¹After the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, Jehovah spoke to  ²Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' attendant, saying,

Moses My servant is dead; now then arise, and cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the  ¹land which I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.

Every place on which the sole of your foot  ¹treads I have given to you, as I promised Moses.

From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the  ¹Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you.

Be strong and take courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.

Only be strong and very courageous, being certain to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn away from it to the right or to the left, that you may have success wherever you go.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall  ¹muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

Go through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare provisions for yourselves, for in three days you are to cross this Jordan to enter and possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving you to possess.

And to the  ¹Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying,

Remember the word which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God has given you rest and will give you this land.

Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses has given you beyond the Jordan; but you yourselves shall cross over in battle array before your brothers, all the mighty men of valor; and you shall help them,

Until Jehovah gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession, and you will possess that which Moses the servant of Jehovah has given you beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun.

And they answered Joshua, saying, All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

As in all things we listened to Moses, so we will listen to  ¹you. Only may Jehovah your God be with you, as He was with Moses.

Any man who rebels against your command or does not listen to your words in all that you command him, let him be put to death. Only be strong and take courage.

Then Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent out from Shittim two men as spies, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho.

And they went and entered the house of a woman who was a harlot, whose name was  ¹Rahab; and they lay down there.

And the king of Jericho was told, saying, There are some men who have now come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the land.

Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have come to you and who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.

And the woman took the two men and hid them. And she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

And when it was time to shut the gate at dark, the men went out; I do not know where the men have gone. Pursue quickly after them, for you can overtake them.

But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof.

So the men pursued after them on the way toward the Jordan as far as the fords. And as soon as those who pursued after them went out, the gate was shut.

And before  ¹the spies lay down, she went up to them on the roof;

And she said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that the dread of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt before you.

For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you  ¹utterly destroyed.

When we heard, our hearts melted; and there no longer remained any spirit in any man because of you; for Jehovah your God,  ¹He is God in heaven above and upon earth beneath.

So now, swear to me by Jehovah, I beg you, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house; and give me some token of trust,

That you will preserve my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death.

And the men said to her, Our life  ¹for yours! If you do not utter anything of this matter concerning us, then when Jehovah gives the land to us, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.

Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the wall of the city and she dwelt on the wall.

And she said to them, Go to the mountain, so that your pursuers do not come upon you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until your pursuers return; then afterward you can go on your way.

And the men said to her, We will be released from this oath to you that you made us swear,

Unless, when we enter the land, you tie this line of  ¹scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father's house to you in your house.

And anyone who goes forth from the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be upon his own head, and we will be innocent. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood will be upon our heads if a hand should come upon him.

But if you utter anything of this matter concerning us, we will be released from this oath to you that you made us swear.

And she said, According to your words, so shall it be. Then she sent them away, and they left. And she tied the scarlet line in the window.

And they left and came to the mountain, and they remained there for three days, until their pursuers returned. And although their pursuers searched the entire way, they could not find them.

Then the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. And they related to him all that had happened to them.

And they said to Joshua,  ¹Jehovah has indeed given all the land into our hand; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt before us.

Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they stayed there overnight, before they crossed over.

And at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp,

And they commanded the people, saying, When you see the  ¹Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah your God and the Levitical priests bearing it, you shall set out from your place and go after it.

But there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.

And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow Jehovah will do wondrous things in your midst.

Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and cross over before the people. And they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people.

And Jehovah said to Joshua, On this day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, I will be with you.

And you shall command the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.

Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here and hear the words of Jehovah your God.

And Joshua said, By this you will know that the living God is in your midst, and that He will most certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites.

The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is now crossing over before you into the Jordan.

Therefore now take twelve men for yourselves out of the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

And when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the Ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of the Jordan; the waters of the Jordan, the waters that flow down from upstream, will be cut off, and they will  ¹stand in a heap.

And so it happened that when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were before the people.

And when those who carried the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who carried the Ark dipped into the edge of the water (now the Jordan overflowed all its banks throughout all the days of the harvest),

The waters that flowed down from upstream stood and rose up in a heap a great distance away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that flowed down toward the sea of the  ¹Arabah, the  ²Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people  ³crossed over from opposite Jericho.

And the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel was crossing over on dry ground, until all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan.