Conquest of Canaan

Nowe after the death of Moses the seruant of the Lord, the Lord spake vnto Ioshua the sonne of Nun, Moses minister, saying,

Moses my seruant is dead: nowe therefore arise, go ouer this Iorden, thou, and all this people, vnto the lande which I giue them, that is, to ye children of Israel.

Euery place that the sole of your foote shall treade vpon, haue I giuen you, as I said vnto Moses.

From the wildernesse and this Lebanon euen vnto the great riuer, the riuer Perath: all the land of the Hittites, euen vnto the great Sea towarde the going downe of the sunne, shalbe your coast.

There shall not a man be able to withstande thee all the dayes of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leaue thee, nor forsake thee.

Be strong and of a good courage: for vnto this people shalt thou deuide the lande for an inheritance, which I sware vnto their fathers to giue them.

Onely be thou strong, and of a most valiant courage, that thou mayest obserue and doe according to all the Lawe which Moses my seruant hath commanded thee: thou shalt not turne away from it to the right hande, nor to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoeuer thou goest.

Let not this booke of the Law depart out of thy mouth, but meditate therin day and night, that thou mayest obserue and doe according to all that is written therein: for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou haue good successe.

Haue not I commanded thee, saying, Be strong and of a good courage, feare not, nor be discouraged? for I the Lord thy God will be with thee, whithersoeuer thou goest.

Then Ioshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

Passe through the hoste, and commande the people, saying, Prepare you vitailes: for after three dayes ye shall passe ouer this Iorden, to goe in to possesse the lande, which the Lord your God giueth you to possesse it.

And vnto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to halfe the tribe of Manasseh spake Ioshua, saying,

Remember the worde, which Moses the seruant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath giuen you rest, and hath giuen you this land.

Your wiues, your children, and your cattell shall remaine in the land which Moses gaue you on this side Iorden: but ye shall goe ouer before your brethren armed, all that be men of warre, and shall helpe them,

Vntill the Lord haue giuen your brethren rest, as well as to you, and vntill they also shall possesse the land, which the Lord your God giueth them: then shall ye returne vnto the lande of your possession and shall possesse it, which land Moses the Lordes seruant gaue you on this side Iorden toward the sunne rising.

Then they answered Ioshua, saying, Al that thou hast commanded vs, we will doe, and whithersoeuer thou sendest vs, we will goe.

As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee: onely the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

Whosoeuer shall rebell against thy commandement, and will not obey thy wordes in all that thou commaundest him, let him bee put to death: onely be strong and of good courage.

Then Ioshua the sonne of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spie secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and also Iericho: and they went, and came into an harlots house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

Then report was made to the King of Iericho, saying, Beholde, there came men hither to night, of the children of Israel, to spie out the countrey.

And the King of Iericho sent vnto Rahab, saying, Bring foorth the men that are come to thee, and which are entred into thine house: for they be come to search out all the land.

(But ye woman had taken the two men, and hid them) Therefore saide she thus, There came men vnto me, but I wist not whence they were.

And when they shut the gate in the darke, the men went out, whither the men went I wote not: follow ye after them quickly, for ye shall ouertake them.

(But she had brought them vp to the roofe of the house, and hidde them with the stalkes of flaxe, which she had spread abroad vpon the roofe)

And certaine men pursued after them, the way to Iorden, vnto the foordes, and as soone as they which pursued after them, were gone out, they shut the gate.