March 8

Joshua 1:1 — 3:17
 

Joshua

1 And it came about after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah that Jehovah proceeded to say to Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses: 2 “Moses my servant is dead; and now get up, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 Every place upon which the sole of YOUR foot will tread, to YOU people I shall certainly give it, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, that is, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun YOUR territory will prove to be. 5 Nobody will take a firm stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I proved to be with Moses I shall prove to be with you. I shall neither desert you nor leave you entirely. 6 Be courageous and strong, for you are the one who will cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their forefathers to give to them.

7 “Only be courageous and very strong to take care to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, in order that you may act wisely everywhere you go. 8 This book of the law should not depart from your mouth, and you must in an undertone read in it day and night, in order that you may take care to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful and then you will act wisely. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and strong. Do not suffer shock or be terrified, for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.”

10 And Joshua proceeded to command the officers of the people, saying: 11 “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, because three days from now YOU are crossing this Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that Jehovah YOUR God is giving YOU to take possession of it.’”

12 And to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh Joshua said: 13 “Let there be a remembering of the word that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded YOU, saying, ‘Jehovah YOUR God is giving YOU rest and has given YOU this land. 14 YOUR wives, YOUR little ones and YOUR livestock will dwell in the land that Moses has given YOU on this side of the Jordan; but YOU men will pass over in battle formation before YOUR brothers, all the valiant mighty men, and YOU must help them. 15 First when Jehovah gives rest to YOUR brothers the same as to YOU and they also have taken possession of the land that Jehovah YOUR God is giving them, YOU must also return to the land of YOUR holding and take possession of it, the one that Moses the servant of Jehovah has given YOU on the side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun.’”

16 Accordingly they answered Joshua, saying: “All that you have commanded us we shall do, and wherever you may send us we shall go. 17 As we listened to Moses in everything, so we shall listen to you. Only may Jehovah your God prove to be with you just as he proved to be with Moses. 18 Any man that behaves rebelliously against your order and does not listen to your words in all that you may command him will be put to death. Only be courageous and strong.”

2 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men out secretly from Shittim as spies, saying: “Go, take a look at the land and Jericho.” So they went and came to the house of a prostitute woman whose name was Rahab, and they took up lodging there. 2 In time it was said to the king of Jericho: “Look! Men from the sons of Israel have come in here tonight to search out the land.” 3 At that the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: “Bring out the men that came to you, that have come into your house, for it is to search out all the land that they have come.”

4 Meantime the woman took the two men and concealed them. And she proceeded to say: “Yes, the men did come to me, and I did not know from where they were. 5 And it came about at the closing of the gate by dark that the men went out. I just do not know where the men have gone. Chase after them quickly, for YOU will overtake them.” 6 (She, though, had taken them up to the roof, and she kept them out of sight among stalks of flax laid in rows for her upon the roof.) 7 And the men chased after them in the direction of the Jordan at the fords, and they shut the gate immediately after those chasing after them had gone out.

8 As for these, before they could lie down, she herself came up to them on the roof. 9 And she went on to say to the men: “I do know that Jehovah will certainly give YOU the land, and that the fright of YOU has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have become disheartened because of YOU. 10 For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea from 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, namely, Sihon and Og, whom YOU devoted to destruction. 11 When we got to hear it, then our hearts began to melt, and no spirit has arisen yet in anybody because of YOU, for Jehovah YOUR God is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 And now, please, swear to me by Jehovah that, because I have exercised loving-kindness toward YOU, YOU also will certainly exercise loving-kindness toward the household of my father, and YOU must give me a trustworthy sign. 13 And YOU must preserve alive my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all who belong to them, and YOU must deliver our souls from death.”

14 At that the men said to her: “Our souls are to die instead of YOU people! If YOU will not tell about this matter of ours, it must also occur that when Jehovah gives us the land, we also shall certainly exercise loving-kindness and trustworthiness toward you.” 15 After that she had them descend by a rope through the window, for her house was on a side of the wall, and it was on the wall that she was dwelling. 16 And she proceeded to say to them: “Go to the mountainous region, that those in pursuit may not come in contact with YOU; and YOU must keep hid there three days, until those in pursuit have come back, and afterward YOU may go in YOUR own direction.”

17 In turn the men said to her: “We are free from guilt respecting this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Look! We are coming into the land. This cord of scarlet thread you should tie in the window by which you have had us descend, and your father and your mother and your brothers and all the household of your father you should gather to yourself into the house. 19 And it must occur that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the open, his blood will be upon his own head, and we shall be free from guilt; and everyone who continues with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads if a hand should come upon him. 20 And if you should report this matter of ours, we shall also have become free from guilt respecting this oath of yours that you have made us swear.” 21 To this she said: “According to YOUR words so let it be.”

With that she sent them off, and they went their way. After that she tied the scarlet cord in the window. 22 So they went and came to the mountainous region and kept dwelling there three days, until the pursuers had come back. Now the pursuers were looking for them on every road, and they did not find them. 23 And the two men proceeded to descend again from the mountainous region and to cross over and come to Joshua the son of Nun, and they began to relate to him all the things that had happened to them. 24 And they went on to say to Joshua: “Jehovah has given all the land into our hand. Consequently all the inhabitants of the land have also grown disheartened because of us.”

3 Then Joshua got up early in the morning, and he and all the sons of Israel proceeded to pull away from Shittim and to come as far as the Jordan; and they went spending the night there before they would cross.

2 So it came about at the end of the three days that the officers proceeded to pass through the midst of the camp 3 and to command the people, saying: “As soon as YOU see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah YOUR God, and the priests, the Levites, carrying it, then YOU yourselves will pull away from YOUR place, and YOU must follow it, 4 —only let there prove to be a distance between YOU and it of about two thousand cubits by measure; do not get near to it—in order that YOU may know the way by which YOU should go, for YOU have not passed over on that way before.”

5 Joshua now said to the people: “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow Jehovah will do wonderful things in YOUR midst.”

6 Then Joshua said to the priests: “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

7 And Jehovah proceeded to say to Joshua: “This day I shall start to make you great in the eyes of all Israel, that they may know that just as I proved to be with Moses I shall prove to be with you. 8 And you—you should command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘As soon as YOU have come as far as the edge of the waters of the Jordan, YOU should stand still in the Jordan.’”

9 And Joshua went on to say to the sons of Israel: “Approach here and listen to the words of Jehovah YOUR God.” 10 After that Joshua said: “By this YOU will know that a living God is in YOUR midst, and that he will without fail drive away from before YOU the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. 11 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth is passing before YOU into the Jordan. 12 And now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13 And it must occur that at the instant that the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of the whole earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, the waters descending from above, and they will stand still as one dam.”

14 And it came about that when the people pulled away from their tents just before passing over the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and at the instant that the carriers of the Ark came as far as the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the Ark were dipped in the edge of the waters (now the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 then the waters descending from above began to stand still. They rose up as one dam very far away at Adam, the city at the side of Zarethan, while those descending toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were exhausted. They were cut off, and the people passed over in front of Jericho. 17 Meanwhile the priests carrying the ark of Jehovah’s covenant kept standing immovable on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan as all Israel were passing over on dry ground, until the whole nation had completed passing over the Jordan.