Joshua 2

Rahab Hides the Spies

1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho.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 fathers 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 fathers 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.

JOSHUA 2

Rahab Helps //the Israelite Spies

1  t Joshua chose two men as spies and sent them from their camp at Acacia with these instructions: “Go across the river and find out as much as you can about the whole region, especially about the town of Jericho.”
The two spies left the Israelite camp at Acacia and went to Jericho, where they decided to spend the night at the house of a prostitutet named Rahab.
2 But someone found out about them and told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelite men came here tonight, and they are spies.”

3-7 So the king sent soldiers to Rahab's house to arrest the spies.
Meanwhile, Rahab had taken the men up to the flat roof of her house and had hidden them under some piles of flax plantst that she had put there to dry.
The soldiers came to her door and demanded, “Let us have the men who are staying at your house. They are spies.”
She answered, “Some men did come to my house, but I didn't know where they had come from. They left about sunset, just before it was time to close the town gate.t I don't know where they were going, but if you hurry, maybe you can catch them.”
The guards at the town gate let the soldiers leave Jericho, but they closed the gate again as soon as the soldiers went through. Then the soldiers headed toward the Jordan River to look for the spies at the place where people cross the river.

8 Rahab went back up to her roof. The spies were still awake, so she told them:
9 I know that the [Lord] has given Israel this land. Everyone shakes with fear because of you. 10 t We heard how the [Lord] dried up the Red Seat so you could leave Egypt. And we heard how you destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River.

11 We know that the [Lord] your God rules heaven and earth, and we've lost our courage and our will to fight.
12 Please promise me in the [Lord]'s name that you will be as kind to my family as I have been to you. Do something to show

13 that you won't let your people kill my father and mother and my brothers and sisters and their families.

14 “Rahab,” the spies answered, “if you keep quiet about what we're doing, we promise to be kind to you when the [Lord] gives us this land. We pray that the [Lord] will kill us if we don't keep our promise!”t
15 Rahab's house was built into the town wall, t and one of the windows in her house faced outside the wall. She gave the spies a rope, showed them the window, and said, “Use this rope to let yourselves down to the ground outside the wall.

16 Then hide in the hills. The men who are looking for you won't be able to find you there. They'll give up and come back after a few days, and you can be on your way.”

17-20 The spies said:
You made us promise to let you and your family live. We will keep our promise, but you can't tell anyone why we were here. You must tie this red rope on your window when we attack, and your father and mother, your brothers, and everyone else in your family must be here with you. We'll take the blame if anyone who stays in this house gets hurt. But anyone who leaves your house will be killed, and it won't be our fault.

21 “I'll do exactly what you said,” Rahab promised. Then she sent them on their way and tied the red rope to the window.
22 The spies hid in the hills for three days while the king's soldiers looked for them along the roads. As soon as the soldiers gave up and returned to Jericho, 23 the two spies went down into the Jordan valley and crossed the river. They reported to Joshua and told him everything that had happened. 24 “We're sure the [Lord] has given us the whole country,” they said. “The people there shake with fear every time they think of us.”