Through the Bible – Day 77

₁King Jabin of Hazor heard about Joshua's victories, so he sent messages to many nearby kings and asked them to join him in fighting Israel. He sent these messages to King Jobab of Madon, the kings of Shimron and Achshaph, ₂the kings in the northern hill country and in the valley of the River Jordan south of Lake Galilee, and the kings in the foothills and in Naphath-Dor to the west. ₃He sent messages to the Canaanite kings in the east and the west, to the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Jebusite kings in the hill country, and to the Hivite kings in the region of Mizpah, near the foot of Mount Hermon.

_4-5The kings and their armies went to Merom Pond, where they set up camp, and got ready to fight Israel. It seemed as though there were more soldiers and horses and chariots than there are grains of sand on a beach.

₆The LORD told Joshua:

₇Joshua and his army made a surprise attack against the enemy camp at Merom Pond _8-9and crippled the enemies' horses. Joshua followed the LORD's instructions, and the LORD helped Israel defeat the enemy. The Israelite army even chased enemy soldiers as far as Misrephoth-Maim to the north-west, the city of Sidon to the north, and Mizpeh Valley to the north-east. None of the enemy soldiers escaped alive. The Israelites came back after the battle and burnt the enemy's chariots.

₁₀Up to this time, the king of Hazor had controlled the kingdoms that had joined together to attack Israel, so Joshua led his army back and captured Hazor. They killed its king ₁₁and everyone else, then they set the town on fire.

_12-15Joshua captured all the towns where the enemy kings had ruled. These towns were built on small hills, and Joshua did not set fire to any of these towns, except Hazor. The Israelites kept the animals and everything of value from these towns, but they killed everyone who lived in them, including their kings. That's what the LORD had told his servant Moses to do, that's what Moses had told Joshua to do, and that's exactly what Joshua did.

₁₆Joshua and his army took control of the northern and southern hill country, the foothills to the west, the Southern Desert, the whole region of Goshen, and the Jordan valley. _17-18They took control of the land from Mount Halak near the country of Edom in the south to Baal-Gad in Lebanon Valley at the foot of Mount Hermon in the north. Joshua and his army were at war with the kings in this region for a long time, but finally they captured and put to death the last king.

_19-20The LORD had told Moses that he wanted the towns in this region destroyed and their people killed without mercy. That's why the LORD made the people in the towns stubborn and determined to fight Israel. The only town that signed a peace treaty with Israel was the Hivite town of Gibeon. The Israelite army captured the rest of the towns in battle.

₂₁During this same time, Joshua and his army killed the Anakim from the northern and southern hill country. They also destroyed the towns where the Anakim had lived, including Hebron, Debir, and Anab. ₂₂There were not any Anakim left in the regions where the Israelites lived, although there were still some in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

₂₃That's how Joshua captured the land, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and Joshua divided it up among the tribes.

Finally, there was peace in the land.

₁Before Moses died, he and the people of Israel had defeated two kings east of the River Jordan. These kings had ruled the region from the gorge of the River Arnon in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, including the eastern side of the Jordan valley.

₂The first king whom Moses and the Israelites defeated was an Amorite, King Sihon of Heshbon. The southern border of his kingdom ran down the middle of the Arnon gorge, taking in the town of Aroer on the northern edge of the gorge. The River Jabbok separated Sihon's kingdom from the Ammonites on the east. Then the Jabbok turned west and became his northern border, so his kingdom included the southern half of the region of Gilead. ₃Sihon also controlled the eastern side of the Jordan valley from Lake Galilee south to Beth-Jeshimoth and the Dead Sea. In addition to these regions, he ruled the town called Slopes of Mount Pisgah and the land south of there at the foot of the hill.

₄Next, Moses and the Israelites defeated King Og of Bashan, who lived in the town of Ashtaroth part of each year and in Edrei the rest of the year. Og was one of the last of the Rephaim. ₅His kingdom stretched north to Mount Hermon, east to the town of Salecah, and included the land of Bashan as far west as the borders of the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. He also ruled the northern half of Gilead.

₆Moses, the LORD's servant, had led the people of Israel in defeating Sihon and Og. Then Moses gave their land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.

_7-8Later, Joshua and the Israelites defeated many kings west of the River Jordan, from Baal-Gad in Lebanon Valley in the north to Mount Halak near the country of Edom in the south. This region included the hill country and the foothills, the Jordan valley and its western slopes, and the Southern Desert. Joshua and the Israelites took this land from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Joshua divided up the land among the tribes of Israel.

The Israelites defeated the kings of the following towns west of the River Jordan:

₁Many years later, the LORD told Joshua:

₈Moses had already given land east of the River Jordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. ₉This region stretched north from the town in the middle of the valley of the River Arnon, and included the town of Aroer on the northern edge of the valley. It covered the flat lands of Medeba north of Dibon, ₁₀and took in the towns that had belonged to Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon. Some of these towns were as far east as the Ammonite border.

_11-12Geshur and Maacah were part of this region, and so was the whole territory that King Og had ruled, that is, Gilead, Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far east as Salecah. Og had lived in Ashtaroth part of each year, and he had lived in Edrei the rest of the year. Og had been one of the last of the Rephaim, but Moses had defeated Sihon and Og and their people and had forced them to leave their land. ₁₃However, the Israelites did not force the people of Geshur and Maacah to leave, and they still live there among the Israelites.

₁₄Moses did not give any land to the Levi tribe, because the LORD God of Israel had told them, “Instead of land, you will receive the sacrifices offered at my altar.”

₁₅Moses gave land to each of the clans in the Reuben tribe. ₁₆Their land started in the south at the town in the middle of the valley of the River Arnon, took in the town of Aroer on the northern edge of the valley, and went as far north as the flat lands around Medeba. _17-21The Amorite King Sihon had lived in Heshbon and had ruled the towns in the flat lands. Now Heshbon belonged to Reuben, and so did the following towns in the flat lands: Dibon, Bamoth-Baal, Beth-Baal-Meon, Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-Shahar on the hill in the valley, Beth-Peor, Slopes of Mount Pisgah, and Beth-Jeshimoth.

Moses defeated Sihon and killed him and the Midianite chiefs who ruled parts of his kingdom for him. Their names were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. ₂₂The Israelites also killed Balaam the son of Beor, who had been a fortune-teller.

₂₃This region with its towns and villages was the land for the Reuben tribe, and the River Jordan was its western border.

₂₄Moses also gave land to each of the clans in the Gad tribe. ₂₅It included the town of Jazer, and in the Gilead region their territory took in the land and towns as far east as the town of Aroer just west of Rabbah. This was about half of the land that had once belonged to the Ammonites. ₂₆The land given to Gad stretched from Heshbon in the south to Ramath-Mizpeh and Betonim in the north, and even further north to Mahanaim and Lidebor. ₂₇Gad also received the eastern half of the Jordan valley, which had been ruled by King Sihon of Heshbon. This territory stretched as far north as Lake Galilee, and included the towns of Beth-Haram, Beth-Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon. ₂₈These regions with their towns and villages were given to the Gad tribe.

₂₉Moses gave land east of the River Jordan to half of the clans from the Manasseh tribe. _30-31Their land started at Mahanaim and took in the region that King Og of Bashan had ruled, including Ashtaroth and Edrei, the two towns where he had lived. The villages where the Jair clan settled were part of Manasseh's land, and so was the northern half of the region of Gilead. The clans of this half of Manasseh had sixty towns in all.

The Manasseh tribe is sometimes called the Machir tribe, after Manasseh's son Machir.

₃₂That was how Moses divided up the Moab Plains to the east of Jericho on the other side of the River Jordan, so these two and a half tribes would have land of their own. ₃₃But Moses did not give any land to the Levi tribe, because the LORD had promised that he would always provide for them.

₆₆While Peter was still in the courtyard, a servant girl of the high priest came up ₆₇and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, “You were with Jesus from Nazareth!”

₆₈Peter replied, “That isn't true! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any idea what you mean.” He went out to the gate, and a cock crowed.

₆₉The servant girl saw Peter again and said to the people standing there, “This man is one of them!”

₇₀“No, I'm not!” Peter replied.

A little while later some of the people said to Peter, “You certainly are one of them. You're a Galilean!”

₇₁This time Peter began to curse and swear, “I don't even know the man you're talking about!”

₇₂Straight away the cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had told him, “Before a cock crows twice, you will say three times that you don't know me.” So Peter started crying.

₁Early the next morning the chief priests, the nation's leaders, and the teachers of the Law of Moses met together with the whole Jewish council. They tied up Jesus and led him off to Pilate.

₂He asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Those are your words,” Jesus answered.

₃The chief priests brought many charges against Jesus. ₄Then Pilate questioned him again, “Don't you have anything to say? Don't you hear what crimes they say you have done?” ₅But Jesus did not answer, and Pilate was amazed.

₆During Passover, Pilate always freed one prisoner chosen by the people. ₇And at that time there was a prisoner named Barabbas. He and some others had been arrested for murder during a riot. ₈The crowd now came and asked Pilate to set a prisoner free, just as he usually did.

₉Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” ₁₀Pilate knew that the chief priests had brought Jesus to him because they were jealous.

₁₁But the chief priests told the crowd to ask Pilate to free Barabbas.

₁₂Then Pilate asked the crowd, “What do you want me to do with this man you say is the king of the Jews?”

₁₃They yelled, “Nail him to a cross!”

₁₄Pilate asked, “But what crime has he done?”

“Nail him to a cross!” they yelled even louder.

₁₅Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he set Barabbas free. Then he ordered his soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and nail him to a cross.

₁₆The soldiers led Jesus inside the courtyard of the fortress and called together the rest of the troops. ₁₇They put a purple robe on him, and on his head they placed a crown that they had made out of thorn branches. ₁₈They made fun of Jesus and shouted, “Hey, you king of the Jews!” ₁₉Then they beat him on the head with a stick. They spat on him and knelt down and pretended to worship him.

₂₀When the soldiers had finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the purple robe. They put his own clothes back on him and led him off to be nailed to a cross.