Joshua 1–12

1ST CHAPTER

The Lord Instructs Joshua

¹After the death of the Lord’s servant Moses, the Lord said to Moses’ assistant Joshua, son of Nun, ²“My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people must cross the Jordan River into the land that I am going to give the people of Israel. ³I will give you every place on which you set foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴Your borders will be the desert ⸤on the south⸥, nearby Lebanon to the Euphrates River (the country of the Hittites) ⸤on the north⸥, and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. ⁵No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you. ⁶Be strong and courageous, because you will help these people take possession of the land I swore to give their ancestors. 

⁷“Only be strong and very courageous, faithfully doing everything in the teachings that my servant Moses commanded you. Don’t turn away from them. Then you will succeed wherever you go. ⁸Never stop reciting these teachings. You must think about them night and day so that you will faithfully do everything written in them. Only then will you prosper and succeed. 

⁹“I have commanded you, ‘Be strong and courageous! Don’t tremble or be terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ ” 

The People Promise to Obey Joshua

¹⁰Then Joshua ordered the officers of the people, ¹¹“Go through the camp. Tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River to take possession of the land the Lord your God is going to give you.’ ” 

¹²Next, Joshua said to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh, ¹³“Remember what the Lord’s servant Moses commanded you. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you this land—a place to rest.’ ¹⁴Your wives, children, and livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan River. However, all your best soldiers must march in battle formation ahead of your relatives. You must help your relatives ¹⁵take possession of the land the Lord your God is going to give them. Then they will have a place to rest like you do. After that, you may go back and take possession of the land east of the Jordan River which the Lord’s servant Moses gave you.” 

¹⁶The people responded to Joshua, “We’ll do everything you tell us and go wherever you send us. ¹⁷We will obey you as we obeyed Moses. May the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. ¹⁸Whoever rebels against your authority or does not obey your orders will be put to death. Just be strong and courageous!” 

2ND CHAPTER

Joshua Sends Spies to Jericho

¹From Shittim Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent out two men as spies. He told them, “Go, look at that country, especially the city of Jericho.” So they went to Jericho and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab to spend the night there. 

²The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have entered the city tonight. They came to gather information about our land.” ³So the king of Jericho sent messengers to Rahab, who told her, “Bring out the men who came to your house. They came here to gather information about the entire land.” 

⁴But the woman had already taken the two men inside and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come here. But I didn’t know where they had come from. ⁵When it was dark and the gate was just about to close, they left. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you’ll catch up with them.” ⁶(She had taken them up to the roof and covered them with the flax which she had laid up there.) 

⁷The king’s men pursued them on the road leading to a shallow place to cross the Jordan River. As soon as the king’s men had left, the gate was closed. 

⁸Before the spies fell asleep, Rahab went up to them on the roof. ⁹She said to them, “I know the Lord will give you this land. Your presence terrifies us. All the people in this country are deathly afraid of you. ¹⁰We’ve heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea in front of you when you left Egypt. We’ve also heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, who ruled east of the Jordan River. We’ve heard how you destroyed them for the Lord. ¹¹When we heard about it, we lost heart. There was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is the God of heaven and earth. ¹²Please swear by the Lord that you’ll be as kind to my father’s family as I’ve been to you. Also give me some proof ¹³that you’ll protect my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and their households, and that you’ll save us from death.” 

¹⁴The men promised her, “We pledge our lives for your lives. If you don’t tell anyone what we’re doing here, we’ll treat you kindly and honestly when the Lord gives us this land.” 

¹⁵So she let them down by a rope from her window since her house was built into the city wall. (She lived in the city wall.) ¹⁶She told them, “Go to the mountains so that the men who are pursuing you will not find you. Hide there for three days until they return to Jericho. Then you can go on your way.” 

¹⁷The men told her, “We will be free from the oath which you made us swear, ⸤if you tell anyone what we’re doing here⸥. ¹⁸When we invade your land, tie this red cord in the window through which you let us down. Also, gather your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. ¹⁹Whoever leaves your house will be responsible for his own life. We will be free from that responsibility. But we will take responsibility if anyone inside your house is harmed. ²⁰If you tell anyone what we’re doing here, we will be free from the oath which you made us swear.” 

²¹“I agree,” she said. So she let them go and tied the red cord in the window. 

²²The men went to the mountains and stayed there for three days until the king’s men returned to Jericho. The king’s men had searched for them all along the road but had not found them. ²³Then the two spies came down out of the mountains, crossed the Jordan River, and returned to Joshua, son of Nun. They told him everything that had happened to them. ²⁴They told Joshua, “The Lord has given us the whole country. The people who live there are deathly afraid of us.” 

3RD CHAPTER

Crossing the Jordan River

¹Joshua got up early the next morning. He and all the Israelites left Shittim. They came to the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. 

²Three days later the officers went through the camp. ³They told the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the promise of the Lord your God and the Levitical priests who carry it, break camp and follow them. ⁴However, stay about half a mile behind them. Don’t come any closer to them so that you will know which way to go because you have not gone this way before.” 

⁵Joshua told the people, “Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy because tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.” 

⁶Joshua also told the priests, “Take the ark of the promise, and go ahead of the people.” They did as they were told. 

⁷Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in front of all the people of Israel. I will do this to let them know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. ⁸Order the priests who carry the ark of the promise, ‘When you step into the water of the Jordan River, stand there.’ ” 

⁹So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here, and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰Joshua continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly force the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites out of your way. ¹¹Watch the ark of the promise of the Lord of the whole earth as it goes ahead of you into the Jordan River. ¹²Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. ¹³The priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, will stand in the water of the Jordan. Then the water flowing from upstream will stop and stand up like a dam.” 

¹⁴So they broke camp to cross the Jordan River. The priests who carried the ark of the promise went ahead of the people. ¹⁵(The Jordan overflows all its banks during the harvest season.)^aWhen the priests who were carrying the ark came to the edge of the Jordan River and set foot in ¹⁶the water, the water stopped flowing from upstream. The water rose up like a dam as far away as the city of Adam near Zarethan. The water flowing down toward the Sea of the Plains (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. Then the people crossed from the east side ⸤of the Jordan River⸥ directly opposite Jericho. ¹⁷The priests who carried the ark of the Lord’s promise stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. 

4TH CHAPTER

A Reminder of the Crossing

¹The whole nation finished crossing the Jordan River. The Lord had told Joshua, ²“Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes. ³Order them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, where the priests’ feet stood firmly. Take the stones along with you, and set them down where you will camp tonight.” 

⁴Joshua called the 12 men whom he had selected (one from each tribe). ⁵He said to them, “Go to the middle of the Jordan River in front of the ark of the Lord your God. Each man must take a stone on his shoulder, one for each tribe of Israel. ⁶This will be a sign for you. In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷You should answer, ‘The water of the Jordan River was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s promise. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the river stopped flowing. These stones are a permanent reminder for the people of Israel.’ ” 

⁸The people of Israel did as Joshua had ordered. They took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. They took them from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there. 

⁹Joshua also set 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River, where…