1 And it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' attendant, saying,

² Moses my servant is dead; and now, rise up, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, into the land which I give unto them, to the children of Israel.

³ Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses.

⁴ From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

⁵ None shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee.

⁶ Be strong and courageous, for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn unto their fathers to give them.

⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

⁸ This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate upon it day and night, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou have good success in thy ways, and then shalt thou prosper.

⁹ Have I not commanded thee: Be strong and courageous? Be not afraid, neither be dismayed; for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

¹⁰ And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

¹¹ Go through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare yourselves victuals, for in three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, that ye may enter in to take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth you to possess it.

¹² And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to half the tribe of Manasseh spoke Joshua, saying,

¹³ Remember the word that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God has given you rest and has given you this land.

¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall abide in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but ye, all the valiant men, shall go over in array before your brethren and help them,

¹⁵ until Jehovah give your brethren rest as to you, and they also take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth them; then shall ye return into the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sun-rising.

¹⁶ And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou hast commanded us will we do, and whither thou shalt send us will we go.

¹⁷ According as we hearkened to Moses in all things, so will we hearken to thee; only may Jehovah thy God be with thee as he was with Moses.

¹⁸ Every one that is rebellious against thy commandment and hearkeneth not to thy words in everything that thou commandest us, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.

2 And Joshua the son of Nun sent from Shittim two spies secretly, saying, Go, see the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into a harlot's house, named Rahab, and they lay down there.

² And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, men have come hither to-night from the children of Israel to search out the land.

³ And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that have come to thee, who have come into thy house: for they have come to search out all the land.

⁴ And the woman had taken and concealed the two men; and she said, Yes, the men did come unto me, but I knew not whence they were;

⁵ and it came to pass when the gate had to be closed, at dark, that the men went out: I know not whither the men have gone. Pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

⁶ But she had taken them up to the roof, and secreted them under the stalks of flax, which she had laid out on the roof.

⁷ And the men pursued after them the way to the Jordan, to the fords; and when they who pursued after them had gone out, they closed the gate.

⁸ And before they had lain down, she went up to them upon the roof;

⁹ and said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that the dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

¹⁰ For we have heard that Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red sea before you when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

¹¹ We heard [of it], and our heart melted, and there remained no more spirit in any man because of you; for Jehovah your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

¹² And now, I pray you, swear to me by Jehovah, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye will also deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a certain sign,

¹³ that ye will let my father live, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that belong to them, and deliver our souls from death.

¹⁴ And the men said to her, Our lives shall pay for yours, if ye do not make this our business known; and it shall be when Jehovah shall give us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

¹⁵ And she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was upon the city-wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶ And she said to them, Go to the mountain, that the pursuers may not meet with you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; and afterwards go your way.

¹⁷ And the men said to her, We will be quit of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

¹⁸ Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind in the window this line of scarlet thread by which thou hast let us down; and thou shalt gather to thee in the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household;

¹⁹ and it shall be, that whoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street,—his blood shall be upon his head, and we shall be innocent; but every one who shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be upon our head, if any hand be upon him.

²⁰ And if thou make known this our business, we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

²¹ And she said, According to 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 to the mountain, and remained there three days, until the pursuers had returned; and the pursuers sought them all the way, and found them not.

²³ And the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and went over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and related to him everything that had happened to them.

²⁴ And they said to Joshua, Of a surety Jehovah has given the whole land into our hands, and even all the inhabitants of the land faint because of us.