[1] (Now Jericho was all shut up because of the children of Israel: there
was no going out or coming in.) [2] And the Lord said to Joshua, See, I
have given into your hands Jericho with its king and all its men of war.
[3] Now let all your fighting-men make a circle round the town, going all
round it once. Do this for six days. [4] And let seven priests go before
the ark with seven loud-sounding horns in their hands: on the seventh day
you are to go round the town seven times, the priests blowing their horns.
[5] And at the sound of a long note on the horns, let all the people give a
loud cry; and the wall of the town will come down flat, and all the people
are to go straight forward. [6] Then Joshua, the son of Nun, sent for the
priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the agreement, and let seven
priests take seven horns in their hands and go before the ark of the Lord.
[7] And he said to the people, Go forward, circling the town, and let the
armed men go before the ark of the Lord. [8] So after Joshua had said this
to the people, the seven priests with their seven horns went forward before
the Lord, blowing on their horns: and the ark of the Lord's agreement went
after them. [9] And the armed men went before the priests who were blowing
the horns, and the mass of the people went after the ark, blowing their
horns. [10] And to the people Joshua gave an order, saying, You will give
no cry, and make no sound, and let no word go out of your mouth till the
day when I say, Give a loud cry; then give a loud cry. [11] So he made the
ark of the Lord go all round the town once: then they went back to the
tents for the night. [12] And early in the morning Joshua got up, and the
priests took up the ark of the Lord. [13] And the seven priests with their
seven horns went on before the ark of the Lord, blowing their horns: the
armed men went before them, and the mass of the people went after the ark
of the Lord, blowing their horns. [14] The second day they went all round
the town once, and then went back to their tents: and so they did for six
days. [15] Then on the seventh day they got up early, at the dawn of the
day, and went round the town in the same way, but that day they went round
it seven times. [16] And the seventh time, at the sound of the priests'
horns, Joshua said to the people, Now give a loud cry; for the Lord has
given you the town. [17] And the town will be put to the curse, and
everything in it will be given to the Lord: only Rahab, the loose woman,
and all who are in the house with her, will be kept safe, because she kept
secret the men we sent. [18] And as for you, keep yourselves from the
cursed thing, for fear that you may get a desire for it and take some of it
for yourselves, and so be the cause of a curse and great trouble on the
tents of Israel. [19] But all the silver and gold and the vessels of brass
and iron are holy to the Lord: they are to come into the store-house of the
Lord. [20] So the people gave a loud cry, and the horns were sounded; and
on hearing the horns the people gave a loud cry, and the wall came down
flat, so that the people went up into the town, every man going straight
before him, and they took the town. [21] And they put everything in the
town to the curse; men and women, young and old, ox and sheep and ass, they
put to death without mercy. [22] Then Joshua said to the two men who had
been sent to make a search through the land, Go into the house of the loose
woman, and get her out, and all who are with her, as you gave her your
oath. [23] So the searchers went in and got out Rahab and her father and
mother and her brothers and all she had, and they got out all her family;
and they took them outside the tents of Israel. [24] Then, after burning up
the town and everything in it, they put the silver and gold and the vessels
of brass and iron into the store-house of the Lord's house. [25] But Joshua
kept Rahab, the loose woman, and her father's family and all she had, from
death, and so she got a living-place among the children of Israel to this
day; because she kept safe the men whom Joshua had sent to make a search
through the land. [26] Then Joshua gave the people orders with an oath,
saying, Let that man be cursed before the Lord who puts his hand to the
building up of this town: with the loss of his first son will he put the
first stone of it in place, and with the loss of his youngest son he will
put up its doors. [27] So the Lord was with Joshua; and news of him went
through all the land.
