Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Joshua 6

Joshua 6 presents Jericho’s fall as YHWH’s gift, with severe judgment on the city and rescue for Rahab’s household.

Jericho has shut its gates against Israel, and YHWH tells Joshua that he has given him the city. Priests carrying trumpets walk before the ark as Israel circles the walls for seven days. At Joshua’s command, the people shout, the walls fall, and Israel destroys the city and its inhabitants. Rahab and her household are spared because she sheltered the spies. Joshua then pronounces a curse on anyone who rebuilds Jericho.

sermon or Bible study noteswaiting
Read
1Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.
2The LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.
3All of your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.
4Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the city wall will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him.”
6Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD’s ark.”
7They said to the people, “Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the LORD’s ark.”
8It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them.
9The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went.
10Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.”
12Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the LORD’s ark.
13The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the LORD’s ark went on continually, and blew the trumpets. The armed men went in front of them. The rear guard came after the LORD’s ark. The trumpets sounded as they went.
14The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days.
15On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. On this day only they marched around the city seven times.
16At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city!
17The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.
19But all the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD. They shall come into the LORD’s treasury.”
20So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city.
21They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
22Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house, and bring the woman and all that she has out from there, as you swore to her.”
23The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all of her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.
24They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only they put the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house.
25But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”
27So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Joshua 6:17Joshua declares the city devoted to YHWH while setting Rahab’s household apart for rescue because she hid the messengers.
Joshua 6:20The wall falls as YHWH promised, bringing the seven days of marching to their decisive conclusion.
Joshua 6:26Joshua’s curse extends the weight of Jericho’s destruction into the future, warning of death for a rebuilder’s sons.
Where this chapter reaches

Hebrews recalls the fall of Jericho’s walls and Rahab’s rescue as events marked by faith, sharing this chapter’s focus on God’s action and human response. 1 Kings records the rebuilding of Jericho and the loss of the builder’s sons in fulfillment of Joshua’s curse.

Joshua 6's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do the repeated circuits and commanded silence make you notice about Israel’s dependence on YHWH?

Write on this

What questions arise as you read Rahab’s rescue alongside the destruction of Jericho’s inhabitants?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Joshua 6

Why did Israel march around Jericho seven times?

YHWH commanded one circuit each day for six days, followed by seven circuits on the seventh day. The priests carried trumpets before the ark, and the people shouted at the appointed signal. The text gives no separate explanation for the number seven; it emphasizes obedience to God’s stated instructions.

Why was everyone in Jericho killed?

Joshua declares Jericho and its contents devoted to YHWH, and verse 21 records the killing of young and old. The narrative presents this destruction as judgment within Israel’s conquest. It does not explain each inhabitant’s guilt. Rahab’s household is spared under the spies’ oath; the account gives no general permission for religious violence.

What does Joshua’s curse on Jericho mean?

Joshua pronounces a curse on anyone who rebuilds Jericho: laying its foundation will cost the builder his firstborn, and setting up its gates will cost his youngest son. The wording concerns rebuilding the city and its defenses. 1 Kings later records these losses when Jericho is rebuilt.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Joshua 6. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Joshua · 24 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324
What the Bible says about patience →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).