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THE BOOK OF JOSHUA.

AND it came to pass, after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, 2 Moses' minister, saying: Moses my servant is dead. And now arise, pass over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I give to them, give to them, to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon have 4 I given to you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, and unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great 5 sea at the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

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man shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee. I will 6 not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of good cour

age. For thou shalt cause this people to possess the land, 7 which I have sworn to their fathers to give them. Only be

thou strong and very courageous; take heed that thou mayest do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it right or left, that 8 thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; and thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have 9 good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, nor be thou faint-hearted ; for Jehovah thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

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Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, say11 ing Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying: Prepare provision for you; for within three

Chs. i.-xii. Conquest of Canaan.

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days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it.

And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half 13 tribe of Manasseh, spoke Joshua, saying: Remember the word which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying: Jehovah your God gives you rest, and has given to

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you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your herds

shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But ye shall pass over armed before your brethren, 15 all the strong men of war, and help them; until Jehovah Ishall give rest to your brethren, as to you, and they also shall possess the land which Jehovah your God gives to them. And ye shall return to the land of your possession, and shall possess it, which Moses Jehovah's servant gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising.

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And they answered Joshua, saying: All that thou hast commanded us we will do, and whithersoever thou shalt send 17 us, we will go. As in all things we hearkened to Moses, so will we hearken to thee. Only let Jehovah thy God be with 18 thee, as he was with Moses. Whosoever shall rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken to thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.

1 AND Joshua the son of Nun sent from Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying: Go view the land, and Jericho. And they went; and they came into the house of a harlot, and her 2 name was Rahab; and they lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying: Behold, men came in hither to8 night of the children of Israel to search out the land. And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: Bring forth the men that are come to thee, who entered into thy house; for 4 they are come to search out all the land. And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said: Yea, the

VV. 14, 15. Beyond the Jordan,—the other side of it,—may mean either side; namely, the west as in Moses' petition, Deut. 3: 25, or the east as in Judg. 5: 17; in both these cases meaning the side opposite to the speaker. But it may mean the side occupied by the speaker, as in Josh. 1:14, 15. (The writer's note on Is. 9:1.)

And

men came to me, and I knew not whence they were. the gate was about to be shut when it was dark, and the men went out. Whither the men went, I know not. Pursue after 6 them quickly; for ye will overtake them. Now she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them in the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan by the fords. And when those who pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

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And they had not yet lain down; and she came up to them 9 upon the roof. And she said to the men: I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that the dread of you is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint 10 because of you. For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red sea before you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom ye 11 utterly destroyed. And when we heard it, our hearts did melt, and there remained no more spirit in any man, because of you; for Jehovah your God, he is God in the heavens 12 above, and on the earth beneath. And now, I pray you, swear to me by Jehovah, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye will also deal kindly with my father's house, and give 13 me a token of truth; and save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they 14 have, and deliver our souls from death. And the men said to her Our life for yours, if ye betray not this our business. And it shall be, when Jehovah gives us the land, that we 15 will deal kindly and truly with thee. And she let them

down by a cord through the window. For her house was in 16 a recess on the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said to them: Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. And hide yourselves there three days, until the 17 pursuers return; and afterward may ye go your way. And the men said to her: We are free from this thine oath which 18 thou hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window

by which thou didst let us down; and thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, thou 19 shalt gather to thee into the house. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go forth out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood be upon his head, and we guiltless. And whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood be on 20 our head, if any hand shall be upon him. And if thou betray this our business, then we are free from thine oath which 21 thou hast made us swear. And she said: According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed. 22 And she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they went, and came to the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers returned. And the pursuers sought in all the way, but found them not.

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And the two men returned, and came down from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of 24 Nun, and told him all that befell them. And they said to Joshua: Jehovah has given the whole land into our hands ; yea, and all the inhabitants of the land do faint because of

us.

1 AND Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children 2 of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers passed through 3 the midst of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying: When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall re4 move from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Come not near to it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go ; for ye have not passed this way here5 tofore. And Joshua said to the people: Sanctify yourselves; 6 for to morrow Jehovah will do wonders among you. And

Joshua spoke to the priests, saying: Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.