God’s Commission to Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ ^(A)assistant, saying: ^2 (B)“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. ^3 (C)Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. ^4 (D)From 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. ^5 (E)No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; ^(F)as I was with Moses, so ^(G)I will be with you. ^(H)I will not leave you nor forsake you. ^6 (I)Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall ^[a]divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law ^(J)which Moses My servant commanded you; ^(K)do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may ^[b]prosper wherever you go. ^8 (L)This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but ^(M)you^[c] shall 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. ^9 (N)Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; ^(O)do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The Order to Cross the Jordan

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ¹¹ “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for ^(P)within 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.’ ”

¹² And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, ¹³ “Remember ^(Q)the 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.’ ¹⁴ Your 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 ^[d]pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, ¹⁵ until 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. ^(R)Then 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.”

¹⁶ So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the Lord your God ^(S)be with you, as He was with Moses. ¹⁸ Whoever 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.”

The Treaty with the Gibeonites

9 And it came to pass when ^(A)all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of ^(B)the Great Sea toward Lebanon—^(C)the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, ² that they ^(D)gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one ^[a]accord.

³ But when the inhabitants of ^(E)Gibeon ^(F)heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴ they worked craftily, and went and ^[b]pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and ^[c]mended, ⁵ old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. ⁶ And they went to Joshua, ^(G)to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a ^[d]covenant with us.”

⁷ Then the men of Israel said to the ^(H)Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so ^(I)how can we make a covenant with you?”

⁸ But they said to Joshua, ^(J)“We are your servants.”

And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

⁹ So they said to him: ^(K)“From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have ^(L)heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and ^(M)all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. ¹¹ Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ ¹² This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. ¹³ And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”

¹⁴ Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; ^(N)but they ^[e]did not ask counsel of the Lord. ¹⁵ So Joshua ^(O)made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

¹⁶ And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. ¹⁷ Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were ^(P)Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. ¹⁸ But the children of Israel did not ^[f]attack them, ^(Q)because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.

¹⁹ Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. ²⁰ This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest ^(R)wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” ²¹ And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be ^(S)woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had ^(T)promised them.”

²² Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ^(U)‘We are very far from you,’ when ^(V)you dwell near us? ²³ Now therefore, you are ^(W)cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴ So they answered Joshua and said, “Because your servants were clearly told that the Lord your God ^(X)commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore ^(Y)we were very much afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. ²⁵ And now, here we are, ^(Z)in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us.” ²⁶ So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them. ²⁷ And that day Joshua made them ^(AA)woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, ^(AB)in the place which He would choose, even to this day.