Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹“So it will be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have placed before you, and you call them to mind in all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you,

²and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your sons,

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

⁴If any of your scattered countrymen are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.

⁵The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will be good to you and make you more numerous than your fathers.

⁶“Moreover, the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live.

⁷And the LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.

⁸And you will again obey the LORD, and follow all His commandments which I am commanding you today.

⁹Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in every work of your hand, in the children of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers;

¹⁰if you obey the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.

¹¹“For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away.

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

¹³Nor is it beyond the sea, that you could say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may follow it?’

¹⁴On the contrary, the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may follow it.

¹⁵“See, I have placed before you today life and happiness, and death and adversity,

¹⁶in that I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you may live and become numerous, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them,

¹⁸I declare to you today that you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and take possession of it.

¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

²⁰by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, so that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

¹So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

²And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today; I am no longer able to go out and come in, and the LORD has told me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’

³It is the LORD your God who is going to cross ahead of you; He Himself will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who is going to cross ahead of you, just as the LORD has spoken.

⁴And the LORD will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them.

⁵The LORD will turn them over to you, and you will do to them in accordance with all the commandments which I have commanded you.

⁶Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the LORD your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”

⁷Then Moses called to 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 which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance.

⁸And the LORD is the one who is going ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not desert you or abandon you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”

⁹So Moses wrote this Law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of the release of debts, at the Feast of Booths,

¹¹when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this Law before all Israel so that they hear it.

¹²Assemble the people, the men, the women, the children, and the stranger who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to follow all the words of this Law.

¹³And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, and I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.

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

¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the prostitute with the foreign gods of the land into the midst of which they are going, and they will abandon Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

¹⁷Then My anger will be kindled against them on that day, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them; so they will say on that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’

¹⁸But I will assuredly hide My face on that day because of all the evil that they will have done, for they will have turned away to other gods.

¹⁹“Now then, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.

²⁰For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant.

²¹Then it will come about, when many evils and troubles find them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the mouth of their descendants); for I know their inclination which they are developing today, before I bring them into the land which I swore.”

²²So Moses wrote down this song on the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.

²³Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this Law in a book until they were complete,

²⁵that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,

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 your rebellion and your stubbornness; behold, as long as I have been alive with you until today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more, then, after my death?

²⁸Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against them.

²⁹For I know that after my death you will behave very corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will confront you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

³⁰Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete:

¹“Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!

²May my teaching drip as the rain, My speech trickle as the dew, As droplets on the fresh grass, And as the showers on the vegetation.

³For I proclaim the name of the LORD; Ascribe greatness to our God!

⁴The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and just is He.

⁵They have acted corruptly against Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation.

⁶Is this what you do to the LORD, You foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who has purchased you? He has made you and established you.

⁷Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of mankind, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel.

⁹For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.

¹⁰He found him in a desert land, And in the howling wasteland of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.

¹¹As an eagle stirs up its nest, And hovers over its young, He spread His wings, He caught them, He carried them on His pinions.

¹²The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him.

¹³He had him ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; And He had him suck honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock,

¹⁴Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats, With the best of the wheat; And you drank wine of the blood of grapes.

¹⁵“But Jeshurun became fat and kicked— You have become fat, thick, and obstinate— Then he abandoned God who made him, And rejected the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They made Him jealous with strange gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger.

¹⁷They sacrificed to demons, who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not know.

¹⁸You forgot the Rock who fathered you, And forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹“The LORD saw this, and spurned them Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.

²⁰Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.

²¹They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,

²²For a fire has flared in My anger, And it burns to the lowest part of Sheol, And devours the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³‘I will add misfortunes to them; I will use up My arrows on them.

²⁴They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by plague And a bitter epidemic; And the teeth of beasts I will send against them, With the venom of crawling things of the dust.

²⁵Outside the sword will make them childless, And inside, terror— Both young man and virgin, The nursing child with the man of gray hair.

²⁶I would have said, “I will wipe them out, I will remove the mention of their name from humanity,”

²⁷Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, That their adversaries would misjudge, That they would say, “Our hand is triumphant, And the LORD has not performed all this.” ’

²⁸“For they are a nation destitute of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.

²⁹If only they were wise and they understood this; If only they would discern their future!

³⁰How could one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Unless their Rock had sold them, And the LORD had given them up?

³¹Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock; Even our enemies themselves judge this.

³²For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of poison, Their clusters, bitter.

³³Their wine is the venom of serpents, And the deadly poison of vipers.

³⁴‘Is it not stored up with Me, Sealed up in My treasuries?

³⁵Vengeance is Mine, and retribution; In due time their foot will slip. For the day of their disaster is near, And the impending things are hurrying to them.’

³⁶For the LORD will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free.

³⁷And He will say, ‘Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge?

³⁸Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection!

³⁹See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.

⁴⁰Indeed, I raise My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,

⁴¹If I have sharpened My flashing sword, And My hand has taken hold of justice, I will return vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.

⁴²I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword will devour flesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.’

⁴³Rejoice, you nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will return vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people.”

⁴⁴Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun.

⁴⁵When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel,

⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you will command your sons to follow carefully, all the words of this Law.

⁴⁷For it is not a trivial matter for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

⁴⁸Now the LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying,

⁴⁹“Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession.

⁵⁰Then you are to die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,

⁵¹because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel.

⁵²For you will see the land at a distance but you will not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”

¹Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death.

²He said, “The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone from Mount Paran, And He came from the midst of myriads of holy ones; At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them.

³Indeed, He loves the people; All Your holy ones are in Your hand, And they followed in Your steps; Everyone takes of Your words.

⁴Moses issued to us the Law, A possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵And He was king in Jeshurun, When the heads of the people gathered, The tribes of Israel together.

⁶“May Reuben live and not die, Nor may his people be few.”

⁷And this was regarding Judah; so he said: “Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, And bring him to his people. With his hands he contended for them, And may You be a help against his adversaries.”

⁸Of Levi he said, “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man, Whom You tested at Massah, With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;

⁹Who said of his father and his mother, ‘I did not consider them’; And he did not acknowledge his brothers, Nor did he regard his own sons, For they kept Your word, And complied with Your covenant.

¹⁰They will teach Your ordinances to Jacob, And Your Law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

¹¹LORD, bless his strength, And accept the work of his hands; Smash the hips of those who rise up against him, And those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”

¹²Of Benjamin he said, “May the beloved of the LORD live in security beside Him Who shields him all the day long, And he lives between His shoulders.”

¹³Of Joseph he said, “Blessed of the LORD be his land, With the choice things of heaven, with the dew, And from the deep waters lying beneath,

¹⁴And with the choice yield of the sun, And the choice produce of the months;

¹⁵And with the best things of the ancient mountains, With the choice things of the everlasting hills,

¹⁶And with the choice things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let it come to the head of Joseph, And to the top of the head of the one who was prince among his brothers.

¹⁷As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his, And his horns are the horns of the wild ox; With them he will gore the peoples All at once, to the ends of the earth. And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹⁸Of Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, And, Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They will call peoples to the mountain; There they will offer righteous sacrifices; For they will draw out the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand.”

²⁰Of Gad he said, “Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad; He lies down as a lion, And tears the arm, also the crown of the head.

²¹Then he selected the choicest part for himself, For there the ruler’s portion was reserved; And he came with the leaders of the people; He executed the justice of the LORD, And His ordinances with Israel.”

²²Of Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub; He leaps out from Bashan.”

²³Of Naphtali he said, “Naphtali, satisfied with favor, And full of the blessing of the LORD, Take possession of the sea and the south.”

²⁴Of Asher he said, “More blessed than sons is Asher; May he be favored by his brothers, And may he dip his foot in olive oil.

²⁵Your bars will be iron and bronze, And as your days, so will your strength be.

²⁶“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to your help, And the clouds in His majesty.

²⁷The eternal God is a hiding place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from you, And said, ‘Destroy!’

²⁸So Israel lives in security, The fountain of Jacob secluded, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens also drip down dew.

²⁹Blessed are you, Israel; Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help, And He who is the sword of your majesty! So your enemies will cringe before you, And you will trample on their high places.”

¹Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,

²and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea,

³and the Negev and the territory in the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.

⁴Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not go over there.”

⁵So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, in accordance with the word of the LORD.

⁶And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows his burial place to this day.

⁷Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eyesight was not dim, nor had his vigor left him.

⁸So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

⁹Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁰Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

¹¹for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land—

¹²and for all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

¹Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,

²“Moses My servant is dead; so now arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

³Every place on which the sole of your foot steps, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

⁴From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

⁵No one will be able to oppose you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you.

⁶Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

⁷Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may achieve success wherever you go.

⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success.

⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

¹¹“Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are going to cross this Jordan, to go in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, to possess it.’ ”

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

¹³“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is giving you rest, and will give you this land.’

¹⁴Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross ahead of your brothers in battle formation, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them,

¹⁵until the LORD gives your brothers rest, as He is giving you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may return to your own land, and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

¹⁷Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses.

¹⁸Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.”

¹Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and rested there.

²But it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.”

³And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to spy out all the land.”

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

⁵It came about, when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”

⁶But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.

⁷So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan, to the crossing places; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸Now before the spies lay down, she came up to them on the roof,

⁹and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired 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 the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

¹¹When we heard these reports, our hearts melted and no courage remained in anyone any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below.

¹²Now then, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth,

¹³and spare my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all who belong to them, and save our lives from death.”

¹⁴So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.

¹⁶And she said to them, “Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not encounter you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.”

¹⁷And the men said to her, “We shall be exempt from this oath to you which you have made us swear,

¹⁸unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.

¹⁹And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him.

²⁰But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.”

²¹She then said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²²So they departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days, until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched for them all along the road, but had not found them.

²³Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them.

²⁴And they said to Joshua, “The LORD has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”

¹Then Joshua got up early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they spent the night there before they crossed.

²Then at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp;

³and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

⁴However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do miracles among you.”

⁶And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

⁷Now the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they will know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.

⁸So you shall command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ”

⁹Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.”

¹⁰And Joshua said, “By this you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly drive out from you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.

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

¹³And it will come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, that is, the waters which are flowing down from above; and they will stand in one heap.”

¹⁴So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark stepped down into the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest),

¹⁶then the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.

¹⁷And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

¹Now when the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

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

³and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firmly, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the encampment where you will spend the night.’ ”

⁴So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;

⁵and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

⁶This shall be a sign among you; when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

⁷then you shall say to them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

⁸So the sons of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the encampment and put them down there.

⁹Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

¹⁰For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;

¹¹and when all the people had finished crossing, then the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed in front of the people.

¹²The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle formation before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;

¹³about forty thousand equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.

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

¹⁵Now the LORD said to Joshua,

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

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

¹⁸It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

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

²⁰As for those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set them up at Gilgal.

²¹And he said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’

²²then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’

²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

²⁴so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

¹Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.

²At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.”

³So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

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

⁵For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

⁶For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD, to whom the LORD had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁷So their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.

⁸Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they recovered.

⁹Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.

¹¹Then on the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain.

¹²And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

¹³Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”

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

¹Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.

²But the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with its king and the valiant warriors.

³And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.

⁴Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

⁵It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight ahead.”

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

⁷Then he said to the people, “Go forward and march around the city, and the armed men shall go on ahead of the ark of the LORD.”

⁸And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

⁹And the armed men went ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁰But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed from your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”

¹¹So he had the ark of the LORD taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹²Now Joshua got up early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

¹³Then the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁴So the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did the same for six days.

¹⁵Then on the seventh day they got up early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day did they march around the city seven times.

¹⁶And at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.

¹⁷But the city shall be designated for destruction, it and everything that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

¹⁸But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things designated for destruction, so that you do not covet them and take some of the designated things, and turn the camp of Israel into something designated for destruction and bring disaster on it.

¹⁹But all the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.”

²⁰So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight ahead, and they took the city.

²¹They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²²And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, just as you have sworn to her.”

²³So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives, and placed them outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

²⁵However, Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”

²⁷So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

¹But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things designated for destruction, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the designated things; therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.

²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up; have only about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not trouble all the people there, for they are few.”

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

⁵And the men of Ai struck and killed about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them on the mountainside; and the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

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

⁷And Joshua said, “Oh, Lord GOD! Why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to eliminate us? If only we had been willing to live beyond the Jordan!

⁸O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?

⁹For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about it, and they will surround us and eliminate our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰So the LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?

¹¹Israel has sinned, and they have also violated My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things designated for destruction, and have both stolen and kept it a secret. Furthermore, they have also put them among their own things.

¹²Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become designated for destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you eliminate from your midst the things designated for destruction.

¹³Stand up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has said this: “There are things designated for destruction in your midst, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you have removed the designated things from your midst.”

¹⁴So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD selects by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the LORD selects shall come forward by households, and the household which the LORD selects shall come forward man by man.

¹⁵And it shall be that the one who is selected with the things designated for destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant of the LORD, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

¹⁶So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected.

¹⁷So he brought the family of Judah forward, and he selected the family of the Zerahites; then he brought the family of the Zerahites forward man by man, and Zabdi was selected.

¹⁸And he brought his household forward man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected.

¹⁹Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”

²⁰So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:

²¹when I saw among the spoils a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I wanted them and took them; and behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath it.

²³So they took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel; and they laid them out before the LORD.

²⁴Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

²⁵And Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on us? The LORD will bring disaster on you this day.” And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

²⁶Then they erected over him a large heap of stones that stands to this day, and the LORD turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

¹Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you. Arise, go up to Ai; see, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

²You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoils and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

³So Joshua rose up with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night.

⁴He commanded them, saying, “See, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

⁵Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us as they did the first time, we will flee before them.

⁶They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us just as they did the first time.’ So we will flee before them.

⁷Then you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will hand it over to you.

⁸Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it in accordance with the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.”

⁹So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

¹⁰Now Joshua got up early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai.

¹¹Then all the people of war who were with him went up and approached, and arrived in front of the city; and they camped on the north side of Ai. And there was a valley between him and Ai.

¹²Then he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹³So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.

¹⁴And it came about, when the king of Ai saw them, that the men of the city hurried and got up early, and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁶And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.

¹⁷So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel, but they had all gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Reach out with the sword that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand it over to you.” So Joshua reached out with the sword that was in his hand toward the city.

¹⁹Then the men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had reached out with his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire.

²⁰When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and killed the men of Ai.

²²The others came out from the city to confront them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they killed them until there was not one left who escaped or survived.

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

²⁴Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

²⁵So all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai.

²⁶For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he reached out with the sword until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁷Israel took only the cattle and the spoils of that city as plunder for themselves, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burned Ai and made it a refuse heap forever, a desolation until this day.

²⁹And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; but at sunset Joshua gave the command and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and erected over it a large heap of stones that stands to this day.

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

³¹just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no one had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

³²And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel.

³³And all Israel with their elders, officers, and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴Then afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessing and the curse, according to everything that is written in the Book of the Law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.

¹Now it came about when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, the lowland, and on all the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard about it,

²that they met together with one purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

³The inhabitants of Gibeon also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

⁴but they on their part acted craftily and went and took provisions for a journey, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins that were worn out, split open, and patched,

⁵and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.

⁶And they went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now then, make a covenant with us.”

⁷But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you are living within our land; how then are we to make a covenant with you?”

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

⁹They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the LORD your God; for we have heard the report about Him and all that He did in Egypt,

¹⁰and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was in Ashtaroth.

¹¹So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us.” ’

¹²This bread of ours was hot when we took it for our provisions from our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled.

¹³And these wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are split open; and these clothes of ours and our sandals are worn out from the very long journey.”

¹⁴So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.

¹⁵And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

¹⁶However, it came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living within their land.

¹⁷Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

¹⁸But the sons of Israel did not attack them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

²⁰This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be on us because of the oath which we swore to them.”

²¹So the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” And they became gatherers of firewood and labor to draw water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.

²²Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you are living within our land?

²³Now therefore, you are cursed, and you will never cease to be slaves, both gatherers of firewood and labor to draw water for the house of my God.”

²⁴So they answered Joshua and said, “Since your servants were fully informed 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 feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing.

²⁵And now behold, we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight to do.”

²⁶This he did to them, and saved them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.

²⁷But on that day Joshua made them gatherers of firewood and labor to draw water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to this day, in the place which He would choose.