Joshua

And they came in the presence of Eleazar the priest and of Joshua the son of Nun, and of the princes, saying: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that a possession should be given us in the midst of our brethren. And he gave them according to the commandment of the Lord a possession amongst the brethren of their father.

And the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, and said: Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to possess, whereas I am of so great a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed me?

And Joshua said to them: If thou be a great people, go up into the woodland, and cut down room for thyself in the land of the Pherezite and the Raphaims: because the possession of mount Ephraim is too narrow for thee.

And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasses: Thou art a great people, and of great strength, thou shalt not have one lot only:

And Joshua said to them: How long are you indolent and slack, and go not in to possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers hath given you?

And when the men were risen up, to go to mark out the land, Joshua commanded them saying: Go round the land and mark it out, and return to me: that I may cast lots for you before the Lord in Silo.

So they went and surveying it divided it into seven parts, writing them down in a book. And they returned to Joshua, to the camp in Silo.

And he cast lots before the Lord in Silo, and divided the land to the children of Israel into seven parts.

And when he had made an end of dividing the land by lot to each one by their tribes, the children of Israel gave a possession to Joshua the son of Nun in the midst of them,

These are the possessions which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the princes of the families, and of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed by lot in Silo, before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they divided the land.

And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: Speak to children of Israel and say to them:

Then the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the princes of the kindreds of all the tribes of the children of Israel

At the same time Joshua called the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses,

And Joshua blessed them, and sent them away, and they returned to their dwellings.

Now to half the tribe of Manasses, Moses had given a possession in Basan: and therefore to the half that remained, Joshua gave a lot among the rest of their brethren beyond the Jordan to the west. And when he sent them away to their dwellings and had blessed them,

And when a long time was passed, after that the Lord had given peace to Israel, all the nations round about being subdued. and Joshua being now old, and far advanced in years:

Joshua called for all Israel, and for the elders, and for the princes, and for the judges, and for the masters, and said to them: I am old, and far advanced in years,

And Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel in Sichem, and called for the ancients, and the princes and the judges, and the masters: and they stood in the sight of the Lord:

And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and they served strange gods.

And Joshua said to the people: You will not be able to serve the Lord: for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins.

And the people said to Joshua: No, it shall not be so as thou sayest, but we will serve the Lord.

And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses, that you yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they answered: We are witnesses.

And the people said to Joshua: We will serve the Lord our God, and we will be obedient to his commandments.

Joshua therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.

And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of the Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under the oak that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.