Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ¹  Their protection ²  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

But you and your sons with you are responsible for your priestly duties, for everything at the altar and within the curtain. And you must serve. I give you the priesthood as a gift for service; but the unauthorized person who approaches must be put to death.”

“And this is yours: the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

And Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

God came to Balaam that night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them; but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.”

Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you can observe them. You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹  will seek counsel ²  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ³  At his command ⁴  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

Moses said to them: “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each one equipped for battle in the Lord’s presence, and you conquer the land, ¹  then you must allot them the territory of Gilead as their possession.

You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory ¹  and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us ²  that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living.

Bear in mind today that I am not speaking ¹  to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments ²  of the Lord your God, which revealed ³  his greatness, strength, and power. ⁴ 

Suppose he goes with someone else ¹  to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax ²  to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose ³  from the handle and strikes ⁴  his fellow worker ⁵  so hard that he dies. The person responsible ⁶  may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. ⁷ 

Then Moses called out to Joshua ¹  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ²  and you will enable them to inherit it.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ¹  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ²  are going. They ³  will reject ⁴  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ⁵ 

Anyone who leaves your house will be responsible for his own death – we are innocent in that case! ¹  But if anyone with you in the house is harmed, we will be responsible. ² 

The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, ¹  except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies ²  we sent.

Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, ¹  heard how Joshua captured Ai and annihilated it and its king as he did Jericho ²  and its king. ³  He also heard how ⁴  the people of Gibeon made peace with Israel and lived among them.

Now, assign me this hill country which the Lord promised me at that time! No doubt you heard at that time that the Anakites live there in large, fortified cities. ¹  But, assuming the Lord is with me, I will conquer ²  them, as the Lord promised.”

The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you assigned us only one tribal allotment? After all, we have many people, for until now the Lord has enabled us to increase in number.” ¹ 

When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites, ¹  they were satisfied. ² 

Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders left the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead and reported back to the Israelites in the land of Canaan. ¹