1:1 Now after the death of Mosheh the eved of YHWH (יהוה) it came to pass, that YHWH (יהוה) spake unto Yehoshua Ben Nun, Mosheh' minister, saying,
1:2 Mosheh my avedi is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Yarden, thou, and all this people, unto the eretz which I do give to them, [even] to the Benai Yisrael.
1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Mosheh.
1:4 From the midbar and this Levanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the eretz of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Mosheh, [so] I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
1:6 Be strong and courageous: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the eretz, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the Torah, which Mosheh my eved commanded thee: turn not from it [to] the yamin or [to] the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
1:8 This sefer ha Torah shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for YHWH (יהוה) Eloheicha [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest.
1:10 Then Yehoshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare your provision food; for within three days ye shall pass over this Yarden, to go in to possess the eretz, which YHWH (יהוה) Eloheichem giveth you to possess it.
1:12 And to the Reuvenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Menasheh, spake Yehoshua, saying,
1:13 Zakar Dvar which Mosheh the eved YHWH (יהוה) commanded you, saying, YHWH (יהוה) Eloheichem hath given you rest (nuach), and hath given you this eretz.
1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the eretz which Mosheh gave you on this side Yarden; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;
1:15 Until YHWH (יהוה) have given your brethren rest, as [he hath given] you, and they also have possessed the eretz which YHWH (יהוה) Eloheichem giveth them: then ye shall return unto the eretz of your possession, and enjoy it, which Mosheh YHWH (יהוה)'S eved gave you on this side Yarden toward the sunrising.
1:16 And they answered Yehoshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
1:17 According as we hearkened unto Mosheh in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only YHWH (יהוה) Eloheicha be with thee, as he was with Mosheh.
1:18 Whosoever [he be] that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy Divrei in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.
The Sefer Y'hoshua (ספר יהושע) is the sixth book in the Tenakh. This book stands as the first in the Former (or First) Neviim covering the history of Israel from the possession of the Promised Land to the Babylonian Captivity.
Yehoshua was the prominent tribe of Efrayim. His name was originally Hoshea (salvation) but Mosheh changed it to Yehoshua meaning Yah is Salvation (Badmibar 13:8,16). He was the eved Mosheh and of EL (Yehoshua 1:1, 5:14).
Authorship
Jewish tradition ascribes authorship of the sefer Yehoshua. The Talmud states that the book was written by Yehoshua except for the last verses (24:29-33) which were added by Phinehas ha Kohen.
Certainly, the author writes as an eyewitness to the accounts described, occasionally using first person pronouns (for instance, in Yehoshua 5:1), although Yehoshua himself is usually described in the third person. Some sections, however (eg. 5:9, 7:26, 24:29-33) could only have been added after his death (probably by Eleazar ha Kohen or his son Phinehas).
More recently, the authorship of the book of Yehoshua has come under dispute. Two possibilities have been suggested for the authorship of the book:
Conservative scholars argue that the majority of the book of Yehoshua was written at the time of the Israelite invasion (the fifteenth century or twelfth century BC), by a contemporary of Yehoshua and an eyewitness of the events that occurred.
Excursus on the Cities of Refuge
Map of the conquest and settlement