Six Cities of Refuge

¹Then the LORD said to Joshua,

²“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

³so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before its elders, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.

⁵Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.

⁶He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own home in the city from which he fled.”

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

Twelve Stones from the Jordan

¹When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,

²“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

³and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”

⁴So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

⁵and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,

⁶to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

⁷you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

⁸Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan,in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

¹⁰Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across,

¹¹and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people.

¹²The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them.

¹³About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.

¹⁴On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

¹⁵Then the LORD said to Joshua,

¹⁶“Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimonyto come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁸When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.

The Camp at Gilgal

¹⁹On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

²⁰And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

²¹Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’

²²you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea,which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.

²⁴He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”

Crossing the Jordan

¹Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittimwith all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

²After three days the officers went through the camp

³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.

⁴But keep a distance of about two thousand cubitsbetween yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”

⁵Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

⁶And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁷Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

⁸Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”

⁹So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”

¹⁰He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹²Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

¹³When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”

¹⁴So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

¹⁶the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.

Praise to the Creator

¹Rejoice in the LORD, O righteous ones;it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.

²Praise the LORD with the harp;make music to Him with ten strings.

³Sing to Him a new song;play skillfully with a shout of joy.

⁴For the word of the LORD is upright,and all His work is trustworthy.

⁵The LORD loves righteousness and justice;the earth is full of His loving devotion.

⁶By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.

⁷He piles up the waters of the sea;He puts the depths into storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the LORD;let all the people of the world revere Him.

⁹For He spoke, and it came to be;He commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations;He thwarts the devices of the peoples.

¹¹The counsel of the LORD stands forever,the purposes of His heart to all generations.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,the people He has chosen as His inheritance!

¹³The LORD looks down from heaven;He sees all the sons of men.

¹⁴From His dwelling place He gazeson all who inhabit the earth.

¹⁵He shapes the hearts of each;He considers all their works.

¹⁶No king is saved by his vast army;no warrior is delivered by his great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain hope for salvation;even its great strength cannot save.

¹⁸Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him,on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

¹⁹to deliver them from deathand keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul waits for the LORD;He is our help and our shield.

²¹For our hearts rejoice in Him,since we trust in His holy name.

²²May Your loving devotion rest on us, O LORD,as we put our hope in You.