Joshua 1

1 ¹ After Moses the servant of our Father died, our Father said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant:

² Moses my servant is dead. Now then, get up and cross the Jordan, you and all these people, into the land that I am giving them, to the children of Israel. ³ Every place where you set foot I have given to you, just as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will reach from the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—and to the Great Sea, toward the setting of the sun. ⁵ No 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 not leave you or forsake you.

⁶ Be strong and courageous, for you will lead this people to inherit the land that I swore to their ancestors I would give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, careful to obey all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may succeed wherever you go. ⁸ Never let this Book of the Law leave your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then your way will prosper, and you will succeed. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, and do not be discouraged, for I, your Father, am with you wherever you go.

Joshua Rallies the People to Cross

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: ¹¹ Go through the camp and command the people: 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that your Father is giving you to possess.'

¹² To the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said: ¹³ Remember what Moses, the servant of our Father, commanded you when he said, 'Your Father is giving you rest, and he will give you this land.' ¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock will remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you yourselves—all the mighty warriors—will cross over armed ahead of your brothers and help them, ¹⁵ until our Father gives your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they too take possession of the land that he is giving them. Then you may return to your own land and take possession of it, the land that Moses, the servant of our Father, gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.

¹⁶ They replied to Joshua, 'All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.' ¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in everything, so we will obey you. Only may your Father be with you, as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words, whatever you command, must be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.