The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Y'hoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Sheetim with these instructions: "Go, inspect the land and Yericho." They left and came to the house of a prostitute named Rachav, where they spent the night.
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Then Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men from Shittim secretly, with the purpose of searching out the land, and Jericho. So they went and came to the house of a loose woman of the town, named Rahab, where they took their rest for the night.
2 The king of Yericho was told about it - "Tonight some men from Isra'el came here to reconnoiter the land."
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And it was said to the king of Jericho, See, some men have come here tonight from the children of Israel with the purpose of searching out the land.
3 The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav, "Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land."
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Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Send out the men who have come to you and are in your house; for they have come with the purpose of searching out all the land.
4 However, the woman, after taking the two men and hiding them, replied, "Yes, the men did come to me; but I didn't know where they had come from.
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And the woman took the two men and put them in a secret place; then she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I had no idea where they came from;
5 The men left around the time when they shut the gate, when it was dark. Where they went I don't know; but if you chase after them quickly, you will overtake them."
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And when it was the time for shutting the doors at dark, they went out; I have no idea where the men went: but if you go after them quickly, you will overtake them.
6 Actually she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there.
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But she had taken them up to the roof, covering them with the stems of flax which she had put out in order there.
7 The men pursued them all the way to the fords at the Yarden; as soon as the pursuit party had left, the gate was shut.
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So the men went after them on the road to Jordan as far as the river-crossing: and when they had gone out after them, the door into the town was shut.
8 The two men had not yet lain down when she returned to the roof
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And before the men went to rest, she came up to them on the roof,
9 and said to them, "I know that ADONAI has given you the land. Fear of you has fallen on us; everyone in the land is terrified at the thought of you.
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And said to them, It is clear to me that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has come on us;
10 We've heard how ADONAI dried up the water in the Sea of Suf ahead of you, when you left Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori on the other side of the Yarden, Sichon and 'Og, that you completely destroyed them.
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For we have had news of how the Lord made the Red Sea dry before you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, on the other side of Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you gave up to the curse.
11 As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed us. Because of you, everyone is in a state of depression. For ADONAI your God - he is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
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And because of this news, our hearts became like water, and there was no more spirit in any of us because of you; for the Lord your God is God in heaven on high and here on earth.
12 So, please, swear to me by ADONAI that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father's family. Give me some evidence of your good faith,
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So now, will you give me your oath by the Lord, that, because I have been kind to you, you will be kind to my father's house,
13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers and sisters and all who are theirs, so that we won't be killed."
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And that you will keep safe my father and mother and my brothers and sisters and all they have, so that death may not come on us?
14 The men replied to her, "Our lives are certainly worth yours, provided you don't betray our mission. So when ADONAI gives us the land, we will treat you kindly and in good faith."
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And the men said to her, Our life for yours if you keep our business secret; and when the Lord has given us the land, we will keep faith and be kind to you.
15 Then she lowered them by a rope through the window; since her house abutted the city wall, indeed was actually built into it.
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Then she let them down from the window by a cord, for the house where she was living was on the town wall.
16 She told them, "Head for the hills, so that the pursuit party won't get their hands on you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned. After that, you can go on your way."
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And she said to them, Get away into the hill-country, or the men who have gone after you will overtake you; keep yourselves safe there for three days, till the searchers have come back, and then go on your way.
17 The men said to her, "We will not be guilty of violating the oath you made us swear, provided that
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And the men said to her, We will only be responsible for this oath which you have made us take,
18 when we enter the land, you tie this piece of scarlet cord in the window you let us down from; and you gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and your father's entire household.
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If, when we come into the land, you put this cord of bright red thread in the window from which you let us down; and get your father and mother and your brothers and all your family into the house;
19 If anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, he will be responsible for his own blood, and we will be guiltless. But everyone who stays with you in the house - we will be responsible for his blood if anyone lays a hand on him.
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Then if anyone goes out of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, we will not be responsible; but if any damage comes to anyone in the house, his blood will be on our heads.
20 However, if you say a word about this business of ours, then we will be free of your oath that you made us swear."
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But if you say anything about our business here, then we will be free from the oath you have made us take.
21 "According to your words, so be it," she said, and sent them away. As they departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
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And she said, Let it be as you say. Then she sent them away, and they went; and she put the bright red cord in the window.
22 They left, arrived in the hills, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had searched for them all the way but hadn't found them.
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And they went into the hill-country and were there three days, till the men who had gone after them had come back; and those who went after them were searching for them everywhere without coming across them.
23 Then the two men returned. Descending from the hills they crossed over and came to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, and reported everything that had happened to them.
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Then the two men came down from the hill-country and went over and came back to Joshua, the son of Nun; and they gave him a complete account of what had taken place.
24 "Truly ADONAI has handed over all the land to us," they told Y'hoshua. "Everyone in the land is terrified that we're coming."
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And they said to Joshua, Truly, the Lord has given all the land into our hands; and all the people of the land have become like water because of us.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.