Joshua 6
1 Jericho was shut up tight because of the Israelites; no one went out, and no one came in.
2 The LORD said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and its mighty warriors.
3 March around the city, all you men of war, circling it once. Do this for six days.
4 Seven priests shall carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, and the priests shall sound the trumpets.
5 When the ram’s horn is sounded with a long blast, and you hear the trumpet’s sound, all the people shall give a great shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the people will go up, each straight ahead.”
6 Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Carry the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark of the LORD.”
7 He said to the people, “Go forward and march around the city, and let the armed men go ahead of the ark of the LORD.”
8 When Joshua had finished speaking to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven ram’s-horn trumpets went forward before the LORD and sounded the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
9 The armed men went ahead of the priests who were sounding the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark, while the trumpets sounded.
10 Joshua had commanded the people: “Do not shout or let your voices be heard, and do not say a word until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”
11 So he had the ark of the LORD circle the city once. Then they returned to the camp and spent the night there.
12 Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests carried the ark of the LORD.
13 The seven priests carrying the seven ram’s-horn trumpets went ahead of the ark of the LORD, walking and sounding the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets sounded.
14 On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
15 On the seventh day they rose early, at daybreak, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. Only on that day did they circle the city seven times.
16 On the seventh circuit, when the priests sounded the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has handed the city over to you!
17 The city and everything in it shall be devoted to destruction for the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and everyone with her in the house, because she hid the messengers we sent.
18 But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so that you do not take any of them after devoting them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel itself devoted to destruction and bring disaster on it.
19 All the silver and gold, and the bronze and iron articles, are sacred to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.”
20 The people shouted, and the trumpets were sounded. When the people heard the trumpet’s sound, they gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. The people went up into the city, each straight ahead, and they captured it.
21 They devoted to destruction everything in the city: men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys, putting them to the sword.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out the woman and everyone who belongs to her, as you swore to her.”
23 The young men who had spied went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and everyone who belonged to her. They brought out all her relatives and settled them outside the camp of Israel.
24 They burned the city and everything in it. But they put the silver and gold, and the bronze and iron articles, into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
25 Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and everyone who belonged to her. She has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho.
26 At that time Joshua made this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho! He will lay its foundations at the cost of his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son.”
27 The LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.
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