Joshua 2

King James Version

2 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

²And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

³And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.

⁴And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

⁵And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

⁶But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

⁷And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

⁹And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

¹¹And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

¹²Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:

¹³And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

¹⁴And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

¹⁵Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

¹⁷And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

¹⁸Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.

¹⁹And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

²⁰And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

²¹And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

²²And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

²³So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:

²⁴And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.

Joshua 2

New International Version

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.

²The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³So 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.”

⁴But 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. ⁵At 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) ⁷So 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.

⁸Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof^(O) ⁹and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear^(P) of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰We have heard how the Lord dried up^(Q) the water of the Red Sea^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt,^(R) and what you did to Sihon and Og,^(S) the two kings of the Amorites^(T) east of the Jordan,^(U) whom you completely destroyed.^[b]^(V) ¹¹When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear^(W) and everyone’s courage failed^(X) because of you,^(Y) for the Lord your God^(Z) is God in heaven above and on the earth^(AA) below.

¹²“Now then, please swear to me^(AB) by the Lord that you will show kindness^(AC) to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign^(AD) ¹³that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them^(AE)—and that you will save us from death.”

¹⁴“Our lives for your lives!”^(AF) the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully^(AG) when the Lord gives us the land.”

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

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

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

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

²²When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days,^(AW) until the pursuers^(AX) had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. ²³Then 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. ²⁴They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands;^(AY) all the people are melting in fear^(AZ) because of us.”

Footnotes

Joshua 2:10 Or the Sea of Reeds
Joshua 2:10 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

Joshua 2

New American Standard Bible

Rahab Shelters Spies

2 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from ^(A)Shittim, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of ^(B)a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and rested there. ²But it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to spy out all the land.” ⁴But the ^(C)woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵It came about, when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” ⁶But ^(D)she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan, to the crossing places; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸Now before ^[a]the spies lay down, she came up to them on the roof, ⁹and said to the men, “^(E)I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the ^(F)terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of you. ¹⁰^(G)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 ^(H)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you ^[c]utterly destroyed. ¹¹When we heard these reports, ^(I)our hearts melted and no ^[d]courage remained in anyone any longer because of you; for the ^(J)Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth below. ¹²Now 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 ^(K)pledge of ^[e]truth, ¹³and ^[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.” ¹⁴So 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 ^(L)deal kindly and ^[j]faithfully with you.”

The Promise to Rahab

¹⁵Then 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. ¹⁶And she said to them, “^(M)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.” ¹⁷And the men said to her, “^(N)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 ^(O)gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹And 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, ^(P)his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.” ²¹She 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.

²²So 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. ²³Then 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. ²⁴And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, ^(Q)all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”

Footnotes

Joshua 2:8 Lit they lay
Joshua 2:10 Lit Sea of Reeds
Joshua 2:10 Or put under the ban
Joshua 2:11 Lit spirit arose
Joshua 2:12 Or faithfulness
Joshua 2:13 Lit let live
Joshua 2:13 Lit souls
Joshua 2:14 Lit soul
Joshua 2:14 Lit instead of you to die
Joshua 2:14 Or truly
Joshua 2:17 Lit of yours
Joshua 2:18 Lit behold
Joshua 2:19 I.e., responsibility for his death
Joshua 2:22 Lit through all the road

Joshua 2

English Standard Version

Rahab Hides the Spies

2 And Joshua the son of Nun ^(A)sent^[a] two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of ^(B)a prostitute whose name was ^(C)Rahab and lodged there. ²And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” ⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” ⁶But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan ^(D)as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

⁸Before the men^[b] lay down, she came up to them on the roof ⁹and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, ^(E)and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^(F)melt away before you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord ^(G)dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^(H)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to ^(I)Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.^[c] ¹¹And ^(J)as soon as we heard it, ^(K)our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for ^(L)the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. ¹²Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and ^(M)give me a sure sign ¹³that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land ^(N)we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

¹⁵Then she ^(O)let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. ¹⁶And she said^[d] to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” ¹⁷The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. ¹⁸^(P)Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, ^(Q)and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. ¹⁹Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, ^(R)his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. ²⁰But if you ^(S)tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” ²¹And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²²They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. ²³Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and ^(T)passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. ²⁴And they said to Joshua, “Truly ^(U)the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land ^(V)melt away because of us.”

Footnotes

Joshua 2:1 Or had sent
Joshua 2:8 Hebrew they
Joshua 2:10 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Joshua 2:16 Or had said

Joshua 2

New Living Translation

Rahab Protects the Spies

2 Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove.^[a] He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.

²But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.”

⁴Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. ⁵They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” ⁶(Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) ⁷So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.

⁸Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. ⁹“I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. ¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea^[b] when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.^[c] ¹¹No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

¹²“Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that ¹³when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.”

¹⁴“We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”

¹⁵Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window. ¹⁶“Escape to the hill country,” she told them. “Hide there for three days from the men searching for you. Then, when they have returned, you can go on your way.”

¹⁷Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. ¹⁸When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. ¹⁹If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death. ²⁰If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”

²¹“I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.

²²The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days. The men who were chasing them searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned without success.

²³Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. ²⁴“The Lord has given us the whole land,” they said, “for all the people in the land are terrified of us.”

Footnotes

2:1 Hebrew Shittim.
2:10a Hebrew sea of reeds.
2:10b The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.

King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

New International Version (NIV)

Joshua 2

King James Version