Joshua 6:6-20

New Catholic Bible

⁶ So Joshua, the son of Nun, summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant. Have seven priests holding trumpets made from rams’ horns precede the Ark of the Lord.” ⁷ He gave the command to the people, “Advance! March around the city with the armed soldiers walking in front of the Ark of the Lord.” ⁸ When Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests carrying trumpets made from rams’ horns walked in front of the Lord and moved forward, blowing their trumpets, and the Ark of the Lord followed them. ⁹ The armed soldiers marched in front of the priests who were blowing their trumpets, and a rear guard followed the Ark. The whole time the trumpets were being blown. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, “Do not shout or raise your voices. Do not say a thing until the day I tell you to shout. Then you are to shout.”

¹¹ So he had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city once. They then went back into the camp where they spent the night. ¹² Joshua rose early the next morning, and the priests took the Ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the trumpets made from rams’ horns went ahead of the Ark of the Lord, blowing on their trumpets as they went. The armed soldiers marched in front of them, and a rear guard followed the Ark of the Lord, with the trumpets being blown the whole time. ¹⁴ Thus they went around the city once on the second day, and then they returned to the camp. They did this for six days in a row.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they rose at daybreak and went around the city seven times just as they had before, but that day they went around the city seven times. ¹⁶ On the seventh time around when the priests blew their trumpets, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout out, for the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are devoted^[a] to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are in her household, for she hid the spies whom we sent there. ¹⁸ But avoid those things that are dedicated, lest you call a curse on yourself when you take something that is dedicated and you bring a curse and destruction upon the camp of Israel. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and objects of bronze and iron are dedicated to the Lord. They must go into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰ The people shouted and the priests blew their trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpets and the people let out a great shout, the wall collapsed, and each man went up in a straight line and they took the city.