God’s Commission to Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant, saying, ² “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.^{(A) 3} Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses.^{(B) 4} From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory.^{(C) 5} No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.^{(D) 6} Be strong and courageous, for you shall lead this people to possess the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go.^{(E) 8} This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.^{(F) 9} I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”^(G)

Preparations for the Invasion

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, ¹¹ “Pass through the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for in three days you are to cross over this Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God gives you to possess.’ ”^(H)

¹² But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,^{(I) 13} “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’^{(J) 14} Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them, ¹⁵ until the Lord gives rest to your kindred as well as to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and take possession of it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan to the east.”^(K)

¹⁶ They answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses!^{(L) 18} Whoever rebels against your orders and disobeys your words, whatever you command, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

21 When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.^{[a] 2} When we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.^{(A) 3} We came in sight of Cyprus, and leaving it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴ We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.^{(B) 5} When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey, and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed^{(C) 6} and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ When we had finished^[b] the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for one day.^{(D) 8} The next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him.^{(E) 9} He had four unmarried daughters^[c] who had the gift of prophecy.^{(F) 10} While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the gentiles.’ ”^{(G) 12} When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”^{(H) 14} Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.”^(I)

¹⁵ After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.^(J)

Spies Sent to Jericho

2 Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and spent the night there.^{(A) 2} The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³ Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out the whole land.” ⁴ But the woman took the two men and hid them.^[a] Then she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. ⁵ And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.” ⁶ She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof.^{(B) 7} So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

⁸ Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof ⁹ and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land and that dread of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you.^{(C) 10} For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea^[b] before you when you came out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.^{(D) 11} As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below.^{(E) 12} Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith^{(F) 13} that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴ The men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.”^(G)

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. ¹⁶ She said to them, “Go toward the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way.”^{(H) 17} The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you^{(I) 18} if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord in the window through which you let us down and you do not gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family.^{(J) 19} If any of you go out of the doors of your house into the street, they shall be responsible for their own death, and we shall be innocent, but if a hand is laid upon any who are with you in the house, we shall bear the responsibility for their death.^{(K) 20} But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be released from this oath that you made us swear to you.” ²¹ She said, “According to your words, so be it.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.

²² They departed and went into the hill country and stayed there three days, until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had searched all along the way and found nothing. ²³ Then the two men came down again from the hill country. They crossed over, came to Joshua son of Nun, and told him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us.”^(L)

Paul Visits James at Jerusalem

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly.^{(A) 18} The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.^{(B) 19} After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry.^{(C) 20} When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.^{(D) 21} They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. ²² What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.^{(E) 24} Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you but that you yourself observe and guard the law.^{(F) 25} But as for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled^[a] and from sexual immorality.”^{(G) 26} Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.^(H)

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him,^{(I) 28} shouting, “Fellow Israelites,^[b] help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”^{(J) 29} For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.^{(K) 30} Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.^{(L) 31} While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.^{(M) 33} Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done.^{(N) 34} Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another, and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.^{(O) 35} When Paul^[c] came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶ The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”^(P)