Beginning
1 Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
2 “Moses, My servant, is dead. Therefore, arise now, go over the Jordan— you and all this people—to the land which I give them; to the children of Israel.
3 “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon I have given you (as I said to Moses),
4 “from the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river (the river Perath). All the land of the Hittites, even to the Great Sea, toward the going down of the Sun, shall be your territory.
5 “There shall not be a man able to withstand you, all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will neither leave you nor forsake you.
6 “Be strong and of a good courage. For to this people you shall divide the land, for an inheritance, which I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 “Only, be strong and of a most valiant courage, so that you may observe and do according to all the Law which Moses, My servant, has commanded you. You shall not turn away from it — to the right hand or to the left — so that you may be wise, wherever you go.
8 “Let not this Book of the Torah depart out of your mouth, but meditate on it day and night, so that you may observe and do according to all that is written therein. For then you shall make your way prosperous; and then you shall have good success.
9 “Have I not commanded you, saying, ‘Be strong and of a good courage; do not fear or be discouraged’? For I, the LORD your God, will be with you wherever you go.”
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 “Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves. For after three days you shall pass over the Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess.’”
12 And Joshua spoke to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to half the tribe of Manasseh, saying,
13 “Remember the Word which Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God has given you rest; and has given you this land.’
14 “Your wives, your children, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall go over before your brothers, armed (all that are men of war), and shall help them
15 “until the LORD has given your brothers rest (as well as to you) and until they shall also possess the land which the LORD your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession (which Moses, the LORD’s servant, gave you on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising Sun). And you shall possess it.”
16 Then they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go.
17 “As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses.
18 “Whoever shall rebel against your commandment, and will not obey your words in all that you command him, let him be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.”
2 Then Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men out of Shittim to spy, secretly, saying, “Go view the land, and Jericho.” And they went and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the children of Israel have come here tonight to spy on the country.”
3 And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring forth the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house. For they have come to spy on all the land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Therefore, she said this, “Men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
5 “And when they shut the gate in the dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Follow after them quickly, for you shall overtake them!”
6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had spread out upon the roof.
7 And the men pursued after them on the road to Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued after them had gone out, they shut the gate.
8 And before they were asleep, 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 the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
10 “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan (to Sihon and to Og), whom you utterly destroyed.
11 “And when we heard it, our hearts fainted. And there remained no more courage in anyone, because of you. For the LORD your God, He is the God in Heaven above, and on Earth beneath.
12 “Now, therefore, please swear to me, by the LORD, that as I have shown you mercy, you will also show mercy to my father’s house. And give me a true sign
13 “that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all that they have; and that you will deliver our souls from death.”
14 And the men answered her, “Our life for yours if you do not utter this business of ours. And when the LORD has given us the land, we will deal mercifully and truly with you.”
15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall; and she dwelt upon the wall.
16 And she said to them, “Go into the mountain, lest the pursuers encounter you, and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have turned back. Then, afterward, you may go your way.”
17 And the men said to her, “We will be blameless of this oath which you have made us swear
18 if, when we come into the land, you shall bind this cord of red in the window whereby you let us down. And you shall bring your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household home to you.
19 “And whoever then goes out at the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head. And we will be guiltless. But, whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if any hand touches him.
20 “And if you utter this matter, we will be released from your oath which you have made us swear.”
21 And she answered, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away and they departed. And she bound the red cord in the window.
22 And they departed and came into the mountain and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. And the pursuers sought them all along the road but did not find them.
23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and told him all things that happened to them.
24 Also they said to Joshua, “Surely the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands. For all the inhabitants of the country faint because of us.”
3 Then Joshua rose very early. And they left Shittim and came to the Jordan (he and all the children of Israel) and lodged there before they went over.
2 And after three days, the officers went throughout the camp,
3 and commanded the people, saying, “When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests of the Levites bearing it, you shall depart from your place and go after it.
4 “Still, there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. You shall not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go. For you have not gone this way before.”
5 Now Joshua had said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves! For tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you!
6 Also, Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and go over before the people.” So they took up the Ark of the Covenant, and went before the people.
7 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, which shall know that as I was with Moses so I will be with you.
8 “You shall, therefore, command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
9 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here and hear the Words of the LORD your God!”
10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will certainly cast out before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites.
11 “Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of all the world passes before you into the Jordan.
12 “Now, therefore, take from among you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, a man out of every tribe.
13 “And as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the Ark of the LORD God, the Lord of all the world, shall stay in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off. For the waters that come from above shall stand still in one heap.”
14 Then, when the people had departed from their tents to go over the Jordan, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant went before the people.
15 And as those who bore the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the Ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
16 then the waters that came down from above, stayed, rose in one heap, and departed far from the city, to Adam, which was beside Zaretan. But the waters that came down toward the Sea of the Wilderness (the Salt Sea) failed and were cut off. So, the people went right over, near Jericho.
17 But the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, stood firm and dry within the Jordan. And all the Israelites went over, dry, until all the people had completely gone over, through the Jordan.
4 And when all the people had fully gone over the Jordan (after the LORD had spoken to Joshua, saying,
2 “Take with you twelve men out of the people, a man out of every tribe,
3 “and command them, saying, ‘Take from the midst of the Jordan — out of the place where the priests stood firmly — twelve stones, which you shall take away with you. And leave them in the lodging where you shall lodge this night.’”),
4 then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared from the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe.
5 And Joshua said to them, “Go over before the Ark of the LORD your God, through the midst of the Jordan. And every man take up for himself a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.
6 “So that this may be a sign among you. So that when your children shall ask their fathers in times to come, saying, ‘What did you mean by these stones?’,
7 “then you may answer them, ‘So that the waters of the Jordan would be cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. When it passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. Therefore, these stones are a memorial to the children of Israel, forever.’”
8 Then the children of Israel did as Joshua had commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan — as the LORD had said to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel — and carried them away with them to the lodging and laid them down there.
9 And 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 there they have remained to this day.
10 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 say to the people, according to all that Moses charged Joshua. Then the people hurried and went over.
11 When all the people had completely passed over, the Ark of the LORD also went over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
12 And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh went over before the children of Israel, armed, as Moses had charged them.
13 Forty thousand, prepared for war, went before the LORD to battle, into the plain of Jericho.
14 That day, the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel. And they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
15 And the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
16 “Command the priests who bear the Ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”
17 Joshua, therefore, commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
18 And when the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and as soon as the soles of the priests’ feet were set on the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks, as they did before.
19 So the people came up out of the Jordan, on the tenth of the first month, and pitched in Gilgal, on the East side of Jericho.
20 Also, the twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan Joshua pitched in Gilgal.
21 And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children shall ask their fathers in times to come, and say, ‘What do these stones mean?’,
22 “then you shall make it known to your children, and say, ‘Israel came over the Jordan on dry land.
23 ‘For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, until you had gone over, as the LORD your God did the Red Sea (which He dried up before us until we had gone over),
24 ‘so that all the people of the world may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you might fear the LORD your God continually.’”
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