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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the
daily bible reading experience.
Day 100 and 65
when all the people had crossed the
Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, now
choose 12 men, one from each tribe.
Tell them, take 12 stones from the
very place where the priests are
standing in the middle of the Jordan.
Carry them out and pile them up at
the place where you'll camp tonight.
So Joshua called together the 12 men.
He had chosen one from each
of the tribes of Israel.
He told them, Go into the middle
of the Jordan, in front of
the Ark of the Lord, your God.
Each of you must pick up one stone
and carry it out on your shoulder.
12 stones in all one.
For each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
We will use these stones to
build a memorial in the future.
Your children will ask you,
what do these stones mean?
Then you can tell them.
They remind us that the Jordan
River stopped flowing when the Ark
of the Lord's covenant went across.
These stones will stand as a memorial
among the people of Israel forever.
So the men did, as Joshua
had commanded them.
They took 12 stones from the middle of
the Jordan River, one for each tribe.
Just as the Lord had told Joshua.
They carried them to the place
where they camped for the night
and constructed the memorial there.
Joshua also set up another pile of
12 stones in the middle of the Jordan
at the place where the priests who
carried the Ark of the Covenant
were standing, and they are there.
To this day, the priests who were
carrying the ark stood in the
middle of the river until all of
the Lord's commands that Moses had
given to Joshua were carried out.
Meanwhile, the people
hurried across the riverbed.
When everyone was safely on the other
side, the priests crossed over with the
Ark of the Lord as the people watched
the armed warriors from the tribes of
Reuben Gadd and the half tribe of Manasseh
led the Israelites across the Jordan.
Just as Moses had directed these armed
men about 40,000 strong, were ready for
battle and the Lord was with them as they
crossed over to the plains of Jericho.
That day, the Lord made Joshua a
great leader in the eyes of all
the Israelites, and for the rest
of his life, they revered him.
As much as they had revered Moses,
the Lord had said to Joshua command,
the priests carrying the Ark of the
Covenant to come up out of the river bed.
So Joshua gave the command.
As soon as the priests carrying the
Ark of the Lord's covenant came up out
of the riverbed and their feet were on
high ground, the water of the Jordan
returned and overflowed its banks.
As before, the people crossed the Jordan
on the 10th day of the first month.
Then they camped at Gilgal
just east of Jericho.
It was there at Gilgal that
Joshua piled up the 12 stones
taken from the Jordan River.
Then Joshua said to the Israelites,
in the future, your children will
ask, what do these stones mean?
Then you can tell them, this is
where the Israelites crossed the
Jordan on dry ground for the Lord.
Your God dried up the river right
before your eyes, and he kept it dry
until you were all across, just as
he did at the Red Sea when he dried
it up until we had all crossed over.
He did this so all the nations of
the Earth might know that the Lord's
hand is powerful, and so you might
fear the Lord your God forever.
When all the Amide kings west of the
Jordan and all the Canaanite kings
who lived along the Mediterranean
coast heard how the Lord had
dried up the Jordan River, so
the people of Israel could cross.
They lost heart and were paralyzed
with fear because of them.
At that time, the Lord told Joshua,
make Flint knives and circumcised
this second generation of Israelites.
So Joshua made flint knives
and circumcised the entire male
population of Israel at Gibb.
He auth Joshua had to circumcise
them because all the men who were old
enough to fight in battle when they
left Egypt had died in the wilderness.
Those who left Egypt had all been
circumcised, but none of those born
after the Exodus during the years in
the wilderness had been circumcised.
The Israelites had traveled in the
wilderness for 40 years until all
the men who were old enough to fight
in battle when they left Egypt had
died for they had disobeyed the Lord.
And the Lord vowed he would
not let them enter the land.
He had sworn to give us a land
flowing with milk and honey.
So Joshua circumcised their sons, those
who had grown up to take their father's
places for they had not been circumcised
on the way to the promised land.
After all the males had been circumcised.
They rested in the camp
until they were healed.
Then the Lord said to Joshua,
today, I have rolled away the
shame of your slavery in Egypt.
So that place has been
called Gilgal to this day.
While the Israelites were camped at
Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they
celebrated Passover on the evening
of the 14th day of the first month.
The very next day, they began to
eat unleavened bread and roasted
grain harvested from the land.
No manna appeared on the day they
first ate from the crops of the
land, and it was never seen again.
So from that time on, the Israelites
ate from the crops of Canaan.
When Joshua was near the town of Jericho,
he looked up and saw a man standing
in front of him with sword in hand.
Joshua went up to him and
demanded, are you friend or foe?
Neither one.
He replied, I'm the commander
of the Lord's army at this.
Joshua fell with his face
to the ground in reverence.
I am at your command.
Joshua said, what do you
want your servant to do?
The commander of the Lord's army
replied, take off your sandals for the
place where you are standing is holy.
And Joshua did as he was told.
Now, the gates of Jericho were
tightly shut because the people
were afraid of the Israelites.
No one was allowed to go out or
in, but the Lord said to Joshua.
I have given you Jericho.
It's king and all its strong warriors.
You and your fighting men should march
around the town once a day for six days.
Seven priests will walk ahead of
the ark, each carrying a Rams horn.
On the seventh day you are to march
around the town seven times with
the priests blowing the horns.
When you hear the priests give one long
blast on the Rams horns, have all the
people shout as loud as they can, then the
walls of the town will collapse and the
people can charge straight into the town.
So Joshua called together the priests
and said, take up the Ark of the Lord's
Covenant and assign seven priests to walk
in front of it each carrying a Rams horn.
Then he gave orders to the people,
march around the town, and the
armed men will lead the way in
front of the Ark of the Lord.
After Joshua spoke to the people,
the seven priests with the Rams horns
started marching in the presence of
the Lord, blowing the horns as they
marched and the Ark of the Lord's
covenant followed behind them.
Some of the armed men marched
in front of the priests with the
horns and some behind the ark.
With the priests continually
blowing the horns.
Do not shout.
Do not even talk.
Joshua commanded.
Not a single word from any of
you until I tell you to shout.
Then shout.
So the Ark of the Lord was carried around
the town once that day, and then everyone
returned to spend the night in the camp.
Joshua got up early the next
morning and the priests again
carried the ark of the Lord.
The seven priests with the Rams horns
marched in front of the Ark of the
Lord, blowing their horns again.
The armed men marched both in
front of the priests with the horns
and behind the ark of the Lord.
All this time, the priests were
blowing their horns on the second day.
They again marched around the town
once and returned to the camp.
They followed this pattern for six days.
On the seventh day, the Israelites got
up at Dawn and marched around the town
as they had done before, but this time
they went around the town seven times
the seventh time around, as the priests
sounded the long blast on their horns.
Joshua commanded the people Shout For
the Lord has given you the town, Jericho,
and everything in it must be completely
destroyed as an offering to the Lord.
Only Rahab, the prostitute and the
others in her house will be spared for.
She protected our spies.
Do not take any of the things set apart
for destruction, or you yourselves will
be completely destroyed and you will
bring trouble on the camp of Israel.
Everything made from silver, gold,
bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord
and must be brought into his treasury.
When the people heard the
sound of the Rams horns, they
shouted as loud as they could.
Suddenly the walls of Jericho collapsed,
and the Israelites charged straight
into the town and captured it.
They completely destroyed everything
in it with their swords, men and
women, young and old, cattle,
sheep, goats, and donkeys.
Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two
spies, Keep your promise, go to the
prostitute's house and bring her out.
Along with all her family, the men who
had been spies went in and brought out
Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and
all the other relatives who were with her.
They moved her whole family to a
safe place near the camp of Israel.
Then the Israelites burned
the town and everything in it.
Only the things made from silver,
gold, bronze, or iron were kept for
the treasury of the Lord's house.
So Joshua spared Rahab, the prostitute
and her relatives who were with her in the
house because she had hidden the spies.
Joshua sent to Jericho, and she lives
among the Israelites to this day.
At that time, Joshua invoked this curse.
May the curse of the Lord fall on anyone
who tries to rebuild the town of Jericho
at the cost of his firstborn son.
He will lay its foundation at
the cost of his youngest son.
He will set up its gates, so
the Lord was with Joshua and his
reputation spread throughout the land.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.