Joshua Installed as Leader

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,(A) the Lord said to Joshua(B) son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River(C) into the land(D) I am about to give to them(E)—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot,(F) as I promised Moses.(G) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,(H) and from the great river, the Euphrates(I)—all the Hittite(J) country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.(K) No one will be able to stand against you(L) all the days of your life. As I was with(M) Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake(N) you. Be strong(O) and courageous,(P) because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors(Q) to give them.

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey(R) all the law(S) my servant Moses(T) gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,(U) that you may be successful wherever you go.(V) Keep this Book of the Law(W) always on your lips;(X) meditate(Y) on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.(Z) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid;(AA) do not be discouraged,(AB) for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”(AC)

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:(AD) 11 “Go through the camp(AE) and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions(AF) ready. Three days(AG) from now you will cross the Jordan(AH) here to go in and take possession(AI) of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,(AJ) Joshua said, 13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest(AK) by giving you this land.’ 14 Your wives,(AL) your children and your livestock may stay in the land(AM) that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle,(AN) must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites.(AO) You are to help them 15 until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”(AP)

16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.(AQ) 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.(AR) Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey(AS) it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!(AT)

19 One of you will say to me:(A) “Then why does God still blame us?(B) For who is able to resist his will?”(C) 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?(D) “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,(E) ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[a](F) 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?(G)

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience(H) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?(I) 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory(J) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory(K) 24 even us, whom he also called,(L) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?(M) 25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”[b](N)

26 and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”[c](O)

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,(P)
    only the remnant will be saved.(Q)
28 For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”[d](R)

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty(S)
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”[e](T)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Romans 9:20 Isaiah 29:16; 45:9
  2. Romans 9:25 Hosea 2:23
  3. Romans 9:26 Hosea 1:10
  4. Romans 9:28 Isaiah 10:22,23 (see Septuagint)
  5. Romans 9:29 Isaiah 1:9

Bible Gateway Recommends