rsv Joshua:1-4 SEEK
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After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD ,
the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun ,
Moses '
minister ,
* "
Moses my servant is dead ;
now therefore arise ,
go over this Jordan ,
you and all this people ,
into the land which I am giving to them ,
to the people of Israel .
*
Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you ,
as I promised to Moses .
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From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river ,
the river Euphra '
tes ,
all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory .
*
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life ;
as I was with Moses ,
so I will be with you ;
I will not fail you or forsake you .
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Be strong and of good courage ;
for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them .
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Only be strong and very courageous ,
being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you ;
turn not from it to the right hand or to the left ,
that you may have good success wherever you go .
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This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth ,
but you shall meditate on it day and night ,
that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it ;
for then you shall make your way prosperous ,
and then you shall have good success .
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Have I not commanded you ?
Be strong and of good courage ;
be not frightened ,
neither be dismayed ;
for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go ."
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Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people ,
* "
Pass through the camp ,
and command the people , `
Prepare your provisions ;
for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan ,
to go in to take possession of the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess .'"
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And to the Reubenites ,
the Gadites ,
and the half-tribe of Manas '
seh Joshua said ,
* "
Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you ,
saying , `
The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest ,
and will give you this land .'
*
Your wives ,
your little ones ,
and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan ;
but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brethren and shall help them ,
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until the LORD gives rest to your brethren as well as to you ,
and they also take possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them ;
then you shall return to the land of your possession ,
and shall possess it ,
the land which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise ."
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And they answered Joshua , "
All that you have commanded us we will do ,
and wherever you send us we will go .
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Just 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 !
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Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words ,
whatever you command him ,
shall be put to death .
Only be strong and of good courage ."
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And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies ,
saying , "
Go ,
view the land ,
especially Jericho ."
And they went ,
and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab ,
and lodged there .
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And it was told the king of Jericho , "
Behold ,
certain men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land ."
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Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab ,
saying , "
Bring forth the men that have come to you ,
who entered your house ;
for they have come to search out all the land ."
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But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them ;
and she said , "
True ,
men came to me ,
but I did not know where they came from ;
*
and when the gate was to be closed ,
at dark ,
the men went out ;
where the men went I do not know ;
pursue them quickly ,
for you will overtake them ."
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But she had brought them up to the roof ,
and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof .
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So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords ;
and as soon as the pursuers had gone out ,
the gate was shut .
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Before they lay down ,
she came up to them on the roof ,
*
and said to the men , "
I know that the LORD has given you the land ,
and that the fear of you has fallen upon us ,
and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you .
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For 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 that were beyond the Jordan ,
to Sihon and Og ,
whom you utterly destroyed .
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And as soon as we heard it ,
our hearts melted ,
and there was no courage left in any man ,
because of you ;
for the LORD your God is he who is God in heaven above and on earth beneath .
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Now then ,
swear to me by the LORD that as I have dealt kindly with you ,
you also will deal kindly with my father '
s house ,
and give me a sure sign ,
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and save alive my father and mother ,
my brothers and sisters ,
and all who belong to them ,
and deliver our lives from death ."
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And the men said to her , "
Our life for yours !
If you do not tell this business of ours ,
then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the LORD gives us the land ."
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Then she let them down by a rope through the window ,
for her house was built into the city wall ,
so that she dwelt in the wall .
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And she said to them , "
Go into the hills ,
lest the pursuers meet you ;
and hide yourselves there three days ,
until the pursuers have returned ;
then afterward you may go your way ."
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The men said to her , "
We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours which you have made us swear .
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Behold ,
when we come into the land ,
you shall bind this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down ;
and you shall gather into your house your father and mother ,
your brothers ,
and all your father '
s household .
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If any one goes out of the doors of your house into the street ,
his blood shall be upon his head ,
and we shall be guiltless ;
but if a hand is laid upon any one who is with you in the house ,
his blood shall be on our head .
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But if you tell this business of ours ,
then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath which you have made us swear ."
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And she said , "
According to your words ,
so be it ."
Then she sent them away ,
and they departed ;
and she bound the scarlet cord in the window .
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They departed ,
and went into the hills ,
and remained there three days ,
until the pursuers returned ;
for the pursuers had made search all along the way and found nothing .
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Then the two men came down again from the hills ,
and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun ;
and they told him all that had befallen them .
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And they said to Joshua , "
Truly the LORD has given all the land into our hands ;
and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us ."
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Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim ,
with all the people of Israel ;
and they came to the Jordan ,
and lodged there before they passed over .
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At the end of three days the officers went through the camp
*
and commanded the people , "
When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests ,
then you shall set out from your place and follow it ,
*
that you may know the way you shall go ,
for you have not passed this way before .
Yet there shall be a space between you and it ,
a distance of about two thousand cubits ;
do not come near it ."
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And Joshua said to the people , "
Sanctify yourselves ;
for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you ."
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And Joshua said to the priests , "
Take up the ark of the covenant ,
and pass on before the people ."
And they took up the ark of the covenant ,
and went before the people .
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And the LORD said to Joshua , "
This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel ,
that they may know that ,
as I was with Moses ,
so I will be with you .
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And you shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant , `
When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan ,
you shall stand still in the Jordan .'"
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And Joshua said to the people of Israel , "
Come hither ,
and hear the words of the LORD your God ."
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And Joshua said , "
Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you ,
and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites ,
the Hittites ,
the Hivites ,
the Per '
izzites ,
the Gir '
gashites ,
the Amorites ,
and the Jeb '
usites .
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Behold ,
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is to pass over before you into the Jordan .
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Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel ,
from each tribe a man .
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And when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD ,
the Lord of all the earth ,
shall rest in the waters of the Jordan ,
the waters of the Jordan shall be stopped from flowing ,
and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap ."
*
So ,
when the people set out from their tents ,
to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people ,
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and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan ,
and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (
the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest ),
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the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off ,
at Adam ,
the city that is beside Zar '
ethan ,
and those flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah ,
the Salt Sea ,
were wholly cut off ;
and the people passed over opposite Jericho .
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And while all Israel were passing over on dry ground ,
the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan ,
until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan .
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When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan ,
the LORD said to Joshua ,
* "
Take twelve men from the people ,
from each tribe a man ,
*
and command them , `
Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan ,
from the very place where the priests '
feet stood ,
and carry them over with you ,
and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight .'"
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Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel ,
whom he had appointed ,
a man from each tribe ;
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and Joshua said to them , "
Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan ,
and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder ,
according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel ,
*
that this may be a sign among you ,
when your children ask in time to come , `
What do those stones mean to you ?'
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Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD ;
when it passed over the Jordan ,
the waters of the Jordan were cut off .
So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever ."
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And the men of Israel did as Joshua commanded ,
and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan ,
according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel ,
as the LORD told Joshua ;
and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged ,
and laid them down there .
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And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan ,
in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood ;
and they are there to this day .
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For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan ,
until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to tell the people ,
according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua .
The people passed over in haste ;
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and when all the people had finished passing over ,
the ark of the LORD and the priests passed over before the people .
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The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manas '
seh passed over armed before the people of Israel ,
as Moses had bidden them ;
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about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before the LORD for battle ,
to the plains of Jericho .
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On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel ;
and they stood in awe of him ,
as they had stood in awe of Moses ,
all the days of his life .
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And the LORD said to Joshua ,
* "
Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan ."
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Joshua therefore commanded the priests , "
Come up out of the Jordan ."
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And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst of the Jordan ,
and the soles of the priests '
feet were lifted up on dry ground ,
the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks ,
as before .
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The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month ,
and they encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho .
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And those twelve stones ,
which they took out of the Jordan ,
Joshua set up in Gilgal .
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And he said to the people of Israel , "
When your children ask their fathers in time to come , `
What do these stones mean ?'
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then you shall let your children know , `
Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground .'
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For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over ,
as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea ,
which he dried up for us until we passed over ,
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so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty ;
that you may fear the LORD your God for ever ."
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When all the kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan to the west ,
and all the kings of the Canaanites that were by the sea ,
heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over ,
their heart melted ,
and there was no longer any spirit in them ,
because of the people of Israel .