A reading from the book of Joshua.

And Joshua the son of nun sent two men secretly from Shatim 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 Rehab, 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 out. 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 Amorites who were beyond the

Jordan, to Sihon and Ugg, 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.

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