2 Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as scouts, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there.
2 It was told the king of Jericho, Behold, there came men in here tonight of the Israelites to search out the country.
3 And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out the land.
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, Yes, two men came to me, but I did not know from where they had come.
5 And at gate closing time, after dark, the men went out. Where they went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.
6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order there.
7 So the men pursued them to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone, the city’s gate was shut.
8 Before the two men had lain down, Rahab came up to them on the roof,
9 And she said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the [east] side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
11 When we heard it, our hearts melted, neither did spirit or courage remain any more in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.(A)
12 Now then, I pray you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a sure sign,
13 And save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all they have, and deliver us from death.
14 And the men said to her, Our lives for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.
15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the [town] wall so that she dwelt in the wall.
16 And she said to them, Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers have returned; and afterward you may go your way.
17 The men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath you have made us swear. [The responsibility is now yours.]
18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall bring your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household into your house.
19 And if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; but if a hand is laid upon anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.
20 But if you tell this business of ours, we shall be guiltless of your oath which you made us swear.
21 And she said, According to your words, so it is. Then she sent them away and they departed; and she bound the [a]scarlet cord in the window.
22 They left and went to the mountain and stayed there three days, until the pursuers returned, who had searched all along the way without finding them.
23 So the two men descended from the mountain, passed over [the Jordan], and came to Joshua son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them.
24 They said to Joshua, Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the country are faint because of us.
Footnotes
- Joshua 2:21 What the blood on the doorposts on the first Passover night in Egypt was to the houses of Israel (Exod. 12:13), the scarlet cord in the window was to the house of Rahab. Her sinful years of ignorance God ignored (Acts 17:30, 31); she became an ancestress, as did Ruth, of David and of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:1, 5, 6).