Dual PanelIn central Canaan
1JOSHUA son of Nun sent out two spies secretly from Shittim with orders to reconnoitre the land and especially Jericho. The two men set off and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab to spend the night there.
2When it was reported to the king of Jericho that some Israelites had arrived that night to explore the country,
3he sent word to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come to you and are now in your house, for they have come to spy out the whole country.”
4The woman, who had taken the two men and hidden them, replied, “True, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they came from;
5and at nightfall when it was time to shut the gate, they had gone. I do not know where they were going, but if you hurry after them you may overtake them.”
6In fact, she had brought them up on to the roof and concealed them among the stalks of flax which she had laid out there in rows.
7The messengers went in pursuit of them in the direction of the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out the gate was closed.
8The men had not yet settled down, when Rahab came up to them on the roof,
9and said, “I know that the LORD has given the land to you; terror of you has fallen upon us, and the whole country is panic-stricken.
10We have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings beyond the Jordan, for you destroyed them.
11When we heard this, our courage failed; your coming has left no spirit in any of us; for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.
12Swear to me by the LORD that you will keep faith with my family, as I have kept faith with you. Give me a token of good faith;
13promise that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and preserve us from death.”
14The men replied, “Our lives for yours, so long as you do not betray our business. When the LORD gives us the country, we shall deal loyally and faithfully by you.”
15She then let them down through a window by a rope; for the house where she lived was on an angle of the wall.
16“Make for the hills,” she said, “or the pursuers will come upon you. Hide there for three days until they return; then go on your way.”
17The men warned her that, unless she did what they told her, they would be free from the oath she had made them take.
18“When we invade the land,” they said, “you must fasten this strand of scarlet cord in the window through which you have lowered us, and get everybody together here inside the house, your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family.
19Should anybody go out of doors into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we shall be free of the oath. But if a hand is laid on anyone who stays indoors with you, his blood be on our heads!
20Remember too that, if you betray our business, then we shall be free of the oath you have made us take.”
21“It shall be as you say,” she replied, and sent them on their way. When they had gone, she fastened the strand of scarlet cord in the window.
22The men made their way into the hills and stayed there for three days until the pursuers returned. They had searched all along the road, but had not found them.
23The two men then came down from the hills and crossed the river. When they joined up with Joshua son of Nun, they reported all that had happened to them.
24“The LORD has delivered the whole country into our hands,” they said; “the inhabitants are all panic-stricken at our approach.”