Joshua 1:9 — Be Strong and of a Good Courage

Why families choose it

These words were first spoken to a man whose leader had just died — Joshua, standing where Moses had stood, being told to go on. That is the position of a son burying his father, and of anyone left to carry what another carried first. It is one verse and it is a charge, not a consolation: grief is not argued away; the mourner is handed something to do — be strong, go forward, go accompanied. It is also short enough to be read by someone who is not certain they can read at all, which is why families give it to a grandchild or to the son who wanted to speak and could not manage a eulogy.

Reading it aloud

One verse asks for more silence than sentences — let the room settle before you begin, and hold still a moment after you finish, or it will be over before it lands. The opening is a question; read it as one. Then deliver the charge levelly, not loudly: courage at a funeral is quiet. If it was a verse the deceased lived by, say so first in a plain sentence.

In the programme, list it in the order of service as “Scripture Reading — Joshua 1:9” with the reader’s name beside it. The full text is public domain and may be printed on the life-story or back page.