Joshua 2

1 And Joshua son of Nun sendeth from Shittim, two men, spies, silently, saying, 'Go, see the land — and Jericho;' and they go and come into the house of a woman, a harlot, and her name [is] Rahab, and they lie down there.

Then Joshua [chose] two men from [their camp at] Acacia. He told them, “Go [across the Jordan River] and secretly find out all that you can about the land on that side of the river, especially about Jericho [city].” So the two men crossed [the river and entered Jericho]. They entered the house of a prostitute, whose name was Rahab. They stayed in her house [that night].

2 And it is told to the king of Jericho, saying, 'Lo, men have come in hither to-night, from the sons of Israel, to search the land.

But someone [saw them and] told the king of Jericho, “Some Israeli men have come here tonight to spy out the land!”

3 And the king of Jericho sendeth unto Rahab, saying, 'Bring out the men who are coming in unto thee, who have come into thy house, for to search the whole of the land they have come in.

So the king sent some messengers to tell Rahab, “Bring out the men who came and entered your house, [so that we can kill them], because they have come [here] to (spy out/find out all they can about) this land!”

4 And the woman taketh the two men, and hideth them, and saith thus: 'The men came in unto me, and I have not known whence they [are];

She told them that the two men had gone to her house. But she had hidden the two men there. So when the messengers came to her house, she told them, “Two men came here, but I did not know where they had come from.

5 and it cometh to pass — the gate is to [be] shut — in the dark, and the men have gone out; I have not known whither the men have gone; pursue ye, hasten after them, for ye overtake them;'

At dusk, just before (guards closed the city gate/the city gates were closed), the two men left. I do not know where they went. So, go quickly and search for them! Perhaps you may catch them!”

6 and she hath caused them to go up on the roof, and hideth them with the flax wood, which is arranged for her on the roof.

But [she was lying, ] she had taken the two men up to the [flat] roof of her house and had hidden them under the piles of flax that she had laid on the roof.

7 And the men have pursued after them the way of the Jordan, by the fords, and the gate they have shut afterwards, when the pursuers have gone out after them.

The messengers went out of the city to search for the two men. Immediately, the guards shut the city gate. The messengers went along the road that leads down to the place where people can walk across the Jordan [River], [but they did not find the two men].

8 And — before they lie down — she hath gone up unto them on the roof,

Before the two men lay down [to sleep] that night, Rahab went up to the roof

9 and she saith unto the men, 'I have known that Jehovah hath given to you the land, and that your terror hath fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted at your presence.

and said to them, “We know that Yahweh [is about to] give this land to you Israelis, and as a result all the people living in this land are terrified because of you.

10 'For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your presence, in your going out of Egypt, and that which ye have done to the two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan; to Sihon and to Og whom ye devoted.

We have heard about how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea for you to cross it when you left Egypt. And we have heard how you killed Sihon and Og, the two kings of the tribe of Amor who lived east of the Jordan [River]. You [Israelis] totally destroyed everyone [and everything in their kingdom].

11 And we hear, and melt doth our heart, and there hath not stood any more spirit in [any] man, from your presence, for Jehovah your God, He [is] God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath.

When we heard about those things, we were very dismayed. We no longer have enough courage to fight against you, because we know that Yahweh, the God whom you [worship], is helping you. [And we know that] he rules everything in heaven and here on earth.

12 'And now, swear ye, I pray you, to me by Jehovah — because I have done with you kindness — that ye have done, even ye, kindness with the house of my father, and have given to me a true token,

So now [I want you to] solemnly promise me, and ask Yahweh to punish you if you do not do what you promise. Solemnly promise me that you will act kindly to me and my family, because I have acted kindly to you.

13 and have kept alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and have delivered our souls from death.'

Do something to prove that you will (spare the lives of/not kill) my father and my mother, my brothers and sisters, and all of their families. Promise me that you [Israelis] will not kill us [when you destroy this city].”

14 And the men say to her, 'Our soul for yours — to die; if ye declare not this our matter, then it hath been, in Jehovah's giving to us this land, that we have done with thee kindness and truth.'

The two men replied, “We desire that God will cause us to die if we do not do as we say! If you do not tell others what we [are planning to] do, we will act kindly toward you all when Yahweh enables us to possess the land.”

15 And she causeth them to go down by a rope through the window, for her house [is] in the side of the wall, and in the wall she [is] dwelling;

[One of] the outside walls of the house where Rahab lived was part of the wall [that was around] the city. So she fastened a rope outside the window [that was in that wall], by which the men could climb down the wall.

16 and she saith to them, 'To the mountain go, lest the pursuers come upon you; and ye have been hidden there three days till the turning back of the pursuers, and afterwards ye go on your way.'

Then she said to them, “When you leave the city, go up into the hills so that the men who are searching for you will not find you. Hide in caves in the hills for three days, until the men who are searching for you return to the city. Then you can return safely to your camp.”

17 And the men say unto her, 'We are acquitted of this thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear:

The two men [gave her a red cord, and] said to her, “This is what you must do; if you do not do this, we will not be required to do what we have vowed to do.

18 lo, we are coming into the land, this line of scarlet thread thou dost bind to the window by which thou hast caused us to go down, and thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all the house of thy father thou dost gather unto thee, to the house;

You must tie this red cord in the window that has the rope by which we will climb down. You must let the cord hang there. And you must bring your father and your mother and your brothers and all the others in your family inside the house. Then, when our army enters your land, we will see the cord, and we will not kill the people in your house.

19 and it hath been, any one who goeth out from the doors of thy house without, his blood [is] on his head, and we are innocent; and any one who is with thee in the house, his blood [is] on our head, if a hand is on him;

If anyone in your family goes outside this house into the street, [our soldiers] will kill them, and we will not be guilty [MTY] for doing that. But if anyone who is in this house with you is injured, we will be guilty for causing that.

20 and if thou declare this our matter, then we have been acquitted from thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear.'

But if you tell anyone what we [are planning to] do, we are not required to do what we have vowed to do.”

21 And she saith, 'According unto your words, so it [is];' and she sendeth them away, and they go; and she bindeth the scarlet line to the window.

Rahab said, “I agree to do what you say.” So they climbed down the rope and left. And she left the red cord tied in the window.

22 And they go, and come in to the mountain, and abide there three days until the pursuers have turned back; and the pursuers seek in all the way, and have not found.

When the two men left the city, they went up into the hills. They stayed there for three days, while the men [who had been sent by the king] continued to search for them. They searched all along the road, but they did not find the two men. So they returned to the city.

23 And the two men turn back, and come down from the hill, and pass over, and come in unto Joshua son of Nun, and recount to him all that hath come upon them;

Then the two men started back toward their camp. They went down from the hills, went down to the river, crossed it at the place where people can walk across it, and returned to their camp. They told Joshua everything that had happened to them.

24 and they say unto Joshua, 'Surely Jehovah hath given into our hand all the land; and also, all the inhabitants of the land have melted at our presence.'

They said to Joshua, “We are sure that Yahweh is going to enable us to possess everything that is in that land. The people there are terrified [IDM] because of us.”