- Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your borders. There shall not any man be able to stand before you, all the days of your life.
- As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you, nor forsake you. Be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
- Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host and command the people, saying, Prepare provisions, for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess it. And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh spoke Joshua, saying, 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. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as he has given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your God gives them. Then you shall return unto the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave you on this side of Jordan toward the sunrise. And they answered Joshua, saying, All that you command us, we will do; and wherever you send us, we will go. According as we listened unto Moses in all things, so will we listen unto you. Only the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever he is that does rebel against your commandment and will not listen unto your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of a good courage.
- And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel, to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that have come to you, who have entered into your house, for they have come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men and hid them, and said thus: There came men unto me, but I knew not from where they were. And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I know not. Pursue after them quickly, for you shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords, and as soon as they who pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
- And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof, and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you; for the Lord your God, he is God in Heaven above and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token, and that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if you utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you. Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall and she dwelled upon the wall.
- And she said unto them, Get yourselves to the mountain lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned; and afterward may you go your way. And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this your oath which you have made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by, and you shall bring your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all your father’s household home unto you. And it shall be that whoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head and we will be guiltless; and whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if any hand be upon him. And if you utter this our business, then we will be acquitted of your oath which you have made us to swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
- And they went and came unto the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers were returned; and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 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 befell them. And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
- And Joshua rose early in the morning. And they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host, and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Come not near unto it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before now. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. And Joshua spoke unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
- And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And you shall command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When you have come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, Hereby 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: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into Jordan. Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord — the Lord of all the earth — shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap.
- And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as they that bore the ark had come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water — for Jordan overflows all his banks all the time of harvest — that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up upon a heap very far, from the city Adam that is beside Zarethan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.
- And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spoke unto Joshua, saying, Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command them, saying, Take from here — out of the middle of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm — twelve stones. And you shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man. And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of Jordan, and take up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do you mean by these stones? — then you shall answer them that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan; the waters of Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
- And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of Jordan as the Lord spoke unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there unto this day. For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; and the people hastened and passed over. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke unto them. About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. On 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.
- And the Lord spoke unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up out of the middle of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place and flowed over all his banks as they did before. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean? — then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you until you were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we were gone over, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you might fear the Lord your God for ever.
- And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites (who were on the side of Jordan westward) and all the kings of the Canaanites (who were by the sea) heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them anymore, because of the children of Israel.
- At that time, the Lord said unto Joshua, Make yourselves sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made himself sharp knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: all the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people that came out were circumcised, but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the people that were men of war who came out of Egypt were consumed (because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord), unto whom the Lord swore that he would not show them the land which the Lord swore unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that flows with milk and honey. And their children whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised because they had not circumcised them by the way. And it came to pass, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they remained in their places in the camp until they were whole. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you; wherefore, the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
- And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old grain of the land on the next day, after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched grain in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the old grain of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
- And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, What does my lord say unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Remove your shoe from off your foot, for the place on which you stand is holy. And Joshua did so.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
Chapter 1