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King James Bible - Old Testament Joshua
God told Joshua to lead the army over the river Jordan. Men were sent to spy and were harbored in the house of a woman who asked that her relatives be spared. The host was marshaled and the Levites marched out bearing the Ark of the Covenant. Twelve men from each tribe were picked to cross first and the water stopped flowing when the Ark was carried across. This frightened the enemy away. God told Joshua to circumcise all the children of Israel again. They besieged a city. Every day they blew the trumpets and circled the city with the Ark of the Covenant. Joshua explained that the city would be cursed, all of its inhabitants were to be killed and all the treasure was to be given to God.
A man of the house of Judah took a cursed object and as a result the Israelites lost their next battle. The man was burned at God's command. God instructed Joshua to lay an ambush for the enemy. He drew the force out of a city with a small sortie and when the army was gone, he sent the rest of his men in to plunder the city. Only the animals were left alive. The people of the region united to fight the Israelites. One tribe made a treaty with Joshua. The united armies were defeated and their cities destroyed. Joshua claimed all the land for the children of Israel.
Joshua began to get old as he distributed the land among the tribes. The existing land was divided among five of the tribes. They found more land and divided it among the remaining tribes. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh were placed on the other side of the Jordan. Those on the other side of the Jordan raised an altar against their brethren, but Phinehas, son of Eleazar, grandson of Aaron, told them not to wage war against the other tribes. Joshua addressed all the tribes and told them to remember to serve God. He died and was buried by his people.
