Joshua Devotionals
One for each chapter. Want to test what you read? Take the Joshua quizzes.
- Joshua 1: Courage Grounded in a Promise
Joshua 1 opens with a death. Moses is gone, and the people stand on the far side of the Jordan with a new leader. The LORD's first words do not pretend otherwise (1:2). But they…
- Joshua 2: Faith from Outside the Walls
The spies sent into Jericho end up in the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and the story turns on her. She hides them on her roof, sends the king's men down the wrong road, and…
- Joshua 3: The Living God Goes First
Israel camps at the edge of the Jordan while the river is overflowing its banks (3:15). The instructions are unusual. The people are to follow the ark of the covenant, the sign of…
- Joshua 4: Stones That Tell the Story
Before the river flows again, God has Israel carry twelve stones from the riverbed where the priests stood, one for each tribe (4:2-3). The stones are set up at Gilgal for a…
- Joshua 5: On the Lord's Side
Israel is finally in the land, but before a single battle God does three things. He has Joshua circumcise the generation born in the wilderness and declares the shame of Egypt…
- Joshua 6: Mercy in the Day of Judgment
Jericho falls in a way no army would plan. For six days Israel marches once around the city in silence behind the ark, and on the seventh day they circle seven times, shout, and…
- Joshua 7: From Trouble to Hope
After Jericho, Israel is routed at the small town of Ai (7:4-5). Joshua tears his clothes and lies before the ark until evening, asking why God brought them over the Jordan at all…
- Joshua 8: Grace After the Valley
After the Valley of Achor, the LORD speaks first. He tells Joshua not to be afraid or discouraged and sends the whole army back to Ai, promising that the city is already given…
- Joshua 9: When We Forget to Ask
The Gibeonites arrive with moldy bread, cracked wineskins, and worn-out sandals, claiming to come from a distant country (9:4-6, 12-13). The chapter puts its finger on why the…
- Joshua 10: The Day the LORD Listened
Five Amorite kings attack Gibeon for making peace with Israel, and Gibeon sends for help (10:4-6). God tells Joshua not to fear, throws the enemy into confusion, and sends…
- Joshua 11: Stronger Than Chariots
The northern kings gather under Jabin of Hazor with an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore and a great force of horses and chariots (11:4). God tells Joshua not to be…
- Joshua 12: Every King by Name
Joshua 12 is a list of defeated kings. It begins east of the Jordan with Sihon and Og, whose land Moses gave to Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh (12:1-6). Then it turns west and…
- Joshua 13: Promised but Not Yet Possessed
Joshua is old, and the LORD says so plainly. Much land still remains to be taken, from the Philistine territory to Lebanon (13:1-5). Then God says something surprising. He himself…
- Joshua 14: Kept Alive for the Promise
As the land is divided by lot, an old man steps forward. Caleb reminds Joshua of Kadesh-barnea, forty-five years earlier, when he brought back an honest report while the other…
- Joshua 15: A Father Who Gives Springs
Most of Joshua 15 traces Judah's borders and lists its towns, region by region (15:1-12, 20-62). In the middle sits a small family scene. Caleb drives the sons of Anak out of…
- Joshua 16: A Blessing Spoken in Egypt
Joshua 16 is short and mostly borders, tracing the land of Ephraim from the Jordan at Jericho to the sea (16:1-8). It is easy to pass over. But one line says that Ephraim and…
- Joshua 17: Daughters Who Trusted His Word
The clans of Manasseh are listed through their male descendants, but Zelophehad had no sons, only five daughters (17:2-3). Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah come before…
- Joshua 18: Why Wait to Receive
Israel gathers at Shiloh and sets up the tent of meeting there. The land lies subdued before them, yet seven tribes still have not received their inheritance (18:1-2). Joshua's…
- Joshua 19: The Leader Received Last
The last six lots fall in this chapter. Simeon's towns sit inside Judah's territory because Judah's share was too large for them (19:1, 9). Then come Zebulun, Issachar, Asher,…
- Joshua 20: A Refuge with Open Gates
The LORD tells Joshua to set apart the cities of refuge he had described through Moses (20:2). They are for someone who has killed another person by accident, without prior…
- Joshua 21: Every Good Word Kept
The Levites come to Shiloh with a reminder. The LORD had commanded through Moses that they be given towns to live in, with pastureland for their animals (21:1-2). So the tribes…
- Joshua 22: One Lord on Both Banks
The eastern tribes have kept their word, and Joshua sends them home blessed, with a charge to love the LORD and hold fast to him (22:1-6). But on the way they build a large altar…
- Joshua 23: The God Who Fought for You
The aged Joshua gathers Israel's leaders for a final word. His speech begins with what they have seen: the LORD their God fought for them (23:3). He drove out great nations, and a…
- Joshua 24: Chosen Before They Chose
At Shechem, Joshua speaks for the LORD, and nearly every sentence has God as its subject. God took Abraham from a family that served other gods. He gave Isaac and Jacob, sent…