Study Desk

"Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

"Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them.

"So the LORD alone led him; There was no foreign god with him.

'They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

"O LORD, bless Levi's substance (ability), And accept and take pleasure in the work of his hands; Crush and shatter the loins of those who rise up against him, And of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again."

"Your strongholds will be iron and bronze, And as your days are, so will your strength, your rest and security be.

"So Israel dwells in safety and security, The fountain of Jacob alone and secluded, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens also drop down dew.

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD commanded Moses.

"No man will [be able to] stand before you [to oppose you] as long as you live. Just as I was [present] with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you.

"Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do [everything] in accordance with the entire law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper and be successful wherever you go.

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.

"Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey you; only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses.

Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as scouts secretly from Shittim, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho [the walled city]." So they went and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and lodged there.

So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, because they have come [as spies] to search out all the land."

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; so she said, "Yes, two men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

So the [king's] men pursued them on the road to the Jordan as far as the fords [east of Jericho]; as soon as the pursuers had gone out after them, the gate [of the city] was shut.

So the men said to her, "Our lives for yours if you do not tell [anyone about] this business of ours; then when the LORD gives us the land we will show you kindness and faithfulness [and keep our agreement with you]."

Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.