Conquest of Canaan

And--before they lie down--she hath gone up unto them on the roof,

and she saith unto the men, `I have known that Jehovah hath given to you the land, and that your terror hath fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted at your presence.

`For we have heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your presence, in your going out of Egypt, and that which ye have done to the two kings of the Amorite who are beyond the Jordan; to Sihon and to Og whom ye devoted.

And we hear, and melt doth our heart, and there hath not stood any more spirit in any man, from your presence, for Jehovah your God, He is God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath.

`And now, swear ye, I pray you, to me by Jehovah--because I have done with you kindness--that ye have done, even ye, kindness with the house of my father, and have given to me a true token,

and have kept alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and have delivered our souls from death.'

And the men say to her, `Our soul for yours--to die; if ye declare not this our matter, then it hath been, in Jehovah's giving to us this land, that we have done with thee kindness and truth.'

And she causeth them to go down by a rope through the window, for her house is in the side of the wall, and in the wall she is dwelling;

and she saith to them, `To the mountain go, lest the pursuers come upon you; and ye have been hidden there three days till the turning back of the pursuers, and afterwards ye go on your way.'

And the men say unto her, `We are acquitted of this thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear:

lo, we are coming into the land, this line of scarlet thread thou dost bind to the window by which thou hast caused us to go down, and thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all the house of thy father thou dost gather unto thee, to the house;

and it hath been, any one who goeth out from the doors of thy house without, his blood is on his head, and we are innocent; and any one who is with thee in the house, his blood is on our head, if a hand is on him;

and if thou declare this our matter, then we have been acquitted from thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear.'

And she saith, `According unto your words, so it is ;' and she sendeth them away, and they go; and she bindeth the scarlet line to the window.

And they go, and come in to the mountain, and abide there three days until the pursuers have turned back; and the pursuers seek in all the way, and have not found.

And the two men turn back, and come down from the hill, and pass over, and come in unto Joshua son of Nun, and recount to him all that hath come upon them;

and they say unto Joshua, `Surely Jehovah hath given into our hand all the land; and also, all the inhabitants of the land have melted at our presence.'

And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and they journey from Shittim, and come in unto the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and they lodge there before they pass over.

And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days, that the authorities pass over into the midst of the camp,

and command the people, saying, `When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye journey from your place, and have gone after it;

only, a distance is between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; ye do not come near unto it, so that ye know the way in which ye go, for ye have not passed over in the way heretofore.'

And Joshua saith unto the people, `Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow doth Jehovah do in your midst wonders.'

And Joshua speaketh unto the priests, saying, `Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people;' and they take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.

And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, `This day I begin to make thee great in the eyes of all Israel, so that they know that as I was with Moses I am with thee;

and thou, thou dost command the priests bearing the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye come unto the extremity of the waters of the Jordan--in the Jordan ye stand.'