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.”

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men^(G) and hidden them.^(H) She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. ⁵ At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,^(I) they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”^{(J) 6} (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax^(K) she had laid out on the roof.)^{(L) 7} So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan,^(M) and as soon as the pursuers^(N) had gone out, the gate was shut.

¹⁵ So she let them down by a rope^(A) through the window,^(B) for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. ¹⁶ She said to them, “Go to the hills^(C) so the pursuers^(D) will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days^(E) until they return, and then go on your way.”^(F)

¹⁷ Now the men had said to her, “This oath^(G) you made us swear will not be binding on us ¹⁸ unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord^(H) in the window^(I) through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family^(J) into your house. ¹⁹ If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads;^(K) we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head^(L) if a hand is laid on them. ²⁰ But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.^(M)”

²¹ “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”

So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord^(N) in the window.^(O)

²² When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days,^(P) until the pursuers^(Q) had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. ²³ Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands;^(R) all the people are melting in fear^(S) because of us.”

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times.^{(A) 16} The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!^{(B) 17} The city and all that is in it are to be devoted^[a](C) to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute^(D) and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid^(E) the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the devoted things,^(F) so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction^(G) and bring trouble^(H) on it. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron^(I) are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”

²⁰ When the trumpets sounded,^(J) the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout,^(K) the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.^{(L) 21} They devoted^(M) the city to the Lord and destroyed^(N) with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

²² Joshua said to the two men^(O) who had spied out^(P) the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.^(Q)” ²³ So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her.^(R) They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Then they burned the whole city^(S) and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron^(T) into the treasury of the Lord’s house.^{(U) 25} But Joshua spared^(V) Rahab the prostitute,^(W) with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho^(X)—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[a](A)

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?^(A)