Joshua Installed as Leader

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,^(A) the Lord said to Joshua^(B) son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “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. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot,^(F) as I promised Moses.^{(G) 4} 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) 5} 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. ⁶ 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.

⁷ “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) 8} 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) 9} 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)”

The Fall of Jericho

¹³ Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man^(A) standing in front of him with a drawn sword^(B) in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown^(C) to the ground^(D) in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord^[a] have for his servant?”

¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”^(E) And Joshua did so.

6 Now the gates of Jericho^(F) were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered^(G) Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns^(H) in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.^{(I) 5} When you hear them sound a long blast^(J) on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout;^(K) then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.”^{(L) 7} And he ordered the army, “Advance^(M)! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark^(N) of the Lord.”

⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. ⁹ The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard^(O) followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁰ But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!^(P)” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times.^{(Q) 16} The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!^{(R) 17} The city and all that is in it are to be devoted^[b](S) to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute^(T) and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid^(U) the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the devoted things,^(V) so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction^(W) and bring trouble^(X) on it. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron^(Y) are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

²⁰ When the trumpets sounded,^(Z) the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout,^(AA) the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.^{(AB) 21} They devoted^(AC) the city to the Lord and destroyed^(AD) with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

²² Joshua said to the two men^(AE) who had spied out^(AF) the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.^(AG)” ²³ So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her.^(AH) They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Then they burned the whole city^(AI) and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron^(AJ) into the treasury of the Lord’s house.^{(AK) 25} But Joshua spared^(AL) Rahab the prostitute,^(AM) with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho^(AN)—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

²⁶ At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath:^(AO) “Cursed^(AP) before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua,^(AR) and his fame spread^(AS) throughout the land.