³ And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, ^[a]“Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

⁵ does not behave rudely, ^(A)does not seek its own, is not provoked, ^[a]thinks no evil; ^6 (B)does not rejoice in iniquity, but ^(C)rejoices in the truth; ^7 (D)bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with ^[a]scourges!’ ”

⁹ Then Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are as good in my sight ^(A)as an angel of God; nevertheless ^(B)the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’

⁴ But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, ^(A)“Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to ^(B)battle, lest ^(C)in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these ^(D)men?

⁸ Then the spies came back to their brethren at ^(A)Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”

⁹ So they said, ^(B)“Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you ^(C)do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. ¹⁰ When you go, you will come to a ^(D)secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, ^(E)a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”

² So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from ^(A)Zorah and Eshtaol, ^(B)to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the ^(C)house of Micah, and lodged there.

²³ So the ^[a]house of Joseph ^(A)sent men to spy out Bethel. (The name of the city was formerly ^(B)Luz.) ²⁴ And when the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and ^(C)we will show you mercy.”

Rahab Hides the Spies^(A)

2 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men ^(B)from ^[a]Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”

So they went, and ^(C)came to the house of a harlot named ^(D)Rahab, and ^[b]lodged there. ² And ^(E)it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”

³ So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.”