He said, &#8220;I am God,<n id="1" /> the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, &#8220;Thus says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" /> the God of Israel, &#8216;Release<n id="3" /> my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast<n id="4" /> to me in the desert.&#8217;&#8221;

Tell him, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc>, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Release my people, that they may serve me<n id="2" /> in the desert!&#8221; But until now<n id="3" /> you have not listened.<n id="4" />

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to Moses, &#8220;Go to Pharaoh and tell him, &#8216;Thus says the <sc>Lord,sc> the God of the Hebrews, &#8220;Release my people that they may serve me!

<p class="bodytext">So Moses returned to the <sc>Lordsc> and said, &#8220;Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin,<n id="1" /> and they have made for themselves gods of gold.

Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground<n id="1" /> and said, &#8220;O God, the God of the spirits of all people,<n id="2" /> will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

Indeed, may the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you<n id="1" /> just as he said he would!

Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the <sc>Lordsc> my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in<n id="1" /> the land you are about to enter and possess.

So we cried out to the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of our ancestors, and he<n id="1" /> heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression.

Then people will say, &#8220;Because they abandoned the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc>, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Achan told Joshua, &#8220;It is true. I have sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel in this way:<n id="1" />

The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel.<n id="1" /> The whole community criticized<n id="2" /> the leaders,

but all the leaders told the whole community, &#8220;We swore an oath to them in the name of<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel. So now we can&#8217;t hurt<n id="2" /> them!

Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Joshua captured in one campaign<n id="1" /> all these kings and their lands, for the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel fought for Israel.

However, Moses<n id="1" /> did not assign land as an inheritance<n id="2" /> to the Levites; their inheritance<n id="3" /> is the sacrificial offerings<n id="4" /> made to the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, as he instructed<n id="5" /> them.p>

However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance<n id="1" /> to the Levites; their inheritance<n id="2" /> is the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, as he instructed<n id="3" /> them.p>

My countrymen<n id="1" /> who accompanied<n id="2" /> me frightened the people,<n id="3" /> but I remained loyal to the <sc>Lordsc> my God.<n id="4" />

We swear we have done this because we were worried that<n id="1" /> in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, &#8216;What relationship do you have with the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel?<n id="2" />

If<n id="1" /> you abandon the <sc>Lordsc> and worship<n id="2" /> foreign gods, he will turn against you;<n id="3" /> he will bring disaster on you and destroy you,<n id="4" /> though he once treated you well.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>