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God’s Commission to Joshua
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying:
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The Order to Cross the Jordan
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
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And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying,
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So they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
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Rahab Hides the Spies
Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
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So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them.
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And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”
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Israel Crosses the Jordan
Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.
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And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
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Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
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And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
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So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”
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And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:
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The Memorial Stones
And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying:
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Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe;
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and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
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And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
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Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
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So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over.
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On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.
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Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,
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Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”
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And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.
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At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.”
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So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
