1 Now after Moses the servant of the LORD had died, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, who had served Moses,
2 "My servant Moses is dead. So now get up and cross this Jordan, you and this whole people, into the land I am about to give them, the children of Israel.
3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, as I promised Moses.
4 Your territory will reach from the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and on to the Great Sea where the sun goes down.
5 No man will be able to hold his ground against you as long as you live. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you.
6 Be strong and brave, for you are the one who will lead this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers to give them.
7 Above all, be strong and very brave. Be careful to obey the whole law my servant Moses gave you; do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may act wisely wherever you go.
8 This book of the law must not depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night, so that you take care to do everything that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will succeed.
9 Have I not given you this command? Be strong and brave! Do not be terrified or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
10 So Joshua gave orders to the officials of the people:
11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your provisions ready, because in three days you will cross this Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.'"
12 To the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,
13 "Remember what Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you when he said, 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has given you this land.'
14 Your wives, your children, and your livestock may stay in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but all your warriors must cross over armed at the head of your brothers and help them
15 until the LORD gives them rest as he has given you, and they also have taken possession of the land the LORD your God is giving them. After that you may go back to your own land and possess it, the land Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan, toward the sunrise."
16 They replied to Joshua, "Everything you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
17 We will obey you just as fully as we obeyed Moses. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses!
18 Whoever defies your orders and does not obey your words in everything you command him will be put to death. Only be strong and brave!"