I am giving you the land I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give it to your children after you.”

我所赐给亚伯拉罕和以撒的地，我要赐给你与你的后裔。”

至于我赐给亚伯拉罕和以撒的地，我必赐给你；我必赐这地给你的后裔。”

至于我赐给亚伯拉罕和以撒的地，我必赐给你；我必赐这地给你的后裔。”

我要把赐给亚伯拉罕和以撒的土地赐给你和你的后代。”

我赐给亚伯拉罕和以撒的地，我要赐给你，我也要把这地赐给你的后裔。”

我所赐给亚伯拉罕和以撒的地，我必赐给你；我也要把这地赐给你的后裔。”

我所賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的地，我要賜給你與你的後裔。」

至於我賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的地，我必賜給你；我必賜這地給你的後裔。」

至於我賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的地，我必賜給你；我必賜這地給你的後裔。」

我要把賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的土地賜給你和你的後代。」

我賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的地，我要賜給你，我也要把這地賜給你的後裔。”

我所賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的地，這地我必賜給你、和你以後的苗裔。』

我所賜給亞伯拉罕和以撒的地，我必賜給你；我也要把這地賜給你的後裔。」

我所賜亞伯拉罕以撒之地、亦將錫爾、爰及苗裔、

我所賜亞伯拉罕以撒之地、亦將錫爾、延及苗裔。

我所賜亞伯拉罕及以撒之地、我將賜爾及爾後裔、

The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”

And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.”

I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. And I will give the land to your future descendants.”

And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. And I will give the land to your future descendants.

And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land.”

The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”

The Lord stood beside the stairway. He said,“ I am the Lord. I am the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your children after you the land you are lying on.

The Lord appeared to Abram at Shechem. He said,“ I will give this land to your family who comes after you.” So Abram built an altar there to honor the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Stay there for a while. I will be with you and give you my blessing. I will give all these lands to you and your children after you. And I will keep my word that I gave to your father Abraham.I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give them all these lands. All nations on earth will be blessed because of your children.

He said to me,‘ I am going to give you children. I will make your family very large. I will make you a community of nations. And I will give this land to your children after you. It will belong to them forever.’

The Lord spoke to Abram after Lot had left him. He said,“ Look around from where you are. Look north and south, east and west.I will give you all the land you see. I will give it forever to you and your family who comes after you.I will make them like the dust of the earth. Can dust be counted? If it can, then your family can be counted.Go! Walk through the land. See how long and wide it is. I am giving it to you.”

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said,“ I am giving this land to your family who comes after you. It reaches from the River of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.

So I have come down to save them from the Egyptians. I will bring them up out of that land. I will bring them into a good land. It has a lot of room. It is a land that has plenty of milk and honey. The Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites live there.

May the Mighty God bless you. May he give you children. May he make your family larger until you become a community of nations.May he give you and your children after you the blessing he gave to Abraham. Then you can take over the land where you now live as an outsider. It’s the land God gave to Abraham.”

The gates of Jericho were shut tight and guarded closely because of the Israelites. No one went out. No one came in.Then the Lord said to Joshua,“ I have handed Jericho over to you. I have also handed over to you its king and its fighting men.March around the city once with all your fighting men. In fact, do it for six days.Have seven priests get trumpets made out of rams’ horns. They must carry them in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. Tell the priests to blow the trumpets as you march.You will hear them blow a long blast on the trumpets. When you do, tell the whole army to give a loud shout. The wall of the city will fall down. Then the whole army will march up to the city. Everyone will go straight in.”So Joshua, the son of Nun, called for the priests. He said to them,“ Go and get the ark of the covenant of the Lord. I want seven of you to carry trumpets in front of it.”He gave an order to the army. He said,“ Move out! March around the city. Some of the fighting men must march in front of the ark of the Lord.”When Joshua had spoken to the men, the seven priests went forward. They were carrying the seven trumpets as they marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They were blowing the trumpets. The ark of the Lord’ s covenant was carried behind the priests.Some of the fighting men marched ahead of the priests who were blowing the trumpets. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all the priests. That whole time the priests were blowing the trumpets.But Joshua had given an order to the army. He had said,“ Don’t give a war cry. Don’t raise your voices. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They spent the night there.Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests went and got the ark of the Lord.The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets started out. They marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They blew the trumpets. Some of the fighting men marched ahead of them. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all of them. The priests kept blowing the trumpets.On the second day they marched around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They did all those things for six days.On the seventh day, they got up at sunrise. They marched around the city, just as they had done before. But on that day they went around it seven times.On the seventh time around, the priests blew a long blast on the trumpets. Then Joshua gave a command to the army. He said,“ Shout! The Lord has given you the city!The city and everything in it must be set apart to the Lord to be destroyed. But the prostitute Rahab and all those with her in her house must be spared. That’s because she hid the spies we sent.But keep away from the things that have been set apart to the Lord. If you take any of them, you will be destroyed. And you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel. You will cause it to be destroyed.All the silver and gold is holy. It is set apart to the Lord. So are all the things made out of bronze and iron. All those things must be added to the treasures kept in the Lord’ s house.”The priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the army heard the sound, they gave a loud shout. Then the wall fell down. Everyone charged straight in. So they took the city.They set it apart to the Lord to be destroyed. They destroyed every living thing in it with their swords. They killed men and women. They wiped out young people and old people. They destroyed cattle, sheep and donkeys.

At that time the Book of Moses was read out loud. All the people heard it. It was written there that no Ammonite or Moabite could ever become a member of God’s community.That’s because they hadn’t given the people of Israel food and water. Instead, they had hired Balaam to put a curse on them. But our God turned the curse into a blessing.When that law was read, the people of Judah obeyed it. They sent out of Israel everyone who was from another nation.Eliashib the priest had been put in charge of the storerooms in the house of our God. He had worked closely with Tobiah.He had also provided a large room for Tobiah. It had been used to store the grain offerings. The incense and the objects for the temple had been put there. And a tenth of the grain, olive oil and fresh wine had been kept there. That’s what the Law required for the Levites. That’s also what it required for the musicians and the men who guarded the temple gates. The gifts for the priests had been kept there too.But I wasn’t in Jerusalem while all of that was going on. I had returned to the Persian King Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon. I went to him in the 32nd year of his rule. Some time later I asked him to let me return to Jerusalem.When I got back, I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done. He had provided a room for Tobiah. It was in the courtyards of God’s house.So I was very unhappy. I threw all of Tobiah’s things out of the room.I gave orders to make the rooms pure and“ clean” again. Then I put the supplies from God’s house back into them. That included the grain offerings and the incense.I also learned that the shares the Levites were supposed to receive hadn’t been given to them. So all the Levites and musicians had to leave their regular temple duties. They had to go back and farm their own fields.I gave a warning to the officials. I asked them,“ Why aren’t you taking care of God’s house?” Then I brought the Levites and musicians together. I stationed them in their proper places. I put them back to work.All the people of Judah brought a tenth of the grain, olive oil and fresh wine. They took it to the storerooms.I put some men in charge of the storerooms. They were Shelemiah, Zadok and Pedaiah. Shelemiah was a priest. Zadok was a teacher of the law. And Pedaiah was a Levite. I made Hanan their assistant. He was the son of Zakkur. Zakkur was the son of Mattaniah. I knew that these men could be trusted. They were put in charge of handing out the supplies to the other Levites.You are my God. Remember me because of what I’ve done. I’ve worked faithfully for your temple and its services. So please don’t forget the good things I’ve done.In those days I saw some people of Judah stomping on grapes in winepresses. They were doing it on the Sabbath day. Other people were bringing in grain. They were loading it on donkeys. Still other people were loading up wine, grapes, figs and other kinds of things. They were bringing all of it into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them not to sell food on that day.People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish. In fact, they were bringing in all kinds of goods. They were selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. The people of Judah were buying them.I gave a warning to the nobles of Judah. I said,“ Why are you doing such an evil thing? You are misusing the Sabbath day!Your people of long ago did the very same things. That’s why our God has brought all this trouble on us. That’s why he’s making this city suffer so much. Now you are making him even angrier against Israel. You are misusing the Sabbath day.”Evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath day started. So I ordered the gates to be shut. They had to remain closed until the Sabbath day was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates. I told them not to let anything be brought in on the Sabbath day.Once or twice some traders and sellers spent the night outside Jerusalem. They were hoping to sell all kinds of goods.But I gave them a warning. I said,“ Why are you spending the night by the wall? If you do this again, I’ll arrest you.” So from that time on they didn’t come on the Sabbath day anymore.I commanded the Levites to make themselves pure. Then I told them to go and guard the gates. I wanted the Sabbath day to be kept holy. You are my God. Remember me because of the good things I’ve done. Be kind to me according to your great love.In those days I also saw that some men of Judah had married women from Ashdod. Others had married women from Ammon or Moab.Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod. Or they spoke the language of one of the other nations. They didn’t even know how to speak the language of Judah.So I gave them a warning. I cursed them. I beat up some of them. I pulled their hair out. I had them make a promise in God’s name. I said,“ You must promise not to give your daughters to be married to their sons. You must promise not to let their daughters marry your sons. And you must not marry their daughters either.That’s how Solomon, the king of Israel, sinned. He married women from other nations. There wasn’t a king like him anywhere. His God loved him. In fact, God made him king over the whole nation of Israel. But even he was led into sin by women from other lands.Now I hear that you too are doing all of the same terrible and evil things. You aren’t being faithful to our God. You are marrying women from other lands.”One of the sons of Joiada was the son- in- law of Sanballat the Horonite. Joiada, the son of Eliashib, was the high priest. I drove Joiada’s son away from me.You are my God. Remember what those priests have done. They have brought shame to their own work. They have also brought shame to the covenant that God made with the priests and Levites long ago.So I made the priests and Levites pure. I made them pure from every practice that had come from other countries and had made them impure. I gave them their duties. Each one had his own job to do.I also made plans for gifts of wood to be brought at certain appointed times. And I made plans for the first share of the crops to be brought. You are my God. Please remember me with kindness.