Joshua 1–2

God’s Commission to Joshua

1After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ ^aassistant, saying: ^2b“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. ^3cEvery place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. ^4dFrom the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. ^5eNo man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; ^fas I was with Moses, so ^gI will be with you. ^hI will not leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ⁱBe strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall ¹divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law ^jwhich Moses My servant commanded you; ^kdo not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may ²prosper wherever you go. ^8lThis Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but ^myou ³shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹ⁿHave I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; ^odo not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Order to Cross the Jordan

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ¹¹“Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for ^pwithin three days you will cross over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

¹²And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, ¹³“Remember ^qthe word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.’ ¹⁴Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall ⁴pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, ¹⁵until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. ^rThen you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God ^sbe with you, as He was with Moses. ¹⁸Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”

Rahab Hides the Spies

2Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men ^afrom ¹Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”

So they went, and ^bcame to the house of a harlot named ^cRahab, and ²lodged there. ²And ^dit was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”

³So the king of Jericho sent 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 country.”

^4eThen the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” ⁶(But ^fshe had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) ⁷Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹and said to the men: ^g“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that ^hthe terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ⁱare fainthearted because of you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord ^jdried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and ^kwhat you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you ^lutterly destroyed. ¹¹And as soon as we ^mheard these things, ⁿour hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for ^othe Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. ¹²Now therefore, I beg you, ^pswear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to ^qmy father’s house, and ^rgive me ³a true token, ¹³and ^sspare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

¹⁴So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that ^twe will deal kindly and truly with you.”

¹⁵Then she ^ulet them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. ¹⁶And she said to them, “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”

¹⁷So the men said to her: “We will be ^vblameless ⁴of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, ^18wunless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, ^xand unless you ⁵bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. ¹⁹So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be ⁶guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, ^yhis ⁷blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be ⁸free from your oath which you made us swear.”

²¹Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

²²They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. ²³So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. ²⁴And they said to Joshua, “Truly ^zthe Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”