[ Joshua Chapter 1 ]
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the
LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and
all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of
Israel.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said unto Moses.
4 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 coast.
5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life:
as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee.
6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from
it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou
goest.
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt
meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then
thou shalt have good success.
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou
goest.
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals,
for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the
land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.
12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh,
spake Joshua, saying,
13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying,
The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.
14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which
Moses gave you on this side Jordan, but ye shall pass before your brethren
armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them,
15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they
also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall
return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD's
servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.
16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and
whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto
thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.
18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken
unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only
be strong and of a good courage.
[ Joshua Chapter 2 ]
1 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 an harlot's house,
named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither
to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are
come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out
all the country.
4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men
unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark,
that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them
quickly, for ye shall overtake them.
6 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.
7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon
as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof,
9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and
that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land
faint because of you.
10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you,
when ye came out of Egypt, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites,
that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
11 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.
12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you
kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a
true token:
13 And that ye 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.
14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our
business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will
deal kindly and truly with thee.
15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon
the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you,
and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and
afterward may ye go your way.
17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou
hast made us swear.
18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet
thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy
father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home
unto thee.
19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into
the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and
whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if
any hand be upon him.
20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which
thou hast made us to swear.
21 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.
22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until
the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way,
but found them not.
23 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:
24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all
the land, for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
[ Joshua Chapter 3 ]
1 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.
2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host,
3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of
the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove
from your place, and go after it.
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by
measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go:
for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD
will do wonders among you.
6 And Joshua spake 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.
7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the
sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be
with thee.
8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying,
When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in
Jordan.
9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words
of the LORD your God.
10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye 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.
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth passeth over
before you into Jordan.
12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every
tribe a man.
13 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 an heap.
14 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,
15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the
priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan
overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap
very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: 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.
17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on
dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry
ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.
[ Joshua Chapter 4 ]
1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that
the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of
the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry
them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge
this night.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of
Israel, out of every tribe a man:
5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into
the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder,
according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers
in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
7 Then ye 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.
8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve
stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake 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.
9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the
feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there
unto this day.
10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst 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 hasted and passed
over.
11 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.
12 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 spake unto
them:
13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto
battle, to the plains of Jericho.
14 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.
15 And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out
of Jordan.
17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of
the LORD were come up out of the midst 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.
19 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.
20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in
Gilgal.
21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall
ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on
dry land.
23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye
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:
24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is
mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
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