Joshua 2:1-24, NLT
Joshua 2
Rahab Protects the Spies
1Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove.*2:1 Hebrew Shittim. He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
2But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”
4Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from.
8Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them.
12“Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that
14“We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety,” the men agreed. “If you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us the land.”
15Then, since Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, she let them down by a rope through the window.
17Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions.
21“I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.
22The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days. The men who were chasing them searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned without success.
23Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them.