22So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD."
They said, "We are witnesses!"
23"So now put aside the foreign gods that are among you. Focus your hearts on the LORD, the God of Israel."
24The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and will obey him."
Joshua makes a covenant
25On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people and established just rule for them at Shechem. 26Joshua wrote these words in God's Instruction scroll. Then he took a large stone and put it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the LORD. 27Joshua said to all the people, "This stone will serve here as a witness against us, because it has heard all the LORD's words that he spoke to us. It will serve as a witness against you in case you aren't true to your God."28Then Joshua sent the people away to each one's legacy.
Three important graves
29After these events, Joshua, Nun's son, the LORD's servant, died. He was 110. 30They buried him within the border of his own legacy, in Timnath-serah in the highlands of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. 31Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had known every act the LORD had done for Israel.
32The Israelites had brought up the bones of Joseph from Egypt. They buried them at Shechem in the portion of field that Jacob had purchased for one hundred qesitahs from the descendants of Hamor the father of Shechem. They became a legacy of the descendants of Joseph.
33Eleazar son of Aaron died. They buried him at Gibeah, which belonged to his son Phinehas. It had been given to him in the highlands of Ephraim.
______
aHeb lacks from Jericho.
bOr Red Sea
cMarch-April, Nisan
dOr Red Sea
eGilgal sounds like the Heb verb galal, "to roll away."
fMarch-April, Nisan
gLXX; Heb wipe out as something reserved for God
hOr Calamity Valley
iOr the Arabah
jDeut 27:5-6
kHeb uncertain
lOr men
mOr he
nOr they
oHeb lacks next to it.
pLXX; MT lacks You will give it out from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. The Mediterranean Sea is the border.
qLXX; MT lacks As for the other half of the tribe of Manasseh.
rOr Wadi, traditionally Brook; LXX their south border; MT your south border
sLXX and Neh 11:27; Heb Biziothiah
tLXX; MT lacks Tekoa, Ephrathah … surrounding areas.
uHeb uncertain
vLXX and Josh 15:6; MT slope opposite the desert plain
wLXX; MT Mehebel
xHeb uncertain
yLXX and 1 Chron 6:78-79 (Heb 6:63-64); some Heb manuscripts lack 21:36-37.
zHeb Geliloth
aOr rebel against us
bOr Red Sea
cHeb uncertain
Judges
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
The tribes and their military conflicts
Judges 1After Joshua's death, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who should go up first to fight for us against the Canaanites?"
2The LORD said, "The tribe of Judah will go up. I've handed over the land to them."
3So the tribe of Judah said to the tribe of Simeon, their brothers, "Come up with us into our territory, and let's fight against the Canaanites. Then we'll go with you into your territory too." So Simeon went with them.
4When Judah went up, the LORD handed them the Canaanites and Perizzites. They defeated ten thousand men at Bezek. 5There they found Adoni-bezek at Bezek, fought against him, and defeated the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6Adoni-bezek fled, but they chased after him, captured him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7He said, "Seventy kings with severed thumbs and big toes used to pick up scraps under my table, so God has paid me back exactly for what I did." They brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. 8The people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people with their swords and set the city on fire.
9Afterward, the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the highlands, the southern plain,a and the western foothills.b 10Judah moved against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron, known before as Kiriath-arba, and they defeated Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 11From there they moved against those who lived in Debir, known before as Kiriath-sepher. 12Caleb said, "I'll give my daughter Achsah as a wife to the one who defeats and captures Kiriath-sepher."13Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. 14When she arrived, she convinced Othniel to ask her father for a certain piece of land. As she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, "What do you want?"
15Achsah said to Caleb, "Give me a gift. Since you've given me land in the southern plain, give me springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
16The descendants of Moses' father-in-law the Kenite went up with the people of Judah from Palm City into the Judean desert, which was in the southern plain near Arad. They went and lived with the Amalekites.c 17Then the Judahites went with the Simeonites, their brothers, and they defeated the Canaanites who lived in Zephath, and they completely destroyed it. So the city was called Hormah.d 18Judah also captured Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and all their territories. 19Thus the LORD was