Joshua 2
2
1And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go view the land, and Jericho. And they went, and came into the house of an harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there. 2And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the land. 3And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the land. 4And the woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, Yea, the men came unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5and it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. 7And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
8And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9and she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, unto Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. 12Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token: 13and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death. 14And the men said unto her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business; and it shall be, when the LORD giveth us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 15Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light upon you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household. 19And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20But if thou utter this our business, then we will be guiltless of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.
22And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. 23Then the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had befallen them. 24And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.
Currently Selected:
Joshua 2: RV1885
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Joshua 2
2
Rahab helps the Israelite spies
1Joshua 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.”#He 11.31; Jas 2.25.
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 prostitute#2.1 prostitute: Rahab was possibly an innkeeper. named Rahab.
2But someone found out about them and told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelite men came here tonight, and they are spies.” 3-7So 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 plants#2.3-7 flax plants: The stalks of flax plants were harvested, soaked in water, and dried, then their fibres were separated and spun into thread, which was woven into linen cloth. 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.#2.3-7 gate: Many towns and cities had walls with heavy gates that were closed at night for protection. I don't know where they were going, but if you hurry, perhaps 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 towards the River Jordan to look for the spies at the place where people cross the river.
8Rahab went back up to her roof. The spies were still awake, so she told them:
9I know that the LORD has given Israel this land. Everyone shakes with fear because of you. 10We heard how the LORD dried up the Red Sea#2.10 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph “Sea of Reeds”, one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta. This identification is based on Exodus 13.17—14.9, which lists the towns on the route of the Israelites before crossing the sea. In the Greek translation of the Scriptures made about 200 BC, the “Sea of Reeds” was named “Red Sea”. so you could leave Egypt. And we heard how you destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings east of the River Jordan.#Ex 14.21; Nu 21.21-35. 11We know that the LORD your God rules heaven and earth, and we've lost our courage and our will to fight.
12Please 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 13that 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!”#2.14 We pray…promise: Or “If you save our lives, we will save yours!”
15Rahab's house was built into the town wall,#2.15 wall: In ancient times, cities and larger towns had high walls around them to protect them against attack. Sometimes houses were built against the wall so that the city wall formed one wall of the house. This added strength to the city wall. 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. 16Then 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.”
17-20The 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.
22The 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, 23the 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.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012