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.”

Rahab Hides the Spies^(T)

2 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men ^(U)from ^[e]Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”

So they went, and ^(V)came to the house of a harlot named ^(W)Rahab, and ^[f]lodged there. ² And ^(X)it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”

³ So 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.”

^4 (Y)Then 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. ⁵ And 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 ^(Z)she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) ⁷ Then 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.

⁸ Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹ and said to the men: ^(AA)“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that ^(AB)the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^(AC)are fainthearted because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord ^(AD)dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and ^(AE)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you ^(AF)utterly destroyed. ¹¹ And as soon as we ^(AG)heard these things, ^(AH)our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for ^(AI)the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. ¹² Now therefore, I beg you, ^(AJ)swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to ^(AK)my father’s house, and ^(AL)give me ^[g]a true token, ¹³ and ^(AM)spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

¹⁴ So 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 ^(AN)we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

¹⁵ Then she ^(AO)let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. ¹⁶ And 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.”

¹⁷ So the men said to her: “We will be ^(AP)blameless^[h] of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, ^18 (AQ)unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, ^(AR)and unless you ^[i]bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. ¹⁹ So 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 ^[j]guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, ^(AS)his ^[k]blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be ^[l]free from your oath which you made us swear.”

²¹ Then 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.

²² They 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. ²³ So 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. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “Truly ^(AT)the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”

Israel Crosses the Jordan

3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out ^(AU)from ^[m]Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. ² So it was, ^(AV)after three days, that the officers went through the camp; ³ and they commanded the people, saying, ^(AW)“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, ^(AX)and the priests, the Levites, ^[n]bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. ^4 (AY)Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵ And Joshua said to the people, ^(AZ)“Sanctify^[o] yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” ⁶ Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, ^(BA)“Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.”

So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to ^(BB)exalt^[p] you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ^(BC)as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸ You shall command ^(BD)the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, ^(BE)you shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

⁹ So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that ^(BF)the living God is among you, and that He will without fail ^(BG)drive out from before you the ^(BH)Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^(BI)the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore, ^(BJ)take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. ¹³ And it shall come to pass, ^(BK)as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, ^(BL)the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they ^(BM)shall stand as a heap.”

¹⁴ So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ^(BN)ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and ^(BO)the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the ^(BP)Jordan overflows all its banks ^(BQ)during the whole time of harvest), ¹⁶ that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away ^[q]at Adam, the city that is beside ^(BR)Zaretan. So the waters that went down ^(BS)into the Sea of the Arabah, ^(BT)the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; ^(BU)and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed ^(BV)over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: ^2 (BW)“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where ^(BX)the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in ^(BY)the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶ that this may be ^(BZ)a sign among you ^(CA)when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ Then you shall answer them that ^(CB)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for ^(CC)a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

⁸ And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

¹⁰ So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. ¹¹ Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ^(CD)ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. ¹² And ^(CE)the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³ About forty thousand ^[r]prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord ^(CF)exalted^[s] Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear ^(CG)the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place ^(CH)and overflowed all its banks as before.

¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped ^(CI)in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And ^(CJ)those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. ²¹ Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: ^(CK)“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, ^(CL)‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on ^(CM)dry land’; ²³ for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, ^(CN)which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, ^24 (CO)that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is ^(CP)mighty, that you may ^(CQ)fear the Lord your God ^[t]forever.”

The Second Generation Circumcised

5 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^(CR)who were by the sea, ^(CS)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until ^[u]we had crossed over, that ^[v]their heart melted; ^(CT)and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^(CU)flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at ^[w]the hill of the foreskins. ⁴ And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^(CV)All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵ For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. ⁶ For the children of Israel walked ^(CW)forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were ^[x]consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that ^(CX)He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, ^(CY)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ⁷ Then Joshua circumcised ^(CZ)their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸ So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp ^(DA)till they were healed. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away ^(DB)the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called ^(DC)Gilgal^[y] to this day.

¹⁰ Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover ^(DD)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and ^[z]parched grain, on the very same day. ¹² Then ^(DE)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

¹³ And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(DF)a Man stood opposite him ^(DG)with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

¹⁴ So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua ^(DH)fell on his face to the earth and ^(DI)worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

¹⁵ Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ^(DJ)“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.