²⁰ “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”

²⁰ When Absalom’s men came to the woman^(A) at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

The woman answered them, “They crossed over the brook.”^[a] The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.

³ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:^(A) “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^(B) and hidden them.^(C) 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,^(D) they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”^(E)