Make sure you are<n id="1" /> very strong and brave! Carefully obey<n id="2" /> all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep!<n id="3" /> Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful<n id="4" /> in all you do.<n id="5" />

and commanded the people: &#8220;When you see the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc> your God<n id="1" /> being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here<n id="2" /> and walk<n id="3" /> behind it.

But stay about three thousand feet behind it.<n id="1" /> Keep your distance<n id="2" /> so you can see<n id="3" /> which way you should go, for you have not traveled this way before.&#8221;p>

Joshua told the priests, &#8220;Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.&#8221; So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.p>

The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc> came up from the middle of the Jordan, and as soon as they set foot on dry land,<n id="1" /> the water of the Jordan flowed again and returned to flood stage.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">When Joshua was near<n id="1" /> Jericho,<n id="2" /> he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword.<n id="3" /> Joshua approached him and asked him, &#8220;Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?&#8221;<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">When Joshua gave the army its orders,<n id="1" /> the seven priests carrying the seven rams&#8217; horns before the <sc>Lordsc> moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc> followed behind.

Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place<n id="1" /> west of Ai, between Bethel<n id="2" /> and Ai.<n id="3" /> Joshua spent that night with the army.<n id="4" />p>

Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given<n id="1" /> before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.<n id="2" />p>

Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, &#8216;Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, &#8220;We are willing to be your subjects.<n id="1" /> Make a treaty with us.&#8221;&#8217;

Now the <sc>Lordsc> your God has made your fellow Israelites secure,<n id="1" /> just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes<n id="2" /> in your own land<n id="3" /> which Moses the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s servant assigned to you east of the Jordan.

But carefully obey the commands and instructions Moses the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s servant gave you. Love<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> your God, follow all his instructions,<n id="2" /> obey<n id="3" /> his commands, be loyal to him,<n id="4" /> and serve him with all your heart and being!&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

If you violate the covenantal laws of the <sc>Lordsc> your God which he commanded you to keep,<n id="1" /> and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods,<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> will be very angry with you and you will disappear<n id="3" /> quickly from the good land which he gave to you.&#8221;p>

but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates<n id="1" /> and brought him into<n id="2" /> the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,

For the <sc>Lordsc> our God took us and our fathers out of slavery<n id="1" /> in the land of Egypt<n id="2" /> and performed these awesome miracles<n id="3" /> before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations.<n id="4" />

Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the <sc>Lordsc>, died off.<n id="1" /> For the <sc>Lordsc> had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them,<n id="2" /> a land rich in<n id="3" /> milk and honey.

When they brought the kings out to Joshua, he<n id="1" /> summoned all the men of Israel and said to the commanders of the troops who accompanied him, &#8220;Come here<n id="2" /> and put your feet on the necks of these kings.&#8221; So they came up<n id="3" /> and put their feet on their necks.

So now, look, the <sc>Lordsc> has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the <sc>Lordsc> spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Look, today I am about to die.<n id="1" /> You know with all your heart and being<n id="2" /> that not even one of all the faithful promises the <sc>Lordsc> your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized &#8211; not one promise is unfulfilled!<n id="3" />