God’s Covenant with Abram

¹After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:“Do not be afraid, Abram.I am your shield,your very great reward.”

²But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”

⁵And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

⁶Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

⁷The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

God Confirms His Promise

⁸But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

⁹And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.

¹¹And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

¹³Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

¹⁴But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.

¹⁵You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.

¹⁶In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁷When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.

¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

¹⁹the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

²⁰Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

²¹Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

Lands Yet Unconquered

¹Now Joshua was old and well along in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and well along in years, but very much of the land remains to be possessed.

²This is the land that remains:All the territory of the Philistines and the Geshurites,

³from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;

⁴to the south, all the land of the Canaanites, from Mearahof the Sidonians to Aphek, as far as the border of the Amorites;

⁵the land of the Gebalites;and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath.

⁶All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim—all the Sidonians—I Myself will drive out before the Israelites. Be sure to divide it by lot as an inheritance to Israel, as I have commanded you.

⁷Now therefore divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

The Inheritance East of the Jordan

⁸The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them:

⁹The area from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon,

¹⁰and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites;

¹¹also Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all of Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah—

¹²the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei and had remained as a remnant of the Rephaim.Moses had struck them down and dispossessed them,

¹³but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath dwell among the Israelites to this day.

¹⁴To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The food offerings to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

Reuben’s Inheritance

¹⁵This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Reuben:

¹⁶The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau beyond Medeba,

¹⁷to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,

¹⁸Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

¹⁹Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley,

²⁰Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth—

²¹all the cities of the plateau and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon until Moses killed him and the chiefs of Midian (Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba), the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.

²²The Israelites also killed the diviner Balaam son of Beor along with the others they put to the sword.

²³And the border of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan.This was the inheritance of the clans of the Reubenites, including the cities and villages.

Gad’s Inheritance

²⁴This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Gad:

²⁵The territory of Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer, near Rabbah;

²⁶the territory from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir;

²⁷and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, with the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon (the territory on the east side of the Jordan up to the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth).

²⁸This was the inheritance of the clans of the Gadites, including the cities and villages.

Manasseh’s Eastern Inheritance

²⁹This is what Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh:

³⁰The territory from Mahanaim through all Bashan—all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, including all the towns of Jair that are in Bashan, sixty cities;

³¹half of Gilead; and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan.All this was for the clans of the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half of the descendants of Machir.

³²These were the portions Moses had given them on the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho.

³³To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

The Kings Defeated East of the Jordan

¹Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:

²Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. He ruled from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along the middle of the valley, up to the Jabbok River (the border of the Ammonites), that is, half of Gilead,

³as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnerethto the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

⁴And Og king of Bashan,one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

⁵He ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, all of Bashan up to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and half of Gilead to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

⁶Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites had struck them down and given their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The Kings Defeated West of the Jordan

⁷And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance

⁸the hill country, the foothills,the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev—the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):

⁹the king of Jericho, one;the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one;

¹⁰the king of Jerusalem, one;the king of Hebron, one;

¹¹the king of Jarmuth, one;the king of Lachish, one;

¹²the king of Eglon, one;the king of Gezer, one;

¹³the king of Debir, one;the king of Geder, one;

¹⁴the king of Hormah, one;the king of Arad, one;

¹⁵the king of Libnah, one;the king of Adullam, one;

¹⁶the king of Makkedah, one;the king of Bethel, one;

¹⁷the king of Tappuah, one;the king of Hepher, one;

¹⁸the king of Aphek, one;the king of Lasharon, one;

¹⁹the king of Madon, one;the king of Hazor, one;

²⁰the king of Shimron-meron, one;the king of Achshaph, one;

²¹the king of Taanach, one;the king of Megiddo, one;

²²the king of Kedesh, one;the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

²³the king of Dor in Naphath-dor,one;the king of Goiim in Gilgal,one;

²⁴and the king of Tirzah, one.So there were thirty-one kings in all.

Give Thanks to the LORD, for He Is Good

¹Hallelujah!Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;His loving devotion endures forever.

²Who can describe the mighty acts of the LORDor fully proclaim His praise?

³Blessed are those who uphold justice,who practice righteousness at all times.

⁴Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people;visit me with Your salvation,

⁵that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,and rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,and give glory with Your inheritance.

⁶We have sinned like our fathers;we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

⁷Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wondersor remember Your abundant kindness;but they rebelled by the sea,there at the Red Sea.

⁸Yet He saved them for the sake of His name,to make His power known.

⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;He led them through the depths as through a desert.

¹⁰He saved them from the hand that hated them;He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹The waters covered their foes;not one of them remained.

¹²Then they believed His promisesand sang His praise.

¹³Yet they soon forgot His worksand failed to wait for His counsel.

¹⁴They craved intensely in the wildernessand tested God in the desert.

¹⁵So He granted their request,but sent a wasting disease upon them.

¹⁶In the camp they envied Moses,as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.

¹⁷The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;it covered the assembly of Abiram.

¹⁸Then fire blazed through their company;flames consumed the wicked.

¹⁹At Horebthey made a calfand worshiped a molten image.

²⁰They exchanged their Gloryfor the image of a grass-eating ox.

²¹They forgot God their Savior,who did great things in Egypt,

²²wondrous works in the land of Ham,and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

²³So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen onestood before Him in the breachto divert His wrath from destroying them.

²⁴They despised the pleasant land;they did not believe His promise.

²⁵They grumbled in their tentsand did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

²⁶So He raised His hand and sworeto cast them down in the wilderness,

²⁷to dispersetheir offspring among the nationsand scatter them throughout the lands.

²⁸They yoked themselves to Baal of Peorand ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

²⁹So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,and a plague broke out among them.

³⁰But Phinehas stood and intervened,and the plague was restrained.

³¹It was credited to him as righteousnessfor endless generations to come.

³²At the waters of Meribahthey angered the LORD,and trouble came to Moses because of them.

³³For they rebelled against His Spirit,and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoplesas the LORD had commanded them,

³⁵but they mingled with the nationsand adopted their customs.

³⁶They worshiped their idols,which became a snare to them.

³⁷They sacrificed their sonsand their daughters to demons.

³⁸They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters,whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,and the land was polluted with blood.

³⁹They defiled themselves by their actionsand prostituted themselves by their deeds.

⁴⁰So the anger of the LORD burned against His people,and He abhorred His own inheritance.

⁴¹He delivered them into the hand of the nations,and those who hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies oppressed themand subdued them under their hand.

⁴³Many times He rescued them,but they were bent on rebellionand sank down in their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless He heard their cry;He took note of their distress.

⁴⁵And He remembered His covenant with them,and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

⁴⁶He made them objects of compassionto all who held them captive.

⁴⁷Save us, O LORD our God,and gather us from the nations,that we may give thanks to Your holy name,that we may glory in Your praise.

⁴⁸Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,from everlasting to everlasting.Let all the people say, “Amen!”Hallelujah!