11 Ch 16.34;2 Ch 5.11;7.3;Ezra 3.11;Ps 100.5;106.1;107.1;118.1;Jr 33.11; 3 Macc 6.32. Praise the Lord! He is good.God’s love never fails.

19Nu 21.21-30. One of them was Sihon,king of the Amorites.God’s love never fails.

26Praise God in heaven!God’s love never fails.

4Love is patient and kind,never jealous, boastful,proud, or

5rude.Love isn’t selfishor quick tempered.It doesn’t keep a recordof wrongs that others do.

13For now there are faith,hope, and love.But of these three,the greatest is love.

2God’s love for us is wonderful;his faithfulness never ends.Shout praises to the Lord!

1From the church leader.1 church leader: Or "elder" or "presbyter."To a very special woman and her children.1 very special woman and her children: A group of the Lord’s followers who met together for worship. "The children of your … sister" (see verse 13) is another group of followers. "Very special" (here and verse 13) probably means "chosen (by the Lord)." I truly love all of you, and so does everyone else who knows the truth.

5Jn 13.34;15.12,17. Dear friend, I am not writing to tell you and your children to do something you have not done before. I am writing to tell you to love each other, which is the first thing you were told to do.

6Love means we do what God tells us. And from the beginning, he told you to love him.

3And you, my love,are an apple treeamong trees of the forest.Your shade brought me pleasure;your fruit was sweet.

8I hear the voiceof the one I love,as he comes leapingover mountains and hills

10and speaking to me.My darling, I love you!Let’s go away together.

2I pray that God will be kind to you and will let you live in perfect peace! May you keep learning more and more about God and our Lord Jesus.

3We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness.

7concern for others, and love.

2Kiss me tenderly!Your love is better than wine,

3and you smell so sweet.All the young women adore you;the very mention of your nameis like spreading perfume.*

16My love, you are handsome,truly handsome—the fresh green grasswill be our wedding bed

8Let love be your only debt! If you love others, you have done all that the Law demands.

9Ex 20.14;Dt 5.18;Ex 20.13;Dt 5.17;Ex 20.15;Dt 5.19;Ex 20.17;Dt 5.21;Lv 19.18. In the Law there are many commands, such as, "Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others." But all of these are summed up in the command that says, "Love others as much as you love yourself."

10No one who loves others will harm them. So love is all that the Law demands.

15with its valleys that lie alongside the Moabite border and extend to the town of Ar.

27That’s why the Amorites had written this poem about Heshbon:Come and rebuild Heshbon,King Sihon’s capital city!

31After the Israelites had settled in the Amorite territory,

9Dt 3.8-11. Israel, the Amorites2.9 Amorites: This word is used for all the people who lived in Canaan at the time Israel took over the land. were therewhen you entered Canaan.They were tall as cedarsand strong as oaks.But I wiped them out—I destroyed their branchesand their roots.

10I had rescued you from Egypt,and for forty years I had led youthrough the desert.Then I gave you the landof the Amorites.

16You may be brave and strong,but you will run away,stripped naked.I, the Lord, have spoken!

10They begged the Lord for help and confessed, "We were unfaithful to you, our Lord. We stopped worshiping you and started worshiping idols of Baal."

11,12The Lord answered:In the past when you came crying to me for help, I rescued you. At one time or another I’ve rescued you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites.10.11,12 Maonites: Hebrew; one ancient translation "Midianites."

2The first king that Moses and the Israelites defeated was an Amorite, King Sihon of Heshbon.12.2 King Sihon of Heshbon: See Numbers 21.21-31. The southern border of his kingdom ran down the middle of the Arnon River gorge, taking in the town of Aroer on the northern edge of the gorge. The Jabbok River separated Sihon’s kingdom from the Ammonites on the east. Then the Jabbok turned west and became his northern border, so his kingdom included the southern half of the region of Gilead.

6I am the God who was worshiped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."Moses was afraid to look at God, and so he hid his face.

14,15Rev 1.4,8. God said to Moses:I am the eternal God. So tell them that the Lord,3.14,15 Lord: The Hebrew text has "Yahweh," which is usually translated "Lord" in the CEV. Since it seems related to the word translated "I am," it may mean "I am the one who is" or "I will be what I will be" or "I am the one who brings into being." whose name is "I Am," has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on.

17and I promise to lead them out of their troubles. I will give them a land rich with milk and honey, where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.

14"Neither," he answered. "I am here because I am the commander of the Lord's army."Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. "I am your servant," he said. "Tell me what to do."

18Hiram sent him ships and some of his experienced sailors. They went with Solomon’s own sailors to the country of Ophir8.18 Ophir: The location of this place is not known. and brought back more than 15 tons of gold for Solomon.

6-20Ham’s descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Ethiopia,10.6-20 Ethiopia: See the note at 2.13. Egypt, Put, and Canaan.Cush10.6-20 Cush: See the note at 2.13. was the ancestor of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and Dedan.Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, a mighty warrior whose strength came from the Lord. This is why people say: "You hunt like Nimrod with the strength of the Lord!" Nimrod first ruled in Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all of10.6-20 and Accad, all of: Or "Accad, and Calneh." which were in Babylonia.10.6-20 Babylonia: The Hebrew text has "Shinar," another name for Babylonia. From there Nimrod went to Assyria and built the great city of Nineveh. He also built Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah.Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines.10.6-20 Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines: Hebrew "Caphtorim, and Casluhim, the ancestor of the Philistines." The Philistines were from Caphtor (see Jeremiah 47.4; Amos 9.7), better known as Crete.Canaan’s sons were Sidon and Heth. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.Later the Canaanites spread from the territory of Sidon and settled as far away as Gaza in the direction of Gerar. They also went as far as Lasha in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.

13At this time Abram the Hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram’s friends. Someone who had escaped from the battle told Abram

16and Abram went after them. He brought back his nephew Lot, together with Lot’s possessions and the women and everyone else who had been captured.

22Abram answered:The Lord God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him

64Our Lord, your love is seenall over the world.Teach me your laws.

76I serve you, Lord.Comfort me with your love,just as you have promised.

149Show that you love me, Lord,and answer my prayer.Please do the right thingand save my life.

2"Judah!" the Lord answered. "I’ll help them take the land."

26so they went to the land of the Hittites,1.26 land of the Hittites: The Hittites had an empire centered in what is now Turkey. At one time their empire reached south into Syria, north of Israel. where he built a town. He named the town Luz, and that is still its name.

35The Amorites on Mount Heres and in Aijalon and Shaalbim were also determined to stay. Later on, as Ephraim and Manasseh grew more powerful, they forced those Amorites into slave labor.

3and say, "Soldiers of Israel, listen to me! Today when you go into battle, don’t be afraid of the enemy, and when you see them, don’t panic.

7If any of you are engaged to be married, you may go back home and get married. It isn’t right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to marry the woman you are engaged to.

10-15Before you attack a town that is far from your land, offer peace to the people who live there. If they surrender and open their town gates, they will become your slaves. But if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight, surround their town and attack. Then, after the Lord helps you capture it, kill all the men. Take the women and children as slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value.