Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

2 Y’hoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Sheetim with these instructions: “Go, inspect the land and Yericho.” They left and came to the house of a prostitute named Rachav, where they spent the night. ² The king of Yericho was told about it — “Tonight some men from Isra’el came here to reconnoiter the land.”

³ The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav, “Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land.” ⁴ However, the woman, after taking the two men and hiding them, replied, “Yes, the men did come to me; but I didn’t know where they had come from. ⁵ The men left around the time when they shut the gate, when it was dark. Where they went I don’t know; but if you chase after them quickly, you will overtake them.” ⁶ Actually she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there. ⁷ The men pursued them all the way to the fords at the Yarden; as soon as the pursuit party had left, the gate was shut.

⁸ The two men had not yet lain down when she returned to the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that Adonai has given you the land. Fear of you has fallen on us; everyone in the land is terrified at the thought of you. ¹⁰ We’ve heard how Adonai dried up the water in the Sea of Suf ahead of you, when you left Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori on the other side of the Yarden, Sichon and ‘Og, that you completely destroyed them. ¹¹ As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed us. Because of you, everyone is in a state of depression. For Adonai your God — he is God in heaven above and on the earth below. ¹² So, please, swear to me by Adonai that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father’s family. Give me some evidence of your good faith, ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers and sisters and all who are theirs, so that we won’t be killed.” ¹⁴ The men replied to her, “Our lives are certainly worth yours, provided you don’t betray our mission. So when Adonai gives us the land, we will treat you kindly and in good faith.”

¹⁷ By trusting, Avraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Yitz’chak as a sacrifice. Yes, he offered up his only son, he who had received the promises, ¹⁸ to whom it had been said, “What is called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”^{[a] 19} For he had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead! And, figuratively speaking, he did so receive him.

²⁰ By trusting, Yitz’chak in his blessings over Ya‘akov and Esav made reference to events yet to come.

²¹ By trusting, Ya‘akov, when he was dying, blessed each of Yosef’s sons, leaning on his walking-stick as he bowed in prayer.^[b]

²² By trusting, Yosef, near the end of his life, remembered about the Exodus of the people of Isra’el and gave instructions about what to do with his bones.