³ It is the Lord, your God, who will cross before you; he will destroy these nations before you, that you may dispossess them.^(A) (It is Joshua who will cross before you, as the Lord promised.)

Call of Joshua. ⁷ Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him,^(A) “Be strong and steadfast, for you shall bring this people into the land which the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them; it is you who will give them possession of it. ⁸ It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.”^(B)

¹⁸ And the Lord replied to Moses: Take Joshua, son of Nun,^(A) a man of spirit,^[a] and lay your hand upon him. ¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and commission him in their sight. ²⁰ Invest him with some of your own power, that the whole Israelite community may obey him. ²¹ He shall present himself to Eleazar the priest, who will seek for him the decision of the Urim^[b] in the Lord’s presence; and as it directs, Joshua, all the Israelites with him, and the whole community will go out for battle; and as it directs, they will come in.

²² Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. Taking Joshua and having him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, ²³ he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord had directed through Moses.

¹⁷ These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land among you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua, son of Nun;

I. Conquest of Canaan

Chapter 1

Divine Promise of Assistance. ¹ After Moses, the servant of the Lord, had died, the Lord said to Moses’ aide Joshua, son of Nun: ^2 [a]Moses my servant is dead. So now, you and the whole people with you, prepare to cross the Jordan to the land that I will give the Israelites. ^3 (A)Every place where you set foot I have given you, as I promised Moses. ^4 [b]All the land of the Hittites, from the wilderness and the Lebanon east to the great river Euphrates and west to the Great Sea, will be your territory.^{(B) 5} No one can withstand you as long as you live. As I was with Moses, I will be with you:^(C) I will not leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and steadfast, so that you may give this people possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them. ^7 (D)Only be strong and steadfast, being careful to observe the entire law which Moses my servant enjoined on you. Do not swerve from it either to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go. ⁸ Do not let this book of the law depart from your lips. Recite it by day and by night,^(E) that you may carefully observe all that is written in it; then you will attain your goal; then you will succeed. ⁹ I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.