The land allotted to Joseph’s descendants extended from the Jordan at Jericho ¹  to the waters of Jericho to the east, through the desert and on up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel. ² 

“The entire community of the Lord says, ‘Why have you disobeyed the God of Israel by turning back today from following the Lord? You built an altar for yourselves and have rebelled today against the Lord. ¹ 

If we have built ¹  an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making ²  burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering ³  tokens of peace ⁴  on it, the Lord himself will punish us. ⁵ 

just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool. ¹  They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace. ² 

The border then descended to the edge of the hill country near the Valley of Ben Hinnom located in the Valley of the Rephaites to the north. It descended through the Valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south and then down to En Rogel.

When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ¹  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ²  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

These are the land assignments which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders ¹  made by drawing lots in Shiloh before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²  So they finished dividing up the land.

Make sure you are ¹  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ²  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ³  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ⁴  in all you do. ⁵ 

Now the Lord your God has made your fellow Israelites secure, ¹  just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes ²  in your own land ³  which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned to you east of the Jordan.

If you have no desire ¹  to worship ²  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ³  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ⁴  worshiped ⁵  beyond the Euphrates, ⁶  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ⁷  will worship ⁸  the Lord!”

At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ¹  “The man who attempts to rebuild ²  this city of Jericho ³  will stand condemned before the Lord. ⁴  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ⁵ 

They assigned to the Gershonite clans of the Levites the following cities: ¹  from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) and Beeshtarah, along with the grazing areas of each – a total of two cities;

We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing ¹  to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors ²  made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’ ³ 

Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord by turning back today from following after the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace ¹  aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!” ² 

But if your own land ¹  is impure, ²  cross over to the Lord’s own land, ³  where the Lord himself lives, ⁴  and settle down among us. ⁵  But don’t rebel against the Lord or us ⁶  by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the Lord our God.

Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: ‘Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord God of Israel says, “You are contaminated, ¹  O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.” ² 

(Now to one half-tribe of Manasseh, Moses had assigned land in Bashan; and to the other half Joshua had assigned land on the west side of the Jordan with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, ¹  he rewarded ²  them,

Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. ¹  For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, ²  a land rich in ³  milk and honey.

Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,