Then he reminded the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manassah of their promise to leave their wives and children in the fortified cities they had built and lead the armies of Israel to take possession of the land over the Jordan River. And they said, "Everything you command us to do, we will do, and wherever you command us to go we will go. We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses; may God be with you as He was with Moses. Whoever rebels and does not as you command will be put to death. Be strong, and of great courage!"

In preparation for taking possession of the land, Joshua sent two men to spy out the land across the river and especially the town of Jerico. When they got to Jerico they stayed at an inn operated by Rahab, a harlot. While they were there the ruler of Jerico was told that men had come to spy out the land. He sent guards to Rahab to take the two men but she had learned of it and hidden the two spies under flax she had spread on the flat roof of her inn. She told the guards that the men had been there but had left just before the gates had closed; if they hurried, perhaps they could still catch them. The guards went all the way to the Jordan but, of course, they didn't find them.

When the guards had gone, Rahab went up to the roof and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land. You have struck fear into us; all the people in the land faint with terror because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt. We know you destroyed the kings of the Amorites, on the other side of the Jordan. As soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted, there was no more courage in any man, because of you. The LORD your God is the God of heaven above, and of the earth beneath.

"Therefore, I ask you, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you will also show kindness to me and my father's house. Please give me a token that you will save me and my father, and my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all their little ones from death."

And the men told her, "We will give you your lives because you have saved ours as long as you don't tell anyone what has happened. When the LORD has given us the land we will deal kindly and truly with you. When our army comes to Jerico, tie a scarlet ribbon in the window and bring your father's household in here with you. Any of your relatives who are outside of this house will not be spared, but we will protect all that are in this house."

Rahab advised them to go into the mountains to the west of Jerico and stay there three days; until the search for them ended, then she let them down by a rope through the window, because her house was a part of the wall around Jerico.

When the two men returned to Joshua they said, "God has certainly given us the land; everyone there is weak with terror because of us."

The next morning they broke camp and moved to the banks of the Jordan where they stayed three days. The third day Joshua sent officers through the camp to tell people that they would be crossing the Jordan the next day and to follow the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, but not too closely.

And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to magnify you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they will know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. Command the priests that carry the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the bank of the Jordan, stand still with your feet in the Jordan.'"

And Joshua said to the people of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will drive out the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites without fail: the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will cross before you into the Jordan. And when the priest's feet touch the water it will stop flowing and the water on the upriver side will stand up in a heap until everyone has crossed over.

"Select twelve men for a special task, one from each of the tribes and have them ready."

Then Joshua command the priests to carry the ark into the Jordan, which was swollen with the spring rains, for it was the tenth day of the first month, the time when the people were to select the lambs for the Passover. And it happened exactly as he said; as soon as the priests were standing in the water the flow ceased and the water stood up in a great mound upriver. The priests walked on dry land to the center and stood there while the people crossed over.

When all the people were across, Joshua called the twelve men and told them to go to the middle of the riverbed near the priests and the ark and bring back twelve large stones to be placed as a monument beside the Jordan. They also built a heap of twelve large stones in the middle of the river bed. When they were finished, Joshua told the priests to bring the ark the rest of the way over.

As soon as the priest's feet were up on the river bank the river resumed flowing just as it had before God had stopped it.

They camped that night in Gilgal. And the twelve stones that they took out of the Jordan Joshua built into a monument at Gilgal. And he spoke to the people of Israel, "When your children ask in time to come, 'What are these stones doing piled up here?' Then you shall let your children know that Israel came over Jordan on dry land and took these stones from the middle of the riverbed and piled them here for a witness. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan while you were passing over just as He did to the Red sea when your fathers passed over. He did this so that all the people of the earth would know that the hand of the LORD is mighty and that you would fear the LORD your God forever."

They camped there at Gilgal and kept the Passover in the fourteenth day of the first month. And they ate the old grain of the land on the Holy Day after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn. And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten of the old grain of the land. The children of Israel saw no more manna from that day forward, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.