Joshua 2:1–24
Rahab Helps the Israelite Spies
Joshua
chose two men as spies and sent them from their camp at Acacia with these
instructions: “ Go across the river and find out as much as you can about the
whole region, especially about the town of Jericho.”
The two
spies left the Israelite camp at Acacia and went to Jericho, where they decided
to spend the night at the house of a prostitute named Rahab. But someone found
out about them and told the king of Jericho, “ Some Israelite men came here
tonight, and they are spies.” So the king sent soldiers to Rahab’s house to
arrest the spies.
Meanwhile,
Rahab had taken the men up to the flat roof of her house and had hidden them
under some piles of flax plants that she had put there to dry. The soldiers
came to her door and demanded, “ Let us have the men who are staying at your
house. They are spies.”
She
answered, “ Some men did come to my house, but I didn’t know where they had
come from. They left about sunset, just before it was time to close the town
gate. I don’t know where they were going, but if you hurry, maybe you can catch
them.” The guards at the town gate let the soldiers leave Jericho, but they
closed the gate again as soon as the soldiers went through. Then the soldiers
headed toward the Jordan River to look for the spies at the place where people
cross the river.
Rahab went
back up to her roof. The spies were still awake, so she told them:
I know that
the LORD has given Israel this land. Everyone shakes with fear because of you.
We heard how the LORD dried up the Red Sea so you could leave Egypt. And we
heard how you destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings east of the
Jordan River. We know that the LORD your God rules heaven and earth, and we’ve
lost our courage and our will to fight. Please promise me in the LORD’s name
that you will be as kind to my family as I have been to you. Do something to
show that you won’t let your people kill my father and mother and my brothers
and sisters and their families.
“ Rahab,”
the spies answered, “ if you keep quiet about what we’re doing, we promise to
be kind to you when the LORD gives us this land. We pray that the LORD will
kill us if we don’t keep our promise!” Rahab’s house was built into the town
wall, and one of the windows in her house faced outside the wall. She gave the
spies a rope, showed them the window, and said, “ Use this rope to let
yourselves down to the ground outside the wall. Then hide in the hills. The men
who are looking for you won’t be able to find you there. They’ll give up and
come back after a few days, and you can be on your way.” The spies said:
You made us
promise to let you and your family live. We will keep our promise, but you
can’t tell anyone why we were here. You must tie this red rope on your window
when we attack, and your father and mother, your brothers, and everyone else in
your family must be here with you. We’ll take the blame if anyone who stays in
this house gets hurt. But anyone who leaves your house will be killed, and it
won’t be our fault.
“ I’ll do
exactly what you said,” Rahab promised. Then she sent them on their way and
tied the red rope to the window.
The spies
hid in the hills for three days while the king’s soldiers looked for them along
the roads. As soon as the soldiers gave up and returned to Jericho, the two
spies went down into the Jordan valley and crossed the river. They reported to
Joshua and told him everything that had happened. “ We’re sure the LORD has
given us the whole country,” they said. “ The people there shake with fear
every time they think of us.” (CEV)
This reading is taken from 30
Scripture Readings on Great Women from the Bible. The complete book can be
found here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZK5H96/ref=nosim?tag=hudsonbcom-20&linkCode=sb1&camp=212353&creative=380549
The HOLY BIBLE, CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION copyright ©
1997, 1997 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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