Joshua 6

Modern English Version

6 Now Jericho was tightly secured before the children of Israel. There was no one leaving or entering.

² The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho, its king, and mighty men of valor into your hand. ³ All the men of fighting age shall march around the city. Circle the city once. Do this for six days. ⁴ Seven priests shall carry seven ram’s horn trumpets before the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When they blow a long blast on the ram’s horn and when you hear the trumpet sound, all the people shall shout a loud battle cry. The walls of the city will fall down, and the people will go up, every man straight ahead.”

⁶ So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant. Seven priests bearing seven ram’s horn trumpets shall be in front of the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ He said to the people, “Advance and march around the city. Let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ So when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing seven ram’s horn trumpets before the Lord advanced and blew their trumpets. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went after them. ⁹ The armed men went before the priests blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard went after the ark while the trumpets were blowing. ¹⁰ Now Joshua had commanded the people, “Do not shout a battle cry, and do not let your voices be heard. Do not let a word come out of your mouths until the time I say to you, ‘Shout the battle cry!’ Then shout.” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord circle the city once. Then they came into the camp and spent the night there.

¹² Then Joshua got up early in the morning, and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ Seven priests bearing seven ram’s horn trumpets before the ark of the Lord moved on, blowing their trumpets continually. The armed men went before them, and the rear guard went after the ark of the Lord while the trumpets were blowing. ¹⁴ The second day they circled the city once, and they returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ Then on the seventh day they got up early as dawn was breaking and circled the city in this way seven times. Only on that day did they circle the city seven times. ¹⁶ On the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua said to the people, “Shout the battle cry, for the Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are dedicated to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute may live, she, and all who are with her in her house, for she hid the messengers we sent. ¹⁸ As for you, keep yourselves from that which is dedicated for destruction, lest you be destroyed. If you take from that which is dedicated for destruction, you will set the Israelite camp for destruction and bring trouble upon it. ¹⁹ All the silver, gold, and bronze and iron articles are set apart for the Lord. They will go into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰ So the people shouted, and they blew the trumpets. When the people heard the trumpet sound, they shouted a loud battle cry, and the wall fell down. So the people went up into the city, one man after the other, and they captured it. ²¹ They destroyed all that was in the city: man and woman, young and old, and oxen, sheep, and donkey with the edge of the sword.

²² Yet to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Enter the prostitute’s house, and bring out the woman and everyone who belongs to her, as you swore to her.” ²³ So the young men who had been spies entered and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, everyone who belonged to her, and her whole extended family. They brought them out and placed them outside of the camp of Israel.

²⁴ They burned the city and everything in it with fire. Only the silver, the gold, the bronze and iron articles they gave to the treasury of the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Yet Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and everyone who belonged to her, Joshua let live. They live among Israel to this day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.

²⁶ At that time Joshua made them swear, “Cursed before the Lord will be the man who arises and rebuilds this city of Jericho.

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and he became famous throughout the land.