Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Today's reading is from Joshua chapters 20 through 22.
Chapter 20.
The Lord also spoke to Joshua saying, Speak to the children of Israel saying,
Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the
slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there.
And they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of
the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take
him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his
hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand.
And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and
until the death of the one who is high priest in those days.
Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house to the city from
which he fled.
So they appointed Kaddish in Galilee in the mountains of Naftali, Shaakim in the mountains
of Ephraim, and Kirjas Arba which is Hebron in the mountains of Judah.
And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness
on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan
in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger who
dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die
by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
Chapter 21 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the
Levites came near to Eliezer the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of
the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.
And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord commanded through
Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common lands for our livestock.
So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment
of the Lord, these cities and their common lands.
Now the Lot came out for the families of the Quatites, and the children of Aaron the priest,
who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by Lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe
of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.
The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by Lot from the families of the tribe
of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dein, and from the half tribe of Manasseh.
And the children of Gershon had thirteen cities by Lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar,
from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naft Strike and from the half tribe of
Manasseh in Beshan.
The Children of Mirari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe
of Rubin, from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.
And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common lands by lot to the Levites,
as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.
So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children
of Simeon these cities which are designated by name, which were for the children of Aaron,
one of the families of the Quatites, who were of the children of Levi, for the lot was theirs
first.
And they gave them Kirjas Arba, Arba was the father of Anak, which is Hebron, in the mountains
of Judah, with the common land surrounding it.
But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunah as
his possession.
Thus to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its common land, a city of
refuge for the slayer, Libnah with its common land, Jatir with its common land, Eshtimowa
with its common land, Holon with its common land, Debir with its common land, Ein with
its common land, Judah with its common land, and Beit Shemesh with its common land.
Nine cities from those two tribes.
And from the tribe of Benjamin, Gebian with its common land, Geba with its common land,
Anathoth with its common land, and Almon with its common land.
Four cities.
All the cities of the children of Aaron the priests were thirteen cities with their common
lands.
And the families of the children of Kohat, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohat,
even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim.
For they gave them Shechem with its common land in the mountains of Ephraim, a city of
refuge for the slayer, Gesir with its common land, Kipzaim with its common land, and Bet
Huron with its common land.
Four cities.
And from the tribe of Dan, Alteka with its common land, Gicuton with its common land,
medicinalon with its common land, and Gadrimon with its common land.
Four cities.
And from the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanakh with its common land, and Gadrimon with its
common land.
Two cities.
All the ten cities with their common lands were for the rest of the families of the children
of Kohath. Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other
half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its common land, a city of refuge
for the slayer, and Bey Echtera with its common land, two cities, and from the tribe of Issachar,
Kishon with its common land, Dabirat with its common land, Jarmus with its common land,
and Nganim with its common land, four cities, and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its
common land, Abdon with its common land, Helkat with its common land, and Rehob with its common
land, four cities, and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its common land, a city
of refuge for the slayer, Harmod Dor with its common land, and Kartan with its common
land, three cities. All the cities of the Gershonites, according to their families,
were thirteen cities with their common lands. And to the families of the children of Mirari,
the rest of the Levites was the tribe of Zebulun – Juknineum with its common land, Kartâ
with its common land, Dymna with its common land, and Nahalal with its common land, four
cities. And from the Tribe of Ruben – Bezer with its common land, Jehaz with excやって
Jihos with its common land, Kedemoth with its common land, and Méfat with its common
land – four cities. And from the tribe of Good – Ramoth and Gyliad with its common
a city of refuge for the slayer. Ma'aneem with its common land, Hezbon with its common land,
and Jazer with its common land, four cities in all. So all the cities for the children of Mirari,
according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot
twelve cities. All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel
were forty-eight cities with their common lands. Every one of these cities had its common land
surrounding it. Thus were all these cities. So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which
He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.
The Lord gave them rest all around according to all that He had sworn to their fathers,
and not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into
their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.
All came to pass. Chapter 22 Then Joshua called the Rubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe
of Manasseh, and said to them, You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you,
and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren these many
days up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now the
Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as He promised them. Now therefore return and go to
your tents and to the land of your possession which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on
the other side of the Jordan. But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses
the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep
His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. Now to have the tribe
of Manasseh, Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave
a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed when Joshua sent
them away to their tents, he blessed them and spoke to them saying, Return with much riches to your
tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much
clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. So the children of Reuben, the
children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel
at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their
possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
And when they came to the region of the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan, the children of
Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, built an altar there by the Jordan,
a great impressive altar. Now the children of Israel heard someone say, Behold the children
of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have built an altar on the frontier
of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the children of Israel's side. And when the
children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at
Shiloh to go to war against them. Then the children of Israel sent Phineas, the son of Eliezer the
priest, to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the
land of Gilead, and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel,
and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel. Then they
came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land
of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying, Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord,
What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day
from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this
day against the Lord? Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till
this day? Although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, but that you must turn
away this day from following the Lord? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the Lord,
that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Nevertheless, if the land
of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord,
where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against
the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the
Lord our God. Did not Aqan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in that cursed thing, and wrath fell
on all the congregation of Israel, and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity? Then the
children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, answered and said to the
heads of the divisions of Israel, The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knows, and let
Israel itself know, if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord do not save us this
day, if we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt
offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord himself require an
account. But in fact we have done it for fear, for a reason saying, in time to come your descendants
may speak to our descendants saying, what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord has
made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have
no part in the Lord, so your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord. Therefore
we said, let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice,
but that it may be a witness between you and us, and our generations after us, that we may perform
the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace
offerings. That your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, you have no part in
the Lord. Therefore we said that it will be when they say this to us or to our generations in time
to come, that we may say, here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made,
though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between you and us. Far be it
from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, to build an
altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our
God which is before his tabernacle. Now Infinius the priest and the rulers of the congregation,
the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of
Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. Then Infinius,
the son of Eliezer the priest, said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children
of Manasseh, this day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this
treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the
Lord. And Infinius the son of Eliezer the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben
and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel,
and brought back word to them. So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel
blessed God. They spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the
children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar
witness, for it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless you and have a great day.