The Lord Instructs Joshua

1 After the death of the Lord’s servant Moses, the Lord said to Moses’ assistant Joshua, son of Nun, ² “My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people must cross the Jordan River into the land that I am going to give the people of Israel. ³ I will give you every place on which you set foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your borders will be the desert ⌞on the south⌟, nearby Lebanon to the Euphrates River (the country of the Hittites) ⌞on the north⌟, and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will help these people take possession of the land I swore to give their ancestors.

⁷ “Only be strong and very courageous, faithfully doing everything in the teachings that my servant Moses commanded you. Don’t turn away from them. Then you will succeed wherever you go. ⁸ Never stop reciting these teachings. You must think about them night and day so that you will faithfully do everything written in them. Only then will you prosper and succeed.

⁹ “I have commanded you, ‘Be strong and courageous! Don’t tremble or be terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.’ ”

The People Promise to Obey Joshua

¹⁰ Then Joshua ordered the officers of the people, ¹¹ “Go through the camp. Tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River to take possession of the land the Lord your God is going to give you.’ ”

¹² Next, Joshua said to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh, ¹³ “Remember what the Lord’s servant Moses commanded you. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will give you this land—a place to rest.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, children, and livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan River. However, all your best soldiers must march in battle formation ahead of your relatives. You must help your relatives ¹⁵ take possession of the land the Lord your God is going to give them. Then they will have a place to rest like you do. After that, you may go back and take possession of the land east of the Jordan River which the Lord’s servant Moses gave you.”

¹⁶ The people responded to Joshua, “We’ll do everything you tell us and go wherever you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you as we obeyed Moses. May the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your authority or does not obey your orders will be put to death. Just be strong and courageous!”

Joshua Sends Spies to Jericho

2 From Shittim Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent out two men as spies. He told them, “Go, look at that country, especially the city of Jericho.” So they went to Jericho and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab to spend the night there.

² The king of Jericho was told, “Some Israelites have entered the city tonight. They came to gather information about our land.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent messengers to Rahab, who told her, “Bring out the men who came to your house. They came here to gather information about the entire land.”

⁴ But the woman had already taken the two men inside and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come here. But I didn’t know where they had come from. ⁵ When it was dark and the gate was just about to close, they left. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you’ll catch up with them.” ⁶ (She had taken them up to the roof and covered them with the flax which she had laid up there.)

⁷ The king’s men pursued them on the road leading to a shallow place to cross the Jordan River. As soon as the king’s men had left, the gate was closed.

⁸ Before the spies fell asleep, Rahab went up to them on the roof. ⁹ She said to them, “I know the Lord will give you this land. Your presence terrifies us. All the people in this country are deathly afraid of you. ¹⁰ We’ve heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea in front of you when you left Egypt. We’ve also heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, who ruled east of the Jordan River. We’ve heard how you destroyed them for the Lord. ¹¹ When we heard about it, we lost heart. There was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is the God of heaven and earth. ¹² Please swear by the Lord that you’ll be as kind to my father’s family as I’ve been to you. Also give me some proof ¹³ that you’ll protect my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and their households, and that you’ll save us from death.”

¹⁴ The men promised her, “We pledge our lives for your lives. If you don’t tell anyone what we’re doing here, we’ll treat you kindly and honestly when the Lord gives us this land.”

¹⁵ So she let them down by a rope from her window since her house was built into the city wall. (She lived in the city wall.) ¹⁶ She told them, “Go to the mountains so that the men who are pursuing you will not find you. Hide there for three days until they return to Jericho. Then you can go on your way.”

¹⁷ The men told her, “We will be free from the oath which you made us swear, ⌞if you tell anyone what we’re doing here⌟. ¹⁸ When we invade your land, tie this red cord in the window through which you let us down. Also, gather your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. ¹⁹ Whoever leaves your house will be responsible for his own life. We will be free from that responsibility. But we will take responsibility if anyone inside your house is harmed. ²⁰ If you tell anyone what we’re doing here, we will be free from the oath which you made us swear.”

²¹ “I agree,” she said. So she let them go and tied the red cord in the window.

²² The men went to the mountains and stayed there for three days until the king’s men returned to Jericho. The king’s men had searched for them all along the road but had not found them. ²³ Then the two spies came down out of the mountains, crossed the Jordan River, and returned to Joshua, son of Nun. They told him everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ They told Joshua, “The Lord has given us the whole country. The people who live there are deathly afraid of us.”

Crossing the Jordan River

3 Joshua got up early the next morning. He and all the Israelites left Shittim. They came to the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.

² Three days later the officers went through the camp. ³ They told the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the promise of the Lord your God and the Levitical priests who carry it, break camp and follow them. ⁴ However, stay about half a mile behind them. Don’t come any closer to them so that you will know which way to go because you have not gone this way before.”

⁵ Joshua told the people, “Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy because tomorrow the Lord will do miracles among you.”

⁶ Joshua also told the priests, “Take the ark of the promise, and go ahead of the people.” They did as they were told.

⁷ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in front of all the people of Israel. I will do this to let them know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. ⁸ Order the priests who carry the ark of the promise, ‘When you step into the water of the Jordan River, stand there.’ ”

⁹ So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here, and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ Joshua continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly force the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites out of your way. ¹¹ Watch the ark of the promise of the Lord of the whole earth as it goes ahead of you into the Jordan River. ¹² Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. ¹³ The priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, will stand in the water of the Jordan. Then the water flowing from upstream will stop and stand up like a dam.”

¹⁴ So they broke camp to cross the Jordan River. The priests who carried the ark of the promise went ahead of the people. ¹⁵ (The Jordan overflows all its banks during the harvest season.) ^[a] When the priests who were carrying the ark came to the edge of the Jordan River and set foot in ¹⁶ the water, the water stopped flowing from upstream. The water rose up like a dam as far away as the city of Adam near Zarethan. The water flowing down toward the Sea of the Plains (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. Then the people crossed from the east side ⌞of the Jordan River⌟ directly opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who carried the ark of the Lord’s promise stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.

A Reminder of the Crossing

4 The whole nation finished crossing the Jordan River. The Lord had told Joshua, ² “Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes. ³ Order them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, where the priests’ feet stood firmly. Take the stones along with you, and set them down where you will camp tonight.”

⁴ Joshua called the 12 men whom he had selected (one from each tribe). ⁵ He said to them, “Go to the middle of the Jordan River in front of the ark of the Lord your God. Each man must take a stone on his shoulder, one for each tribe of Israel. ⁶ This will be a sign for you. In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ You should answer, ‘The water of the Jordan River was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s promise. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the river stopped flowing. These stones are a permanent reminder for the people of Israel.’ ”

⁸ The people of Israel did as Joshua had ordered. They took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. They took them from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.

⁹ Joshua also set 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River, where the priests who carried the ark of the promise had stood. The stones are still there today.

¹⁰ The priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan. They stood there until everything the Lord had ordered Joshua to tell the people had been carried out. This was as Moses had told Joshua. The people hurried to the other side. ¹¹ As soon as everyone had crossed, the priests with the Lord’s ark crossed and went ahead of them.

¹² The men of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh did as Moses had told them. They marched across in battle formation ahead of the people of Israel. ¹³ About 40,000 armed men crossed the river in front of the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.

¹⁴ On that day the Lord honored Joshua in the presence of all the Israelites. As long as Joshua lived, the Israelites respected him in the same way they had respected Moses.

¹⁵ The Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Order the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to come out of the Jordan River.”

¹⁷ So Joshua ordered the priests, “Come out of the Jordan.”

¹⁸ The priests who carried the ark of the Lord’s promise came out of the middle of the Jordan. When their feet stepped onto dry land, the water of the Jordan returned to its seasonal flood level.

¹⁹ On the tenth day of the first month, the people came out of the Jordan River. They made their camp at Gilgal, just east of Jericho. ²⁰ At Gilgal Joshua set up the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the people of Israel, “In the future when children ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² the children should be told that Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground. ²³ The Lord your God dried up the Jordan ahead of you until you had crossed, as he did to the Red Sea until we had crossed. ²⁴ The Lord did this so that everyone in the world would know his mighty power and that you would fear the Lord your God every day of your life.”

Preparations for the First Passover in Canaan

5 All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan River and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross. So they lost heart and had no courage left to face the people of Israel.

² At that time the Lord spoke to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise the men of Israel.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the men of Israel at the Hill of Circumcision.^[b]

⁴ This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: All the soldiers had died on the way through the desert after they left Egypt. ⁵ The men who left Egypt had been circumcised. However, the men born later, on the way through the desert, were not circumcised. ⁶ For 40 years the Israelites wandered through the desert until all their soldiers who left Egypt died. They died because they disobeyed the Lord. The Lord swore that he would not let them see this land flowing with milk and honey which he had sworn to give our ancestors.

⁷ The sons who took their place had not been circumcised on the way. So Joshua circumcised them. ⁸ When all the men had been circumcised, they remained in the camp until they recovered.

⁹ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed the disgrace of Egypt from you.” So Joshua named the place Gilgal,^[c] the name it still has today.

¹⁰ The people of Israel camped at Gilgal in the Jericho plain. There they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. ¹¹ On the day after the Passover, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹² The day after that, the manna stopped. The people of Israel never had manna again. That year they began to eat the crops that grew in Canaan.

The Commander of the Lord’s Army Speaks with Joshua

¹³ When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you one of us or one of our enemies?” ¹⁴ He answered, “Neither one! I am here as the commander of the Lord’s army.” Immediately, Joshua bowed with his face touching the ground and worshiped. He asked, “Sir, what do you want to tell me?” ¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals because this place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did as he was told.

Jericho Is Destroyed

6 Jericho was bolted and barred shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one could enter or leave.

² The Lord said to Joshua, “I am about to hand Jericho, its king, and its warriors over to you. ³ All the soldiers will march around the city once a day for six days. ⁴ Seven priests will carry rams’ horns ahead of the ark. But on the seventh day you must march around the city seven times while the priests blow their horns. ⁵ When you hear a long blast on the horn, all the troops must shout very loudly. The wall around the city will collapse. Then the troops must charge straight ahead into the city.”

⁶ Joshua, son of Nun, summoned the priests. He said to them, “Pick up the ark of the promise, and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns ahead of the Lord’s ark.”

⁷ He told the troops, “March around the city. Let the armed men march ahead of the Lord’s ark.”

⁸ After Joshua had given orders to the troops, the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns ahead of the Lord marched off as they blew their horns. The ark of the Lord’s promise followed them. ⁹ The armed men went ahead of the priests, who blew their horns. The rear guard followed the ark while the priests continued to blow their horns.

¹⁰ Joshua ordered the troops, “Don’t shout, make any noise, or let one word come out of your mouth until I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So the Lord’s ark went around the city once. Then they went back to the camp and stayed there for the night.

¹² Joshua got up early in the morning. The priests carried the Lord’s ark. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns were ahead of it. The priests blew their horns as they went. The armed men were ahead of them, and the rear guard followed the Lord’s ark while the horns blew continually. ¹⁴ They went around the city once on the second day and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up at dawn. They marched around the city seven times the same way they had done it before. That was the only day they marched around it seven times. ¹⁶ When they went around the seventh time, the priests blew their rams’ horns.

Joshua said to the troops, “Shout, because the Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city has been claimed by the Lord. Everything in it belongs to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and all who are in the house with her will live because she hid the messengers we sent. ¹⁸ But stay away from what has been claimed by the Lord for destruction, or you, too, will be destroyed by the Lord. If you take anything that is claimed by the Lord, you will bring destruction and disaster on the camp of Israel. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron are holy and belong to the Lord. They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

²⁰ So the troops shouted very loudly when they heard the blast of the rams’ horns, and the wall collapsed. The troops charged straight ahead and captured the city. ²¹ They claimed everything in it for the Lord. With their swords they killed men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

²² But Joshua said to the two spies, “Go to the prostitute’s house. Bring the woman out, along with everything she has, as you swore you would do for her.”

²³ The spies went and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, everything she had, and even all of her relatives. They gave them a place outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ Then Israel burned the city and everything in it. But they put the silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron into the Lord’s treasury. ²⁵ Joshua spared the prostitute Rahab, her father’s family, and everything she had. She still lives in Israel today because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to look at Jericho.

²⁶ At that time Joshua pronounced this curse:

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

A Reminder to Follow Moses’ Teachings

23 A long time afterward, the Lord gave the Israelites peace with all their enemies around them. Joshua was old, near the end of his life. ² So he called all the leaders, chiefs, judges, and officers of Israel together. He said to them, “I am old, near the end of my life. ³ You have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all those nations. The Lord your God fought for you! ⁴ I have given you the territory of the nations that still remain as an inheritance for your tribes. This includes the territory of all the nations I have already destroyed from the Jordan River westward to the Mediterranean Sea. ⁵ The Lord your God will expel them right in front of your eyes and force them out of your way. You will take their land as the Lord your God told you. ⁶ Now you must be very strong to keep and to do everything written in the Book of Moses’ Teachings. Don’t turn away from them. ⁷ Don’t get mixed up with the nations left in your territory. Don’t ever mention the names of their gods or swear an oath to them. Don’t ever serve their gods or bow down to them. ⁸ But you must be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been until now. ⁹ The Lord has forced important and powerful nations out of your way. Not one person has ever been able to stand up to you. ¹⁰ One of you used to chase a thousand. That was because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he had promised you. ¹¹ Be very careful to love the Lord your God.

¹² “But if you turn away and go along with the other nations within your ⌞borders⌟, if you intermarry with them or associate with them, ¹³ then you should know that the Lord your God will never again force these people out of your way. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap for you, a whip laid to your sides, and thorns in your eyes until none of you are left in this good land that the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Pay attention, because I will soon die like everyone else. You know with all your heart and soul that not one single promise which the Lord your God has given you has ever failed to come true. Every single word has come true.

¹⁵ “Every good word the Lord your God has promised you has come true for you. In the same way the Lord will bring about every evil curse until he has destroyed you from this good land that he has given you. ¹⁶ When you ignore the conditions ^[a] placed on you by the Lord your God and follow other gods, serve them and bow down to them, the Lord will be angry with you. Then you will quickly disappear from the good land he has given you.”

Joshua Adds an Agreement to the Book of God’s Teachings

24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called together Israel’s leaders, chiefs, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves to God.

² Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Long ago your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and served other gods. ³ But I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates River. I led him through all of Canaan and gave him many descendants. I also gave him Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the mountains in Seir as his own. However, Jacob and his sons went to Egypt.

⁵ “Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with plagues. Later I led you out. ⁶ When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea. The Egyptians with their chariots and horsemen chased your ancestors to the Red Sea. ⁷ When your ancestors cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians. He made the sea flow back and cover them. You saw for yourselves what I did to Egypt. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.

⁸ “After that I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived on the east side of the Jordan River. They fought you. However, I handed them over to you. So you took their land, and I destroyed them in front of you. ⁹ Then Balak, son of King Zippor of Moab, fought Israel. He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you. ¹⁰ But I refused to listen to Balaam. All he could do was bless you. So I saved you from his power.

¹¹ “Then you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho, the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites fought you. But I handed them over to you. ¹² I sent hornets ahead of you to force out the two kings of the Amorites ahead of you. These things didn’t happen because of your battle skills or fighting ability. ¹³ So I gave you a land that you hadn’t farmed, cities to live in that you hadn’t built, vineyards and olive groves that you hadn’t planted. So you ate all you wanted!

¹⁴ “Fear the Lord, and serve him with integrity and faithfulness. Get rid of the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord. ¹⁵ But if you don’t want to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Even if you choose the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, my family and I will still serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ The people responded, “It would be unthinkable for us to abandon the Lord to serve other gods. ¹⁷ The Lord our God brought us and our ancestors out of slavery in Egypt. He did these spectacular signs right before our eyes. He guarded us wherever we went, especially as we passed through other nations. ¹⁸ The Lord forced out all the people ahead of us, including the Amorites who lived in this land. We, too, will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua answered the people, “Since the Lord is a holy God, you can’t possibly serve him. He is a God who does not tolerate rivals. He will not forgive your rebellious acts and sins. ²⁰ If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you. He will destroy you, although he has been so good to you.”

²¹ The people answered Joshua, “No! We will ⌞only⌟ serve the Lord!”

²² Joshua said to the people, “You have testified that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

They answered, “Yes, we have!”

²³ “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Turn yourselves entirely over to the Lord God of Israel.”

²⁴ The people replied to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”

²⁵ That day Joshua made an agreement for the people and set up laws and rules for them at Shechem. ²⁶ Joshua wrote these things in the Book of God’s Teachings. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree at the Lord’s holy place. ²⁷ Joshua told all the people, “This stone will stand as a witness for us. It has heard all the words which the Lord spoke to us. It will stand as a witness for you. You cannot deceive your God.” ²⁸ Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own property.

The Deaths of Joshua and Eleazar

²⁹ After these events, the Lord’s servant Joshua, son of Nun, died. He was 110 years old. ³⁰ He was buried on his own land at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

³¹ Israel served the Lord as long as Joshua and the older leaders, who outlived him and who knew everything the Lord had done for Israel, were alive.

³² Joseph’s bones, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, were buried at Shechem. They were placed in the plot of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. The plot was inherited by Joseph’s descendants.

³³ Aaron’s son Eleazar also died. He was buried on the hill that had been given to his son Phinehas in the mountains of Ephraim.