³ the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Haven’t his envoys come to you only to explore and spy out^(A) the country and overthrow it?”

⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,^(A) it is not easily angered,^(B) it keeps no record of wrongs.^{(C) 6} Love does not delight in evil^(D) but rejoices with the truth.^{(E) 7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.^(F)

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected^(A) the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

⁹ Achish answered, “I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel^(A) of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders^(B) have said, ‘He must not go up with us into battle.’

⁴ But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send^(A) the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn^(B) against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men?

⁸ When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

⁹ They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.^{(A) 10} When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing^(B) whatever.^(C)”

² So the Danites^(A) sent five of their leading men^(B) from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out^(C) the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”^(D)

So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah,^(E) where they spent the night.

²³ When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),^{(A) 24} the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.^(B)”

Rahab and the Spies

2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies^(A) from Shittim.^(B) “Go, look over^(C) the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.^(D)” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab^(E) and stayed there.

² The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:^(F) “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”