and the father of Nahor: and they served 3 other gods. And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, 4 and

gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his children 5 went down into Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst thereof: and

6 afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto 7 the Red Sea. And when they cried out unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt and ye dwelt in the wilderness. 8 many days. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt beyond Jordan; and they fought with you and I gave them into your hand, and ye possessed their land; 9 and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10 but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you 11 out of his hand. And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; 12 and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy

1 Heb. bondmen.

bow. And I gave you a land whereon thou 13
hadst not laboured, and cities which ye built
not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and
oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in 14
sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods
which your fathers served beyond the River,
and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And 15
if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom ye will serve ;
whether the gods which your fathers served
that were beyond the River, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for
me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
And the people answered and said, God forbid 16
that we should forsake the LORD, to serve
other gods; for the LORD our God, he it is 17
that brought us and our fathers up out of the
land of Egypt, from the house of 'bondage,
and that did those great signs in our sight,
and preserved us in all the way wherein we
went, and among all the peoples through the
midst of whom we passed: and the LORD 18
drave out from before us all the peoples, even
the Amorites which dwelt in the land: there-
fore we also will serve the LORD; for he is

our God. And Joshua said unto the people, 19
Ye cannot serve the LORD; for he is an holy
God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive
your transgression nor your sins. If ye for- 20
sake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then
he will turn and do you evil, and consume you,
after that he hath done you good. And the 21
people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will
serve the LORD. And Joshua said unto the 22
people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves
that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve
him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now 23

therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart 24 unto the LORD, the God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and unto his voice will we hearken. 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

26

1

And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was 'by 1Or, in 27 the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye 28 deny your God. So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance.

29

And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years 30 old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the 31 mountain of Gaash. And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had wrought 32 for Israel. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the parcel of ground 'which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the 2 See Gen. father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of xxxiii. 19. money and they became the inheritance of the 33 children of Joseph. And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in 'the hill of Or, Gibeah Phinehas his son, which was given him in the of Phinehas hill country of Ephraim.

3

THE

BOOK OF JUDGES.

4

AND it came to pass after the death of Joshua, 1 1 that the children of Israel asked of the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them? And the 2 LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. And Judah 3 said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they smote of them in Bezek ten thousand men. And they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek: 5 and they fought against him, and they smote the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adoni- 6 bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adoni-bezek said, Threescore 7 and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

And the children of Judah fought against 8 Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

9 And afterward the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill country, and in the South, and in the low

ΙΟ

10 land. 'And Judah went against the Canaanites 'See Josh. xv. that dwelt in Hebron: (now the name of 13-19. Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba :) and they II smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir beforetime 12 was Kiriath-sepher.) And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him 13 will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his 14 daughter to wife. And it came to pass, when she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted down from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What 15 wouldest thou? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing; for that thou hast 'set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

16

3

4

2 Or, present Or, given me the South

the land of

law

5 See Deut.

xxxiv. 3

6

And the children of the Kenite, Moses' 'brother in law, went up out of 'the city of palm Or, father in trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; 17 and they went and dwelt with the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and 'utterly destroyed it. And the name of the 18 city was called 'Hormah. Also Judah took Gaza with the border thereof, and Ashkelon xxi. 3. with the border thereof, and Ekron with the 19 border thereof. And the LORD was with Judah ; and he drave out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of

Heb. devoted.
See Num.