Study Desk

Now Jericho was shut tightly because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter.

The Lord told Joshua, "See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you, along with its king and its warriors.

Yet Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father's family, and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.

At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: "The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the Lord . He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!"

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel) and instructed them, "Go up and spy on the land." So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!"

When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai,

Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua captured Ai and annihilated it and its king as he did Jericho and its king. He also heard how the people of Gibeon made peace with Israel and lived among them.

That day Joshua captured Makkedah and put the sword to it and its king. He annihilated everyone who lived in it; he left no survivors. He did to its king what he had done to the king of Jericho.

The Lord handed it and its king over to Israel, and Israel put the sword to all who lived there; they left no survivors. They did to its king what they had done to the king of Jericho.

the king of Jericho (one), the king of Ai—located near Bethel—(one),

These are the land assignments made by Moses on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan River opposite Jericho.

The land allotted to Joseph's descendants extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho to the east, through the desert and on up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.

It then descended from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah, touched Jericho, and extended to the Jordan River.

Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the desert of Beth Aven.

These cities belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,

Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they selected Bezer in the desert on the plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh.

You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The leaders of Jericho, as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, fought with you, but I handed them over to you.

Messengers told David what had happened, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown again; then you may come back."

During Ahab's reign, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation; Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates, just as the Lord had warned through Joshua son of Nun.