Book of Jasher (Sefer haYashar) 18

~268~ And it came to pass after the death of Moses, that God said to Joshua son of Nun as follows. Arise for the Jordan to the land which I gave to the children of Israel, and you gave the land to the children of Israel. Every place where your feet set foot shall be yours. From this desert and Lebanon to the great river the Euphrates will be your border. No one will stand before you all the days of your life, as I was with Moses I will be with you. Only be strong and courageous to keep the Torah that Moses commanded, do not deviate from the right and left way so that you will be wise in everything you walk. And Joshua commanded the Israeli policemen to say, they went through the camp and commanded the people to say. Prepare a tzada for you, because in three days you will cross the Jordan to inherit the land. And the officers of the children of Israel did so and commanded the people, and they did as Joshua commanded. And Joshua sent two men to spy on Jericho, and they went and the men spied on Jericho. And at the end of seven days they came to Joshua in the camp and told him that the Lord had given the whole land into our hands and that all its inhabitants had perished before us. And it came to pass after that, that Joshua arose in the morning, and all Israel with him, and departed from the ships. And Joshua crossed the Jordan and all Israel with him, and Joshua was eighty-two years old when he passed with Israel in the Jordan. And the people came up from the Jordan in the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal, at the eastern end of Jericho. And the Israelites celebrated the Passover at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho on the fourteenth of the month, as written in the Torah of Moses. And the manna returned at that time from the day after Passover, and there was no more manna for the children of Israel, and they ate from the grain of the land of Canaan.

~269~ And Jericho closes and closes from the children of Israel, there is no going out and no coming. And it came to pass in the second month, on the first of the month, that the Lord said to Joshua, Arise, behold, I have given into your hand Jericho and Malka and all its people. And your grandmother will call all the men of war every day once, so do it for six days and the priests will blow their trumpets. And when they heard the sound of the shofar, all the people gave a great shout, and the wall of the city fell under it, and all the people rose up against him. And Joshua did so, as God commanded him. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they compassed the city seven times, and the priests blew their trumpets, and it came to pass on the seventh day, that Joshua said to the people, Rejoice, for God has given us the whole city. But God will boycott the city, it and everything in it. And you shall guard against the boycott, lest you put the camp of Israel under boycott and destroy it. And all silver and gold and copper and iron, holy to God, is God's treasure. And the people blew their trumpets and made a great shout and the walls of Jericho fell, and all the people went up against him and captured the city. And they confiscated all that was in it, from man to woman from boy to old man, an ox, a woman, and a donkey according to the sword. And the whole city burned with fire, only all the silver, gold, copper, and iron vessels gave God's treasure. And Joshua swore at that time, saying, Cursed is the man who builds Jericho in his firstborn shall lay its foundations and in his youngest shall set up its doors. And Achan son of Karmi son of Zebedee son of Zarakh son of Yehuda over the ban and took from the ban and hid it in his house, and the Lord was also angry with Israel. And after that, when the Israelites returned, they burned Jericho, and Joshua sent men to spy out Ai to fight against it. And the people went up and spied the Ai and returned and said to Joshua, don't all the people go up with you to the Ai, only about three thousand men will go up and beat the Ai, because there are few people there. And Joshua did so, and three thousand men of the children of Israel went up with him and fought with the people of Ai. And the war became heavy on Israel, and the men of Ai smote thirty-six men of Israel, and the children of Israel were put to the test before the men of Ai. And Joshua saw this thing and tore his clothes and fell on his face to the ground before God, he and the elders of Israel and dust came upon their heads.

~270~ And Joshua said to God, Oh God, why did you bring this people over the Jordan? Now all the Canaanites who live in the land will hear this thing, and they will turn against us and cut off our name. And the Lord said to Joshua, why are you falling on your face? Get up, because Israel has sinned and they will take away from the ban, I will no longer be with them if they do not destroy the ban from their midst. And Joshua stood up and gathered the people and brought the lights near according to God's word, and captured the tribe of Judah and captured Achan son of Karmi. And Joshua said to Achan, Tell me, my son, what you have done. And Achan said, I saw among the spoils a good young mantel and two hundred shekels of silver and a gold tongue fifty shekels in weight. And Ahmad and Akham, and behold, inside the tent they lie in the land. And Yehoshua sent men, and they went to Yakham from the tent of Achan and brought them to Yehoshua. And Joshua took Achan and these vessels and his sons and daughters and all that belonged to him, and brought them up the valley of Akkur. And Joshua burned them there with fire, and all Israel pelted Akan with stones and raised a wave of stones over it, therefore he called that place Emek Akur, and the Lord dwelt in Meharon Apo. And after that Joshua approached Ai, and fought in it. And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not look and do not go under. Behold, I have given into your hand the city and the queen and his people. And you did to them as you did to Jericho and the queen, only plunder her and by killing her you will be disgraced, lay an ambush for you in the city behind her. And Joshua did as the Lord said, and he chose from all the people of the war thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and they fought and lay in wait for the city. And they ordered them to say, when you see us, we will flee before the people of Ai in disguise and they will pursue us, get up from the ambush and capture the city, and they will do so. And Joshua fought and the men of the city went out to meet Israel, and they did not know that they were ambushed from behind the city. And Yehoshua and all Israel fell before them, and they fled through the wilderness in error. And the men of Ai cried out to all the people in the city to pursue Israel, and they went out and cut off from the city, not one was left, and they left the city open and pursued Israel. And all the lurkers rose from their places and hurried and came to the city and captured it, and set it on fire. And the people of Ai turned after them, and behold, the smoke of the heavenly city rose, and they had no hands to fly hither and thither. And all the men of the land of Israel were among them, some from one and some from that, and they beat them until there was not a remnant left for them. And the children of Israel captured Melosh, the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua, and Joshua hung him on the tree and died.

~271~ And the children of Israel returned to the city after they had burned it, and they smote everything in it with the sword. And the number of all who fell from the people of Ai, from man to woman, was twelve thousand. Only the cattle and the multitude of cities were plundered for them, as God said to Joshua. And all the kings that were on the other side of the Jordan, all the Canaanite kings, heard all the evil that the children of Israel had done to Jericho, and they gathered together to fight Israel. But the inhabitants of Gibeon will be very afraid of Israel to fight with them, lest they die. And they acted deceitfully and came to Joshua and to all Israel and said to them, We have come from a far country, now make a covenant with us. And the inhabitants of Gibeon piled on the children of Israel, and the children of Israel made a covenant with them and made peace with them, and the leaders of the community swore to them. And it happened after that, and all Israel knew that they were close to him and they were sitting near him. But not the orphaned children of Israel, because they swore to them by God, and they will be hewers of wood and drawers of water. And Joshua said to them, why did you deceive us in doing this thing to us? And they answered him, saying, Because all that you did to all the kings of the Amorites was betrayed to your servants, and it was very terrible for our souls, and this thing was done. And Joshua gave them on that day to all Israel to cut wood for them and to draw water for them, and he distributed them to all the tribes of Israel as slaves. And it came to pass, when the Lord heard that Zedek, the king of Jerusalem, had done all that the children of Israel had done to Jericho and Lei, and he sent it to Hoham, king of Hebron, and to Peram, king of Jeramot, and to Yiphia, king of Lachish, and to Davir, king of Eglon, as said. Go up with me and Ezron, and we will destroy the Israelites, and the inhabitants of Gibeon who completed the Israelites. And the five kings of the Amorites gathered and went up with all their camp, a very great people, blue which is on the seashore. And all these kings came and encamped at Gibeon, and began to fight the inhabitants of Gibeon. And all the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to say, come up to us quickly and save us, for all the kings of the Amorites have gathered against us to fight us. And Joshua and all the people of war came up from the Gilgal, and Joshua came to them suddenly, and struck those five kings with a great blow. And the Lord rumbled before the children of Israel and struck a great plague in Gibeon, and he pursued them through the way up to Beit Horon as far as Makkah and they fled before the children of Israel.

~272~ And it happened in Nusim, and God threw hailstones from the sky on them, and many more died from them than the children of Israel killed. And the children of Israel pursued them and stopped on the way and beat them. And it happened by beating them and the day tended to guarantee. And Joshua said in the sight of all the people, the sun will stand still in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Elon until the nation of its enemies rise up. And the Lord heard in the voice of Joshua and the sun stood still in half the sky and stood thirty-six times, and the moon also stood still and did not hasten to come as a perfect day. And on that day there was no one before him or after him to hear God in the voice of anyone, because God fought for them in Israel. Then Joshua will speak this song, on the day of the Lord's Day, the Amorites before Joshua and before the children of Israel. And he said in the sight of all Israel, You have done many things, O Lord, You have done great things, who is like You, my lips will sing to Your name. My mercy and my fortress exalt a new song I will sing to you in thanksgiving to you Azmara, you are the strength of my salvation. All the kings of the land of Judah, the princes of the world will sing to you, the children of Israel will rejoice in your salvation, they will sing and sing of your prowess. We trusted in you, O Lord, we said, You are our God, because you were our refuge in the tower of Oz from our enemies. We cried out to you and we were not ashamed of you, we trusted and fled, in our fear you heard our voice, you saved our souls from the sword. You showed us your grace, you gave us your salvation, you made our heart happy with your bravery. You came out to save us, you redeemed your people with your arm, you answered us from your holy sky with multitudes with our salvation. Sun and moon in the waste stand, and stand with your nose to our oppressor and command your violent judgments. All the princes of the land stood, the kings of the nations gathered together before you, they did not move to your wars they desired. You rose up against him with your nose and let your anger come down against him, you perished in your anger and you fasted in your wisdom. The Gentiles are afraid of you from the throne of your angry kingdom, you cut off kings in the day of your wrath. You have poured out your anger on them, the fury of your anger, they have been deceived. They retired in the grass where they fell, their foot was caught in the net of their burial. You found your hand to all your enemies, who said by their sword they will inherit the land and by their arm they will live a city. Their faces are full of shame, you have come to the land of their horns. And they will be frightened by your wisdom, and they will perish from your presence. Make the earth angry and rumble with the sound of your thunder over them, you did not darken the death of their souls and their lives to ask the question. You chased them in your storm as they were trapped in your storm, you gave their rains as hail and they fell in pits that cannot be rebuilt.

~273~ Their carnage was thrown away in an outdoor battle. They died before you, your people were saved by your valor. Therefore, our heart will dwell in you, reveal our soul in your salvation. Our tongue will tell of your prowess, shedding and singing of your wonders. Because we were rescued from our captivity from our place, you will perish from our presence and you will be trampled under our feet. Thus shall all your enemies perish, O Lord, and the wicked like chaff that will chase the wind, and your lovers like a tree on the leaves of water planted. And Joshua and all Israel with him returned to the Gilgal camp, after having smitten all the kings until he did not leave a remnant of them. And the five kings fled alone on foot from the war and hid in a cave, and Joshua looked for them in the midst of the war and did not find them. And it was told to Joshua after that to say, the kings were found and they are hiding in a cave. And Yehoshua said, leave men at the mouth of the cave to guard them lest they should go out, and the children of Israel did so. And Joshua was able to strike the Amorites, and he commanded and brought the five kings out of the cave. And Joshua called to all Israel and said to the officers of the war, put your feet on the necks of these kings and do not fear them and do not worship them. And all the officers of the war did so, and each of them put his foot on the necks of these kings, and Joshua said, God will do this to all your enemies. And Joshua commanded after that and they killed the kings and threw them into the cave, and they placed large stones at the mouth of the cave. And Joshua went after that and all the people that were with him to Makkah that day, and smote it with the sword. And he confiscated the soul and everything in it, and he did to the queen and her people as he did to Jericho. And he went from there to a brick and fought with it, and the Lord gave it by his hand. And Joshua struck with the sword every soul that was in her, and he did to her and to the queen as he did to the city of Jericho. And from there he went to Lachish to fight it, and King Horam of Gezer came to help the people of Lachish, and Joshua beat him and his people until he left no remnant. And Joshua captured Lachish and all her people, and did to her all that he did to Labana. And Yehoshua passed by her wagon and captured her as well, and put her and all her people to the sword. And from there he went to Hebron and fought in it, captured it and confiscated it. And he sat down from there, and all Israel with him, at Debira, and he fought with her and struck her with the sword. And he confiscated all the soul in which he did not leave a remnant, and he did to her and the queen as he did to Jericho.

~274~ And Joshua struck all the kings of the Amorites from the temple of Barnea to Gaza, and captured their land once because God fought for Israel. And Joshua and all Israel with him went to the Gilgal camp. At that time, when the king of Hazor heard all that Joshua had done to all the kings of the Amorites, he sent to understand to Jobab the king of Medon and to Laban the king of Shimron, and to let the king of Achash and all the kings of the Amorites use a sorcery. Come quickly to us and help us and cripple the Israelites, before they come upon us and do to us what they did to the other kings of the Amorites. And all these kings listened to the words of Jobab, king of Hazor, and they and all their camp went out, seventeen kings, and with them a large number of blue people who were on the shore of the sea, and a very great number of horses and chariots. And they came and camped together on the waters of Marom, and were destined to fight with Israel. And the Lord said to Joshua, do not be afraid of them because now tomorrow I will make them all victims before you, you will displace their horses and burn their chariots with fire. And Joshua and all the men of war suddenly came upon them and struck them, and they fell by their hand, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the children of Israel. And the children of Israel chased after all these kings and their camp, and oppressed them until there was not a remnant left for them, and Joshua did as the Lord spoke to him. And Joshua sat at that time at Hazor, and struck with the sword. And the soul that was in it was confiscated, and it burned with fire. And Yehoshua passed from Hazor to Shimron, and beat and confiscated it. And from there he moved to Akshaf, and did to her what he did to Shimron. And he passed from there to Adullam and killed all the people who were there, and he did to Adullam as he did to Achash and Samron. And he passed from there to all the cities of the kings that he struck, and struck all the people that remained in them and confiscated them. But the children of Israel plundered them and killed them, and they beat all the people and did not save a single soul. When God commanded Moses, so did Joshua and all Israel, they did not drop anything. And Joshua and the children of Israel smote all the land of the Canaanites as God commanded them, and they killed all their kings, thirty-one kings, and the children of Israel took all their land. Besides the kingdoms of Sihon and Og, which are on the other side of the Jordan, which Moses smote, they are also many cities, and Moses gave them to the Reubenites, the Gediites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

~275~ And Joshua struck all the kings beyond the Jordan Sea, and they were given as an inheritance for the nine staffs and a half staff. For five years Joshua made war against all these kings and gave their cities to Israel, and the land is quiet from the war in all the cities of the Amorites and Canaanites. At that time, in the year of five years, the children of Israel crossed the Jordan, after the children of Israel were quiet from their war with the Canaanites. And there will arise at that time great, strong and enormous wars between Edom and the sectarians, and the sectarians will fight against Edom. And Abianus, king of Kitim, went out in that year, the thirty-first year of his reign, and a strong hand was with him from the heroes of the sons of Kitim, and he went to Sheira to fight the sons of Esau. And Hadad, the king of Edom, heard what he heard, and went out to meet him with a heavy people and a strong hand, and made war with him in the field of Edom. And the hand of the Gentiles prevailed against the sons of Esau, and the Gentiles killed two and twenty thousand of the sons of Esau, and all the sons of Esau were defeated before them. And the sectarians chased after them and caught Hadad king of Edom running before them and captured him alive, and brought him to Abianus king of the sects. Avianus sent and killed him, and Hadad king of Edom died in the forty-eighth year of his reign. And the sectarians still pursued Edom and struck them with a great blow, and Edom surrendered before the sectarians. And the sons of Kitim ruled over Edom, and Edom was under the hand of the sons of Kitim, and they would be one kingdom from that day forward. And they will no longer be able to bear their heads from those days, and their kingdom will be one with the sectarians. And Avianus set commissioners in Edom, and all the people of Edom were to be slaves to pay tribute to Avianus. And when he returned, he renewed his kingdom and built him a great and huge palace for the royal seat, and he reigned securely over the sons of Kitim and Edom. In those days when the Israelites inherited all the Canaanites and Amorites, and old Joshua came in those days. And the Lord said to Joshua, You are an old woman, you came in the days when the land remained very much for her inheritance. And now he divided the whole land into an inheritance for the nine tribes, and half the Manasseh tribe. And Joshua arose and did as the Lord spoke to him, and divided the whole land among the tribes of Israel, an inheritance in their divisions. Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance, the son of God is his inheritance when God spoke by the hand of Moses to him.

~276~ And Joshua gave Mount Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh one shekel for his brother, when God spoke by the hand of Moses. Therefore, Hebron belonged to Caleb son of Yefuna and to his sons as an inheritance, until this day. And Joshua divided the whole land by lot for all Israel as an inheritance, as God commanded him. And the children of Israel gave from their inheritance to the Levites cities to dwell in and their lots for their places and possessions. When God commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel, and they divided the land by lot between the many and the few. And they went to inherit the land to its borders, and the Israelites gave an inheritance to Joshua son of Nun among them. According to God, they gave him the city that he asked for from Serah on Mount Ephraim, and he built the city and lived in it. These are the estates that Eleazar the priest and Yehoshua ben Nun and the heads of the fathers of the clans assigned to the Israelites by lot in Shiloh before God opened the tent of meeting, and they could divide the land. And God gave Israel all the land and they inherited it, when God spoke to them and when God swore to their fathers. And God placed the children of Israel around all their enemies and no one stood before them, and He gave all their enemies into their hands. And not one thing fell from all the good things that God spoke to the children of Israel, God created everything. And Joshua called all the children of Israel and blessed them and ordered them to worship God, and after that they fought and each went to his city and each to his inheritance. And the children of Israel worshiped the Lord all the days of Joshua, and the Lord placed them all around and they dwelt in their cities safely. And it came to pass in those days that Abianus, king of Kitim, died in the thirty-eighth year of his reign, which is the seventh year of his reign over Edom. And they buried him in his palace that he had built for him, and he reigned under him for fifty years. And it happened in his reign that an army went out and went and fought with the inhabitants of Barnetia and Mania, the sons of Elisha son of Jonah, and prevailed over them and put them to tribute. Then he heard that Edom had committed a crime under the hands of the Bnei Katim, and he went to them to Tinos and fought with them, and they surrendered and returned them under the hand of the Bnei Katim, and Edom became one kingdom with the Bnei Katim all the days. For many days there was no king in Edom, and all their kingdom was the sons of Kitim and their kings. And it came to pass in the twenty-sixth year that the children of Israel crossed the Jordan, that is the sixty-sixth year that the children of Israel came out of Egypt. And Yehoshua ben Nun an old man came in those days, he was one hundred and eight years old in those days.

~277~ And Joshua called all Israel to his elders and his judges and his policemen, after God had placed all Israel from their enemies around. And Joshua said to the elders of Israel and to his judges, Behold, I myself am old, I have come in the days, and you have seen what the Lord has done to all the nations that He left before you, for it is the Lord who fights for you. And now they were very strong in keeping and doing all the words of the Torah of Moses in order not to deviate from it right and left. And I did not come among these nations who remained in the land, and in the name of their God you will not mention. For if you cling to the Lord your God, as you have done until this day. And Joshua commanded the children of Israel to worship God all their days. And all Israel said, We will serve the Lord our God all our days, we and our children and our children's children and our seed forever. And Joshua made a covenant with the people on that day and sent the children of Israel away and they went each to his possession and to his city. And it came to pass in those days, on the Sabbath, that the children of Israel were in their cities for safety, and they buried the coffins of the staffs of their fathers, which they had brought up from Egypt, in the inheritance of their sons. The twelve sons of Jacob were buried by the Israelites, each in his sons' estate. And these are the names of the cities in which they buried the twelve sons of Jacob whom the Israelites brought up from Egypt. And they buried Reuben and Gad on the other side of the Jordan in Rumia, which Moses had given them for their sons. And Shimon and Levi were buried in the city of Manda which was given to the sons of Shimon, and the lot of the city was for the sons of Levi. And Judah was buried in the city of Bavi opposite Bethlehem. And the bones of Issachar and Zebulun they buried in Sidon, in the part that fell to their sons. And Dan was buried in the city of his sons in Ashtaul. And Naphtali and who buried them in the sanctuary of Naphtali, each one in his place, which was given to his sons. And the bones of Joseph were buried in Nablus in the plot of the field that Jacob bought from Hamor, and they will belong to the sons of Joseph. And Benjamin was buried in Jerusalem against the Jebusites who were given to Benjamin. A man in the city with his sons, the Israelites buried their ancestors. And it came to pass at the end of two years and days, that Joshua son of Nun died, a hundred and ten years old. And the days that Joshua judged Israel were twenty-eight years, and Israel served God all the days of his life. And the rest of the words of Joshua and his wars in the Canaanites and all his rebuke which he reproved Israel and which fasting and the names of the cities which the children of Israel inherited in his days are written in the book of the words of Joshua and the book of the wars of God, which Moses and Joshua and the children of Israel wrote. And the Israelites buried Yehoshua at the border of his inheritance in the portion of Serah that was given to him on Mount Ephraim. And Eleazar son of Aaron died in those days, and they buried him in Givat Pinchas, his son, who was given to him on Mount Ephraim.