Joshua 6

Living Bible

6 The gates of Jericho were kept tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelis; no one was allowed to go in or out.

² But the Lord said to Joshua, “Jericho and its king and all its mighty warriors are already defeated, for I have given them to you! ^3-4 Your entire army is to walk around the city once a day for six days, followed by seven priests walking ahead of the Ark, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to walk around the city seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets. ⁵ Then, when they give one long, loud blast, all the people are to give a mighty shout, and the walls of the city will fall down; then move in upon the city from every direction.”

^6-9 So Joshua summoned the priests and gave them their instructions: the armed men would lead the procession, followed by seven priests blowing continually on their trumpets. Behind them would come the priests carrying the Ark, followed by a rear guard.

¹⁰ “Let there be complete silence except for the trumpets,” Joshua commanded. “Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout; then shout!”

¹¹ The Ark was carried around the city once that day, after which everyone returned to the camp again and spent the night there. ^12-14 At dawn the next morning they went around again and returned again to the camp. They followed this pattern for six days.

¹⁵ At dawn of the seventh day they started out again, but this time they went around the city not once, but seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time, as the priests blew a long, loud trumpet blast, Joshua yelled to the people, “Shout! The Lord has given us the city!”

¹⁷ (He had told them previously, “Kill everyone except Rahab the prostitute and anyone in her house, for she protected our spies. ¹⁸ Don’t take any loot, for everything is to be destroyed. If it isn’t, disaster will fall upon the entire nation of Israel. ¹⁹ But all the silver and gold and the utensils of bronze and iron will be dedicated to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury.”)

²⁰ So when the people heard the trumpet blast, they shouted as loud as they could. And suddenly the walls of Jericho crumbled and fell before them, and the people of Israel poured into the city from every side and captured it! ²¹ They destroyed everything in it—men and women, young and old; oxen; sheep; donkeys—everything.

²² Meanwhile Joshua had said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go and rescue the prostitute and everyone with her.”

²³ The young men found her and rescued her, along with her father, mother, brothers, and other relatives who were with her. Arrangements were made for them to live outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ Then the Israelis burned the city and everything in it except that the silver and gold and the bronze and iron utensils were kept for the Lord’s treasury. ²⁵ Thus Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, and they still live among the Israelites because she hid the spies sent to Jericho by Joshua.

²⁶ Then Joshua declared a terrible curse upon anyone who might rebuild Jericho, warning that when the foundation was laid, the builder’s oldest son would die, and when the gates were set up, his youngest son would die.^[a]

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his name became famous everywhere.