The Lord Commissions Joshua

1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses: ² “Moses My servant is dead, so now get up and cross over the Jordan—you and all this people—to the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. ³ I have given you every place that the sole of your foot shall tread, as I said to Moses. ⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Mediterranean Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. ⁵ No man will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not abandon you. I will not leave you.

⁶ “Be strong and courageous, for you shall provide the land that I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance for this people. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous, in order to act carefully in accordance with all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right or the left, so that you may succeed wherever you go. ⁸ This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so that you may act carefully according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way successful, and you will be wise. ⁹ Have not I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Takes Command

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, ¹¹ “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare food, for in three days you will cross the Jordan to go to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’ ”

¹² To the Reubenites, the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you: ‘The Lord your God has given you a place for rest and will give this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your children, and your livestock may live in the land that Moses gave you on the east side of the Jordan. But you must cross over with your brothers fully armed, your mighty men of valor, and help them, ¹⁵ until the Lord has given your brothers rest, as He has given you, and they also have possessed the land that the Lord your God is giving to them. Then you may return to your own land and possess what Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the east side of the Jordan where the sun rises.”

¹⁶ They answered Joshua, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, we will obey you. May the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses! ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your command and disobeys your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

Israel Crossing the Jordan

3 In the morning Joshua got up early; then he and all the children of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan. They stayed there before crossing over. ² After three days the officers went through the camp. ³ They commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the Levite priests carrying it, then you shall set out from where you are and go behind it. ⁴ There must be a distance of two thousand cubits^[a] between you and it. Do not draw closer to it, in order that you may know the way you should go. For you have not passed this way before.”

⁵ Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform wondrous deeds among you.”

⁶ Joshua said to the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant, and proceed ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went in front of the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸ You shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the bank of the Jordan, stand still in the river.’ ”

⁹ So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “By this you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will thoroughly drive out the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites from before you. ¹¹ See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man per tribe. ¹³ When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water of the Jordan that flows from upstream will be cut off and pile up.”

¹⁴ When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests were carrying the ark of the covenant before the people. ¹⁵ When the carriers of the ark came to the Jordan, the feet of the priests carrying the ark dipped into the edge of the water. (Now the Jordan overflows its banks all the days of the harvest.) ¹⁶ Then the water that flows down from upstream stood still and rose up in a heap very far away at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The water that flows down toward the Sea of Arabah (the Dead Sea) stopped and was cut off. The people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire people completed crossing over the Jordan.