And today the Lord has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so you may keep all his commandments.

Then he will elevate you above all the nations he has made and you will receive praise, fame, and honor. You will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he has said.

So when you cross the Jordan you must erect on Mount Ebal these stones about which I am commanding you today, and you must cover them with plaster.

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be quiet and pay attention, Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.

“The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.

There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the Lord your God.

The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

“Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. It will remain there as a witness against you,

And this is the blessing to Judah. He said, Listen, O Lord, to Judah’s voice, and bring him to his people. May his power be great, and may you help him against his foes.

After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. I don’t know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!”

So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

When the entire nation was on the other side, the Lord told Joshua,

The stones will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, ‘Why are these stones important to you?’

Now all the men who left were circumcised, but all the sons born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised.

He replaced them with their sons, whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way.

The manna stopped appearing the day they ate some of the produce of the land; the Israelites never ate manna again.

The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army, “Give the battle cry, for the Lord is handing the city over to you!