joshua

¹And after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it happened that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and he said to him: ²“Moses, my servant, has died. Rise up, and cross this Jordan, you and all the people with you, into the land which I will give to the sons of Israel. ³I will deliver to you every place that the step of your foot will tread upon, just as I said to Moses. ⁴From the desert and from Lebanon, even to the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea opposite the setting of the sun, shall be your border. ⁵No one will be able to resist you during all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be with you. I will not leave you, nor will I forsake you. ⁶Be strengthened and be steadfast. For you shall divide by lot, to this people, the land about which I swore to their fathers that I would deliver it to them.

⁹Behold, I am instructing you. Be strengthened, and be steadfast. Do not dread, and do not fear. For the Lord your God is with you in all things, wherever you may go.”

¹⁵But if it seems evil to you that you would serve the Lord, a choice is given to you. Choose today what pleases you, and whom you ought to serve above all else, either the gods that your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

⁶Yet truly, Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who themselves had also viewed the land, tore their garments, ⁷and they said to the entire multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled through is very good. ⁸If the Lord will be gracious to us, he will lead us into it, and he will give us the land flowing with milk and honey. ⁹Do not choose to be rebellious against the Lord. And do not fear the people of this land, for, like bread, so are we able to devour them. All protection has withdrawn from them. The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid.” ¹⁰And when the entire multitude cried out, and they wanted to crush them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared, over the roof of the covenant, to all the sons of Israel.

¹And so, Joshua arose in the night, and he moved the camp. And they departed from Shittim, and they went to the Jordan: he, and all the sons of Israel, and they remained there for three days. ²After these things unfolded, announcers passed through the midst of the camp, ³and they began to proclaim: “When you will see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the stock of Levi carrying it, you also shall rise up and follow those who are going before you. ⁴And let there be, between you and the ark, the space of two thousand cubits, so that you may be able to see it from far away, and to know along which way you should advance. For you have not walked this way before. And be careful that you do not approach the ark.” ⁵And Joshua said to the people: “Be sanctified. For tomorrow the Lord will accomplish miracles among you.” ⁶And he said to the priests: “Take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.” And they fulfilled the orders, and they took it and walked before them.

¹And all the sons of Israel gathered together at Shiloh, and there they stationed the Tabernacle of the Testimony. And the land was subjected to them. ²But there remained seven tribes of the sons of Israel which had not yet received their possessions. ³And Joshua said to them: “For how long will you draw back in idleness, and not enter to possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given to you? ⁴Select three men from each tribe, so that I may send them, and they may go forth and circle through the land, and may describe it according to the number of each multitude, and may bring back to me what they have written down. ⁵Divide the land for yourselves into seven parts. Let Judah be its bounds on the southern side, and the house of Joseph to the north. ⁶The land that is in the middle, between these, write it down in seven parts. And you shall come to me, so that I may cast lots for you about this, before the Lord your God.

⁸The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth. Instead, you shall meditate upon it, day and night, so that you may observe and do all the things that are written in it. Then you shall direct your way and understand it.

¹⁸Fear is not in love. Instead, perfect love casts out fear, for fear pertains to punishment. And whoever fears is not perfected in love.

¹Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the impious, and has not remained in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the chair of pestilence. ²But his will is with the law of the Lord, and he will meditate on his law, day and night. ³And he will be like a tree that has been planted beside running waters, which will provide its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away, and all things whatsoever that he does will prosper. ⁴Not so the impious, not so. For they are like the dust that the wind casts along the face of the earth. ⁵Therefore, the impious will not prevail again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just. ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the just. And the path of the impious will pass away.

⁵No one will be able to resist you during all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be with you. I will not leave you, nor will I forsake you.

¹⁸And the Lord said to him: “Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom the Spirit is, and place your hand upon him.

⁸And when you have seized it, set it on fire. And you shall do all that I have ordered.”

¹When Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, had heard these things, specifically, that Joshua had seized Ai, and had overthrown it, (for just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so did he do to Ai and its king,) and that the Gibeonites had fled over to Israel, and were now their confederates, ²he was very afraid. For Gibeon was a great city, and was one of the royal cities, and was greater than the town of Ai, and all its warriors were very strong. ³Therefore, Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, the king of Hebron, and to Piram, the king of Jarmuth, and also to Japhia, the king of Lachish, and to Debir, the king of Eglon, saying: ⁴“Ascend to me, and bring troops, so that we may fight against Gibeon. For it has fled over to Joshua and the sons of Israel.” ⁵And so, having assembled, the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, together with their armies, went up and encamped around Gibeon, laying siege to it. ⁶But the inhabitants of the city of Gibeon, when it was besieged, sent to Joshua, who was then staying in the camp at Gilgal. And they said to him: “May you not draw back your hands from helping your servants. Come quickly, and free us, and bring troops. For all the kings of the Amorites, who live in the mountains, have gathered together against us.”