The Lost Books of the Bible: The Great Rejected Texts Page 90

  44 So Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab sent messengers to Balaam, saying,

  45 Behold there is a people come out from Egypt, see how they cover the face of the earth and they are against me.

  46 So now come and curse this people for me for they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall succeed to fight against them and drive them out, for I heard that he whom you bless is blessed, and whom you curse is cursed.

  47 So the messengers of Balak went to Balaam and brought Balaam to curse the people to fight against Moab.

  48 And Balaam came to Balak to curse Israel, and the Lord said to Balaam, Curse not this people for they are blessed.

  49 And Balak urged Balaam day by day to curse Israel, but Balaam did not listen to Balak on account of the word of the Lord which he had spoken to Balaam.

  50 And when Balak saw that Balaam would not accede to his wish, he rose up and went home; Balaam also returned to his land and he went from there to Midian.

  51 The children of Israel journeyed from the plain of Moab and camped by Jordan from Beth-jesimoth even to Abel-shittim, at the end of the plains of Moab.

  52 When the children of Israel stayed in the plain of Shittim, they began to commit prostitution with the daughters of Moab.

  53 The children of Israel approached Moab, and the children of Moab pitched their tents opposite to the camp of the children of Israel.

  54 The children of Moab were afraid of the children of Israel, and the children of Moab took all their daughters and their wives of beauty and attractive appearance, and dressed them in gold and silver and costly garments.

  55 The children of Moab seated those women at the door of their tents in order that the children of Israel might see them and turn to them, and not fight against Moab.

  56 All the children of Moab did this thing to the children of Israel, and every man placed his wife and daughter at the door of his tent; all the children of Israel saw the act of the children of Moab, and the children of Israel turned to the daughters of Moab and coveted them, and they went to them.

  57 It came to pass that when a Hebrew came to the door of the tent of Moab and saw a daughter of Moab, and desired her in his heart and spoke with her at the door of the tent that which he desired, while they were speaking together the men of the tent would come out and speak to the Hebrew like these words:

  58 Certainly you know that we are brothers, we are all the descendants of Lot and the descendants of Abraham his brother, why then will you not remain with us, and why will you not eat our bread and our sacrifice?

  59 When the children of Moab had thus overwhelmed him with their speeches and enticed him by their flattering words, they seated him in the tent and cooked and sacrificed for him, and he ate of their sacrifice and of their bread.

  60 They then gave him wine and he drank and became intoxicated; they placed before him a beautiful damsel and he did with her as he liked, for he knew not what he was doing, as he had drunk plentifully of wine.

  61 Thus did the children of Moab to Israel in that place, in the plain of Shittim, and the anger of the Lord was set ablaze against Israel on account of this matter; he sent a pestilence among them and there of the Israelites twenty-four thousand men died.

  62 Then there was a man of the children of Simeon whose name was Zimri, the son of Salu, who connected himself with the Midianite Cosbi, the daughter of Zur, king of Midian, in the sight of all the children of Israel.

  63 And Phineas the son of Elazer, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this wicked thing which Zimri had done; he took a spear and rose up and went after them, pierced them both and killed them, and the pestilence ceased from the children of Israel.

  CHAPTER 86

  1 At that time after the pestilence, the Lord said to Moses and to Elazer the son of Aaron the priest,

  2 Count the heads of the whole community of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth in the army.

  3 And Moses and Elazer numbered the children of Israel after their families, and the number of all Israel was seven hundred thousand, seven hundred and thirty.

  4 The number of the children of Levi, from one month old and upward, was twenty-three thousand, and among these there was not a man of those numbered by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai.

  5 For the Lord had told them that they would die in the wilderness, so they all died, and not one had been left of them excepting Caleb the son of Jephuneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

  6 And it was after this that the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel to avenge on Midian the cause of their brothers the children of Israel.

  7 Moses did so, and the children of Israel chose from among them twelve thousand men, being one thousand to a tribe, and they went to Midian.

  8 And the children of Israel warred against Midian, and they killed every male, also the five princes of

  Midian, and Balaam the son of Beor they killed with the sword.

  9 And the children of Israel took the wives of Midian captive, with their little ones and their cattle, and all belonging to them.

  10 They took all the booty and all the valuables, and they brought it to Moses and to Elazer to the plains of Moab.

  11 Moses and Elazer and all the princes of the congregation went forth to meet them with joy.

  12 And they divided all the goods of Midian, and the children of Israel had been revenged on Midian for the cause of their brothers the children of Israel.

  CHAPTER 87

  1 At that time the Lord said to Moses, Behold your days are approaching to an end, take now Joshua the son of Nun your servant and place him in the tabernacle and I will command him, and Moses did so.

  2 The Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the tabernacle.

  3 The Lord commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said to him, Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the children of Israel to the land which I swore to give them, and I will be with you.

  4 And Moses said to Joshua, Be strong and courageous, for you will make the children of Israel inherit the land, and the Lord will be with you; he will not leave you nor turn away from you, be not afraid or disheartened.

  5 Moses called to all the children of Israel and said to them, You have seen all the good which the Lord your God has done for you in the wilderness.

  6 Now therefore observe all the words of this law and walk in the way of the Lord your God, turn not from the way which the Lord has commanded you, either to the right or to the left.

  7 And Moses taught the children of Israel rules and judgments and laws to do in the land as the Lord had commanded him.

  8 And he taught them the way of the Lord and his laws; behold they are written on the book of the law of God which he gave to the children of Israel by the hand of Moses.

  9 And Moses finished commanding the children of Israel, and the Lord said to him, Go up to the Mount Abarim and die there, and be gathered to your people as Aaron your brother was gathered.

  10 And Moses went up as the Lord had commanded him, and he died there in the land of Moab by the order of the Lord, in the fortieth year from the Israelites going forth from the land of Egypt.

  11 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, and the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were completed.

  CHAPTER 88

  1 It was after the death of Moses that the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun,

  2 Rise up and pass the Jordan to the land which I have given to the children of Israel, and you shall make the children of Israel inherit the land.

  3 Every place on which the sole of your feet treads shall belong to you; from the wilderness of Lebanon to the great river, the river of Perath, shall be your boundary.

  4 No man shall stand up against you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so will I be with you, only be strong and of good courage to observe all the law which Moses commanded you; turn not from the way either t
o the right or to the left, in order that you may prosper in all that you do.

  5 And Joshua commanded the officers of Israel, saying, Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provisions, for in three days more you will pass the Jordan to possess the land.

  6 The officers of the children of Israel did so, and they commanded the people and they did all that Joshua had commanded.

  7 Joshua sent two men to spy out the land of Jericho, and the men went and spied out Jericho.

  8 And at the end of seven days they came to Joshua in the camp and said to him, The Lord has delivered the whole land into our hands; the inhabitants thereof are melted with fear because of us.

  9 And it came to pass after that, that Joshua rose up in the morning and all Israel with him, and they journeyed from Shittim; Joshua and all Israel with him passed the Jordan, and Joshua was eighty-two years old when he passed the Jordan with Israel.

  10 The people went up from Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal at the eastern corner of Jericho.

  11 And the children of Israel kept the Passover in Gilgal in the plains of Jericho, on the fourteenth day of the month, as it is written in the law of Moses.

  12 The manna ceased at that time on the morning of the Passover, and there was no more manna for the children of Israel and they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan.

  13 Jericho was entirely closed against the children of Israel, no one came out or went in.

  14 And it was in the second month, on the first day of the month, that the Lord said to Joshua, Rise up, behold I have given Jericho into your hand with all the people there; all your fighting men shall go round the city, once each day, thus shall you do for six days.

  15 And the priests shall blow on trumpets; when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall give a great shouting, that the walls of the city shall fall down; all the people shall go up every man against his opponent.

  16 And Joshua did so according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

  17 On the seventh day they went round the city seven times, and the priests blew on trumpets.

  18 At the seventh round, Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the Lord has delivered the whole city into our hands.

  19 Only the city and all that it contains shall be accursed to the Lord, and keep yourselves from the accursed thing, that you make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.

  20 But all the silver and gold and brass and iron shall be consecrated to the Lord, they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.

  21 And the people blew on trumpets and made a great shouting, and the walls of Jericho fell down; all the people went up, every man straight before him, and they took the city and utterly destroyed all that was in it, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and ass, with the edge of the sword.

  22 And they burned the whole city with fire; only the vessels of silver and gold, brass and iron, they put into the treasury of the Lord.

  23 Joshua swore at that time, saying, Cursed be the man who builds Jericho; he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son he shall set up the gates of it.

  24 And Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, son of Judah, dealt treacherously in the accursed thing, and he took of the accursed thing and hid it in the tent, and the anger of the Lord was set ablaze against Israel.

  25 It was after this when the children of Israel had returned from burning Jericho, Joshua sent men to spy out also Ai, and to fight against it.

  26 And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they returned and said, Let not all the people go up with you to Ai, only let about three thousand men go up and strike the city, for the men there are few.

  27 And Joshua did so; there went up with him of the children of Israel about three thousand men, and they fought against the men of Ai.

  28 And the battle was severe against Israel, and the men of Ai struck thirty-six men of Israel, and the children of Israel fled from before the men of Ai.

  29 When Joshua saw this thing, he tore his garments and fell on his face to the ground before the Lord, he with the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads.

  30 And Joshua said, Why O Lord did you bring this people over the Jordan? What shall I say after the Israelites have turned their backs against their enemies?

  31 So now all the Canaanites, inhabitants of the land, will hear this thing and surround us and cut off our name.

  32 And the Lord said to Joshua, Why do you fall on your face? Rise, get up, for the Israelites have sinned and taken of the accursed thing; I will no more be with them unless they destroy the accursed thing from among them.

  33 And Joshua rose up and assembled the people, and brought the Urim by the order of the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was taken, and Achan the son of Carmi was taken.

  34 Joshua said to Achan, Tell me my son, what have you done, and Achan said, I saw among the spoil a goodly garment of Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight; I coveted them and took them, and behold they are all hid in the earth in the middle of the tent.

  35 And Joshua sent men who went and took them from the tent of Achan, and they brought them to Joshua.

  36 Joshua took Achan and these utensils, and his sons and daughters and all belonging to him, and they brought them into the valley of Achor.

  37Joshua burned them there with fire, and all the Israelites stoned Achan with stones; they raised over him a heap of stones, therefore he called that place the valley of Achor. So the Lord's anger was appeased, and Joshua afterward came to the city and fought against it.

  38 And the Lord said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be dismayed, behold I have given into your hand Ai, her king and her people, and you shall do to them as you did to Jericho and her king, only the goods and the cattle there you shall take for yourselves; lay an ambush for the city behind it.

  39 So Joshua did according to the word of the Lord, and he chose from among the sons of war thirty thousand courageous men; he sent them and they lay in ambush for the city.

  40 And he commanded them, saying, When you shall see us we will flee before them with cunning, and they will pursue us; you shall then rise out of the ambush and take the city, and they did so.

  41 Joshua fought, and the men of the city went out toward Israel, not knowing that they were lying in ambush for them behind the city.

  42 Joshua and all the Israelites pretended to be wearied out before them, and they fled by the way of the wilderness with cunning.

  43 The men of Ai gathered all the people who were in the city to pursue the Israelites; they went out and were drawn away from the city; not one remained and they left the city open and pursued the Israelites.

  44 Those who were lying in ambush rose up out of their places, hurried to come to the city and took it and set it on fire; the men of Ai turned back, and there the smoke of the city ascended to the skies, and they had no means of retreating either one way or the other.

  45 All the men of Ai were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side, and they struck them so that not one of them remained.

  46 The children of Israel took Melosh king of Ai alive and they brought him to Joshua, and Joshua hanged him on a tree and he died.

  47 And the children of Israel returned to the city after having burned it; they struck all those that were in it with the edge of the sword.

  48 The number of those that had fallen of the men of Ai, both man and woman, was twelve thousand; only the cattle and the goods of the city they took to themselves, according to the word of the Lord to Joshua.

  49 And all the kings on this side Jordan, all the kings of Canaan, heard of the evil which the children of Israel had done to Jericho and to Ai, and they gathered themselves together to fight against Israel.

  50 Only the inhabitants of Gibeon were greatly afraid of fighting against the Israelites that they should perish, so they acted cu
nningly; they came to Joshua and to all Israel and said to them, We have come from a distant land, so now make a covenant with us.

  51 And the inhabitants of Gibeon over-reached the children of Israel, and the children of Israel made a covenant with them, and they made peace with them; the princes of the congregation swore to them, but afterward the children of Israel knew that they were neighbors to them and were dwelling among them.

  52 But the children of Israel killed them not; for they had sworn to them by the Lord, and they became hewers of wood and drawers of water.

  53 Joshua said to them, Why did you deceive me, to do this thing to us? And they answered him, Because it was told to your servants all that you had done to all the kings of the Amorites, and we were greatly afraid of our lives, and we did this thing.

  54 Joshua appointed them on that day to hew wood and to draw water, and he divided them for slaves to all the tribes of Israel.

  55 And when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem heard all that the children of Israel had done to Jericho and to Ai, he sent to Hoham king of Hebron and to Piram king at Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish and to Deber king of Eglon, saying,

  56 Come up to me and help me, that we may strike the children of Israel and the inhabitants of Gibeon who have made peace with the children of Israel.

  57 And they gathered themselves together and the five kings of the Amorites went up with all their camps, a mighty people numerous as the sand of the seashore.

  58 All these kings came and camped before Gibeon, and they began to fight against the inhabitants of Gibeon, and all the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua, saying, Come up quickly to us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites have gathered together to fight against us.

  59 Joshua and all the fighting people went up from Gilgal, and Joshua came suddenly to them and struck these five kings with a great slaughter.

  60 And the Lord confounded them before the children at Israel, who struck them with a terrible slaughter in Gibeon, and pursued them along the way that goes up to Beth Horon to Makkedah; they fled from before the children of Israel.