A reading from the book of Joshua.

And Joshua, the son of nun, sent two men secretly from Shidham as spies, saying,

Go view the land, especially Jericho.

And they went, and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.

And it was told to the king of Jericho.

Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying,

Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out

all the land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, True, the men came to me,

but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark,

the men went. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.

But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof,

so the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords,

and the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men,

I know that the Lord has given you the

land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land

melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you

when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amarites who were beyond the

Jordan, to Sion and Og, whom you devoted

to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted. And there was no spirit left in any

man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will

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