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Joshua 6 (CEV)

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¹ Meanwhile, the people of Jericho had been locking the gates in their town wall because they were afraid of the Israelites. No one could go out or come in. ² The LORD said to Joshua: With my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Jericho and his army, and you will capture the town. Here is how to do it: March slowly around Jericho once a day for six days. ³ (SEE 6:2) ⁴ Take along the sacred chest and have seven priests walk in front of it, carrying trumpets. But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. ⁵ Then the priests will blast on their trumpets, and everyone else will shout. The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side. ⁶ Joshua called the priests together and said, "Take the chest and have seven priests carry trumpets and march ahead of it." ⁷ Next, he gave the army their orders: "March slowly around Jericho. A few of you will go ahead of the chest to guard it, but most of you will follow it. Don't shout the battle cry or yell or even talk until the day I tell you to. Then let out a shout!" As ⁸ (SEE 6:7) ⁹ (SEE 6:7) ¹⁰ (SEE 6:7) ¹¹ They obeyed Joshua's orders and carried the chest once around the town before returning to camp for the night. ¹² Early the next morning, Joshua and everyone else started marching around Jericho in the same order as the day before. One group of soldiers was in front, followed by the seven priests with trumpets and the priests who carried the chest. The rest of the a ¹³ (SEE 6:12) ¹⁴ (SEE 6:12) ¹⁵ On the seventh day, the army got up at daybreak. They marched slowly around Jericho the same as they had done for the past six days, except on this day they went around seven times. ¹⁶ Then the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua yelled: Get ready to shout! The LORD will let you capture this town. ¹⁷ But you must destroy it and everything in it, to show that it now belongs to the LORD. The woman Rahab helped the spies we sent, so protect her and the others who are inside her house. But kill everyone else in the town. ¹⁸ The silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron belong to the LORD and must be put in his treasury. Be careful to follow these instructions, because if you see something you want and take it, the LORD will destroy Israel. And it will be all yo ¹⁹ (SEE 6:18) ²⁰ The priests blew their trumpets again, and the soldiers shouted as loud as they could. The walls of Jericho fell flat. Then the soldiers rushed up the hill, went straight into the town, and captured it. ²¹ They killed everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone except Rahab and the others in her house. They even killed every cow, sheep, and donkey. Joshua said to the two men who had been spies, "Rahab kept you safe when I sent you to Jericho. We promi ²² (SEE 6:21) ²³ (SEE 6:21) ²⁴ (SEE 6:21) ²⁵ (SEE 6:21) ²⁶ After Jericho was destroyed, Joshua warned the people, "Someday a man will rebuild Jericho, but the LORD will put a curse on him, and the man's oldest son will die when he starts to build the town wall. And by the time he finishes the wall and puts gates ²⁷ The LORD helped Joshua in everything he did, and Joshua was famous everywhere in Canaan.