Crossing Over: God's Promise Fulfills in Action

1. Now after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2. “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go across this Jordan, you, and all these people, to the land which I am giving to them, even to the children of Israel. 3. I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses. 4. From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. 5. No man will 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. 6. “Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. 9. Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.” 10. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 11. “Pass through the middle of the camp, and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.’” 12. Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying, 13. “Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, ‘Yahweh your God gives you rest, and will give you this land. 14. Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock, shall live in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but you shall pass over before your brothers armed, all the mighty men of valor, and shall help them 15. until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they have also possessed the land which Yahweh your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession, and possess it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.’” 16. They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17. Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses. 18. Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him shall himself be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.” 1. Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there. 2. The king of Jericho was told, “Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land.” 3. Jericho’s king sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land.” 4. The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I didn’t know where they came from. 5. About the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out. Where the men went, I don’t know. Pursue them quickly. You may catch up with them.” 6. But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. 7. The men pursued them along the way to the fords of the Jordan River. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. 8. Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof. 9. She said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10. For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11. As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. 12. Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign; 13. and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death.” 14. The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” 15. Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. 16. She said to them, “Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way.” 17. The men said to her, “We will be guiltless of this your oath which you’ve made us to swear. 18. Behold, when we come into the land, tie this line of scarlet thread in the window which you used to let us down. Gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19. It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. 20. But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you’ve made us to swear.” 21. She said, “Let it be as you have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet line in the window. 22. They went, and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but didn’t find them. 23. Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, crossed the river, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them. 24. They said to Joshua, “Truly Yahweh has delivered all the land into our hands. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us.” 1. Joshua got up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They camped there before they crossed over. 2. After three days, the officers went through the middle of the camp; 3. and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then leave your place, and follow it. 4. Yet there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure—don’t come closer to it—that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.” 5. Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you.” 6. Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over before the people.” They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7. Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I will 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. 8. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9. Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God.” 10. Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you. 11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. 12. Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. 13. It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.” 14. When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, 15. and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), 16. the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho. 17. The priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

1. After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.” 2. Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne 3. that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at. 4. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads. 5. Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6. Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. 7. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8. The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” 9. When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, 10. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, 11. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!” 1. I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals. 2. I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?” 3. No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it. 4. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look in it. 5. One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” 6. I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7. Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8. Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9. They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, 10. and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” 11. I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; 12. saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!” 13. I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” 14. The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped. 1. I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, “Come and see!” 2. And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 3. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4. Another came out, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword. 5. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come and see!” And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand. 6. I heard a voice in the middle of the four living creatures saying, “A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don’t damage the oil and the wine!” 7. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see!” 8. And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him. 9. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. 10. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11. A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course. 12. I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. 13. The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. 14. The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15. The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. 16. They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17. for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

1. Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. 2. Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, 3. And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in. 5. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6. Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses, 7. he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in. 8. Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men! 9. For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good. 10. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, 11. because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High. 12. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help. 13. Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. 14. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains. 15. Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men! 16. For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron. 17. Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities. 18. Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death. 19. Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses. 20. He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves. 21. Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men! 22. Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing. 23. Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters; 24. These see Yahweh’s deeds, and his wonders in the deep. 25. For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves. 26. They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble. 27. They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28. Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress. 29. He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still. 30. Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven. 31. Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds for the children of men! 32. Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders. 33. He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground, 34. and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. 35. He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs. 36. There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in, 37. sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase. 38. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn’t allow their livestock to decrease. 39. Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow. 40. He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste. 41. Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock. 42. The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths. 43. Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh.