Joshua 1-6

Good News Translation

God Commands Joshua to Conquer Canaan

1 After the death of the Lord's servant Moses, the Lord spoke to Moses' helper, Joshua son of Nun. ² He said, “My servant Moses is dead. Get ready now, you and all the people of Israel, and cross the Jordan River into the land that I am giving them. ^3 (A)As I told Moses, I have given you and all my people the entire land that you will be marching over. ⁴ Your borders will reach from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north; from the great Euphrates River in the east, through the Hittite country, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ^5 (B)Joshua, no one will be able to defeat you as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will always be with you; I will never abandon you. ^6 (C)Be determined and confident, for you will be the leader of these people as they occupy this land which I promised their ancestors. ⁷ Just be determined, be confident; and make sure that you obey the whole Law that my servant Moses gave you. Do not neglect any part of it and you will succeed wherever you go. ⁸ Be sure that the book of the Law is always read in your worship. Study it day and night, and make sure that you obey everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Remember that I have commanded you to be determined and confident! Do not be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Gives Orders to the People

¹⁰ Then Joshua ordered the leaders to ¹¹ go through the camp and say to the people, “Get some food ready, because in three days you are going to cross the Jordan River to occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

^12 (D)Joshua said to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to half the tribe of Manasseh, ¹³ “Remember how the Lord's servant Moses told you that the Lord your God would give you this land on the east side of the Jordan as your home. ¹⁴ Your wives, your children, and your livestock will stay here, but your soldiers, armed for battle, will cross over ahead of the other Israelites in order to help them ¹⁵ until they have occupied the land west of the Jordan that the Lord your God has given them. When he has given safety to all the tribes of Israel, then you may come back and settle here in your own land east of the Jordan, which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave to you.”

¹⁶ They answered Joshua, “We will do everything you have told us and will go anywhere you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you, just as we always obeyed Moses, and may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses! ¹⁸ Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death. Be determined and confident!”

Joshua Sends Spies into Jericho

2 ^(E)Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. ² The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, ³ so he sent word to Rahab: “The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!”

^4-6 “Some men did come to my house,” she answered, “but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them.” (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) ⁷ The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan.

⁸ Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. ^10 (F)We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. ¹¹ We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. ¹² Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. ¹³ Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!”

¹⁴ The men said to her, “May God take our lives if we don't do as we say!^[a] If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well.”

¹⁵ Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. ¹⁶ “Go into the hill country,” she said, “or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way.”

¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will keep the promise that you have made us give. ¹⁸ This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. ¹⁹ If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. ²⁰ However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you.” ²¹ She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window.

²² The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. ²³ Then the two spies came down from the hills, crossed the river, and went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened, ²⁴ and then said, “We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us.”

The People of Israel Cross the Jordan

3 The next morning Joshua and all the people of Israel got up early, left the camp at Acacia, and went to the Jordan, where they camped while waiting to cross it. ² Three days later the leaders went through the camp ³ and told the people, “When you see the priests carrying the Covenant Box of the Lord your God, break camp and follow them. ⁴ You have never been here before, so they will show you the way to go. But do not get near the Covenant Box; stay about half a mile behind it.”

⁵ Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, because tomorrow the Lord will perform miracles among you.” ⁶ Then he told the priests to take the Covenant Box and go with it ahead of the people. They did as he said.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “What I do today will make all the people of Israel begin to honor you as a great man, and they will realize that I am with you as I was with Moses. ⁸ Tell the priests carrying the Covenant Box that when they reach the river, they must wade in and stand near the bank.”

⁹ Then Joshua said to the people, “Come here and listen to what the Lord your God has to say. ¹⁰ As you advance, he will surely drive out the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. You will know that the living God is among you ¹¹ when the Covenant Box of the Lord of all the earth crosses the Jordan ahead of you. ¹² Now choose twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel. ¹³ When the priests who carry the Covenant Box of the Lord of all the earth put their feet in the water, the Jordan will stop flowing, and the water coming downstream will pile up in one place.”

^14-15 It was harvest time, and the river was in flood.

When the people left the camp to cross the Jordan, the priests went ahead of them, carrying the Covenant Box. As soon as the priests stepped into the river, ¹⁶ the water stopped flowing and piled up, far upstream at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The flow downstream to the Dead Sea was completely cut off, and the people were able to cross over near Jericho. ¹⁷ While the people walked across on dry ground, the priests carrying the Lord's Covenant Box stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until all the people had crossed over.

Memorial Stones Are Set Up

4 When the whole nation had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe, ³ and command them to take twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests were standing. Tell them to carry these stones with them and to put them down where you camp tonight.”

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen, ⁵ and he told them, “Go into the Jordan ahead of the Covenant Box of the Lord your God. Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. ⁶ These stones will remind the people of what the Lord has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you, ⁷ you will tell them that the water of the Jordan stopped flowing when the Lord's Covenant Box crossed the river. These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here.”

⁸ The men followed Joshua's orders. As the Lord had commanded Joshua, they took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the tribes of Israel, carried them to the camping place, and put them down there. ⁹ Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests carrying the Covenant Box had stood. (Those stones are still there.) ¹⁰ The priests stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything had been done that the Lord ordered Joshua to tell the people to do. This is what Moses had commanded.

The people hurried across the river. ¹¹ When they were all on the other side, the priests with the Lord's Covenant Box went on ahead of the people. ¹² The men of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and of half the tribe of Manasseh, ready for battle, crossed ahead of the rest of the people, as Moses had told them to do. ¹³ In the presence of the Lord about forty thousand men ready for war crossed over to the plain near Jericho. ¹⁴ What the Lord did that day made the people of Israel consider Joshua a great man. They honored him all his life, just as they had honored Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord told Joshua ¹⁶ to command the priests carrying the Covenant Box to come up out of the Jordan. ¹⁷ Joshua did so, ¹⁸ and when the priests reached the riverbank, the river began flowing once more and flooded its banks again.

¹⁹ The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. ²⁰ There Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan. ²¹ And he said to the people of Israel, “In the future, when your children ask you what these stones mean, ²² you will tell them about the time when Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. ²³ Tell them that the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan for you until you had crossed, just as he dried up the Red Sea for us. ²⁴ Because of this everyone on earth will know how great the Lord's power is, and you will honor the Lord your God forever.”

5 All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the Lord had dried up the Jordan until the people of Israel had crossed it. They became afraid and lost their courage because of the Israelites.

The Circumcision at Gilgal

² Then the Lord told Joshua, “Make some knives out of flint and circumcise the Israelites.” ³ So Joshua did as the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the Israelites at a place called Circumcision Hill. ^4-6 (G)When the people of Israel left Egypt, all the males were already circumcised. However, during the forty years the people spent crossing the desert, none of the baby boys had been circumcised. Also, by the end of that time all the men who were of fighting age when they left Egypt had died because they had disobeyed the Lord. Just as he had sworn, they were not allowed to see the rich and fertile land that he had promised their ancestors. ⁷ The sons of these men had never been circumcised, and it was this new generation that Joshua circumcised.

⁸ After the circumcision was completed, the whole nation stayed in the camp until the wounds had healed. ⁹ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed from you the disgrace of being slaves in Egypt.” That is why the place was named Gilgal,^[b] the name it still has.

^10 (H)While the Israelites were camping at Gilgal on the plain near Jericho, they observed Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. ¹¹ The next day was the first time they ate food grown in Canaan: roasted grain and bread made without yeast. ^12 (I)The manna stopped falling then, and the Israelites no longer had any. From that time on they ate food grown in Canaan.

Joshua and the Man with a Sword

¹³ While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” the man answered. “I am here as the commander of the Lord's army.”

Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, “I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?”

¹⁵ And the commander of the Lord's army told him, “Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground.” And Joshua did as he was told.

The Fall of Jericho

6 The gates of Jericho were kept shut and guarded to keep the Israelites out. No one could enter or leave the city. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers. ³ You and your soldiers are to march around the city once a day for six days. ⁴ Seven priests, each carrying a trumpet, are to go in front of the Covenant Box. On the seventh day you and your soldiers are to march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets. ⁵ Then they are to sound one long note. As soon as you hear it, all the people are to give a loud shout, and the city walls will collapse. Then the whole army will go straight into the city.”

⁶ Joshua called the priests and told them, “Take the Covenant Box, and seven of you go in front of it, carrying trumpets.” ⁷ Then he ordered the people to start marching around the city, with an advance guard going on ahead of the Lord's Covenant Box.

^8-9 So, just as Joshua had ordered, an advance guard started out ahead of the priests who were blowing trumpets; behind these came the priests who were carrying the Covenant Box, followed by a rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁰ But Joshua had ordered the people not to shout, not to say a word until he gave the order. ¹¹ So he had this group of men take the Lord's Covenant Box around the city one time. Then they came back to camp and spent the night there.

^12-13 Joshua got up early the next morning, and for the second time the priests and soldiers marched around the city in the same order as the day before: first, the advance guard; next, the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets; then, the priests carrying the Lord's Covenant Box; and finally, the rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁴ On this second day they again marched around the city one time and then returned to camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up at daybreak and marched seven times around the city in the same way—this was the only day that they marched around it seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around, when the priests were about to sound the trumpets, Joshua ordered the people to shout, and he said, “The Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies. ¹⁸ But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp. ¹⁹ Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the Lord. It is to be put in the Lord's treasury.”

^20 (J)So the priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed. Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it. ²¹ With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

²² Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, “Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her.” ²³ So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp. ²⁴ Then they set fire to the city and burned it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the Lord's treasury. ^25 (K)But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

^26 (L)At this time Joshua issued a solemn warning: “Anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho will be under the Lord's curse.

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread through the whole country.