Joshua 6
1 And Jericho shuts itself up, and is shut up, because of the presence of the sons of Israel—none going out, and none coming in.
Meanwhile, the guards of Jericho shut the gates of the city tightly, because [they were afraid] of the Israeli [army]. No one was allowed to go into the city or go out of it.
2 And YHWH says to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho and its king into your hand—mighty men of valor,
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Listen [to what I say]! I am going to enable your army [SYN] to capture/conquer [MTY] Jericho and its king and its soldiers.
3 and you have surrounded the city—all the men of battle—going around the city once; thus you do [for] six days;
So your army must march around the city for six days, once each day.
4 and seven priests carry seven horns of the rams before the Ark, and on the seventh day you go around the city seven times, and the priests blow with the horns,
Tell seven priests to march around with them. Each priest must carry a trumpet. Four other priests must carry the sacred chest, and they must walk behind the priests who are carrying the trumpets. On the seventh day, the army must march around the city seven times, and the priests must be blowing the trumpets while they march.
5 and it has been, in the prolonging of the horn of the ram, in your hearing the voice of the horn, all the people shout [with] a great shout, and the wall of the city has fallen under it, and the people have gone up, each straight before him.”
[After they have all marched around the city seven times], the priests must blow their trumpets [once], very loudly. When the Israeli people/soldiers hear that, they must shout loudly. Then the wall of the city will collapse, and all the Israeli people/soldiers will go straight into the city.”
6 And Joshua son of Nun calls to the priests and says to them, “Carry the Ark of the Covenant, and seven priests carry seven horns of the rams before the Ark of YHWH”;
So Joshua summoned the priests and said to them, “Tell four priests to carry the chest [that contains] the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [gave to us]. [Tell] seven [other] priests to carry trumpets and walk in front of them.”
7 and He said to the people, “Pass over, and go around the city, and he who is armed passes over before the Ark of YHWH.”
And Joshua told the soldiers, “Start marching! March around the city, with several soldiers with weapons marching in front. Behind them will march the seven priests with trumpets, and behind them will march the four priests carrying Yahweh’s [sacred] chest.”
8 And it comes to pass, when Joshua speaks to the people, that the seven priests carrying seven horns of the rams before YHWH have passed over and blown with the horns, and the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH is going after them;
After Joshua told that to the army, the seven priests, each carrying a sacred trumpet, started marching, blowing their trumpets. The four priests who were carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest followed them.
9 and he who is armed is going before the priests blowing the horns, and he who is gathering up is going after the Ark, going on and blowing with the horns;
The group of soldiers carrying weapons marched in front of the priests who were blowing their trumpets, and the rest of the soldiers followed [the four men carrying] the chest. While [they were all marching], [the seven priests] were blowing their trumpets.
10 and Joshua has commanded the people, saying, “Do not shout, nor cause your voice to be heard, nor does a word go out from your mouth, until the day of my saying to you, Shout! Then you have shouted.”
But [the rest of] the people [were silent, because] Joshua had commanded them, “Do not make a war cry. Do not yell or say anything until the day when I tell you to shout. On that day, you must shout [loudly]!”
11 And the Ark of YHWH goes around the city, going around once, and they come into the camp, and lodge in the camp.
So the men carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest and all the others did what Joshua told them to do. They marched around the city once. Then they all returned to their camp and stayed there that night.
12 And Joshua rises early in the morning, and the priests carry the Ark of YHWH,
The next morning, Joshua and the priests got up early, and the four priests carried Yahweh’s sacred chest [again].
13 and seven priests carrying seven horns of the rams before the Ark of YHWH are walking, going on, and they have blown with the horns—and he who is armed is going before them, and he who is gathering up is going behind the Ark of YHWH—going on and blowing with the horns.
The seven priests who were carrying trumpets went in front of [the men carrying] the chest. The seven priests were blowing their trumpets as they marched. The group of soldiers carrying weapons went in front of all the others, and the rest of the army followed all the others. All the time, the seven priests were blowing their trumpets.
14 And they go around the city once on the second day, and return to the camp; thus they have done [for] six days.
So on that second day they again marched around the city once and then returned to their camp. They did the same thing for six days.
15 And it comes to pass, on the seventh day, that they rise early, at the ascending of the dawn, and go around the city, according to this manner, seven times; (only on that day have they gone around the city seven times);
On the seventh day, they got up at dawn, and they all marched around the city the same way that they had done before, but this time they marched around the city seven times.
16 and it comes to pass, at the seventh time, the priests have blown with the horns, and Joshua says to the people, “Shout! For YHWH has given the city to you;
As they were marching around the seventh time, when the priests were about to blow the long/loud blast on their trumpets, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout, because Yahweh will enable you to capture the city!
17 and the city has been devoted, it and all that [is] in it, to YHWH; only Rahab the harlot lives, she and all who [are] with her in the house, for she hid the messengers whom we sent;
Yahweh has declared that you must destroy [IDM] the city and everything in it [to show that it belongs to him]. You must spare only Rahab the prostitute and the others who are in her house, because she hid the spies whom we sent there.
18 and surely you have kept from the devoted thing, lest you devote [yourselves], and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it;
And because Yahweh has declared that everything must be destroyed [IDM], you must not take [EUP] any of the things in the city. If you take anything, you will cause Yahweh to destroy our own camp and cause terrible things to happen to us.
19 and all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron—it [is] holy to YHWH; it comes into the treasury of YHWH.”
But all the silver and gold and articles made from iron and bronze that you find, you must set apart for Yahweh. You must put those things in his treasury.”
20 And the people shout, and blow with the horns, and it comes to pass, when the people hear the voice of the horn, that the people shout [with] a great shout, and the wall falls under it, and the people goes up into the city, each straight before him, and they capture the city;
So they did what Joshua told them to do. When the priests blew a long blast on their trumpets, the people/army shouted loudly, and the wall of the city collapsed! Then the Israeli soldiers rushed in and captured the city.
21 and they devote all that [is] in the city, from man even to woman, from young even to aged, even to ox, and sheep, and donkey, by the mouth of the sword.
They killed [IDM] every living thing in the city—men and women, young people and old people, even cattle and sheep and donkeys.
22 And Joshua said to the two men who are spying out the land, “Go into the house of the woman, the harlot, and bring out the woman from there, and all whom she has, as you have sworn to her.”
Then Joshua said to the two men (who had spied on/whom he had sent to learn all they could about) the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house. Bring her out, along with all her family, just as you promised to her.”
23 And the young men, those spying, go in and bring out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and all whom she has; indeed, they have brought out all her relatives, and place them at the outside of the camp of Israel.
So those two spies/men went into Rahab’s house and brought her out. They also brought out her father and mother and her brothers, and all the rest of her family. Joshua’s men spared Rahab the prostitute. They also did not kill all her relatives, because she had hidden and protected the spies/men whom Joshua had sent to Jericho. The two men brought them all out and put them in a place outside the camp of the Israelis. Rahab still lives among us Israeli people. Then the soldiers gathered the articles made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron that they found and they put them all into Yahweh’s treasury. But they burned everything else that was in the city.
24 And they have burned the city with fire, and all that [is] in it; only, the silver and the gold, and the vessels of bronze, and of iron, they have given [to] the treasury of the house of YHWH;
25 and Rahab the harlot, and the house of her father, and all whom she has, Joshua has kept alive; and she dwells in the midst of Israel to this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 And Joshua adjures [them] at that time, saying, “Cursed [is] the man before YHWH who raises up and has built this city, [even] Jericho; he lays its foundation in his firstborn, and he sets up its doors in his youngest.”
At that time, Joshua warned the people, “Yahweh will curse/punish anyone who tries to rebuild this city, Jericho. When that person lays/builds its foundation, his oldest son will die. And when he finishes building the city wall and sets up its gates, his youngest son will die.”
27 And YHWH is with Joshua, and his fame is in all the land.
Because of what happened that day, it was clear that Yahweh was with/helped Joshua, and Joshua became famous throughout the land.
