Joshua 4-6

New Life Version

4 When all the nation had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men from the people, one man from each family. ³ Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan. Take them from the place where the religious leaders’ feet are standing. Carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you stay tonight.’” ⁴ So Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen from the sons of Israel, one man from each family. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan in front of the special box of the agreement of the Lord your God. Each of you take a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the twelve family groups of Israel. ⁶ Let this be something special among you. Your children will ask you later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ Then you will tell them that the water of the Jordan was cut off before the special box of the agreement of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan was cut off. So these stones will become something to remember to the people of Israel forever.”

⁸ The sons of Israel did as Joshua told them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord told Joshua. There was one stone for each family group of the sons of Israel. They carried them over with them to the place where they stayed, and put them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones at the place where the feet of the religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement were standing in the middle of the Jordan. They are there to this day. ¹⁰ The religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement stood in the middle of the Jordan. They stood there until everything was finished that the Lord told Joshua to tell the people, all that Moses had told Joshua.

The people crossed in a hurry. ¹¹ When all the people were over, they watched the religious leaders carry the special box of the agreement to the other side. ¹² The sons of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh crossed over ready for battle before the people of Israel, just as Moses had told them. ¹³ About 40,000 soldiers ready for battle crossed before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord gave Joshua honor in the eyes of all Israel. So they honored him as a great man just as they had honored Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵ The Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Tell the religious leaders who carry the special box of the agreement to come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua told the religious leaders to come up from the Jordan. ¹⁸ The religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan. When their feet stepped on dry ground, the water of the Jordan returned to its place. It flowed over its sides as before.

¹⁹ The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Then they stayed at Gilgal on the east side of Jericho. ²⁰ Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the people of Israel, “Your children will ask their fathers some time in the future, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² Then let your children know that Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed. It was just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed. ²⁴ Now all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is powerful, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

5 All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings by the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed. And their hearts became weak. There was no spirit in them any more because of the people of Israel.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Make knives for yourselves out of hard stone. And cut the piece of skin from the sex part of the sons of Israel as before.” ³ So Joshua made knives of hard stone. Then he had the sons of Israel go through this religious act at Gibeath-haaraloth. ⁴ This is the reason why Joshua had them go through this religious act. All the males who had come out of Egypt, all the soldiers, had died in the desert on the way from Egypt. ⁵ All the people who came out went through this religious act. But all the people who were born in the desert on the way from Egypt had not gone through this religious act. ⁶ For the people of Israel walked forty years in the desert, until all the men of war who came out of Egypt died, because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord. The Lord had promised them that He would not let them see the land He had promised to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So Joshua went through the religious act on their children, whom the Lord raised up in their place. For they had not gone through this religious act along the way. ⁸ When the whole nation had gone through this religious act, they stayed in their places among the tents until they were healed. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the shame of Egypt.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. ¹⁰ The people of Israel stayed at Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. ¹¹ On the very next day after the Passover, they ate some of the food of the land. They ate bread without yeast, and dry grain. ¹² The bread from heaven stopped on the day after they had eaten some of the food of the land. So the people of Israel no longer had bread from heaven. But they ate food of the land of Canaan during that year.

¹³ When Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing near him with his sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said, “Are you for us or for those who hate us?” ¹⁴ “No,” He said, “I have now come as Captain of the army of the Lord.” Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshiped, and said to Him, “What has my Lord to say to His servant?” ¹⁵ The Captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your shoes off your feet. For the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

6 Now the gates of Jericho were all shut because of the people of Israel. No one went out and no one came in. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and soldiers. ³ Walk around the city. Have all the men of war go around the city once. Do this for six days. ⁴ Seven religious leaders will carry seven rams’ horns. They will walk in front of the special box of the agreement. Then on the seventh day you will walk around the city seven times. And the religious leaders will blow horns. ⁵ When you hear the long sound of the ram’s horn, all the people should call out with a loud noise. The wall of the city will fall to the ground. And then all the people will all go in the city.”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the religious leaders and said to them, “Take up the special box of the agreement. And let seven religious leaders carry seven rams’ horns in front of the special box of the agreement.” ⁷ Then he said to the people, “Go and walk around the city. Let the men ready for battle go in front of the special box of the agreement.” ⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven religious leaders carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord walked on and blew the horns. And the special box of the agreement of the Lord followed them. ⁹ The men ready for battle went in front of the religious leaders who blew the horns. The other soldiers came behind the special box of the agreement while the horns sounded without stopping. ¹⁰ But Joshua told the people, “Do not call out or let your voice be heard. Not a word should come from your mouth until the day I tell you to call out. Then you must call out.” ¹¹ So he had the special box of the agreement taken around the city once. Then they returned to the tents and stayed there through the night.

¹² Joshua got up early in the morning. And the religious leaders took up the special box of the agreement. ¹³ The seven religious leaders carrying the seven rams’ horns in front of the special box of the agreement began walking and blew the horns without stopping. The men ready for battle went in front of them. The other soldiers came behind the special box of the agreement. And the horns sounded without stopping. ¹⁴ The second day they walked around the city once. Then they returned to the tents. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up early at the rising of the sun. They walked around the city in the same way, but on that day they walked around the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time, when the religious leaders blew their horns, Joshua said to the people, “Call out! For the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it must be destroyed because everything in it belongs to the Lord. Only Rahab, the woman who sells the use of her body, and all who are with her in the house will live, because she hid the men we sent. ¹⁸ But keep yourselves from the things that are to be destroyed. Or while you give them up to be destroyed, you might desire them. Then you would make the camp of Israel sinful also, and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ But all the silver and gold and objects of brass and iron are holy to the Lord. They will go into the store-house of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people called out and the religious leaders blew the horns. When the people heard the sound of the horns, they called out even louder. And the wall fell to the ground. All the people went straight in and took the city. ²¹ They destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkey, with the sword.

²² Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the woman who sells the use of her body. Bring out the woman and all who are with her, as you promised her.” ²³ So the young men who had spied out the land went in, and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all she had. They brought out all of her family and took them outside the tents of Israel. ²⁴ Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold and objects of brass and iron they put into the store-house of the holy tent of the Lord. ²⁵ Joshua saved the life of Rahab, the woman who sold the use of her body, and those of her father’s house and all she had. She has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶ Then Joshua made them promise at that time, saying, “May the Lord destroy the man who gets up and builds this city of Jericho. With the loss of his first-born he will begin to build it. With the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.” ²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua. He was well known and respected in all the land.