Yehoshua (Book of Joshua), Joshua
Yehoshua (Book of Joshua)
Joshua
Category: Judaism
2:18 h
The Jewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS) of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) was the first Bible translation published by the Jewish Publication Society of America and the first translation of the Tanakh into English by a committee of Jews. The full publication title is The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation with the Aid of Previous Versions and with Constant Consultation of Jewish Authorities.

Yehoshua
(Book of Joshua)

יְהוֹשֻעַ

Nevi’im - נביאים

Yehoshua - Chapter 1

Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying: ‘Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spoke unto Moses.

From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them.

Only be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success whithersoever thou goest.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy ways prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not affrighted, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ {P}

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying: ‘Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying: Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.’ {P}

And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, spoke Joshua, saying: ‘Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, you, saying: The LORD your God giveth you rest, and will give you this land.

Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall abide in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but ye shall pass over before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and shall help them; until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as unto you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them; then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and possess it, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising.’

And they answered Joshua, saying: ‘All that thou hast commanded us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go.

According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee; only the LORD thy God be with thee, as He was with Moses.

Whosoever he be that shall rebel against thy commandment, and shall not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death; only be strong and of good courage.’ {P}

Yehoshua - Chapter 2

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly, saying: ‘Go view the land, and Jericho.’ And they went, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying: ‘Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the land.’

And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying: ‘Bring forth the men that are come to thee, that are entered into thy house; for they are come to search out all the land.’

And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said: ‘Yea, the men came unto me, but I knew not whence they were; and it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; whither the men went I know not; pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.’

But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had spread out upon the roof.

And the men pursued after them the way to the Jordan unto the fords; and as soon as they that pursued after them were gone out, the gate was shut.

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; and she said unto the men: ‘I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, unto Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye also will deal kindly with my father’s house — and give me a true token — and save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.’

And the men said unto her: ‘Our life for yours, if ye tell not this our business; and it shall be, when the LORD giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.’

Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was upon the side of the wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

And she said unto them: ‘Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned; and afterward may ye go your way.’

And the men said unto her: ‘We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by; and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household.

And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

But if thou utter this our business, then we will be guiltless of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.’

And she said: ‘According unto your words, so be it.’ And she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned; and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them.

And they said unto Joshua: ‘Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.’ {S}

Yehoshua - Chapter 3

And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they passed over.

And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying: ‘When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.’ {P}

And Joshua said unto the people: ‘Sanctify yourselves; for to-morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.’

And Joshua spoke unto the priests, saying: ‘Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people.’ And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. {S}

And the LORD said unto Joshua: ‘This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying: When ye are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan.’ {P}

And Joshua said unto the children of Israel: ‘Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.’

And Joshua said: ‘Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth on before you over the Jordan.

Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.

And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.’

And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, the priests that bore the ark of the covenant being before the people; and when they that bore the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water — for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest — that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off from Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho.

And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, while all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan.

Yehoshua - Chapter 4

And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean passed over the Jordan, {P} that the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying: ‘Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command ye them, saying: Take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood, twelve stones made ready, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place, where ye shall lodge this night.’ {S}

Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man; and Joshua said unto them: ‘Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying: What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall say unto them: Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off; and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.’