Joshua
Chapter Two
1 ¶ Now Joshua the
son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go,
view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and came to the house
of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.
2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men have come here
tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country."
3 So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who
have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search
out all the country."
4 Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, "Yes, the
men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
5 "And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the
men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you
may overtake them."
6 (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of
flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
7 Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as
soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.
8 ¶ Now before they 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, that
the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land
are fainthearted because of you.
10 "For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for
you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites
who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
11 "And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did
there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God,
He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
12 "Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown
you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give
me a true token,
13 "and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that
they have, and deliver our lives from death."
14 So the men answered her, "Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this
business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that
we will deal kindly and truly with you."
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on
the city wall; she dwelt on the wall.
16 And she said to them, "Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you.
Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go
your way."
17 So the men said to her: "We will be blameless of this oath of yours
which you have made us swear,
18 "unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord
in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father,
your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home.
19 "So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into
the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And
whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is
laid on him.
20 "And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your
oath which you made us swear."
21 Then she said, "According to your words, so be it." And she sent
them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
22 ¶ They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days
until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but
did not find them.
23 So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and
they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them.
24 And they said to Joshua, "Truly the LORD has delivered all the land
into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted
because of us."
Go to Chapter Three
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