Conquest of Canaan

And it cometh to pass after the death of Moses, servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah speaketh unto Joshua son of Nun, minister of Moses, saying,

`Moses my servant is dead, and now, rise, pass over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

`Every place on which the sole of your foot treadeth, to you I have given it, as I have spoken unto Moses.

From this wilderness and Lebanon, and unto the great river, the river Phrath, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great Sea--the going in of the sun--is your border.

`No man doth station himself before thee all days of thy life; as I have been with Moses, I am with thee, I do not fail thee, nor forsake thee;

be strong and courageous, for thou--thou dost cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn to their fathers to give to them.

`Only, be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded thee; thou dost not turn aside from it right or left, so that thou dost act wisely in every place whither thou goest;

the book of this law doth not depart out of thy mouth, and thou hast meditated in it by day and by night, so that thou dost observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then thou dost cause thy way to prosper, and then thou dost act wisely.

`Have not I commanded thee? be strong and courageous; be not terrified nor affrighted, for with thee is Jehovah thy God in every place whither thou goest.'

And Joshua commandeth the authorities of the people, saying,

`Pass over into the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provision, for within three days ye are passing over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you to possess it.'

And to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, hath Joshua spoken, saying,

`Remember the word which Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God is giving rest to you, and He hath given to you this land;

your wives, your infants, and your substance, abide in the land which Moses hath given to you beyond the Jordan, and ye--ye pass over by fifties, before your brethren, all the mighty ones of valour, and have helped them,

till that Jehovah giveth rest to your brethren as to yourselves, and they have possessed, even they, the land which Jehovah your God is giving to them; then ye have turned back to the land of your possession, and have possessed it, which Moses, servant of Jehovah, hath given to you beyond the Jordan, at the sun-rising.'

And they answer Joshua, saying, `All that thou hast commanded us we do; and unto every place whither thou dost send us, we go;

according to all that we hearkened unto Moses in , so we hearken unto thee; surely Jehovah thy God is with thee as He hath been with Moses.

Any man who doth provoke thy mouth, and doth not hear thy words, in all that thou dost command him, is put to death; only, be strong and courageous.'

And Joshua son of Nun sendeth from Shittim, two men, spies, silently, saying, `Go, see the land--and Jericho;' and they go and come into the house of a woman, a harlot, and her name is Rahab, and they lie down there.

And it is told to the king of Jericho, saying, `Lo, men have come in hither to-night, from the sons of Israel, to search the land.

And the king of Jericho sendeth unto Rahab, saying, `Bring out the men who are coming in unto thee, who have come into thy house, for to search the whole of the land they have come in.

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 ;

and it cometh to pass--the gate is to be shut--in the dark, and the men have gone out; I have not known whither the men have gone; pursue ye, hasten after them, for ye overtake them;'

and she hath caused them to go up on the roof, and hideth them with the flax wood, which is arranged for her on the roof.

And the men have pursued after them the way of the Jordan, by the fords, and the gate they have shut afterwards, when the pursuers have gone out after them.