Beginning

1 Now after the mot Moshe Eved Hashem it came to pass, that Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua ben Nun, mesharet Moshe, saying,

² Moshe Avdi is dead; now therefore arise, cross over this Yarden, thou, and kol HaAm Hazeh, unto HaAretz which I do give to them, even to the Bnei Yisroel.

³ Every place that the sole of your regel shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, just as I said unto Moshe.

⁴ From the midbar and this Levanon even unto the Nahar Hagadol, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Chittim, and unto the Yam HaGadol toward the going down of the shemesh, shall be your territory.

⁵ There shall not any ish be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moshe, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

⁶ Chazak! (be strong!) And be of good courage: for unto HaAm Hazeh shalt thou divide for a nachalah HaAretz, which I swore unto their avot to give them.

⁷ Only chazak (be strong) and very courageous, that thou mayest be shomer to do according to kol HaTorah, which Moshe Avdi commanded thee; turn not from it to the yamin or to the semol, in order that thou mayest succeed everywhere thou goest.

⁸ This Sefer HaTorah shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate on it yomam valailah so that thou mayest be shomer to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy derech prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

⁹ Have not I commanded thee? Chazak! And be of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for Hashem Eloheicha is with thee everywhere thou goest.

¹⁰ Then Yehoshua commanded the Shotrei HaAm, saying,

¹¹ Pass through the machaneh, and command HaAm, saying, Prepare you supplies; for within shloshet yamim ye shall pass over this Yarden, to go in to possess HaAretz, which Hashem Eloheichem giveth you to possess it.

¹² And to the Reubeni, and to the Gadi, and to the half tribe of Menasheh, spoke Yehoshua, saying,

¹³ Remember the devar which Moshe Eved Hashem commanded you, saying, Hashem Eloheichem hath given you menuchah, and hath given you HaAretz Hazot.

¹⁴ Your nashim, your little ones, and your livestock, shall remain in the land which Moshe gave you beyond the Yarden; but ye shall cross over ahead of your achim armed, all the gibborei hachayil, and help them;

¹⁵ Until Hashem has given your achim menuchah, as He hath given you, and they also have possessed HaAretz which Hashem Eloheichem giveth them; then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and occupy it, which Moshe Eved Hashem gave you beyond Yarden toward the rising of the shemesh.

¹⁶ And they answered Yehoshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and everywhere thou sendest us, we will go.

¹⁷ According as we paid heed unto Moshe in all things, so will we pay heed unto thee; only Hashem Eloheicha be with thee, just as He was with Moshe.

¹⁸ Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not pay heed unto thy devarim in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death; rak chazak (only be strong) and be of good courage.

2 And Yehoshua ben Nun sent out of Sheetim shnayim anashim (two men) to spy secretly, saying, Go view HaAretz, even Yericho. And they went, and entered into bais isha zonah, and her name was Rachav, and they lodged there.

² And it was told Melech Yericho, saying, Hinei, anashim have come here halailah of the Bnei Yisroel to spy out HaAretz.

³ And the Melech Yericho sent unto Rachav, saying, Bring forth the anashim that are come to thee, who entered into thine bais; for they have come to spy out kol HaAretz.

⁴ And the isha took the two anashim, and hid them, and said thus, There came anashim unto me, but I knew not where they had come from;

⁵ And it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the sha’ar, when it was choshech, that the anashim went out; where the anashim went I know not; pursue after them quickly; for ye may overtake them.

⁶ But she had brought them up to the gag (roof), and hid them with the pishtei haetz (stalks of flax), which she had laid out upon the gag.

⁷ So the anashim pursued after them the derech (road) to Yarden unto the fords; and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they closed the sha’ar.

⁸ And before they [the two spies] lay down, she went up unto them upon the gag;

⁹ And she said unto the anashim, I know that Hashem hath given you HaAretz, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of HaAretz faint because of you.

¹⁰ For we have heard how Hashem dried up the waters of the Yam Suf from before you, when ye came out of Mitzrayim; and what ye did unto the two melachim of the Emori, that were beyond the Yarden, Sichon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed [put under cherem ban].

¹¹ And as soon as we had heard these things, levaveinu (our hearts) did melt, neither did there remain any more ruach in any ish, because of you; for Hashem Eloheichem hu Elohim baShomayim above, and on HaAretz beneath.

¹² Therefore, now, swear unto me by Hashem, since I have showed you chesed, that ye will also show chesed unto Bais Avi, and give me an ot emes (sign of truth);

¹³ And that ye will save alive avi, and immi, and my ach and my achot, and all that they have, and deliver nafshoteinu (our lives, souls) from mavet (death).

¹⁴ And the anashim answered her, Nafsheinu (our soul) shall die for you, if ye utter not what we are doing. And it shall be, when Hashem hath given us HaAretz, that we will deal chesed v’emes with thee.

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a chevel (cord, rope) through the chalon (window); for her bais was in the city wall, and she dwelt in the chomah (wall).

¹⁶ And she said unto them, Get you to the hill country, lest the rodefim (pursuers) meet you; and hide yourselves there shloshet yamim, until the rodefim return; and afterward may ye go your way.

¹⁷ And the anashim said unto her, We will be nekiyyim (free ones) of this thine shevu’ah (oath) which thou hast made us swear,

¹⁸ Unless when we come into HaAretz, thou shalt tie this rope of scarlet cord in the chalon by which thou didst let us down; and thou shalt bring thy av, and thy em, and thy achim, and all thy bais avi, with thee inside the bais.

¹⁹ And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the delatot of thy bais into the chutzah (street, outside), his dahm shall be upon his rosh, and we will be nekiyyim (free ones); and whosoever shall be with thee in the bais, his dahm shall be on rosheinu (our head), if any yad be laid upon him.

²⁰ And if thou utter what we are doing, then we will be nekiyyim (free ones) of thine shevu’ah (oath) which thou hast made us to swear.

²¹ And she said, According unto your devarim, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the chalon.

²² And they went, and came unto the hill country, and abode there shloshet yamim, until the rodefim returned; and the rodefim sought them all along the derech, but found them not.

²³ So the two anashim returned, and descended from the hill country, and passed over, and came to Yehoshua ben Nun, and told him all things that befell them;

²⁴ And they said unto Yehoshua, Truly Hashem hath delivered into yadeinu kol HaAretz; for even all the inhabitants of HaAretz do faint because of us.

3 And Yehoshua rose early in the boker; and they set out from Sheetim, and came to the Yarden, he and Kol Bnei Yisroel, and camped there before they crossed over.

² And it came to pass after shloshet yamim, that the Shoterim went through the Machaneh;

³ And they commanded HaAm, saying, When ye see the Aron Brit Hashem Eloheichem, and the Kohanim who are Levi’im bearing it, then ye shall move out from your makom, and follow after it.

⁴ Yet there shall be a rachok (distance, space) between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; come not near unto it, that ye have da’as of the Derech by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

⁵ And Yehoshua said unto HaAm, Set yourselves apart as kodesh; for tomorrow Hashem will do nifla’ot among you.

⁶ And Yehoshua spoke unto the Kohanim, saying, Take up the Aron HaBrit, and cross over before HaAm. And they took up the Aron HaBrit, and went before HaAm.

⁷ And Hashem said unto Yehoshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of kol Yisroel, that they may know that, as I was with Moshe, so I will be with thee.

⁸ And thou shalt command the Kohanim that bear the Aron HaBrit, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of the Yarden, ye shall stand still in the Yarden.

⁹ And Yehoshua said unto the Bnei Yisroel, Come here, and hear the Divrei Hashem Eloheichem.

¹⁰ And Yehoshua said, Hereby ye shall have da’as that the El Chai is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Kena’ani, and the Chitti, and the Chivi, and the Perizzi, and the Girgashi, and HaEmori, and the Yevusi.

¹¹ Hinei, the Aron HaBrit Adon Kol HaAretz passeth over before you into the Yarden.

¹² Now therefore take you Shnei Asar Ish out of the Shivtei Yisroel, out of every tribe an ish.

¹³ And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the Kohanim bearing the Aron Hashem, Adon Kol HaAretz, shall rest in the waters of the Yarden, that the waters of the Yarden shall be cut off from the waters that flow down from above; and they shall stand in a heap.

¹⁴ So it came to pass, when HaAm moved out from their ohalim, to cross over the Yarden, and the Kohanim bearing the Aron HaBrit ahead of HaAm;

¹⁵ And as they bearing the Aron were come unto the Yarden, and the feet of the Kohanim bearing the Aron touched the edge of the mayim, (for the Yarden overfloweth all its banks all the days of katzir [harvest]),

¹⁶ That the waters which flowed down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Tzartan; and that which flowed down toward Yam HaAravah, the Yam HaMelach was completely cut off; and HaAm crossed over right by Yericho.

¹⁷ And the Kohanim bearing the Aron Brit Hashem stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Yarden, and Kol Yisroel passed over on dry ground, until Kol HaGoy were passed completely over the Yarden.

4 And it came to pass, when Kol HaGoy had completely passed over the Yarden, that Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua, saying,

² Take you Shneym Asar Anashim out of HaAm, out of every Shevet an ish,

³ And command ye them, saying, Take you from here out of the middle of the Yarden, out of the place where the feet of the Kohanim stood firm, twelve avanim (stones), and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the malon (lodging place), where ye shall lodge halailah (tonight).

⁴ Then Yehoshua called the Shneym Asar Ish, whom he had prepared of the Bnei Yisroel, out of every tribe an Ish;

⁵ And Yehoshua said unto them, Pass over before the Aron Hashem Eloheichem into the middle of the Yarden, and take you up every ish of you an even (stone) upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the Shivtei Bnei Yisroel;

⁶ That this may be an ot among you, that when your banim ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these avanim?

⁷ Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of the Yarden were cut off from before the Aron Brit Hashem; when it passed over the Yarden, the waters of the Yarden were cut off; and these avanim shall be for a zikaron (memorial) unto the Bnei Yisroel ad olam (forever).

⁸ And the Bnei Yisroel did so just as Yehoshua commanded, and took up Shtei Esreh Avanim out of the middle of the Yarden, just as Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua, according to the number of the Shivtei Bnei Yisroel, and carried them over with them unto the malon where they lodged, and laid them down there.

⁹ And Yehoshua set up Shteym Esreh Avanim in the middle of the Yarden, in the place where the feet of the Kohanim bearing the Aron HaBrit stood; and they are there unto this day.

¹⁰ For the Kohanim bearing the Aron stood in the middle of the Yarden, until everything was finished that Hashem commanded Yehoshua to speak unto HaAm, according to all that Moshe commanded Yehoshua; and HaAm hurried and crossed over.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when Kol HaAm had completely crossed over, that the Aron Hashem crossed over, and the Kohanim, ahead of HaAm.

¹² And the Bnei Reuven, and the Bnei Gad, and the half-tribe of Menasheh, crossed over armed ahead of the Bnei Yisroel, just as Moshe directed them;

¹³ About forty thousand, battle-ready, crossed over before Hashem for milchamah, to the plains of Yericho.

¹⁴ On Yom Hahu Hashem magnified Yehoshua in the eyes of Kol Yisroel; and they feared him, just as they feared Moshe, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua, saying,

¹⁶ Command the Kohanim bearing the Aron HaEdut, so that they come up out of the Yarden.

¹⁷ Yehoshua therefore commanded the Kohanim, saying, Come ye up out of the Yarden.

¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the Kohanim bearing the Aron Brit Hashem were come up out of the middle of the Yarden, and the soles of the feet of the Kohanim were set on dry land, that the waters of the Yarden returned unto their place, and overflowed all its banks, as they did before.

¹⁹ And HaAm came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the chodesh harishon, and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern border of Yericho.

²⁰ And those twelve avanim, which they took out of the Yarden, did Yehoshua set in a pile at Gilgal.

²¹ And he spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, saying, When your banim shall ask their avot in time to come, saying, What mean these avanim?

²² Then ye shall let your banim know, saying, Yisroel crossed over this Yarden on yabashah (dry land [Gn 1:9]).

²³ For Hashem Eloheichem dried up the waters of the Yarden from before you, until ye were passed over, just as Hashem Eloheichem did to Yam Suf, which He dried up from before us, until we were crossed over;

²⁴ So that Kol Ammei HaAretz (all the peoples of the earth) might know the Yad Hashem, that it is chazakah; so that ye might fear Hashem Eloheichem kol hayamim (all the days, forever).