Encouragement of Joshua

1 After the death of Moses^(A) the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun,^(B) Moses’s assistant: ² “Moses my servant is dead.^(C) Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan^(D) to the land I am giving the Israelites. ³ I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads,^(E) just as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon^(F) to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites^(G)—and west to the Mediterranean Sea.^{(H) 5} No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.^(I) I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.^(J)

⁶ “Be strong and courageous,^(K) for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance.^{(L) 7} Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you.^(M) Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. ⁸ This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth;^(N) you are to meditate on^[a] it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.^{(O) 9} Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous?^(P) Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”