Joshua 1–12

Encouragement of Joshua

1After the death of Moses ^athe Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua ^bson of Nun, ^cwho had served Moses: ²“Moses My servant is dead. ^dNow you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan ^eto the land I am giving the Israelites. ³I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, ^fjust as I promised Moses. ⁴Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon ^gto the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites ^h—and west to the Mediterranean Sea. ^ij5No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. ^kI will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you. ^l

⁶“Be strong and courageous, ^mfor you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. ⁿ⁷Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. ^oDo not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. ⁸This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; ^pyou are to recite ^qit day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. ^r9Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? ^sDo not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Prepares the People

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: ¹¹“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit.’ ” ^t

¹²Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: ^u13“Remember what Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you when he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest, and He will give you this land.’ ^v14Your wives, young children, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. ^wBut your fighting men must cross over in battle formation ^xahead of your brothers ^yand help them ¹⁵until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He has given you, and they too possess the land the Lord your God is giving them. You may then return to the land of your inheritance ^zand take possession of what Moses the Lord’s servant ^agave you on the east side of the Jordan.”

¹⁶They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. ¹⁷We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. And may the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. ^b18Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!” ^c

Spies Sent to Jericho

2Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies ^dfrom the Acacia Grove, ^esaying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a woman, a prostitute named Rahab, ^fand stayed there.

²The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.” ³Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, ^gfor they came to investigate the entire land.”

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. ^hSo she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. ⁵At nightfall, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” ⁶But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them ⁱamong the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. ⁷The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the gate was shut.

The Promise to Rahab

⁸Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof ⁹and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land ^jand that the terror of you has fallen on us, ^kand everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you. ^lm10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, ⁿand what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed ^oacross the Jordan. ¹¹When we heard this, we lost heart, ^pand everyone’s courage failed ^qbecause of you, ^rfor the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. ^s12Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. ^tuGive me a sure sign ^v13that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

¹⁴The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the Lord gives us the land.”

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, since she lived in a house that was built into the wall of the city. ¹⁶“Go to the hill country so that the men pursuing you won’t find you,” she said to them. “Hide yourselves there for three days until they return; afterward, go on your way.”

¹⁷The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear, ¹⁸unless, when we enter the land, you tie this scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. ¹⁹If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his blood will be on his own head, ^wand we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, ^xhis blood will be on our heads. ²⁰And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

²¹“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

²²So the two men went into the hill country and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. They searched all along the way, but did not find them. ²³Then the men returned, came down from the hill country, and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua son of Nun and reported everything that had happened to them. ²⁴They told Joshua, “The Lord has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us.” ^y

Crossing the Jordan

3Joshua started early the next morning and left the Acacia Grove ^zwith all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing. ²After three days the officers went through the camp ^a3and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests, ^byou must break camp and follow it. ⁴But keep a distance of about 1,000 yards ^cbetween yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.” ^d

⁵Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, ^ebecause the Lord will do wonders ^famong you tomorrow.” ⁶Then he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁷The Lord spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, ^gso they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses. ^h8Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the waters, ⁱstand in the Jordan.”

⁹Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰He said: “You will know that the living God is among you ^jand that He will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ^k11when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth ^lgoes ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹²Now choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. ^m13When the feet ⁿof the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s waters, its waters will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.” ^o

¹⁴When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ^pahead of the people. ¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. ^qBut as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge ¹⁶and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as ^rAdam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah ^s(the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. ¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, ^twhile all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, ^uthe Lord spoke to Joshua: ²“Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, ^v3and command them: Take 12 stones ^wfrom this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests ^xare standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

⁴So Joshua summoned the 12 men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, ⁵and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each ^yof the Israelite tribes, ⁶so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ^z7you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.” ^a

⁸The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The 12 men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each ^bof the Israelite tribes, just as…