| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.” |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6(Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9“I know the LORD has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10For we have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12“Now swear to me by the LORD that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.” |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14“We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the LORD gives us the land.” |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16“Escape to the hill country,” she told them. “Hide there for three days from the men searching for you. Then, when they have returned, you can go on your way.” |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21“I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days. The men who were chasing them searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned without success. |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24“The LORD has given us the whole land,” they said, “for all the people in the land are terrified of us.” |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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