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The next morning Joshua and all the people of Israel got up early, left the camp at Acacia, and went to the Jordan, where they camped while waiting to cross it.
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Three days later the leaders went through the camp
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and told the people, "When you see the priests carrying the Covenant Box of the LORD your God, break camp and follow them.
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You have never been here before, so they will show you the way to go. But do not get near the Covenant Box; stay about half a mile behind it."
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Joshua told the people, "Purify yourselves, because tomorrow the LORD will perform miracles among you."
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Then he told the priests to take the Covenant Box and go with it ahead of the people. They did as he said.
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The LORD said to Joshua, "What I do today will make all the people of Israel begin to honor you as a great man, and they will realize that I am with you as I was with Moses.
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Tell the priests carrying the Covenant Box that when they reach the river, they must wade in and stand near the bank."
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Then Joshua said to the people, "Come here and listen to what the LORD your God has to say.
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As you advance, he will surely drive out the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. You will know that the living God is among you
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when the Covenant Box of the Lord of all the earth crosses the Jordan ahead of you.
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Now choose twelve men, one from each of the tribes of Israel.
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When the priests who carry the Covenant Box of the LORD of all the earth put their feet in the water, the Jordan will stop flowing, and the water coming downstream will pile up in one place."
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It was harvest time, and the river was in flood. When the people left the camp to cross the Jordan, the priests went ahead of them, carrying the Covenant Box. As soon as the priests stepped into the river,
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the water stopped flowing and piled up, far upstream at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The flow downstream to the Dead Sea was completely cut off, and the people were able to cross over near Jericho.
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While the people walked across on dry ground, the priests carrying the LORD's Covenant Box stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until all the people had crossed over.
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When the whole nation had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,
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"Choose twelve men, one from each tribe,
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and command them to take twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests were standing. Tell them to carry these stones with them and to put them down where you camp tonight."
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Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen,
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and he told them, "Go into the Jordan ahead of the Covenant Box of the LORD your God. Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel.
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These stones will remind the people of what the LORD has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you,
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you will tell them that the water of the Jordan stopped flowing when the LORD's Covenant Box crossed the river. These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here."
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The men followed Joshua's orders. As the LORD had commanded Joshua, they took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the tribes of Israel, carried them to the camping place, and put them down there.
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Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests carrying the Covenant Box had stood. (Those stones are still there.)
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The priests stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything had been done that the LORD ordered Joshua to tell the people to do. This is what Moses had commanded. The people hurried across the river.
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When they were all on the other side, the priests with the LORD's Covenant Box went on ahead of the people.
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The men of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and of half the tribe of Manasseh, ready for battle, crossed ahead of the rest of the people, as Moses had told them to do.
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In the presence of the LORD about forty thousand men ready for war crossed over to the plain near Jericho.
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What the LORD did that day made the people of Israel consider Joshua a great man. They honored him all his life, just as they had honored Moses.
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Then the LORD told Joshua
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to command the priests carrying the Covenant Box to come up out of the Jordan.
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and when the priests reached the riverbank, the river began flowing once more and flooded its banks again.
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The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho.
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There Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan.
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And he said to the people of Israel, "In the future, when your children ask you what these stones mean,
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you will tell them about the time when Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.
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Tell them that the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan for you until you had crossed, just as he dried up the Red Sea for us.
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Because of this everyone on earth will know how great the LORD's power is, and you will honor the LORD your God forever."
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All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the LORD had dried up the Jordan until the people of Israel had crossed it. They became afraid and lost their courage because of the Israelites.
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Then the LORD told Joshua, "Make some knives out of flint and circumcise the Israelites."
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So Joshua did as the LORD had commanded, and he circumcised the Israelites at a place called Circumcision Hill.
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When the people of Israel left Egypt, all the males were already circumcised. However, during the forty years the people spent crossing the desert, none of the baby boys had been circumcised. Also, by the end of that time all the men who were of fighting age when they left Egypt had died because they had disobeyed the LORD. Just as he had sworn, they were not allowed to see the rich and fertile land that he had promised their ancestors.
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The sons of these men had never been circumcised, and it was this new generation that Joshua circumcised.
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After the circumcision was completed, the whole nation stayed in the camp until the wounds had healed.
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The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have removed from you the disgrace of being slaves in Egypt." That is why the place was named Gilgal, the name it still has.
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While the Israelites were camping at Gilgal on the plain near Jericho, they observed Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.
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The next day was the first time they ate food grown in Canaan: roasted grain and bread made without yeast.
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The manna stopped falling then, and the Israelites no longer had any. From that time on they ate food grown in Canaan.
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While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?"
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"Neither," the man answered. "I am here as the commander of the LORD's army." Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, "I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?"
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And the commander of the LORD's army told him, "Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.
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The gates of Jericho were kept shut and guarded to keep the Israelites out. No one could enter or leave the city.
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The LORD said to Joshua, "I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers.
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You and your soldiers are to march around the city once a day for six days.
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Seven priests, each carrying a trumpet, are to go in front of the Covenant Box. On the seventh day you and your soldiers are to march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets.
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Then they are to sound one long note. As soon as you hear it, all the people are to give a loud shout, and the city walls will collapse. Then the whole army will go straight into the city."
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Joshua called the priests and told them, "Take the Covenant Box, and seven of you go in front of it, carrying trumpets."
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Then he ordered the people to start marching around the city, with an advance guard going on ahead of the LORD's Covenant Box.
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So, just as Joshua had ordered, an advance guard started out ahead of the priests who were blowing trumpets; behind these came the priests who were carrying the Covenant Box, followed by a rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding.
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But Joshua had ordered the people not to shout, not to say a word until he gave the order.
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So he had this group of men take the LORD's Covenant Box around the city one time. Then they came back to camp and spent the night there.
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Joshua got up early the next morning, and for the second time the priests and soldiers marched around the city in the same order as the day before: first, the advance guard; next, the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets; then, the priests carrying the LORD's Covenant Box; and finally, the rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding.
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On this second day they again marched around the city one time and then returned to camp. They did this for six days.
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On the seventh day they got up at daybreak and marched seven times around the city in the same way---this was the only day that they marched around it seven times.
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The seventh time around, when the priests were about to sound the trumpets, Joshua ordered the people to shout, and he said, "The LORD has given you the city!
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The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the LORD. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies.
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But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp.
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Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the LORD. It is to be put in the LORD's treasury."
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So the priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed. Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it.
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With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.
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Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her."
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So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp.
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Then they set fire to the city and burned it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the LORD's treasury.
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But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)
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At this time Joshua issued a solemn warning: "Anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho will be under the LORD's curse. Whoever lays the foundation will lose his oldest son; Whoever builds the gates will lose his youngest."
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So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread through the whole country.
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You should think of us as Christ's servants, who have been put in charge of God's secret truths.
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The one thing required of such servants is that they be faithful to their master.
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Now, I am not at all concerned about being judged by you or by any human standard; I don't even pass judgment on myself.
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My conscience is clear, but that does not prove that I am really innocent. The Lord is the one who passes judgment on me.
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So you should not pass judgment on anyone before the right time comes. Final judgment must wait until the Lord comes; he will bring to light the dark secrets and expose the hidden purposes of people's minds. And then all will receive from God the praise they deserve.
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For your sake, my friends, I have applied all this to Apollos and me, using the two of us as an example, so that you may learn what the saying means, "Observe the proper rules." None of you should be proud of one person and despise another.
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Who made you superior to others? Didn't God give you everything you have? Well, then, how can you boast, as if what you have were not a gift?
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Do you already have everything you need? Are you already rich? Have you become kings, even though we are not? Well, I wish you really were kings, so that we could be kings together with you.
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For it seems to me that God has given the very last place to us apostles, like people condemned to die in public as a spectacle for the whole world of angels and of human beings.
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For Christ's sake we are fools; but you are wise in union with Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! We are despised, but you are honored!
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To this very moment we go hungry and thirsty; we are clothed in rags; we are beaten; we wander from place to place;
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we wear ourselves out with hard work. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;
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when we are insulted, we answer back with kind words. We are no more than this world's garbage; we are the scum of the earth to this very moment!
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I write this to you, not because I want to make you feel ashamed, but to instruct you as my own dear children.
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For even if you have ten thousand guardians in your Christian life, you have only one father. For in your life in union with Christ Jesus I have become your father by bringing the Good News to you.
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I beg you, then, to follow my example.
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For this purpose I am sending to you Timothy, who is my own dear and faithful son in the Christian life. He will remind you of the principles which I follow in the new life in union with Christ Jesus and which I teach in all the churches everywhere.
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Some of you have become proud because you have thought that I would not be coming to visit you.
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If the Lord is willing, however, I will come to you soon, and then I will find out for myself the power which these proud people have, and not just what they say.
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For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of words but of power.
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Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in a spirit of love and gentleness?
