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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 22

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:00:43 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 22

Galatians 4:8 – 5:1

Galatians 4

Paul’s Concern for the Gentiles

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. ⁹But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, why are you turning back again to the basic principles that are weak and miserable? Do you want to be enslaved by them all over again? ¹⁰You carefully observe days, months, seasons, and years. ¹¹I am fearful about you, that somehow my labor for you was wasted.

¹²I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I also became like you. You did me no harm. ¹³You know that, because of a weakness of the flesh, I preached the gospel to you the first time. ¹⁴And you did not despise or disdain the test my flesh gave you. Instead, you welcomed me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

¹⁵So where is this blessed attitude of yours now? Yes, I can say for a fact that, if it were possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? ¹⁷Those people are eager to win you over, but not in a good way. Rather, they want to alienate you, so that you will be eager for them. ¹⁸But it is always a good thing to have someone eager in a good way—not just when I am present with you.

¹⁹My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until Christ is formed in you. ²⁰I wish I were present with you now and could change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.

An Illustration: Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you really listening to the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman, and one by the free woman. ²³However, the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through a promise. ²⁴These things can be used as an illustration; namely, the women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children into slavery. This is Hagar. ²⁵You see,^[1] this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and she corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is in slavery along with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free. She is our mother. ²⁷For it is written:

Rejoice, barren woman who does not give birth. Break forth and shout for joy, woman who does not suffer birth pains, because the barren woman has more children than does the woman who has a husband.^[2]

²⁸Now you,^[3] brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise. ²⁹But just as back then the one who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so this is also the case now. ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, because the son of the slave woman will certainly not receive the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”^[4] ³¹For this same reason, brothers, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman.

Christ Set Us Free

Galatians 5

¹It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again.

Footnotes

Galatians 4:25 Some witnesses to the text omit You see.
Galatians 4:27 Isaiah 54:1
Galatians 4:28 Some witnesses to the text read we.
Galatians 4:30 Genesis 21:10

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 21

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 06:00:09 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 21

Galatians 3:19 – 4:7

Galatians 3

The Law as Chaperone

¹⁹Then what about the law? It was added for the purpose of revealing transgressions, until the Seed^[1] to whom the promise referred had come. It was transmitted through angels by the hand of a mediator. ²⁰Now a mediator is not needed for one party, but God is one.

²¹Then is the law against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given that could give life, certainly righteousness would have been derived from the law. ²²But Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ would be given to those who believe. ²³But before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. ²⁴So the law was our chaperone^[2] until Christ, so that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a chaperone.^[3]

Sons of God Through Faith

²⁶In fact, you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷Indeed, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. ²⁸There is not Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one and the same in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants^[4] and heirs according to the promise.

God Sent His Son

Galatians 4

¹What I am saying is this: As long as the heir is a young child, he is no different from a slave. Although he is owner of everything, ²he is still under guardians and managers until the day set by his father. ³So also, when we were younger children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world. ⁴But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to shout, “Abba, Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if you are a son, then you are also an heir of God through Christ.^[5]

Footnotes

Galatians 3:19 Or Descendant; Genesis 12:7
Galatians 3:24 The Greek term for chaperone referred to a man who was to supervise, discipline, and watch out for a boy.
Galatians 3:25 Or custodian
Galatians 3:29 Or seed
Galatians 4:7 Some witnesses to the text read an heir through God.

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 20

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 06:00:39 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 20

Galatians 3:1-18

Galatians 3

Believers Are Abraham’s Children

¹O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ²I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?^[1]

³Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to reach the goal by the flesh? ⁴Did you experience so many things for nothing, if it were indeed for nothing? ⁵So then, does the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the law? Or does he do it by your believing what you hear— ⁶in the same way as Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”?^[2]

⁷Understand, then, that those who believe are the children of Abraham. ⁸Foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, Scripture proclaimed the gospel in advance to Abraham, saying, “In you, all nations will be blessed.”^[3] ⁹So then, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Difference Between Law and Gospel

¹⁰In fact, those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.”^[4] ¹¹Clearly no one is declared righteous before God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith.”^[5] ¹²The law does not say “by faith.” Instead it says, “The one who does these things will live by them.”^[6]

¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”^[7] ¹⁴He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The Promise Came First

¹⁵Brothers, I am speaking in human terms. When someone has established a last will and testament, no one nullifies it or adds to it. ¹⁶The promises God spoke referred to Abraham and to his seed. It doesn’t say, “And to seeds,” as if it were referring to many, but, as referring to one, “And to your seed,”^[8] who is Christ. ¹⁷What I am saying is this: The law, which came into being 430 years after the covenant established earlier by God in Christ,^[9] does not annul that covenant, with the result that it invalidates the promise. ¹⁸In fact, if the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer by the promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham by a promise.

Footnotes

Galatians 3:2 Or by the message that creates faith?
Galatians 3:6 Genesis 15:6
Galatians 3:8 Genesis 12:3; 18:18
Galatians 3:10 Deuteronomy 27:26
Galatians 3:11 Habakkuk 2:4
Galatians 3:12 Leviticus 18:5
Galatians 3:13 Deuteronomy 21:23
Galatians 3:16 Or descendant. The literal seed is retained in the translation to help readers trace the line of the promised Savior from Eve through Abraham and David to Jesus, the promised Seed of the Woman. Genesis 12:7
Galatians 3:17 Some witnesses to the text omit in Christ.

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 19

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 06:00:41 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 19

Galatians 2

Paul’s Fellowship With Those in Jerusalem

¹Then, after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, also taking Titus with me. ²I went up in keeping with a revelation, and I laid before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately before those who were considered important, in order to make sure that I was not running—or had not run—in vain. ³But Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, even though he is Greek. ⁴This was an issue because of the false brothers, who slipped in under false pretenses to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Their goal was to make us slaves. ⁵We refused to give in to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue with you.

⁶But as for those who were considered to be important (what sort of people they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality), indeed, those who were considered to be important added nothing to my gospel. ⁷On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised. ⁸For God, who worked effectively in Peter to serve as an apostle to the circumcised, also worked effectively in me to serve as an apostle to the Gentiles. ⁹And because James, Cephas, and John, who were considered to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship. They agreed that we were to go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰The only thing they asked was that we remember the poor, the very thing that I was also eager to do.

Paul Opposed Cephas (Peter)

¹¹But when Cephas^[1] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. ¹²For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when those people came, he drew back and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision group. ¹³And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not acting according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, “If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?”

Justified Through Faith!

¹⁵“We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. ¹⁶We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one^[2] will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners, then is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!

¹⁸“In fact, if I build up again those things that I destroyed, I bring on myself the judgment of being a lawbreaker. ¹⁹Indeed, through the law I died to the law that I might live for God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not regard the grace of God as nothing. As a matter of fact, if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

Footnotes

Galatians 2:11 Some witnesses to the text read Peter. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
Galatians 2:16 Literally flesh

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 18

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 06:00:50 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 18

Galatians 1

Greeting

¹Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ²and all of the brothers^[1] who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father— ⁵to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Not Another Gospel

⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, ⁷which is really not another gospel at all. There are, however, some who are trying to disturb you by perverting the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven would preach any gospel other than the one we preached to you—a curse on him! ⁹As we have said before, so I now say again: If anyone preaches to you any gospel other than the one you received—a curse on him!

¹⁰Am I now seeking the favor of people or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to gain the approval of people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Jesus Gave Paul the Gospel

¹¹But I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. ¹²For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹³Certainly you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God to an extraordinary degree and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my own people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵However, God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶to reveal his Son in me, so that I would preach him among the Gentiles. At that time, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, ¹⁷and I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. Instead I went away into Arabia, and then I returned again to Damascus.

¹⁸Next, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas^[2] and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰(Now about the things I am writing to you—look, I assure you in the presence of God that I am not lying.) ²¹Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²I was still personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³They heard only: “The one who was once persecuting us is now preaching the faith that he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴And they were praising God for what happened to me.

Footnotes

Galatians 1:2 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
Galatians 1:18 Cephas is the Aramaic name for Peter. Both Cephas and Peter mean rock.

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 17

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 06:00:22 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 17

Joshua 24

The Meeting at Shechem

¹Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and he summoned the elders of Israel, its heads, its judges, and its officers, and they presented themselves before God.

²Then Joshua told all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said.”

God’s Message

From ancient times your ancestors, including Terah, who was the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they served other gods. ³But I took your father Abraham from across the River, and I caused him to walk through the whole land of Canaan. I multiplied his seed,^[1] and I gave Isaac to him, ⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

⁵Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted Egypt with the plagues I sent there. Afterward I brought you out. ⁶I brought your fathers out from Egypt, and you came to the sea. With chariots and charioteers the Egyptians pursued your fathers to the Red Sea. ⁷They cried out to the Lord, and he set darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea upon them so that it covered them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for many days.^[2]

⁸I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan, and they fought against you. But I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land after I had destroyed them before you.

⁹Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you, ¹⁰but I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he blessed you time after time. In this way I rescued you from his power.

¹¹Then you crossed over the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho and the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites fought against you, but I gave them into your hand. ¹²I sent the hornet before you, and it drove them out before you, as it drove out the two kings of the Amorites.

It was not by your sword and not by your bow!

¹³So I have given you a land for which you did not labor. I gave you cities that you did not build, but you have been living in them. I gave you vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant, but you are eating from them.

Joshua’s Admonition

¹⁴Joshua said, “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly and faithfully. Remove the gods that your fathers served in the region across the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵But if you see no benefit in serving the Lord,^[3] then choose for yourselves today whomever you will serve—whether the gods that your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household—we will serve the Lord!”

¹⁶The people responded by saying, “Far be it from us^[4] to forsake the Lord in order to serve other gods! ¹⁷For the Lord our God, he is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, where we were slaves. He is the one who performed these great signs right before our eyes and protected us on the whole journey that we made and among all the peoples through whom we passed. ¹⁸The Lord drove out of our presence all the peoples and the Amorites who were living in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God!”

¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God.^[5] He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. ²⁰If you forsake the Lord and you serve foreign gods, then he will turn and cause disaster for you, and he will put an end to you after he has done good for you.”

²¹But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will most certainly serve the Lord!”

²²So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves in order to serve him.”

The people said, “We are witnesses!”

²³Joshua said, “Now, therefore, remove the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

²⁴The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God, and we will listen to his voice.”

²⁵That day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and he affirmed for them a statute and ordinance there at Shechem. ²⁶Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was at the holy place of the Lord.

²⁷Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone will be a witness among us and against us, because it has heard all the words that the Lord spoke with us. So it will be a witness among you and against you, so that you do not act deceptively against your God.”

²⁸Then Joshua dismissed the people, each one to his own inheritance.

The End of an Era

²⁹After these events Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. ³⁰They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath Serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Ga’ash.

³¹Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had experienced every deed that the Lord had done for Israel.

³²The bones of Joseph, which the descendants of Israel had brought up from Egypt, were buried in Shechem in the portion of the field that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of silver,^[6] and they^[7] became a heritage for the sons of Joseph.

³³Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him on the hill that belonged to his son Phinehas, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Footnotes

Joshua 24:3 Or his descendants. Retention of the literal term seed highlights the connection with the Messianic promises to Eve and to Abraham all the way down to Christ.
Joshua 24:7 The many days here was about forty years.
Joshua 24:15 Literally if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord
Joshua 24:16 Or may we be cursed. The Hebrew expression refers to something that is profane and has the tone of a curse.
Joshua 24:19 Or he is a God who demands exclusive loyalty
Joshua 24:32 Literally one hundred qesitahs. The qesitah is an archaic monetary unit of unknown weight and value.
Joshua 24:32 Or it

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 16

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 06:00:27 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 16

Joshua 23

A Warning and a Promise

¹After many days,^[1] when the Lord had given Israel rest from all its enemies all around, when Joshua had grown old and advanced in years, ²Joshua summoned all Israel—its elders, its heads, its judges, and its officers, and he said to them:

I have grown old and advanced in years. ³You yourselves have seen everything that the Lord your God has done for you against all these nations. Yes, the Lord your God was fighting for you! ⁴See now, I have allotted to your tribes an inheritance from these nations that remain unconquered, as well as from the nations that I have destroyed. It extends from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵The Lord your God himself will push them away from you and drive them out of your presence, ⎣until they perish. He will send wild animals among them until he completely destroys them and their kings from your presence⎦^[2] and you will take possession of their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. ⁶You must be very resolute in carrying out all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses by not turning from it to the right or to the left, ⁷by not intermingling with these nations that remain with you. Do not ever call on or swear by the names of their gods. Never serve them and never bow down to them. ⁸But hold fast to the Lord your God, just as you have been doing to this day.

⁹The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations from among you. As for you, no one has stood up against you to this day. ¹⁰One of you would put a thousand to flight because the Lord your God himself was fighting for you, just as he promised you. ¹¹Therefore, for your own sakes be very careful to love the Lord your God.

¹²But if you do turn away and keep close company with the remnant of these nations that remain with you, and if you intermarry with them and intermingle with them and they with you, ¹³then know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive out these nations from among you, but they will become a trap and a snare for you, a whip for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from your good land that the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴See now, I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and with all your soul that not one promise out of all the good promises that the Lord your God promised you has failed. All of them have come true for you. Not one promise from him has failed.^[3]

¹⁵But just as every good promise that the Lord your God promised to you has come true for you, likewise the Lord will cause every promise of disaster to come true for you until he has destroyed you from this good land that the Lord your God has given you. ¹⁶If you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God that he commanded you, and you go and serve other gods, and you bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from the good land that he has given you.

Footnotes

Joshua 23:1 The many days amounted to about seven years.
Joshua 23:5 The words in the half-brackets are not in the Hebrew text, but they are in the Greek Old Testament. The words missing from the Hebrew text lie between two occurrences of your presence.
Joshua 23:14 Literally fallen

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 15

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:00:58 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 15

Joshua 22

Dismissal of the Transjordan Tribes

¹Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. ²He said to them, “You have carried out everything that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in everything that I commanded you. ³You have not forsaken your brothers for many days^[1] now, right up till today, and you have carried out the commands of the Lord your God. ⁴Now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, just as he promised them. So now return to your tents, to the land assigned as your possession, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to you east of the Jordan. ⁵But be very careful to follow the commandment and teaching that Moses, the servant of the Lord, decreed to you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to cling to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

⁶Then Joshua blessed them and dismissed them, and they went to their tents. ⁷(To the half tribe of Manasseh Moses had made a grant of land in Bashan, and to the other half of that tribe Joshua had made a grant among their brothers west of the Jordan.) So when Joshua dismissed them to their tents, he blessed them ⁸and said to them, “Return to your tents with very great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with a lot of clothing. Divide the plunder taken from your enemies with your brother Israelites.”

⁹So the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh set out to return home. They left the people of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to travel to the land of Gilead, to the land assigned as their possession, which they had acquired there by the word of the Lord through Moses.

The Threat of War

¹⁰When they came to Geliloth by the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a conspicuously large altar. ¹¹The people of Israel heard about it and said, “See, the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh have built the altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan at Geliloth of the Jordan, on the side of the river that belongs to the people of Israel.” ¹²When the people of Israel heard this, the whole commuity of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

¹³Then the people of Israel sent the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar to the people of Reuben, to the people of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead. ¹⁴Together with him they sent ten tribal leaders, a leader for each fathers’ house^[2] for all the tribes of Israel. Each one was a head of his fathers’ house according to the divisions^[3] of Israel.

¹⁵They came to the people of Reuben, to the people of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them. They said, ¹⁶“This is what the whole community of the Lord has said: Why have you committed such an unfaithful act against the God of Israel by turning from the Lord today? When you built an altar for yourselves, you rebelled against the Lord today. ¹⁷Was the sin of Peor so trivial—something from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, and for which a plague came on the community of the Lord— ¹⁸so that today you have to turn away from the Lord? This is what will happen if you rebel against the Lord today: Tomorrow he will be furious against the whole community of Israel! ¹⁹But by all means, if the land you have received as your possession is unclean, cross over to the Lord’s own land where the Dwelling of the Lord has its home and take your possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, and do not make us rebels by your act of building an altar for yourselves apart from the altar of the Lord our God! ²⁰When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things, did it not bring anger against the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who perished because of his guilt!”

The Response of the Tribes

²¹Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh responded to the heads of the divisions of Israel:

²²By God, the true God, the Lord! By God, the true God, the Lord!^[4] He knows, and Israel will know too. If we acted in rebellion or if we acted in unfaithfulness against the Lord, do not spare us this day. ²³If we acted to build an altar for ourselves to turn from the Lord, or if we acted to offer up burnt offerings or grain offerings on it, or if we acted to make sacrifices of fellowship offerings on it, let the Lord himself demand an accounting from us.

²⁴But in truth, we did this because we were concerned that in the future your children would say to our children, “What connection do you have to the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵The Lord placed a border between us and you people of Reuben and Gad, namely, the Jordan. You have no portion in the Lord.” Then your children would stop our children from fearing the Lord.

²⁶So we said, “Come on now, let us build an altar—but not for burnt offerings and not for sacrifice.” ²⁷Rather, it is to be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us concerning our right to perform the worship of the Lord before him by our burnt offerings, by our sacrifices, and by our fellowship offerings, so that your children cannot say in the future to our children, “You have no share in the Lord.”

²⁸So we said, “If they say that to us and to our generations in the future, then we will say, ‘Look at the replica of the altar of the Lord that our fathers made—but not for burnt offerings and not for sacrifice. Rather it is a witness between us and you.’”

²⁹Far be it from us to rebel^[5] against the Lord and to turn today from the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for fellowship offerings apart from the altar of the Lord our God that is in front of his dwelling.

War Avoided

³⁰Phinehas the priest heard this, as did the tribal leaders of the community and the heads of the divisions of the tribes of Israel who were with him. They heard the words that the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the people of Manasseh spoke, and they were pleased. ³¹So Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, said to the people of Reuben, to the people of Gad, and to the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us since you did not act unfaithfully against the Lord. Now you have saved the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

³²So the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the leaders returned from the people of Reuben and Gad in the land of Gilead to the people of Israel in the land of Canaan, and they brought them a report. ³³The report pleased the people of Israel, so the people of Israel blessed God, and they did not say anything more about going to war against them to destroy the land that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were living in.

³⁴The people of Reuben and the people of Gad named the altar “Witness” because they said, “It is a witness between us that the Lord is the one God.”

Footnotes

Joshua 22:3 The many days amounted to about seven years.
Joshua 22:14 Each successive generation of tribal elders were the fathers of that generation. The fathers’ house was a social division that seems to have been smaller than the tribe or clan but larger than the immediate family. The term, however, seems to have been used for more than one level of the social structure of Israel because of the importance of kinship and descent in Israel’s social structure.
Joshua 22:14 Literally the thousands
Joshua 22:22 The Hebrew oath has three divine names: El, Elohim, Yahweh.
Joshua 22:29 Or may we be cursed if we rebel. The Hebrew expression refers to something that is profane or cursed.

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 14

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:00:08 +0000

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/03-0914db.mp3

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 14

Joshua 20 – 21

Cities of Refuge

Joshua 20

¹Then the Lord spoke to Joshua ²and told him to give the people of Israel the following directions:

Designate for yourselves the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moses. ³A person who takes a life may flee to one of them, if that person has killed someone by accident, without intent. These cities are to serve for you as a refuge from the avenger^[1] of blood.

⁴The person is to flee to one of these cities and stand at the entrance to the gate of the city and state his case before a hearing of the elders of that city. They are to receive him into the city and give him a place where he can live with them. ⁵When the avenger of blood pursues him, the elders are not to hand over the person who took a life to the avenger, because that person killed his fellow man without intent, and he had not been his enemy previously. ⁶The killer is to live in that city until he stands in front of the community for judgment, and then until the death of the high priest who presides in those days. At that time the one who took a life may return to his city and to his house—to the city from which he fled.

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸Also in the region on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These were the appointed cities for all the people of Israel and for the aliens residing among them, so that anyone killing a person accidentally could flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood before he stood trial in the presence of the community.

Cities for the Priests and Levites

Joshua 21

¹Then the leading fathers^[2] of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leading fathers of the tribes of the people of Israel. ²When they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, they said, “The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, together with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

³So from their own inheritance the people of Israel gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands according to the command of the Lord.

⁴The clans of Kohath, one of the descendants of Levi, received the first lot. Those who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, from the Simeonites, and from the tribe of Benjamin. ⁵The remaining Kohathites received by lot ten cities from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

⁶The descendants of Gershon received by lot thirteen cities from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The descendants of Merari according to their clans received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸The people of Israel assigned cities and their pasturelands to the Levites by lot, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Cities for the Priests

⁹The tribe of the descendants of Judah and the tribe of the descendants of Simeon gave the cities, named below, ¹⁰to the descendants of Aaron, who were from the Kohathite clan of the people of Levi, because the first lot was theirs.

¹¹They gave them Kiriath Arba in the hill country of Judah and its pasturelands which surround it. (Kiriath Arba is Hebron.) (Arba was the father of the Anakites.) ¹²But the outlying countryside of the city and its villages they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³In this way they gave the descendants of Aaron the priest these cities: Hebron, the city of refuge for one who takes a life, together with its pasturelands, Libnah and its pasturelands, ¹⁴Jattir and its pasturelands, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands, ¹⁵Holon and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands, ¹⁶Ain and its pasturelands, Juttah and its pasturelands, Beth Shemesh and its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.

¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin, they gave Gibeon and its pasturelands, Geba and its pasturelands, ¹⁸Anathoth and its pasturelands, and Almon and its pasturelands—four cities.

¹⁹All the cities for the descendants of Aaron the priest totaled thirteen cities and their pasturelands.

Cities for Kohathite Levites

²⁰For the rest of the clans of the Levites descended from Kohath, the cities of their allotment came from the tribe of Ephraim.

²¹They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for one who takes a life, and its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim; Gezer and its pasturelands; ²²Kibzaim and its pasturelands; and Beth Horon and its pasturelands—four cities.

²³From the tribe of Dan they gave Eltekeh and its pasturelands, Gibbethon and its pasturelands, ²⁴Aijalon and its pasturelands, Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands—four cities.

²⁵From the half tribe of Manasseh, they gave Ta’anach and its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands—two cities.

²⁶The total was ten cities and their pasturelands for the remaining clans of the descendants of Kohath.

Cities for the Gershonite Levities

²⁷To the descendants of Gershon, one of the clans of the Levites, these cities were given.

From the half tribe of Manasseh: the city of refuge for someone who had killed a man, namely, Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands, also Be’eshterah and its pastureland—two cities.

²⁸From the tribe of Issachar: Kishion and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, ²⁹Jarmuth and its pasturelands, En Gannim and its pasturelands—four cities.

³⁰From the tribe of Asher: Mishal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, ³¹Helkath and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands—four cities.

³²From the tribe of Naphtali: the city of refuge for someone who had killed a man, namely, Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammoth Dor and its pasturelands, and Kartan and its pasturelands—three cities.

³³All the cities of the Gershonites according to their clans totaled thirteen cities and their pasturelands.

Cities for the Merarite Levites

³⁴To the clans of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, these cities were given.

From the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam and its pasturelands, Kartah and its pasturelands, ³⁵Dimnah and its pasturelands, Nahalal and its pasturelands—four cities.

³⁶From the tribe of Reuben: Bezer and its pasturelands, Jahzah and its pasturelands, ³⁷Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mepha’ath and its pasturelands—four cities.

³⁸From the tribe of Gad: the city of refuge for one who takes a life, namely, Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands, ³⁹Heshbon and its pasturelands, Jazer and its pasturelands. All the cities totaled four.

⁴⁰All the cities for the descendants of Merari according to their clans, the rest of the clans of the Levites—their allotment was twelve cities.

⁴¹So all the cities of the Levites within the possession of the descendants of Israel totaled forty-eight cities and their pasturelands. ⁴²These cities consisted of each city and its pasturelands that surround it. It was that way for all these cities.

⁴³So the Lord gave to Israel all of the land that he had sworn to give to their fathers. They took possession of it and lived in it. ⁴⁴The Lord gave them rest all around, in fulfillment of everything that he had sworn to their fathers. Not one person out of all their enemies had withstood them. The Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. ⁴⁵Not one promise out of all the good promises that the Lord had promised to the house of Israel failed.^[3] They all came true!

Footnotes

Joshua 20:3 The Hebrew word translated avenger is goel. Goel is also translated redeemer or kinsman redeemer. One function of the goel was to seek justice for a relative who had been killed. In that situation the goel is called an avenger. Another duty of the goel was recovering lost property. In that situation he is called a redeemer.
Joshua 21:1 Fathers is a common title for the ruling elders among the Israelites.
Joshua 21:45 Literally fell

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 13

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 06:00:17 +0000

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/03-0913db.mp3

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 13

Joshua 18 – 19

The Other Tribes

Joshua 18

¹Then the whole community of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and they set up the Tent of Meeting there, since the land had been subdued by their advance. ²Seven tribes remained among the people of Israel to whom no inheritance had yet been apportioned.

³So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long are you going to keep delaying before you go and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given to you? ⁴You yourselves are to appoint three men for each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to go out and walk throughout the land. They are to write a description of it as a basis for each of their inheritances, and then come back to me. ⁵They are to divide it into seven shares. Judah will remain in its territory in the south, and the house of Joseph will remain in its territory north of that. ⁶You are to write a description of the land in seven parts and bring it to me here. Then I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷But the Levites have no portion in your midst because the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance, and Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance in the region to the east, on the other side of the Jordan, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to them.”

⁸So the men set out on their tour. Joshua had given a command to write a description of the land to the men who were going out, “Go, walk around throughout the land. Write a description of it and return to me. I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.”

⁹So the men went and passed through the land, and they wrote a description of it on a scroll with the lists of cities divided into seven portions. Then they came to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, and there Joshua assigned the land to the people of Israel portion by portion.

Benjamin

¹¹First, the lot came up for the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin according to their clans. The territory of their lot stretched out between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph.

¹²Their northern border starts at the Jordan.

Then the border ascends to the slope of Jericho on the north.

Then it ascends westward through the hill country.

It ends at the Wilderness of Beth Aven.

¹³The border crosses over from there to Luz, to the slope on the south side of Luz (Luz is Bethel).

Then the border descends to Ataroth Addar on the mountain that is south of Lower Beth Horon.

¹⁴This is the border on the western side.

From the mountain that is facing the south side of Beth Horon, the border bends and curves around toward the south. It ends at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah.

This is the western side.

¹⁵On the southern side, the border begins from the edge of Kiriath Jearim.

Then the border goes out toward the sea and goes out to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah.

¹⁶Then the border descends to the edge of the mountain that faces the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is north of the Valley of Rephaim.

Then it descends through the Valley of Hinnom to the southern slope of the Jebusite city and descends to En Rogel.

¹⁷Then it bends north and goes out to En Shemesh.

Then it goes out to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and descends to the Stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben.

¹⁸Then it passes northward to the slope facing the Arabah and descends into the Arabah.

¹⁹The border then passes on to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah, and the border ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea at the southern end of the Jordan.

This is the southern border.

²⁰The Jordan River is its border on the eastern side.

This is the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin, on the basis of the borders enclosing it, according to their clans.

²¹The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²²Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Kephar Ha’ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities and their villages.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Be’eroth, ²⁶Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpe’el, Taralah, ²⁸Zela, Ha’eleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeath, Kiriath—fourteen cities and their villages.

This is the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their clans.

Simeon

Joshua 19

¹The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the descendants of Simeon, according to their clans. Their inheritance was located within the inheritance of the descendants of Judah.

²As their inheritance they received:

Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵Ziklag, Beth Markaboth, Hazar Susah, ⁶Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities and their villages.^[1]

⁷Also Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities and their villages.

⁸All the villages that are around these cities, as far as Baalath Be’er (which is Ramah of the Negev).

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Simeon according to their clans. ⁹Part of the share of the descendants of Judah became the inheritance of the descendants of Simeon. Because the portion of the descendants of Judah was too large for them, the descendants of Simeon received an inheritance within Judah’s inheritance.

Zebulun

¹⁰The third lot came up for the descendants of Zebulun according to their clans.

The border of their inheritance reaches as far as Sarid.

¹¹Their border ascends toward the west to Maralah and touches Dabbesheth.

Then it touches the streambed that is next to Jokneam.

¹²Then it turns from Sarid eastward toward the rising of the sun on the border of Kisloth Tabor. Then it goes out to Daberath and ascends to Japhia.

¹³From there it passes on the east, along the side that is toward the sunrise, to Gath Hepher, to Eth Kazin, and goes out to Rimmon, which is marked off to Neah.^[2]

¹⁴Then the border curves around it on the north to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtah El, ¹⁵Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities and their villages.^[3]

¹⁶This is the inheritance of the descendants of Zebulun according to their clans—these cities and their villages.

Issachar

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the descendants of Issachar according to their clans.

¹⁸Their territory extended to Jezre’el, Kesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez.

²²The border touches Tabor, Shahazimah, and Beth Shemesh, and their border ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities and their villages.

²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Issachar according to their clans—the cities and their villages.

Asher

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their clans.

²⁵Their border enclosed Helkath, Hali, Beten, Akshaph, ²⁶Allammelek, Amad, and Mishal, and it touches on Carmel on the west, and on Shihor Libnath.

²⁷Then it turns on the east to Beth Dagon and touches the territory of Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah El to the north, also Beth Emek, and Neiel.

Then it goes out to Kabul in the north, ²⁸to Ebron,^[4] Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon.

²⁹Then the border turns toward Ramah, to the fortified city of Tyre.

Then the border turns toward Hosah, and it ends at the sea.

It extends from Hebel^[5] to Akzib, ³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two^[6] cities and their villages.

³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their clans—these cities and their villages.

Naphtali

³²The sixth lot came out for the descendants of Naphtali, for the descendants of Naphtali according to their clans.

³³Their border extends from Heleph, from the oak in Za’annim, past Adami Nekeb, and Jabne’el to Lakkum. It ends at the Jordan.

³⁴Then the border turns west to Aznoth Tabor and goes out from there to Hukkok. It touches Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah^[7] at the Jordan on the east.

³⁵The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinneret, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸Yiron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh—nineteen cities and their villages.^[8]

³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities and their villages.

Dan

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their clans.

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance includes Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ⁴²Sha’alabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶Me Yarkon, and Rakkon, with the border close to Joppa.

⁴⁷But the territory of the descendants of Dan slipped away from them. So the descendants of Dan went up and fought against Leshem. They captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword. They took possession of it and lived in it, and they named Leshem “Dan” after Dan, their forefather.

⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their clans—these cities and their villages.

An Inheritance for Joshua

⁴⁹When they had finished distributing the land as an inheritance by assigning borders, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them. ⁵⁰According to the command of the Lord, they gave him the city that he had requested, Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He built up the city and lived in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leading fathers of the tribes of Israel assigned by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So they finished distributing the land.

Footnotes

Joshua 19:6 There are fourteen cities in the list, if Beersheba and Sheba are counted as two cities.
Joshua 19:13 Or turns toward Neah or is toward the neah. The meaning and identification of neah are uncertain.
Joshua 19:15 It is uncertain how to get the count of twelve cities here.
Joshua 19:28 Variant Abdon
Joshua 19:29 It is uncertain if Hebel is a place name.
Joshua 19:30 It is uncertain how the number twenty-two is to be calculated. There may be as many as twenty-five cities in the list, but some of them are uncertain.
Joshua 19:34 Geographically, this cannot refer to the tribe of Judah. Perhaps it is a city.
Joshua 19:38 It is uncertain how to get the count nineteen. The immediate list as translated has sixteen.

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 12

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 06:00:35 +0000

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/03-0912db.mp3

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 12

Joshua 15:13 – 17:18

Joshua 15

An Inheritance for Caleb

¹³To Caleb son of Jephunneh, Joshua gave a portion among the people of Judah, in keeping with the word of the Lord to Joshua, namely, the city of Kiriath Arba (Arba was the father of Anak). Kiriath Arba is now called Hebron. ¹⁴Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. ¹⁵Then he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath Sepher.

¹⁶Caleb said, “If anyone attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Aksah to him as his wife.” ¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb,^[1] captured Kiriath Sepher, and Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him as his wife.

¹⁸When she came to Othniel, she pressured him to ask her father for some pastureland.^[2] As she dismounted from the donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”

¹⁹She said, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the dry Negev, you should also give me springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The Cities in Judah

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans.

²¹The cities at the southern edge of the tribe of the people of Judah along the border with Edom in the Negev are:

Kabze’el, Eder, Jagur, ²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, ²⁸Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹Baalah, Iyim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—twenty-nine cities and their villages.^[3]

³³In the Shephelah the cities are:

Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Sokoh, Azekah, ³⁶Sha’araim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim^[4]—fourteen cities and their villages.

³⁷Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, ³⁸Dilan, Mizpah, Jokthe’el, ³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰Kabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, ⁴¹Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Na’amah, and Makkedah—sixteen cities and their villages.

⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Akzib, and Mareshah—nine cities and their villages.

⁴⁵Ekron and its surrounding towns^[5] and its villages.

⁴⁶West of Ekron, all the towns that are near Ashdod and their villages.

⁴⁷Also Ashdod with its surrounding towns and its villages.

Gaza with its surrounding towns and its villages, as far as the Stream of Egypt, with the Mediterranean Sea as the boundary.

⁴⁸In the hill country the cities were:

Shamir, Jattir, Sokoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—eleven cities and their villages.

⁵²Arab, Rumah, Eshan, ⁵³Janum, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities and their villages.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezre’el, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—ten cities and their villages.

⁵⁸Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Ma’arath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon—six cities and their villages.

⎣Tekoa, Ephrathah (that is, Bethlehem), Peor, Etam, Kolan, Tatem, Shoresh, Kerem, Gallim, Bether and Manoko—eleven cities and their villages.⎦ ^[6]

⁶⁰Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah—two cities and their villages.

⁶¹In the wilderness:

Beth Arabah, Middin, Sekakah, ⁶²Nibshan, Ir Melah, and En Gedi—six cities and their villages.

⁶³But as for the Jebusites, who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah were not able to drive them out. The Jebusites have lived with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.

Ephraim and Manasseh

Joshua 16

¹The allotment for the descendants of Joseph starts from the Jordan of Jericho and from the waters of Jericho on the east and extends up through the wilderness, ascending from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. ²Then it goes out from Bethel to Luz^[7] and crosses over to the border of the Arkites at Ataroth. ³It descends westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth Horon and as far as Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

⁴So the descendants of Joseph—the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim—received their inheritance.

Ephraim

⁵The border of the descendants of Ephraim was arranged according to their clans.

The southern border of their inheritance, starting from the east end, extends from Ataroth Addar up to Upper Beth Horon.

⁶Then the border goes out to the sea.^[8]

Starting at Mikmethath on the northeast, the border curves around toward the southeast, toward Ta’anath Shiloh, and it crosses over on the east of Janoah.

⁷Then it descends from Janoah to Ataroth and to Na’arath. It touches Jericho and goes out to the Jordan.^[9]

⁸From Tappuah the border goes west to the streambed of the Kanah. It ends at the sea.^[10]

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim according to their clans. ⁹It also includes the cities that were set apart for the descendants of Ephraim in the middle of the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

¹⁰But the Ephraimites did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer. So the Canaanites have lived within Ephraim to this day, but they have become a labor force of slaves.

Manasseh

Joshua 17

¹The second allotment went to the tribe of Manasseh, even though he was the firstborn of Joseph.

To Makir,^[11] the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a warrior—to him went Gilead and Bashan.

²The next allotment went to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh according to their clans: that is, to the sons^[12] of Abiezer, to the sons of Helek, to the sons of Asriel, to the sons of Shechem, to the sons of Hepher, and to the sons of Shemida. These were the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, the males according to their clans.

³Now Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. ⁴They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the other leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.”

So, in keeping with the word of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.

⁵Thus the portions of Manasseh were assigned as ten portions, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are in the region east of the Jordan, ⁶because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead went to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

⁷The border of Manasseh extends from Asher to Mikmethath, which is close to Shechem. Then the border turns to the right^[13] toward the inhabitants of En Tappuah. ⁸The land of Tappuah belongs to Manasseh, but Tappuah, on the border of Manasseh, belongs to the descendants of Ephraim.

⁹Then the border descends to the streambed of the Kanah.

South of the streambed, these cities belonging to Ephraim are located among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh is north of the streambed, and it ends at the sea. ¹⁰The land to the south belongs to Ephraim and the land to the north belongs to Manasseh, and the sea is its border. The borders touch Asher on the northwest and Issachar on the northeast.

¹¹Also belonging to Manasseh but lying within the territory of Issachar and Asher are Beth Shan and its surrounding towns,^[14] Ibleam and its surrounding towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its surrounding towns, the inhabitants of Endor and its surrounding towns, the inhabitants of Ta’anach and its surrounding towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its surrounding towns; also three cities of the Nephet.^[15]

¹²But the people of Manasseh were not able to take possession of these cities, and the Canaanites were determined to continue living in this land. ¹³When the people of Israel grew strong, they made the Canaanites serve as a labor force, but they did not drive them out completely.

¹⁴The descendants of Joseph spoke with Joshua. They said, “Why did you give us an inheritance of only one lot and one portion, even though we are a numerous people, whom the Lord has blessed right up to the present?”

¹⁵But Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear some land for yourself in the territory of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too confining for you.”

¹⁶The descendants of Joseph said, “The hill country is not sufficient for us, and all the Canaanites living in the valleys have iron chariots,^[16] both those in Beth Shan and its surrounding towns and those in the Valley of Jezre’el.”

¹⁷But Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh, “Because you are a numerous people and you have great strength, you will not have just one allotment, ¹⁸but you will also have the hill country. Even though it is forest, you will clear it, and all of it will be yours, because you will drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they are strong.”

Footnotes

Joshua 15:17 It is not certain whether Othniel or Kenaz was Caleb’s brother. It seems most likely that it was Kenaz.
Joshua 15:18 As the text is translated here, Aksah urged her husband to ask her father for the land, but he apparently did not do so, which would account for her making the request herself. See Judges 1:14-15.
Joshua 15:32 There are more than twenty-nine cities listed. In fact, there are thirty-six. Some of the totals given in the lists do not correspond with the number of locations named. Many of the city names also have different spellings in different texts. The footnotes do not cite every variant spelling.
Joshua 15:36 There are fourteen cities without Gederothaim, so it may be an alternate name for Gederah.
Joshua 15:45 Literally her daughters. Here the daughters are the small towns in the territory of the main city.
Joshua 15:59 This list of eleven cities is not present in the Hebrew text, but it is in the Greek Old Testament. It seems unlikely that a list of the cities of Judah would not include Bethlehem.
Joshua 16:2 Or that is Luz. The translation follows the Hebrew text, but elsewhere Luz is the old name of Bethel.
Joshua 16:6 This description includes both the southern and the western borders.
Joshua 16:7 This seems to describe the eastern part of the northern border as well as the eastern border, but the whole description of the border is difficult.
Joshua 16:8 This seems to describe the western half of the northern border.
Joshua 17:1 Makir was the name of the son of Manasseh, who lived about four hundred years before the division of the land. Here Makir refers to the clan descended from Makir. Perhaps the clan was led by another man named Makir.
Joshua 17:2 Sons may include multiple generations.
Joshua 17:7 Or the south
Joshua 17:11 Literally her daughters. Here the daughters are the small towns in the territory of the main city.
Joshua 17:11 The meaning of the phrase translated three cities of the Nephet is uncertain. Nephet may refer to a height or it may be a place name. It may refer to a region around Dor.
Joshua 17:16 The term iron chariots probably refers to chariots fitted with iron trappings.

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 11

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 11

Joshua 13:1 – 15:12

The Land That Remained Unconquered

Joshua 13

¹Now Joshua had grown old and had advanced in years. So the Lord said to him, “You have grown old and advanced in years, but very much land remains to be taken as your possession.

²“This is the land that remains:

All the districts of the Philistines and all of the Geshurites, ³from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, to the border of Ekron on the north. (This is reckoned as belonging to the Canaanites, but includes the five serens^[1] of the Philistines, the serens of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as the Avvites ⁴on the south.)

All the land of the Canaanites, and Me’arah,^[2] which belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, up to the border of the Amorites.

⁵The land of the Gebalites,^[3] and all of Lebanon toward the rising of the sun, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon up to the entry to Hamath, ⁶all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, and all the Sidonians.

“I myself will drive them out as the people of Israel advance. So assign the land to Israel as their possession by lot, just as I have commanded you. ⁷Now apportion this land as an inheritance for nine of the tribes and one of the half tribes of Manasseh.”

Division of the Transjordan

⁸Together with the other half tribe of Manasseh, the Reubenites and Gadites had already received their inheritance from Moses in the area east of the Jordan, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had assigned it to them.

⁹It extended from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Canyon, and from the city that is in the middle of the canyon, and included all the tableland^[4] from Medeba to Dibon.

¹⁰It included all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, up to the border of the people of Ammon;

¹¹also Gilead, and the territory of the Geshurites and the Ma’akathites, and all Mount Hermon and all of Bashan to Salekah;

¹²also all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.

(Og himself was left from the remnant of the Rephaim,^[5] and Moses struck them down and drove them out.)

¹³But the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites and the Ma’akathites. So Geshur and Ma’akath have lived within Israel to this day.

¹⁴But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance. Their inheritance is the offerings made by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel, just as he said to them.

Reuben

¹⁵Moses gave land to the tribe of the descendants of Reuben according to their clans.

¹⁶Their territory included Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Canyon, and the city that is in the middle of the canyon, and all of the tableland by Medeba.

¹⁷It included Heshbon and all its cities that are in the tableland, also Dibon, Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸also Jahaz, Kedemoth, and Mepha’ath;

¹⁹also Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, ²⁰and Beth Peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth, ²¹all the cities of the tableland.

It included the whole kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, whom Moses had struck down, together with the chiefs of Midian, namely, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were subject kings under Sihon and lived in his land.

²²In addition to the Midianites who were killed, the Israelites killed with the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination.

²³The border of the descendants of Reuben was the Jordan River. This was the border of the inheritance of the descendants of Reuben according to their clans—the cities and their villages.

Gad

²⁴Moses also gave land to the tribe of Gad, to the descendants of Gad according to their clans.

²⁵Their territory included Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half of the land of the descendants of Ammon, as far as Aroer, which is near Rabbah.

²⁶Also it extended from Heshbon to Ramat Hamizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir.

²⁷Also in the valley he gave them Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, and Succoth, as well as Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as a border, up to the end of the Sea of Galilee,^[6] the region beyond the Jordan to the east.

²⁸This is the inheritance of the descendants of Gad according to their clans—the cities and their villages.

Half Manasseh

²⁹Moses also gave land to the half tribe of Manasseh. It was given to the half tribe of the descendants of Manasseh according to their clans.

³⁰Their territory extended from Mahanaim through all of Bashan, including all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan and all the tent villages of Jair, which are in Bashan—sixty cities in all.

³¹He gave half of Gilead, also Ashtaroth and Edrei, cities belonging to the kingdom of Og in Bashan, to the descendants of Makir, the son of Manasseh, to half of the descendants of Makir according to their clans.

³²These territories are what Moses had given as an inheritance while in the Plains of Moab from the region beyond the Jordan of Jericho to the east.

³³But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had not given an inheritance. The Lord, the God of Israel—he is their inheritance, as he had said to them.

The Division of the Land of Canaan

Joshua 14

¹The following are the allotted inheritances for the descendants of Israel in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leading fathers^[7] of the tribes allotted as an inheritance to the people of Israel. ²The inheritances for nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh were determined by lot, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

³Moses had already assigned inheritances to two tribes and to one half tribe in the region east of the Jordan, but to the Levites he did not give an inheritance among the other tribes. ⁴Because the sons of Joseph had been divided into two tribes, namely, Manasseh and Ephraim, the Levites did not receive a tribal territory in the land. They did, however, receive cities to live in along with the cities’ pasturelands for their cattle and property.^[8] ⁵Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, that is what the people of Israel did when they apportioned the land.

Judah Caleb’s Request

⁶When the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, Caleb son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, said this to him:

You know what the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. ⁷I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to scout the land, and I brought back to him my heartfelt advice. ⁸When my brother Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt, I nevertheless fully followed the Lord my God. ⁹So Moses swore an oath to me on that day. He said, “Most certainly the land on which your foot has walked shall be an inheritance for you and for your children forever, because you fully followed the Lord my God.”

¹⁰So now as you see, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, for these forty-five years since the Lord spoke this promise to Moses when Israel was traveling in the wilderness. So now, here I am today, eighty-five years old! ¹¹I am still as strong today as on the day that Moses sent me out. My strength for going out and for coming back from battle is the same now as it was then.

¹²So now, give me this place in the hill country that the Lord promised that day. Even though you heard on that day that the Anakites are there, as well as large fortified cities, perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out, just as the Lord said.

¹³So Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. ¹⁴Therefore Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, as an inheritance to this day, because he fully followed after the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵The name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath Arba. Arba was the greatest man among the Anakites.

So the land rested from war.

The Borders of Judah

Joshua 15

¹This was the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah according to their clans. It extended south to the border with Edom and through the Negev to the Wilderness of Zin in the extreme south.

²Their border on the south started from the south end of the Dead Sea,^[9] from the bay^[10] that faces south.

³It goes south from the Ascent of Akrabbim and crosses over to Zin and ascends from south of Kadesh Barnea.

Then it crosses over to Hezron and ascends to Adar and curves around to Karka.

⁴Then it crosses over to Azmon and goes out to the Stream of Egypt.^[11]

The border ends at the Mediterranean Sea.

This is your southern border.

⁵The border on the east is the Dead Sea,^[12] up to the mouth of the Jordan.

The border on the north side starts from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.

⁶The border ascends to Beth Hoglah and crosses over north of Beth Arabah.

Then the border ascends to the Stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben.

⁷Then the border ascends to Debir from the Valley of Achor and turns north toward Gilgal, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, which is south of the streambed.

Then the border crosses over to the waters of En Shemesh, ending at En Rogel.

⁸Then the border ascends through the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the slope of the Jebusites on the south side of Jerusalem.

Then the border ascends to the top of the mountain that is across the Valley of Hinnom on the west side, where Hinnom meets the north end of the Valley of Rephaim.

⁹Then the border bends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah and goes out to the cities of Mount Ephron.

Then the border bends toward Baalah—that is, Kiriath Jearim.

¹⁰The border curves around from Baalah westward to Mount Seir and crosses over to the slope of Mount Jearim from the north—that is, Kesalon—and descends to Beth Shemesh, then crosses over to Timnah.

¹¹The border goes out to the slope of Ekron, on the north.

Then the border bends to Shikkeron and crosses over Mount Baalah and goes out to Jabne’el, and the border ends at the sea.

¹²The border on the west—the Mediterranean Sea^[13] is the border.

This is the border on all sides for the descendants of Judah according to their clans.

Footnotes

Joshua 13:3 The word seren is a special word used only of the rulers of the five Philistine city states. It seems to be a Philistine term. It may be related to the Greek word tyrant, an autocratic ruler of a city state. Seren is apparently a title like pharaoh or czar, which is applied to one specific class of rulers. Since this is a unique title, the EHV uses the transliteration seren rather than the traditional rendering lord.
Joshua 13:4 Or perhaps from Arah. The meaning and location of this place name are uncertain.
Joshua 13:5 The city of Gebal is also called Byblos. This Greek version of the name is the more common name of the city in English.
Joshua 13:9 The Hebrew term mishor refers to a high plateau. It often refers to this specific area near Medeba, in which case it can be translated as a proper name, Mishor.
Joshua 13:12 See the note at 12:4.
Joshua 13:27 Hebrew Sea of Kinneret
Joshua 14:1 Fathers is a common title for the ruling elders among the Israelites.
Joshua 14:4 That is, there were already a total of twelve tribal allotments without granting a tribal allotment for Levi. Levi’s inheritance, therefore, was within the territory of other tribes.
Joshua 15:2 Hebrew Salt Sea
Joshua 15:2 The Hebrew word lashon, translated bay in this verse and in verse 5, means tongue. Tongue might plausibly refer to a tongue-shaped bay, but there are no noticeable bays or peninsulas on the north and south shores of the sea, so the significance of the term in these verses is uncertain. It may simply mean shore or end.
Joshua 15:4 This is not the Nile but one of the seasonal streams in the wilderness, perhaps at Arish. It is also called the Wadi of Egypt or the Brook of Egypt.
Joshua 15:5 Hebrew Salt Sea
Joshua 15:12 Hebrew the Great Sea

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 10

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 06:00:20 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 10

Joshua 11 – 12

The Northern Campaign

Joshua 11

¹When Jabin king of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Akshaph, ²and to the kings in the northern hill country, those in the Arabah south of Kinneret,^[1] in the Shephelah, and in Naphoth Dor to the west, ³as well as to the Canaanites in the east and the west, and to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and to the Hivites below Mount Hermon in the land of Mizpah. ⁴They came out—they and all their divisions with them—a people as numerous as the sand on the seashore, together with very many horses and chariots. ⁵All these kings gathered together. They came and camped together at the Waters of Merom to wage war against Israel.

⁶But the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because tomorrow at this time I will give all of them to Israel as corpses. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.”

⁷So Joshua and all the military forces with him came upon them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. ⁸The Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them as far as Great Sidon, as far as Misrephoth Maim, and as far east as the Valley of Mizpah. They struck them down until they left no survivor for them. ⁹Joshua did to them just as the Lord had said to him: He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

¹⁰Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor. He struck down its king with the sword, even though Hazor had formerly been the head of all these kingdoms. ¹¹The Israelites struck down every living thing that was in Hazor with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction. He left nothing breathing, and Hazor he burned with fire.

¹²Joshua captured all the cities of these kings and all their kings. He struck them with the edge of the sword. He devoted them to destruction just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. ¹³But none of the cities standing on their mounds were burned by Israel—except that Joshua did burn Hazor. ¹⁴All of the plunder from these cities, including the cattle, was taken by the people of Israel as spoils of war for themselves, but they struck down every person with the edge of the sword until they had exterminated them all. They did not leave anything that breathed. ¹⁵Just as the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He did not fail to carry out a single word of everything that the Lord had commanded Moses.

¹⁶So Joshua took all this land: the hill country,^[2] all the Negev,^[3] all the land of Goshen,^[4] the Shephelah,^[5] the Arabah,^[6] the mountainous region of Israel and its foothills, ¹⁷from Mount Halak that rises to Seir, as far as Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings. He struck them and put them to death. ¹⁸For many days^[7] Joshua made war with all these kings. ¹⁹There was no city that made peace with the people of Israel except for the Hivites living in Gibeon. The Israelites took them all in battle, ²⁰for it was the Lord who hardened their hearts so that they would confront Israel in battle and would be devoted to destruction, and they would not receive mercy but would be destroyed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²¹At that time Joshua went and cut off the Anakites^[8] from the hill country—from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them and their cities to destruction. ²²There were no Anakites remaining in the land of the Israelites. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod were they left. ²³So Joshua took the whole land according to everything the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their allotments for their tribes. Then the land rested from war.

The Conquered Kings East of the Jordan

Joshua 12

¹The following are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel struck down and then took possession of their land, which was east of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the Arnon Canyon to Mount Hermon, including all of the Arabah east of the Jordan.

²The first was Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled over the territory that extends from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Canyon, and from the middle of the canyon^[9] all the way north to the Jabbok Canyon, which is the border of the Ammonites. ³This includes half of Gilead. He also ruled over the eastern part of the Arabah^[10] from the Sea of Kinneret^[11] south as far as the Sea of the Arabah, which is the Salt Sea,^[12] and east in the direction of Beth Jeshimoth and south as far as the slopes of Pisgah.

⁴The second area was the territory of Og king of Bashan, who was from a remnant of the Rephaim^[13] and who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. ⁵He was ruler in Mount Hermon, in Salekah, and in all Bashan up to the border of the Geshurites and the Ma’akathites,^[14] and in half of Gilead as far south as the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the people of Israel struck them down. Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave this land east of the Jordan as a possession to the tribe of Reuben, to the tribe of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

The Conquered Kings West of the Jordan

⁷The following are the kings of the land that Joshua and the people of Israel struck down in the area west of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, ⁸which were in the hill country, in the Shephelah, in the Arabah, on the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negev—land that formerly was the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

⁹the king of Jericho	one
the king of Ai, which is next to Bethel	one
¹⁰the king of Jerusalem	one
the king of Hebron	one
¹¹the king of Jarmuth	one
the king of Lachish	one
¹²the king of Eglon	one
the king of Gezer	one
¹³the king of Debir	one
the king of Geder	one
¹⁴the king of Hormah	one
the king of Arad	one
¹⁵the king of Libnah	one
the king of Adullam	one
¹⁶the king of Makkedah	one
the king of Bethel	one
¹⁷the king of Tappuah	one
the king of Hepher	one
¹⁸the king of Aphek	one
the king for the Sharon Plain^[15]	one
¹⁹the king of Madon	one
the king of Hazor	one
²⁰the king of Shimron Meron	one
the king of Akshaph	one
²¹the king of Ta’anach	one
the king of Megiddo	one
²²the king of Kedesh	one
the king of Jokneam in Carmel	one
²³the king of Dor in Naphoth Dor	one
the king of Goyim in Gilgal	one
²⁴the king of Tirzah	one
all of the kings	thirty-one.

Footnotes

Joshua 11:2 A city near the Sea of Galilee, or the sea itself, which is also called Kinneret.
Joshua 11:16 The Hebrew is literally the mountain. The EHV retains the traditional rendering hill country for the highland regions of Israel. (This section of Joshua is the key to learning the geography of Israel.)
Joshua 11:16 The Negev is the arid region in the southern part of Judah.
Joshua 11:16 Not to be confused with the land of Goshen in Egypt, this Goshen seems to be along the western side of Judah.
Joshua 11:16 Shephelah, which means “low region,” is the name for the foothills west of the hill country.
Joshua 11:16 The Arabah is the deep valley that contains the Jordan River and continues south of the Dead Sea.
Joshua 11:18 About seven years
Joshua 11:21 The Anakites were some of the earliest inhabitants of Canaan. They were known for their giant stature.
Joshua 12:2 The parallel passage in Joshua 13:9 reads from the city that is in the middle of the canyon.
Joshua 12:3 That is, the deep valley which contains the Jordan River
Joshua 12:3 That is, the Sea of Galilee
Joshua 12:3 That is, the Dead Sea
Joshua 12:4 Rephaim is the name of a group of people known for their great height. Og, as well as the strong warriors who fought David’s elite warriors (2 Samuel 21:16-20), were Rephaim. Goliath likely was also one of them. Their name seems to have come from a forefather named Rapha (2 Samuel 21:16). They seem to have been the earliest inhabitants of the land. By the time of the judges only a remnant of them was left. They were also known as Emim and Zamzummim.
Joshua 12:5 The stop mark ′ indicates that the double a should be pronounced as two syllables, Ma-ak.
Joshua 12:18 Or of Lasharon

Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 09

duran@wels.net (WELS ) — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 06:00:26 +0000

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Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 09

Joshua 10

The Southern Campaign

¹When Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had captured Ai and devoted it to destruction, and that Joshua had done to Ai and its king exactly what he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were allied with them, ²then he and those with him were very afraid because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal capital cities. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. ³So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon. He said, ⁴“Come up, join me, and help me. We must attack Gibeon, because it made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites.”

⁵So the five kings of the Amorites—namely, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered together and went up with all their divisions.^[1] They set up camp around Gibeon and waged war against it.

⁶The men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not withdraw your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly! Save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites living in the hill country have united themselves against us.”

⁷So Joshua went up from Gilgal—he and all the military forces with him, including all the strong warriors.

⁸Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because I have given them into your hand. Not a man among them will be able to stand in your presence.”

⁹So Joshua came upon them unexpectedly by marching up from Gilgal all night. ¹⁰The Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, and he struck a powerful blow against them at Gibeon. Then he chased them on the road that goes up to Beth Horon, and he struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹While they were fleeing from Israel on the descent from Beth Horon, the Lord hurled large stones from the heavens on them all the way to Azekah. So they died. Those who died from the hailstones were many more than those whom the Israelites killed by the sword.

¹²Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day that the Lord gave the Amorites into the power of Israel ⎣when he struck them down at Gibeon, and they were struck down before the people of Israel⎦.^[2] He said in the sight of Israel:

Sun, rest at Gibeon.
Moon, rest at the Valley of Aijalon.
¹³The sun rested,
and the moon stood still
until a nation could avenge itself on its enemies.

Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?^[3] The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. ¹⁴There has never been a day like that day either before it or after it, a day when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, for the Lord was fighting for Israel.

¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

¹⁶Those five kings fled and hid in the cave at Makkedah. ¹⁷It was reported to Joshua: “The five kings have been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah.”

¹⁸So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and station men over it to guard them. ¹⁹But you—do not stand still. Chase your enemies and attack them from the rear.^[4] Do not give them a chance to get to their cities, because the Lord your God has given them into your hand.”

²⁰When Joshua and the people of Israel had inflicted a devastating blow upon them, to the point that they were almost wiped out (though a small group of survivors escaped into the fortified cities), ²¹then all the people returned safely to the camp of Joshua at Makkedah. No one dared to speak a word against^[5] the people of Israel—against any one of them!

²²Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” ²³They did so and brought those five kings out to him from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. ²⁴When they had brought those kings out to Joshua, he summoned every man of Israel and said to the commanders of the fighting men who had gone with him, “Come, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came and put their feet on their necks.

²⁵Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid. Do not be overwhelmed. Be strong and courageous because the Lord will do these same things to all your enemies against whom you are waging war.” ²⁶Joshua struck them down after that, and after he had killed them, he hung them on five trees. They were hung on the trees until evening.

²⁷At sunset Joshua gave the command, and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves. They placed large stones over the mouth of the cave, which remain there to this very day.

²⁸Joshua captured Makkedah on that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He devoted it to destruction, together with every living thing that was in it. He did not leave a survivor. So he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

²⁹Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and waged war against Libnah. ³⁰The Lord gave it into the hand of Israel, together with its king. He struck Libnah with the edge of the sword, together with every living thing that was in it. He did not leave a survivor in it. So he did to its king just as he had done to the king of Jericho.

³¹Next Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish. He set up camp against it and waged war against it. ³²The Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel. He captured it on the second day, and he struck it with the edge of the sword, together with every living thing that was in it, exactly as he had done to Libnah.

³³Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him and his people until he did not leave one survivor for him.

³⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved from Lachish to Eglon. They set up camp against it and waged war against it. ³⁵They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword, together with every living thing that was in it. On that day he devoted it to destruction, exactly as he had done to Lachish.

³⁶Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they waged war against it. ³⁷They captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword together with its king and all its settlements and every living thing that was in it. He did not leave a survivor, exactly as he had done to Eglon. He devoted it to destruction, along with every living thing in it.

³⁸Next Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Debir and waged war against it. ³⁹He captured it, together with its king and all its settlements. They struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every living thing that was in it. He did not leave a survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, just as he had done to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰In this way Joshua struck the whole land: the hill country,^[6] the Negev,^[7] the Shephelah,^[8] and the slopes,^[9] together with all their kings. He did not leave a survivor. Every breathing thing he devoted to destruction, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded him. ⁴¹Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea all the way to Gaza and from the whole land of Goshen^[10] all the way to Gibeon. ⁴²All of these kings and their land Joshua captured at one time because the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for Israel. ⁴³Then Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the camp at Gilgal.

Footnotes

Joshua 10:5 Literally all their camps
Joshua 10:12 The words in half-brackets are not in the Hebrew text but appear in the Greek Old Testament. The words that are not present in the Hebrew text lie between two occurrences of the word Israel, so the copyist’s eye may have skipped from one occurrence to another.
Joshua 10:13 Or the Book of the Upright
Joshua 10:19 Or cut off their rear guard
Joshua 10:21 Literally sharpen his tongue at
Joshua 10:40 Or highlands. The Hebrew is literally the mountain. The translation retains the traditional rendering hill country for the highland regions of Israel. Here it refers to the central mountain ridge of Israel.
Joshua 10:40 The Negev is the arid region in the southern part of Judah. EHV uses the book of Joshua to teach the Hebrew geographic terms which occur frequently as English transliterations.
Joshua 10:40 Shephelah, which means “low region,” is the name for the foothills west of the hill country.
Joshua 10:40 The slopes seem to be the descents on the eastern and western sides of the hill country.
Joshua 10:41 This Goshen seems to be along the western side of Judah and is not to be confused with the Goshen in Egypt.