About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand. In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form.
The Book of Joshua
Joshua is now the leader of the Israelites. He will lead the Israelites into Canaan. They will have wars with the people who live in Canaan now, the Canaanites.Bible Timeline
Here is a good timeline to see the book of Joshua in the history of the Bible
http://www.sundayschoolresources.com/timeline.htm
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When the Israelites moved into Canaan, the
people in Canaan lived in many city-states.
A city-state is a big city with a wall around it. Each city had a king and
an army. Many people lived in each city. The city had stores, businesses,
and worship places. |
God told Joshua that he shouldn't feel afraid or
depressed. He should take soldiers and go back to the city of Ai. God will help
them defeat Ai, Ai's people, Ai's king, and all of Ai's land
[1] And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all
the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy
hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:
The Israelites will destroy Ai and Ai's king the same
as they destroyed Jericho. But this time, God said the Israelites can keep the
animals and anything they want. God told Joshua to plan an ambush behind the
city (a surprise attack that the enemy won't know about).
[2] And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her
king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey
unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
Joshua and the soldiers got ready to go fight Ai.
Joshua chose 30,000 soldiers and sent them to Ai at night. He told them to hide
near the city but to stay behind it.
[3] So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and Joshua
chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour, and sent them away by night.
[4] And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the
city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready:
Joshua and his part of the army will go to the front of
the city. When the king of Ai sees the Israelites, he will bring his army
out to fight them. The king of Ai will think it is the same as before. He will
think the Israelites are running away. The army of Ai will chase the
Israelites. Then the Israelites who are hiding behind the city will come out.
They will attack the city.
[5] And I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and
it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we
will flee before them,
[6] (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city; for
they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will flee
before them.
[7] Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the LORD
your God will deliver it into your hand.
After they capture the city, they should set the city
on fire. This is what God told them to do.
[8] And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on
fire: according to the commandment of the LORD shall ye do. See, I have
commanded you.
Joshua sent 5,000 soldiers to hide on the west side
(back side) of Ai. Joshua stayed that night with the other Israelites in
the camp.
[9] Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and abode
between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night
among the people.
The next morning, Joshua, the elders of Israel, and
more soldiers went near to Ai. They made a camp near Ai. The first 5,000
soldiers were still hiding on the other side of Ai.
[10] And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and went
up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
[11] And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and
drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai: now
there was a valley between them and Ai.
[12] And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between
Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
All of the Israelite soldiers were ready to fight--the
soldiers with Joshua and the soldiers hiding behind Ai. That night Joshua went
into a valley near Ai. The king of Ai saw Joshua in the valley. In the
morning, the king quickly got his army ready to go fight the Israelites.
But the king didn't know about the Israelites who were hiding behind the city.
[13] And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the north
of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that
night into the midst of the valley.
[14] And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose
up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all
his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there
were liers in ambush against him behind the city.
When the army of Ai came out, Joshua and the Israelites pretended to run
away. The Ai soldiers chased the Israelites away from Ai.
[15] And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled
by the way of the wilderness.
[16] And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after
them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
All of the soldiers in Ai and Bethel (another city near
Ai) chased the
Israelites. There were no soldiers left in the city. The city was open.
[17] And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after
Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
God told Joshua to point his spear (sword) toward Ai.
Now God will give Ai to the Israelites. Joshua obeyed God, and he pointed his
spear toward Ai.
[18] And the LORD said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand
toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the
spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
As soon as Joshua pointed his spear toward Ai, the
soldiers who were hiding attacked the city of Ai. They set the city on fire.
[19] And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he
had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and
hasted and set the city on fire.
The Ai soldiers looked back, and they saw the city
burning. They were trapped. They could not go back to the city because Israelite
soldiers were there. They could not go forward because Israelite soldiers were
there, too. Then the Israelites looked back at the city. They saw the smoke.
Then Joshua and the Israelite soldiers stopped pretending to run away.
They attacked the Ai soldiers. They
killed all of the Ai soldiers. They caught the king of Ai. None of the Ai soldiers escaped.
The Israelite soldiers brought the king of Ai to Joshua.
[20] And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke
of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or
that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the
pursuers.
[21] And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and
that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and slew the men of
Ai.
[22] And the other issued out of the city against them; so they were in the
midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they smote them,
so that they let none of them remain or escape.
[23] And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
After the Ai soldiers were dead, the Israelite
soldiers went to the city of Ai. They killed everyone in the city.
All 12,000 men and women in Ai died that day.
[24] And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the
inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and
when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed,
that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the
sword.
[25] And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were
twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
Joshua continued to point his spear at Ai until everyone was killed.
[26] For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear,
until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
The Israelite soldiers kept the animals and everything
else from
Ai. At Jericho, they could not keep anything, but God told them they could keep
things from Ai. Joshua and his army destroyed the city of Ai. When
this book of the Bible was written, the city had never been rebuilt.
[27] Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto
themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua.
[28] And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto
this day.
The Israelites hanged the king of Ai on a tree. In the
evening, they took his body off the tree. They threw his body down at the gate
of Ai. They covered it with a big pile of rocks. When this book of the
Bible was written, the pile of rocks was still there.
[29] And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the
sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the
tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a
great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
Back in Deuteronomy 27, God told Moses what the Israelites should do after they crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Mount Ebal. The should build a special altar at Mount Ebal. They should also write God's laws on stone tablets. To read about that, please click here. |
Joshua builds a special altar at Mt. Ebal.
Joshua built a special altar for God at Mt. Ebal. He
used rocks that had never been cut with iron tools. Then he offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings.
[30] Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,
[31] As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is
written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no
man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the
LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
Then Joshua wrote God's laws on big stone tablets. All of the Israelites watched
him write the laws.
[32] And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he
wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
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Picture from
BiblePlaces.com Mt. Gerizim is on the left and Mt. Ebal is on the right. The place in the middle was called Shechem. Now it is the modern city of Nablus. Many things happened at Shechem. Shechem is the place where God talked to Abraham. God promised Abraham that He would give this land to Abraham and his descendants. Shechem is also where Jacob and his family lived for a while. If you would like to read more about the history of Shechem/Nablus, please visit this web site: http://www.ourfatherlutheran.net/biblehomelands/palestine/nablus.htm |
All of the Israelites, the leaders, the judges, and
people from other places who lived with the Israelites were there. They
divided into 2 groups. Some of the priests stood in the middle. The
priests held the Ark of the Covenant. 1 group stood near Mt. Gerizim
with their backs to the mountain. The other group stood near Mt. Ebal with their
backs to the mountain. This was what Moses told them to do back in Deuteronomy
11 (click here to read about that part again.)
[33] And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on
this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare
the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born
among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over
against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that
they should bless the people of Israel.
Then Joshua read God's laws. He read about the
blessings (good things) and curses (bad things). Joshua read every word
that Moses had told him to read. All of the Israelite men, women, and children
heard him.
[34] And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings,
according to all that is written in the book of the law.
[35] There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not
before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and
the strangers that were conversant among them.
The people from Gibeon trick the Israelites.
The people who lived in the area called Gibeon heard about Joshua. They heard
how Joshua and the Israelites defeated Jericho and Ai.
[3] And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho
and to Ai,
Wineskins These are pockets made with
animal skins. People carried wine to drink in wineskins. Photo from www.atspain.com |
They made a plan to trick the Israelites. Some of
them pretended that they traveled from a place far away. They
got a lot of old things. They put old sacks (bags) on their donkeys. They got
old, torn wineskins and sewed them back together.
[4] They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and
took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
They put on old clothes and shoes. They carried old, moldy
bread.
[5] And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and
all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.
They went to see Joshua at Gilgal. They lied and
told Joshua they lived in a country far away. They said they wanted to make a
peace treaty (promise for no war) with the Israelites.
[6] And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to
the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league
with us.
The Israelite men said maybe they really lived in
Canaan. If they lived in Canaan, the Israelites could not make a peace treaty
with them.
[7] And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us;
and how shall we make a league with you?
The Gibeon men told Joshua that they would be the
Israelites' servants (workers). Joshua asked them who they were and where they
came from.
[8] And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them,
Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
The Gibeon men lied again. They said they came from a country far
away. They said they heard about how God was helping the Israelites. They heard
about what happened in Egypt. They heard that the Israelites won wars with the
Amorites, King Og, and King Sihon.
[9] And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come
because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and
all that he did in Egypt,
[10] And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond
Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at
Ashtaroth.
They said their leaders told them to take food and
travel to meet the Israelites. They said their leaders said to tell the
Israelites they want to make a peace treaty. They said they want to work for the
Israelites.
[11] Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us,
saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say
unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
They showed the Israelites their food. They said they
made the bread fresh at home. But they traveled a long time, and the bread got
moldy. They said the wineskins were new, but now they are old and torn. They
also said they traveled a long time, and their clothes got old.
[12] This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day
we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
[13] And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be
rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very
long journey.
The Israelite men accepted some of the food. But they
didn't pray and ask God about this situation.
[14] And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of
the LORD.
Joshua made a peace treaty with the men. He promised to
let their people live. The leaders of the Israelites made the promise, too.
[15] And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them
live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.
But 3 days later, the Israelites learned that the men
had lied. They did not live far away. They really lived close in Canaan.
[16] And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league
with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt
among them.
The Israelite army traveled to the Gibeonites' home. The Israelites
arrived at the men's cities in just 3 days. The names of their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim.
[17] And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the
third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and
Kirjath-jearim.
But the Israelites did not kill the Gibeonite people. They could not kill them
because the Israelite leaders made a peace treaty with them.
They made a promise in God's name to have peace with
the people. They cannot kill them now and break their promise. The Israelite
people complained about the peace treaty.
[18] And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the
congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the
congregation murmured against the princes.
But the Israelite leaders told them they cannot kill
the Gibeon people. They made a promise in God's name.
[19] But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them
by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them.
The Israelite leaders said they cannot break the treaty
promise If they break it, something bad will happen. They must let the Gibeon
people live.
[20] This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us,
because of the oath which we sware unto them.
The Israelite leaders said the Gibeonite people can live.
But they must work for the Israelites. They must cut wood and carry water
for the Israelites.
[21] And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of
wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised
them.
Joshua called the Gibeon men. He asked them why they
lied about living far away. Now they are cursed. They will always work for
the Israelites. They will always cut wood and carry water for God's
special place of worship.
[22] And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have
ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us?
[23] Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from
being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
The Gibeon men answered Joshua. They said they
lied because they were afraid. They heard how God told the Israelites to destroy
everyone in Canaan and take all of the land.
[24] And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy
servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all
the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you,
therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this
thing.
The Gibeon people accepted that they will now cut wood
and carry water. The Israelites did not kill them. When this book of the Bible
was written, they were still working for the Israelites. They work in the
special place that God chose for His worship place.
[25] And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto
thee to do unto us, do.
[26] And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children
of Israel, that they slew them not.
[27] And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the
congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place
which he should choose.
The book of Jasher was probably a history book or book of songs, but no one knows for sure |
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Please click on the map to see the places that Joshua defeated. |