Joshua Sends Spies into Jericho

2 ^(A)Then Joshua sent two spies from the camp at Acacia with orders to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan, especially the city of Jericho. When they came to the city, they went to spend the night in the house of a prostitute named Rahab. ² The king of Jericho heard that some Israelites had come that night to spy out the country, ³ so he sent word to Rahab: “The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!”

^4-6 “Some men did come to my house,” she answered, “but I don't know where they were from. They left at sundown before the city gate was closed. I didn't find out where they were going, but if you start after them quickly, you can catch them.” (Now Rahab had taken the two spies up on the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had put there.) ⁷ The king's men left the city, and then the gate was shut. They went looking for the Israelite spies as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan.

⁸ Before the spies settled down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land. Everyone in the country is terrified of you. ^10 (B)We have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea in front of you when you were leaving Egypt. We have also heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. ¹¹ We were afraid as soon as we heard about it; we have all lost our courage because of you. The Lord your God is God in heaven above and here on earth. ¹² Now swear by him that you will treat my family as kindly as I have treated you, and give me some sign that I can trust you. ¹³ Promise me that you will save my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families! Don't let us be killed!”

¹⁴ The men said to her, “May God take our lives if we don't do as we say!^[a] If you do not tell anyone what we have been doing, we promise you that when the Lord gives us this land, we will treat you well.”

¹⁵ Rahab lived in a house built into the city wall, so she let the men down from the window by a rope. ¹⁶ “Go into the hill country,” she said, “or the king's men will find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, you can go on your way.”

¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will keep the promise that you have made us give. ¹⁸ This is what you must do. When we invade your land, tie this red cord to the window you let us down from. Get your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's family together in your house. ¹⁹ If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible. ²⁰ However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing, then we will not have to keep our promise which you have made us give you.” ²¹ She agreed and sent them away. When they had gone, she tied the red cord to the window.

²² The spies went into the hills and hid. The king's men looked for them all over the countryside for three days, but they did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. ²³ Then the two spies came down from the hills, crossed the river, and went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened, ²⁴ and then said, “We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole country. All the people there are terrified of us.”

The Fall of Jericho

6 The gates of Jericho were kept shut and guarded to keep the Israelites out. No one could enter or leave the city. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers. ³ You and your soldiers are to march around the city once a day for six days. ⁴ Seven priests, each carrying a trumpet, are to go in front of the Covenant Box. On the seventh day you and your soldiers are to march around the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets. ⁵ Then they are to sound one long note. As soon as you hear it, all the people are to give a loud shout, and the city walls will collapse. Then the whole army will go straight into the city.”

⁶ Joshua called the priests and told them, “Take the Covenant Box, and seven of you go in front of it, carrying trumpets.” ⁷ Then he ordered the people to start marching around the city, with an advance guard going on ahead of the Lord's Covenant Box.

^8-9 So, just as Joshua had ordered, an advance guard started out ahead of the priests who were blowing trumpets; behind these came the priests who were carrying the Covenant Box, followed by a rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁰ But Joshua had ordered the people not to shout, not to say a word until he gave the order. ¹¹ So he had this group of men take the Lord's Covenant Box around the city one time. Then they came back to camp and spent the night there.

^12-13 Joshua got up early the next morning, and for the second time the priests and soldiers marched around the city in the same order as the day before: first, the advance guard; next, the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets; then, the priests carrying the Lord's Covenant Box; and finally, the rear guard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁴ On this second day they again marched around the city one time and then returned to camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up at daybreak and marched seven times around the city in the same way—this was the only day that they marched around it seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around, when the priests were about to sound the trumpets, Joshua ordered the people to shout, and he said, “The Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies. ¹⁸ But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp. ¹⁹ Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the Lord. It is to be put in the Lord's treasury.”

^20 (A)So the priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed. Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it. ²¹ With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

²² Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, “Go into the prostitute's house, and bring her and her family out, as you promised her.” ²³ So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp. ²⁴ Then they set fire to the city and burned it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the Lord's treasury. ^25 (B)But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

^26 (C)At this time Joshua issued a solemn warning: “Anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho will be under the Lord's curse.

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread through the whole country.