Joshua 2-6

Revised Geneva Translation

2 Then Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men out of Shittim to spy, secretly, saying, “Go view the land, and Jericho.” And they went and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

² And it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the children of Israel have come here tonight to spy on the country.”

³ And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring forth the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house. For they have come to spy on all the land.”

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Therefore, she said this, “Men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

⁵ “And when they shut the gate in the dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Follow after them quickly, for you shall overtake them!”

⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hidden them with the stalks of flax which she had spread out upon the roof.

⁷ And the men pursued after them on the road to Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued after them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸ And before they were asleep, she came up to them on the roof,

⁹ and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

¹⁰ “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before 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 (to Sihon and to Og), whom you utterly destroyed.

¹¹ “And when we heard it, our hearts fainted. And there remained no more courage in anyone, because of you. For the LORD your God, He is the God in Heaven above, and on Earth beneath.

¹² “Now, therefore, please swear to me, by the LORD, that as I have shown you mercy, you will also show mercy to my father’s house. And give me a true sign

¹³ “that you will save alive my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all that they have; and that you will deliver our souls from death.”

¹⁴ And the men answered her, “Our life for yours if you do not utter this business of ours. And when the LORD has given us the land, we will deal mercifully and truly with you.”

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall; and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶ And she said to them, “Go into the mountain, lest the pursuers encounter you, and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have turned back. Then, afterward, you may go your way.”

¹⁷ And the men said to her, “We will be blameless of this oath which you have made us swear

¹⁸ if, when we come into the land, you shall bind this cord of red in the window whereby you let us down. And you shall bring your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household home to you.

¹⁹ “And whoever then goes out at the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head. And we will be guiltless. But, whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if any hand touches him.

²⁰ “And if you utter this matter, we will be released from your oath which you have made us swear.”

²¹ And she answered, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away and they departed. And she bound the red cord in the window.

²² And they departed and came into the mountain and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. And the pursuers sought them all along the road but did not find them.

²³ So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua, the son of Nun, and told him all things that happened to them.

²⁴ Also they said to Joshua, “Surely the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands. For all the inhabitants of the country faint because of us.”

3 Then Joshua rose very early. And they left Shittim and came to the Jordan (he and all the children of Israel) and lodged there before they went over.

² And after three days, the officers went throughout the camp,

³ and commanded the people, saying, “When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests of the Levites bearing it, you shall depart from your place and go after it.

⁴ “Still, there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. You shall not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go. For you have not gone this way before.”

⁵ Now Joshua had said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves! For tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you!

⁶ Also, Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and go over before the people.” So they took up the Ark of the Covenant, and went before the people.

⁷ Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, which shall know that as I was with Moses so I will be with you.

⁸ “You shall, therefore, command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”

⁹ Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here and hear the Words of the LORD your God!”

¹⁰ And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will certainly cast out before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites.

¹¹ “Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of all the world passes before you into the Jordan.

¹² “Now, therefore, take from among you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, a man out of every tribe.

¹³ “And as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the Ark of the LORD God, the Lord of all the world, shall stay in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off. For the waters that come from above shall stand still in one heap.”

¹⁴ Then, when the people had departed from their tents to go over the Jordan, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant went before the people.

¹⁵ And as those who bore the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the Ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),

¹⁶ then the waters that came down from above, stayed, rose in one heap, and departed far from the city, to Adam, which was beside Zaretan. But the waters that came down toward the Sea of the Wilderness (the Salt Sea) failed and were cut off. So, the people went right over, near Jericho.

¹⁷ But the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, stood firm and dry within the Jordan. And all the Israelites went over, dry, until all the people had completely gone over, through the Jordan.

4 And when all the people had fully gone over the Jordan (after the LORD had spoken to Joshua, saying,

² “Take with you twelve men out of the people, a man out of every tribe,

³ “and command them, saying, ‘Take from the midst of the Jordan — out of the place where the priests stood firmly — twelve stones, which you shall take away with you. And leave them in the lodging where you shall lodge this night.’”),

⁴ then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared from the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe.

⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Go over before the Ark of the LORD your God, through the midst of the Jordan. And every man take up for himself a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.

⁶ “So that this may be a sign among you. So that when your children shall ask their fathers in times to come, saying, ‘What did you mean by these stones?’,

⁷ “then you may answer them, ‘So that the waters of the Jordan would be cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. When it passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. Therefore, these stones are a memorial to the children of Israel, forever.’”

⁸ Then the children of Israel did as Joshua had commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan — as the LORD had said to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel — and carried them away with them to the lodging and laid them down there.

⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant stood. And there they have remained to this day.

¹⁰ So the priests who bore the Ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to say to the people, according to all that Moses charged Joshua. Then the people hurried and went over.

¹¹ When all the people had completely passed over, the Ark of the LORD also went over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

¹² And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh went over before the children of Israel, armed, as Moses had charged them.

¹³ Forty thousand, prepared for war, went before the LORD to battle, into the plain of Jericho.

¹⁴ That day, the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel. And they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear the Ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁷ Joshua, therefore, commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁸ And when the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and as soon as the soles of the priests’ feet were set on the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks, as they did before.

¹⁹ So the people came up out of the Jordan, on the tenth of the first month, and pitched in Gilgal, on the East side of Jericho.

²⁰ Also, the twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan Joshua pitched in Gilgal.

²¹ And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children shall ask their fathers in times to come, and say, ‘What do these stones mean?’,

²² “then you shall make it known to your children, and say, ‘Israel came over the Jordan on dry land.

²³ ‘For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, until you had gone over, as the LORD your God did the Red Sea (which He dried up before us until we had gone over),

²⁴ ‘so that all the people of the world may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you might fear the LORD your God continually.’”

5 Now when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel until they had gone over, their hearts fainted. And there was no courage in them anymore, because of the children of Israel.

² At the same time, the LORD said to Joshua, “Make yourself sharp knives, return, and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.”

³ Then Joshua made himself sharp knives and circumcised the sons of Israel on the Hill of the Foreskins.

⁴ And this is why Joshua circumcised all the people (the males) who came out of Egypt: because all the men of war were dead in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt.

⁵ For all the people who came out were circumcised. But all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt, were not circumcised.

⁶ For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the people of the men of war who came out of Egypt were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD (and to whom the LORD swore that He would not show the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers, that He would give us, a land that flows with milk and honey).

⁷ So their sons, whom He raised up in their stead, Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised because they did not circumcise them along the way.

⁸ And when they had ended circumcising all the people, they stayed in the places in the camp until they were whole.

⁹ Afterward, the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you.” Therefore, He called the name of that place, Gilgal, to this day.

¹⁰ So the children of Israel stayed in Gilgal and kept the Feast of the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, on the plain of Jericho.

¹¹ And on the day after the Passover — on the same day — they ate from the old grain of the land, unleavened bread and parched corn.

¹² And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten from the old grain of the land. Nor did the children of Israel have manna anymore, but ate from the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

¹³ And when Joshua was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, there stood a man opposite him, having a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him, and said to him, “Are you on our side, or on our adversaries’?”

¹⁴ And he said, “No, but as a captain of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said to him, “What does the LORD say to his servant?”

¹⁵ And the captain of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Loosen your shoe from your foot. For the place upon which you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

6 Now Jericho was shut up and closed because of the children of Israel. No one could go out or come in.

² And the LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho and its king, the strong men of war, into your hand.

³ “Therefore, all of your men of war shall march around the city, encircling it once. You shall do this for six days.

⁴ “And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Ark. And the seventh day, you shall circle the city seven times. And the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

⁵ “And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout. Then the wall of the city shall fall down flat. And the people shall ascend, every man straight ahead.”

⁶ Then Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant; and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Ark of the LORD.”

⁷ But he said to the people, “Go and circle the city. And let he who is armed go forth before the Ark of the LORD.”

⁸ And when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bore the seven trumpets of rams’ horns and went forth before the Ark of the LORD and blew the trumpets. And the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD followed them.

⁹ And the men of arms went before the priests and blew the trumpets. Then, the gathering army came after the Ark; and they went and blew the trumpets.

¹⁰ Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall neither shout nor make any noise with your voice. Nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth until the day that I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”

¹¹ So the Ark of the LORD circled the city and went around it once. Then they returned into the camp and lodged in the camp.

¹² And Joshua rose early in the morning; and the priests bore the Ark of the LORD.

¹³ Also, seven priests bore seven trumpets of rams’ horns and went before the Ark of the LORD, blowing the trumpets; and the men of arms went before them. But the gathering army, came after the Ark of the LORD as they blew the trumpets.

¹⁴ And the second day, they circled the city once and returned into the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ And when the seventh day came, they rose early with the dawning of the day and circled the city in the same way, seven times; only on that day did they circle the city seven times.

¹⁶ And when the priests had blown the trumpets the seventh time, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!

¹⁷ “And the city shall be an accursed thing to the LORD, both it and all who are therein! Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house; for she hid the messengers whom we sent!

¹⁸ “Nevertheless, be aware of the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed; and in taking of the accursed thing, you also make the army of Israel accursed and trouble it!

¹⁹ “But all silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron shall be consecrated to the LORD and shall come into the LORD’s treasury!”

²⁰ So the people shouted, after they had blown trumpets. For when the people had heard the sound of the trumpets, they shouted with a great shout. And the wall fell down flat. So the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead; and they took the city.

²¹ And they utterly destroyed all that was in the cities—man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey—with the edge of the sword.

²² But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied on the country, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman out, and all that she has, as you swore to her.”

²³ So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all that she had. They also brought out all her family and put them outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Afterward, they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein. But the silver and the gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the House of the LORD.

²⁵ So Joshua saved Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all that she had; and she dwelt in Israel (even to this day) because she had hidden the messengers which Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.

²⁶ And Joshua swore at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before the LORD who rises up and builds the city Jericho. He shall pay for its foundation with his eldest son. And his youngest son shall be the price for setting up its gates.”

²⁷ So the LORD was with Joshua; and he was famous through all the world.