JoshuaChapter 1

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¹Moses, the servant of the LORD, had died. After that, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun. Joshua had been Moses' helper. The LORD said, ²"Moses my servant is dead. So now get up, you and all these people. Cross the Jordan River. Go into the land I am giving to the people of Israel. ³I have given you every place where you set your foot. This is just what I promised Moses. ⁴Your land will reach from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River. It will take in all the land of the Hittites. And it will go west as far as the Great Sea.a ⁵No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you or forsake you. ⁶Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to receive the land as their inheritance. It is the land I promised with an oath to give their fathers. ⁷Most of all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn away from it to the right or to the left. Then you will do well wherever you go. ⁸Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips. Think about it day and night. Then you will be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will do well, and you will succeed in all you do. ⁹Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid. Do not lose heart. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." ¹⁰Then Joshua gave orders to the officers of the people. ¹¹"Go through the camp," he said. "Tell the people, 'Get your food ready, because in three days you will cross the Jordan. You will go in and take over the land. The LORD your God is giving it to you to own.'" ¹²But Joshua spoke to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He said, ¹³"Remember what Moses the servant of the LORD told you. He said, 'The LORD your God will give you rest. He will give you this land.' ¹⁴Your wives, your young children, and your animals may stay in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But all your brave fighting men must cross over ahead of your brothers. They must be armed for battle and help them. ¹⁵Help them until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you. Help them until they also take over the land the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may go back to your own land and live there. It is the land Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan." ¹⁶Then they answered Joshua, "We will do everything you have told us. We will go anywhere you send us. ¹⁷We obeyed Moses in everything. In the same way, we will obey you. And may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses. ¹⁸Anyone who rebels against your orders and does not obey all you command him will be put to death. Most of all, be strong and courageous!"