Rahab and the Spies
Joshua 2Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, “Y’all go and inspect the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.
The king of Jericho was told, “Look, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land.”
Jericho’s king sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land.”
The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I didn’t know where they came from. About the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out. Where the men went, I don’t know. Y’all must chase them quickly, and y’all will catch up with them!” But she had brought them up to the roof, and hidden them under the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. The men pursued them along the way to the fords of the Jordan River. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof. She said to the men, “I know that YHWH has given y’all the land, and that the fear of y’all has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before y’all. For we have heard how YHWH dried up the water of the Red Sea for y’all when y’all came out of Egypt, and what y’all did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom y’all completely destroyed. When we heard this, our hearts melted, and the spirits of men wouldn’t rise because of y’all: for YHWH y’all’s God, ʜᴇ is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. So now, will y’all please swear to me by YHWH, since I have dealt kindly with y’all, that y’all also will deal kindly with my father’s house. Y’all must give me a true sign that y’all will spare the lives of my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and that y’all will deliver our lives from death.”
The men said to her, “Our life for y’all’s, if y’all don’t report our mission. Then, when YHWH gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. She said to them, “Y’all should go to the mountain, so the pursuers won’t find y’all. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, y’all can go y’all’s way.”
The men said to her, “We will be free from this your oath which you’ve made us swear unless when we come into the land you tie this scarlet cord to the window that you used to let us down. Bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household into the house. Anyone who exits the doors of your house into the street, their will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, their blood will be on our head if any hand is on them. But if you talk about this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath that you’ve made us to swear.”
She said, “Let it be as y’all have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
They went and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but didn’t find them. Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, crossed the river, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them. They said to Joshua, “Truly YHWH has delivered all the land into our hands. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us.”