^2 (A)“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ ²³ The thing seemed good to me, and ^(A)I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. ²⁴ And ^(B)they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. ²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

⁸ Your fathers did this, ^(A)when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

¹⁸ You shall take one ^(A)chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance.

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. ² And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³ Then 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.” ⁴ But 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. ⁵ And 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.” ⁶ But 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. ⁷ So 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.

⁸ Before the men^[b] lay down, she came up to them on the roof ⁹ and 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. ¹⁰ For 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] 11} And ^(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. ¹² Now 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 ¹³ that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴ And 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.”

¹⁵ Then 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. ¹⁶ And 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.” ¹⁷ The 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. ¹⁹ Then 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. ²⁰ But if you ^(S)tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” ²¹ And 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.

²² They 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. ²³ Then 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. ²⁴ And 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.”

¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, ^(A)and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me ^(A)seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and ^(B)officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.

⁴ And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

^25 (A)Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.