1
And it was after the death of Mosheh that Yahuah said to Yehoshua the son of Nun, saying,
2
Rise up and pass the Yarden to the land which I have given to the children of Yis’rael, and you shall make the children of Yis’rael inherit the land.
3
Every place upon which the sole of your feet shall tread shall belong to you, from the wilderness of Lebanon to the great river the river of Perath shall be your boundary.
4
No man shall stand up against you all the days of your life; as I was with Mosheh, so will I be with you, only be strong and of good courage to observe all the law which Mosheh commanded you, turn not from the way either to the right or to the left, in order that you may prosper in all that you do.
5
And Yehoshua commanded the officers of Yis’rael, saying, Pass through the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provisions, for in three days more you will pass the Yarden to possess the land.
6
And the officers of the children of Yis’rael did so, and they commanded the people and they did all that Yehoshua had commanded.
7
And Yehoshua sent two men to spy out the land of Yericho, and the men went and spied out Yericho.
8
And at the end of seven days they came to Yehoshua in the camp and said to him, Yahuah has delivered the whole land into our hand, and the inhabitants of it are melted with fear because of us.
9
And it came to pass after that, that Yehoshua rose up in the morning and all Yis’rael with him, and they journeyed from Shittim, and Yehoshua and all Yis’rael with him passed the Yarden; and Yehoshua was eighty-two years old when he passed the Yarden with Yis’rael.
10
And the people went up from Yarden on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal at the eastern corner of Yericho.
11
And the children of Yis’rael kept the Passover in Gilgal, in the plains of Yericho, on the fourteenth day at the month, as it is written in the Torah of Mosheh.
12
And the manna ceased at that time on the morrow of the Passover, and there was no more manna for the children of Yis’rael, and they ate of the produce of the land of Kena’an.
13
And Yericho was entirely closed against the children of Yis’rael, no one came out or went in.
14
And it was in the second month, on the first day of the month, that Yahuah said to Yehoshua, Rise up, behold I have given Yericho into your hand with all the people of it; and all your fighting men shall go round the city, once each day, thus shall you do for six days.
15
And the kohenim shall blow upon trumpets, and when you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall give a great shouting, that the walls of the city shall fall down; all the people shall go up every man against his opponent.
16
And Yehoshua did so according to all that Yahuah had commanded him.
17
And on the seventh day they went round the city seven times, and the kohenim blew upon trumpets.
18
And at the seventh round, Yehoshua said to the people, Shout, for Yahuah has delivered the whole city into our hands.
19
Only the city and all that it contains shall be accursed to Yahuah, and keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make the camp of Yis’rael accursed and trouble it.
20
But all the silver and gold and brass and iron shall be consecrated to Yahuah, they shall come into the treasury of Yahuah.
21
And the people blew upon trumpets and made a great shouting, and the walls of Yericho fell down, and all the people went up, every man straight before him, and they took the city and utterly destroyed all that was in it, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and ass, with the edge of the sword.
22
And they burned the whole city with fire; only the vessels of silver and gold, and brass and iron, they put into the treasury of Yahuah.
23
And Yehoshua swore at that time, saying, Cursed be the man who builds Yericho; he shall lay the foundation of it in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
24
And Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, son of Yehudah, dealt treacherously in the accursed thing, and he took of the accursed thing and hid it in the tent, and the anger of Yahuah was kindled against Yis’rael.
25
And it was after this when the children of Yis’rael had returned from burning Yericho, Yehoshua sent men to spy out also Ai, and to fight against it.
26
And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they returned and said, Let not all the people go up with you to Ai, only let about three thousand men go up and smite the city, for the men of it are but few.
27
And Yehoshua did so, and there went up with him of the children of Yis’rael about three thousand men, and they fought against the men of Ai.
28
And the battle was severe against Yis’rael, and the men of Ai struck thirty-six men of Yis’rael, and the children of Yis’rael fled from before the men of Ai.
29
And when Yehoshua saw this thing, he tore his garments and fell upon his face to the ground before Yahuah, he, with the elders of Yis’rael, and they put dust upon their heads.
30
And Yehoshua said, Why O Yahuah did you bring this people over the Yarden? what shall I say after the Yis’ra’eliym have turned their backs against their enemies?
31
Now therefore all the Kena’aniym, inhabitants of the land, will hear this thing, and surround us and cut off our name.
32
And Yahuah said to Yehoshua, Why do you fall upon your face? rise, get you off, for the Yis’ra’eliym have sinned, and taken of the accursed thing; I will no more be with them unless they destroy the accursed thing from among them.
33
And Yehoshua rose up and assembled the people, and brought the Urim by the order of Yahuah, and the tribe of Yehudah was taken, and Achan the son of Carmi was taken.
34
And Yehoshua said to Achan, Tell me my son, what have you done, and Achan said, I saw among the spoil a goodly garment of Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight; I coveted them and took them, and behold they are all hid in the earth in the midst of the tent.
35
And Yehoshua sent men who went and took them from the tent of Achan, and they brought them to Yehoshua.
36
And Yehoshua took Achan and these utensils, and his sons and daughters and all belonging to him, and they brought them into the valley of Achor.
37
And Yehoshua burned them there with fire, and all the Yis’ra’eliym stoned Achan with stones, and they raised over him a heap of stones, therefore did he call that place the valley of Achor, so Yahuah's anger was appeased, and Yehoshua afterward came to the city and fought against it.
38
And Yahuah said to Yehoshua, Fear not, neither be you dismayed, behold I have given into your hand Ai, her king and her people, and you shall do to them as you did to Yericho and her king, only the spoil of it and the cattle of it shall you take for a prey for yourselves; lay an ambush for the city behind it.
39
So Yehoshua did according to the word of Yahuah, and he chose from among the sons of war thirty thousand valiant men, and he sent them, and they lay in ambush for the city.
40
And he commanded them, saying, When you shall see us we will flee before them with cunning, and they will pursue us, you shall then rise out of the ambush and take the city, and they did so.
41
And Yehoshua fought, and the men of the city went out toward Yis’rael, not knowing that they were lying in ambush for them behind the city.
42
And Yehoshua and all the Yis’ra’eliym feigned themselves wearied out before them, and they fled by the way of the wilderness with cunning.
43
And the men of Ai gathered all the people who were in the city to pursue the Yis’ra’eliym, and they went out and were drawn away from the city, not one remained, and they left the city open and pursued the Yis’ra’eliym.
44
And those who were lying in ambush rose up out of their places, and hastened to come to the city and took it and set it on fire, and the men of Ai turned back, and behold the smoke of the city ascended to the skies, and they had no means of retreating either one way or the other.
45
And all the men of Ai were in the midst of Yis’rael, some on this side and some on that side, and they struck them so that not one of them remained.
46
And the children of Yis’rael took Melosh king of Ai alive, and they brought him to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua hanged him on a tree and he died.
47
And the children of Yis’rael returned to the city after having burned it, and they struck all those that were in it with the edge of the sword.
48
And the number of those that had fallen of the men of Ai, both man and woman, was twelve thousand; only the cattle and the spoil of the city they took to themselves, according to the word of Yahuah to Yehoshua.
49
And all the kings on this side Yarden, all the kings of Kena’an, heard of the evil which the children of Yis’rael had done to Yericho and to Ai, and they gathered themselves together to fight against Yis’rael.
50
Only the inhabitants of Gibeon were greatly afraid of fighting against the Yis’ra’eliym lest they should perish, so they acted cunningly, and they came to Yehoshua and to all Yis’rael, and said to them, We have come from a distant land, now therefore make a covenant with us.
51
And the inhabitants of Gibeon over-reached the children of Yis’rael, and the children of Yis’rael made a covenant with them, and they made peace with them, and the princes of the congregation swore to them, but afterward the children of Yis’rael knew that they were neighbors to them and were dwelling among them.
52
But the children of Yis’rael killed them not; for they had sworn to them by Yahuah, and they became hewers of wood and drawers of water.
53
And Yehoshua said to them, Why did you deceive me, to do this thing to us? and they answered him, saying, Because it was told to your servants all that you had done to all the kings of the Emoriym, and we were greatly afraid of our lives, and we did this thing.
54
And Yehoshua appointed them on that day to hew wood and to draw water, and he divided them for slaves to all the tribes of Yis’rael.
55
And when Adonizedek king of Yerushalayim heard all that the children of Yis’rael had done to Yericho and to Ai, he sent to Hoham king of Chevron and to Piram king at Yarmut, and to Yafia king of Lachish and to Deber king of Eglon, saying,
56
Come up to me and help me, that we may smite the children of Yis’rael and the inhabitants of Gibeon who have made peace with the children of Yis’rael.
57
And they gathered themselves together and the five kings of the Emoriym went up with all their camps, a mighty people numerous as the sand of the sea shore.
58
And all these kings came and encamped before Gibeon, and they began to fight against the inhabitants of Gibeon, and all the men of Gibeon sent to Yehoshua, saying, Come up quickly to us and help us, for all the kings of the Emoriym have gathered together to fight against us.
59
And Yehoshua and all the fighting people went up from Gilgal, and Yehoshua came suddenly to them, and struck these five kings with a great slaughter.
60
And Yahuah confounded them before the children of Yis’rael, who struck them with a terrible slaughter in Gibeon, and pursued them along the way that goes up to Beth Horon to Makkedah, and they fled from before the children of Yis’rael.
61
And while they were fleeing, Yahuah sent upon them hailstones from heaven, and more of them died by the hailstones, than by the slaughter of the children of Yis’rael.
62
And the children of Yis’rael pursued them, and they still struck them in the road, going on and smiting them.
63
And when they were smiting, the day was declining toward evening, and Yehoshua said in the sight of all the people, Sun, stand you still upon Gibeon, and you moon in the valley of Ajalon, until the nation shall have revenged itself upon its enemies.
64
And Yahuah listened to the voice of Yehoshua, and the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and it stood still six and thirty moments, and the moon also stood still and hastened not to go down a whole day.
65
And there was no day like that, before it or after it, that Yahuah listened to the voice of a man, for Yahuah fought for Yis’rael.