Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none 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 And the LORD said unto Joshua: 'See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, even the mighty men of valour.
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 And ye shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
So your army must march around the city for six days, once each day.
4 And seven priests shall bear seven rams' horns before the ark; and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the horns.
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 And it shall be, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the horn, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before 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 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them: 'Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.'
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 And he said unto the people: 'Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed body pass on before the ark of the LORD.'
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 And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven priests bearing the seven rams' horns before the LORD passed on, and blew with the horns; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD 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 And the armed men went before the priests that blew the horns, and the rearward went after the ark, the priests blowing with the horns continually.
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 And Joshua commanded the people, saying: 'Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye 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 the ark of the LORD to compass the city, going about it once; and they came into the camp, and lodged 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 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
The next morning, Joshua and the priests got up early, and the four priests carried Yahweh’s sacred chest [again].
13 And the seven priests bearing the seven rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the horns; and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests blowing with the horns continually.
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 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp; so they did 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 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times; only on that day they compassed 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 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the horns, that Joshua said unto the people: 'Shout; for the LORD hath 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 And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that 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 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed by taking of the devoted thing, so should ye 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, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy unto the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.'
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 with the horns. And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the horn, that 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 before 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 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, 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 And Joshua said unto the two men that had spied out the land: 'Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye swore unto 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 And the young men the spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had, all her kindred also they brought out; and they set them without 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 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein; only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
25 But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel, unto this day; because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 And Joshua charged the people with an oath at that time, saying: 'Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city, even Jericho; with the loss of his first-born shall he lay the foundation thereof, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.'
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 the LORD 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.
