Jericho

¹Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, including Jericho.” They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there. ²The king of Jericho was told, “Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land.” ³Jericho’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.” ⁴The 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. ⁵About the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out. Where the men went, I don’t know. Pursue them quickly. You may catch up with them.” ⁶But 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. ⁷The 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. ⁸Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof. ⁹She said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath. ¹²Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign; ¹³and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the LORD gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” ¹⁵Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall. ¹⁶She said to them, “Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way.” ¹⁷The men said to her, “We will be guiltless of this your oath which you’ve made us to swear. ¹⁸Behold, when we come into the land, tie this line of scarlet thread in the window which you used to let us down. Gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him. ²⁰But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you’ve made us to swear.” ²¹She said, “Let it be as you have said.” She sent them away, and they departed. Then she tied the scarlet line in the window.

¹Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in. ²The LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor. ³All of your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days. ⁴Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the city wall will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him.” ⁶Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD’s ark.” ⁷They said to the people, “Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the LORD’s ark.” ⁸It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them. ⁹The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went. ¹⁰Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” ¹¹So he caused the LORD’s ark to go around the city, circling it once. Then they came into the camp, and stayed in the camp. ¹²Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the LORD’s ark. ¹³The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the LORD’s ark went on continually, and blew the trumpets. The armed men went in front of them. The rear guard came after the LORD’s ark. The trumpets sounded as they went. ¹⁴The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days. ¹⁵On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city! ¹⁷The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. ¹⁸But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. ¹⁹But all the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD. They shall come into the LORD’s treasury.” ²⁰So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city. ²¹They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

¹⁹The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren.” ²⁰He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” Then they brought it to him. ²¹He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “The LORD says, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or barren wasteland.’” ²²So the waters were healed to this day, according to Elisha’s word which he spoke.

⁴⁶They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, “Call him.” They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!” ⁵⁰He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.” ⁵²Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

¹He entered and was passing through Jericho. ²There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short. ⁴He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. ⁷When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.” ⁸Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”