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Joshua 1-4
The Message
Joshua 1-4
The Message
1 1-9 After the death of Moses the servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses’ assistant:
“Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. Cross to the country I’m giving to the People of Israel. I’m giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on—just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It’s all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. In the same way I was with Moses, I’ll be with you. I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you. Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going. And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”
The Taking of the Land
10-11 Then Joshua gave orders to the people’s leaders: “Go through the camp and give this order to the people: ‘Pack your bags. In three days you will cross this Jordan River to enter and take the land God, your God, is giving you to possess.’”
12-15 Then Joshua addressed the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He said, “Remember what Moses the servant of God commanded you: God, your God, gives you rest and he gives you this land. Your wives, your children, and your livestock can stay here east of the Jordan, the country Moses gave you; but you, tough soldiers all, must cross the River in battle formation, leading your brothers, helping them until God, your God, gives your brothers a place of rest just as he has done for you. They also will take possession of the land that God, your God, is giving them. Then you will be free to return to your possession, given to you by Moses the servant of God, across the Jordan to the east.”
16-18 They answered Joshua: “Everything you commanded us, we’ll do. Wherever you send us, we’ll go. We obeyed Moses to the letter; we’ll also obey you—we just pray that God, your God, will be with you as he was with Moses. Anyone who questions what you say and refuses to obey whatever you command him will be put to death. Strength! Courage!”
Rahab
2 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent out from Shittim two men as spies: “Go. Look over the land. Check out Jericho.” They left and arrived at the house of a harlot named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, “We’ve just learned that men arrived tonight to spy out the land. They’re from the People of Israel.”
3 The king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you to stay the night in your house. They’re spies; they’ve come to spy out the whole country.”
4-7 The woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, two men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they’d come from. At dark, when the gate was about to be shut, the men left. But I have no idea where they went. Hurry up! Chase them—you can still catch them!” (She had actually taken them up on the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax that were spread out for her on the roof.) So the men gave chase down the Jordan road toward the fords. As soon as they were gone, the gate was shut.
8-11 Before the spies were down for the night, the woman came up to them on the roof and said, “I know that God has given you the land. We’re all afraid. Everyone in the country feels hopeless. We heard how God dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt, and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you put under a holy curse and destroyed. We heard it and our hearts sank. We all had the wind knocked out of us. And all because of you, you and God, your God, God of the heavens above and God of the earth below.
12-13 “Now promise me by God. I showed you mercy; now show my family mercy. And give me some tangible proof, a guarantee of life for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters—everyone connected with my family. Save our souls from death!”
14 “Our lives for yours!” said the men. “But don’t tell anyone our business. When God turns this land over to us, we’ll do right by you in loyal mercy.”
15-16 She lowered them down out a window with a rope because her house was on the city wall to the outside. She told them, “Run for the hills so your pursuers won’t find you. Hide out for three days and give your pursuers time to return. Then get on your way.”
17-20 The men told her, “In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it’s his own fault—we aren’t responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it’s our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we’re no longer responsible.”
21 She said, “If that’s what you say, that’s the way it is,” and sent them off. They left and she hung the red rope out the window.
22 They headed for the hills and stayed there for three days until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had looked high and low but found nothing.
23-24 The men headed back. They came down out of the hills, crossed the river, and returned to Joshua son of Nun and reported all their experiences. They told Joshua, “Yes! God has given the whole country to us. Everybody there is in a state of panic because of us.”
The Jordan
3 1-4 Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.”
5 Then Joshua addressed the people: “Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.”
6 Joshua instructed the priests, “Take up the Chest of the Covenant and step out before the people.” So they took it up and processed before the people.
7-8 God said to Joshua, “This very day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel. They’ll see for themselves that I’m with you in the same way that I was with Moses. You will command the priests who are carrying the Chest of the Covenant: ‘When you come to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, stand there on the river bank.’”
9-13 Then Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “Attention! Listen to what God, your God, has to say. This is how you’ll know that God is alive among you—he will completely dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Look at what’s before you: the Chest of the Covenant. Think of it—the Master of the entire earth is crossing the Jordan as you watch. Now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Chest of God, Master of all the earth, touch the Jordan’s water, the flow of water will be stopped—the water coming from upstream will pile up in a heap.”
14-16 And that’s what happened. The people left their tents to cross the Jordan, led by the priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant. When the priests got to the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge (the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest), the flow of water stopped. It piled up in a heap—a long way off—at Adam, which is near Zarethan. The river went dry all the way down to the Arabah Sea (the Salt Sea). And the people crossed, facing Jericho.
17 And there they stood; those priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant stood firmly planted on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.
4 1-3 When the whole nation was finally across, God spoke to Joshua: “Select twelve men from the people, a man from each tribe, and tell them, ‘From right here, the middle of the Jordan where the feet of the priests are standing firm, take twelve stones. Carry them across with you and set them down in the place where you camp tonight.’”
4-7 Joshua called out the twelve men whom he selected from the People of Israel, one man from each tribe. Joshua directed them, “Cross to the middle of the Jordan and take your place in front of the Chest of God, your God. Each of you heft a stone to your shoulder, a stone for each of the tribes of the People of Israel, so you’ll have something later to mark the occasion. When your children ask you, ‘What are these stones to you?’ you’ll say, ‘The flow of the Jordan was stopped in front of the Chest of the Covenant of God as it crossed the Jordan—stopped in its tracks. These stones are a permanent memorial for the People of Israel.’”
8-9 The People of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded: They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan—a stone for each of the twelve tribes, just as God had instructed Joshua—carried them across with them to the camp, and set them down there. Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan that had marked the place where the priests who carried the Chest of the Covenant had stood. They are still there today.
10-11 The priests carrying the Chest continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything God had instructed Joshua to tell the people to do was done (confirming what Moses had instructed Joshua). The people crossed; no one dawdled. When the crossing of all the people was complete, they watched as the Chest of the Covenant and the priests crossed over.
12-13 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had crossed over in battle formation in front of the People of Israel, obedient to Moses’ instructions. All told, about forty thousand armed soldiers crossed over before God to the plains of Jericho, ready for battle.
14 God made Joshua great that day in the sight of all Israel. They were in awe of him just as they had been in awe of Moses all his life.
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15-16 God told Joshua, “Command the priests carrying the Chest of The Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”
17 Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
18 They did it. The priests carrying God’s Chest of the Covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan. As soon as the soles of the priests’ feet touched dry land, the Jordan’s waters resumed their flow within the banks, just as before.
19-22 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They set up camp at The Gilgal (The Circle) to the east of Jericho. Joshua erected a monument at The Gilgal, using the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan. And then he told the People of Israel, “In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones doing here?’ tell your children this: ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.’
23-24 “Yes, God, your God, dried up the Jordan’s waters for you until you had crossed, just as God, your God, did at the Red Sea, which had dried up before us until we had crossed. This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong God’s rescuing hand is and so that you would hold God in solemn reverence always.”
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Joshua 1-4
New International Version
Joshua 1-4
New International Version
Joshua Installed as Leader
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,(A) the Lord said to Joshua(B) son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River(C) into the land(D) I am about to give to them(E)—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot,(F) as I promised Moses.(G) 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,(H) and from the great river, the Euphrates(I)—all the Hittite(J) country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.(K) 5 No one will be able to stand against you(L) all the days of your life. As I was with(M) Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake(N) you. 6 Be strong(O) and courageous,(P) because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors(Q) to give them.
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey(R) all the law(S) my servant Moses(T) gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,(U) that you may be successful wherever you go.(V) 8 Keep this Book of the Law(W) always on your lips;(X) meditate(Y) on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.(Z) 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid;(AA) do not be discouraged,(AB) for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”(AC)
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:(AD) 11 “Go through the camp(AE) and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions(AF) ready. Three days(AG) from now you will cross the Jordan(AH) here to go in and take possession(AI) of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”
12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,(AJ) Joshua said, 13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest(AK) by giving you this land.’ 14 Your wives,(AL) your children and your livestock may stay in the land(AM) that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle,(AN) must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites.(AO) You are to help them 15 until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”(AP)
16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.(AQ) 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.(AR) Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey(AS) it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!(AT)”
Rahab and the Spies
2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies(AU) from Shittim.(AV) “Go, look over(AW) the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.(AX)” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab(AY) and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:(AZ) “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men(BA) and hidden them.(BB) She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,(BC) they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”(BD) 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax(BE) she had laid out on the roof.)(BF) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan,(BG) and as soon as the pursuers(BH) had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof(BI) 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear(BJ) of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up(BK) the water of the Red Sea[a] for you when you came out of Egypt,(BL) and what you did to Sihon and Og,(BM) the two kings of the Amorites(BN) east of the Jordan,(BO) whom you completely destroyed.[b](BP) 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear(BQ) and everyone’s courage failed(BR) because of you,(BS) for the Lord your God(BT) is God in heaven above and on the earth(BU) below.
12 “Now then, please swear to me(BV) by the Lord that you will show kindness(BW) to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign(BX) 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them(BY)—and that you will save us from death.”
14 “Our lives for your lives!”(BZ) the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully(CA) when the Lord gives us the land.”
15 So she let them down by a rope(CB) through the window,(CC) for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 She said to them, “Go to the hills(CD) so the pursuers(CE) will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days(CF) until they return, and then go on your way.”(CG)
17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath(CH) you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord(CI) in the window(CJ) through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family(CK) into your house. 19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads;(CL) we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head(CM) if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.(CN)”
21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”
So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord(CO) in the window.(CP)
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days,(CQ) until the pursuers(CR) had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands;(CS) all the people are melting in fear(CT) because of us.”
Crossing the Jordan
3 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim(CU) and went to the Jordan,(CV) where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days(CW) the officers(CX) went throughout the camp,(CY) 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant(CZ) of the Lord your God, and the Levitical(DA) priests(DB) carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits[c](DC) between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,(DD) for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things(DE) among you.”
6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.
7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you(DF) in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.(DG) 8 Tell the priests(DH) who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”
9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God(DI) is among you(DJ) and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,(DK) Hivites, Perizzites,(DL) Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.(DM) 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth(DN) will go into the Jordan ahead of you.(DO) 12 Now then, choose twelve men(DP) from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth(DQ)—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream(DR) will be cut off(DS) and stand up in a heap.(DT)”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant(DU) went ahead(DV) of them. 15 Now the Jordan(DW) is at flood stage(DX) all during harvest.(DY) Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing.(DZ) It piled up in a heap(EA) a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,(EB) while the water flowing down(EC) to the Sea of the Arabah(ED) (that is, the Dead Sea(EE)) was completely cut off.(EF) So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.(EG) 17 The priests(EH) who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,(EI) while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.(EJ)
4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,(EK) the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men(EL) from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones(EM) from the middle of the Jordan,(EN) from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.(EO)”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men(EP) he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.(EQ) Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign(ER) among you. In the future, when your children(ES) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’(ET) 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off(EU) before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial(EV) to the people of Israel forever.”
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones(EW) from the middle of the Jordan,(EX) according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua;(EY) and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones(EZ) that had been[d] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.(FA)
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben,(FB) Gad(FC) and the half-tribe of Manasseh(FD) crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites,(FE) as Moses had directed them.(FF) 13 About forty thousand armed for battle(FG) crossed over(FH) before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 That day the Lord exalted(FI) Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.
15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law(FJ) to come up out of the Jordan.”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place(FK) and ran at flood stage(FL) as before.
19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal(FM) on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones(FN) they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’(FO) 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’(FP) 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[e] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.(FQ) 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know(FR) that the hand of the Lord is powerful(FS) and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.(FT)”
Footnotes
- Joshua 2:10 Or the Sea of Reeds
- Joshua 2:10 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- Joshua 3:4 That is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters
- Joshua 4:9 Or Joshua also set up twelve stones
- Joshua 4:23 Or the Sea of Reeds
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.