While you are living, all will give way before you: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not take away my help from you or give you up.

Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do.

This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

“Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you, to possess it.’”

Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle will be kept here in the land which Moses gave you on this side of Jordan; but you, the fighting-men, are to go over before your brothers, armed, to give them help;

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.

And the woman taketh the two men, and hideth them, and saith thus: 'The men came in unto me, and I have not known whence they are;

She said to the men, "I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. We are absolutely terrified of you, and all who live in the land are cringing before you.

For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your presence, in your going out of Egypt, and that which ye have done to the two kings of the Amorite who are beyond the Jordan; to Sihon and to Og whom ye devoted.

And the men will say to her, We are free from this thine oath which thou caused us to swear.

Lo! when we are coming into the land, this cord of crimson thread, must thou bind in the window by which thou didst let us down, and, thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all the household of thy father, must thou gather together unto thee unto the house.

And it was all which went forth out of the doors of thy house without, his blood upon his head and we are free, and all which shall be with thee in the house, his blood upon our head if a hand shall be upon him.

And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

They said to Joshua, “Certainly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of us.”

and they commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from where you are and follow it.

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.

It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.”

And when those who took up the ark came to Jordan, and the feet of the priests who took up the ark were touching the edge of the water (for the waters of Jordan are overflowing all through the time of the grain-cutting),

and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stand on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan -- established, and all Israel are passing over on dry ground till that all the nation hath completed to pass over the Jordan.

and command them: Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

The stones will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, 'Why are these stones important to you?'

Then Joshua set up [a second monument of] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

And the priests bearing the ark are standing in the midst of the Jordan till the completion of the whole thing which Jehovah commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people haste and pass over.

Command the priests who are bearing the ark of testimony, - that they come up out of the Jordan.

He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’

you are to tell your descendants: "Israel crossed this Jordan River on dry ground

And it cometh to pass when all the kings of the Amorite which are beyond the Jordan, towards the sea, and all the kings of the Canaanite which are by the sea, hear how that Jehovah hath dried up the waters of the Jordan at the presence of the sons of Israel till their passing over, that their heart is melted, and there hath not been in them any more spirit because of the presence of the sons of Israel.

And this is the thing for which Joshua circumciseth them: all the people who are coming out of Egypt, who are males, all the men of war have died in the wilderness, in the way, in their coming out of Egypt,

for all the people who are coming out were circumcised, and all the people who are born in the wilderness, in the way, in their coming out from Egypt, they have not circumcised;

for forty years have the sons of Israel gone in the wilderness, till all the nation of the men of war who are coming out of Egypt, who hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah, to whom Jehovah hath sworn not to show them the land which Jehovah sware to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey, are consumed;

Now when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his drawn sword in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

And let seven priests go before the ark with seven loud-sounding horns in their hands: on the seventh day you are to go round the town seven times, the priests blowing their horns.

And at the sound of a long note on the horns, let all the people give a loud cry; and the wall of the town will come down flat, and all the people are to go straight forward.

And he said to the people, Pass on, go round the city, and they that are armed shall pass on before the ark of Jehovah.

But Joshua had commanded the people: “Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don’t let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, ‘Shout!’ Then you are to shout.”

and seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah are walking, going on, and they have blown with the trumpets -- and he who is armed is going before them, and he who is gathering up is going behind the ark of Jehovah -- going on and blowing with the trumpets.

The city and everything that is in it shall be under the ban [that is, designated to be destroyed as a form of tribute] to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute and all [the people] who are with her in her house shall [be allowed to] live, because she hid and protected the messengers (scouts) whom we sent.

But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster.

All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy (consecrated) to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”

Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you promised her.”

Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not make all the people go up [to fight]; have only about two thousand or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the entire army go up there, for they [of Ai] are few.”

The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you on the ground?

That is why the soldiers of Israel could not stand [and defend themselves] before their enemies; they turned their backs [and ran] before them, because they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from among you.

Rise up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “There are things under the ban among you, O Israel. You cannot stand [victorious] before your enemies until you remove the things under the ban from among you.”

So in the morning you are to come near, tribe by tribe; and the tribe marked out by the Lord is to come near, family by family; and the family marked out by the Lord is to come near, house by house; and the house marked out by the Lord is to come near, man by man.

when I saw among the spoils [in Jericho] a beautiful robe from Shinar (southern Babylon) and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I wanted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

And you are to do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king: but their goods and their cattle you may take for yourselves: let a secret force be stationed to make a surprise attack on the town from the back.

He commanded them, saying, “See, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us [for battle] as [they did] the first time, we will run away from them.

They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, because they will say, ‘They are running from us as [they did] before.’ So we will run from them.

you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God has handed it over to you.

When you've taken the city, set it on fire, just as the LORD ordered. Look! These are your orders!"

and all the people of war who are with him have gone up, and draw nigh and come in over-against the city, and encamp on the north of Ai; and the valley is between him and Ai.

And all the people which are in the city will be called together to pursue after them, and they will pursue after Joshua, and be drawn away from the city.

And the men of Ai look behind them, and see, and lo, the smoke of the city hath gone up unto the heavens, and there hath not been in them power to flee hither and thither -- and the people who are fleeing to the wilderness have turned against the pursuer, --

and these have come out from the city to meet them, and they are in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that, and they smite them till he hath not left to them a remnant and escaped one;

and all who fall during the day, of men and of women, are twelve thousand -- all men of Ai.

And all Israel, and its elders, and authorities, and its judges, are standing on this side and on that of the ark, over-against the priests, the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the native, half of them over-against mount Gerizim, and the half of them over-against mount Ebal, as Moses servant of Jehovah commanded to bless the people of Israel at the first.

Then Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll.

And it will be when all the kings hear which are on the other side Jordan, in the mountain and in the plain, and in all the coast of the great sea, and in front of Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite;

And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, From a far country are we come; and now make a covenant with us.

The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?”

They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,

and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who are beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who is in Ashtaroth.

So our elders and all the residents of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for the journey and go to meet the sons of Israel and say to them, “We are your servants; now make a covenant (treaty) with us.”’

These wineskins which we filled were new, and look, they are split; our clothes and our sandals are worn out because of the very long journey [that we had to make].”

And it will be from the end of three days after they cut out a covenant to them, and they will hear that they are near to him, and they dwell in the midst of him.

And the sons of Israel journey and come in unto their cities on the third day -- and their cities are Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim --

And all the princes say unto all the company, 'We -- we have sworn to them by Jehovah, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them;

And the princes say unto them, 'They live, and are hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the company, as the princes spake to them.'

And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us?

Now therefore, you are cursed, and you shall always be slaves, both cutters and gatherers of firewood and water carriers for the house of my God.”

Now look, we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight.”

On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers—as they are today—for the community and for the Lord’s altar at the place He would choose.

And it cometh to pass, when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heareth that Joshua hath captured Ai, and doth devote it (as he had done to Jericho and to her king so he hath done to Ai and to her king), and that the inhabitants of Gibeon have made peace with Israel, and are in their midst, --

that they are greatly afraid, because Gibeon is a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it is greater than Ai, and all its men -- heroes.

And five kings of the Amorite (the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon) are gathered together, and go up, they and all their camps, and encamp against Gibeon, and fight against it.

So the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all [five of] the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have assembled against us.”

And it cometh to pass, in their fleeing from the face of Israel -- they are in the descent of Beth-Horon -- and Jehovah hath cast upon them great stones out of the heavens, unto Azekah, and they die; more are they who have died by the hailstones than they whom the sons of Israel have slain by the sword.

And these five kings flee, and are hidden in a cave at Makkedah,

And Joshua was told, “The five kings have been found and are hidden in the cave at Makkedah.”

And do not stay. Pursue your enemies and strike the ones who are behind. Do not allow them to enter into their cities. For Jehovah your God has delivered them into your hand.

And it cometh to pass, when Joshua and the sons of Israel finish to smite them -- a very great smiting, till they are consumed, and the remnant who have remained of them go in unto the fenced cities,

And Joshua saith unto them, 'Fear not, nor be affrighted; be strong and courageous; for thus doth Jehovah do to all your enemies with whom ye are fighting;'

and Joshua smiteth them afterwards, and putteth them to death, and hangeth them on five trees; and they are hanging on the trees till the evening.

At sunset Joshua commanded that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave where they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.

Joshua conquered the area between Kadesh Barnea and Gaza and the whole region of Goshen, all the way to Gibeon.

and unto the kings that are by north in the mountains and plains, on the south side of Chinnereth, and in the low countries, and in the regions of Dor upon the sea;

Canaanites came from the east and west; Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites from the hill country; and Hivites from below Hermon in the area of Mizpah.

and all these kings are met together, and they come and encamp together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for at this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to be killed before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”

Only, all the cities which are standing by their hill, Israel hath not burned them, save Hazor only, it hath Joshua burnt;

Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed beyond the Jordan toward the east, from the valley of the [river] Arnon to Mount Hermon, and all the Arabah [plain] to the east:

His kingdom included the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), including the route to Beth Jeshimoth and the area southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,

The king of Tirzah, one; all the kings are thirty and one.

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You have grown old and advanced in years, and very substantial portions of the land remain to be possessed.

from the Shihor [waterway] which is east of Egypt [at the southern end of Canaan], northward to the border of Ekron (all of it regarded as Canaanite); the five rulers of the Philistines: the Gazite, Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite; and the Avvite