stand there with you.


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Then I'll come down and speak with you. I'll take some of the spirit that rests on you and apportion it among them, so that they may help you bear the burden of the people. That way, you won't bear it by yourself.


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"But give this command to the people: 'You are to consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow you're going to eat meat, since you've complained where the LORD can hear it, "Who can give us meat to eat? After all, life was better with us in Egypt."' Therefore, the LORD is going to give you meat and you'll eat-


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but for a whole month-until it comes out your nostrils and makes you vomit. This is because you've despised the LORD, who is among you, and you cried out in his presence, complaining, 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'"


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Moses responded, "I'm with 600 familys on foot and you're saying I am to give them enough meat to eat for a whole month?


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What if we were to slaughter our entire inventory of flocks and herds for them? Would that be enough? What if we could gather all the fish in the sea in nets for them? Would that be enough, either?"


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But the LORD responded to Moses, "Is the LORD short on power? You're now going to witness whether what I say will come to pass or not."


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So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He gathered 70 men from the elders of the people and stationed them around the tent.


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The LORD came down in a cloud, spoke to Moses, and made an apportionment from the spirit who rested on him to the 70 elders. When the spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but that was it.


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Now two men had remained in camp. One was named Eldad and the other was named Medad. When the spirit rested on them, since they were among those who were listed but had not gone out to the tent, they stayed behind and prophesied in the camp.


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In response, Nun's son Joshua, Moses' attendant and one of his choice men, exclaimed, "My master Moses! Stop them!"


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"Are you jealous on account of me?" Moses asked in reply. "I wish all of the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!"


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Just then, a wind burst forth from the LORD, who brought quails from the sea and spread them all around the camp, about a day's journey in each direction, completely encircling the camp about three feet deep on top of the ground!


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The people stayed up all that day, all that night, and all through the next day, gathering quails. The one who gathered least gathered enough to fill ten 80-gallon drums, as they spread out all around the camp.


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But even as they were chewing the meat and before they had swallowed it, the LORD became very angry with the people and struck them with a disastrous plague.


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That's why the place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because they buried the people there who had an insatiable appetite for meat.


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They asked, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us?" But the LORD heard it.


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All of a sudden, the LORD told Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: "The three of you are to come out to the Tent of Meeting." So the three of them went out.


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Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. So both of them went forward.


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Then he told the two of them: "Pay attention to what I have to say! When there is a prophet among you, won't I, the LORD, reveal myself to him in a vision? Won't I speak with him in a dream?


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"But that's not how it is with my servant Moses, since he has been entrusted with my entire household!


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I speak to him audibly and in visions, not in mysteries. If he can gaze at the image of the LORD, why aren't you afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"


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but when the cloud ascended from the tent, Miriam had become leprous, as white as snow! Aaron turned toward Miriam, and she had leprosy!


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Aaron begged Moses, "I pray my lord, please don't hold this sin against us, since we've acted foolishly and sinned in doing so.


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But the LORD told Moses, "If her father had merely spit in her face, wouldn't she be humiliated? She is to be placed in isolation for seven days. After that, she may be brought in."


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So Miriam was isolated outside the camp for seven days and the people didn't travel until Miriam was brought in.


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Send men to explore the land of Canaan that I'm about to give to the Israelis. Send one man to represent each of his ancestor's tribes, every one of them a distinguished leader among them."


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So that's just what Moses did, sending them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the LORD's instructions. All of the men were Israeli leaders.


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Then he sent them out to explore the land of Canaan. He instructed them, "Go up from here through the Negev, then ascend to the hill country.


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See what the land is like. Observe whether the people who live there are strong or weak, or whether they're few or numerous.


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Look to see whether the land where they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are merely tents or if they're fortified.


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Examine the farmland, whether it's fertile or barren, and see if there are fruit-bearing trees in it or not. Be very courageous, and bring back some samples of the fruit of the land." As it was, that time of year was the season for the first fruits of the grape harvest.


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So they went to explore the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, and as far as the outskirts of Hamath.


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They went through the Negev and reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak lived. (Hebron had been constructed seven years before Zoan in Egypt had been built).


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Soon they arrived in the valley of Eshcol, where they cut a single branch of grapes and carried it on a pole between two men, along with some pomegranates and figs.


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The entire place was called the Eshcol Valley on account of the cluster of grapes that the men of Israel had taken from there.


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came in to Moses and Aaron, and delivered their report to the entire congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back their report to the entire congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.


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"We arrived at the place where you've sent us," they reported, "and it certainly does flow with milk and honey. Furthermore, this is its fruit,


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except that the people who have settled in the land are strong, and their cities are greatly fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak.


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Amalek lives throughout the Negev, while the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live by the sea and on the bank of the Jordan. "


text:
Caleb silenced the people on Moses' behalf and responded, "Let's go up and take control, because we can definitely conquer it."


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"We can't attack those people," the men who were with him said, "because they're too strong compared to us."


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So they put out this false report to the Israelis about the land that they had explored: "The land that we've explored is one that devours its inhabitants. All the people whom we observed were giants.


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We also saw the Nephilim, the descendants of Anak. Compared to the Nephilim, as we see things, we're like grasshoppers, and that's their opinion of us!"


text:
At this, the entire assembly complained, started to shout, and cried through the rest of that night.


text:
All the Israelis complained against Moses and Aaron. Then the entire assembly responded, "We wish that we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness.


text:
What's the point in the LORD bringing us to this land? To die by the sword so our wives and children would become war victims? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?"


text:
Nun's son Joshua and Jephunneh's son Caleb, who had accompanied the others who also had explored the land, tore their clothes


text:
and attempted to reason with the entire congregation of Israel. They told them, "The land that we went through and explored is very, very good.


text:
If the LORD is pleased with us, he'll bring us into this land and give it to us. It flows with milk and honey.


text:
However, don't rebel against the LORD or be afraid of the people who live in the land, because we'll gobble them right up. Their defenses will collapse, because the LORD is with us. You are not to be afraid of them."


text:
"How long will this people keep on spurning me and refusing to trust me, despite all the miracles that I've done among them?" the LORD asked Moses.


text:
"That's why I'm going to attack them with pestilence and disinherit them. Instead, I'll make you a great nation-even mightier than they are!"


text:
But Moses responded to the LORD, "When Egypt hears that you've brought this people out from among them with a mighty demonstration of power,


text:
they'll also proclaim to the inhabitants of this land that they've heard you're among this people, LORD, whom they've seen face to face, since your cloud stands guard over them. You've guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night.


text:
"But if you slaughter this people all at the same time, then the nations who heard about your fame will say,


text:
'The LORD slaughtered this people in the wilderness because he wasn't able to bring them to the land that he promised them.'


text:
'The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he won't acquit the guilty. He recalls the iniquity of fathers to the third and fourth generation.'


text:
"Forgive, please, the iniquity of this people, according to your great, faithful love, in the same way that you've carried this people from Egypt to this place."


text:
none of those men who saw my glory and watched my miracles that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness-even though they've tested me these ten times and never listened to my voice-


text:
"Now as to my servant Caleb, because a different spirit is within him and he has remained true to me, I'm going to bring him into the land that he explored, and his descendants are to inherit it.


text:
Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite live in the valley. Tomorrow, turn then travel to the wilderness in the direction of the Reed Sea."


text:
"How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I've heard the complaints of the Israelis that they've been murmuring against me.


text:
So tell them that as long as I live-consider this to be an oracle from the LORD-as certainly as you've spoken right into my ears, that's how I'm going to treat you.


text:
Your corpses will fall in this wilderness-every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against me.


text:
"You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua.


text:
However, I'll bring your little ones-the ones whom you claimed would become war victims-into the land so that they'll know by experience the land that you've rejected.


text:
and your children will wander throughout the wilderness for 40 years. They'll bear the consequences of your idolatries until your bodies are entirely consumed in the wilderness.


text:
Just as you explored the land for 40 days, you'll bear the consequences of your iniquities for 40 years-one year for each day-as you experience my hostility.


text:
I, the LORD have spoken. "I will indeed do this to this evil congregation, who gathered together against me. They'll be eliminated in this wilderness and will surely die."


text:
After this, the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land, who returned and made the whole congregation complain against him by bringing an evil report concerning the land,


text:
So they got up early the next morning and traveled to the top of the mountain, telling themselves, "Look, we're here and we're going to go up to the place that the LORD had spoken about, even though we've sinned."


text:
But Moses asked them, "Why do you continue to sin against what the LORD said? Don't you know that you can never succeed?


text:
Don't go up, since you know that LORD is no longer with you. You'll be attacked right in front of your own enemies.


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The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You'll die violently, since you've turned your back and have stopped following the LORD. The LORD won't be with you."


text:
But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even though the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and Moses didn't leave the camp.


text:
The Amalekites came down, accompanied by some Canaanites who lived in the mountains. They attacked and defeated them even while the Israelis were retreating to Hormah.


text:
when you enter the land where you'll be living that I'm about to give you, you are to make an offering by fire to the LORD, either a burnt offering, a sacrificial offering to fulfill a vow, or a voluntary offering at the appointed time, to make a pleasing aroma to the LORD either from your cattle or from your flocks.


text:
"The offeror is to bring the oblation to the LORD, containing one tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with one fourth of a hin of olive oil.


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"For a ram, prepare a grain offering consisting of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one third of a hin of olive oil.


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"When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering, or as a sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or for peace offerings to the LORD,


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then the bullock is to be presented accompanied by a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil.


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"As for drink offerings, offer half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire is a pleasing aroma to the LORD.


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"Every native born person is to do these things, bringing an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD."


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"Now, if a resident alien lives with you, or whoever else is with you throughout your generations, let him make an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Just as you do, so is he to do.


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There is to be a single standard for your community, one statute for you and the resident alien who lives with you, a long lasting statute throughout your generations. Just as you do, so is the resident alien to do in the presence of the LORD.


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when you have eaten some of the bread that the land produces, you are to offer a raised offering to the LORD.


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You are to offer a cake made from the first of your bread dough as a raised offering to the LORD. Offer it as a raised offering right off your threshing floor.


text:
"Here's what you are to do when you all go astray and fail to observe all these commands that the LORD had spoken to Moses,


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including anything that the LORD commanded you by the authority of Moses, starting from the day the LORD commanded Moses and continuing through your generations.


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When anything is done without the knowledge of the congregation, the entire community is to offer one young bull for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD, along with its meal and drink offerings offered according to procedure, and one male goat for a sin offering.


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Then the priest is to make atonement for the entire community of the Israelis, and they will be forgiven for inadvertent sins. They are to bring their offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD, as well as their sin offering, into the LORD's presence on account of their error.


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Then the entire community of Israel, will be forgiven, along with the resident alien who lives among them, since all the people will have sinned inadvertently."


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"Now when one person sins inadvertently, then he is to bring a one year old female goat for a sin offering.


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Then, in the LORD's presence, the priest is to make atonement for the person who sinned inadvertently, that is, to make atonement on his behalf so he may be forgiven.


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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.


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"But if some person acts with a high hand, whether a native-born or a resident alien, he blasphemes God, and that person is to be eliminated from among his people.


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Because he has despised the law of the LORD and has broken his commands, that person is certainly to be eliminated. His iniquity will remain on him."


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As it was when the Israelis were in the wilderness, they found a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day.


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Then the LORD told Moses, "The man is certainly to die. The entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp."


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So the whole community brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones so that he died, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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"Tell the Israelis that they are to make tassels at the edges of their garments throughout their generations and that they are to put a violet cord on the tassels at the edges of their garments.


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That way, when you see the tassel, you'll remember all the commands of the LORD and you'll observe them. Then you won't seek your own interests and desires that lead you to be unfaithful.


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I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.


text:
Now Izhar's son Korah, the grandson of Kohath, a descendant of Levi, along with Eliab's sons Dathan and Abiram, and Peleth's son On, a descendant of Reuben, took charge


text:
of a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 community leaders, Israelis who were famous men and representatives from the assembly.


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They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and told them, "You have appropriated too much for yourselves from the entire congregation, since all of them are holy, and the LORD is among them, too. Why do you exalt yourselves over the LORD's assembly?"


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Then he addressed Korah and his entire company, "In the morning, may the LORD reveal who belongs to him and who is holy. May he cause that person to approach him. May he cause to approach him the one whom he has chosen.


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put fire and incense in them in the LORD's presence tomorrow. It will be that the man whom the LORD chooses will be holy. You're taking too much for yourselves, you descendants of Levi."


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Is it such an insignificant thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelis to draw you to himself, appointing you to do the work of the tent of the LORD and to stand before the community to minister to them?


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He brought you near, along with all of your relatives, the descendants of Levi. Are you also seeking the priesthood?


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Therefore you and your group have conspired against the LORD and Aaron. What is it that causes you to complain against him?"


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Is it such an insignificant thing that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now you're trying to make yourself be a prince and rule over us, aren't you?


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You still haven't brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you really think that you can make these men look the other way? We won't go up."


text:
Moses was very angry, so he told the LORD, "Please don't accept their offering. I haven't taken even one donkey from them nor have I hurt even one of them."


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Then Moses told Korah, "You and your entire company are to present yourselves in the LORD's presence tomorrow-you, they, and Aaron.


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Each man is to take a censer, put incense on it, and bring it into the LORD's presence, each man with his censer, for a total of 250 censers. You and Aaron are each to bring his own censer."


text:
So each man took his censer, put fire coals inside of it, placed incense in it, and then stood at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, accompanied by Moses and Aaron.


text:
When Korah had assembled the entire community in opposition to Moses and Aaron at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire community.


text:
Then they fell on their faces and said, "God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, will you be angry at the entire congregation on account of one man's sin?"


text:
Then he told the community, "Move away from the camps of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. That way you won't be destroyed along with all their sins."


text:
So they all moved away from the entire area where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were living. Now Korah, Dathan, and Abiram stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, sons, and little children.


text:
Then Moses said, "This is how you'll know that the LORD has sent me to do all these awesome works-they're not coming merely from me.


text:
If these people die a death similar to all other human beings, or if they are punished with a punishment common to other men, then the LORD didn't send me.


text:
But if the LORD creates something new, so that the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and everything that belongs to them and they all descend directly to Sheol while still alive, then you'll know that these men have spurned the LORD."


text:
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, all their households, everyone who was affiliated with Korah, and all of their property.


text:
So they and all that belonged to them descended alive to Sheol. Then the earth closed over them. That's how they were annihilated from the assembly.


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Then all of the Israelis who were around them ran away when they heard them crying, "...so the ground won't swallow us up, too."


text:
"Tell Aaron's son Eleazar the priest to take out the censers out of the flames and scatter the coals far away, since they are holy.


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As for the censers of those rebels who died, fasten them into beaten plates to line the altar. Since they brought them into the LORD's presence, they're holy. They are to become a reminder to the Israelis."


text:
So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers that had been burned and beat them into metal plates for the altar,


text:
to serve as a memorial to the Israelis, a reminder that no unauthorized person, who isn't a descendant of Aaron is to attempt to burn incense in the LORD's presence, so that he may not become like Korah and his group, just as the LORD had spoken by the authority of Moses.


text:
Nevertheless, the very next day, the whole congregation of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, "You've killed the LORD's people!"


text:
When the community gathered together against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tent of Meeting. All of a sudden, a cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared.


text:
Then Moses told Aaron. "Take the censer, put fire on it from the altar, and burn some incense. Then walk quickly to the congregation and atone for them, because wrath has already come out from the LORD-the plague has begun."


text:
So Aaron took the censer, just as Moses had spoken, and ran out to the center of the assembly, where a plague had begun among the people. He set the incense on fire and atoned for the people.


text:
Those who died due to the plague numbered 14,700, not counting those who died due to the matter with Korah.


text:
Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting after the slaughter had been restrained.


text:
"Tell the Israelis to take a rod-one from each ancestral house, that is, one from every leader, for a total of twelve rods. Write each tribal name on his rod.


text:
You are also to write Aaron's name on the tribe of Levi, since there is to be one rod for every leader of their ancestral tribes.


text:
"Then lay them there in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Ark of the Covenant where I'll meet with you.


text:
The rod that belongs to the man whom I'll choose will burst into bloom. That's how I'll put a stop to the complaints of the Israelis, who are complaining against you."


text:
So Moses spoke to the Israelis, and each of the tribe leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, for a total of twelve rods. Aaron's rod was one of them.


text:
The next morning, Moses went to the Tent of Testimony and the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had burst into bloom! It sprouted buds, bloomed blossoms, and produced fully ripe almonds!


text:
Then Moses took out all the rods from the LORD's presence to show all the Israelis. Everybody looked, and then each man took his rod.


text:
Then the Lord instructed Moses, "Return Aaron's rod before the testimony to be kept for a reminder against the rebels so that you may put an end to their complaints against me and so that they won't die."


text:
Later, the LORD told Aaron, "You, your sons, and your father's tribe with you are to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. Also, you and your sons with you are to bear the iniquity of your priesthood.


text:
"Moreover, bring your brothers from your father's tribe of Levi with you, so they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you stand in the presence of the Tent of Testimony.


text:
They are to take care of your concerns and all the responsibilities involved with the tent. "But they're not to approach the holy vessels or the altar. That way, neither you nor they will die.


text:
They are to join you to maintain services related to the Tent of Meeting, for all the responsibilities involved with the tent. But no unauthorized person is to approach you.


text:
"Take care of the sanctuary and the services of the altar so that there won't be any more wrath on the Israelis.


text:
Notice that I've taken your brothers, the descendants of Levi, from among the Israelis, giving them to you as a gift from the LORD to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting.


text:
Now you and your sons with you are to maintain your priestly duties and all matters that concern the altar and what is housed within the veil. You are to perform these services. I'm giving you the priesthood as a gift of service, but any unauthorized person who approaches is to be put to death."


text:
Then the LORD told Aaron, "Look! I am indeed placing you in charge of my raised offerings and the holy things concerning the Israelis. Because of your anointing, I'm giving you and your sons a prescribed portion forever.


text:
"This is what is to belong to you from consecrated offerings spared from the fire: all of their offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings that they render to me. They're to be considered most sacred to you and your sons.


text:
"The raised offering and wave offerings presented by the Israelis are yours, too. I've given them to you, to your sons, and to your daughters as a prescribed apportionment forever. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it.


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All the best oil, wine, grain, and first fruits that they give to the LORD are to belong to you. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it.


text:
"The first ripe fruits of everything that the land produces and that they bring to the LORD are yours, too. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it.


text:
Everything that opens the womb, any living thing that they bring to the LORD-whether from human beings or animals-are for you. Just be sure that you redeem the first born of people and the first born of unclean animals.


text:
"Those that can be redeemed, you are to redeem at the age of one month, based on your estimate-for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, that is, for 20 gerahs.


text:
But you are not to redeem the first born of a cow, sheep, or a female goat. They are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.


text:
I'm giving you, your sons, and your daughters as a prescribed portion forever all the raised offerings of the consecrated things that the Israelis offer to the LORD. It's a salt covenant forever before the LORD with you and your descendants with you."


text:
"Then the LORD instructed Aaron, "You are not to have any inheritance in the land, nor are you to have any portion among the people. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelis.


text:
As to the descendants of Levi, certainly I've given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for their services that they perform at the Tent of Meeting.


text:
Therefore the Israelis need no longer come to the Tent of Meeting, so they won't suffer the consequences of their sin and die.


text:
The descendants of Levi are to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting and they are to bear their iniquity. This is to be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that they are not to receive an inheritance among the Israelis,


text:
because I've given to the descendants of Levi the tithes that the Israelis bring to the LORD as raised offering. Therefore I told them that, unlike the Israelis, they won't receive an inheritance."


text:
Tell the descendants of Levi that when they receive tithes from the Israelis the tithes that I've given you from them as an inheritance, you are to offer a tenth of it as a raised offering for the LORD.


text:
Your raised offerings are to be accounted for you as though it were grain from threshing floors and full produce from wine vats.


text:
"You are to offer a raised offering to the LORD from all your tithes that you receive from the Israelis. Give Aaron the priest the raised offering of the LORD


text:
out of all the most consecrated offerings that you receive, that is, all the raised offerings of the LORD, with all its best and the most holy parts of it.


text:
Tell them that when they bring the best from it, as far as the descendants of Levi are concerned it is to be considered like produce from the threshing floors and wine vats.


text:
You and your household may eat it anywhere, because it's a reward to you in return for your services at the Tent of Meeting.


text:
You won't sin by offering the best of it, and you are not to profane the sacred things of the Israelis, so that you won't die."


text:
"This is the ordinance of the law that the LORD commanded that the Israelis be told: They are to bring you a spotless red heifer, without physical defect, that has never been fitted with a yoke.


text:
They are to deliver it to Eleazar the priest, and it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.


text:
"Then Eleazar the priest is to take blood from it with his finger and sprinkle the blood in front of the Tent of Meeting.


text:
The entire heifer is to be incinerated in his presence, including its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its dung.


text:
Then the priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material and throw it into the middle of the burning heifer.


text:
The priest is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, after which he may enter the camp, but he is to remain unclean until evening.


text:
"Whoever takes part in the burning is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and is to remain unclean until the evening.


text:
"Then someone who is unclean is to gather the ashes of the heifer and lay them outside the camp in a clean place. This is to be done for the community of Israel to use for water of purification from sin.


text:
"Whoever gathers the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and is to remain unclean until the evening. "This ordinance is to remain for the benefit of both the Israelis and the resident aliens who live among them."


text:
He is to purify himself on the third day and he will be clean on the seventh day. But if he can't purify himself on the third day then he can't be clean on the seventh day.


text:
"Anyone who comes in contact with a dead person, that is, with the corpse of a human being who has died, but who does not purify himself, defiles the LORD's tent. That person is to be eliminated from Israel, because the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He remains unclean and his uncleanness will remain with him.


text:
This is the procedure to follow when a man dies in his tent. Everyone who enters the tent and everyone in it is to remain unclean for seven days.


text:
"Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone's bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days.


text:
Now as for the unclean, they are to take ashes from the burning sin offering, and pour running water on it inside a vessel.


text:
A clean person is to take some hyssop, dip it in water, and then sprinkle it on the tent, on every vessel, and on whoever was there; that is, on whoever touched the bones, the killed person, or the dead body, including whoever dug the grave.


text:
"And the clean person is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and seventh day and then he is to purify himself on the seventh day, wash his clothes, and bathe with water. He is to be considered clean at evening.


text:
"The person who is unclean but who doesn't purify himself is to be eliminated from contact with the assembly, since he has defiled the LORD's sanctuary and the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He is to be considered unclean


text:
as a continuing reminder to them. "Whoever sprinkles the water of impurity is to wash his clothes, and whoever comes in contact with the water of impurity is to remain unclean until evening.


text:
Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches is to be considered unclean and the person who touches him is to be considered unclean until the evening.


text:
The entire community of the Israelis entered the Zin wilderness during the first month. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.


text:
As the people argued with Moses, they told him, "We wish that we had died when our relatives died in the LORD's presence!


text:
Why did you bring the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness? So we and our cattle could die here?


text:
Why did you take us out of Egypt and bring us to this terrible place? There's no place to plant seeds, fig trees, vines, or pomegranates! And there's no water to drink!"


text:
Then Moses and Aaron went into the presence of the community at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them.


text:
"Take the rod, gather the community together, and then you and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock right before their eyes. It will release water. As you bring water to them from the rock, the community and the cattle will be able to drink.


text:
Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock. "Pay attention, you rebels!" Moses told them. "Are we to bring you water from this rock?"


text:
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Lots of water gushed out, and both the community and their cattle were able to drink.


text:
But the LORD rebuked Moses and Aaron, telling Moses: "Because you both didn't believe me, because you didn't consecrate me as holy in the presence of the Israelis, you won't be the ones to bring this congregation into the land that I'm about to give them.


text:
Because the Israelis argued with the LORD and he was set apart among them, this place was called the Meribah Springs.


text:
Later, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom with this message: "This is what your relative Israel says: 'You know all the hardships we've encountered.


text:
Our ancestors went down to Egypt, where we lived for many years. But the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors viciously.


text:
Then we cried to the LORD and he heard our voice, sending us a messenger who brought us out of Egypt. "'Now look! We've arrived in Kadesh, a city at the extreme end of your territory.


text:
Permit us now to pass through your land. We won't pass through your fields or vineyards, and we won't drink waters from your wells. We'll keep to the King's Highway without turning either right or left until we have passed through your territory."


text:
But Edom replied, "You are not to pass through my land. If you do, I'll come out and start a war with you."


text:
Then the Israelis replied, "Permit us to travel on the highway. If we and our cattle drink your water, we'll pay the price you ask. Only please let us walk through, and nothing more."


text:
But still he replied. "No. You're not to pass through." Then Edom went out to meet Moses with a vast army and a lot of military might.


text:
"Aaron is to be gathered to his people, since he is not to enter the land that I'm about to give the Israelis. After all, you both rebelled against my command at the Meribah Springs.


text:
Remove Aaron's vestments and place them on his son Eleazar, because Aaron is to be gathered to his people and die there."


text:
So Moses did just what the LORD had commanded. They ascended Mount Hor right in front of the entire community.


text:
As Moses was stripping Aaron's garments from him and clothing Aaron's son Eleazar with them, Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Afterwards, Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.


text:
When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming along the Atharim caravan route, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.


text:
Then Israel made this vow in the LORD's presence: "If you give these people into our control, we intend to devote their cities to total destruction."


text:
When the LORD heard what Israel had decided to do, he delivered the Canaanites to them, and Israel exterminated them and their cities. They named the place Hormah.


text:
After this, they traveled from Mount Hor along the caravan route by way of the Sea of Reeds and went around the land of Edom. But when the people got impatient because it was a long route,


text:
the people complained against the LORD and Moses. "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" they asked. "There's no food and water, and we're tired of this worthless bread."


text:
In response, the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people to bite them. As a result, many people of Israel died.


text:
Then the people approached Moses and admitted, "We've sinned by speaking against the LORD and you. Pray to the LORD, that he'll remove the serpents from us." So Moses prayed in behalf of the people.


text:
Then the LORD instructed Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent out of brass and fasten it to a pole. Anyone who has been bitten and who looks at it will live."


text:
So Moses made a bronze serpent and fastened it to a pole. If person who had been bitten by a poisonous serpent looked to the serpent, he lived.


text:
Then they traveled from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is in the vicinity of Moab's eastern border.


text:
Then from there they traveled to the other side of Arnon and camped in the wilderness that borders the territory of the Amorites. (Arnon borders Moab between Moab and the Amorites,


text:
From there they traveled to the Well of Beer, where the LORD had instructed Moses, "Gather the people together and I'll give you water.


text:
It's the well that the leaders dug, the one carved out by the nobles of the people with their scepters and staffs. Then they moved on in the wilderness from there to Mattanah,


text:
and from Bamoth to the valley of Moab where their fields are, and from there to the top of Mount Pisgah, that looks down toward the open desert.


text:
"Permit us to pass through your land. We won't trespass in your fields or vineyards. We won't drink water from any well, and we'll only travel along the King's Highway until we've passed through your territory."


text:
Instead of letting Israel pass through his territory, Sihon mustered his entire army and marched out to meet them in the wilderness. He arrived at Jahaz and attacked Israel.


text:
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.


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So Israel captured all of those cities, occupied all the Amorite cities in Heshbon, and all its towns.


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Heshbon was the capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who fought against the previous king of Moab and captured all his land from his capital city to Arnon.


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Therefore the ones who speak in proverbs say: Come to Heshbon and let it be built! Let the city of Sihon be established!


text:
A fire has gone out from Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places who lived in Arnon.


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Woe to you, Moab! You are destroyed, you people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters have gone into captivity to Sihon, king of the Amorites.


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We've fired at them. Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We've destroyed them as far as Nophah even as far as Medeba.


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Then Moses sent out explorers to scout Jazer. They captured its towns and drove out the Amorites who were there.


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Then they turned toward Bashan. However, Og, the king of Bashan mustered his army and went out to attack them at Edrei.


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The LORD told Moses, "You are not to fear him, because I'm going to deliver him, his entire army, and his land into your control. Do to him just what you've done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who used to live in Heshbon."


text:
So they attacked him, his sons, and his entire army, until there wasn't even a single survivor left. Then they took possession of his land.


text:
The Israelis continued their travels, eventually encamping on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River opposite Jericho.


text:
As a result, Moab greatly feared the people, because they were so numerous. Because a sense of impending doom was afflicting the Moabites as they faced the Israelis,


text:
the Moabites told the elders of Midian, "This horde of people is about to lick up everything around us, like an ox licks up the green ground." At that time, Zippor's son Balak was the king of Moab.


text:
He sent messengers to Beor's son Balaam in Pethor, near the Euphrates River, the land where the descendants of his people originated, to summon his aid. He said, "Look! A group of people have escaped from Egypt. They cover the surface of the whole earth, and are sitting here right in front of me.


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So come right now and curse this people for me, because there are too many of them for me to handle. Perhaps I'll be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, since I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed."


text:
So the elders of Moab and Midian left to visit Balaam, bringing an honorarium with them, and communicated Balak's concerns to him.


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In answer, Balaam told them, "Stay here for the night and I'll bring back a message to you, depending on what the LORD says to me." So the officers of Moab stayed with Balaam overnight.


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'Look! A group of people have escaped from Egypt. They cover the surface of the whole earth! So come right now and curse them for me. Perhaps I'll be able to fight against them and drive them out.'"


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So Balaam got up the next morning and told Balak's officials, "Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused me permission to go with you."


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who approached Balaam with this message: "This is what Zippor's son Balak says: 'Don't let anything get in the way of your coming to me.


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I'm determined to reward you generously, and I'll do everything you tell me to do. So come right away and curse this people for me."


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Balaam responded to Balak's entourage by saying, "Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I won't double-cross the command of the LORD my God in even the slightest way.


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God came to visit Balaam that same night and told him, "If the men come to call on you, get up and go with them, but be sure to do only what I tell you to do."


text:
The next morning, Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started to leave, accompanied by the Moabite officials.


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At this, the anger of the LORD flared up against Balaam, because he was leaving. So the angel of the LORD stood in the way to oppose him. As Balaam was riding his donkey, accompanied by two of his servants,


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all of a sudden the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with an unsheathed sword in his hand! The donkey turned off the road and went into an open field. Balaam started beating the donkey in order to turn her back to the road,


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but the angel of the LORD stood on a narrow path that crossed the vineyards. It had walls on both sides of the path.


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When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she squeezed herself so close to the wall that Balaam's foot was pressed to the wall. So he beat her again!


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Then the angel of the LORD went along a little further and stood in a much narrower space, where it was impossible to turn either right or left.


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When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she crouched down under Balaam. As a result, Balaam got so angry that he started to whip the donkey with his staff.


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That's when the LORD enabled the donkey to speak. She asked Balaam, "What did I do to you that you would beat me in the space of only three footsteps?"


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"Because you're playing a dirty trick on me," Balaam answered the donkey. "If only I had a sword in my hand! I'd kill you right now!"


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But in response, the donkey asked Balaam, "I'm your donkey that you've ridden on in the past without incident, am I not, and I'm the same donkey you're riding on right now, am I not? Am I in the habit of treating you like this?" "No," he admitted.


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Then the LORD enabled Balaam to see, so he observed the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with an unsheathed sword in his hand. So he bowed down and prostrated himself on his face.


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Then the angel of the LORD asked him, "Why did you beat your donkey in the space of only three footsteps? I've come to oppose you, because I say that what you're doing is perverted.


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If she hadn't turn away from me, I would have killed you by now and left her alive!" At this, Balaam replied to the angel of the LORD, "I've sinned! I didn't know that you were standing to meet me on the road. So now, since it displeases you, let me go back."


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But the angel of the LORD told Balaam, "Go with the men, but deliver only the message that I'm going to give you." So Balaam went with Balak's officials.


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When Balak heard that Balaam had arrived, he went out to meet him in the city of Moab on the border of Arnon at the extreme end of his territory.


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Balak asked Balaam, "Didn't I repeatedly send for you to summon you? Why didn't you come to me? I can pay you well, can't I?"


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Balaam answered Balak, "Well, I'm here now. I've come to you, but I can't just say anything, can I? I'll speak only what God puts in my mouth to say."


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The next day, Balak brought Balaam up to Bamoth-baal, where he could see part of the community of Israel.


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Balaam told Balak, "Build for me here seven altars and prepare here for me seven bulls and seven rams.


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Then Balaam instructed Balak, "Stand by your offering and leave me alone by myself. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me. I'll tell you whatever he reveals to me." And so he went to a high place,


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where the LORD met with Balaam, who told to him, "I've prepared seven altars and offered bulls and rams on an altar."


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So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by all the Moabite officials.


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Then Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: "King Balak of Moab brought me from Aram, from the eastern mountains, and told me, 'Come and curse Jacob for me. Come and curse Israel.'


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But how can I curse those whom God hasn't cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD has not denounced?


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I saw them from the top of the rocks. I watched them from the hills Truly this is a people that lives by itself and doesn't matter among the nations.


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Who can count the dust of Jacob? Who can number the dust of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may I end up like him."


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"What are you doing to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, not pronounce a blessing!"


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But in response, Balaam asked, "Shouldn't I be careful to communicate only what the LORD puts in my mouth?"


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"Come with me to another place where you can see them," Balak replied. "You'll only see a portion of them, because you won't be able to see them completely. Come and curse them from there for me."


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So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, and from there to the top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars and then offered a bull and a ram on each altar.


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So Balaam returned to where Balak had been standing, that is, next to his offerings, accompanied by the Moabite officials. "What did the LORD say?" Balak asked him.


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In response, Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: "Stand up, Balak, and pay attention! Listen to me, you son of Zippor!


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God is not a human male-he doesn't lie, nor is he a human being-he never vacillates. Once he speaks up, He's going to act, isn't he? Once he makes a promise, He'll fulfill it, won't he?


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He has not responded to iniquity in Jacob or gazed at mischief in Israel. The LORD his God is with them, And the triumphant cry of a king is among them.


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No Satanic plan against Jacob nor divination against Israel can ever prevail. When the time is right, it is to be asked about Jacob and Israel, 'What has God accomplished?'


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Look! The people are like lions. Like the lion, he rises up! He does not lie down again until he has consumed his prey and drunk the blood of the slain."


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So Balak exhorted Balaam, "Let's go right now! I'll take you to another place. Maybe God will agree to have you a curse from there for me."


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When Balaam noticed that the LORD was pleased that Balaam was blessing Israel, he didn't behave as he had time after time before, that is, to practice divination. Instead, he turned with his face to the wilderness,


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looked up, and saw Israel encamped in their respective tribal order. Just then, the spirit of God came upon him.


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Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: "A declaration by Beor's son Balaam, a declaration by the strong, blind man.


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A declaration from one who hears what God has to say, who saw the vision that the Almighty revealed, who keeps stumbling, with open eyes.


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They're spread out like valleys, like gardens along river banks, like aloe planted by the LORD, or like cedars beside water.


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He will pour water from his buckets; and his descendants will stream forth like abundant water. His king will be more exalted than Agag when he exalts his own kingdom.


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God is bringing them out of Egypt, with the strength of an ox. He'll devour enemy nations, break their bones, and impale them with arrows.


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He crouches, laying low like a lion. Who would awaken him? Those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed.


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Balak flew into a rage and he started hitting his fists together. "I called you to curse my enemies," he yelled at Balaam. "But look here! You've blessed them three times!


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Now get out of here! I had promised you that I would definitely honor you, but now the LORD has kept me from doing that!"


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'Even if Balak gives me his palace full of silver and gold, I won't double-cross the command of the LORD and do anything-whether good or evil-on my own initiative, because I'm going to say whatever the LORD says.'


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Meanwhile, since I have to return to my people, come and listen while I tell you what this people will be doing to your people in the last days."


text:
Then Balaam uttered this prophetic statement: "The declaration by Beor's son Balaam, a declaration by the strong, blind man.


text:
A declaration from one who hears what God has to say, who knows what the Most High knows, who saw the vision that the Almighty revealed, who keeps stumbling with open eyes.


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I can see him, but not right now. I observe him, but from a distance. A star streams forth from Jacob; a scepter arises from Israel. He will crush Moab's forehead, along with all of Seth's descendants.


text:
Edom will be a conquered nation and Seir will be Israel's defeated foe, while Israel performs valiantly.


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Next, Balaam looked directly at Amalek and then uttered this prophetic statement: Even though Amalek is an international leader, his future is permanent destruction.


text:
Balaam also uttered this prophetic statement about the Kenites: Your dwelling places are stable, because your nest is carved in solid rock.


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While Israel remained encamped in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with Moabite women,


text:
who also invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods. So the people ate what they had sacrificed and then worshipped their gods.


text:
so the LORD told Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight for the LORD, so the LORD's burning anger may be withdrawn from Israel."


text:
Then Moses ordered the judges of Israel, "Each one of you is to execute the men in his own tribe who joined the Baal-peor cult."


text:
That very moment, one of the Israelis arrived, bringing to his brothers one of the Midianite women, right in front of Moses and the entire community of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting!


text:
When Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up from the middle of the community, grabbed a javelin in his hand,


text:
followed the Israeli man inside his tent, and impaled the two of them-the Israeli man and the woman-right through both of them and into her abdomen. Then the plague infecting the Israelis was brought to a halt.


text:
"Eleazar's son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from Israel. Because his zealousness reflected my own zeal for them, I didn't consume Israel in my jealousy.


text:
for him and for his descendants after him, too, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelis."


text:
Now the name of the Israeli man who was slain, along with the Midianite woman, was Salu's son Zimri, a leader from the tribe of Simeon.


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The name of the woman who was slain, that is, the Midianite woman, was named Cozbi. She was the daughter of Zur, a leader of one of the ancestral houses of Midian.


text:
because they've acted deceitfully, bringing trouble to you in this incident at Peor with Cozbi, daughter of a Midian prince, who was killed during the plague that came about because of the incident at Peor."


text:
"Take a census of the entire community of Israel from the age of 20 years and above, according to each ancestral tribe, counting everyone who is able to go out to war in Israel."


text:
They counted every male Israeli who had come out of Egypt and who was 20 years old and above, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


text:
From Reuben, Israel's first born, the descendants of Reuben included from Hanoch, the family of the descendants of Hanoch; from Pallu, the family of the descendants of Pallu;


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from Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Carmi, the family of the descendants of Carmi.


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The descendants of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were removed from the community because they joined the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, as did Korah's company when they rebelled against the LORD.


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The ground had opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with Korah. Also, that group died when the fire devoured 250 men as a warning sign,


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The descendants of Simeon, listed according to their families, included: From Nemuel, the family of the descendants of Nemuel; from Jamin, the family of the descendants of Jamin; from Jachin, the family of the descendants of Jachin;


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from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah; and from Shaul, the family of the descendants of Shaul.


text:
The descendants of Gad, listed according to their families, included: From Zephon, the family of the descendants of Zephon; from Haggi, the family of the descendants of Haggi; from Shuni, the family of the descendants of Shuni;


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fom Arod, the family of the descendants of Arod; and from Areli, the family of the descendants of Areli.


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The descendants of Judah originally included Er and Onan, though Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.


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The descendants of Judah, listed according to their families, included: From Shelah, the family of the descendants of Shelah; from Perez, the family of the descendants of Perez; from Zerah, the family of the descendants of Zerah.


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The descendants of Perez included: From Hezron, the family of the descendants of Hezron; and from Hamul, the family of the descendants of Hamul.


text:
The tribe of Issachar, listed according to their families, included: From Tola, the family of the descendants of Tola; from Puvah, the family of the descendants of Puvah;


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from Jashub, the family of the descendants of Jashub; and from Shimron, the family of the descendants of Shimron.


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The tribe of Zebulun, listed according to their families, included: From Sered, the family of the descendants of Sered; from Elon, the family of the descendants of Elon; and from Jahleel, the family of the descendants of Jahleel.


text:
The descendants of Manasseh included: From Machir, the family of the descendants of Machir. (Machir was the father of Gilead.) From Gilead, the family of the Gileadites


text:
included: From Iezer, the family of the descendants of Iezer; from Helek, the family of the descendants of Helek;


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from Asriel, the family of the descendants of Asriel; from Shechem, the family of the descendants of Shechem;


text:
fom Shemida, the family of the descendants of Shemida; and from Hepher, the family of the descendants of Hepher.


text:
Hepher's son Zelophehad had no sons, but the names of Zelophehad's daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


text:
The descendants of Ephraim, listed according to their families, included: From Shuthelah, the family of the descendants of Shuthelah; from Becher, the family of the descendants of Becher; from Tahan, the family of the descendants of Tahan.


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These families of Ephraim numbered 32 families and 500. These were the descendants of Joseph, listed according to their families.


text:
The tribe of Benjamin, listed according to their families, included: From Bela, the family of the descendants of Bela; from Ashbel, the family of the descendants of Ashbel; from Ahiram, the family of the descendants of Ahiram;


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from Shephupham, the family of the descendants of Shephupham; from Hupham, the family of the descendants of Hupham.


text:
The descendants of Bela were Ard and Naaman: From Ard, the family of the descendants of Ard; from Naaman, the family of the descendants of Naaman.


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The tribe of Dan, listed according to their families, included the families of the descendants of Shuham.


text:
The tribe of Asher, listed according to their families, included: From Imnah, the family of the descendants of Imnah; from Ishvi, the family of the descendants of Ishvi; from Beriah, the family of the descendants of Beriah;


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The descendants of Beriah included: From Heber, the family of the descendants of Heber; from Malchiel, the family of the descendants of Malchiel.


text:
The tribe of Naphtali, listed according to their families, included: From Jahzeel, the family of the descendants of Jahzeel; from Guni, the family of the descendants of Guni;


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fom Jezer, the family of the descendants of Jezer; from Shillem, the family of the descendants of Shillem.


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The more there are in number, you are to increase their inheritance, and the less there are in number, you are to decrease their inheritance. You are to provide an inheritance to each based on the size of their family,


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Depending on the lot, the portion of their inheritance is to be divided between those with more members and those with lesser members."


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Those who were numbered from the descendants of Levi, listed according to their families, included: From Gershon, the family of the descendants of Gershon; from Kohath, the family of the descendants of Kohath; and from Merari, the family of the descendants of Merari.


text:
These were the families of Levi: The family of the descendants of Libni, the family of the descendants of Hebron, the family of the descendants of Mahli, the family of the descendants of Musha, and the family of the descendants of Korah. Now Kohath had a son Amram.


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Amram's wife was Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She gave birth to Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.


text:
All of those individuals numbered 22 families and 1,000. No male from the age of a month and above was numbered among the Israelis because no inheritance was to be assigned to them among the Israelis.


text:
So this has been a list of those were the ones who were registered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they numbered the Israelis in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.


text:
But none of these men among these numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the Israelis in the wilderness of Sinai, survived to enter the land,


text:
because the LORD had said about them, "They'll certainly die in the wilderness. No man will survive from them except Jephunneh's son Caleb and Nun's son Joshua."


text:
Now the daughters of Hepher's son Zelophehad, Gilead's grandson, who had been fathered by Machir, who had been fathered by Manasseh, from the tribe of Manasseh, the direct son of Joseph, were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached


text:
Moses, Eleazar the priest, the elders, and the entire community at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, stood before them, and said,


text:
"Our father died in the wilderness, but he wasn't with the company of those who gathered against the LORD along with the company of Korah. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons.


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Why are you going to eliminate the name of our father from his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession from among our father's relatives."


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"The daughters of Zelophehad are telling the truth. You are certainly to give to them a possession for an inheritance among their father's relatives. You are to pass on the inheritance of their father to them.


text:
Tell the Israeli that when a man dies without a son, you are to pass his inheritance to his daughter.


text:
If his father doesn't have brothers, then give his inheritance to a relative who is nearest to him from the family and he'll take possession of it. This is to be a permanent ordinance for the Israelis, just as the LORD commanded Moses."


text:
Then the LORD told Moses, "You are to climb these Abarim mountains and look over the land that I'm going to give the Israelis.


text:
After you've seen it, you'll be taken to be with your people just as your brother Aaron was gathered to them,


text:
because in the wilderness of Zin, when the community rebelled, you rebelled against my command to treat me as holy before their eyes in regards to the Meribah Springs in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin."


text:
who will go in and out before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in so that the LORD's community won't be like a flock without a shepherd."


text:
"Select Nun's son Joshua. The Spirit is in that man." the LORD answered Moses. "You are to lay your hand on him


text:
and make him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the entire community. Then you are to set him in charge right before their eyes,


text:
"You are to make him stand in the presence of Eleazar the priest, who is to inquire on his behalf using the Urim in the presence of the LORD regarding a decision of judgment, because by his command he and all the Israelis with him will go out or come in."


text:
So Moses did what the LORD had commanded him. He took Joshua, made him stand in the presence of Eleazar the priest and the entire community,


text:
"You are to command the Israelis about my offerings that they are to be sure to bring edible offerings to me, presented by fire and a pleasing aroma to me, at their appointed time.


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"Tell them that this is the offering, presented by fire that you are to offer to the LORD: two one year old lambs, offered daily every day.


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accompanied by one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for grain offering, mixed with one fourth of a hin of pure olive oil.


text:
This burnt offering, which was prescribed at Mount Sinai, is to be offered every day as a pleasing aroma made by fire to the LORD.


text:
"The drink offering is to be one fourth of a hin for each lamb. You are to pour out a drink offering of strong wine to the LORD in the Holy Place.


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You are also to offer the second lamb toward the evening. Just like the morning sacrifice, you are to present the grain offering, accompanied by its corresponding drink offering, as a presentation made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD."


text:
"Every Sabbath day, you are to offer two one year old lambs without any defects with two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for grain offering, mixed with olive oil, along with their corresponding drink offering.


text:
This burnt offering is to be presented every Sabbath, apart from the continuous burnt offering, along with its corresponding drink offering."


text:
"On the first day of each month, you are to offer a burnt offering to the LORD consisting of two young bulls, one ram, and seven one year old lambs, all of them without any defects,


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along with three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, for each bull, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, for the one ram,


text:
one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each lamb. This burnt offering will be a pleasing aroma, incinerated as an offering to the LORD.


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Their drink offerings are to be half a hin of wine for each bull, one third of a hin for the ram, and one fourth of a hin for each lamb. This burnt offering is to be presented each and every month throughout the year.


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One goat is to be offered at regular intervals as a sin offering to the LORD, accompanied by its corresponding drink offering."


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You are to hold a festival on the fifteenth day of this month for seven days, during which time unleavened bread is to be eaten."


text:
Bring an offering that is to be incinerated in the LORD's presence, consisting of two young bulls, a ram, and seven one year old lambs, all without any defects,


text:
along with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil. Offer three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram,


text:
"Do this every day for seven days, as an edible sacrifice to the LORD made by fire, a pleasing aroma. It is to be offered apart from the continuous burnt offering and its corresponding drink offering.


text:
On the seventh day you are to hold another sacred assembly for your benefit, on which no servile work is to be done."


text:
"On the first day of your harvest season, you are to hold a sacred assembly when you present your first fruits during the Feast of Weeks. No servile work is to be done.


text:
You are to offer this burnt-offering as a pleasing aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven one year old lambs,


text:
along with their corresponding grain offerings of fine flour mixed with olive oil; specifically, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths of an ephah for the one ram,


text:
Offer them in addition to the regular burnt offering, accompanied by its grain offering and its corresponding drink offerings."


text:
"You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day of the seventh month of each year. No servile work is to be done. It's a day of blowing trumpets for you.


text:
"You are to bring these burnt offerings as a pleasing aroma to the LORD: a one year old young bull, one ram, and seven one year old lambs, all without any defects,


text:
along with their corresponding grain offering of fine flour, mixed with olive oil-three tenths of an ephah for the young bull, two tenths of an ephah for the ram,


text:
This is to be separate and apart from the burnt offering for the New Moon, with its corresponding grain offering, the continuous burnt offering with its corresponding grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their respective ordinances, as a pleasing aroma, an incinerated offering made to the LORD.


text:
"You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this same seventh month. You are to humble yourselves, and no servile work is to be done.


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You are to bring these burnt offerings to the LORD for a pleasing aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven one year old lambs, all without any defects, for you,


text:
along with these corresponding grain offerings of fine flour mixed with olive oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram,


text:
then one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering, to make atonement, along with the regular burnt offering, its corresponding grain and drink offerings."


text:
"You are to hold a sacred assembly on the fifteenth day of the same seventh month. No servile work is to be done. You are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days by


text:
bringing these burnt offerings made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the LORD: Thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without any defects,


text:
along with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with olive oil, three tenths for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams,


text:
and accompanied by one goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, with its corresponding grain and drink offerings."


text:
"On the second day, you are to present twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without defects,


text:
along with their corresponding grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to their number, based on the ordinances,


text:
"On the third day, you are to present eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen one year old lambs, all without defects,


text:
along with their corresponding grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to their number, based on the ordinance,


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"On the fourth day, you are to present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without defects,


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along with their corresponding grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to their number based on their ordinance,


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"On the fifth day, you are to present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without defects,


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with their corresponding grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to their number, based on the ordinance,


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"On the sixth day, you are to present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without defects,


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along with their grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs, according to their number, based on the ordinance,


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"On the seventh day, you are to present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen one year old lambs, all without defects,


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You are to offer these burnt offerings by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven one year old lambs, all without defects,


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along with their corresponding grain and drink offerings for the bull, ram, and lambs, according to their number, based on their ordinance,


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and accompanied by one goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, with its corresponding grain and drink offerings.


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"Present these to the LORD at your appointed festival, in addition to your offerings in fulfillment of vows, free will offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings."


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When a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath-an obligation that is binding to himself-he is not to break his word. Instead, he is to fulfill whatever promise came out of his mouth."


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"When a young woman makes a vow to the LORD or pledges herself to an obligation while she still lives in her father's house,


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and her father hears her vow and the obligations that she had pledged herself to fulfill, yet her father keeps silent about it, then all her vows and every obligation she pledged herself to are to stand.


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"But if her father disallows her on the same day that he hears what she has said, then all her vows and every obligation she had pledged herself to fulfill are not to stand. The LORD will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her."


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"If she has a husband and she makes a vow that is binding on herself, or if she makes a hasty vow with her mouth that she pledges herself to fulfill,


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and husband hears her vow, yet remains silent on the day that he hears it, then her vows are to stand and the obligation to which she had pledged herself is to stand.


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But if, on the same day her husband hears, and he disallows her, then he has revoked her vows that she made for herself, along with any hasty vows that she spoke and to which she pledged herself to fulfill. The LORD will forgive her."


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But if, while she had been living in her late or former husband's house, she makes a vow or a promise that binds her with an oath,


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and her husband hears it but remains silent, not disallowing it, then all her vows are to stand, along with every obligation that she has pledged herself to fulfill.


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"But if her husband disallowed them the very day that he heard her, everything that she spoke relating to her vows and her obligation to herself are not to stand, because her husband had revoked them. The LORD will forgive her.


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But if her husband remains silent about her from day to day, then he has affirmed all her vows or obligations that she has obligated herself to fulfill. He has affirmed them because he remained silent from the day he heard her vows.


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But if he had nullified them after he had heard, then he will be responsible for any resulting iniquity."


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These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife and concerning a father and his young daughter while she still lives in her father's house.


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"Be sure to exact vengeance on behalf of the Israelis from the Midianites, after which you'll be taken home to your people."


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So Moses instructed the people, "Muster your men of war to attack the Midianites and deliver the LORD's vengeance against Midian.


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So a troop of men from every tribe-12 troops from the multitudes of Israel-were mustered and equipped for war.


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Moses sent a troop of men from every tribe to fight against them, along with Eleazar's son Phinehas, in whose hands were the articles of the sanctuary and trumpets to sound battle alarms.


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They executed the five kings of Midian, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also executed Beor's son Balaam with a sword.


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After this, the Israelis took captive the Midianite women and children and confiscated as spoils of war all their cattle, livestock, and their goods.


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Then they brought the captives, booty, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the entire community of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River in Jericho.


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Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.


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But Moses became livid with anger at the officers of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds who had returned from servicing in the battle.


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"Look! These women were the same ones who were counseled by Balaam to cause the Israelis to commit a grievous sin against the LORD at Peor. As a result, that plague infected the LORD's community.


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You are to allow the young women who haven't yet had sexual relations with a man to live for yourselves."


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"Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which anyone who has killed a person or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day and you and your captives will be pure on the seventh day.


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Furthermore, you are to purify every garment, that is, everything made of leather, goat's hair, or containing wood."


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Eleazar the priest told soldiers who had gone to battle, "This is the ordinance of the law that the LORD commanded Moses


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or anything that can survive a refiner's fire: You are to pass it through fire, after which it will be clean. Then it is to be purified with the water of impurity. Everything that cannot survive a refiner's fire is to be washed in water.


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"Take an inventory of the booty that was taken in the battle, both of humans and of animals. You, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the fathers of the community,


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"After this, you are to exact a tribute for the LORD from the soldiers who went to war, consisting of the tribute earned by one person out of every 500, whether from people, cattle, donkeys, or flocks.


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"You are to take half their share and give it to Eleazar the priest as a raised offering to the LORD.


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"Then take half the share of the Israelis, one drawn out of every fifty people, cattle, donkeys, flocks, and from every animal, then give to the descendants of Levi who maintain the service of the LORD's tent."


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Now, the goods confiscated, in excess of the war implements that the warriors had gathered was 675,000 sheep,


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Then Moses gave the tribute, a raised offering of the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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Moses took a portion drawn from every 50 Israelis, including from both human and animals, and gave them to the descendants of Levi who maintained the LORD's tent, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.


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Then the officers in charge of thousands of soldiers, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds approached Moses


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and told him, "Your servants took a count of the soldiers who were under our authority. We didn't miss a single man.


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We've brought offerings to the LORD from whatever each man found-jewel-encrusted gold, anklets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces to make atonement for ourselves in the LORD's presence."


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Then Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them and everything that was fashioned into jewels.


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Moses and Eleazar took the gold from the captains of thousands and hundreds and brought it to the Tent of Meeting, to serve as a memorial to the Israelis in the LORD's presence.


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Now, the descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad happened to be joint owners of a very large herd of cattle. When they observed that Jazer and Gilead were good grazing lands for cattle,


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the descendants of Gad and descendants of Reuben approached Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community and said,


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the land that the LORD defeated in the sight of the community of Israel-is perfect for cattle and your servants have cattle.


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If we've found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our possession instead of us crossing the Jordan River.


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"Will your relatives have to go to war while you remain here?" Moses asked the descendants of Gad and descendants of Reuben in response.


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When they arrived in the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelis from entering the land that the LORD had given them.


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'Not one of the men who went up from Egypt from 20 years old and above will see the land that I promised to give to their ancestors, that is, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because none of them followed me whole heartedly,


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except Jephunneh's son Caleb, the Kenizzite, and Nun's son Joshua. They've whole heartedly followed the LORD.'


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"The LORD's anger had flared up against Israel so that he made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that whole generation, who committed evil in the eyes of the LORD, had died.


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And now, look! You're acting just like your ancestors, like a brood of sinful men, who are provoking the fierce anger of the LORD against the Israelis one step at a time.


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If you stop following him, he will once again abandon them in the wilderness. You'll end up destroying this entire people."


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Then they approached him and said, "Here's where we're going to build corrals for our cattle and cities for our families,


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but we will keep ourselves armed and stay ready to go with the Israelis until we've brought them to their own places. Our families intend to live in fortified cities in the presence of the inhabitants of the land,


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but we won't return to our homes until every Israeli has taken possession of each of their inheritances,


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since our inheritance will not be with them across the Jordan River and beyond. Instead, our inheritance is on this side of the Jordan River, facing eastward."


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"If you do this," Moses replied to them, "that is, if you equip yourselves for war in the LORD's presence


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and every one of your armed soldiers crosses over the Jordan River in the presence of the LORD until he has dispossessed his enemies ahead of him


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and subjugated the land before him, then afterwards when you return, you'll be able to stand blameless before the LORD and before Israel. This land will then be your possession before the LORD.


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"But if you won't do so, look out! You will be sinning against the LORD. Be certain of this, that your sin will catch up to you!


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So after you've built cities for your families and corrals for your cattle, be sure to keep your promises."


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Then the descendants of Gad and descendants of Reuben spoke, "Your servants will do exactly what our master has commanded.


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but every soldier that we've equipped for battle will cross the Jordan River in the presence of the LORD, as our master has spoken."


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So Moses instructed Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua, and the officers of the ancestral tribes of the Israelis,


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telling them, "If the descendants of Gad and descendants of Reuben cross over the Jordan River with you, that is, all of their soldiers who've been equipped for battle in the LORD's presence, so that the land is subjugated right before your eyes, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as their possession.


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But if the armed men don't cross over with you, then they won't have any possession in the land of Canaan."


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"We'll do just what the LORD told your servants," the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben responded.


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"We are to cross over in battle array in the LORD's presence into the land of Canaan, and afterwards the possession of our inheritance will be in this side of the Jordan River."


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So Moses gave to the descendants of Gad, to the descendants of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Joseph's son Manasseh the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the whole land with its cities, and even the territories surrounding it.


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Nebo, Baal-meon, (after having changed their names) and Sibmah. The cities that they rebuilt were renamed.


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The descendants of Manasseh's son Machir attacked Gilead and then captured and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.


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Here's the travel itinerary for the Israelis after they left the land of Egypt in groups under the authority of Moses and Aaron.


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Moses recorded their departures in their travels after being commanded to do so by the LORD. Here's a list of their travels based on their departures:


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They departed from Rameses on the first month, the fifteenth day of the first month. The day after the Passover, the Israelis came out confidently, and all the Egyptians watched them leave,


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while they were burying their first born, whom the LORD had killed among them. The LORD also executed justice against their gods.


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They traveled from Etham but turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is outside of Baal-zephon. They rested outside of Migdol.


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They traveled from Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea to the wilderness. They were on the road three days in the wilderness of Etham then rested in Marah.


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They traveled from Marah and arrived at Elim. In Elim there were twelve wells of water and 70 palm trees, so they rested there.


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They traveled from Alush, then rested in Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink.


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They traveled from Ezion-geber, then rested in the Wilderness of Zin, which is also known as Kadesh.


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Then Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor in obedience to the LORD's command and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelis had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.


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Meanwhile, the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the approach of the Israelis,


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They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, then rested in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River, across from Jericho.


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They rested by the Jordan River in the area from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.


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they are to drive out all the inhabitants of the land and destroy all their idols and their molten images. You are to demolish all their high places,


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"You are to divide the land among yourselves by lot according to your families. The larger the families are in number, the larger their inheritance is to be. The lesser the families are in number, the lesser their inheritance is to be. To whomever the lot falls, that inheritance goes to him. Divide it according to your ancestral tribes.


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"But if you fail to drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, their survivors will become irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, to prick your sides and afflict you in the very land in which you'll be living.


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"Issue these orders to the Israelis: 'You're about to enter the land of Canaan. This territory has been apportioned to you as your inheritance: the entire land of Canaan, all the way to its borders."


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"'To your south is the Wilderness of Zin, bordering Edom. Your southern border is to extend east toward the far end of the Dead Sea,


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then it is to turn southward to the ascent of Akrabbim, cross Zin, and then run south of Kadesh-barnea and proceed from there to Hazar-addar and across to Azmon.


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Then the border is to turn from Azmon toward the wadi of Egypt and from there to the Mediterranean Sea."


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The border is then to extend from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, then to the Sea of Chinnereth on the east.


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The border is to continue along the Jordan River all the way to the Dead Sea. This is to be your land, as measured by its boundaries."


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Moses commanded the Israelis, "You are to inherit this land by lot, just as the LORD commanded to give it to the remaining nine and a half tribes.


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The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, as defined by their ancestral houses, have received their inheritance.


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These two and a half tribes received their inheritance this side of the Jordan River, east of Jericho, facing the rising sun."


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"These are the names of the men who are to divide the land for your inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua.


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"From the tribe of Joseph, you are to appoint Ephod's son Hanniel to be leader of the half tribe of Manasseh;


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These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance of the Israelis in the land of Canaan.


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The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Moab, beside the Jordan River near Jericho. He told him,


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"Instruct the Israelis to set aside a portion of their inheritance for the descendants of Levi to live in, along with grazing land surrounding their towns.


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The towns are to be reserved for their dwelling places and the grazing lands are to be reserved for their cattle, livestock, and all their animals.


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"The grazing lands that you are to reserve for use by descendants of Levi are to extend 1,500 feet from the walls of the town.


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You are to measure from outside the wall of the town on the east side 3,000 feet, on the south side 3,000 feet, on the west side 3,000 feet, and on the north side 3,000 feet, with the town placed at the center. This reserved area is to serve as grazing land for their towns.


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You are to set aside six towns of refuge from the towns that you will be giving to the descendants of Levi, where someone who kills a human being may run for shelter. In addition, give them 42 other towns.


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"The total number of towns that you are to give to the descendants of Levi is to be 48 towns, including grazing lands surrounding these town.


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You are to apportion the towns that you will be giving the Israelis according to the relative size of the tribe. Take a larger portion from those larger in numbers and a lesser portion from those lesser in number. Each is to set aside towns for the descendants of Levi proportional to the size of their inheritance that they receive."


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they are to designate some towns of refuge so that anyone who kills someone inadvertently may flee there.


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They are to serve as cities of refuge from a blood avenger in order to keep the inadvertent killer from dying until he has stood trial in the presence of the community.


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Appoint three towns this side of the Jordan River and three towns in the land of Canaan to serve as the towns of refuge,


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that is, places of refuge for the Israelis, the resident alien, and any travelers among them. Anyone who kills a person inadvertently may flee there."


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"Whoever uses an iron implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death.


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"Furthermore, whoever uses a stone implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death.


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"Also, whoever uses a wooden implement to kill someone with it is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death.


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"The blood avenger himself is to execute the murderer. When he meets him, the blood avenger is to put him to death.


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If the killer shoved his victim out of hatred, or hurled something at him while waiting in ambush so that he died,


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or if he struck him with his hand out of hatred so that he dies, then the killer is certainly to be put to death for murder. The avenger of blood is to put him to death when he meets him."


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"But if he pushed him suddenly without hatred, or had he hurled something in his direction without waiting in ambush,


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or if he hit him with a stone carelessly so that he was fatally injured, though he isn't his enemy and he wasn't seeking to commit evil against him,


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then the community is to judge between the inadvertent killer and the blood avenger, following these ordinances.


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The community is to release the inadvertent killer from the blood avenger and return him to the town of refuge where he had fled. He is to live there until the High Priest dies, who will have anointed him with holy oil.


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and the blood avenger finds him outside the town of refuge where he had fled and kills him, the blood avenger is not to be found guilty of murder.


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The inadvertent killer is to live in the town of refuge until the High Priest dies. After the death of the High Priest, the inadvertent killer is to return to the land of his inheritance.


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These are to be the statutes and ordinance for you throughout all your generations, regardless of where you live."


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"Every murderer of a human being is to be executed only according to testimony given by multiple witnesses. A single witness is not to result in a death sentence.


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"You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die.


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You are not to receive payment of a ransom for someone who had fled to a town of refuge but then left to live in his homeland before the death of the high priest.


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"You are not to pollute the land where you live, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot atone for blood that has been spilled on it, except through the blood of the one who spilled it.


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You are not to defile the land where you will be living, because I'm living among you. I am the LORD, who lives in Israel."


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The leaders of the ancestral families of the descendants of Gilead, who were descendants of Machir, and descendants of Manasseh, from Joseph's tribe, approached and spoke to Moses and the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelis.


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"The LORD commanded my master to apportion the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelis," they said. "Now my master was ordered by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.


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"But when they get married to one of the descendants of the tribes of Israel, their inheritances are to be withdrawn from our father's inheritance and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they are to belong. Consequently, it is to be withdrawn from the portion of our inheritance.


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"But when the Jubilee Year of the Israelis comes, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they have come to belong. Their inheritance will thus be taken away from the inheritance of our father's tribe!"


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So Moses issued the Israelis these orders based on what the LORD said: "The tribe of the descendants of Joseph has spoken.


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This is what the LORD is commanding the daughters of Zelophehad. If they decide it's a good idea in their opinion to get married only within the family of their father's tribe, then let them get married


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so that the inheritance of the Israelis won't be turned over from one tribe to another. "Each one has an inheritance from his own father's tribe that the Israelis are to maintain.


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Every daughter who is in possession of an inheritance from the Israelis is to marry someone from the families within her father's tribe so the Israelis can retain possession of their ancestral inheritance.


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That way, their inheritance won't be turned over from one tribe to another, because the Israelis are each to maintain their ancestral inheritances."


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They married into families of the descendants of Manasseh, that is, Joseph's descendants, so that their inheritance remained within the tribe of their ancestor's family.


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These were the commands and the ordinances that the LORD issued to the Israelis through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River in Jericho.


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These 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.


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On the first day of the eleventh month, in the fortieth year, Moses spoke to the Israelis about everything that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.


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This took place after he defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth at Edrei.


text:
Break camp, get going, and proceed to the hill country of the Amorites and all the nearby places in the Arabah desert, the highlands, the foothills, the Negev, the coastal plains, all of the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates.


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Look! I've given you the land that lies ahead. Go in and possess the land that I, the LORD, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants.'"


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May the LORD, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times more, and may he bless you, as he promised you.


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Choose for yourselves wise and discerning men, known to your tribes, and appoint them as your leaders.


text:
So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men, and I appointed them over you-commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.


text:
"I charged your judges at that time, 'When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners.


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When you hold a hearing, don't be partial in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.


text:
"Then we set out from Horeb and walked through that vast and dreadful desert, where you observed the road to the Amorite hill country. Just as the LORD our God ordained for us, we finally arrived at Kadesh-barnea.


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I told you at that time, 'You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is about to give us.


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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.'


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"Then all of you approached me and said: 'Let's send out men in advance of us so they can survey the land and bring back a report to us on how we'll go up to their cities.'


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They hand-picked some of the fruit of the land, brought it down to us, and gave a report that said, 'The land which the LORD is about to give us is good.'"


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"However, your ancestors didn't go up. Instead, they rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.


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You murmured in your tents, 'The LORD hates us. He brought us out of the land of Egypt in order to deliver us to the Amorites so he could destroy us.


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Where can we go? Our brothers discouraged us when they said that the people are bigger and taller than we are. Their cities are tall and fortified to the sky, and we also saw the Anakim there.'


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The LORD your God is the One who will be going ahead of you. He'll fight for you just as he did in Egypt before your eyes.


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In the desert you saw that the LORD carried you like a man carries his son, on every road you traveled until you reached this place.'


text:
who walked ahead of you along the way to scout a place for you to pitch camp-by fire at night and cloud by day-to lead you on the way you should go."


text:
'I swear that not one man of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors,


text:
except Jephunneh's son Caleb. He will see it and I will give to him and to his descendants the land on which he has walked because he wholeheartedly followed the LORD.'


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However, Nun's son Joshua, your assistant, will go there. Encourage him, for he will cause Israel to take possession of it.


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Your little ones-whom you said would be taken captive-and your children who do not yet know right from wrong, will enter the land. I will give it to them and they themselves will possess it.


text:
"You responded to me and said, 'We have sinned against the LORD. We will now go up and fight according to what the LORD our God commanded.' So each man put on his weapon for battle and recklessly started out for the hill country."


text:
"Then the LORD told me: 'Tell them not to go up and fight because I will not be in their midst, or else you will be defeated before your enemies.'


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"I spoke to you but you didn't listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD and went up to the hill country.


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The Amorites who lived in the hill country came out to engage you in battle. They pursued you like bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah.


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You returned and cried out in the LORD's presence, but the LORD didn't hear your voice or listen to you.


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"We turned and set out for the desert on the road to the Reed Sea just as the LORD had directed me. We traveled around Mount Seir for many days.


text:
and command this people, "You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau who live around Seir. They will be afraid of you so be very careful.


text:
Don't fight them, because I won't give you any part of their land, not even the size of a footprint. I have given Mount Seir to Esau as their property.


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Indeed, the LORD your God blessed all the works of your hands. He knows about your travels through this vast desert. The LORD your God was with you this past 40 years, so that you didn't lack anything.


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So we bypassed our relatives, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir. We turned through the Arabah desert from Elath, and from Ezion-geber we traveled the desert road to Moab."


text:
"Then the LORD told me, 'Don't harass Moab or provoke them to war, because I won't give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their property.


text:
The Horites used to live in Seir before the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, exterminated them, and settled there instead, just as Israel will do in the land of its possession, which the LORD gave them.)


text:
"Now from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi Zered was 38 years. All of that generation, the soldiers in the camp, were destroyed just as the LORD swore they would be.


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Indeed, the hand of the LORD was against them to root them out from the camp until they were utterly destroyed."


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When you come to the Ammonites, don't harass or provoke them to war, for I won't give any part of Ammonite land to you, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their property.'


text:
"'(Indeed, it was considered Rephaim territory, since the Rephaim used to lived there. The Ammonites called them Zamzummites,


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a great people, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed the Rephaim, so that the Ammonites dispossessed them and settled there instead.


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This is what he did for the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them. So they dispossessed them and settled there in their place, where they live to this day.


text:
It was the same for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete, destroyed them and settled there in their place.)


text:
"'Get ready and set out for the Wadi Arnon. Look! I've given into your control Sihon king of Heshbon, the Amorite, along with his land. Prepare to take possession by provoking him to war.


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Starting today I will begin to instill fear and terror of you on the part of every nation under heaven who hears reports about you. They'll tremble in anguish before you.'"


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"I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with this message of peace:


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Sell me food for cash so I can eat and give me water for cash, so I can drink. Just let me pass through on foot


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as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for me, as did the Moabites who live in Ar. I'll pass through, until I will have crossed the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is about to give us.'


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But Sihon king 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.


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"Then the LORD told me, 'See, I've begun to deliver Sihon and his territory over to you. Prepare to take possession of his land.'


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We captured all his towns at that time. We utterly destroyed every town-the men, the women, and the children, leaving no survivors.


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We only appropriated the livestock for our use, along with plunder from the cities that we captured.


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From Aroer on the edge of Arnon Valley and from the town all the way to Gilead, there was no city that was too strong for us-the LORD our God delivered them all to us.


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You did not encroach onto Ammonite land, the banks of the Wadi Jabbok, the towns in the hill country, and all the other places that were forbidden by the LORD our God."


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"We set out and went up along the road to Bashan. Then Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us-he and his whole army-for a battle at Edrei.


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"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.'


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"So the LORD our God also delivered into our control Og king of Bashan, along with his whole army. We attacked him until there were no survivors.


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Then we captured all his cities at that time. There was not a city left that we didn't capture from them-sixty cities in all from the region of Argob, which is part of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.


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All of these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars. Furthermore, there were very many unwalled regions.


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We utterly destroyed them, just as we did Sihon king of Heshbon, attacking them in every city-the men, women, and children.


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"So at that time we took control from the two Amorite kings the territory east of the Jordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon.


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We took control of all the cities of the plain, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.


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Only Og the king of Bashan remained from the remnants of the Rephaim. In fact, his bed was made of iron. It's in Rabbah of the Ammonites, isn't it? It's about thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide."


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"Of the land that we captured at that time, I've given its towns to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad from Aroer near the Wadi Arnon to half of the hill country of Gilead.


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The remainder of Gilead and Bashan of the kingdom of Og, I've given to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob-that is, all of Bashan-is called the land of the Rephaim.)


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Manasseh's son Jair captured all the Argob region as far as the territory of the descendants of Geshur and the descendants of Maacath. Bashan was named after him; that's why it is called Havvoth-jair to this day.


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And I've given Gilead to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad as far as the Arnon Valley, designating the middle of the valley as its boundary, including up to the Jabbok River as a boundary with the Ammonites.


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The Arabah and the Jordan River are also a boundary from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah on the east."


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"Then I commanded you at that time, 'The Lord your God gave you this land as a possession. Those equipped for battle-every man a warrior-will cross before your fellow Israelis.


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However, your women, children, and livestock-and I know you have many-may reside in your towns that I gave you


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until the LORD grants rest to your fellow Israelis like you. When they take possession of the territory that the LORD your God is about to give them on the east side of the Jordan River, then each of you may return to the territory that I've allotted for you.'


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"I also charged Joshua at that time, 'You witnessed everything that the LORD your God did to the two kings. Indeed, the LORD will do this to all the kingdoms which you are about to enter.


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'LORD God, you've begun to show your greatness and your strong power to your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can equal your works and mighty deeds?


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Let me cross over that I may see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River, the good hill country, as well as Lebanon.'


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"However, the LORD was furious with me because of you. He did not listen to me. Instead, the LORD said, 'You are not to speak to me about this matter again!


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Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift your eyes toward the west, north, south, and east. Look with your own eyes, since you won't be able to cross this Jordan River.


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Therefore charge Joshua to be doubly strong, for he will lead this people and cause them to inherit the land that you'll see.'


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"Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the ordinances that I'm teaching you to observe so you may live and go in to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is about to give you.


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


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"You saw with your own eyes what he did in Baal Peor. The LORD your God exterminated from among you every man who followed Baal of Peor.


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See! I taught you the statutes and the ordinances, just as the LORD God commanded. Therefore, observe them when you enter the land you are about to possess.


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Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of people who'll listen to all these decrees. Then they'll say: 'Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people.'


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And what great nation has all the decrees and righteous ordinances like all this teaching that I'm giving you today?


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Only guard yourselves carefully so you won't forget the things that you saw and let them slip from your mind for the rest of your life. Tell them to your children and to your grandchildren.


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The day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God in Horeb, the Lord told me, 'Gather the people before me so they may hear my words, learn to revere me the whole time that they live in the land, and teach them to their children.'"


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"When you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain-a mountain that was blazing with fire at its core while the sky was covered with thick, dark clouds-


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the LORD your God spoke from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you saw no form; there was only a voice.


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He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to observe-the Ten Commandments that he wrote on two stone tablets.


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The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you to observe the statutes and ordinances in the land after you cross over to take possession of it.


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"Therefore, for your own sake, be very careful, since you did not see any form on the day that the LORD your God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire.


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Be careful! Otherwise, you will be destroyed when you make carved images for yourself-all sorts of images in the form of man, woman,


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Do not gaze toward the heavens and observe the sun, the moon, the stars-the entire array of the sky-with the intent to worship and serve what the LORD your God gave every nation.


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For the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace-out of Egypt-to be the people of his inheritance, as you are today.


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"But the LORD was angry with me because of you. So he swore that I'll never cross the Jordan River to enter the good land that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance.


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For I'm going to die in this land and I won't cross the Jordan River, but you're about to cross over to possess that good land.


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Be careful! Otherwise, you will forget the covenant of the LORD your God, who established that covenant with you. Don't make carved images of any likeness in violation of everything that you were commanded by the LORD your God.


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"After you've borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God, you will provoke him to anger.


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Heaven and earth will testify against what has occurred today: you'll surely and swiftly be destroyed from the land that you are about to possess by crossing the Jordan River. You won't live long in it, because you'll certainly be exterminated.


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Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you'll be fewer in number in the nations where the LORD your God will drive you.


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There you'll serve gods made by human hands, serving trees and stones that cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell.


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"If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.


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"In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice.


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For God is compassionate. The LORD your God won't fail you. He won't destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors."


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"Indeed, ask from one end of the heavens to the other about days of old, before your time when God created mankind on the earth. Did we ever have anything as great as this, or ever hear of anything like it?


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Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of a fire just as you did, and survived it?


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Or has any god ever taken for himself one nation out from another nation with testings, signs, wonders, wars, awesome power, and magnificent, terrifying deeds as the LORD your God did in Egypt before your eyes?


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You have been made to hear his voice from heaven so you may be instructed. And he showed you his great fire here on earth, and you heard his voice from the middle of that fire.


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Moreover, he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt, accompanied by his presence and great power,


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in order to drive out nations that are stronger and more powerful than you, to bring you into this land, and to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today.


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"May you acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in the heavens above and over the earth below-there is no other God.


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May you observe his statutes and keep his commands that I'm giving you today, so that life may go well for you and for your descendants after you. That way, you'll live a long life in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you permanently."


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where a person who accidentally killed someone could flee, if he killed his neighbor without having enmity toward him in the past. He may flee to one of these cities and live:


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Bezer in the desert plain for the descendants of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the descendants of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the descendants of Manasseh.


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These are the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that Moses declared to the Israelis when they came out of Egypt.


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He did this east of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and whom Moses and the Israelis defeated after leaving Egypt.


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So they took possession of his land, as well as the land of Og king of Bashan. Both Amorite kings lived east of the Jordan-


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Moses called all of Israel together and told them: "Listen, Israel! Today I'm going to announce God's laws and regulations so that you will learn them and take care to obey them.


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it was not with our ancestors that the LORD made this covenant, but with us-we who are here today-all of us who are now living.


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I stood at that time as mediator between the LORD and you to declare his message to you, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. He said:


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"You are not to make for yourselves a carved image resembling any form in the heavens above, on earth below, or in the waters under the earth.


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You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them; because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of their parents, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,


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but the seventh day is a Sabbath for the LORD your God. You are not to do any work: neither you, your children, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys, all your livestock, as well as the foreigners who live among you, so that your male and female servants may rest as you do.


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Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out from there with great power and a show of force. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.


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"Honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your life will be long and things will go well for you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.


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"You are not to desire your neighbor's wife, or covet your neighbor's house, fields, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything that concerns your neighbor."


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"These commands the LORD declared in a loud voice to your entire assembly on the mountain from out of the fire and dark clouds, and nothing more was added. He inscribed them on two tablets of stones and gave them to me.


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"When you heard the voice from the darkness while the mountain was blazing, all the leaders and elders of your tribes came to me and said:


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'The LORD our God truly has displayed his glory and power, for we heard him from out of the fire today. We have witnessed how God spoke to human beings, yet they lived.


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Now therefore, why should we die? This great fire will consume us. If we continue to listen to the voice of the LORD our God any longer, we'll die.


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For what mortal man has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire like we did, and lived?


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As for you, go near and listen to everything that the LORD our God will say to you. Then repeat it to us, then we will listen and obey.'


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"The LORD heard what you said. He told me: 'I've heard what this people said. Everything they said was good.


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If only they would commit to fear me and keep all my commands, then it will go well with them and their children forever.


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but you stand here with me and I'll speak to you all the commands, decrees, and laws that you must teach them to observe in the land that I'm giving you to possess.


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You must be careful to do what the LORD your God commanded you, turning neither to the left nor to the right.


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Walk in every way that the LORD your God commanded you, so that life may go well for you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land that you will possess.'"


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"Now these are the commands, decrees, and ordinances that the LORD commanded me to teach you. Obey them in the land you are entering to possess,


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so that you, your children, and your grandchildren may fear the LORD your God. Keep all his decrees and commandments that I'm giving you every day of your life, so you may live a long time.


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"Listen, Israel! Be careful to obey, so that life may go well for you and that you may increase greatly. Just as the LORD God of your ancestors told you, you'll have a land flowing with milk and honey.


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Teach them repeatedly to your children. Talk about them while sitting in your house or walking on the road, and as you lie down or get up.


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"When the LORD your God brings you to the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he will give you large and beautiful cities that you didn't build,


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houses filled with every good thing that you didn't supply, wells that you didn't dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant. When you eat and are satisfied,


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For the LORD your God who is among you is a jealous God. He will turn his anger against you and destroy you from the surface of the land."


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Be sure to observe the commands of the LORD your God, his testimonies and his decrees that he gave you.


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Do what is good and right in the LORD's sight so it may go well with you. Then you'll enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God promised to your ancestors,


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"When your son asks you in the future, 'What is the meaning of the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?'


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tell him, 'We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with great power.


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Before our very eyes, the LORD did great and terrible signs and wonders in Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to his entire household.


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But as for us, he brought us out from there to bring us into the land and it to us, as he promised our ancestors.


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Then the LORD commanded us to observe all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God for our own good, so that he may keep us alive as we are today.


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It will be credited as righteousness for us, if we're careful to obey the entire Law in the presence of the LORD our God, as he commanded.'"


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"When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, he will drive out many nations before you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations who are more numerous and stronger than you.


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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.


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You are not to intermarry with them. You are not to give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons,


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because they will turn your children from me to serve other gods so that the LORD's anger blazes against you and swiftly destroys you by fire.


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This is what you will do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire,


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because you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God chose you to be his people, his treasured possession from all the peoples on the face of the earth."


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"It was not because you were more numerous than other people of the earth that the LORD committed himself to you and chose you. In fact, you were the least numerous of all the peoples.


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But the LORD loved you and kept his oath that he made to your ancestors. The LORD brought you out with great power from slavery, from the control of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.


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"Know that the LORD your God is God, the trusted God who faithfully keeps his covenant to the thousandth generation of those who love him and obey his commands.


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But for the one who hates him, he will repay him by destroying him. He will not delay dealing with someone who hates him.


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"If you pay attention to these laws and obey them, then the LORD your God will continue with you his covenant of gracious love that he promised with an oath to your ancestors.


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He will love you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your land (the grain, new wine, and oil), the offspring of your herds, and the lambs of your flock, in the land that the LORD promised your ancestors he would give you.


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You will be blessed among all the nations. There will be no infertility among you, not even among your herds.


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The LORD will turn aside every disease from you. He will not inflict on you the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but will inflict them instead on all who hate you.


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You are to utterly destroy everyone whom the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not have pity on them nor serve their gods. Otherwise, they will become a snare for you."


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"You may say to yourselves, 'These nations are more numerous than we are. How can we dispossess them?'


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But you must not fear them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.


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Your eyes saw the great trials, the signs and wonders, the awesome power with which the LORD your God brought you out. "The LORD your God will do the same to all the people whom you fear.


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He slowly will dislodge these nations before you, but he will not destroy them quickly, so the wild animals won't multiply around you.


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But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.


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He will deliver kings into your control, and you will wipe out the memory of them from under heaven. No one will be able to stand before you. You are to utterly destroy them.


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Burn the images of their gods in the fire. Desire neither the silver nor the gold that adorns them, nor take them for yourselves, so you won't be ensnared by them, because the gold and silver is detestable to the LORD your God.


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Do not bring any detestable thing to your house, because you yourself will be utterly destroyed along with these detestable things. You must absolutely abhor and detest all of it, because it has been devoted to destruction."


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"Be careful to observe every command that I'm instructing you today, in order that you may live, increase, and enter and take possession of the land that the LORD promised by an oath to your ancestors.


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"Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way these 40 years in the desert, to humble and test you in order to make known what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.


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He humbled you, causing you to be hungry, yet he fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone-instead human beings are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.


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Be convinced in your heart that as a father disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.


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because the LORD your God is bringing you to a good land-a land with rivers and deep springs flowing to the valleys and hills.


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It's a land filled with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It's a land filled with olive oil and honey-


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a land without scarcity. You'll eat food in it and lack nothing. It's a land where its rocks are iron and you can dig copper from its mountains."


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"When you have eaten and are satisfied, bless the LORD your God for the good land that he has given you.


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Be careful! Otherwise, you will forget the LORD your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I'm commanding you this day.


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who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who led you through the vast and dangerous desert, that parched land without water, with its poisonous snakes and scorpions. He brought water out of solid rock for you,


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and fed you in the desert with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, to humble and test you so that things go well with you later.


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But remember the LORD your God, because he is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth, in order to confirm his covenant that he promised by an oath to your ancestors, as is the case today.


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If you neglect the LORD your God, follow other gods, and serve and worship them, I testify to you today that you will certainly be destroyed.


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Just like the nations whom the LORD destroyed before you, so will you be destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD your God."


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"Listen, Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and dispossess greater and mightier nations than you, who live in large cities that are fortified to the sky.


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The Anakim are strong and tall, and you know them. You've heard it said, 'Who can stand up against the Anakim?'


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But know today that the LORD your God is going ahead of you as a consuming fire. He will destroy and subdue them before you. He will dispossess and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD told you.


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After the LORD has expelled them before you, you are not to say to yourselves, 'The LORD caused me to enter and possess this land because of my righteousness.'


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On the contrary, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you to confirm what the LORD promised by an oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


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Know that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving to you this good land to inherit, for you are a stubborn people."


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"Remember-and don't ever forget-how you provoked the LORD your God in the desert. From the day that you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place you have been rebelling against the LORD.


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"Then I went up to the mountain to receive the two stone Tablets of the Covenant that the LORD had established with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights without eating food or drinking water.


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Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets on which God inscribed with his own finger all the words that the LORD spoke to you on the mountain from the middle of the fire that day when you were all assembled together.


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"Then the LORD told me, 'Get going! Go down from here at once! Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned quickly from the way that I commanded them, and have cast an idol for their use.'


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Let me alone! I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I'll make you into a nation that will be mighty and more numerous than they are.'


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"So I turned and went down from the mountain while the mountain was on fire. The two Tablets of the Covenant were in both of my hands.


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Then I saw how you had really sinned against the LORD your God! You had made for yourselves a calf, a cast idol. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD your God had commanded.


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I fell down in the LORD's presence, just as I had the first 40 days and nights. I did not eat food or drink water because of your sin. You had sinned by committing this evil in the sight of the LORD, thereby provoking him to anger.


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I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD against you, because he was irate enough to destroy you. But the LORD also listened to me at that time.


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It was as had been the case with Aaron, the LORD was very angry and about to destroy him, but I prayed for Aaron at that time.


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Now, when you made the calf that made you sin, I grabbed it, burned it with fire, crushed it, and ground it thoroughly until it was pulverized to powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that was flowing from the mountain."


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When the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea and told you, 'Go possess the land that I gave you,' instead you disobeyed what the LORD your God said. You didn't trust him or listen to his voice.


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I fell down in the LORD's presence for 40 days and nights, because the LORD said he was ready to destroy you.


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So I prayed to the LORD and said, 'Oh LORD my God, don't destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed by your power. You brought them out from Egypt in a powerful way.


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Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don't pay attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sinfulness of this people.


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Otherwise, the people of the land from which you brought us will say, "The LORD wasn't able to bring them out of the land that he had promised them. So he brought them out to kill them in the desert because he hated them."


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But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength and awesome power.'"


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"At that time, the LORD told me, 'Chisel two tablets of stone for yourself just like the first ones, and then come up to me on the mountain. Also make for yourself a wooden chest.


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I'll write on the tablets what was on the first tablets that you broke. Then place them in the wooden chest.'


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So I made a chest out of acacia wood and chiseled two tablets of stones just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.


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Then the LORD inscribed on the tablets what he wrote before, that is, the Ten Commandments that the LORD declared to you on the mountain from the middle of the fire during the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me.


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Then I turned and went down the mountain and placed the tablets in the chest that I had made. They are there now, just as the LORD commanded me."


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"The Israelis traveled from the wells of the descendants of Jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died, and he was buried there. His son Eleazar succeeded him as priest.


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At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, to stand in the LORD's presence, to serve, and to bless his name until this day.


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That is why the descendants of Levi do not have a portion and an inheritance among their relatives. As for the LORD, he is their inheritance, just as the LORD your God told them.


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When I stood on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights as I did the first time, the LORD listened to me once again. The LORD was not willing to destroy you.


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So the LORD told me, 'Get up and proceed to lead the people, so they may enter and take possession of the land that I promised to give their ancestors by an oath.'"


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"Now Israel, what does the LORD your God desire from you? Only this: fear him, walk in all his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and in all your life,


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You see, heaven-even the highest heavens-belongs to the LORD, along with the earth and all that is in it,


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yet the LORD committed himself to love your ancestors-and did so! He chose you-their descendants after them-from all the nations, as it is today.


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For the LORD your God is the God of all gods, the LORD of all lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who does not show favoritism or take bribes.


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He executes justice for the orphan and the widows, loves the foreigner, and gives them food and clothing."


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He is the one you are to praise, because he is, your God who carried out those great and awesome things for you that you witnessed.


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Your ancestors went down to Egypt with seventy people, but the LORD your God has now made you as numerous as the stars in the sky."


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"Therefore love the LORD your God and be very careful to keep his injunctions, statutes, ordinances, and commands all the time.


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Keep in mind today that I am not speaking to your children, who neither were aware of nor did they witness the discipline of the LORD your God, that is, his great and far-reaching power,


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including: the signs and works that he did within Egypt to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to all his land;


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what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots, when he caused the waters of the Reed Sea to engulf them as they pursued you; how the LORD destroyed them, even to this day;


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and what he did to Eliab's sons Dathan and Abiram, descendants of Reuben, when the ground opened up and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing belonging to them in the full sight of Israel.


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"Keep all the commands that I'm giving you today, so you can be strong enough to enter and possess the land that you are crossing over to inherit


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and so you'll live long in the land that the LORD your God promised by an oath to give your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.


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For the land that you are about to enter to inherit isn't like the land of Egypt that you just left, where you plant a seed and irrigate it with your feet like a vegetable garden.


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Instead, the land that you are crossing over to inherit is a land of hills and valleys that drinks water supplied by rain from heaven,


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a land about which the LORD your God is continually concerned, because the eyes of the LORD rest continually on it throughout the entire year.


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"If you carefully observe the commands that I'm giving you today, to love the LORD your God and serve him with all your heart and soul,


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then he will send rain on the land in its season-the early and latter rains-then you'll gather grain, new wine, and oil.


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Be careful! Otherwise, your hearts will deceive you and you will turn away to serve other gods and worship them.


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The wrath of God will burn against you so that he will restrain the heavens and it won't rain. The ground won't yield its produce and you'll be swiftly destroyed from the good land that the LORD is about to give you.


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"Take these commands to heart and keep them in mind, tying them as reminders on your arm and as bands on your forehead.


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Teach them to your children, talking about them while sitting in your house, walking on the road, or when you are about to lie down or get up.


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so that you and your children may live long on the land that the LORD promised to give your ancestors-as long as the sky remains above the earth."


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"If you carefully observe all of these commands that I'm giving you to do-to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him,


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then the LORD will dispossess all these nations before you and you'll dispossess nations that are even greater and stronger than you.


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Every place upon which the soles of your feet tread will be yours as boundaries-from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) to the Mediterranean Sea.


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No one will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will instill terror and fear of you throughout the entire land wherever you go, just as he promised you.


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or a curse if you don't obey the commands of the LORD your God, by turning from the way that I'm commanding you today and following other gods whom you have not known."


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"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.


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They're across the Jordan River to the west, aren't they, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?


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For you are about to cross the Jordan River to go in and possess the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to inherit and live in.


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"These are the statutes and ordinances that you must carefully observe in the land that the LORD God of your ancestors has given you to possess every day that you live on the earth.


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Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods-upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.


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Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place."


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Instead, you must seek to enter only the place that the LORD your God will choose among your tribes. There he will establish his name and live.


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Bring your burnt offerings there, along with your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of promises, your freely given offerings, and the first born of your herds and flocks.


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Then you and your household will eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with all the works of your hand with which he blessed you.


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But after you have crossed the Jordan River and settled in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and after you have received relief from the enemies around you and are living securely,


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then bring to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling place-where he will establish his name-everything that I'm commanding you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, all your best offerings in fulfillment of promises that you pledged to the LORD.


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"Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God-you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your city-for there is no territorial allotment for him as you have.


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instead of at the place the LORD will choose in one of the tribal areas. There you may offer burnt offerings, and there you may do everything that I'm commanding you."


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"You may slaughter and eat as much meat as you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, when he provides for you in all your cities. Both ritually unqualified and qualified people may eat it as they would gazelle and deer.


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"You won't be allowed to eat your tithe of grain, new wine, oil, the first born of your herd and flock, your votive offerings that you pledged, your free-will offerings, and the works of your hands in your own cities.


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You'll eat only in the presence of the LORD your God at the place that he will choose-you, your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your cities. Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God in everything you undertake.


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When the LORD your God enlarges your territory-just as he told you-and you say 'I want to eat meat' since you desire to eat it, you may do so as much as you please.


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"If the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish his name is distant from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and your flock what the LORD has provided for you, as he instructed you. You may consume them in your cities as much as you please.


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You may eat them, just as you would gazelle and deer. Ritually unqualified and qualified people may eat them.


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Only be sure to refrain from eating blood, because blood is the source of life and you must not consume blood with the meat.


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You must not eat it, so that life will go well for you and for your children after you. Then you'll do what is right in the eyes of the LORD.


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"You may carry and bring only your consecrated gifts and offerings in fulfillment of promises to the place that the LORD will choose.


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You must offer your burnt offerings, both the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God. You must offer the blood by pouring it on the altar of the LORD your God while you consume the meat.


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Be sure to observe all these words that I'm commanding you, in order that life may go well for you and your children after you forever, for this is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God."


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"When the LORD your God eliminates the nations that you are about to dispossess so you can live in their land,


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after they have been destroyed in your sight, be careful not to be ensnared as they were. Otherwise, you will seek their gods and ask yourselves, 'How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.'


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You must not do the same to the LORD your God, because they practiced in the presence of their gods every sort of abomination that the LORD hates. Moreover, they sacrificed their sons and daughters to their gods.


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Now as to everything I'm commanding you, you must be careful to observe it. Don't add to or subtract from it."


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that takes place, and then he may tell you, 'Let's follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let's serve them.' Even though the sign or portent comes to pass,


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you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that diviner of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to make known whether or not you'll continue to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.


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You must follow the LORD your God, fear him, observe his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him.


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That prophet or diviner of dreams must be executed, because he advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and because he lured you from the way in which the LORD your God instructed you to live. Purge the evil from among you."


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"Your own blood brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your friend who is like your soul mate quietly may entice you. He may tell you, 'Let's go and serve other gods,' (whom neither you nor your ancestors have known


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from the gods of the people that surround you-whether near or far from you-from one end of the earth to the other).


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You must not yield to him, listen to him, look with pity on him, show compassion to him, or even cover up for him.


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But you must surely execute him. You must be the first to put him to death with your own hand, and then the hands of the whole community.


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Stone him to death, because he sought to lure you from the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the land of slavery.


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that worthless men have come from among you to entice those who live in the towns. They may say, 'Let's go and serve other gods that you haven't known.'


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You must thoroughly investigate and inquire if it is true that this detestable thing exists among you. If it is so,


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then put the inhabitants of the town to death by the sword. Devote everything in it to divine destruction-even its livestock-by the sword.


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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.


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Moreover, you must never take any item from those condemned things, so the LORD may yet relent from his burning anger and extend compassion, have mercy, and cause you to increase in number-as he promised by an oath to your ancestors-


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if you obey the voice of the LORD your God by observing all his commands that I'm commanding you today. Do what is right in the sight of the LORD your God."


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"You are children of the LORD your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your foreheads on account of the dead,


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because you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD chose to make you his precious possession from among all the peoples of the earth.


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However, you must not eat these animals that chew the cud or have a divided hoof: the camel, hare, and rock badger. Even though they chew the cud, their hooves are not divided. Therefore they are unclean for you.


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And also the pig, because even though its hoof is divided, it does not chew the cud. It is therefore unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.


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"You must not eat any carcass. But you may give it to the alien in your cities so he may eat it or sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. "You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."


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Then in the presence of the LORD your God, in the place where he'll choose to establish his name, you may consume the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first born of your livestock and flock, so that you'll learn to revere the LORD your God all your life.


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Now the way may be distant from you, so that you are unable to transport your tithe because you have been blessed by the LORD your God and the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish his name may be distant from you.


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In that case, convert it into cash, secure the money, and then bring it to the place where the LORD will choose.


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You may spend the money to your heart's content to buy livestock, flocks, wine, strong drink, and whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there and rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God."


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"But you must not forget the descendant of Levi in your town because there is no tribal allotment for him as there is for you.


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so the descendants of Levi-who have no tribal allotment as you do-foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come, eat, and be satisfied. That way, the LORD your God shall bless you in everything you do."


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This is the way to conduct remission: every creditor must cancel the loan that his friend borrowed, and he must not pressure his friend or brother to repay it, because remission to the LORD will be proclaimed.


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"Moreover, there will be no poor person among you, for the LORD will surely bless you in the land that he is about to give you to possess.


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Only be certain to obey the voice of the LORD your God. Carefully observe all of these commands that I'm commanding to you today.


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For the LORD your God will bless you just as he promised. You are to lend to many nations but not borrow. Also, you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you."


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"If there should be a poor man among your relatives in one of the cities of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor relative.


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"Be careful not to think this wicked thought to yourselves: 'The seventh year, the year of remission, is drawing near,' and you show ill will toward your poor relative and not give to him. He may then call to the LORD on account of you, and you will be guilty of sin.


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You must certainly give to him and not feel regret for doing so. Because of this, the LORD your God will bless all your works and everything you do.


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Since poor people won't cease to exist in the land, therefore I'm commanding you: Be sure to be generous to your poor and needy relatives in your land."


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"When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them free.


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Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the LORD your God has blessed you, so give to them.


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Don't ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore, I'm giving you these commands today.


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"Should that slave say to you, 'I won't leave you,' because he loves you and your household, and it was good for him to be with you,


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then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. Then he will be your slave forever. You may do the same for your female slaves.


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Don't view this as a hardship for yourself when you set him free, for he will have served you for six years-twice the time of a paid worker. Then the LORD will bless you in all that you do."


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"Set apart for the LORD your God every firstborn male among your herd and flock. You must not put the firstborn of your ox to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.


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Then in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household must eat them every year at the place the LORD will choose.


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If it has a blemish-lameness, blindness, or any kind of defect-you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.


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In your cities both the unclean and the clean together are to eat together, as the gazelle and the deer.


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"Observe the month of Abib, keeping the Passover to the LORD your God, because the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt during the night in the month of Abib.


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Then sacrifice sheep and cattle for the Passover to the LORD your God at the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish his name.


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You must not eat any yeast with it. Instead, for seven days eat bread without yeast-the bread of affliction-because you left the land of Egypt in haste. Remember the day you went out of the land of Egypt for the rest of your lives.


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Yeast is not to be seen in any of your territories for seven days. The meat is not to remain from the evening of the first day until morning.


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"You must not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you.


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But at the place where your God will choose to establish his name, you are to sacrifice the Passover in the evening at dusk, at the time of day you left Egypt.


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Boil and eat the Passover meal at the place that the LORD your God will choose. In the morning you may go back to your tents.


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Eat bread without yeast for six days. Then on the seventh day, hold an assembly to the LORD your God. Don't do any work."


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Then observe the Feast of Weeks in the presence of the LORD your God by giving your tribute and the freewill offering of your hands in proportion to the manner in which the LORD your God blessed you.


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Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God with your son, daughter, male and female slaves, the descendant of Levi who is in your city, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow among you, at the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish his name.


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"Celebrate the Feast of Tents for seven days after you harvest from your threshing floor and your wine press.


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Rejoice in your festival-you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the descendants of Levi, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities.


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For seven days you are to celebrate in the presence of the LORD your God at the place where the LORD will choose; for the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in everything you do, and your joy will be complete.


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"Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Seven Weeks, and the Feast of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD's presence empty-handed,


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but each one must appear with his own gift, proportional to the blessing that the LORD your God has given you."


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"Appoint judges and civil servants according to your tribes in all your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you, so they may judge the people impartially.


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You must not twist justice, show favoritism, or take bribes, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the speech of the righteous.


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You are to pursue justice-and only justice-so you may live and possess the land that the LORD your God is about to give you.


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Furthermore, you are not to erect for yourselves a sacred stone pillar, because the LORD your God detests these things.


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You are not to sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has a defect or any flaw it, because that is detestable to the LORD your God."


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"You may discover that a man or woman living in one of your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you has done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God by transgressing his covenant.


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He may be following and serving other gods by bowing down to them-that is, to the sun, the moon, or to any of the heavenly host (something I did not command).


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When it is reported to you or you hear of it, then investigate it thoroughly. When the truth has been established that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,


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summon the man or the woman who did this evil thing to your city gates. Then stone the man or the woman to death.


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Based on the testimony of two or three witnesses, they must surely die. But they are not to die based on the testimony of one person.


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Let the witnesses be the first to begin executing them, then the rest of the people shall follow. By doing this you will purge evil from among you."


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"If a case is too difficult for you to decide with respect to bloodshed, civil claims, assault and battery, or other matters of dispute within your courts, bring it to the place that the LORD your God will choose.


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Present the case to the Levitical priest or the judge at that time. When you have inquired and they have announced the verdict,


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carry out the verdict that was declared to you at the place that the LORD will choose. Carefully observe all of their instructions to you


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in accordance with what the Law says, and in accordance with the verdict that will be handed to you. You must not deviate from the verdict that they declare to you either to the right or to the left.


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"If a man presumptuously disregards the priest who is serving the LORD your God there or the judge, that person must die so you will purge evil from Israel.


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"When you have come to the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, and you have taken possession of it, and have settled in it, then you will say, 'I will appoint a king over me like all the nations around me.'


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You will certainly set a king over you, whom the LORD your God will choose from among your relatives, but you must not place a foreign king over you who is not from your relatives.


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Only he must not amass horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to obtain more horses. For the LORD said you must never return that way again.


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Also, he must not accumulate wives for himself (otherwise, his affection will become diverted), nor accumulate for himself excessive quantities of silver and gold.


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When he occupies his royal throne, he must make a copy of this Law for himself from a scroll used by the Levitical priests.


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It is to remain with him the rest of his life so he may learn to fear the LORD his God and observe all the words of this Law and these statutes, in order to fulfill them.


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He is not to exalt himself over his relatives, nor turn aside from the commandment-neither to the right nor to the left-so that he and his sons may reign long in Israel."


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"The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will not have a portion or an inheritance within Israel. Instead, they will eat the burnt offerings of the LORD, because that is their inheritance.


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But they will not have an inheritance among their relatives, because the LORD alone is their inheritance-as he promised them."


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"A portion of what the people offer in sacrifice, whether cattle or sheep, is to be due the priests. They must set aside the shoulder, jowls, and stomach for the priest.


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For the LORD your God has chosen them and their descendants from among your tribes to stand and serve in the name of the LORD all their lives."


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"Any descendant of Levi who wishes to do so may come from any city or part of Israel where he resides to the place that the LORD will choose.


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There he may serve in the name of the LORD his God. Like his fellow descendants of Levi who stand there in the LORD's presence,


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"When you enter the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't learn the detestable practices of those nations there.


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There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in fire, practices divination, interprets omens, practices sorcery,


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Whoever practices these things is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God will expel them before you because of these things.


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because those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and divination. But the LORD does not allow you to act this way."


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"The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him.


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For this is what you asked from the LORD your God at Horeb when you were assembled together: 'Don't let us hear the voice of the LORD our God again, or even see this great fire-otherwise, we will die.'


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I will raise up a prophet like you from among their relatives, and I will place my words in his mouth so that he may expound everything that I have commanded to them.


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But if someone will not listen to those words that the prophet speaks in my name, I will hold him accountable.


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Even then, if the prophet speaks presumptuously in my name, which I didn't authorize him to speak, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.'


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Whenever a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, and the oracle does not come about or the word is not fulfilled, then the LORD has not spoken it. The prophet will have spoken presumptuously, so you need not fear him."


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"When the LORD your God destroys those nations whose lands he is about to give you, you must dispossess them and live in their cities and houses.


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You must reserve three cities within the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess.


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Build roads throughout the land that the LORD your God is providing as an inheritance, and then divide it into three districts so that any killer may flee there.


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"Now this is the situation for any killer who flees there to live: suppose he strikes his friend unwittingly, not having hated him previously.


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For instance, he may have accompanied his friend to go to a forest to cut trees. Then he swung his axe to cut some wood, but the ax head flew off the handle and hit his friend, so that he died. The killer may flee to one of these cities to live.


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While the distance may be great and the angry avenger pursues the killer, he may overtake him and kill him, in which case there will be no justice in his death, because he did not hate his friend previously.


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" Now if the LORD enlarges your territories just as he promised your ancestors and gives you all the land that he promised,


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and if you are careful to observe all these commands that I am commanding you today-to love the LORD your God and to walk daily in his ways-then add three more cities in addition to these three cities.


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You must not shed innocent blood on your land that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance. Otherwise, you'll be guilty of murder."


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"However, if a person hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, and attacks him so that he dies, and then he flees to one of those cities,


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then the elders of his own city shall send for him, remove him from there, and deliver him to the related avenger for execution.


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Have no pity on him, but totally purge the shedding of innocent blood from Israel so that life may go well with you.


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" When you inherit the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't move your neighbor's boundary marker from where it was placed long ago."


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"The testimony of one person alone is not to suffice to convict anyone of any iniquity, sin, or guilt. But the matter will stand on the testimony of two or three witnesses.


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then both must stand with their dispute in the LORD's presence, the priests, and the judges at that time.


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The judges will investigate thoroughly. If the false witness lies in testifying against his relative,


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do to him just as he intended to do to his relative. By doing this you will purge evil from your midst.


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When others hear of this, they will be afraid and will not do such an evil deed again in your midst.


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Your eyes must not show pity-life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot."


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"When you go to war against your enemies and observe more horses, chariots, and soldiers than you have, don't be afraid of them, for the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt is with you.


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He will say to them, 'Listen, Israel! You're about to go into battle today against your enemies. Don't be faint-hearted. Don't be afraid, don't panic, and don't be terrified to face them.


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For the LORD your God will be with you, fighting on your behalf against your enemies in order to grant you victory.'


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"Furthermore, let the officials ask the army, 'Is there a man here who has built a new house but has not yet dedicated it? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man dedicate it.


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"'And is there a man here who has planted a vineyard and not yet benefited from it? Let him go home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man use it.


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"'And is there a man here who is engaged to a woman and has not yet married her? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man marry her.'


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"Let the officials also speak to the army, 'Is there a man here who is afraid and faint-hearted? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may demoralize his fellow soldier.'


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"When the officials have finished speaking to the army, they must appoint officers to lead the troops."


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If it agrees to peace and welcomes you, then all the people found in it will serve you as forced laborers.


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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.


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Do this to all the cities that are distant from you-that is, to those cities that are not in neighboring nations."


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"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.


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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,


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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."


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"When you attack a city and have to fight against it for many days, don't destroy its trees by cutting them down with an ax. You may eat from them, but you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human beings, that you would come and attack them?


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However, you may cut down the trees whose fruit you know isn't edible, in order to build siege works against the city that waged war with you, until it falls."


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"If a murder victim is found fallen in the open country of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,


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then let your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the dead body to the neighboring cities.


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Then the elders of the city nearest the body are to take a heifer that hasn't been put to work or hasn't pulled a yoke


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and shall lead the heifer to a flowing stream in a valley that has never been tilled or planted. They shall break the heifer's neck there.


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"Then the priests of the sons of Levi will step forward, because the LORD your God chose them to serve and pronounce blessings in his name. Every case of dispute and assault is to be subject to their ruling.


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All the elders of the city nearest the dead body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,


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and they are to make this declaration: 'Our hands didn't shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to the crime.


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Make atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and don't charge the blood of an innocent man against them.' Then the blood shed will be atoned for.


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This is how you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right in the sight of the LORD."


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"If you go to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your control, you may take some prisoners captive.


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If you see among the prisoners a beautiful woman and you desire her, then you may take her as your wife.


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Remove her prisoner's clothing and let her remain for a month in your house, mourning her parents. After that, you may become her husband and she is to become your wife.


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If you aren't pleased with her and you send her away, you must not sell her for money or mistreat her, since you have dishonored her."


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"If a man has two wives where one is loved but the other is unloved, and both of them bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife,


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then when he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, he must not give preference to the firstborn of the beloved wife over the firstborn of the unloved wife.


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Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn of the unloved wife by giving him double of everything he owns, because he is really the first fruit of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him."


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"If a man has a stubborn son who does not obey his parents, and although they try to discipline him, he still refuses to pay attention to them,


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Then they are to declare to the elders of their city: 'Our son is stubborn and rebellious. He does not obey us. He lives wildly and is a drunkard.'


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Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones so that he dies. This is how you will remove this evil from among you. Then all Israel will hear of it and will be afraid."


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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."


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"When you see the ox or sheep of your fellow countryman straying, don't go away and leave them. Instead, be sure to return them to him.


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If your fellow countryman doesn't live near you or you don't know who he is, bring the animal to your house and let it remain with you until he claims it. Then return it to him.


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Do the same for his donkey, his garment, and for anything lost that belongs to your fellow countryman. When you find it, you must not ignore it.


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When you see the donkey or the ox of your fellow countryman fallen on the road, don't ignore them. Instead be sure to help them get up."


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"A woman must not wear what is appropriate to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, because anyone who does this is detestable to the LORD your God.


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"When you encounter a bird's nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother bird is sitting on its chicks or eggs, don't take the mother along with its young.


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You may take the young but be sure to release the mother, so that life will go well for you and that you may have a long life.


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"When you build a new house, install a parapet along your roof so that if someone falls from the roof, you won't bring guilt of bloodshed on your house."


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"Don't plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, the entire crop will have to be forfeited, both the seed that you have sown and the produce from it.


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invents charges against her, and defames her by saying, 'I have married this woman, but when I had sexual relations with her I found that she wasn't a virgin.'


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"Then the father of the young lady, along with her mother, is to bring evidence of the young lady's virginity to the elders at the gate.


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The father of the young lady is to then say to the elders: 'I have given my daughter to this man as a wife, but he despises her.


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Now look, he has invented charges against her by saying, "I haven't found your daughter to be a virgin." But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they are to spread the cloth before the elders of the city.


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fine him 100 shekels of silver, and then give them to the young lady's father, because he had defamed a virgin of Israel. She is to remain his wife and he can't divorce her as long as he lives.


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they are to bring her to the door of her father's house. Then the men of the city shall stone her with boulders until she dies for doing a detestable thing in Israel-acting like a prostitute while in her father's house. By doing this, you will remove this evil from among you.


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"If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman, then both of them must die-the man who had sex with the woman and the woman herself-so that this evil will be removed from Israel.


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"If a man meets a young virgin lady engaged to be married in the city and has sexual relations with her,


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then the two must be brought to the city gate and there they must be stoned to death-the girl because she was in a city but did not cry out for help, and the man who abused a woman who was engaged to another man. By doing this you are to remove this evil from among you.


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"If a man meets a girl in the country who is engaged to be married and then rapes her, the man alone-the one who had sexual relations with her-must die.


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As for the young lady, don't do anything to her. The young lady did nothing worthy of death. This case is similar to when a man attacks his countryman and kills him.


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Since he found her in the country, the engaged girl may have cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.


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"However, if a man meets a girl who isn't engaged to be married, and he seizes her, rapes her, and is later found out,


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then the man who raped her must give 50 shekels of silver to the girl's father. Furthermore, he must marry her. Because he had violated her, he is to not divorce her as long as he lives.


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"No man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may participate in the assembly of the LORD.


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Furthermore, no one born due to an illicit sexual relationship may participate in the assembly of the LORD, including his descendants to the tenth generation.


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"No Ammonite or Moabite may participate in the assembly of the LORD, and none of their descendants shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD, to the tenth generation,


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because they didn't come to meet you with food and water along the way as you were coming out of Egypt. Instead, they hired Beor's son Balaam from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.


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However, the LORD your God didn't listen to Balaam. The LORD your God turned Balaam's curse into a blessing, because the LORD your God loves you.


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"Don't detest Edomites, since they are related to you. Don't detest Egyptians, either, because you were strangers in their land.


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"When you are encamped for battle against your enemies, be on guard against every form of impropriety.


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If someone among you becomes unclean due to nocturnal emissions, he must leave the camp and stay outside.


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Include a spade among your equipment so that when you squat to relieve yourself, you can dig a hole and then cover your excrement.


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For the LORD your God is on the move within your camp to deliver you and to hand your enemies over to you. Therefore your camp must be holy so that he will not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you. "


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Let him live among you wherever he chooses in any of your cities that he likes. Don't mistreat him."


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Don't bring the earnings of a female prostitute nor the income of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God as payment for any vow. Both of these are detestable to the LORD your God."


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"Don't charge interest to your relatives, whether for money, food, or for anything that has been loaned at interest.


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You may charge interest to a foreigner, but don't charge interest to your relatives, so the LORD your God may bless you in everything you undertake in the land that you are about to enter and possess.


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"When you make a vow to the LORD your God, don't delay paying it, because the LORD your God will certainly demand payment from you, and then you will be guilty of sin.


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Be sure you do whatever you promise, because you have given your word voluntarily to the LORD your God.


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"When you enter your countrymen's vineyard, you may eat the grapes to your satisfaction, but don't take any in a basket.


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When you enter your countrymen's grain fields, you may pluck the grain with your hand, but don't put a sickle to his standing grain."


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"If a man chooses to enter into marriage with a woman, but she finds herself displeasing to him because he has found something objectionable about her, he must draw up divorce papers, hand them to her, and then send her out of his house.


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and this second husband dislikes her, he, also, must draw up divorce papers, hand them to her, and then send her away from his house. Should the second husband die,


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her first husband who married her and divorced her earlier must not remarry her, because she was defiled, since this is detestable to the LORD. Don't defile the land that the LORD your God is about to give you as a possession.


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"When a man is newly married, he must not be sent out to war or have a related duty placed on him. Let him stay home for one year and be happy with his wife whom he has married.


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"Don't take a pair of millstones, especially the upper millstone, as collateral for a loan, because this means taking a man's livelihood.


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"If a man is found kidnapping his relative, a fellow Israeli, and mistreats or sells him, that kidnapper must die. By doing this, you will remove this evil from among you.


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"In cases of leprosy, be very careful to observe exactly what the Levitical priests instructed you. Carefully follow what I have commanded them.


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"When you loan something to your neighbor, don't enter his house to seize what he offered as collateral.


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Be sure to return his garment to him at sunset so that he may sleep with it, and he will bless you. It will be a righteous deed in the presence of the LORD your God.


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"Don't take advantage of a hired person who is poor and needy, whether he's your fellow citizen or a foreigner who lives in your city.


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Pay his wages that same day before the sun sets, because he is poor and his livelihood depends on it. Otherwise, he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will incur guilt."


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"Fathers must not be put to death on account of their children's sin; nor shall children die on account of their fathers' sin. Each person is to be put to death for his own sin.


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"Don't deny justice to a foreigner or to an orphan, nor take a widow's garment as collateral for a loan.


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Remember to observe this because you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do this.


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"When you are reaping in the field, and you overlook a sheaf, don't return to get it. Let it remain for the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless everything you undertake.


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"When you harvest the olives from your trees, don't go back to the branches a second time. What remains is for the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow.


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"When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, don't go back a second time. What remains are for the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow.


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Remember to do this because you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I'm commanding you to do this."


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"When there is a conflict between individuals, let them come to court to judge the case, decide who is innocent, and condemn the guilty person.


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If the guilty person deserves a beating, the judge will make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes fit for his crime.


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But he must not be beaten more than 40 lashes, because if he receives more than 40 lashes, your brother will be humiliated in your eyes.


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"When two brothers are living together and one of them dies without leaving a son, his widow must not be married outside the family to a foreigner. Instead, the brother-in-law must go to her, take her as his wife, and by doing so perform the duty of a brother-in-law.


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The firstborn whom she will bear will continue the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be erased from Israel.


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But if the man does not want to marry his brother's widow, then she must go to the elders at the city gate and declare, 'My husband's brother refuses to perform the duty of a brother-in-law in order to preserve the name of his brother in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law.'


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Then the elders of the city are to summon him and speak with him. If he insists on saying, 'I don't want to marry her,'


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then she is to approach her brother-in-law in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and say in response, 'May this be done to the man who does not preserve the lineage of his brother.'


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"If two men are fighting together, and the wife of one comes to rescue her husband from the grasp of his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes his genitals,


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You must have honest weights and measuring devices, so you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you,


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how when you were very tired and weary, they lay in wait for you on the road and eliminated everyone who was lagging behind. They had no fear of God.


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Therefore, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies who surround you in the land that he is about to give you to possess as an inheritance, you must completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven. Don't forget!"


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"When you arrive in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance, take possession of it and settle in it.


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Gather all the first produce of the ground that you harvest from your land that the LORD your God is about to give you, place it in a basket, and bring it to the place where the LORD your God will choose to establish his name.


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Approach the priest who is in charge at that time and say to him, 'I acknowledge today to the LORD your God that I've arrived in the land that the LORD promised our ancestors to give us.'


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"Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it in front of the altar of the LORD your God.


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Then you are to affirm and declare in the presence of the LORD your God: A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, who went down to Egypt and traveled there with very few family members, yet there he became a great, powerful, and populous nation.


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So we cried out to the LORD God of our ancestors, and he heard our cries and observed our affliction, trouble, and oppression.


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Now, look-I brought the first produce of the land that you, LORD, have given me. Then set it in the presence of the LORD your God and worship him.


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Rejoice with the descendants of Levi and the foreigner among you at all the good things that the LORD your God has given you and your family. "


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"When you have finished your harvest, reserve the tithe in the third year (the year of the tithe), and give the entire tithe to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows, so they may eat and be satisfied in your cities.


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Then declare in the presence of the LORD your God: 'I've removed the holy offering from my house and given it to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows just as you have commanded me. I haven't violated or forgotten your commands.


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I haven't eaten any part of it while mourning, nor removed any part of it while unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I've obeyed the voice of the LORD my God and did all that he commanded me.


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Look down from your holy habitation in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land that you have given us, just as you promised our ancestors-a land flowing with milk and honey.'"


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"The LORD your God is commanding you this very day to observe these statutes and judgments. Be careful to obey them with all your heart and soul.


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You have declared this very day that the LORD will be your God. You are to walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commands, and judgments, and obey his voice.


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so he may elevate you far above all the nations that he has made. Then you will live to the praise, fame, and glory of God, and so be a nation that is holy to the LORD your God, as he has promised."


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Moses and the elders of Israel gave these orders to the people: "Observe all of the commandments that I'm giving you today.


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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.


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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.


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"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.


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Then build an altar there to the LORD your God, an altar of stones that hasn't been worked with iron tools.


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Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to Israel. They said, "Be quiet and listen, Israel! Today you have become the people of the LORD your God.


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"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.


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The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali are to stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curse.


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"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!'


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"Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother with dishonor.' "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's boundary stone.' "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road. "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"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!'


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"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!'


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"Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with any animal. "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"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!'


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"Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law. "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"Cursed is one who strikes his neighbor secretly. "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"Cursed is one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person. "Then all the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'


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"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!'"


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"Indeed, if you diligently obey the LORD your God to carry out all his commands that I'm giving you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.


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"Blessed 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.


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"The LORD will make your enemies, who rise against you and attack from one direction, to flee from you in seven directions.


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"The LORD will send blessings for you with regard to your barns and everything you undertake. Indeed, he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you.


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"The LORD will assign you to be a holy people for himself, just as he promised you, as long as you keep his commands and walk in his ways.


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"Then all the people of the earth will observe that the name of the LORD is proclaimed among you, and they will fear you.


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"The LORD will show his abundant goodness with respect to your children, the offspring of your animals, and the produce of your farmland that he promised your ancestors he would give you.


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"The LORD will open his rich treasury, the heavens, to release rain upon your land in season and bless everything you undertake so that you'll lend to many nations but won't borrow.


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"The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail-placing you above and not beneath-if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I'm giving you today to keep and observe.


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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."


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"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.


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"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.


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"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.


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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.


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The LORD will afflict you with tuberculosis, fever, inflammation, high fever, drought, blight, and mildew. These will attack you until you are completely destroyed.


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The LORD will change the rain on your land to powder and dust. It will come down from the sky until you are exterminated."


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"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.


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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.


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"The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, skin disease, and festering rashes, and none of them will be curable.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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A people whom you don't know will devour what your land and labor produces. You'll be only oppressed and discouraged continually


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"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.


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"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.


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You'll become a desolation and a proverb, and you'll be mocked among the people where the LORD will drive you."


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"You'll plant many seeds in a field, but your harvest will be small because the locust will consume it.


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You'll plant a vineyard, but you won't drink wine or harvest any grapes, because worms will consume it.


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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.


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The foreigner in your midst will be elevated higher and higher over you, while you are brought low little by little.


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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.


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"Because you didn't serve the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly, despite the abundance of everything you have,


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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.


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"The LORD will raise a distant nation against you from the other side of the earth. Swooping down like a vulture,


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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.


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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.


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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.


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"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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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."


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"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


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then he will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses.


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Moreover, the LORD will inflict you with illnesses and plagues that were not written in this Book of the Law, until you are exterminated.


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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.


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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."


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"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.


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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.


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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.


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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."


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These are the terms of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelis in the land of Moab in addition to the covenant that he made with them in Horeb.


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Moses called all Israel together and addressed them: "You saw everything that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his whole country.


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Yet to this day, the LORD hasn't given you a heart that understands, eyes that perceive, and ears that discern.


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You didn't have bread to eat or wine or anything intoxicating to drink, so that you would learn that I am the LORD your God.


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Then you reached this place, where King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan had come out to meet and fight with us, but we defeated them.


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We captured their land and handed it as an inheritance to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh.


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Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant, carrying them out so that you'll be wise in everything you do."


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"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,


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


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to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God and into the oath that he is about to make with you today,


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so that he will elevate you to be a people for him. And he will be God to you, just as he promised you and swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


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but with whoever is here with us standing in the presence of the LORD our God today, as well as with those who aren't here with us today."


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"Now, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the territory of other nations.


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You have seen their detestable practices, their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold that they had with them.


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Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or a tribe whose heart is turning away from the LORD your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. "Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit,


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because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say: 'I will have a peaceful life, even though I'm determined to be stubborn.' By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.'


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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.


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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."


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"Then the generation to come-your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar-will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the LORD will inflict on it.


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The whole land will be covered with salt pits and burning sulfur, with nothing planted, nothing sprouting, and producing no vegetation-overthrown like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, when the LORD had overthrown them in his raging fury.


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All the nations will ask, 'Why did the LORD do this to this land? What is the meaning of this fierce and great anger?'


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Then they will answer themselves, 'Because they've abandoned the covenant of their LORD, the God of their ancestors that he had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.


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For this reason, the anger of the LORD raged against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that were written in this book.


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The LORD uprooted them from the land in his anger, wrath, and great fury, deporting them to another land, and that's the way things are today.'


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The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but what has been revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, so that we might observe the words of this Law."


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"When all these things happen to you-both the blessings and the curses that I've presented to you-and you take them seriously in all the nations where the LORD your God will deport you,


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and when you-you and your descendants, that is-will have returned to him and obeyed all the commands that I'm giving you today with all your heart and soul,


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then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and will show compassion to you. He will gather you from among the peoples where he had scattered you.


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Even if the LORD had banished you to the ends of the heavens, the LORD your God will gather you from there


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and he'll bring you to the land that your ancestors inherited. You'll possess it, you'll prosper, and you'll greatly multiply more than your ancestors did.


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Then the LORD your God will circumcise both your hearts and those of your descendants so that you can love him with your heart and with your soul and therefore live.


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Then the LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you."


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and the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all that you do, along with your children, your livestock, and the produce of your fields. For the LORD your God will again be delighted with you for good, just as he was delighted with your ancestors,


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if you obey him and keep his commands and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you return to him with all your heart and soul.


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They aren't in the heavens, so you have to ask, 'Who'll go up to the heavens for us and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?'


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And they aren't beyond the seas either, so you have to ask, 'Who'll cross the sea and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?'


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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.


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"But if you turn your heart away, and do not obey, but instead if you stray away to worship and serve other gods,


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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.


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"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.


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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."


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and the LORD told me, 'You won't be crossing the Jordan River.' But the LORD your God is crossing over before you. He will destroy these nations in front of you and you will dispossess them. "As for Joshua, he will cross over before you, just as the LORD promised.


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The LORD will do to them just as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when he destroyed them.


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Be strong and courageous. Don't fear or tremble before them, because the LORD your God will be the One who keeps on walking with you-he won't leave you or abandon you."


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Then Moses called on Joshua and told him in the presence of everyone in Israel, "Be strong and courageous, because you'll bring this people to the land that the LORD your God had promised to give your ancestors. You will be the one who causes them to possess it.


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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."


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Then 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.


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Then he gave these orders: "At the end of seven years, the year designated for release, during the Feast of Tents,


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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.


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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.


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Their children who don't know will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan River to possess."


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Then the LORD told Moses: "Look! Because your time to die is approaching, call Joshua, present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, and then I will commission him." Moses and Joshua complied and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.


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Then the LORD told Moses: "Look! You are about to join your ancestors. Afterwards, this people will rebel and commit prostitution with the foreign gods of the land that they are about to enter to possess. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I made with them.


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When that happens, my anger will burn against them, because they will have abandoned me. I'll hide my face from them, they will be consumed, and many evils and distresses will find them. When this happens, they will say, 'These troubles have happened to us because God isn't among us.'


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I'll surely hide my face in that day on account of the evil that they will have done for they turned to other gods."


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"Now write this song and teach it to the Israelis. Put this song in their very mouths, so that it will be a witness for me against the Israelis,


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because after I've brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey that I promised to their ancestors by an oath, they'll eat, grow fat, and then they'll turn to other gods and serve them, while despising me and breaking my covenant.


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Then, when many evils and troubles will have come upon them, this song will serve as a witness against them, since their descendants won't fail to sing it. I know the plan that they are devising even before I bring them into the land that I promised them by an oath."


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Then the LORD charged Nun's son Joshua, "Be strong and courageous, because you'll bring the Israelis to the land that I promised to them by an oath. I'll be with you."


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"Take the book of this Law and set it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God. Let it remain there with you as witness against you,


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because indeed I know your rebellion and stubbornness. Note that even while I'm still alive, you've been rebelling against the LORD-how much more so after my death!


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Gather together the leaders of your tribes and your foremen so I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and the earth as witnesses against them,


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because I know that after my death, you'll surely act wickedly and turn from the road that I've instructed you. As a result, evil will fall on you in days to come, because you'll act wickedly in the sight of the LORD, causing him to become angry due to your behavior."


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May my instructions descend like rain and may my words flow like dew, as light rain upon the grass, and as showers upon new plants.


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Flawless is the work of the Rock, because all his ways are just. A faithful God-never unjust-righteous and upright is he.


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But those who are not his children acted corruptly against him; they are a defective and perverted generation.


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This is not the way to repay the LORD, is it, you foolish and witless people? Is he not your father, who bought you, formed you, and established you?


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Remember the days of old, reflect on the years of previous generations. Ask your father, and he'll tell you; your elders will inform you.


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When the Most High gave nations as their inheritance, when he separated the human race, he set boundaries for the people according to the number of the children of God.


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The LORD found him in a desert land, in a barren, eerie wilderness. He surrounded, cared for, and guarded him as the pupil of his eye.


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Like an eagle stirs its nest, hovering near its young, spreading out his wings to take him and carry him on his pinions,


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He mounted him on a high place above the earth, feeding him from the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and with oil from the flint rock,


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with curds from cattle and with milk from sheep, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, with the fat of goats, with the finest of wheat-and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.


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Jacob dined until satisfied; Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. He grew fat, coarse, and gross, so that he abandoned the God who made him and spurned the Rock that was his salvation.


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They sacrificed to demons-not to the real God-gods whom they didn't know, new neighbors who had recently appeared, whom your ancestors never feared.


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So he said: "Let me hide my face from them. I will observe what their end will be, because they are a perverted generation, children within whom there is no loyalty.


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They provoked me to jealousy over non-gods, and to be angry over their vanity. Now I'll provoke them to jealousy over a non-people; and over a foolish nation I'll provoke them to anger.


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For a fire breaks out in my anger-burning to the deepest part of Sheol, consuming the earth and its produce and igniting the foundations of the mountains.


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Emaciated from famine, feverish from plague, and destroyed by bitterness, I'll send fanged beasts against them, along with poisonous snakes that glide through the dust.


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Outside, the sword will cause bereavement; within, there will be terror for the young man and virgin alike, also for the nursing infant and the aged man."


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if it weren't for dreading the taunting of their enemies-otherwise, their adversary might misinterpret and say, 'Our power is great. It isn't the LORD who made all of this happen.'"


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How can one person chase a thousand of them and two put a myriad to flight, unless their Rock delivers them and the LORD gives them up?


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Instead, their vine is from the vines of Sodom and the vineyards of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters bitter.


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To me belong vengeance and recompense. In due time their feet will slip, because their time of calamity is near and the things prepared for them draw near.


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For the LORD will vindicate his people and bring comfort to his servants, because he will observe that their power has waned, when neither prisoner nor free person remain.


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Who ate the fat of their offerings and drank the wine that was their drink offering? Let them rise and help you and be your hiding place!'


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"Look now! I AM, and there is no other god besides me. I myself cause death and I sustain life; I wound severely and I also heal; from my power no one can deliver.


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I'll whet my shining sword, with my hands in firm grasp of judgment. I'll show vengeance on my adversary and repay those who keep on hating me.


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I'll make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword will devour flesh, along with the blood of the slain, and I'll take their enemy leaders captive.'


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"Sing for joy, nations! Sing for joy, people who belong to him! For he'll avenge the blood of his servants, turn on his adversary, and cleanse both his land and his people."


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So Moses and Nun's son Joshua came and recited all the words of this song while the people were assembled.


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he told them, "Take to heart my entire testimony against you today. Command your children to observe carefully every word of this Law,


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because they're not just empty words for you-they are your very life. Through these instructions you will live long in the land that you are about to cross over the Jordan River to possess."


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"Ascend this Abarim mountain range toward Mount Nebo in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and look out over the land of Canaan that I'm about to give to the Israelis as a possession.


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You will die on the mountain that you are about to ascend and be taken to be with your ancestors, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was taken to be with his ancestors.


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Both of you acted unfaithfully against me among the Israelis at Meribah-kadesh in the desert of Sin, when you failed to uphold my holiness among the Israelis.


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You'll see the land from a distance, but you won't be able to enter the land that I am about to give to the Israelis."


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He said: "The LORD came from Sinai. Rising from Seir upon us, he shone forth from Mount Paran, accompanied by a myriad of his holy ones, with flaming fire from his right hand for them.


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Indeed, lover of people, all of his holy ones are in your control. They gather at your feet to do as you have instructed.


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The LORD was king of Jeshurun when the leaders of the people-all the tribes of Israel-gathered together."


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He declared this about Judah: "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah and return him to his people. With his own strength he fights for himself, and you will be of assistance against his enemies."


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About Levi he said: "Let your Thummim and Urim be with the man to whom you showed gracious love, whom you tested at Massah and with whom you struggled at the waters of Meribah,


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the one who told his mother and father, 'I don't know them,' and who would neither acknowledge his brothers nor know his own children. For they kept your word and guarded your covenant.


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They will teach your ordinances to Jacob, and your Law to Israel. They will offer incense as a pleasant aroma to you and a whole burnt offering upon your altar.


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LORD, bless his substance and approve the work that he undertakes. Shatter the legs of those who oppose against him; may those who hate him stand no more."


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About Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the LORD will live confidently, the Most High protecting him all day long, and resting in his bosom."


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About Joseph he said: "May the blessing of the LORD be on his land: dew from the choicest of the heavens, and from the depths beneath;


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from the choicest of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of the One who lived in the burning bush. May blessing rest on Joseph's head, and on the crown of the head of the one set apart from his brothers.


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May the firstborn of his bull be honorable to him, and may his horns be those of a wild ox. With them may he push people all together, to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh."


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They will call the peoples to the mountain, and there they will offer righteous sacrifices, for they'll draw from the abundance of the sea and from the hidden treasures of the sand."


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About Gad he said: "Blessed be the One who enlarges Gad! Like a roaring lion, he crouches, tearing arm and scalp.


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He chose the best part for himself, when the leader's portion was assigned. He came at the head of the people, carrying out the LORD's justice and his ordinances concerning Israel."


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About Naphtali he said: "Naphtali, full of favor and the LORD's blessing, take possession of the west and south."


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About Asher he said: "May Asher be blessed, along with his descendants, may his brothers be pleased with him, may he dip his feet in oil,


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may your bolts be made of iron and bronze, and may your strength be sufficient for each day you live."


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"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens with its lofty clouds to help you.


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The God of old is a dwelling place, with everlasting arms underneath. He drove out your enemies before you and said: 'Destroy them!'


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So Israel lives in confidence, isolated as the fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens rain down dew.


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How blessed are you, Israel! Who can be like you, a people delivered by the LORD, your shield of help and your finely crafted sword. May your enemies cower before you. You will tread down their high places.


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Moses ascended from the desert plain of Moab toward Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the entire land, from Gilgal as far as Dan,


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all of Naphtali, the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh, and the entire territory of Judah all the way to out over the sea,


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including the Negev, the Arabah, the valley of Jericho, and the city of the palm trees as far as Zoar.


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Then the LORD told him: "This is the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by an oath when I said, 'I'll give it to your descendants.' I'll let you see it with your eyes, but you won't cross over there."


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He was buried in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Moab, but no one knows to this day where his burial place is.


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Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight wasn't impaired and he was still vigorous and strong.


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The Israelis mourned for Moses at the desert plain of Moab for 30 days, after which the period of mourning for Moses was completed.


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Now Nun's son Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had placed his hands on him, so Israelis listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.


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What signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do throughout the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all of his servants who lived in the whole land!


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After Moses, the servant of the LORD, had died, the LORD spoke to Nun's son Joshua, announcing to him,


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"My servant Moses is dead. Now get ready to cross the Jordan River-you and all the people-to the land that I'm giving the Israelis.


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Your territorial border will extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon Mountains, from the great River Euphrates-all the land of the Hittites-as far as the Mediterranean Sea where the sun sets.


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No one will be victorious against you for the rest of your life. I'll be with you just like I was with Moses-I'll neither fail you nor abandon you.


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"Be strong and courageous, because you'll be leading this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors.


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Only be strong and very courageous to ensure that you obey all the instructions that my servant Moses gave you-turn neither to the right nor to the left from it-so that you may succeed wherever you go.


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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.


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"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."


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"Go through the camp," he said, "and command the people, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, because within three days you'll be crossing the Jordan River to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you-so go get it!'"


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"Remember what Moses commanded you when he said, 'The LORD your God will provide you rest, as well as this land.'


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Your wives, your young children, and your livestock will remain in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan River, but you and all your warriors will cross, ready for battle, in full view of your relatives, and you will help them


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until the LORD gives relief to your relatives, as he did to you. Then they'll take the land that the LORD your God is giving them as their inheritance. You'll return to the land of your heritage and receive the inheritance that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan River, in the direction of the sunrise."


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We'll listen and obey you in everything, just like we did with Moses. Only may the LORD your God be with you, just as he was with Moses.


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Anyone who rebels against what you say and doesn't listen to your words regarding everything that you command will be executed. Only be strong and courageous."


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After this, Nun's son Joshua sent two men from the Acacia groves as undercover scouts. He told them, "Go and look over the land. Pay special attention to Jericho." So they went out, came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and lodged there.


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So the king of Jericho sent for Rahab and ordered her, "Bring out the men who came to visit you and lodged in your house, because they've come to scout out the entire land."


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Now the woman had taken the two men and hid them. So she replied, "The men really did come to me, but I didn't know from where they came.


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At dusk, when it was time to close the city gates, the men left. I don't know where the men went. Go after them quickly, and you might overtake them."


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But she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them among stalks of flax that she had laid out in order on the roof.


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So the men pursued them along the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan River. As soon as the search party had left, they shut the city gate after them.


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"I'm really convinced that the LORD has given you the land," she said, "because we're overwhelmed with fear of you. All the other inhabitants of the land are demoralized at your presence,


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because we heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Reed Sea right in front of you as you were coming out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan River-to Sihon and Og-whom you completely destroyed.


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When we heard these reports, we all became terrified and discouraged because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath.


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Now therefore, since I've treated you so kindly, please swear in the name of the LORD that you'll also be kind to my father's household by giving me this sure sign:


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Spare my father, my mother, and my brothers and sisters, along with everyone who belongs with them so we won't be killed."


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So the men told her, "Our life for yours-even to death-if you don't betray this mission of ours. Then when the LORD gives us this land, we'll treat you graciously and faithfully."


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So she let them down by a rope through the window, since her house was built into the town wall where she lived.


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She told them, "Go out to the hill country, so the search party won't find you, and hide for three days. After that, you may go on your own way."


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when we invade the land, if you don't tie this rope made with red cords in the window through which you let us down, and if you don't gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of the rest of your father's household into your house.


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Everyone who leaves through the doors of your house into the street will be responsible for his own death, but we'll be responsible for anyone who remains with you in the house if even so much as a hand is laid on him.


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"Since you put it that way," she replied, "I agree." After she sent them on their way and they had left, she tied the red cord in the window.


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The scouts left for the hill country and remained there for three days until the search party returned. The search party searched the entire road, but was unable to find them.


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Later, the two men returned from the hill country, crossed over the Jordan River, approached Nun's son Joshua, and told him everything that had happened to them.


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They reported to Joshua, "The LORD really has given the entire land into our control. The inhabitants of the land have melted away right in front of us!"


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Joshua 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.


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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.


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Be sure to keep a distance of about 1,000 yards between you and it. Don't come near it, so you can be certain where you're going, since you haven't passed this way before."


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Then Joshua addressed the people: "Consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow the LORD will do marvelous things among you."


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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.


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At this point, the LORD told Joshua, "Today I'm going to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they'll be sure that I'm going to be with you just as I was with Moses.


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Give this command to the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant: 'When you arrive at the water of the Jordan River, stand still in the Jordan.'"


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Joshua continued, "This is how you'll know that the living God really is among you: he's going to remove the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites right in front of you.


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Look! The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing ahead of you into the Jordan River.


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When the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, touch the water in the Jordan River, the water that feeds the Jordan will be cut off from above and they'll stand still in a single location."


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So 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.


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When the priests who carried the ark entered the Jordan River, as their feet touched the water's edge (The Jordan River overflows all of its banks daily during the harvest season.),


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the water flowing downstream from above stood still in a single location, a great distance away at Adam, a city near Zarethan. The water that flowed south toward the sea in the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.


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The priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan River, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan River.


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As soon as the entire nation had completed its crossing of the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua. He said,


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and tell them, 'Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet were standing, bring them along with you, and put them down where you camp tonight.'"


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So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the people of Israel, one man from each tribe.


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Joshua told them, "Cross over again in front of the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan River. Then each of you pick up a stone on his shoulder with which to build a memorial, one for each of the tribes of Israel.


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Let this serve as a sign among you, so that when your children ask in times to come, 'What do these stones mean to you,'


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then you'll say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan River were cut off in front of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan River, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones will become a memorial to the Israelis forever."


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The Israelis did just as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River-just as the LORD had spoken to Joshua-according to the number of the tribes of the Israelis, and they carried them over to where they would be pitching camp, and they put them down there.


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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.


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The 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.


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When all of the people had completed their crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in full view of the people.


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Just as Moses had directed, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, dressed in battle regalia, in full view of the other Israelis.


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About 40,000 soldiers equipped to do battle in the LORD's presence crossed over to the desert plains of Jericho.


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That day, the LORD exalted Joshua in the presence of all Israel so that they revered him just as they had revered Moses throughout his life.


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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.


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The people came up from the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern outskirts of Jericho.


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Then he told the Israelis, "When your descendants ask their parents in years to come, 'What is the meaning of these stones?'


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because the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan River right in front of you, until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God had done to the Reed Sea-which he had dried up in front of us until we had crossed it also.'


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Do this so that all of the people of the earth may know how strong the power of the LORD is, and so that you may fear the LORD your God every day."


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All the Amorite kings who lived across the Jordan River to the west and all the Canaanite kings by the Mediterranean Sea became discouraged as soon as they heard that the LORD had dried up the water of the Jordan River for the people of Israel until they had crossed it. They no longer had a will to fight because of the people of Israel.


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At that time the LORD told Joshua, "Make for yourselves some flint knives and circumcise the Israelis who haven't been circumcised yet."


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Joshua circumcised them because all of the males among the people who came out of Egypt-that is, all the warriors-had died during their journey through the wilderness following their departure from Egypt.


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Although everyone who had left Egypt had been circumcised, nevertheless all the people born during the journey after their departure from Egypt had not been circumcised.


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The Israelis traveled 40 years in the wilderness until the entire nation-that is, the warriors who had departed from Egypt-had perished because they hadn't listened to the voice of the LORD. The LORD had promised them that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to give us, a land that flows with milk and honey.


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As a result, it was their descendants, whom he raised up to take their place, that Joshua circumcised. They had remained uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised during their journey.


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When the circumcision of the entire nation was complete, they remained in their places within the camp until they were healed.


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Then the LORD told Joshua, "Today I have rolled the disgrace of Egypt away from you." That's why that place is called "Gilgal" to this day.


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While the Israelis remained encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they observed the Passover during the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.


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On the day following Passover-on that exact day-they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.


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The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land. Since the Israelis no longer received manna, they ate crops from the land of Canaan that year.


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Now it happened that while Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and much to his amazement, he saw a man standing in front of him, holding a drawn sword in his hand! Joshua approached him and asked him, "Are you one of us, or are you with our enemies?"


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"Neither," he answered. "I have come as commander of the LORD's Army." Joshua immediately fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying to him, "Lord, what do you have for your servant by way of command?"


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The commander of the LORD's Army replied to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you're standing is holy." So Joshua did so.


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Meanwhile, Jericho was fortified inside and out because of the Israelis. Nobody could leave or enter.


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


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with seven priests carrying in front of the ark seven trumpets made from rams' horns. On the seventh day march around the city seven times while the priests blow their trumpets.


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When they sound a long blast with the ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then the entire army is to cry out loud, the city wall will collapse, and then all of the soldiers are to charge straight ahead."


text:
So 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."


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He told the army, "Go out and encircle the city. Have the armed men march out in front of the ark of the LORD."


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And so, just as Joshua had commanded, seven of the priests went forward, carrying the seven trumpets made of rams' horns in the LORD's presence, blowing the trumpets while the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD followed them.


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Armed men preceded the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and a rear guard followed the ark, while the trumpets continued to blow.


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Joshua issued orders to the army: "You are not to shout or even let your voice be heard. Don't utter a word until I tell you to shout. Then shout!"


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So the ark of the LORD was taken once around the city, then they went back to camp and spent the night there.


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The seven priests who carried the seven trumpets made from rams' horns preceded the ark of the LORD, blowing their trumpets constantly. The armed men preceded them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets continued to blow.


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On the second day they marched around the city once and then went back to camp. They did this for six days.


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They rose early at dawn on the seventh day and marched around the city seven times, just as they had before, except that on that day only they marched around the city seven times.


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As they completed the seventh time, after the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua told the army, "Shout, because the LORD has given you the city!


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The city-along with everything in it-is to be turned over to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone who is with her in her house may live, because she hid the scouts we sent.


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Now as for you, everything has been turned over for destruction. Don't covet or take any of these things. Otherwise, you'll make the camp of Israel itself an object worthy of destruction, and bring trouble on it.


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But everything made of silver and gold, and vessels made of bronze and iron are set apart to the LORD. They are to go into the treasury of the LORD."


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So the army shouted and the trumpets were blown again. As soon as the army heard the sound of the trumpets, they shouted loudly and the wall collapsed. The army charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.


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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.


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Joshua told the two men who had scouted the land, "Go into the prostitute's home and bring her out of it, along with everyone who is with her, just as you promised her."


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So the young men who had been scouts went in and brought Rahab out, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and everyone else who was with her. They brought her entire family out and set them outside the camp of Israel.


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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.


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But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, along with her family and everyone who was with her. Her family has lived in Israel ever since, because she hid the scouts whom Joshua sent to observe Jericho.


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Then Joshua made everyone take the following oath at that time. He said: "Cursed in the presence of the LORD is the man who restores and rebuilds this city of Jericho! He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn, and at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."


text:
Later, the Israelis broke their promise regarding the things that had been turned over to destruction. Carmi's son Achan, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah from the tribe of Judah, appropriated some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. As a result, the LORD became angry with the Israelis.


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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


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returned to Joshua. "Not all of the people need to go up," they reported. "Only about two or three thousand men should attack Ai. Since they are so few, don't make all of the army work hard up there."


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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.


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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.


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"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?


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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?"


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Israel has sinned. They broke my covenant that I commanded them by taking some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. They have stolen, have been deceitful, and have stored what they stole among their own belongings.


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The Israelis have been unable to stand before their enemies. They're turning their backs and running from their enemies because they themselves have been turned over to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy these things that have been turned over to destruction.


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So get up and sanctify the people. Tell them, 'Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, because this is what the LORD God of Israel, says: "There are things turned over to destruction among you, Israel. You won't be able to defeat your enemies until you remove what has been turned over to destruction."'


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"Tomorrow morning you are to come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD selects is to come forward by clans, the clan that the LORD selects is to come forward by households, and the household that the LORD selects is to come forward one by one.


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The one selected as having taken what has been turned over to destruction is to be cremated, along with everything that pertains to him, because he has transgressed against the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrageous thing in Israel."


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So Joshua got up early that morning, brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.


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He brought near the clans of Judah, and the Zerahite clan was selected. Then he brought near the Zerahite clan family by family, and the household of Zabdi was selected.


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Next, he brought near his household one by one, and Carmi's son Achan, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah, was selected from the tribe of Judah.


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Joshua then spoke to Achan, "My son, give glory and praise to the LORD God of Israel. Tell me right now what you did. Don't hide anything."


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I noticed among the war spoils a beautiful mantle from Shinar, 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. Because I wanted them, I took them, and they're buried in the ground inside my tent. The silver is underneath."


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So Joshua sent some messengers, who ran to the tent. And there it was, hidden in the tent with the silver underneath.


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They took the things from the tent that had been turned over to destruction, brought them to Joshua and all of the Israelis, and laid them out in the presence of the LORD.


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Then Joshua, with all Israel accompanying him, took Zerah's son Achan, along with the silver, the mantle, the gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that belonged to him to the Valley of Achor.


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Joshua announced, "Why did you bring trouble to us? Today the LORD is bringing trouble to you!" So all Israel stoned him to death, cremated them, and buried them with stones,


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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.


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The 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.


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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."


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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,


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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.


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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.


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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,


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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness,


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


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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.


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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.


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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.


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Then the men of Ai looked back behind them. Look! 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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000-the entire population of Ai.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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There Joshua inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to the Israelis.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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Eventually all the kings who reigned in the hill country across the Jordan River and in the low-lying coastlands of the Mediterranean Sea facing Lebanon heard about this. So the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites


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they took the initiative by preparing their provisions shrewdly: they took tattered sacks for their donkeys, worn-out, torn, and mended wineskins,


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worn-out, patched sandals for their feet, and worn-out clothes. All of their food was dried out and covered in mold.


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Then they approached Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and addressed him and the Israelis, "We've arrived from a distant country, so please make a treaty with us right now."


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But the Israelis responded to the Hivites, "Perhaps you live in our midst. If this is so, how can we make a treaty with you?"


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So they responded to Joshua, "We are your servants." Joshua asked them, "Who are you? And where did you come from?"


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They answered, "Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation of the LORD your God, because we've heard a report about all that he did in Egypt,


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along with all of what he did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan River-that is, to King Sihon of Heshbon and to King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.


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So our leaders and all of the inhabitants of our country told us, 'Take provisions along with you for your journey, go to meet them, and tell them, "We are your servants. Come now and make a treaty with us."'


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Look at our bread: it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for our journey on the very day we set out to come to you. But now, look how it's dry and moldy.


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And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look-now they're cracked. And our clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey."


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They made a treaty with them, guaranteeing their lives with a covenant, and the leaders of the congregation confirmed it with an oath to them.


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But three days after they had made the treaty with them, they learned that they were their neighbors and were living in their midst.


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So the Israelis set out for their cities and three days later they reached their cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.


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The Israelis did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had made an oath with them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the entire congregation grumbled against their leaders.


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Then all of the leaders spoke to the entire congregation, "We have sworn to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them.


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So this is what we'll do to them: we'll let them live, so that wrath won't come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them."


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The leaders told them, "Let them live." So they became wood cutters and water carriers for the entire congregation, which is what the leaders had decided concerning them.


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Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and asked them, "Why did you deceive us by saying 'We live far away from you,' even though you were, in fact, living in our midst?


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Now therefore you are under a curse. Some of you will always be slaves, wood cutters, and water carriers for the house of my God."


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They replied to Joshua, "Because your servants had been informed that the LORD your God had certainly commanded his servant Moses to give you the entire land and to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land before you. So we were terrified for our lives because of you. That's why we did this.


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However, on that very day Joshua made them become wood cutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the LORD's altar in the place that he should choose, and this tradition continues to this day.


text:
King 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.


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So they were terrified, since Gibeon was a large city, comparable to one of the royal cities, was larger than Ai, and all of its men had been warriors.


text:
So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent word to King Hoham of Hebron, King Piram of Jarmuth, King Japhia of Lachish, and King Debir of Eglon. He told them,


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"Come over and help me, and let's attack Gibeon, because it made a peace treaty with Joshua and the Israelis."


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So the five kings of the Amorites-the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon-gathered their armies together and advanced with all of their armies toward Gideon, camped there, and laid siege to it.


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The Gibeonites sent word to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal: "Don't abandon your servants. Come quickly, save us, and help us, because all of the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have attacked us."


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The LORD told Joshua, "Don't fear them, because I have handed them over to you. Not one of them will withstand you."


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The LORD threw the Amorites into a panic right in front of the army of Israel, which then slaughtered many of them at Gibeon. The Israeli army chased them along the road that goes up to Beth-horon, striking them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.


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While they were fleeing in front of Israel and descending the slope of Beth-horon, the LORD rained down huge hailstones on them as far as Azekah, and they died. More died because of the hailstones than were killed by the Israelis in battle.


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Later that day, Joshua spoke to the LORD while the LORD was delivering the Amorites to the Israelis. This is what he said in the presence of Israel: "Sun, be at rest over Gibeon! Moon, be at rest over the Aijalon Valley!"


text:
So the sun was at rest and the moon was in place until the nation settled their score with their enemies. This is recorded, is it not, in the book of Jashar? The sun was in place in the midst of the sky and seemed not to be in a hurry to set for nearly an entire time.


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There has never been a day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD was fighting on behalf of Israel.


text:
So Joshua gave an order, "Roll large stones up against the mouth of the cave and assign men to stand guard there,


text:
but don't stay there yourselves. Instead, pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don't allow them to enter their cities, because the LORD your God has delivered them into your control."


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Now it came about that after Joshua and the Israelis had finished the battle, destroying and scattering their survivors, who retreated into their fortified cities,


text:
the entire army returned safely to Joshua's encampment at Makkedah. No one could speak so much as a single word against any of the Israelis.


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Then Joshua gave this order: "Unseal the mouth of the cave and bring out these five kings to me from the cave."


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So they did. They brought out these five kings to him from within the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.


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When they had brought these kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel and spoke to the leaders of the men who had gone out to war along with him, "Come close and put your feet on the necks of these kings." So they came near and put their feet on their necks.


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Joshua told the army, "Don't fear or be dismayed! Be strong and courageous, because this is how the LORD will treat all of your enemies whom you fight."


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After this, Joshua struck those kings down, executing them, and hanged them on five gallows until sunset.


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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.


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Joshua 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.


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Afterward, Joshua and all of Israel passed on from Makkedah to Libnah, where they fought against Libnah.


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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.


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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.


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


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After this, Joshua, accompanied by all of Israel, proceeded from Lachish to Eglon, laid siege to it, and attacked it.


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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.


text:
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.


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Then Joshua returned, accompanied by the entire fighting force of Israel, to Debir, where they attacked it,


text:
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.


text:
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.


text:
Joshua conquered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza, including the entire territory of Goshen as far as Gibeon.


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Joshua conquered all of these kings and their territories in one campaign, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.


text:
When King Jabin of Hazor heard all of this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph,


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and to the kings in the north, in the hill country, in the plain south of Chinnereth, in the Shephelah, and in the hills of Dor toward the west,


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to the eastern and western Canaanites-the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites below Hermon in the territory of Mizpah.


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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.


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After all these kings had gathered together, they went out and camped together at the waters of Merom to fight Israel.


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But the LORD told Joshua, "Don't be afraid of them, because tomorrow about this time I am giving them all to you-dead-in the presence of Israel. Hamstring their horses and incinerate their chariots."


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So Joshua and his entire fighting force approached them suddenly by the waters of Merom and attacked them.


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The LORD handed them over to the control of Israel, who defeated them and chased them as far as Greater Sidon and east as far as the Mizpah Valley. They attacked them until none remained.


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Joshua dealt with them just as the LORD had told him: he hamstrung their horses and incinerated their chariots.


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Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor, executing its king, because Hazor used to be the head of all of those kingdoms.


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They executed all of the people who lived in it, completely destroying and leaving no one alive. Then he burned Hazor in fire.


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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.


text:
However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that had been built on mounds of ruins, except for Hazor only, which Joshua burned.


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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.


text:
Joshua did just what the LORD had commanded his servant Moses and just what Moses had commanded him, leaving nothing unfinished.


text:
So Joshua conquered all of these territories: the hill country, all of the Negev, the entire land of Goshen with its foothills, the plains of Jordan, and the mountains of Israel with its foothills


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from Mount Halak and the ascent toward Seir, including as far as Baal-gad in the Lebanon Valley that lies at the foot of Mount Hermon. Joshua captured all of their kings, struck them down, and put them to death.


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There wasn't a single city that made a peace accord with the Israelis, except the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. The Israelis captured all the rest in battle,


text:
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.


text:
At that time Joshua came and annihilated the Anakim from the hill country, that is, from Hebron, Debir, and Anab, as well as from all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them along with their cities.


text:
None of the Anakim remained in the land belonging to the Israelis-they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.


text:
Joshua conquered the entire land, in accordance with everything that the LORD had told Moses. Joshua presented it as an inheritance to Israel, dividing it according to tribal allotments. Then the land enjoyed rest from war.


text:
This is a list of the kings who ruled the land that the Israelis conquered, and whose territories they took on the other side of the Jordan River toward the east, from the Arnon River to Mount Hermon, along with the entire eastern Jordan plain.


text:
Sihon king of the Amorites lived in Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is located on the edge of the Arnon River from the middle of the valley, including half of Gilead as far as Wadi Jabbok, the border of the Ammonites,


text:
and toward the Arabah as far as the Sea of Galilee to the east, as far as the Arabah Sea (that is, the Dead Sea) to the east as one travels in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, and to the south as far as the foothills of Pisgah.


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The territory of Og king of Bashan was conquered. He was one of the last of the Rephaim, and lived at Ashtaroth and Edrei,


text:
ruling over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all of Bashan as far as the border of the descendants of Geshur, the descendants of Maacath, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.


text:
Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelis defeated them. Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave it to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as their inheritance.


text:
This is a list of the kings of the land whom Joshua and the Israelis defeated beyond the Jordan River toward the west, from Baal-gad in the Lebanon valley as far as Mount Halak, which rises in the direction of Seir. Joshua gave it to Israel, distributing it according to their tribal divisions as their inheritance,


text:
in the mountain regions, in the Arabah, on the foothills, in the wilderness, in the Negev; that is, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:


text:
When Joshua had grown old, having lived many years, the LORD told him, "You are old and have lived many years, but much of the land still remains to be possessed.


text:
from the Shihor east of Egypt as far as the border of Ekron on the north (which is considered part of Canaan). This includes the five rulers of the Philistines: the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, the Ekronites, and the Avvites.


text:
"To the south, there remains to be conquered all the territory held by the Canaanites, Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites,


text:
including the territory of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon facing the east from Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon as far as Lebo-hamath,


text:
and all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out in the presence of the Israelis.


text:
The descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad, along with the other half-tribe of Manasseh, received their inherited portion that Moses the servant of the LORD had given them to the east beyond the Jordan River.


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Specifically included was from Aroer on the banks of the Wadi Arnon, and the town that lies in the middle of the valley, including all the plains from Medeba to Dibon,


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all the cities pertaining to King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonite territory,


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Gilead and the region belonging to the descendants of Geshur and Maacath, including all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah.


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Also included was the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was the sole survivor left of the Rephaim.) Although Moses had defeated these people and driven them out,


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the Israelis did not drive out the descendants of Geshur or the descendants of Maacath-Geshur and Maacath live within the territory of Israel to this day.


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Moses allotted no inheritance solely to the tribe of Levi. As he had mentioned to them, the offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance.


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Their allocation was from the border of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon valley (including the city that is located in the valley, as well as the entire plain next to Medeba),


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all of the cities of the plain, the entire kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who used to reign in Heshbon and whom Moses attacked, along with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, nobles of Sihon who lived in the land.


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The Israelis also killed Beor's son Balaam, the occult practitioner, executing him by the sword as one of those killed.


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The border of the descendants of Reuben was the Jordan River and its banks. This was the inheritance belonging to the descendants of Reuben, divided according to their families, cities, and villages.


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Moses also allocated territory to the tribe of Gad, that is, to the descendants of Gad, according to their families.


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Their territory included Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer which is located near Rabbah,


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the valley containing Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon, with the Jordan River as its border as far as the southern end of the Sea of Galilee beyond the Jordan River to the east.


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This was the inheritance belonging to the descendants of Gad according to their clans, cities, and villages.


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Moses also allocated territory to the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, for the half-tribe of the descendants of Manasseh according to their clans.


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Their territory extended from Mahanaim to include all of Bashan, all of the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, all of the 60 towns of Jair there in Bashan,


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half of Gilead, including Ashtaroth and Edrei. The cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan went to half of the descendants of Manasseh's son Machir, according to their clans.


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These were the allotments that Moses apportioned for an inheritance in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan River east of Jericho.


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Moses allotted no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, as he promised them.


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This is what the Israelis inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Nun's son Joshua, and the heads of the families of the Israelis allotted to them as an inheritance


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since Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe across the Jordan River. However, he did not give an inheritance to the descendants of Levi who lived among them,


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since the descendants of Joseph constituted two tribes-Manasseh and Ephraim. They did not allot a portion to the descendants of Levi in the land, since they were given cities to live in, along with pastures for their livestock and property.


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After this, the descendants of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal. Jephunneh the Kenizzite's son Caleb told him, "You know the promise that the LORD gave Moses the man of God concerning the two of us in Kadesh-barnea.


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I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land. I brought back an honest report to him.


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As it happened, my fellow Israelis who went up with me terrified the people, but I fully followed the LORD my God.


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Moses made a promise to me on that day when he said, 'The land that you covered on foot will certainly be your inheritance. It will belong to your descendants forever, because you have fully followed the LORD my God.'


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"Look how the LORD has let me survive, as you can see, these 45 years since the time when the LORD said this through Moses, while Israel was wandering through the wilderness. And look! I'm here today-my eighty-fifth birthday!


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I'm still as strong today as I was the day Moses commissioned me. I'm as strong today as I was then, and I can go out to battle and come back successful.


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Now then, give me that hill country about which the LORD spoke back on that day, because you yourself heard back then that the Anakim were there, with great reinforced cities. Perhaps the LORD will be with me and I will expel them, just as the LORD said."


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Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Jephunneh the Kenizzite's son Caleb, and it remains so today, because he fully followed the LORD God of Israel.


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Hebron used to be known as Kiriath-arba, after the greatest man among the Anakim. After all of this, the land enjoyed rest from war.


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Joshua said, "Now the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah, allocated according to their families, will extend to the border of Edom, southward to the wilderness of Zin until land's end,


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proceeding south to the ascent of Akrabbim, then continuing to Zin, and from there up along the south of Kadesh-barnea to Hezron, and from there up to Addar and then to Karka,


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passing along to Azmon toward the Wadi of Egypt and ending at the sea. This will be your southern border."


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The eastern border was the Dead Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan River. The border of the north side extended from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan River


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toward Beth-hoglah, and continuing on the north of Beth-arabah. The border ascended up to the boundary marker set up by Reuben's son Bohan.


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The boundary then went up to Debir from the Achor valley and turned north toward Gilgal opposite the ascent of Adummim in the southern part of the valley. Then the border continued to the waters of En-shemesh and terminated at En-rogel.


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Then the border proceeded up the valley of Ben-hinnom to the southern ascent of the Jebusites (that is, to Jerusalem), and from there to the top of the mountain that faces the valley of Hinnom to the west at the end of the valley of Rephaim toward the north.


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The border proceeded from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, then to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then the border curved toward Baalah (also known as Kiriath-jearim).


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The border turned west from Baalah to Mount Seir, continuing to the top of Mount Jearim on the north (also known as Chesalon), and then proceeded to Beth-shemesh, continuing through Timnah.


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The border proceeded north to the edge of Ekron, then curved to Shikkeron and on to Mount Baalah, proceeding then to Jabneel, where the boundary ended at the sea.


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The western border was at the Mediterranean Sea coastline. This is the border that surrounded the territory of the descendants of Judah, according to their families.


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Now Joshua gave an allotment among the descendants of Judah to Jephunneh's son Caleb, just as God told Joshua, Kiriath-arba, which was named after the ancestor of Anak (that is, Hebron).


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Then he went up from there to attack the inhabitants of Debir. (Debir was formerly known as Kiriath-sepher.)


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Then Caleb announced, "I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it."


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Othniel, the son of Caleb's brother Kenaz, captured it, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as his wife.


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Sometime later, she came to Othniel and persuaded him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want?"


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She replied, "Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me also some springs of water." So he gave her the upper and lower springs.


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Here's a list of cities allotted for the tribe of the descendants of Judah according to their families:


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The cities to the far south of the tribe of the descendants of Judah (toward the border of Edom in the south) included Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,


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from Ekron to the Mediterranean Sea, including everything by the edge of Ashdod, along with their villages,


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Ashdod and its towns and villages, Gaza and its towns and villages as far as the River of Egypt, and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.


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Also included were Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah, for a total of two cities and villages.


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Now as for the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, the descendants of Judah could not expel them, so Jebusites live with the descendants of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.


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The territorial allotment for the descendants of Joseph proceeded from the Jordan River by Jericho eastward of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, proceeding from Jericho through the hill country of Bethel


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It proceeded westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon, then toward Gezer, ending at the Mediterranean Sea.


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This was the territory allocated to the descendants of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as upper Beth-horon.


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Then the border proceeded west from Michmethath on the north, then turned east toward Taanath-shiloh, continuing to the east of Janoah.


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It proceeded from Janoah to Ataroth, then to Naarah, then proceeded to Jericho and ended at the Jordan River.


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From Tappuach, the border proceeded west to the Kanah brook, ending at the Mediterranean Sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim according to their families,


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along with the cities that had been set aside for the descendants of Ephraim within the allotment of the descendants of Manasseh, including all of the cities and villages.


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However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live within the territory of Ephraim to this day, but they serve as forced laborers.


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The territorial allotment for the tribe of Manasseh, the first born of Joseph, was allocated first to Machir the first born of Manasseh and father of Gilead. Since he had been a man of war, Gilead and Bashan were allocated to him.


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Now allotments were made with respect to the remaining descendants of Manasseh according to their families: for the descendants of Abiezer, the descendants of Helek, the descendants of Asriel, the descendants of Shechem, the descendants of Hepher, and the descendants of Shemida-the male descendants of Joseph's son Manasseh, according to their families.


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Hepher's son Zelophehad, grandson of Gilead and great-grandson of Manasseh's son Machir had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


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They appeared before Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua and declared, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our relatives." So in keeping what the LORD had commanded, he gave them an inheritance among their ancestor's relatives.


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That is why ten allotments fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan River,


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since the granddaughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. (The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.)


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The border of Manasseh proceeded from Asher to Michmethath east of Shechem, then turned south to include the inhabitants of En-tappuach.


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(The territory of Tappuach belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuach itself, on the border of Manasseh, was allocated to the descendants of Ephraim.)


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The border proceeded to the Kanah brook and proceeded south. These cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, with the border of Manasseh on the north of the brook, terminating at the Mediterranean Sea.


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The southern area was allocated to Ephraim and the northern area to Manasseh. The Mediterranean Sea was the border, extending to Asher on the North and to Issachar on the east.


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In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh held Beth-shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, and the three coastal districts.


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The descendants of Manasseh did not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites predominated in that territory.


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Later on, when the Israelis had become strong, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but they never did expel them completely.


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At that time, the descendants of Joseph asked Joshua, "Why did you give us only one allotment and portion for an inheritance, since we're numerous and the LORD has blessed us all along?"


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So Joshua replied to them, "Since you're so numerous, go up to the forest and clear ground there for yourselves in the territory where the Perizzites and Rephaim are, because the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you."


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The descendants of Joseph replied, "The hill country isn't sufficient for us, but all the Canaanites who live on the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shean and its villages as well as the inhabitants of the Jezreel Valley."


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So Joshua told the tribes of Joseph, which were Ephraim and Manasseh, "You're truly a numerous group, and you have great power. You are not to have only one allotment,


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but the hill country will also belong to you. Even though it's a forest, you will clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. You'll drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they're strong."


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After this, the entire assembly of the Israelis gathered together at Shiloh and set up a Tent of Meeting there, where the land lay conquered before them.


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So Joshua told the Israelis, "How long will you delay invading and taking possession of the land that the LORD God of your ancestors has given you?


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Appoint three men from each tribe and I'll send them. They'll begin to go through the land and record a description of it, categorized according to their inheritance, and then they'll report back to me.


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They'll divide it seven ways. Judah will stay in its territory on the south and the house of Joseph will remain in its territory on the north.


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Lay out the land in seven divisions, then bring your report here to me. I will then cast lots in the presence of the LORD our God.


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The descendants of Levi have no allotment among you, since the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance to the east, beyond the Jordan River given to them by Moses the servant of the LORD."


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So the men started out, following Joshua's command to those who went to scout the land, "Go through the land and record a description of it, and then return to me. I will then cast lots in the presence of the LORD your God in Shiloh."


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Then the men left camp and went throughout the land, describing its cities in a book with seven divisions. Then they returned to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh.


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Joshua threw lots in Shiloh in the LORD's presence and divided the land accordingly among the Israelis according to their divisions.


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The allotment of the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin came up according to their families, and their territorial allotment fell between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph.


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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.


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From there the boundary proceeded south in the direction of Luz to the slope of Luz (also known as Bethel), then proceeded to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.


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From there the boundary changes direction, turning southward on the western side opposite Beth-horon, terminating at Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim), which belongs to Judah. This forms the western boundary.


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The southern boundary begins at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, proceeding from there to Ephron and then to the spring at the Nephtoah Waters.


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From there the boundary proceeds to the border of the mountain that overlooks the Ben-hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Rephaim Valley, where it proceeds down the Hinnom Valley south of the slope of the Jebusites toward En-rogel.


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Then it turns north toward En-shemesh and proceeds from there to Geliloth opposite the ascent of Adummim, where it turns toward the Stone of Bohan, Reuben's son,


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From there the boundary proceeds to north of the slope of Beth-hoglah and terminates at the northern bay of the Salt Sea where the Jordan River ends in the south. This is the southern border.


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The Jordan River forms its boundary on the east. This is the inheritance for the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, boundary by boundary around the entire territory.


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The towns belonging to the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,


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Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (also known as Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim, for a total of fourteen towns and villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families.


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The second lottery went to the tribe of Simeon according to its families. Its inheritance was enclosed within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.


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Also included were all the surrounding villages as far as Baalath-beer, in Ramah of the Negev. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon, according to its families.


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The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon was contained in part of the territory of Judah; that is, because the portion allotted to the tribe of Judah was large enough for both tribes, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance within that of Judah.


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The third lottery went to the tribe of Zebulun according to its families. The boundary of its inheritance extended to Sarid,


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then turned westward toward Maralah, proceeding to Dabbesheth, and then to the valley that is east of Jokneam.


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From Sarid it proceeded back eastward, creating a sunrise boundary at Chisloth-tabor, and proceeded from there to Daberath, then to Japhia,


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from which it proceeded toward the east to Gath-hepher, then to Eth-kazin, then going to Rimmon, where it turned toward Neah.


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with the boundary including Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh. The boundary terminated at the Jordan River, for a total of sixteen towns and villages.


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These towns and villages comprise the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, according to its families.


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then proceeded east to Beth-dagon. It proceeded to Zebulun and the Iphtah-el Valley, turned north to Beth-emek and Neiel, then proceeded north to Cabul,


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There the boundary turned toward Ramah, reaching to the fortress city of Tyre and turned to Hosah, where it terminated at the Mediterranean Sea. Also included were Mahalab,? Achzib,


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The territorial boundary proceeded from Heleph, the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel as far as Lakkum, terminating at the Jordan River.


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There the boundary proceeded west to Aznoth-tabor and then to Hukkok, reaching Zebulun at the south, Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan River.


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Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh, for a total of nineteen towns and their villages.


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These towns and villages comprised the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali according to its families.


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Later, when the descendants of Dan lost their territory, they went up and attacked Leshem. After they captured it and executed its inhabitants, they took possession of it and settled there, renaming the city of Leshem to Dan in memory of their ancestor Dan.


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When the Israelis had completed distribution of the various territories of the land as inheritances, they provided an inheritance to Nun's son Joshua.


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By a command from the LORD, they allocated the town that he requested, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and settled there.


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These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Nun's son Joshua, and the heads of the families of the Israeli tribes distributed by lot in the LORD's presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.


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so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally and without premeditation may run there and be protected from closely related avengers.


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He may run to one of those cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and tell his side of the story to the elders of the city. They are to bring him inside the city with them and provide him a place to live among them.


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"'Now if the closely related avenger pursues him, then they are not to hand the killer over to him, because he killed his neighbor without premeditation and without hating him beforehand.


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He is to live in that city until he stands trial before the community, until the death of the one who is high priest at that time. Then the killer may return to his own city and to his own home, that is, to the city from which he fled.'"


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So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (also known as Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.


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East of Jericho beyond the Jordan River, they reserved Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.


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These were appointed to be cities for all the Israelis and for the foreigner who lives among them, so that whoever kills anyone unintentionally may run there and not die at the hands of a closely related avenger until he stands for trial before the community.


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Then the family leaders of the descendants of Levi approached Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua, along with the family leaders of the people of Israel.


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It was at Shiloh in the land of Canaan that they told them, "The LORD ordered through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, along with their pasture lands for our livestock."


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So, just as the Lord had said, the Israelis set aside cities for the descendants of Levi from a portion of their own inheritances, along with their grazing lands.


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The lottery went to the families of the descendants of Kohath. So the descendants of Aaron the priest, who were descendants of Levi, received thirteen cities by random lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.


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The rest of the descendants of Kohath received ten cities by random lot from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.


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The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by random lot from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh located in Bashan.


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The descendants of Merari, allocated according to their families, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.


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The Israelis apportioned these cities, along with their pasture lands, to the descendants of Levi by random lot, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses.


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for the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the descendants of Kohath, of the descendants of Levi, since the lot fell in their favor first.


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They gave them Kiriath-arba, also known as Hebron, (Arba was named after the ancestor of Anak), in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding pasture lands.


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So they gave Hebron to the descendants of Aaron the priest to serve as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands,


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Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands, for a total of nine cities from these two tribes.


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All of the cities allocated to the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, numbered thirteen, along with their pasture lands.


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Cities from the tribe of Ephraim were also allotted to the families of the descendants of Kohath, that is, to the rest of the descendants of Kohath, who were descendants of Levi.


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Shechem was allocated to them as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, in the mountainous region of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasture lands,


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From the tribe of Dan were allocated Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,


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From the half-tribe of Manasseh were allocated Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands, for a total of two cities.


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All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the descendants of Kohath numbered ten.


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To the descendants of Gershon (one of the Levitical families) from the half-tribe of Manasseh were allocated Golan in Bashan as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands, for a total of two cities.


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From the tribe of Issachar were allocated Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,


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From the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands were allocated as a city of refuge for the unintentional killer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands, for a total of three cities.


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All the cities of the descendants of Gershon according to their families totaled thirteen, including their pasture lands.


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From the tribe of Zebulun were allocated to the descendants of Merari (that is, the rest of the descendants of Levi) Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,


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From the tribe of Gad were allocated Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, to serve as a city of refuge for the unintentional killer, Mahanaim with its pasture lands,


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Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities in all.


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So the entire allocation to the descendants of Merari (that is, the rest of the families of the descendants of Levi) according to their families totaled twelve cities.


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All of the cities of the descendants of Levi that had been set apart among the territorial possession of the Israelis totaled 48, along with their pasture lands.


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So the LORD gave all of the land to Israel that he had promised to give their ancestors, and they took possession and settled there in it.


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The LORD gave them peace all around them, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of their enemies was able to oppose them-the LORD placed all of their enemies under their control.


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Not one of the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed-all of them came about.


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Later, Joshua called together the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh


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and told them, "You have done everything that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have listened to me in everything that I commanded you.


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You haven't abandoned your relatives these past days to the present, and you have met the obligation contained in the commands of the LORD your God.


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Now the LORD has given peace to your relatives, just as he told them. Therefore, proceed to your tents-to the land that is yours to possess-that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan River.


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Only be very careful to keep the commands and the Law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you-that is, to love the LORD your God, to follow in all of his ways, to keep his commands, to stay close to him, and to serve him with all your heart and soul."


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Now Moses had made an allotment in Bashan to one half-tribe of Manasseh, but Joshua made an allotment west of the Jordan River to the other half-tribe of their relatives. So when Joshua sent them on their way back to their tents, he also blessed them by saying


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"Return to your tents with great wealth, plenty of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and lots of clothing. Divide the spoil from your enemies among your relatives."


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The descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back to the land of Gilead, leaving the Israelis at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, for their territorial possession that they had inherited in accordance with the command of the LORD given through Moses.


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After they arrived at an area of the Jordan River that is in the land of Canaan, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh constructed an altar there by the Jordan River, and it was very large.


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When the Israelis heard about it, they announced, "Look here, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have constructed an altar in Canaan's frontier district of the Jordan River, on the side apportioned to the Israelis."


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When the Israelis heard that announcement, the entire community of the Israelis gathered together at Shiloh in preparation for war.


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Then the Israelis sent a delegation to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead. They sent Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest,


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and ten officials with him (one for each of the tribal families of Israel, each one of them a family leader among the clans of Israel).


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They approached the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and told them:


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"This is what the entire community of the LORD has to say: 'What is this treacherous act by which you have acted deceitfully against the God of Israel by turning away from following the LORD today, and by building yourselves an altar today, so you can rebel against the LORD?


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Isn't the evil that happened at Peor enough for us, from which we have yet to be completely cleansed even to this point, and because of which a plague came upon the community of the LORD?


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Now then, are you turning away from following the LORD today? If you rebel against the LORD today, by tomorrow he will be angry with the entire community of Israel.


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If the land of your inheritance remains unclean, then cross back over into the land that the LORD possesses, and receive an inheritance among us. Don't rebel against the LORD and against us by constructing an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the LORD our God.


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Didn't Zerah's son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God, and as a result God became angry at the entire community of Israel? And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.'"


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The descendants of Reuben, descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the officials of the clans of Israel,


text:
"The God of gods, the LORD, the God of gods, the LORD is the One who knows! And may Israel itself be aware that if this was an act of rebellion or an act of treachery against the LORD, may he not deliver us today!


text:
If we have built an altar for ourselves intended to turn us away from following the LORD, or to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself demand an accounting from us!


text:
But we did this because we were concerned for a reason, since we thought, 'Some time in the future your descendants may say to our descendants, "What do you have in common with the LORD, the God of Israel?


text:
The LORD has established the Jordan River to be a territorial border between us and you. descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad have no allotment from the LORD." So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the LORD.'


text:
but instead it will serve as a reminder between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to serve the LORD with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. That way your descendants will not say to our descendants in the future, "You have no allotment from the LORD."'


text:
"That's also why we said, 'It may be if they say these things to us and to our descendants in the future, so we will respond, "Look at this replica of the altar of the LORD that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, but rather as a reminder between us and you.


text:
May we never rebel against the LORD today by building an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifice to replace the altar of the LORD our God which stands before his Tent."'"


text:
When Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the community, and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him heard what the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the descendants of Manasseh said, they were pleased.


text:
So Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest replied to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the descendants of Manasseh, "Today we've demonstrated that the LORD is among us, because you have not acted treacherously against the LORD. Now you have delivered the Israelis from the anger of the LORD."


text:
So Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest and the leaders returned from the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan and to the people of Israel, bringing back word to them.


text:
What they said pleased the people of Israel, so they blessed God and said no more about going up to attack them in war and to destroy the land where the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad were living.


text:
The descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad named the altar "Witness," because they claimed, "It stands as a witness between us that the LORD is God."


text:
Many years later, after the LORD had given peace between Israel and all its surrounding enemies, and after Joshua had become very old,


text:
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.


text:
You have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to all of these nations on your behalf, because it has been the LORD your God who has been fighting on your behalf.


text:
Now look, I have allocated these nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, including all of the nations that I have eliminated, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea to the west.


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The LORD your God will expel them in front of you, driving them out of your sight. You will take possession of this land, just as the LORD your God promised you.


text:
"Stand very strong, then, so you can obey and carry out everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left of it.


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That way, you will not mingle with those nations that remain among you, nor mention the name of their gods, nor make oaths by them, nor serve them, nor worship them.


text:
because the LORD has expelled great and strong nations ahead of you. Now as for you, not a single man has been able to oppose you right to this day.


text:
A single man makes a thousand flee, because the LORD your God is the One who is fighting for you, just as he promised you.


text:
because if you ever turn back and cling to those who remain of these nations by intermarrying with them and associating one with another,


text:
know for certain that the LORD your God will not continue to drive out these nations ahead of you. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap for you, a whip to your backs, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.


text:
"Look here: today I'm going down the path that everyone on earth takes, and you know with all your hearts and souls that not a single word of all of the good things that the LORD your God spoke about you has failed to happen. Everything has been fulfilled about you-not one of them has failed.


text:
However, just as all of the good things have come about that the LORD your God promised, so also the LORD will bring upon you all of the threats until he has destroyed you from possessing this good land that he has given you.


text:
When you break the covenant of the LORD your God that he commanded you to obey by going to serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the LORD will blaze against you, and you will perish quickly from this good land that he gave you."


text:
Then 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,


text:
and Joshua told all of the people, "This is what the LORD God of Israel has to say: 'Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah, father of both Abraham and Nahor, where they served other gods.


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Then I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I multiplied his descendants, and gave him his son Isaac.


text:
'I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. And I gave Mount Seir to Esau as his possession, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.


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'Later I commissioned Moses and Aaron, and I inflicted plagues on Egypt by what I did among them. Afterwards, I brought all of you out.


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'Then I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the Sea, and the Egyptians followed your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Reed Sea.


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But when they cried out to the LORD, he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon the Egyptians, and swallowed them up. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.


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'I brought you into the territory of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan River. They fought you, but I gave them into your control, and you took possession of their land. I destroyed them from your presence.


text:
'Then Zippor's son, King Balak of Moab, showed up and fought against Israel. He sent word to Balaam, summoning Beor's son to put a curse on you.


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But I wasn't willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his control.


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'Next, you crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Jericho. But the citizens of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, so I gave them into your control.


text:
'Then I sent hornets ahead of you to drive out two kings of the Amorites before you without your using either sword or bow.


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I gave you a land for which you never worked and cities that you didn't build but that you have lived in. You're eating from vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant.'


text:
"Now you must fear the LORD and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the LORD.


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If you think it's the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve-the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.


text:
In response, the people said, "Far be it from us that we should abandon the LORD to serve other gods,


text:
since the LORD our God is the One who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the peoples through whose territory we passed.


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The LORD expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God."


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So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins.


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If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you."


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Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!"


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Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."


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He wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the LORD,


text:
and then told all of the people, "Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the LORD has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God."


text:
they buried him in his territorial inheritance at Timnath-serah in the mountainous region of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


text:
Israel served the LORD for the entire lifetimes of Joshua and of the officials who outlived Joshua, that is, the ones who had personally known everything that the LORD had done for Israel.


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They also buried the bones of Joseph, which the Israelis brought up from Egypt, in the parcel of ground at Shechem that Jacob had purchased from the descendants of Shechem's father Hamor, for 100 pieces of silver. It became part of the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.


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Later, Aaron's son Eleazar also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which belonged to his son Phinehas, and which had been given to him in the mountainous region of Ephraim.


text:
Sometime after Joshua had died, the Israelis asked the LORD, "Who is to lead us against the Canaanites in our opening attack against them?"


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The LORD replied, "The tribe of Judah is to lead you. Look! I've given the land into their control."


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But the tribe of Judah told the tribe of Simeon, the descendants of Judah's brother, "Come with us into our territory, and we'll both fight the Canaanites. In return, we'll go with you when you fight in your territory." So the army of the tribe of Simeon accompanied the army of the tribe of Judah.


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When the army of the tribe of Judah went into battle, the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their control, and they defeated 10,000 men at Bezek.


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Adoni-bezek used to brag, "Seventy kings without thumbs and big toes used to eat what was left under my table. God has repaid me for what I've done." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he later died there.


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Then the army of Judah attacked Jerusalem, captured it, executed its inhabitants, and set fire to the city.


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Later, the army of Judah left Jerusalem to attack the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah.


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They attacked the Canaanites who inhabited Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba) and fought Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.


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The army of Judah then proceeded to attack the inhabitants of Debir, which used to be known as Kiriath-sepher.


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Caleb announced, "I'll give my daughter Achsah in marriage to whomever leads the attack against Kiriath-sepher and captures it."


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Othniel, Caleb's nephew through his younger brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb awarded him his daughter Achsah in marriage.


text:
Later on, after she had arrived, she urged Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want for yourself?"


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"I want this blessing from you," she replied. "Since you've given me land in the Negev, give me water springs, too." So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.


text:
The descendants of the Kenites, the tribe from which Moses' father-in-law came, accompanied the descendants of Judah from the city of the palms to the Judean wilderness, which is in the desert area south of Arad, and lived with the people there.


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The army of Judah accompanied the army of Simeon, Judah's brother, as they attacked the Canaanites who were living in Zephath, and they completely destroyed it. Then they renamed the city Hormah.


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The army of Judah captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.


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The LORD was with the army of Judah, and they captured the hill country, but did not expel the inhabitants of the valley because they were equipped with iron chariots.


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They gave Hebron to Caleb, just as Moses had promised, and he drove out the three sons of Anak from there.


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However, the descendants of Benjamin did not expel the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.


text:
The scouts observed a man coming out of the city and they promised him, "Please show us the entrance to the city and we'll deal kindly with you."


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So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they attacked the city with swords, but they let the man and his entire family escape.


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So the man traveled to the land of the Hittites and built a city that he named "Luz," and it is called by that name to this day.


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The army of the tribe of Manasseh did not conquer Beth-shean and its villages, Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages. Instead, the Canaanites continued to live in that land.


text:
When Israel had grown strong, they subjected the Canaanites to conscripted labor and never did expel them completely.


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The army of the tribe of Ephraim did not expel the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.


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The army of the tribe of Zebulun did not expel the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but were subjected to conscripted labor.


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The army of the tribe of Asher did not expel the inhabitants of Acco nor the inhabitants of Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob.


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So the descendants of Asher lived among the Canaanites who continued to inhabit the land, because they did not expel them.


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The army of the tribe of Naphtali did not expel the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and the inhabitants of Beth-anath. Instead, they lived among the Canaanites who inhabited the land. However, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were subjected to conscripted labor.


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Later on, the Amorites forced the descendants of Dan into the hill country and did not permit them to come into the valleys of the hills.


text:
Furthermore, the Amorites continued to inhabit Mount Heres in Aijalon and Shaalbim. Eventually, however, after the tribe of Joseph had become strong, the Amorites were subjected to conscripted labor.


text:
Some time later, the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim and announced to Israel, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land that I promised to your ancestors. I had told them, 'I'll never breach my covenant with you.


text:
As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done?


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Therefore I'm now saying, 'I won't expel them before you. Instead, they'll remain at your side, and their gods will ensnare you.'"


text:
After Joshua had dismissed the people, the Israelis returned to their respective inheritances to take possession of the land.


text:
The people served the LORD during the entire lifetime of Joshua as well as the lifetimes of all the elders who outlived Joshua and who had observed all the great deeds that the LORD had done for Israel.


text:
They buried him in Timnath-heres, within the boundaries of his inheritance in the mountainous region of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


text:
After that whole generation had died, another generation grew up after them that was not acquainted with the LORD or with what he had done for Israel.


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They abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who surrounded them. They bowed down in worship of them, and by doing so angered the LORD.


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So in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD gave them into the domination of marauders who plundered them. The enemies who surrounded the Israelis controlled them, and they were no longer able to withstand their adversaries.


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Wherever they went, the LORD worked against them to bring misfortune, just as the LORD had warned, and just as the LORD had promised them. As a result, they suffered greatly.


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But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.


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As a result, whenever the LORD raised up leaders for them, the LORD remained present with their leader, delivering Israel from the control of their enemies during the lifetime of that leader. The LORD was moved with compassion by their groaning that had been caused by those who were oppressing and persecuting them.


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However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.


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In his burning anger against Israel, the LORD said, "Because the people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep, and because they haven't obeyed me,


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That way, I'll use them to demonstrate whether or not Israel will keep the LORD's lifestyle by walking on that road like their ancestors did."


text:
So the LORD caused those nations to remain and did not expel them quickly. He did not give them into Joshua's control.


text:
Here's a list of nations that the LORD caused to remain in order to test Israel (that is, everyone who had not gained any battle experience in Canaan)


text:
only so that successive Israeli generations, who had not known war previously, might come to know it by experience.


text:
These nations included the five lords of the Philistines, all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.


text:
They remained there to test Israel, to reveal if they would obey the commands of the LORD that he issued to their ancestors through Moses.


text:
The Israelis continued to live among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,


text:
taking their daughters as wives for themselves, giving their own daughters to their sons, and serving their gods.


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The Israelis kept on practicing evil in full view of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served Canaanite male and female deities.


text:
Then in his burning anger against Israel, the LORD delivered them to domination by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim. So the Israelis served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.


text:
When the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Othniel son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, to deliver them, and he did.


text:
The Spirit of the LORD was on him, and he governed Israel. When Othniel went out to battle, the LORD handed king Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim into his control, and Othniel's domination of Cushan-rishathaim was strong.


text:
The Israelis again practiced evil in full view of the LORD. So the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab in his control over Israel, because they had practiced evil in full view of the LORD.


text:
Eglon assembled together the Ammonites and the Amalekites, proceeded to attack Israel, and captured the cities of palms.


text:
But when the Israelis cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up Gera's son Ehud, a left-handed descendant of Benjamin, as a deliverer for them. The Israelis paid tribute through him to king Eglon of Moab.


text:
Ehud forged a double-edged sword that was one and a half feet long, tied it to his right thigh under his cloak,


text:
He had turned away from the idols that were at Gilgal. So he told Eglon, "I have a secret message for you, king." King Eglon responded "Silence!" and all of his attendants left him.


text:
Ehud approached him while he was sitting by himself in the cool roof chamber of his palace. He said, "I have a message from God for you!" So when Eglon got up from his seat,


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Ehud used his left hand to take the sword from his right thigh and then plunged it into Eglon's abdomen.


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The hilt also penetrated along with the sword blade, and Eglon's fat closed in over the blade. Because he did not withdraw the sword from Eglon's abdomen, the sword point exited from Eglon's entrails.


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Then Ehud left the cool chamber in the direction of the vestibule, shutting and locking the doors behind him.


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After he left, Eglon's attendants came to look, but the doors to the cool chamber were locked! So they said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool chamber."


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They waited until they were embarrassed, since he never opened the doors to the chamber. Eventually they took a key, opened the doors, and found their master dead on the ground.


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Meanwhile, Ehud escaped while they were delayed, passed by the idols, and escaped in the direction of Seirah.


text:
When he arrived there, he sounded a trumpet in the mountainous region of Ephraim. While the Israeli army accompanied Ehud from the mountainous regions,


text:
he told them, "Attack them, because the LORD has given your enemies-the Moabites-into your control." So the Israeli army followed after him, seized the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross.


text:
At that time they attacked about 10,000 Moabites, all of whom were strong and valiant men. Not one man escaped.


text:
As a result, Moab was subdued under the control of Israel, and the land remained quiet for 80 years.


text:
After Ehud, Anath's son Shamgar attacked 600 Philistines with a cattle prod. He also delivered Israel.


text:
After Ehud had died, while the LORD was watching, the Israelis made the evil they had been practicing even worse,


text:
so the LORD turned them over to domination by Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commanding officer of his army, lived in Harosheth-haggoyim.


text:
The Israelis cried out to the LORD, because of his 900 iron chariots. Jabin oppressed the Israelis forcefully for twenty years.


text:
She regularly took her seat under the Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountainous region of Ephraim, where the Israelis would approach her for decisions.


text:
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.


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I will draw out Sisera, the commanding officer of Jabin's army, along with his chariots and troops, to the Kishon River, where I will drop him right into your hands.'"


text:
She responded, "I will surely go with you, but the road that you're about to take will not lead to honor for you. The LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak toward Kedesh.


text:
Barak called out the army of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to march on Kedesh, and 10,000 men went out to war with him, along with Deborah.


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Meanwhile, Heber the Kenite had been separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Moses' father-in-law Hobab. He had pitched his tents far away, near the Elon-bezaanannim.


text:
So Sisera gathered his iron chariots together from Harosheth-haggoyim-all 900 of them, along with all the people who were assigned to them-and they assembled at the Kishon River.


text:
"Get going!" Deborah told Barak. "Because today's the day when the LORD has dropped Sisera into your hands! Look! The LORD has already gone out ahead of you!" So Barak left Mount Tabor, followed by 10,000 men,


text:
and the LORD threw Sisera, all the chariots, and his entire army into a panic right in front of Barak. Then Sisera abandoned his chariot and escaped on foot


text:
while Barak chased the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-haggoyim. Sisera's entire army died in the battle-not even one soldier remained.


text:
Meanwhile, Sisera had escaped on foot to a tent belonging to Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, since there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the household of Heber the Kenite.


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Jael went out to greet Sisera. "Turn aside, sir!" she told him. "Turn aside to me! Don't be afraid." So he turned aside to her and entered her tent, where she concealed him behind a curtain.


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He asked her, "Please give me some water to drink, because I'm thirsty." Instead, she opened a leather container of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him up.


text:
He told her, "Stand in the doorway of the tent, and if anyone comes and asks 'Is anybody here?' say 'No'."


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But Heber's wife Jael grabbed a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other, crept up to him quietly, and drove the tent peg right through his temple into the ground below after he had fallen sound asleep from exhaustion. That's how he died.


text:
Meanwhile, as Barak continued chasing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. "Come with me," she told him, "and I'll show you the man you're looking for!" So he went with her, and there was Sisera, lying dead with the tent peg still embedded in his temple!


text:
Listen, you kings! Turn your ears to me, you rulers! As for me, to the LORD I will sing! I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.


text:
LORD, when you left Seir, when you marched out from the grain field of Edom, the earth quaked and the heavens poured out rain; indeed, the clouds poured out water.


text:
Mountains tremble at the presence of the LORD-even Sinai!-at the presence of the LORD God of Israel.


text:
During the lifetime of Anath's son Shamgar and during the lifetime of Jael highways remained deserted, while travelers kept to back roads.


text:
New gods were chosen, then war came to the city gates, but there wasn't a shield or spear to be seen among 40,000 soldiers of Israel.


text:
My heart is for the commanders of Israel, to those who work willingly among the people. Bless the LORD!


text:
From the sound of those who divide their work loads at the watering troughs, there they will retell the righteous deeds of the LORD, the righteous victories for his rural people in Israel." Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates.


text:
"Wake up! Wake up, Deborah! Wake up! Wake up, Deborah! Get up, Barak, and dispose of your captives, you son of Abinoam!


text:
Some came from Ephraim who had been harassed by Amalek, followed by Benjamin with your people. Some commanders came from Machir, along with some from Zebulun who carry a badge of office.


text:
The officials of Issachar were with Deborah, as was the tribe of Issachar and Barak. They rushed out into the valley at his heels along with divisions from Reuben's army. Great was their resolve of heart!


text:
Why did you sit down among the sheepfolds? To hear the bleating of the flocks? Among the divisions of the army of Reuben there was great searching of heart.


text:
The tribe of Gilead remained on the other side of the Jordan River. As for the tribe of Dan, why did they stay on board their ships? The tribe of Asher sat by the seashore and remained near its harbors.


text:
The tribe of Zebulun did not worry about their lives at the price of death; neither did the tribe of Naphtali also on high places of the field.


text:
"Kings came to fight, then battled the kings of Canaan at Taanach near the waters of Megiddo. They took no silver as the spoils of war.


text:
The current of the Kishon River swept them downstream, that ancient current, the Kishon's current! March on strongly, my soul!


text:
"'Meroz is cursed!' declared the angel of the LORD. 'Utterly and totally cursed are its inhabitants, because they never came to the aid of the LORD, to the aid of the LORD against the valiant warriors!'"


text:
"Blessed above all women is Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite; most blessed is she among women who live in tents!


text:
She reached out one hand for the tent peg, and her other for the workman's mallet. Then she struck Sisera, smashing his head, shattering and piercing his temple.


text:
He crumpled to the ground between her feet, where he fell down and collapsed. Between her feet he crumpled, Fallen dead!


text:
"Back at home, out the window Sisera's mother peered, lamenting through the lattice. 'Why is his chariot delayed in returning? 'Why do the hoof beats of his chariots wait?'


text:
'They're busy finding and dividing the war booty, aren't they? A girl or two for each valiant warrior, and some dyed materials for Sisera-perhaps dyed, embroidered war booty-or some detailed embroidery for my neck as the booty of war!


text:
"May all of your enemies perish like this, LORD! But may those who love him be like the ascending sun in its strength!" Then the land enjoyed quiet for 40 years.


text:
Later on, the Israelis practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, so the LORD handed them over to the domination of Midian for seven years.


text:
Midian's control predominated throughout Israel, and because of Midian the Israelis went out to find temporary hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and fortified places.


text:
Whenever the Israelis sowed their crops, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups from the east would come up and invade them.


text:
They set up their military encampments to fight them, destroyed the harvest of the land as far as Gaza, and left nothing in Israel, whether harvested grain, sheep, oxen, or donkeys.


text:
They would invade with their livestock and tents, swooping in as numerous as locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels-and they came into the land to destroy it.


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the LORD sent a man who was a prophet to the Israelis and told them, "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'I was the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, delivering you from the house of servitude.


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I delivered you from the domination of Egypt and from the domination of all of your oppressors, expelling them right in front of you and giving their land to you.


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I told you, "I am the LORD your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you'll be living."' But you haven't obeyed what I said."


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After this, the angel of the LORD arrived and sat down in the shade of the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it from the Midianites.


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But Gideon replied, "Right... Sir, if the LORD is with us, then why has all of this happened to us? And where are all of his miraculous works that our ancestors recounted to us when they said, 'The LORD brought us up from Egypt, didn't he?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us over to Midian!"


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The LORD looked straight at him and replied, "Go with this determination of yours and deliver Israel from Midian's domination. I've directed you, haven't I?"


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"Right...," Gideon responded. "Sir, how will I deliver Israel? Look-my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I'm the youngest in my father's household."


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So Gideon asked him, "Please, if I have received favor from you, then do a miracle for me that shows that you're making this promise to me.


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And please don't leave here until I've come back to you, brought my offering, and set it down in front of you." The LORD replied, "I'll stay until you return."


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Then Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and brought them to the angel right under the oak tree. Then he made his offering.


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The angel, who was God, replied, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this boulder. Then pour out the broth." So he did that.


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The angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread. Fire broke out from inside the boulder, consuming the meat and unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished in front of him.


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When Gideon realized that he had seen the angel of the LORD himself, he cried out, "Oh no! Lord GOD! I've been looking right at the angel of the LORD-and face-to-face at that!"


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So Gideon built an altar right there to the LORD and called it "The LORD is peace." (To this very day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.)


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Later that very night, the LORD told Gideon, "Take the bull that belongs to your father, along with a second bull that's seven years old. Then tear down the altar to Baal that your father owns, cut down the Asherah that's beside it,


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and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this stronghold in an orderly manner. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering using the wood from the Asherah that you'll be cutting down."


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So Gideon went with ten men who were his servants and did just what the LORD had told him to do, though he did it at night because he was too afraid of his father's family and the leading men of the city to do it during the day.


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When the leading men of the city got up early the next morning, the altar to Baal had been torn down, along with the Asherah that had stood beside it, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been erected.


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They asked each other, "Who did this thing?" When they looked into it and asked around, they concluded, "Joash's son Gideon did it."


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So the leading men of the city ordered Joash, "Bring us that son of yours. He's going to die, because he tore down the altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah that stood beside it!"


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But Joash responded to everyone who was opposing him, "Do you really intend to fight on Baal's behalf? Do you really intend to rescue him by ordering that whoever fights him will be executed by morning? If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself. After all, it was his altar that was torn down."


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So that very day he named Gideon Jerubbaal, that is, "Let Baal fight," since he had torn down his altar.


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Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and certain groups from the east gathered together, crossed the Jordan River, and set up camp in the Jezreel Valley.


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So the Spirit of the LORD took control of Gideon, who blew a trumpet, mustering the descendants of Abiezer to follow him into battle.


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He sent messengers to the entire tribe of Manasseh, calling them to follow him, and he also sent word to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, calling them to meet him.


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then take a look at this wool fleece that I'm placing on the threshing floor. If dew appears only on the fleece-and it's dry on the ground all around it-then I'll know that you'll deliver Israel by my efforts like you've said."


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And that is what happened: When he got up early the next morning, he wrung out the fleece to drain the dew from it and extracted a bowl full of water.


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Then Gideon told God, "Don't let yourself be angry with me! I want to ask you once again: please let me make a test with the fleece just once more. Cause it to be dry only on the fleece, but let there be dew all around on the ground."


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And God did it just like that later that night. It was dry only on the fleece, but dew was all around on the ground.


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Then Jerubbaal, also known as Gideon, got up early along with all of his soldiers. They encamped near the Harod Spring. The Midian encampment lay in the valley to their north, near the hill of Moreh.


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The LORD told Gideon, "You have too many soldiers with you for me to drop Midian into their hands, because Israel would become arrogant and say, 'It was my own abilities that delivered me.'


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That's why you're to ask in full view of the soldiers, "Whoever is afraid or is trembling may go back from Mount Gilead and return home." So 22,000 soldiers left and 10,000 remained.


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"There are still too many soldiers," the LORD told Gideon. "Bring them down to the water and I'll refine them for you there. Therefore when I say to you, 'This one will be going with you,' he'll go with you, but no one may go about whom I tell you, 'This one won't be going with you.'"


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So he brought his soldiers down to the water, and the LORD told Gideon, "You are to cull out everyone who laps up water with his tongue like a dog from everyone who kneels to drink."


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The contingent of soldiers who lapped water with their hands to their mouths numbered 300 men, but everyone else kneeled to drink water.


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Then the LORD told Gideon, "I'm going to deliver you with the 300 soldiers who lapped by giving the Midianites into your control. Send everyone else back to their own homes."


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So the soldiers took provisions with them, along with their trumpets, and Gideon sent all the rest of the soldiers of Israel back to their own tents, but he retained the 300 men. And the Midian encampment was below him in the valley.


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Later that same night, the LORD directed Gideon, "Get up and go down to the Midianite encampment, because I've given it into your control.


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But if you're afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment,


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where you will hear what they're talking about. That way, you'll be encouraged to attack the encampment." So he and his servant Purah went down to the perimeter outposts of the encamped army.


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The Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups from the east lay encamped in the valley, as thick as locusts. The number of their camels couldn't be calculated-they seemed as numerous as the sand on the seashore.


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Gideon arrived just as a soldier was talking to a friend about a dream. "Look!" he was saying. "I had a dream that went like this: A loaf of barley bread rolled into the Midianite encampment, came to a tent, and collided with it. The loaf of bread fell down, turned upside down, and the tent collapsed!"


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Then his friend replied, "Can this be anything else than the sword of Joash's son Gideon, that man from Israel? God must have given Midian and the entire encampment into his control!"


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When Gideon heard the tale of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship and then returned to the Israeli encampment.


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Then he separated the 300 men into three companies, gave them each trumpets to carry, along with jars into which he placed lit torches.


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He instructed them, "Watch me, and do what I do. When we come to the outer perimeter of the encampment, do what I do.


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When I sound my trumpet, accompanied by everyone who is with me, you must blow your trumpets all around the entire encampment. Then shout out, 'For the LORD and for Gideon!'"


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So Gideon and the 100 men with him arrived at the outer perimeter of the encampment at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had posted sentries. They blew their trumpets and smashed the jars that they were carrying in their hands.


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When the three companies sounded their trumpets and broke the jars, they held the torches in their left hands and sounded their trumpets with their right hands. Then they cried out, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!"


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They stood up, each soldier in his assigned place surrounding the encampment, and the entire army ran away, sounding the alarm to retreat.


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As the 300 trumpets were being sounded, the LORD turned the swords of the Midianite soldiers against one another throughout the entire army, and the army ran away as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zererah. They got as far as the outskirts of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath.


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Israeli soldiers were called out from the territories of Naphtali, Asher, and throughout Manasseh, and they chased after the Midianites.


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Gideon dispatched messengers throughout the mountainous region of Ephraim, notifying them, "Come down to fight Midian. Capture the water crossings as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan River before they can get to them."


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They captured two Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. While they were pursuing the Midianites, they executed Oreb at Oreb's Rock and Zeeb at Zeeb's Winepress, and then they carried the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from the east bank of the Jordan River.


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Later on, the descendants of Ephraim spoke to Gideon. They argued vehemently, "What are you doing to us? You never called us! But you went out to fight Midian!"


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"What have I accomplished compared to you?" he responded. "Isn't what's left from Ephraim's harvest better than the best vintage of Abiezer?


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God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the leaders of Midian, into your control. What was I able to do compared to you?" When he said this, their anger calmed down.


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Meanwhile, Gideon and the 300 soldiers with him came to the Jordan, exhausted but continuing their pursuit.


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He told the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the soldiers who are following behind me. They're tired, and I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."


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But the officials of Succoth replied, "Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody already, so that we should give food to your army?"


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So Gideon responded, "Okay then, but when the LORD has turned over Zebah and Zalmunna into my control, I'm going to whip you with thorns and briers from the desert!"


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Then he left there to go to Penuel and asked the same thing from them, but the men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth did.


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So he responded the same way to the men of Penuel, "When I come back safely, I'm going to tear down this tower."


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Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, along with their armies, about 15,000 men who survived from the entire army of the group from the east, since 120,000 swordsmen had already fallen.


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Gideon went up by a caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their encampment when they were off guard.


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When Zebah and Zalmunna escaped, he pursued them, captured those two kings of Midian, and threw the entire army into a panic.


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He caught a young man from Succoth and interrogated him. He wrote out for Gideon a list of the 77 officials of Succoth, including its elders.


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Then Gideon approached the men of Succoth and announced, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You criticized me about them when you said, 'Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody already, so that we should give food to your weary army?'"


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So he took the elders of the city and disciplined the men of Succoth with thorns and briers from the desert.


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Afterwards, he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "Like you, each one like the son of a king..."


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Gideon replied, "They were my brothers-sons from my own mother. As the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn't be killing you."


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Then he told his firstborn son Jether, "Get up and kill them!" But he was afraid, since he was still only a youngster.


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Then Zebah and Zalmunna responded, "Get up and attack us yourself, since a man's valor is only as good as the man himself." So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the crescent-shaped necklaces that adorned the necks of their camels.


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Then the men of Israel asked Gideon, "Rule over us-you, your son, and your grandsons-because you have delivered us from Midian's domination."


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But Gideon told them, "I won't rule over you and my son won't rule over you. The LORD will rule you."


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But Gideon also added, "I would like to ask that each of you give me a ring from his war booty" because, as Ishmaelites, the Midianites had been wearing gold rings.


