1 After the death of Moses, the Lord’s disciple, God spoke to Moses’ assistant, whose name was Joshua (the son of Nun), and said to him,

² “Now that my disciple is dead, you are the new leader of Israel.^[a] Lead my people across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. ³ I say to you what I said to Moses: ‘Wherever you go will be part of the land of Israel— ⁴ all the way from the Negeb Desert in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Euphrates River in the east, including all the land of the Hittites.’ ⁵ No one will be able to oppose you as long as you live, for I will be with you just as I was with Moses; I will not abandon you or fail to help you.

⁶ “Be strong and brave, for you will be a successful leader of my people; and they shall conquer all the land I promised to their ancestors. ⁷ You need only to be strong and courageous and to obey to the letter every law Moses gave you, for if you are careful to obey every one of them, you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Constantly remind the people about these laws, and you yourself must think about them every day and every night so that you will be sure to obey all of them. For only then will you succeed. ⁹ Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

^10-11 Then Joshua issued instructions to the leaders of Israel to tell the people to get ready to cross the Jordan River. “In three days we will go across and conquer and live in the land which God has given us!” he told them.

^12-13 Then he summoned the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh and reminded them of their agreement with Moses: “The Lord your God has given you a homeland here on the east side of the Jordan River,” Moses had told them, ¹⁴ “so your wives and children and cattle may remain here, but your troops, fully armed, must lead the other tribes across the Jordan River to help them conquer their territory on the other side; ¹⁵ stay with them until they complete the conquest. Only then may you settle down here on the east side of the Jordan.”

¹⁶ To this they fully agreed and pledged themselves to obey Joshua as their commander-in-chief.

^17-18 “We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses,” they assured him, “and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. If anyone, no matter who, rebels against your commands, he shall die. So lead on with courage and strength!”