Orders from the Lord

1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord spoke to Joshua, Nun’s son. He had been Moses’ helper. ² “My servant Moses is dead. Now get ready to cross over the Jordan with this entire people to the land that I am going to give to the Israelites. ³ I am giving you every place where you set foot, exactly as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will stretch from the desert and the Lebanon as far as the great Euphrates River, including all Hittite land, up to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you during your lifetime. I will be with you in the same way I was with Moses. I won’t desert you or leave you. ⁶ Be brave and strong, because you are the one who will help this people take possession of the land, which I pledged to give to their ancestors.

⁷ “Be very brave and strong as you carefully obey all of the Instruction that Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t deviate even a bit from it, either to the right or left. Then you will have success wherever you go. ⁸ Never stop speaking about this Instruction scroll. Recite it day and night so you can carefully obey everything written in it. Then you will accomplish your objectives and you will succeed. ⁹ I’ve commanded you to be brave and strong, haven’t I? Don’t be alarmed or terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua gives orders

¹⁰ Then Joshua gave orders to the people’s officers: ¹¹ “Go through the camp and give orders to the people. Say, ‘Get supplies ready for yourselves because in three days you will be crossing over the Jordan to enter the land and take it over. The Lord your God is going to give it to you as your possession.’”

¹² Then Joshua addressed the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: ¹³ “Remember the command that Moses the Lord’s servant gave you: ‘The Lord your God will give you rest and give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, children, and cattle may remain in the land that Moses has given you on the east side of the Jordan. But all you brave fighters, organized for war, must cross over in front of your fellow Israelites. You must help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives a rest like yours to your fellow Israelites and they too take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you may return and take over the land that belongs to you, which Moses the Lord’s servant has given you on the east side of the Jordan.”

¹⁶ They answered Joshua, “We will obey everything you have commanded us and go anywhere you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you in the same way that we obeyed Moses. Just let the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses! ¹⁸ Anybody who stubbornly opposes what you declare and doesn’t obey any of your commands will be put to death. Be brave and strong!”

Joshua sends spies

2 Joshua, Nun’s son, secretly sent two men as spies from Shittim. He said, “Go. Look over the land, especially Jericho.” They set out and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab. They bedded down there.

² Someone told the king of Jericho, “Men from the Israelites have come here tonight to spy on the land.”

³ So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: “Send out the men who came to you, the ones who came to your house, because they have come to spy on the entire land.”

Rahab takes action

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Then she said, “Of course the men came to me. But I didn’t know where they were from. ⁵ The men left when it was time to close the gate at dark, but I don’t know where the men went. Hurry! Chase after them! You might catch up with them.” ⁶ But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the flax stalks that she had laid out on the roof. ⁷ The men from Jericho^[a] chased after them in the direction of the Jordan up to the fords. As soon as those chasing them went out, the gate was shut behind them.

Rahab sets terms

⁸ Before the spies bedded down, Rahab went up to them on the roof. ⁹ She said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land. Terror over you has overwhelmed us. The entire population of the land has melted down in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Reed Sea^[b] in front of you when you left Egypt. We have also heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites on the other side of the Jordan. You utterly wiped them out. ¹¹ We heard this and our hearts turned to water. Because of you, people can no longer work up their courage. This is because the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. ¹² Now, I have been loyal to you. So pledge to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal loyally with my family. Give me a sign of good faith. ¹³ Spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, and sisters, along with everything they own. Rescue us from death.”

¹⁴ The men said to her, “We swear by our own lives to secure yours. If you don’t reveal our mission, we will deal loyally and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.”

The spies escape

¹⁵ So she lowered the spies on a rope through the window. Her house was on the outer side of the city wall, and she lived inside the wall. ¹⁶ Then she said to them, “Go toward the highlands so that those chasing you don’t run into you. Hide there for three days until those chasing you return. Then you may go on your way.”

¹⁷ The men said to her, “We won’t be responsible for this pledge you made us swear ¹⁸ unless, when we come into the land, you tie this red woven cord in the window through which you lowered us. Gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and your whole family into the house with you. ¹⁹ Those who go outside the doors of your house into the street will have only themselves to blame for their own deaths. We won’t be responsible. If anyone lays a hand on those who are with you in the house, we will take the blame for their death. ²⁰ But if you reveal our mission, we won’t be responsible for this pledge you made us swear.”

²¹ She said, “These things will happen just like you said.” She sent them away and they went off. Then she tied the red cord in the window.

Mission accomplished

²² The spies went out and entered the highlands. They stayed there for three days until those chasing them came back. Those chasing them had searched all along the road but never found them. ²³ Then the two men came back down from the highlands. They crossed the Jordan and came to Joshua, Nun’s son. They told him everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “The Lord has definitely given the entire land into our power. In addition, all of the land’s population has melted down in fear because of us.”