Joshua 1:7

1:7 Make sure you are¹ very strong and brave! Carefully obey² all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep!³ Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful⁴ in all you do.⁵

Joshua 3:3-4

3:3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God⁶ being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here⁷ and walk⁸ behind it. 3:4 But stay about three thousand feet behind it.⁹ Keep your distance¹⁰ so you can see¹¹ which way you should go, for you have not traveled this way before.”

Joshua 3:6

3:6 Joshua told the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

Joshua 4:18

4:18 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and as soon as they set foot on dry land,¹² the water of the Jordan flowed again and returned to flood stage.¹³

Joshua 5:13

Israel Conquers Jericho

5:13 When Joshua was near¹⁴ Jericho,¹⁵ he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword.¹⁶ Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?”¹⁷

Joshua 6:8

6:8 When Joshua gave the army its orders,¹⁸ the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed behind.

Joshua 8:9

8:9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place¹⁹ west of Ai, between Bethel²⁰ and Ai.²¹ Joshua spent that night with the army.²²

Joshua 8:35

8:35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given²³ before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.²⁴

Joshua 9:11

9:11 Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, “We are willing to be your subjects.²⁵ Make a treaty with us.”’

Joshua 22:4-5

22:4 Now the Lord your God has made your fellow Israelites secure,²⁶ just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes²⁷ in your own land²⁸ which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned to you east of the Jordan. 22:5 But carefully obey the commands and instructions Moses the Lord’s servant gave you. Love²⁹ the Lord your God, follow all his instructions,³⁰ obey³¹ his commands, be loyal to him,³² and serve him with all your heart and being!”³³

Joshua 23:16

23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep,³⁴ and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods,³⁵ the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear³⁶ quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”

Joshua 24:3

24:3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates³⁷ and brought him into³⁸ the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,

Joshua 24:17

24:17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery³⁹ in the land of Egypt⁴⁰ and performed these awesome miracles⁴¹ before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations.⁴²

¹tn Or “Only be.”

²tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

³tn Heb “commanded you.”

⁴tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

⁵tn Heb “in all which you go.”

⁶sn The ark of the covenant refers to the wooden chest that symbolized God’s presence among his covenant people.

⁷tn Heb “set out from your place.”

⁸tn Or “march.”

¹¹tn Heb “But there should be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits in measurement.”

¹²tn Heb “do not approach it.”

¹³tn Heb “know.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and the soles of the feet of the priests were brought up to the dry land.”

¹⁷tn Heb “and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went as formerly over their banks.”

²¹tn Heb “in.”

²²map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

²³tn Heb “he lifted up his eyes and looked. And look, a man was standing in front of him, and his sword was drawn in his hand.” The verb הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the reader to view the scene through Joshua’s eyes. By calling the stranger “a man,” the author reflects Joshua’s perspective. The text shortly reveals his true identity (vv. 14-15).

²⁴tn Heb “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

²⁶tn Heb “when Joshua spoke to the people.”

³¹tn Or “the place of ambush.”

³²map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

³³tn Heb “and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, west of Ai.”

³⁴tn Heb “in the midst of the people.”

³⁶tn Heb “There was not a word from all which Moses commanded that Joshua did not read aloud.”

³⁷tn Heb “walked in their midst.”

⁴¹tn Heb “your servants.”

⁴⁶tn Heb “has given rest to your brothers.”

⁴⁷tn Heb “tents.”

⁴⁸tn Heb “the land of your possession.”

⁵¹tn Heb “But be very careful to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, to love.”

⁵²tn Heb “walk in all his paths.”

⁵³tn Or “keep.”

⁵⁴tn Heb “hug him.”

⁵⁵tn Or “soul.”

⁵⁶tn Heb “when you violate the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you.”

⁵⁷tn Heb “and you walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”

⁵⁸tn Or “perish.”

⁶¹tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶²tn Or “through.”

⁶⁶tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

⁶⁷tn Heb “for the Lord our God, he is the one who brought up us and our fathers from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.”

⁶⁸tn Or “great signs.”

⁶⁹tn Heb “and he guarded us in all the way in which we walked and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.”