^6:22Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house³⁹ and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.”⁴⁰ ^6:23So the young spies went and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and took them to a place outside⁴¹ the Israelite camp. ^6:24But they burned⁴² the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord’s house.⁴³ ^6:25Yet Joshua spared⁴⁴ Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family,⁴⁵ and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel⁴⁶ to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.⁴⁷ ^6:26At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration:⁴⁸ “The man who attempts to rebuild⁴⁹ this city of Jericho⁵⁰ will stand condemned before the Lord.⁵¹ He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!”⁵²

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Footnotes

39 Heb “the house of the woman, the prostitute.”
40 Heb “and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her as you swore on oath to her.”
41 Or “placed them outside.”
42 The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”
43 Heb “the treasury of the house of the Lord.” Technically the Lord did not have a “house” yet, so perhaps this refers to the tabernacle using later terminology.
44 Heb “kept alive.”
45 Heb the house of her father.”
46 Or “among the Israelites”; Heb “in the midst of Israel.”
47 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
48 Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.
49 Heb “rises up and builds.”
50 The omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.
51 The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yéhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.
52 Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

“At the cost of his firstborn

shall he lay its foundation,

and at the cost of his youngest son

shall he set up its gates.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.

At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:

“At the cost of his firstborn son

he will lay its foundations;

at the cost of his youngest

he will set up its gates.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you swore to her.” So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she still lives in Israel today.

At that time Joshua imposed this curse:

The man who undertakes

the rebuilding of this city, Jericho,

is cursed before the Lord.

He will lay its foundation

at the cost of his firstborn;

he will finish its gates

at the cost of his youngest.

NLTNew Living Translation

Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, “Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, along with all her family.”

The men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.

Then the Israelites burned the town and everything in it. Only the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron were kept for the treasury of the Lord’s house. So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day.

At that time Joshua invoked this curse:

“May the curse of the Lord fall on anyone

who tries to rebuild the town of Jericho.

At the cost of his firstborn son,

he will lay its foundation.

At the cost of his youngest son,

he will set up its gates.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Joshua said to the two men who spied on the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, just as you swore to her.” So the young men who were spies went and brought Rahab and her father and mother, her brothers, and all who were with her. And they brought all her family out and set them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city and all that was in it with fire; they put only the silver and gold, and the items of copper and iron, into the treasury of the house of Yahweh. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her family and all who were with her, and she has lived in the midst of Israel until this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

And Joshua swore at that time, saying, “Cursed is anyone before Yahweh who gets up and builds Jericho, this city. At the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”

KJV 1900King James Version

But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. 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. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

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