So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities – Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.

All Jerusalem was terrified ¹  because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors.

The Merarite clans (the remaining Levites) were allotted twelve cities.

the spies spotted ¹  a man leaving the city. They said to him, “If you show us a secret entrance into the city, we will reward you.”

He showed them a secret entrance into the city, and they put the city to the sword. But they let the man and his extended family leave safely.

They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ¹  But the city’s name used to be Laish.

But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky. ¹ 

So now assemble the rest of the army ¹  and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”

The men of the ¹  city, the leaders ²  and the nobles who lived there, ³  followed the written orders Jezebel had sent them. ⁴ 

The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our ¹  master can see. But the water is bad and the land doesn’t produce crops.” ² 

He placed troops in all of Judah’s fortified cities and posted garrisons ¹  throughout the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had seized.

In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

The messengers journeyed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them. ¹ 

The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all the rest of Israel lived in their cities.When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites ¹  were settled in their cities, ² 

We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, ¹  in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, ²  in the city of our God. God makes it permanently secure. ³  (Selah)

At that time five cities ¹  in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. ² 

Indeed, ¹  you have made the city ²  into a heap of rubble, the fortified town into a heap of ruins; the fortress of foreigners ³  is no longer a city, it will never be rebuilt.

At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee. Some of them will hide in the thickets. Others will climb up among the rocks. All the cities will be deserted. No one will remain in them.

“‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?”

The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. ¹  I, the Lord, have spoken! ²