Moses’ Last Words to Israel

33 Moses the man of God prayed before his death that good would come to the people of Israel. ² He said, “The Lord came from Sinai. He came upon us from Seir. He shined from Mount Paran. He came among 10,000 holy ones. He came with fire at His right hand. ³ Yes, He loves His people. All Your holy ones are in Your hand. They followed in Your steps. They receive Your Word. ⁴ Moses gave us the Law, which belongs to the people of Jacob. ⁵ The Lord was King in Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people were gathered, all the families of Israel together.

⁶ “May Reuben live and not die. Do not let his men be few.”

⁷ About Judah he said, “O Lord, hear the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people. He fought for them with his hands. Give him help against those who fight against him.”

⁸ About Levi he said, “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your man of God. You proved him at Massah, and at the waters of Meribah. ⁹ He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not think of them.’ He kept himself apart from his brothers, and his own children. Yes, they obeyed Your Word and kept Your agreement. ¹⁰ They will teach Your Laws to Jacob. They will teach Your Laws to Israel. They will put special perfume before You, and whole burnt gifts on Your altar. ¹¹ O Lord, give him good things. Receive the work of his hands. Crush those who go against him and those who hate him, so they may not get up again.”

¹² About Benjamin he said, “May the one the Lord loves live by Him and be safe. The Lord covers him all the day long. And he lives between His shoulders.”

¹³ About Joseph he said, “May the Lord bring good to his land, with the best gifts from heaven above, with water on the grass in the early morning, and from the deep waters below, ¹⁴ with the best things from the sun, and the best foods of the months. ¹⁵ May the Lord bring good to his land with the best things of the old mountains, and the best things of the hills that last forever, ¹⁶ with the best things of the earth and all that is in it, and the favor of Him Who lived in the bush. Let these gifts come upon the head of Joseph, upon the crown of the head of the one who is ruler among his brothers. ¹⁷ His great power is like the first-born of his bull. His horns are like the horns of the wild bull. With them he will push all the nations to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹⁸ About Zebulun he said, “Be full of joy, Zebulun, in your going out. Be full of joy, Issachar, in your tents. ¹⁹ They will call the people to the mountain. There they will give gifts that are right with God. For they will take out the riches of the seas and the hidden riches of the sand.”

²⁰ About Gad he said, “Happy is the one who gives much land to Gad! He lies down like a lion, and tears the arm and the crown of the head. ²¹ He chose the best part for himself, for that was the ruler’s share. He came with the leaders of the people. He did what the Lord wanted him to do. And he obeyed His Law with Israel.”

²² About Dan he said, “Dan is a young lion, that jumps out from Bashan.”

²³ About Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, filled with favor, and full of the good things of the Lord, take the sea and the south for your own.”

²⁴ About Asher he said, “May Asher be given more than the other sons. May he be favored by his brothers. Let him put his foot in oil. ²⁵ Your locks will be iron and brass. And your strength will last like your days.

²⁶ “There is none like the God of Jeshurun. He comes through the heavens to help you, through the sky in His great power. ²⁷ The God Who lives forever is your safe place. His arms are always under you. He drove away from in front of you those who hate you, and said, ‘Destroy!’ ²⁸ So Israel lives in a safe place, the well of Jacob is safe, in a land of grain and new wine. Rain falls from His heavens. ²⁹ Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a nation saved by the Lord! He is the battle-covering Who helps you. He is the sword of your great power. So those who hate you will be afraid in front of you. And you will walk upon their high places.”

The Death of Moses

34 Now Moses went up from the valleys of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, beside Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, ² all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the sea in the west, ³ the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your children.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not go there.” ⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, as the Word of the Lord said. ⁶ And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, beside Beth-peor. But no man knows where he is buried to this day. ⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died. But his eyes were not weak, and his strength had not left him. ⁸ The children of Israel cried for Moses in the valley of Moab for thirty days. Then the days of crying and sorrow for Moses came to an end.

⁹ Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel listened to him and did what the Lord had told Moses. ¹⁰ There has never been another man who speaks for God in Israel like Moses. The Lord knew him face to face. ¹¹ There has never been another like him who has done all the powerful works the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land. ¹² There has never been another who has shown all the great power and all the great fear which Moses did for all Israel to see.

God Tells Joshua to Go and Take the Land

1 After the death of the Lord’s servant Moses, the Lord said to Moses’ helper, Joshua the son of Nun, ² “My servant Moses is dead. So you and all these people get up and cross the Jordan River to the land I am giving to the people of Israel. ³ I have given you every place where the bottom of your foot steps, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your land will be from the desert and from Lebanon as far as the big Euphrates River. It will be all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No man will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. I will be with you just as I have been with Moses. I will be faithful to you and will not leave you alone. ⁶ Be strong and have strength of heart. For you will bring the people in to take this land which I promised to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and have much strength of heart. Be careful to obey all the Law which My servant Moses told you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left. Then all will go well with you everywhere you go. ⁸ This book of the Law must not leave your mouth. Think about it day and night, so you may be careful to do all that is written in it. Then all will go well with you. You will receive many good things. ⁹ Have I not told you? Be strong and have strength of heart! Do not be afraid or lose faith. For the Lord your God is with you anywhere you go.”

Joshua Tells the People to Go

¹⁰ Then Joshua told the leaders of the people, ¹¹ “Go among the tents and tell the people, ‘Gather together the things you will need. For within three days you will cross this Jordan to go in to take the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

¹² To the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-family group of Manasseh, Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember what the Lord’s servant Moses told you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest, and will give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your children and your cattle will stay in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you and all your strong-hearted soldiers will cross the river dressed for battle in front of your brothers. You will help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He has given you. Help them until they own the land the Lord your God is giving them. Then you will return to your own land. You will own what the Lord’s servant Moses gave you on the east side of the Jordan.” ¹⁶ They answered Joshua, saying, “We will do all that you have told us. And we will go anywhere you send us. ¹⁷ We will obey you in all things just as we obeyed Moses. Only may the Lord your God be with you as He was with Moses. ¹⁸ Anyone who goes against what you say, and does not obey all that you tell him to do, will be put to death. Only be strong and have strength of heart.”

2 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men from Shittim to go in secret to learn about the land. He said to them, “Go and spy out the land, and Jericho.” So they went and came to the house of Rahab, a woman who sold the use of her body, and they stayed there. ² Then the king of Jericho was told, “See, men of Israel have come here to spy out the land.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you and have gone into your house. For they have come to spy out all the land.” ⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me. But I did not know where they were from. ⁵ When it was time for the gate to be shut after dark, the men went out. I do not know where they went. Be quick to go after them, for you will catch them.” ⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof and had hidden them under the grain she had put up there. ⁷ The men went after them on the road to the Jordan as far as the river crossing. As soon as those going after them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸ Before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof. ⁹ And she said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land. The fear of you has come upon us. All the people living in the land have become weak with fear because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt. We have heard how you destroyed the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan. ¹¹ When we heard it, our hearts became weak. No man had strength of heart any more because of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. ¹² Now I have shown you kindness. So I beg of you, promise me by the Lord that you will show kindness to those of my father’s house. Give me something to show that you will be faithful. ¹³ Do not kill my father and mother and my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them. Save us from death.” ¹⁴ So the men said to her, “Our life for yours! If you do not tell anyone what we are doing, we will be faithful and show you kindness when the Lord gives us the land.”

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window. She lived in her house that was built on top of the city wall. ¹⁶ She said to them, “Go to the hill country, or those who are looking for you might find you. For three days hide yourselves there until those who are looking for you return. Then you may go on your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will be free from this promise you have made us swear ¹⁸ unless, when we come into the land, you tie this red rope in the window you let us down through. Bring your father and mother, your brothers and all those of your father’s house into your house. ¹⁹ If anyone goes out through the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head. We will not be guilty for his death. But if a hand is laid upon anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head. ²⁰ And we will be free from the promise you made us swear if you tell anyone what we are doing.” ²¹ She said, “Let it be as you have said.” Then she sent them away, and tied the red rope in the window.

²² They left and came to the hill country and stayed there for three days until those who were looking for them returned. The men had looked for them all along the road, but had not found them. ²³ Then the two men came down from the hill country, crossed over the Jordan, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “For sure the Lord has given all the land into our hands. All the people living in the land have become weak with fear because of us.”