After Moses left this earth and went to be with his family in paradise, the Lord God spoke to Joshua, the new leader of God’s people.

He said, Moses, My servant is dead, So get up and go over, you and all the people into the land that I have given to the children of Israel.

Every place your foot walked on, I have given to you. From this wilderness and Lebanon to the great river Euphrates, and from the river to the sea where the sun goes down.

 

 

No man will be able to win fighting against you all the days of your life.

I will be with you like I was with Moses. I will not fail you or go away from you. So be strong and very brave because you are the one who will divide this land to the people that I promised their fathers to give to them.

Be strong and very brave to do all My rules that I gave My servant Moses. Do not turn away from any of it this way or that.

Keep the words of this book in your heart and say only these words. Think about them day and night so that you will do them. Then everything you do will be good and move fast in My happiness and turn out very good.

 

Be strong and very brave. Don’t be scared or upset in your heart because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

So Joshua had the people get food ready to travel and told the warriors of the families that had already got their land to get ready to come help their brothers until they were done fighting and God gave them victory and rest in their promised land.

They answered Joshua, We will do all that you have said and go everywhere you send us. As we listened to Moses and obeyed him, that is how we will listen to and obey you.

 

 

Only the Lord your God be with you like He was with Moses. Whoever will not listen to you in all that you say will be put to death. Be strong and very brave.

 

 

 

Then Joshua sent spies into the land to look at it and bring him back a report.

 

 

The spies sneaked into the Promised Land, into the first city, Jericho, and stayed in a lady’s house.

The king of Jericho heard that some men had come to see the land from the children of Israel, so they sent to the lady's house to get them. But the lady hid the men and lied to the king’s men saying that they left the city before it got dark and she didn’t know where they went.

Then she went to her rooftop where she’d hid the men and talked to them.

She said, I know that God has given you this land. We have heard how God dried up the water of the Red Sea for you to cross over when you came out of the land of Egypt.

When we heard about this our hearts melted. We are not brave anymore because the Lord your God is God with all the power everywhere in heaven above us and on the earth beneath us.

Please promise me, since I have been kind to you, that you will show kindness to my father’s house and keep us alive when you take the land.

The men promised on their own lives that they would spare the lives of her and her family, saying, If you don’t say a word about this to anyone we will keep you safe.

 

 

 

When we get here, bring all your family into this house and put this red rope in the window so we will know it’s you. Stay inside. We can’t protect anyone who goes outside when we come into the city.

 

 

 

She sneaked the men out of her house by letting them down by the red rope over the wall. She told them to go and hide in the mountains for three days until the king’s soldiers were done looking for them and then go to their camp.

 

 

So the men hid three days in the mountains and then went back to Joshua.

They told him how beautiful and wonderful the land was and about the lady who helped them and their promise to her.

Truly the Lord has given all this land to us, all the people who live there are afraid of us.