Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.
Meanwhile, the guards of Jericho shut the gates of the city tightly, because [they were afraid] of the Israeli [army]. No one was allowed to go into the city or go out of it.
2 Yahweh said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Listen [to what I say]! I am going to enable your army [SYN] to capture/conquer [MTY] Jericho and its king and its soldiers.
3 All of your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.
So your army must march around the city for six days, once each day.
4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
Tell seven priests to march around with them. Each priest must carry a trumpet. Four other priests must carry the sacred chest, and they must walk behind the priests who are carrying the trumpets. On the seventh day, the army must march around the city seven times, and the priests must be blowing the trumpets while they march.
5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the city wall will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him.”
[After they have all marched around the city seven times], the priests must blow their trumpets [once], very loudly. When the Israeli people/soldiers hear that, they must shout loudly. Then the wall of the city will collapse, and all the Israeli people/soldiers will go straight into the city.”
6 Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh’s ark.”
So Joshua summoned the priests and said to them, “Tell four priests to carry the chest [that contains] the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [gave to us]. [Tell] seven [other] priests to carry trumpets and walk in front of them.”
7 They said to the people, “Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before Yahweh’s ark.”
And Joshua told the soldiers, “Start marching! March around the city, with several soldiers with weapons marching in front. Behind them will march the seven priests with trumpets, and behind them will march the four priests carrying Yahweh’s [sacred] chest.”
8 It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of Yahweh’s covenant followed them.
After Joshua told that to the army, the seven priests, each carrying a sacred trumpet, started marching, blowing their trumpets. The four priests who were carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest followed them.
9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went.
The group of soldiers carrying weapons marched in front of the priests who were blowing their trumpets, and the rest of the soldiers followed [the four men carrying] the chest. While [they were all marching], [the seven priests] were blowing their trumpets.
10 Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.”
But [the rest of] the people [were silent, because] Joshua had commanded them, “Do not make a war cry. Do not yell or say anything until the day when I tell you to shout. On that day, you must shout [loudly]!”
11 So he caused Yahweh’s ark to go around the city, circling it once. Then they came into the camp, and stayed in the camp.
So the men carrying Yahweh’s sacred chest and all the others did what Joshua told them to do. They marched around the city once. Then they all returned to their camp and stayed there that night.
12 Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up Yahweh’s ark.
The next morning, Joshua and the priests got up early, and the four priests carried Yahweh’s sacred chest [again].
13 The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of Yahweh’s ark went on continually, and blew the trumpets. The armed men went in front of them. The rear guard came after Yahweh’s ark. The trumpets sounded as they went.
The seven priests who were carrying trumpets went in front of [the men carrying] the chest. The seven priests were blowing their trumpets as they marched. The group of soldiers carrying weapons went in front of all the others, and the rest of the army followed all the others. All the time, the seven priests were blowing their trumpets.
14 The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days.
So on that second day they again marched around the city once and then returned to their camp. They did the same thing for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times.
On the seventh day, they got up at dawn, and they all marched around the city the same way that they had done before, but this time they marched around the city seven times.
16 At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!
As they were marching around the seventh time, when the priests were about to blow the long/loud blast on their trumpets, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout, because Yahweh will enable you to capture the city!
17 The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Yahweh has declared that you must destroy [IDM] the city and everything in it [to show that it belongs to him]. You must spare only Rahab the prostitute and the others who are in her house, because she hid the spies whom we sent there.
18 But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.
And because Yahweh has declared that everything must be destroyed [IDM], you must not take [EUP] any of the things in the city. If you take anything, you will cause Yahweh to destroy our own camp and cause terrible things to happen to us.
19 But all the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh’s treasury.”
But all the silver and gold and articles made from iron and bronze that you find, you must set apart for Yahweh. You must put those things in his treasury.”
20 So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city.
So they did what Joshua told them to do. When the priests blew a long blast on their trumpets, the people/army shouted loudly, and the wall of the city collapsed! Then the Israeli soldiers rushed in and captured the city.
21 They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
They killed [IDM] every living thing in the city—men and women, young people and old people, even cattle and sheep and donkeys.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house, and bring the woman and all that she has out from there, as you swore to her.”
Then Joshua said to the two men (who had spied on/whom he had sent to learn all they could about) the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house. Bring her out, along with all her family, just as you promised to her.”
23 The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all of her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.
So those two spies/men went into Rahab’s house and brought her out. They also brought out her father and mother and her brothers, and all the rest of her family. Joshua’s men spared Rahab the prostitute. They also did not kill all her relatives, because she had hidden and protected the spies/men whom Joshua had sent to Jericho. The two men brought them all out and put them in a place outside the camp of the Israelis. Rahab still lives among us Israeli people. Then the soldiers gathered the articles made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron that they found and they put them all into Yahweh’s treasury. But they burned everything else that was in the city.
24 They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only they put the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron into the treasury of Yahweh’s house.
25 But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before Yahweh who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”
At that time, Joshua warned the people, “Yahweh will curse/punish anyone who tries to rebuild this city, Jericho. When that person lays/builds its foundation, his oldest son will die. And when he finishes building the city wall and sets up its gates, his youngest son will die.”
27 So Yahweh was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
Because of what happened that day, it was clear that Yahweh was with/helped Joshua, and Joshua became famous throughout the land.
