Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹“When all these things happen to you — the blessings and curses I have set before you — and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,

²and you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today,

³then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.

⁴Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there.

⁵The LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your fathers.

⁶The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.

⁷The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

⁸Then you will again obey him and follow all his commands I am commanding you today.

⁹The LORD your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your fathers,

¹⁰when you obey the LORD your God by keeping his commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to him with all your heart and all your soul.

¹¹“This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.

¹²It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

¹³And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

¹⁴But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

¹⁵See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.

¹⁶For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them,

¹⁸I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan.

¹⁹I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,

²⁰love the LORD your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him. For he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you live in the land the LORD swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

¹Then Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel,

²saying, “I am now 120 years old; I can no longer act as your leader. The LORD has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

³The LORD your God is the one who will cross ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said.

⁴The LORD will deal with them as he did Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he destroyed them.

⁵The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.

⁶Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.”

⁷Moses then summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land the LORD swore to give to their fathers. You will enable them to take possession of it.

⁸The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

⁹Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation, during the Festival of Shelters,

¹¹when all Israel assembles in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he chooses, you are to read this law aloud before all Israel.

¹²Gather the people — men, women, dependents, and the resident aliens within your city gates — so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law.

¹³Then their children who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴The LORD said to Moses, “The time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting so that I may commission him.” When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting,

¹⁵the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have made with them.

¹⁷My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide my face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, ‘Haven’t these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?’

¹⁸I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

¹⁹Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.

²⁰When I bring them into the land I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant.

²¹And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.”

²²So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³The LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law,

²⁵he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant,

²⁶“Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

²⁷For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are rebelling against the LORD now, while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after I am dead!

²⁸Assemble all your tribal elders and officers before me so that I may speak these words directly to them and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.

²⁹For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the LORD’s sight, angering him with what your hands have made.”

³⁰Then Moses recited aloud every single word of this song to the entire assembly of Israel:

¹Pay attention, heavens, and I will speak; listen, earth, to the words from my mouth.

²Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.

³For I will proclaim the LORD’s name. Declare the greatness of our God!

⁴The Rock  — his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.

⁵His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect  — they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation.

⁶Is this how you repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father and Creator? Didn’t he make you and sustain you?

⁷Remember the days of old; consider the years of past generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.

⁸When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance and divided the human race, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the people of Israel.

⁹But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob, his own inheritance.

¹⁰He found him in a desolate land, in a barren, howling wilderness; he surrounded him, cared for him, and protected him as the pupil of his eye.

¹¹He watches over his nest like an eagle and hovers over his young; he spreads his wings, catches him, and carries him on his feathers.

¹²The LORD alone led him, with no help from a foreign god.

¹³He made him ride on the heights of the land and eat the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from flinty rock,

¹⁴curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat; you drank wine from the finest grapes.

¹⁵Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled — you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They provoked his jealousy with different gods; they enraged him with detestable practices.

¹⁷They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your fathers did not fear.

¹⁸You ignored the Rock who gave you birth; you forgot the God who gave birth to you.

¹⁹When the LORD saw this, he despised them, angered by his sons and daughters.

²⁰He said: “I will hide my face from them; I will see what will become of them, for they are a perverse generation — unfaithful children.

²¹They have provoked my jealousy with what is not a god; they have enraged me with their worthless idols. So I will provoke their jealousy with what is not a people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.

²²For fire has been kindled because of my anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

²³“I will pile disasters on them; I will use up my arrows against them.

²⁴They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.

²⁵Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, there will be terror; the young man and the young woman will be killed, the infant and the gray-haired man.

²⁶“I would have said: I will cut them to pieces and blot out the memory of them from mankind,

²⁷if I had not feared provocation from the enemy, or feared that these foes might misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it wasn’t the LORD who did all this.’”

²⁸Israel is a nation lacking sense with no understanding at all.

²⁹If only they were wise, they would comprehend this; they would understand their fate.

³⁰How could one pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

³¹But their “rock” is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.

³²For their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.

³³Their wine is serpents’ venom, the deadly poison of cobras.

³⁴“Is it not stored up with me, sealed up in my vaults?

³⁵Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

³⁶The LORD will indeed vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their strength is gone and no one is left — slave or free.

³⁷He will say: “Where are their gods, the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?

³⁸Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let it be a shelter for you.

³⁹See now that I alone am he; there is no God but me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from my power.

⁴⁰I raise my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,

⁴¹when I sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold of judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.

⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood while my sword devours flesh — the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

⁴³Rejoice, you nations, concerning his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries; he will purify his land and his people.

⁴⁴Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people.

⁴⁵After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,

⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to follow all the words of this law carefully.

⁴⁷For they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

⁴⁸On that same day the LORD spoke to Moses,

⁴⁹“Go up Mount Nebo in the Abarim range in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan I am giving the Israelites as a possession.

⁵⁰Then you will die on the mountain that you go up, and you will be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

⁵¹For both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the Waters of Meribath-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin by failing to treat me as holy in their presence.

⁵²Although from a distance you will view the land that I am giving the Israelites, you will not go there.”

¹This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave the Israelites before his death.

²He said: The LORD came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; he shone on them from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.

³Indeed he loves the people. All your holy ones are in your hand, and they assemble at your feet. Each receives your words.

⁴Moses gave us instruction, a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵So he became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered with the tribes of Israel.

⁶Let Reuben live and not die though his people become few.

⁷He said this about Judah: LORD, hear Judah’s cry and bring him to his people. He fights for his cause with his own hands, but may you be a help against his foes.

⁸He said about Levi: Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful one; you tested him at Massah and contended with him at the Waters of Meribah.

⁹He said about his father and mother, “I do not regard them.” He disregarded his brothers and didn’t acknowledge his sons, for they kept your word and maintained your covenant.

¹⁰They will teach your ordinances to Jacob and your instruction to Israel; they will set incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹LORD, bless his possessions, and accept the work of his hands. Break the back of his adversaries and enemies, so that they cannot rise again.

¹²He said about Benjamin: The LORD’s beloved rests securely on him. He shields him all day long, and he rests on his shoulders.

¹³He said about Joseph: May his land be blessed by the LORD with the dew of heaven’s bounty and the watery depths that lie beneath;

¹⁴with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons;

¹⁵with the best products of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the eternal hills;

¹⁶with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it; and with the favor of him who appeared in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

¹⁷His firstborn bull has splendor, and horns like those of a wild ox; he gores all the peoples with them to the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸He said about Zebulun: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys, and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They summon the peoples to a mountain; there they offer acceptable sacrifices. For they draw from the wealth of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰He said about Gad: The one who enlarges Gad’s territory will be blessed. He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or even a head.

²¹He chose the best part for himself, because a ruler’s portion was assigned there for him. He came with the leaders of the people; he carried out the LORD’s justice and his ordinances for Israel.

²²He said about Dan: Dan is a young lion, leaping out of Bashan.

²³He said about Naphtali: Naphtali, enjoying approval, full of the LORD’s blessing, take possession to the west and the south.

²⁴He said about Asher: May Asher be the most blessed of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in olive oil.

²⁵May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and your strength last as long as you live.

²⁶There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, the clouds in his majesty.

²⁷The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you and commands, “Destroy!”

²⁸So Israel dwells securely; Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine; even his skies drip with dew.

²⁹How happy you are, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread on their backs.

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan,

²all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

³the Negev, and the plain in the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

⁴The LORD then said to him, “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

⁵So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the LORD’s word.

⁶He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.

⁷Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not left him.

⁸The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

⁹Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁰No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.

¹¹He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do against the land of Egypt — to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land,

¹²and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

¹After the death of Moses the LORD’s servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant:

²“Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites.

³I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses.

⁴Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River — all the land of the Hittites  — and west to the Mediterranean Sea.

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 not leave you or abandon you.

⁶“Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance.

⁷Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.

⁸This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

⁹Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people:

¹¹“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you to inherit.’”

¹²Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh:

¹³“Remember what Moses the LORD’s servant commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and he will give you this land.’

¹⁴Your wives, dependents, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your best soldiers must cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers and help them

¹⁵until the LORD gives your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they too possess the land the LORD your God is giving them. You may then return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of what Moses the LORD’s servant gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”

¹⁶They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go.

¹⁷We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. Certainly the LORD your God will be with you, as he was with Moses.

¹⁸Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”

¹Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there.

²The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.”

³Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.”

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from.

⁵At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!”

⁶But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof.

⁷The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.

⁸Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof

⁹and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.

¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan.

¹¹When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.

¹²Now please swear to me by the LORD that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

¹³that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

¹⁴The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the LORD gives us the land.”

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, since she lived in a house that was built into the wall of the city.

¹⁶“Go to the hill country so that the men pursuing you won’t find you,” she said to them. “Hide there for three days until they return; afterward, go on your way.”

¹⁷The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,

¹⁸unless, when we enter the land, you tie this scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house.

¹⁹If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his death will be his own fault, and we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, his death will be our fault.

²⁰And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

²¹“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

²²So the two men went into the hill country and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. They searched all along the way, but did not find them.

²³Then the men returned, came down from the hill country, and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua son of Nun and reported everything that had happened to them.

²⁴They told Joshua, “The LORD has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us.”

¹Joshua started early the next morning and left the Acacia Grove with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing.

²After three days the officers went through the camp

³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God carried by the Levitical priests, you are to break camp and follow it.

⁴But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.”

⁵Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, because the LORD will do wonders among you tomorrow.”

⁶Then he said to the priests, “Carry the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁷The LORD spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses.

⁸Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the water, stand in the Jordan.”

⁹Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”

¹⁰He said: “You will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hethites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites

¹¹when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹²Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

¹³When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s water, its water will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.”

¹⁴When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge

¹⁶and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah  — the Dead Sea — was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho.

¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the LORD’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

¹After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua:

²“Choose twelve men from the people, one man for each tribe,

³and command them: Take twelve stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

⁴So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe,

⁵and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the LORD your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes,

⁶so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you? ’

⁷you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the LORD’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”

⁸The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The twelve men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.

⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are still there today.

¹⁰The priests carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried across,

¹¹and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people.

¹²The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went in battle formation in front of the Israelites, as Moses had instructed them.

¹³About forty thousand equipped for war crossed to the plains of Jericho in the LORD’s presence.

¹⁴On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him throughout his life, as they had revered Moses.

¹⁵The LORD told Joshua,

¹⁶“Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁸When the priests carrying the ark of the LORD’s covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan, and their feet stepped out on solid ground, the water of the Jordan resumed its course, flowing over all the banks as before.

¹⁹The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and camped at Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.

²⁰Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan,

²¹and he said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’

²²you should tell your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

²³For the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over.

²⁴This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”

¹When all the Amorite kings across the Jordan to the west and all the Canaanite kings near the sea heard how the LORD had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, they lost heart and their courage failed because of the Israelites.

²At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelite men again.”

³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelite men at Gibeath-haaraloth.

⁴This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males — all the men of war — had died in the wilderness along the way after they had come out of Egypt.

⁵Though all the people who came out were circumcised, none of the people born in the wilderness along the way were circumcised after they had come out of Egypt.

⁶For the Israelites wandered in the wilderness forty years until all the nation’s men of war who came out of Egypt had died off because they did not obey the LORD. So the LORD vowed never to let them see the land he had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁷He raised up their sons in their place; it was these Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way.

⁸After the entire nation had been circumcised, they stayed where they were in the camp until they recovered.

⁹The LORD then said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, that place is still called Gilgal today.

¹⁰While the Israelites camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.

¹¹The day after Passover they ate unleavened bread and roasted grain from the produce of the land.

¹²And the day after they ate from the produce of the land, the manna ceased. Since there was no more manna for the Israelites, they ate from the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

¹³When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴“Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the LORD’s army.” Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship and asked him, “What does my lord want to say to his servant?”

¹⁵The commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did that.

¹Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites — no one leaving or entering.

²The LORD said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its best soldiers over to you.

³March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days.

⁴Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the trumpets.

⁵When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the troops give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the troops will advance, each man straight ahead.”

⁶So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven trumpets in front of the ark of the LORD.”

⁷He said to the troops, “Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed men go ahead of the ark of the LORD.”

⁸After Joshua had spoken to the troops, seven priests carrying seven trumpets before the LORD moved forward and blew the trumpets; the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them.

⁹While the trumpets were blowing, the armed men went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard went behind the ark.

¹⁰But Joshua had commanded the troops: “Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don’t let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, ‘Shout! ’ Then you are to shout.”

¹¹So the ark of the LORD was carried around the city, circling it once. They returned to the camp and spent the night there.

¹²Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests took the ark of the LORD,

¹³and the seven priests carrying seven trumpets marched in front of the ark of the LORD. While the trumpets were blowing, the armed men went in front of them, and the rear guard went behind the ark of the LORD.

¹⁴On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵Early on the seventh day, they started at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same way. That was the only day they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua said to the troops, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.

¹⁷But the city and everything in it are set apart to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone with her in the house will live, because she hid the messengers we sent.

¹⁸But keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction. If you take any of those things, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and make trouble for it.

¹⁹For all the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, are dedicated to the LORD and must go into the LORD’s treasury.”

²⁰So the troops shouted, and the trumpets sounded. When they heard the blast of the trumpet, the troops gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. The troops advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city.

²¹They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword — every man and woman, both young and old, and every ox, sheep, and donkey.

²²Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you swore to her.”

²³So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house.

²⁵However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she still lives in Israel today.

²⁶At that time Joshua imposed this curse: The man who undertakes the rebuilding of this city, Jericho, is cursed before the LORD. He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn; he will finish its gates at the cost of his youngest.

²⁷And the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

¹The Israelites, however, were unfaithful regarding the things set apart for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart, and the LORD’s anger burned against the Israelites.

²Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the men went up and scouted Ai.

³After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don’t send all the people, but send about two thousand or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don’t wear out all our people there.”

⁴So about three thousand men went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.

⁵The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them and chased them from outside the city gate to the quarries, striking them down on the descent. As a result, the people lost heart.

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads.

⁷“Oh, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did you ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan!

⁸What can I say, Lord, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?

⁹When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will you do about your great name?”

¹⁰The LORD then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen facedown?

¹¹Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put those things with their own belongings.

¹²This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you what is set apart.

¹³“Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There are things that are set apart among you, Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart.

¹⁴In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the LORD selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan the LORD selects is to come forward family by family. The family the LORD selects is to come forward man by man.

¹⁵The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, along with everything he has, because he has violated the LORD’s covenant and committed an outrage in Israel.”

¹⁶Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.

¹⁷He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, and Zabdi was selected.

¹⁸He then had Zabdi’s family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.

¹⁹So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to him. I urge you, tell me what you have done. Don’t hide anything from me.”

²⁰Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did:

²¹When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing a pound and a quarter, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under the cloak.”

²²So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the silver underneath.

²³They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in the LORD’s presence.

²⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

²⁵Joshua said, “Why have you brought us trouble? Today the LORD will bring you trouble!” So all Israel stoned them to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them,

²⁶and raised over him a large pile of rocks that remains still today. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor still today.

¹The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all the troops with you and go attack Ai. Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.

²Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king, except that you may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”

³So Joshua and all the troops set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of his best soldiers and sent them out at night.

⁴He commanded them: “Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.

⁵Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them.

⁶They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us as before.’ While we are fleeing from them,

⁷you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you.

⁸After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the LORD’s command — see that you do as I have ordered you.”

⁹So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.

¹⁰Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai.

¹¹All those who were with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city.

¹²Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

¹³The troops were stationed in this way: the main camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city.

¹⁵Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness.

¹⁶Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

¹⁷Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua held out his javelin toward it.

¹⁹When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

²⁰The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

²²Then men in ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained,

²³but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword.

²⁵The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was twelve thousand — all the people of Ai.

²⁶Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.

²⁷Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to the LORD’s command that he had given Joshua.

²⁸Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.

²⁹He hung the body of the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.

³⁰At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

³¹just as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used. Then they offered burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it.

³²There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites.

³³All Israel — resident alien and citizen alike — with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the LORD’s covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded earlier concerning blessing the people of Israel.

³⁴Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law — the blessings as well as the curses — according to all that is written in the book of the law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the dependents, and the resident aliens who lived among them.

¹When all the kings heard about Jericho and Ai, those who were west of the Jordan in the hill country, in the Judean foothills, and all along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon — the Hethites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites —

²they formed a unified alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.

³When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

⁴they acted deceptively. They gathered provisions and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins, cracked and mended.

⁵They wore old, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies. Their entire provision of bread was dry and crumbly.

⁶They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.”

⁷The men of Israel replied to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How can we make a treaty with you?”

⁸They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

⁹They replied to him, “Your servants have come from a faraway land because of the reputation of the LORD your God. For we have heard of his fame, and all that he did in Egypt,

¹⁰and all that he did to the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan — King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth.

¹¹So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey; go and meet them and say, “We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.”’

¹²This bread of ours was warm when we took it from our houses as food on the day we left to come to you; but see, it is now dry and crumbly.

¹³These wineskins were new when we filled them; but see, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the extremely long journey.”

¹⁴Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the LORD’s decision.

¹⁵So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.

¹⁶Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them.

¹⁷So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

¹⁸But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

²⁰This is how we will treat them: we will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”

²¹They also said, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had promised them.

²²Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us by telling us you live far away from us, when in fact you live among us?

²³Therefore you are cursed and will always be slaves — woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

²⁴The Gibeonites answered him, “It was clearly communicated to your servants that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you. We greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.

²⁵Now we are in your hands. Do to us whatever you think is right.”

²⁶This is what Joshua did to them: he rescued them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them.

²⁷On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers — as they are today — for the community and for the LORD’s altar at the place he would choose.