1 Now Jericho was securely shut up {sogeret: tightly closed} and barricaded {mesugeret: fortified from within} because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.
2 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} said to Joshua, “Look, I have placed Jericho {Yericho: fortified city} into your hand—its king and its mighty men of valor.”
3 You shall march around the city with all the men of war {anshei hamilchamah: armed participants}, circling it once; you shall perform this action for six days {yamim: fixed time units}.
4 Seven priests shall carry seven ram’s horn trumpets before the ark {aron: sacred chest}. On the seventh day, you shall circle the city seven times, and the priests shall sound the trumpets {shofrot: ritual signal horns}.
5 And it shall be that when they draw out a long blast on the ram’s horn {yovel: jubilee trumpet}, when you hear the trumpet’s sound, all the people shall raise a mighty shout {teru’ah: battle shout}; then the city wall shall collapse down, and the people shall ascend, each man straight before him.
6 Then Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant {berit: solemn agreement} and have seven priests carry seven ram’s horn trumpets before the ark of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander}.”
7 And he said to the people, “Go forward and go around the city, and let the vanguard {hechalutz: frontline troops} pass before the ark of the LORD {YHWH, Presence Dweller}.”
8 And it happened, as Joshua finished speaking to the people, that the seven priests bearing seven trumpets {shofrot: ceremonial horns} of ram’s horns passed before the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD proceeded after them.
9 And the armed guard {chalutz: equipped warriors} was going before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard was going after the ark {aron: sacred container}, while they kept going and blowing with the trumpets.
10 And Joshua {Yehoshua: military commander} commanded the people, saying, “You shall not cry out {tariu: battle cry}, nor allow your voice to be heard; no word shall escape your mouth until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”
11 So he caused the ark of the LORD {YHWH, Holy Presence} to go around the city one time {paam: single circuit}; then they came to the camp and spent the night there.
12 Early in the morning Joshua rose {vayashkem: diligent response}, and the priests lifted the ark of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Presence-Bearer}.
13 And the seven priests bearing the seven ram’s-horn trumpets advanced before the ark of the LORD {YHWH, Sacred Commander}, moving forward and sounding the trumpets {shofarot: holy horns} continuously; the armed guard walked ahead of them, and the rear guard followed behind the ark of the LORD.
14 And on the second day they encircled {wayyasobu: ritual procession} the city once, and then they returned to the camp; this is what they did for six {sheshet: ordered repetition} days.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh {shevi’i: symbolic completion} day, at first light, that they rose early and made a circuit of the city in this pattern {mishpat: prescribed pattern} seven times; it was only on that day that they accomplished all seven circuits.
16 And it happened at the seventh time, when the priests sounded the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Promise-Keeper} has given you the city {ir: fortified place}.”
17 And the city and all that it contains shall be a devoted thing {cherem: set apart for destruction} to the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}. Only Rahab the prostitute will live—she and all who are in her house—because she concealed the messengers we sent.
18 But as for you, guard yourselves from the devoted thing {cherem: ban for destruction}, lest you take from what is devoted and so make yourselves devoted to destruction; in doing so you would make the camp of Israel a devoted thing for destruction and bring trouble {achartem: cause calamity} upon it.
19 All silver, gold, bronze, and iron items have been consecrated {kodesh: set apart for divine use} to the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Possessor}, and they shall be brought into the LORD’s treasury.
20 So the people shouted, and they blew the trumpets. When they heard the sound of the trumpet, the people raised a mighty shout {teruah: triumphant blast}, and the wall fell away in its place; then the people advanced into the city, each man straight before him, and they captured the city {haʿîrâh: walled fortress}.
21 And they devoted to destruction {herem: complete ban} everything that was in the city: man and woman, boy and old man, and ox, sheep, and donkey, by the edge of the sword {lefi-cherev: mouth of the sword}.
22 Joshua addressed the two men who had scouted the land: “Enter the house of the woman, the prostitute {zonah: prostitute}, and remove from it the woman together with everything that is hers, just as you swore {nishba’tem: solemn oath} to her.”
23 The young men, the spies {meraglim: reconnaissance team}, entered the city and brought out Rahab and her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who belonged to her; then they brought out her entire household and stationed them outside the camp {machaneh: military encampment} of Israel.
24 And they burned {sarpu: consumed by fire} the city with fire, and all that was in it; only the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron they placed in the treasury of the house of the LORD {YHWH, Sanctuary Owner}.
25 But Joshua kept alive Rahab the prostitute {zonah: marginalized woman}, her father’s household, and all that belonged to her; and she has dwelled among Israel to this day because she hid the messengers {malakhim: official envoys} whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 And Joshua bound them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed {arur: divinely condemned} before the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Judge} is the man who rises up and builds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations, and at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
27 And the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Guide} was with Joshua, and his fame {shom'o: public renown} spread through all the land.