Joshua 2

Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, look over the land and Jericho.” They went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some men from the people of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to search out the whole land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. When it grew dark and the gate was about to close, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” She had brought them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof. The men pursued them along the road to the Jordan, toward the fords. The gate was closed as soon as the pursuers went out after them. Before the men lay down, she went up to them on the roof. She said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. When we heard it, our hearts melted, and no one had any courage left because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Now please swear to me by the LORD that, since I have shown you kindness, you too will show kindness to my father’s household. Give me a trustworthy sign that you will keep my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them alive, and deliver our lives from death.” The men said to her, “Our lives for yours, even to death, if you do not tell anyone about this business of ours. When the LORD gives us the land, we will treat you with kindness and faithfulness.” Then she lowered them by a rope through the window, for her house was in the city wall, and she lived in the wall. She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not come upon you. Hide there for three days until the pursuers return; then you may go on your way.” The men said to her, “We will be free of this oath you made us swear. Look, when we enter the land, you must tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you lowered us. Gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to you in the house. If anyone goes outside through the doors of your house, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads. If you tell anyone about this business of ours, we will be free of the oath you made us swear.” She said, “Let it be as you have said.” Then she sent them away, and they left. She tied the scarlet cord in the window. They went to the hills and stayed there for three days, until the pursuers returned. The pursuers searched all along the road but did not find them. Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills, crossed over, and came to Joshua son of Nun. They told him everything that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, “The LORD has indeed given the whole land into our hands. All the inhabitants of the land have also melted away before us.”

Rights and attribution