Joshua 1–12

Chapter 1

God’s Charge to Joshua

¹Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ ¹servant, saying,

²“Moses ^aMy servant is dead; now therefore arise, ^bcross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

³“^aEvery place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

⁴“^aFrom the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

⁵“^aNo man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; ^bI will not fail you or forsake you.

⁶“^aBe strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

⁷“Only be strong and very courageous; ^1abe careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may ²have success wherever you go.

⁸“^aThis book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may ¹be careful to do according to all that is written in it; ^bfor then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will ²have success.

⁹“Have I not commanded you? ^aBe strong and courageous! ^bDo not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Assumes Command

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

¹¹“Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within ^athree days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.’ ”

^12aTo the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua ¹said,

¹³“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘^aThe Lord your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’

¹⁴“Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them,

¹⁵until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. ^aThen you shall return to ¹your own land, and possess ²that which Moses ^bthe servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

¹⁷“Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only ^amay the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses.

¹⁸“Anyone who rebels against your ¹command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.”

Chapter 2

Rahab Shelters Spies

¹Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from ^aShittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came into the house of ^ba harlot whose name was Rahab, and ¹lodged there.

²It was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.”

³And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”

⁴But the ^awoman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

⁵“It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”

⁶But ^ashe had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.

⁷So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸Now before they lay down, ¹she came up to them on the roof,

⁹and said to the men, “^aI know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the ^bterror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have ¹melted away before you.

¹⁰“^aFor we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the ¹Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^bwhat you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you ²utterly destroyed.

¹¹“When we heard it, ^aour hearts melted and no ¹courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the ^bLord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

¹²“Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a ^apledge of ¹truth,

¹³and ¹spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our ²lives from death.”

¹⁴So the men said to her, “Our ¹life ²for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will ^adeal kindly and ³faithfully with you.”

The Promise to Rahab

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.

¹⁶She said to them, “^aGo to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.”

¹⁷The men said to her, “^aWe shall be free from this oath ¹to you which you have made us swear,

¹⁸¹unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and ^agather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.

¹⁹“It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, ^ahis blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.

²⁰“But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.”

²¹She said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²²They departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had sought them ¹all along the road, but had not found them.

²³Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them.

²⁴They said to Joshua, “Surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands; moreover, ^aall the inhabitants of the land have ¹melted away before us.”

Chapter 3

Israel Crosses the Jordan

¹Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from ^aShittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed.

^2aAt the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp;

³and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ^aark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

⁴“However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 ¹cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵Then Joshua said to the people, “^aConsecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

⁶And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

⁷Now the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to ^aexalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.

⁸“You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ”

⁹Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”

¹⁰Joshua said, “By this you shall know that ^athe living God is among you, and that He will assuredly ^bdispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

¹¹“Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^athe Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹²“Now then, ^atake for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

¹³“It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are ¹flowing down from above ²will ^astand in one heap.”

¹⁴So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying ^athe ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the ^aJordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),

^16athe waters which were ¹flowing down from above stood and rose up in ^bone heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the ^cArabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.

¹⁷And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm ^aon dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Chapter 4

Memorial Stones from Jordan

¹Now when all the nation had finished…