Joshua 2:8-24

New American Standard Bible

⁸ Now before ^[a]the spies lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹ and said to the men, “^(A)I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the ^(B)terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of you. ^10 (C)For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the ^[b]Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^(D)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you ^[c]utterly destroyed. ¹¹ When we heard these reports, ^(E)our hearts melted and no ^[d]courage remained in anyone any longer because of you; for the ^(F)Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below. ¹² Now then, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a ^(G)pledge of ^[e]truth, ¹³ and ^[f]spare my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all who belong to them, and save our ^[g]lives from death.” ¹⁴ So the men said to her, “Our ^[h]life ^[i]for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will ^(H)deal kindly and ^[j]faithfully with you.”

The Promise to Rahab

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. ¹⁶ And she said to them, “^(I)Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not encounter you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” ¹⁷ And the men said to her, “^(J)We shall be exempt from this oath ^[k]to you which you have made us swear, ^18 [l]unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and ^(K)gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹ And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have ^[m]his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, ^(L)his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.” ²¹ She then said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²² So they departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days, until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched for them ^[n]all along the road, but had not found them. ²³ Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, ^(M)all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”