Joshua 5:13-6:27
While the people were still at Gilgal, Joshua
looked toward Jericho and saw a man standing
nearby with a sword in his hand. Joshua walked
toward him and asked, “Are you for us, or for our
enemies?”
The man said, “I am captain of the Lord’s
army. I’ve just arrived.”
Joshua fell down and worshiped. The captain
said, “Take off your shoes because you’re on
holy ground.”
The Lord said to Joshua, “I’ve given you
Jericho, its king, and its army.” He then
gave exact orders on how Jericho was to be
conquered.
When the day arrived, Joshua arranged the
people. He had part of the army take the lead.
Behind them, he put seven priests who were to
blow ram’s-horn trumpets. The Ark of God was
behind them. The rest of the army followed the
Ark. Joshua told the people, “Don’t say one word
as you march around the city.”
As they marched around the city, the priests
blew the trumpets, but the people were silent.
Once they had circled the city, they returned to
their camp and spent the night.
They did the same thing the second day and
the third. They repeated this march around the
city for six days.
Early on the seventh day, Joshua told the
people to follow the same procedure, except on
this day they were to circle the city seven times.
He said, “After we have marched around the city
seven times, I will tell you to shout. The Lord
will then give you the city. All the people and
animals in the city are to die, except Rahab and
her family.
“You’re to burn everything, except the gold,
silver, and things made of bronze and iron. These
are to be set aside for the Lord. Be careful! Don’t
take anything that is set aside for the Lord, or
you will be set aside for destruction.”
So that day the people marched quietly
around the city seven times while the priests
blew the trumpets. After the seventh time,
everyone stopped.
Suddenly the priests blew the trumpets
one more time and Joshua yelled, “Shout!”
The people shouted, and the walls of the city
fell down in front of them. The army of Israel
marched straight into the city and destroyed
it. The two spies that Rahab had protected
immediately went to her house They brought
her and her family out of the city alive. Everyone
else in the city was killed and everything was
burned, except the gold, silver, and things made
of bronze and iron.
Joshua then proclaimed a curse on the city
of Jericho. He said, “Any man who rebuilds
this city will lose both his firstborn son and his
youngest son.”
So the Lord was with Joshua and his fame
spread throughout the land.
Rahab and her family were put in a safe place
outside of the camp of Israel. Eventually she
married an Israelite from the tribe of Judah. In
time, they had a son named Boaz.
© God Child