131 Now Joshua was old and full of years; and the Lord said to him, You are old and full of years, and there is still very much land to be taken. 2 This is the land which is still to be taken: all the country of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites; 3 From the Shihor, which is before Egypt, to the edge of Ekron to the north, which is taken to be Canaanite property: the five chiefs of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites, as well as the Avvim; 4 On the south: all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah which is the property of the Zidonians, to Aphek, as far as the limit of the Amorites: 5 And the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, looking east, from Baal-gad under Mount Hermon as far as Hamath: 6 All the people of the hill-country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, all the Zidonians; them will I send out from before the children of Israel: only make division of it to Israel for a heritage, as I have given you orders to do.
7 So now make division of this land for a heritage to the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 8 With him the Reubenites and the Gadites have been given their heritage, which Moses gave them, on the east side of Jordan, as Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them; 9 From Aroer, on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the town in the middle of the valley, and all the table-land from Medeba to Dibon; 10 And all the towns of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who was ruling in Heshbon, to the limits of the children of Ammon; 11 And Gilead, and the land of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; 12 All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who was ruling in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he was one of the last of the Rephaim); these did Moses overcome, driving them out of their country. 13 However, the people of Israel did not send out the Geshurites, or the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath are living among Israel to this day.
14 Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no heritage; the offerings of the Lord, the God of Israel, made by fire are his heritage, as he said to him. 15 And Moses gave their heritage to the tribe of Reuben by their families. 16 Their limit was from Aroer, on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the town in the middle of the valley, and all the table-land by Medeba; 17 Heshbon and all her towns in the table-land; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon; 18 And Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath; 19 And Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar in the mountain of the valley; 20 And Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth; 21 And all the towns of the table-land, and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who was ruling in Heshbon, whom Moses overcame, together with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the chiefs of Sihon, who were living in the land. 22 And Balaam, the son of Beor, the prophet, the children of Israel put to death with the sword. 23 And the limit of the children of Reuben was the edge of Jordan. This was the heritage of the children of Reuben by their families, with its towns and its unwalled places. 24 And Moses gave their heritage to the tribe of Gad by their families. 25 And their limit was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer before Rabbah; 26 And from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the edge of Debir; 27 And in the valley, Beth-haram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon, having Jordan for its limit, to the end of the sea of Chinnereth on the east side of Jordan. 28 This is the heritage of the children of Gad by their families, with its towns and its unwalled places 29 And Moses gave their heritage to the half-tribe of Manasseh by their families. 30 And their limit was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, and all Havvoth-Jair, in Bashan, sixty towns; 31 And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, towns of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, for half of the children of Machir by their families. 32 These are the heritages of which Moses made distribution in the lowlands of Moab, on the other side of Jordan in Jericho, to the east. 33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no heritage: the Lord, the God of Israel, is their heritage, as he said to them.
141 And these are the heritages which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, gave out to them; 2 Their heritage by the Lord's decision, as he gave orders by Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. 3 For Moses had given their heritage to the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no heritage among them. 4 Because the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim; and they gave the Levites no part in the land, only towns for their living-places, with the grass-lands for their cattle and for their property. 5 As the Lord had given orders to Moses, so the people of Israel did, and they made division of the land.
6 Then the children of Judah went to Joshua in Gilgal; and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him, You have knowledge of what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about me and about you in Kadesh-barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to make a search through the land; and the account which I gave him was in keeping with his desire. 8 My brothers, however, who went up with me, made the heart of the people like water: but I was true to the Lord with all my heart. 9 And on that day Moses took an oath, saying, Truly the land where your feet have been placed will become a heritage for you and your children for ever, because you have been true to the Lord your God with all your heart. 10 And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me safe these forty-five years, from the time when the Lord said this to Moses, while Israel was wandering in the waste land: and now I am eighty-five years old. 11 And still, I am as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out: as my strength was then, so is it now, for war and for all the business of life. 12 So now, give me this hill-country named by the Lord at that time; for you had an account of it then, how the Anakim were there, and great walled towns: it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I will be able to take their land, as the Lord said. 13 And Joshua gave him his blessing; and he gave Hebron to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, for his heritage. 14 So Hebron became the heritage of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, to this day, because with all his heart he was true to the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 In earlier times the name of Hebron had been Kiriath-arba, named after Arba, the greatest of the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.
151 Now the part of the land marked out for the children of Judah by families, went up to the edge of Edom, as far as the waste land of Zin to the south, to the farthest point of it on the south. 2 Their south limit was from the farthest part of the Salt Sea, from the inlet looking to the south: 3 From there it goes south of the slope up to Akrabbim, and on to Zin, then south past Kadesh-barnea, and on by Hezron and up to Addar, turning in the direction of Karka: 4 Then on to Azmon, ending at the stream of Egypt: and the end of the limit is at the sea; this will be your limit on the south. 5 And the east limit is the Salt Sea as far as the end of Jordan. And the limit of the north part of the land is from the inlet of the sea at the end of Jordan: 6 Then the line goes up to Beth-hoglah, past the north of Beth-arabah, and up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben; 7 Then the line goes up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so to the north, in the direction of Gilgal, which is opposite the slope up to Adummim, on the south side of the river: and the line goes on to the waters of En-shemesh, ending at En-rogel: 8 Then the line goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the south side of the Jebusite (which is Jerusalem): then up to the top of the mountain in front of the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the farthest point of the valley of Rephaim on the north: 9 And the limit is marked out from the top of the mountain to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah, and out to the towns of Mount Ephron, as far as Baalah (which is Kiriath-jearim): 10 Then turning west, the line goes from Baalah to Mount Seir, and on to the side of Mount Jearim (which is Chesalon) on the north, then down to Beth-shemesh, and on past Timnah: 11 And out to the side of Ekron to the north: then it is marked out to Shikkeron and on to Mount Baalah, ending at Jabneel; the end of the line is at the sea. 12 And the limit on the west is the edge of the Great Sea. This is the line going round the land marked out for the children of Judah, by their families.
13 And to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he gave a part among the children of Judah, as the Lord had given orders to Joshua, that is, Kiriath-arba, named after Arba, the father of Anak which is Hebron. 14 And the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak, were forced out from there by Caleb. 15 From there he went up against the people of Debir: (now the name of Debir before that was Kiriath-sepher.) 16 And Caleb said, I will give Achsah, my daughter, as wife to the man who overcomes Kiriath-sepher and takes it. 17 And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it: so he gave him his daughter Achsah for his wife. 18 Now when she came to him, he put into her mind the idea of requesting a field from her father: and she got down from her ass; and Caleb said to her, What is it? 19 And she said, Give me a blessing; because you have put me in dry south-land, now give me springs of water. So he gave her the higher spring and the lower spring.
20 This is the heritage of the tribe of Judah, by their families. 21 The farthest towns of the tribe of Judah in the direction of the limits of Edom to the south, were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur; 22 And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah; 23 And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan; 24 Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth; 25 And Hazor-hadattah, and Kerioth-hezron (which is Hazor); 26 Amam, and Shema, and Moladah; 27 And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-pelet; 28 And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah; 29 Baalah, and Iim, and Ezem; 30 And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah; 31 And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah; 32 And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon; all the towns are twenty-nine, with their unwalled places. 33 In the lowland, Eshtaol, and Zorah, and Ashnah; 34 And Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam; 35 Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah; 36 And Shaaraim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen towns with their unwalled places. 37 Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad; 38 And Dilan, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel; 39 Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon; 40 And Cabbon, and Lahmas, and Chithlish; 41 And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen towns with their unwalled places. 42 Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan; 43 And Iphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib; 44 And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine towns with their unwalled places. 45 Ekron, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places; 46 From Ekron to the sea, all the towns by the side of Ashdod, with their unwalled places. 47 Ashdod, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places; Gaza, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places, to the stream of Egypt, with the Great Sea as a limit. 48 And in the hill-country, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh; 49 And Dannah, and Kiriath-sannah (which is Debir); 50 And Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim; 51 And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven towns with their unwalled places. 52 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshan; 53 And Janim, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah; 54 And Humtah, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron), and Zior; nine towns with their unwalled places. 55 Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Jutah; 56 And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah; 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten towns with their unwalled places. 58 Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor; 59 And Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six towns with their unwalled places. 60 Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places. 61 In the waste land, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah; 62 And Nibshan, and the Town of Salt, and En-gedi; six towns with their unwalled places. 63 And as for the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, the children of Judah were unable to make them go out; but the Jebusites are living with the children of Judah at Jerusalem, to this day.
57 Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son. 58 And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy. 59 And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name; 60 But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John. 61 And they said, Not one of your relations has that name. 62 And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him. 63 And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised. 64 And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God. 65 And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea. 66 And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words: 68 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free, 69 Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 (As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times,) 71 Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us; 72 To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word, 73 The oath which he made to Abraham, our father, 74 That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship, 75 In righteousness and holy living before him all our days. 76 And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways; 77 To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins, 78 Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us, 79 To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace. 80 And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel.
(Read Luke 1:57-66)
In these verses we have an account of the birth of John the Baptist, and the great joy among all the relations of the family. He shall be called Johanan, or "Gracious," because he shall bring in the gospel of Christ, wherein God's grace shines most bright. Zacharias recovered his speech. Unbelief closed his mouth, and believing opened it again: he believers, therefore he speaks. When God opens our lips, our mouths must show forth his praise; and better be without speech, than not use it in praising God. It is said, The hand of the Lord was working with John. God has ways of working on children in their infancy, which we cannot account for. We should observe the dealings of God, and wait the event.
(Read Luke 1:67-80)
Zacharias uttered a prophecy concerning the kingdom and salvation of the Messiah. The gospel brings light with it; in it the day dawns. In John the Baptist it began to break, and increased apace to the perfect day. The gospel is discovering; it shows that about which we were utterly in the dark; it is to give light to those that sit in darkness, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It is reviving; it brings light to those that sit in the shadow of death, as condemned prisoners in the dungeon. It is directing; it is to guide our feet in the way of peace, into that way which will bring us to peace at last, Romans 3:17. John gave proofs of strong faith, vigorous and holy affections, and of being above the fear and love of the world. Thus he ripened for usefulness; but he lived a retired life, till he came forward openly as the forerunner of the Messiah. Let us follow peace with all men, as well as seek peace with God and our own consciences. And if it be the will of God that we live unknown to the world, still let us diligently seek to grow strong in the grace of Jesus Christ.
