Joshua 2

1And Joshua son of Nun silently sends two men, spies, from Shittim, saying, “Go, see the land—and Jericho”; and they go and come into the house of a woman, a harlot, and her name [is] Rahab, and they lie down there.

2And it is told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come in here tonight, from the sons of Israel, to search the land.”

3And the king of Jericho sends to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who are coming to you, who have come into your house, for they have come to search the entirety of the land.”

4And the woman takes the two men, and hides them, and says thus: “The men came to me, and I have not known where they [are] from;

5and it comes to pass—the gate is to [be] shut—in the dark, and the men have gone out; I have not known to where the men have gone; pursue, hurry after them, for you overtake them”;

6and she has caused them to go up on the roof, and hides them with the flax wood, which is arranged for her on the roof.

7And the men have pursued after them the way of the Jordan, by the fords, and they have shut the gate afterward when the pursuers have gone out after them.

8And before they lie down, she has gone up to them on the roof,

9and she says to the men, “I have known that YHWH has given the land to you, and that your terror has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted at your presence.

10For we have heard how YHWH dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your presence, in your going out of Egypt, and that which you have done to the two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan; to Sihon and to Og whom you devoted.

11And we hear, and our heart melts, and there has not stood anymore spirit in [any] man from your presence, for He, your God YHWH, [is] God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

12And now, please swear to me by YHWH—because I have done kindness with you—that you have done, even you, kindness with the house of my father, and have given a true token to me,

13and have kept alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and have delivered our souls from death.”

14And the men say to her, “Our soul to die for yours; if you do not declare this—our matter, then it has been, in YHWH’s giving this land to us, that we have done kindness and truth with you.”

15And she causes them to go down by a rope through the window, for her house [is] in the side of the wall, and she [is] dwelling in the wall;

16and she says to them, “Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers come on you; and you have been hidden there three days until the turning back of the pursuers, and afterward you go on your way.”

17And the men say to her, “We are acquitted of this, your oath, which you have caused us to swear:

18behold, we are coming into the land, bind this line of scarlet thread to the window by which you have caused us to go down, and gather your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all the house of your father to you, to the house;

19and it has been, anyone who goes out from the doors of your house outside, his blood [is] on his head, and we are innocent; and anyone who is with you in the house, his blood [is] on our head, if a hand is on him;

20and if you declare this—our matter, then we have been acquitted from your oath which you have caused us to swear.”

21And she says, “According to your words, so it [is]”; and she sends them away, and they go; and she binds the scarlet line to the window.

22And they go, and come to the mountain, and abide there three days until the pursuers have turned back; and the pursuers seek in all the way, and have not found.

23And the two men turn back, and come down from the hill, and pass over, and come to Joshua son of Nun, and recount to him all that has come on them;

24and they say to Joshua, “Surely YHWH has given all the land into our hand; and also, all the inhabitants of the land have melted at our presence.”