JoshuaChapter 2
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1Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent out two spies from Shittim. "Go and look over the land," he said. "Look closely at Jericho." So they went. They came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2Someone told the king of Jericho, "Look! Some men of Israel came here tonight. They came to spy out the land." 3So the king of Jericho sent a message to Rahab. It said, "Bring out the men who came to you and went into your house. They have come to spy out the whole land." 4But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men did come to me. But I didn't know where they came from. 5They left at dusk, when it was time to close the city gate. I don't know which way they went. Go after them fast. You may catch them!" 6(But Rahab had taken them up to the roof. She had hidden them under stalks of flax she had spread out there.) 7So the king's men went out to chase the spies. They took the road that goes to the places where people cross the Jordan. As soon as they went out, the gate was shut. 8The spies had not yet lain down for the night. Rahab went up to them on the roof. 9She said to them, "I know that the LORD has given you this land. Fear of you has fallen on us. So everyone who lives in this land is melting with fear because of you. 10This is because we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you left Egypt. We heard what you did to Sihon and Og. They were the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan. You destroyed them completely, as things given over to God. 11When we heard this, our hearts melted. No one has any courage left because of you. For the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12So now, please make me a promise in the name of the LORD. I was kind to you. Promise that you will be kind to my family too. Give me a sign I can trust. 13Promise that you will spare my father and mother. Spare my brothers and sisters and all their families. Save us from death." 14"Our lives for your lives!" the men agreed. "If you don't tell anyone what we are doing, then we will be kind and faithful to you when the LORD gives us the land." 15Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window. Her house was built into the city wall. 16"Go to the hill country," she told them. "Then the men chasing you won't find you. Hide there for three days until they come back. After that, go on your way." 17The men said to her, "We will not be held to this promise you made us swear 18unless, when we come into the land, you have tied this red cord in the window you let us down through. And you must have brought your father, mother, brothers, and all your family into your house. 19If anyone goes out of your house into the street, his death will be his own fault. We will not be to blame. But if anyone in the house with you is harmed, the blame for his death will be on us. 20But if you tell anyone what we are doing, we will be free from the promise you made us swear." 21"I agree," she said. "Let it be as you say." Then she sent them away, and they left. And she tied the red cord in the window. 22The spies went into the hill country. They stayed there three days. By then the men chasing them had gone back. They had searched all along the road but had not found them. 23Then the two men started back. They came down out of the hills and crossed the river. They came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened. 24"The LORD has surely given the whole land to us," they told Joshua. "Everyone who lives there is melting with fear because of us."