God Commissions Joshua

(Deuteronomy 11:8-17)

1And it cometh to pass after the death of Moses, servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah speaketh unto Joshua son of Nun, minister of Moses, saying, 2‘Moses my servant is dead, and now, rise, pass over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3‘Every place on which the sole of your foot treadeth, to you I have given it, as I have spoken unto Moses. 4From this wilderness and Lebanon, and unto the great river, the river Phrath, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great Sea—the going in of the sun—is your border. 5‘No man doth station himself before thee all days of thy life; as I have been with Moses, I am with thee, I do not fail thee, nor forsake thee; 6be strong and courageous, for thou—thou dost cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn to their fathers to give to them. 7‘Only, be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded thee; thou dost not turn aside from it right or left, so that thou dost act wisely in every [place] whither thou goest; 8the book of this law doth not depart out of thy mouth, and thou hast meditated in it by day and by night, so that thou dost observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then thou dost cause thy way to prosper, and then thou dost act wisely. 9‘Have not I commanded thee? be strong and courageous; be not terrified nor affrighted, for with thee [is] Jehovah thy God in every [place] whither thou goest.’

10And Joshua commandeth the authorities of the people, saying, 11‘Pass over into the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provision, for within three days ye are passing over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you to possess it.’

12And to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, hath Joshua spoken, saying, 13‘Remember the word which Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God is giving rest to you, and He hath given to you this land; 14your wives, your infants, and your substance, abide in the land which Moses hath given to you beyond the Jordan, and ye—ye pass over by fifties, before your brethren, all the mighty ones of valour, and have helped them, 15till that Jehovah giveth rest to your brethren as to yourselves, and they have possessed, even they, the land which Jehovah your God is giving to them; then ye have turned back to the land of your possession, and have possessed it, which Moses, servant of Jehovah, hath given to you beyond the Jordan, [at] the sun-rising.’

16And they answer Joshua, saying, ‘All that thou hast commanded us we do; and unto every [place] whither thou dost send us, we go; 17according to all that we hearkened unto Moses [in], so we hearken unto thee; surely Jehovah thy God is with thee as He hath been with Moses. 18Any man who doth provoke thy mouth, and doth not hear thy words, in all that thou dost command him, is put to death; only, be strong and courageous.’