8a-The spies-a had not yet gone to sleep when she came up to them on the roof. 9She said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. 10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed.b 11When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no man had any more spirit left because of you; for the LORD your God is the only God in heaven above and on earth below. 12Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by the LORD that you in turn will show loyalty to my family. Provide me with a reliable sign 13that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.” 14The men answered her, “Our persons are pledged for yours, even to death! If you do not disclose this mission of ours, we will show you true loyalty when the LORD gives us the land.”
15She let them down by a rope through the window—for her dwelling was at the outer side of the city wall and she lived in the actual wall. 16She said to them, “Make for the hills, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Stay there in hiding three days, until the pursuers return; then go your way.”
17But the men warned her, “We will be released from this oath which you have made us take 18[unless,] when we invade the country, you tie this length of crimson cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your family together in your house; 19and if anyone ventures outside the doors of your house, his blood will be on his head, and we shall be clear. But if a hand is laid on anyone who remains in the house with you, his blood shall be on our heads. 20And if you disclose this mission of ours, we shall likewise be released from the oath which you made us take.” 21She replied, “Let it be as you say.”
She sent them on their way, and they left; and she tied the crimson cord to the window.
22They went straight to the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers turned back. And so the pursuers, searching all along the road, did not find them.
23Then the two men came down again from the hills and crossed over. They came to Joshua son of Nun and reported to him all that had happened to them. 24They said to Joshua, “The LORD has delivered the whole land into our power; in fact, all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before us.”
3 Early next morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and marched to the Jordan. They did not cross immediately, but spent the night there. 2Three days later, the officials went through the camp 3and charged the people as follows: “When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God being borne by the levitical priests, you shall move forward. Follow it—4but keep a distance of some two thousand cubits from it, never coming any closer to it—so that you may know by what route to march, since it is a road you have not traveled before.” 5And Joshua said to the people, “Purify yourselves,a for tomorrow the LORD will perform wonders in your midst.”
6Then Joshua ordered the priests, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant and advance to the head of the people.” And they took up the Ark of the Covenant and marched at the head of the people.
7The LORD said to Joshua, “This day, for the first time, I will exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they shall know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. 8For your part, command the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant as follows: When you reach the edge of the waters of the Jordan, make a halt in the Jordan.”
9And Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 10By this,” Joshua continued, “you shall know that a living God is among you, and that He will dispossess for you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: 11the Ark of the Covenant of the Sovereign of all the earth is advancing before you into the Jordan. 12Now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. 13When the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the LORD, the Sovereign of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan—the water coming from upstream—will be cut off and will stand in a single heap.”
14When the people set out from their encampment to cross the Jordan, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant were at the head of the people. 15Now the Jordan keeps flowing over its entire bed throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the bearers of the Ark reached the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the Ark dipped into the water at its edge, 16the waters coming down from upstream piled up in a single heap a great way off, atb Adam, the town next to Zarethan; and those flowing away downstream to the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) ran out completely. So the people crossed near Jericho. 17The priests who bore the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant stood on dry land exactly in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over on dry land, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
4 When the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2“Select twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3and instruct them as follows: Pick up twelve stones from the spot exactly in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests’ feet are standing; take them along with you and deposit them in the place where you will spend the night.”
4Joshua summoned the twelve men whom he had designated among the Israelites, one from each tribe; 5and Joshua said to them, “Walk up to the Ark of the LORD your God, in the middle of the Jordan, and each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder—corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 6This shall serve as a symbol among you: in time to come, when your children ask, ‘What is the meaning of these stones for you?’ 7you shall tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off because of the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant; when it passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ And so these stones shall serve the people of Israel as a memorial for all time.”
8The Israelites did as Joshua ordered. They picked up twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel, from the middle of the Jordan—as the LORD had charged Joshua—and they took them along with them to their night encampment and deposited them there.
9Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the spot where the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant had stood; and they have remained there to this day.
10The priests who bore the Ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until all the instructions that the LORD had ordered Joshua to convey to the people had been carried out. And so the people speedily crossed over, a-just as Moses had assured Joshua in his charge to him.-a 11And when all the people finished crossing, the Ark of the LORD and the priests advanced to the head of the people.
12The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manassch went across armedb in the van of the Israelites, as Moses had charged them.c 13About forty thousand shock troops went across, at the instance of the LORD, to the steppes of Jericho for battle.
14On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they revered him all his days as they had revered Moses.
15The LORD said to Joshua, 16“Command the priests who bear the Ark of the Pact to come up out of the Jordan.” 17So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18As soon as the priests who bore the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant came up out of the Jordan, and the feet of the priests stepped onto the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course, flowing over its entire bed as before.
19The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20And Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. 21He charged the Israelites as follows: “In time to come, when
