Battle of Jericho

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 After the death of Moses, GOD chose Joshua, son of Nun, to be the leader of the Israelite people. They set about to conquer the land of Canaan, under the Lord's guidance. God said to Joshua, "Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your GOD will be with you wherever you go." 

Spies from the Israelites sneaked into the walled city of Jericho and stayed at the house of Rahab, a prostitute. But Rahab had faith in God. She hid the spies from the king's soldiers, and when the time was right, she helped the spies escape out a window and down a rope, since her house was built into the city wall.

Rahab made the spies swear an oath. She promised not to give their plans away, and in return they swore to spare Rahab and her family when the battle of Jericho began. She was to tie a scarlet cord in her window as a sign of their protection.

Meanwhile, the Israelite people continued to move into Canaan. God commanded Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the center of the Jordan River, which was at flood stage. As soon as they stepped into the river, the water stopped flowing. It piled up in heaps upstream and downstream, so the people could cross on dry ground. God performed a miracle for Joshua, just as he had done for Moses, by parting the Red Sea.

God had a strange plan for the battle of Jericho. He told Joshua to have the armed men march around the city once each day, for six days. The priests were to carry the ark, blowing trumpets, but the soldiers were to keep silent.

On the seventh day, the assembly marched around the walls of Jericho seven times. Joshua told them that by GOD's order, every living thing in the city must be destroyed, except Rahab and her family. All articles of silver, gold, bronze and iron were to go into the Lord's treasury  .At Joshua's command, the men gave a great shout, and Jericho's walls fell down flat! The Israelite army rushed in and conquered the city. Only Rahab and her family were spared.

The Scripture
Joshua 1:1-6:25

God Commissions Joshua
Now after the death of Moses the Servant of the Lord it came to pass that the Lord spoke unto Joshua the Son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying Moses My Servant is dead; now therefore arise; go over the Jordan, you, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the Children of Israel.  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.  There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you.  Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them.  Only be thou strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the Law, which Moses My Servant commanded you: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper whithersoever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismay: for the Lord your God is with you wheresoever you go.

Joshua Assumes Command 
Then Joshua commanded the Officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your GOD gives you to possess it.  And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the Tribe of Manasseh, spoke Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses the Servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your GOD has given you rest, and have given you this land.  Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but you shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; Until the Lord have given your brethren rest, as He has given you, and they also have possessed the land which the Lord your GOD gives them: then you shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord's Servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sun rising.

Joshua's Leadership  
And they answered Joshua, saying, All that you command us we will do, and wheresoever you send us, we will go.  According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto you: only the Lord your GOD be with you, as He was with Moses.  Whosoever he be who does rebel against your commandment, and will not hearken unto your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death; only be strong and of a good courage.

Two Spies 
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying,  Go view the land, even Jericho.  And they went and come into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

Rahab
And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the Children of Israel to search out the country.  And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, bring forth the men who are come to you, which are entered into your house: for they be come to search out all the country.  And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I did not know from where they came: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: where the men went I do not know: pursue after them quickly; for you shall overtake them.  But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.  And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

The Pledge
And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.  Go we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your GOD, He is GOD in Heaven above, and in Earth beneath.   Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token.  And that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver out lives from death.  And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if you utter not this our business.  And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.  Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.  And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may you go your way.  

The Scarlet Thread  
And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this your oath which you have made us swear.  Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shall bring your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all you father's household, home unto you.  And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.  And if you utter this our business, then we will not honor your oath which you have made us to swear.

The Report
And she said, According unto your words, so be it.  And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.  And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.  So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them: And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us. 

The Jordan River
And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the Children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

Instructions
And it came to pass after three days, that the Officers went through the host; And they commanded the people, saying, When you see the Ark of the  Covenant of the Lord your GOD, and the Priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that you may know the way by which you must go: for you have not passed this way heretofore.  And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.  And Joshua spoke unto the Priests, saying, Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and pass over before the people.  And they took up the Ark of the Covenant, and went before the people.

The Promise  
And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  And you shall command the Priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When you are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan.

Prophecy
And Joshua said unto the Children of Israel, Come hither and hear the Words of the Lord your GOD.  And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the Living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites and the Jebusites.  Behold the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth passes over before you into Jordan.  Now therefore take you twelve men out of the Tribes of Israel, out of every Tribe a man.  And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the Priests who bear the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the Earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

Waters Divided  
And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the Priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people; And as they who bore the Ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the Priests who bore the Ark were dipped in the brim of the water, the time of harvest.  That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.  And the Priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

Twelve Stones
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spoke unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every Tribe a man, And command you them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the Priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and you shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where you shall lodge this night.  Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the Children of Israel, out of every Tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them Pass over before the Ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the Tribes of the Children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean you by these stones?  Then you shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the Children of Israel forever.  And the Children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spoke unto Joshua, according to the number of the Tribes of the Children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.  And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the Priests which bore the Ark of the Covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.  For the Priests which bore the Ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the Ark of the Lord passed over and the Priests, in the presence of the people.  And the Children of Reuben, and the Children of Gad, and half the Tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the Children of Israel, as Moses spoke unto them: About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the pains of Jericho.  On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

The Jordan 
And the Lord spoke unto Joshua, saying; Command the Priests that bear the Ark of the Testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.  Joshua therefore commanded the Priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.  And it came to pass, when the Priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the Priest' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

Gilgal
And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.  And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.  And he spoke unto the Children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come saying, What means these stones?  Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.  For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from before us, until we were gone over.  That all the People of the Earth might know the Hand of the Lord, that is mighty: that you might fear the Lord your God for ever.

Circumcision
And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the king of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the Children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the Children of Israel.  At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the Children of Israel the second time.  And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the Children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.  And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.  Now all the people who came out were circumcised: but all the people who were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.  For the Children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the Voice of the Lord:  unto whom the Lord swore that He would not show them the land, which the Lord swore unto their fathers that He would give us, a land that flows with milk and honey.  And their children, whom He raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.  And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.  And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you.  Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

The Passover  
And the children of Israel encamped in and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho.

Manna Ceases
And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.  And the Manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the Children of Israel Manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.   

The Man With A Drawn Sword
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto unto him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?  And He said, No; but as Captain of the Host of the Lord am I now come.  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto Him, What saith my Lord unto His servant?  And the Captain of the Lord's Host said unto Joshua, Loose your shoe from off your foot; for the place whereon stand is Holy.  And Joshua did so.

Jericho 
Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the Children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.  And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the kings thereof, and the mighty men of valour.  And you shall compass the city, all you men of war, and go round about the city once, Thus shall you do six days.  And seven Priests shall bear before the Ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the Priests shall blow with the trumpets.  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.  And Joshua the son of Nun called the Priests, and said unto them, Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven Priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Ark of the Lord.  And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven Priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them.  And the armed men went before the Priests who blew the trumpets, and the reward came after the Ark, the Priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.  And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall you shout.  So the Ark of the Lord compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.  And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the Priests took up the Ark of the Lord.  And Seven Priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the reward came after the Ark of the Lord, the Priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.  And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times:  only on that day they compassed the city seven times.  And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the Priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord has given you the city.  And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all who are therein, to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.  And you, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed things, lest you make yourselves accursed, when you take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.  But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasure of the Lord.

Rahab And Her Family
But Joshua had said unto the two men who had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she has, as you swore unto her.  And the young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.  And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasure of the House of the Lord.  And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwells in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.