Beginning
God’s Command to Joshua
1 Moses was the servant of the Lord. Joshua son of Nun was Moses’ assistant. After Moses died, the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people go across the Jordan River. Go into the land I am giving to the people of Israel. 3 I promised Moses I would give you this land. So I will give you every place you go in the land. 4 All the land from the desert in the south to Lebanon in the north will be yours. All the land from the great river, the Euphrates, in the east, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west will be yours. This includes the land of the Hittites. 5 Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. No one will be able to stop you all your life. I will not leave you. I will never leave you alone.
6 “Joshua, be strong and brave! You must lead these people so they can take their land. This is the land I promised their fathers I would give them. 7 Be strong and brave. Be sure to obey all the teachings my servant Moses gave you. If you follow them exactly, you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Always remember what is written in the Book of the Teachings. Study it day and night. Then you will be sure to obey everything that is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything. 9 Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. So don’t be afraid. The Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.”
Joshua’s Orders to the People
10 So Joshua gave orders to the officers of the people. He said, 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan River. You will go and take the land the Lord your God is giving you.’”
12 Then Joshua spoke to the people of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. Joshua said, 13 “Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, told you. He said the Lord your God would give you rest. And he said the Lord would give you this land. 14 Now the Lord has given you this land east of the Jordan River. Your wives, your children and your animals may stay here. But your fighting men must dress for war and cross the Jordan River ahead of your brothers. You must help your brothers. 15 The Lord has given you a place to rest. He will do the same for your brothers. But you must help them until they take the land. This is the land the Lord their God is giving them. Then you may return to your own land east of the Jordan River. That is the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you.”
16 Then the people answered Joshua, “Anything you command us to do, we will do. Any place you send us, we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, we will obey you. We ask only that the Lord your God be with you just as he was with Moses. 18 Then, if anyone refuses to obey your commands or turns against you, he will be put to death. Just be strong and brave!”
Spies Sent to Jericho
2 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent out two spies from Acacia. Joshua said to them, “Go and look at the land. Look closely at the city of Jericho.”
So the men went to Jericho. They went to the house of a prostitute and stayed there. This woman’s name was Rahab.
2 Someone told the king of Jericho, “Some men from Israel have come here tonight. They are spying out the land.”
3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house. They have come to spy out our whole land.”
4 Now the woman had hidden the two men. She said, “They did come here. But I didn’t know where they came from. 5 In the evening, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know where they went. Go quickly. Maybe you can catch them.” 6 (But the woman had taken the men up to the roof.[a] She had hidden them there under stalks of flax. She had spread the flax out there to dry.) 7 So the king’s men went out looking for the spies from Israel. They went to the places where people cross the Jordan River. The city gate was closed just after the king’s men left the city.
8 The spies were ready to sleep for the night. So Rahab went to the roof and talked to them. 9 She said, “I know the Lord has given this land to your people. You frighten us very much. Everyone living in this land is terribly afraid of you. 10 We are afraid because we have heard how the Lord helped you. We heard how he dried up the Red Sea when you came out of Egypt. We heard how you destroyed Sihon and Og. They were the two Amorite kings who lived east of the Jordan. 11 When we heard this, we became very frightened. Now our men are afraid to fight you. This is because the Lord your God rules the heavens above and the earth below! 12 So now, make me a promise before the Lord. Promise that you will show kindness to my family just as I showed you kindness. Give me some proof that you will do this. 13 Promise me you will allow my family to live. Save my father, mother, brothers, sisters and all of their families from death.”
14 The men agreed. They said, “We will trade our lives for your lives. Don’t tell anyone what we are doing. When the Lord gives us our land, we will be kind to you. You may trust us.”
15 The house Rahab lived in was built on the city wall. So she used a rope to let the men down through a window. 16 She said to them, “Go into the hills. The king’s men will not find you there. Hide there for three days. After the king’s men return, you may go on your way.”
17 The men said to her, “You must do as we say. If not, we cannot be responsible for keeping our promise. 18 You are using a red rope to help us escape. When we return to this land, you must tie it in the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers and all your family into your house. 19 We can keep everyone safe who stays in this house. If anyone in your house is hurt, we will be responsible. If anyone goes out of your house and is killed, it is his own fault. We cannot be responsible for him. 20 But you must not tell anyone about this agreement. If you do, we are free from it.”
21 Rahab answered, “I agree to this.” So she sent them away, and they left. Then she tied the red rope in the window.
22 The men left and went into the hills. There they stayed for three days. The king’s men looked for them all along the road. But after three days, the king’s men returned to the city without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back to Joshua. They left the hills and crossed the river. They went to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The Lord surely has given us all of the land. All the people in that land are terribly afraid of us.”
Crossing the Jordan
3 Early the next morning Joshua and all the people of Israel left Acacia. They traveled to the Jordan River and camped there before crossing it. 2 After three days the officers went through the camp. 3 They gave orders to the people. They said, “You will see the priests and Levites carrying the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord your God. Then you should leave where you are and follow it. 4 That way you will know which way to go. You have never traveled this way before. But do not follow too closely. Stay about a thousand yards behind the Ark of the Covenant.”
5 Then Joshua told the people, “Make yourselves holy for the Lord. Tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take the Ark of the Covenant. Cross over the river ahead of the people.” So the priests lifted the Ark of the Covenant and carried it ahead of the people.
7 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great man to all the Israelites. So the people will know I am with you just as I was with Moses. 8 The priests will carry the Ark of the Covenant. Tell them this: ‘Go to the edge of the Jordan River and stand in the water.’”
9 Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here. Listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 Here is proof that the living God is with you. Here is proof that he will drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and the Jebusites. 11 This is the proof: The Ark of the Covenant will go ahead of you into the Jordan River. It is the Agreement with the Lord of the whole world. 12 Now choose 12 men from among you. Choose 1 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. 13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the Master of the whole world. They will carry it into the Jordan ahead of you. When they enter the water, the river will stop flowing. The water will be stopped. It will stand up in a heap as if a dam were there.”
14 So the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant. And the people left the place where they had camped. Then they started across the Jordan River. 15 During harvest the Jordan is flooded. So the river was at its fullest. The priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant came to the edge of the river. And they stepped into the water. 16 Just at that moment, the water stopped flowing. It stood up in a heap a great distance away at Adam. This is a town near Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Sea of Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed the river near Jericho. 17 The ground there became dry. The priests carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord to the middle of the river and stopped. They waited there while all the people of Israel walked across. They crossed the Jordan River on dry land.
Rocks to Remind the People
4 All the people finished crossing the Jordan. Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose 12 men from among the people. Choose 1 from each tribe. 3 Tell the men to get 12 large rocks from the middle of the river. Take them from where the priests stood. Carry the rocks and put them down where you stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua chose 1 man from each tribe. Then he called the 12 men together. 5 He said to them, “Go out into the river where the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God is. Each of you should find 1 large rock. There will be 1 rock for each tribe of Israel. Carry the rock on your shoulder. 6 They will be a sign among you. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ 7 Tell them the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan. When the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord crossed the river, the water was stopped. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever.”
8 So the Israelites obeyed Joshua. They carried 12 rocks from the middle of the Jordan River. There was 1 rock for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. They did this the way the Lord had commanded Joshua. They carried the rocks with them. And they put them down where they made their camp. 9 Joshua also put 12 rocks in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them where the priests had stood while carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. These rocks are still there today.
10 The Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people what to do. It was what Moses had said Joshua must do. So the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant continued standing in the middle of the river until everything was done. And the people hurried across the river. 11 The people finished crossing the river. Then the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to the other side. As they carried it, the people watched. 12 The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh obeyed what Moses had told them. They were prepared for war. So they crossed the river ahead of the other people. 13 About 40,000 soldiers were prepared for war. They passed before the Lord as they marched across the river. Then they went toward the plains of Jericho to go to war.
14 That day the Lord made Joshua a great man to all the Israelites. They respected Joshua all his life, just as they had respected Moses.
15 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. 16 He said, “Command the priests to bring the Ark of the Covenant out of the river.”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
18 So the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord out of the river. As soon as their feet touched dry land, the water began flowing again. The river again overflowed its banks. It was just as it had been before they crossed.
19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. 20 They carried with them the 12 rocks taken from the Jordan. And Joshua set them up at Gilgal. 21 Then he spoke to the Israelites. He said, “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ 22 Tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land. 23 The Lord your God caused the water to stop flowing. The river was dry until the people finished crossing it. The Lord did the same thing for us at the Jordan that he did for the people at the Red Sea. Remember that he stopped the water at the Red Sea so we could cross. 24 The Lord did this so all people would know he has great power. Then they will always respect the Lord your God.’”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.