1 And Yehoshua son of Nun secretly sent out two men from Shittim to spy, saying, “Go, see the land, and Yeriḥo.” And they went, and came to the house of a woman, a whore, and her name was Raḥaḇ, and they lay down there.
2 But it was reported to the sovereign of Yeriḥo, saying, “See, men from the children of Yisra’ĕl have come here tonight to search out the land.”
3 And the sovereign of Yeriḥo sent to Raḥaḇ, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hid them. So she said, “The men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.
5 “Then it came to be as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, so that you overtake them.”
6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid out on the roof.
7 And the men pursued them by the way to the Yardĕn, to the fords. And they shut the gate afterwards as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
8 And before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof,
9 and she said to the men, “I know that יהוה has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of you.
10 “For we have heard how יהוה dried up the water of the Sea of Reeds for you when you came out of Mitsrayim, and what you did to the two sovereigns of the Amorites who were beyond the Yardĕn, Siḥon and Og̅, whom you put under the ban.
11 “And when we heard, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in anyone because of you, for יהוה your Elohim, He is Elohim in the heavens above and on earth beneath.
12 “And now, please swear to me by יהוה, since I have shown you kindness, that you also show kindness to my father’s house, and shall give me a true token,
13 and shall spare my father, and my mother, and my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and shall deliver our lives from death.”
14 And the men said to her, “Our lives for yours, if you do not expose this matter of ours, then it shall be, when יהוה has given us the land, that we shall treat you in kindness and truth.”
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall and she dwelt on the wall.
16 And she said to them, “Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers come upon you. And you shall hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned, and afterwards go on your way.”
17 And the men said to her, “We are released from this oath of yours which you have made us swear,
18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, and your mother, and your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home.
19 “And it shall be that anyone who goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood is on his own head, and we are innocent. And anyone who is with you in the house, his blood is on our head if a hand is laid on him.
20 “And if you expose this matter of ours, then we shall be released from your oath which you made us swear.”
21 And she said, “Let it be according to your words.” And she sent them away, and they went. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.
22 So they left and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. And the pursuers sought them in all the way, but did not find them.
23 Then the two men returned and came down from the mountain, and passed over. And they came to Yehoshua son of Nun, and related to him all that had befallen them.
24 And they said to Yehoshua, “Truly יהוה has given all the land into our hands, and also, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away because of us.”