Crossing the Jordan

1Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubitsbetween you and the ark; do not go near it.”

5Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

6Joshua 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.

7And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ”

9Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

14So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Rahab and the Spies

1Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

2The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

4But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6(But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

8Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.11When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

12“Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”

14“Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the Lord gives us the land.”

15So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”

17Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 20But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

21“Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”

So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

22When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23Then 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. 24They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

Joshua Installed as Leader

1After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua 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 into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

7“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

10So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ”

12But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 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 by giving you this land.’ 14Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them 15until 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.”

16Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

1Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

3Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

9If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14“Because heloves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

16With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

The Death of Moses

1Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, 2all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. 4Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

5And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6He buried himin Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. 7Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. 8The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

9Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

10Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Moses Blesses the Tribes

1This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. 2He said:

“The Lord came from Sinai

and dawned over them from Seir;

he shone forth from Mount Paran.

He came with myriads of holy ones

from the south, from his mountain slopes.

3Surely it is you who love the people;

all the holy ones are in your hand.

At your feet they all bow down,

and from you receive instruction,

4the law that Moses gave us,

the possession of the assembly of Jacob.

5He was king over Jeshurun

when the leaders of the people assembled,

along with the tribes of Israel.

6“Let Reuben live and not die,

norhis people be few.”

7And this he said about Judah:

“Hear, Lord, the cry of Judah;

bring him to his people.

With his own hands he defends his cause.

Oh, be his help against his foes!”

8About Levi he said:

“Your Thummim and Urim belong

to your faithful servant.

You tested him at Massah;

you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.

9He said of his father and mother,

‘I have no regard for them.’

He did not recognize his brothers

or acknowledge his own children,

but he watched over your word

and guarded your covenant.

10He teaches your precepts to Jacob

and your law to Israel.

He offers incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

11Bless all his skills, Lord,

and be pleased with the work of his hands.

Strike down those who rise against him,

his foes till they rise no more.”

12About Benjamin he said:

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,

for he shields him all day long,

and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”

13About Joseph he said:

“May the Lord bless his land

with the precious dew from heaven above

and with the deep waters that lie below;

14with the best the sun brings forth

and the finest the moon can yield;

15with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains

and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;

16with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince amonghis brothers.

17In majesty he is like a firstborn bull;

his horns are the horns of a wild ox.

With them he will gore the nations,

even those at the ends of the earth.

Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim;

such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

18About Zebulun he said:

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and you, Issachar, in your tents.

19They will summon peoples to the mountain

and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous;

they will feast on the abundance of the seas,

on the treasures hidden in the sand.”

20About Gad he said:

“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain!

Gad lives there like a lion,

tearing at arm or head.

21He chose the best land for himself;

the leader’s portion was kept for him.

When the heads of the people assembled,

he carried out the Lord’s righteous will,

and his judgments concerning Israel.”

22About Dan he said:

“Dan is a lion’s cub,

springing out of Bashan.”

23About Naphtali he said:

“Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the Lord

and is full of his blessing;

he will inherit southward to the lake.”

24About Asher he said:

“Most blessed of sons is Asher;

let him be favored by his brothers,

and let him bathe his feet in oil.

25The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze,

and your strength will equal your days.

26“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,

who rides across the heavens to help you

and on the clouds in his majesty.

27The eternal God is your refuge,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

He will drive out your enemies before you,

saying, ‘Destroy them!’

28So Israel will live in safety;

Jacob will dwellsecure

in a land of grain and new wine,

where the heavens drop dew.

29Blessed are you, Israel!

Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord?

He is your shield and helper

and your glorious sword.

Your enemies will cower before you,

and you will tread on their heights.”

1Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;

hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.

2Let my teaching fall like rain

and my words descend like dew,

like showers on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

3I will proclaim the name of the Lord.

Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

4He is the Rock, his works are perfect,

and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong,

upright and just is he.

5They are corrupt and not his children;

to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.

6Is this the way you repay the Lord,

you foolish and unwise people?

Is he not your Father, your Creator,

who made you and formed you?

7Remember the days of old;

consider the generations long past.

Ask your father and he will tell you,

your elders, and they will explain to you.

8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,

when he divided all mankind,

he set up boundaries for the peoples

according to the number of the sons of Israel.

9For the Lord’s portion is his people,

Jacob his allotted inheritance.

10In a desert land he found him,

in a barren and howling waste.

He shielded him and cared for him;

he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

11like an eagle that stirs up its nest

and hovers over its young,

that spreads its wings to catch them

and carries them aloft.

12The Lord alone led him;

no foreign god was with him.

13He made him ride on the heights of the land

and fed him with the fruit of the fields.

He nourished him with honey from the rock,

and with oil from the flinty crag,

14with curds and milk from herd and flock

and with fattened lambs and goats,

with choice rams of Bashan

and the finest kernels of wheat.

You drank the foaming blood of the grape.

15Jeshurungrew fat and kicked;

filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.

They abandoned the God who made them

and rejected the Rock their Savior.

16They made him jealous with their foreign gods

and angered him with their detestable idols.

17They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God—

gods they had not known,

gods that recently appeared,

gods your ancestors did not fear.

18You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;

you forgot the God who gave you birth.

19The Lord saw this and rejected them

because he was angered by his sons and daughters.

20“I will hide my face from them,” he said,

“and see what their end will be;

for they are a perverse generation,

children who are unfaithful.

21They made me jealous by what is no god

and angered me with their worthless idols.

I will make them envious by those who are not a people;

I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

22For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,

one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.

It will devour the earth and its harvests

and set afire the foundations of the mountains.

23“I will heap calamities on them

and spend my arrows against them.

24I will send wasting famine against them,

consuming pestilence and deadly plague;

I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,

the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

25In the street the sword will make them childless;

in their homes terror will reign.

The young men and young women will perish,

the infants and those with gray hair.

26I said I would scatter them

and erase their name from human memory,

27but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,

lest the adversary misunderstand

and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;

the Lord has not done all this.’ ”

28They are a nation without sense,

there is no discernment in them.

29If only they were wise and would understand this

and discern what their end will be!

30How could one man chase a thousand,

or two put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

unless the Lord had given them up?

31For their rock is not like our Rock,

as even our enemies concede.

32Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are filled with poison,

and their clusters with bitterness.

33Their wine is the venom of serpents,

the deadly poison of cobras.

34“Have I not kept this in reserve

and sealed it in my vaults?

35It is mine to avenge; I will repay.

In due time their foot will slip;

their day of disaster is near

and their doom rushes upon them.”

36The Lord will vindicate his people

and relent concerning his servants

when he sees their strength is gone

and no one is left, slave or free.

37He will say: “Now where are their gods,

the rock they took refuge in,

38the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise up to help you!

Let them give you shelter!

39“See now that I myself am he!

There is no god besides me.

I put to death and I bring to life,

I have wounded and I will heal,

and no one can deliver out of my hand.

40I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear:

As surely as I live forever,

41when I sharpen my flashing sword

and my hand grasps it in judgment,

I will take vengeance on my adversaries

and repay those who hate me.

42I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

while my sword devours flesh:

the blood of the slain and the captives,

the heads of the enemy leaders.”

43Rejoice, you nations, with his people,

for he will avenge the blood of his servants;

he will take vengeance on his enemies

and make atonement for his land and people.

44Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

48On that same day the Lord told Moses, 49“Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. 52Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”