Chapter 2

¹Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and lay there. ²It was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the children of Israel to search out the land. ³The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who are come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to search out all the land. ⁴The woman took the two men, and hid them; and she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I didn’t know whence they were: ⁵and it happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out; where the men went I don’t know: pursue after them quickly; for you will 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 on the roof. ⁷The men pursued after them the way to the Jordan to the fords: and as soon as those who pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. ⁸Before they were laid down, she came up to them on the roof; ⁹and she said to the men, I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you is fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. ¹⁰For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹As soon as we had heard it, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. ¹²Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true token; ¹³and that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death. ¹⁴The men said to her, Our life for yours, if you don’t utter this our business; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you. ¹⁵Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. ¹⁶She said to them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers light on you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may you go your way. ¹⁷The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear. ¹⁸Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shall gather to you into the house your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹It shall be, that whoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his head, and we shall be guiltless: and whoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be on him. ²⁰But if you utter this our business, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you have made us to swear. ²¹She said, According to your words, so be it. She sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. ²²They went, and came to the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but didn’t find them. 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 happened to them. ²⁴They said to Joshua, Truly Yahweh has delivered into our hands all the land; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us.