Joshua 6:12-21
Amplified Bible
12 Then Joshua got up early in the morning [on the second day], and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord went on continually, blowing the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets. 14 On the second day they marched around the city once, and returned to the camp; they did this for six days.
15 Then on the seventh day they got up early at daybreak and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day they marched around the city [a]seven times. 16 And the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. 17 The city and everything that is in it shall be under the ban [that is, designated to be destroyed as a form of tribute] to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute and all [the people] who are with her in her house shall [be allowed to] live, because she hid and protected the messengers (scouts) whom we sent. 18 But as for you, keep yourselves [away] from the things under the ban [which are to be destroyed], so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban [for personal gain], and put the camp of Israel under the ban (doomed to destruction), and bring disaster upon it. 19 All the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy (consecrated) to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” 20 So the people shouted [the battle cry], and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout and the wall [of Jericho] fell down, so that the sons of Israel went up into the city, every man straight ahead [climbing over the rubble], and they overthrew the city. 21 Then they utterly destroyed everything that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
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- Joshua 6:15 In ancient times any walled town was called a “city” and its ruler was called “a king,” but the fact that Joshua’s army could march around Jericho seven times in one day shows that it was a very small place. Though the walls were formidable, the area they enclosed only measured seven acres. The whole circumference of the city was about 650 yards. Jebusite Jerusalem, which David captured, was about the same size. Schliemann, the German archeologist, experienced a similar surprise in 1873 when he excavated the city of Troy, which Homer tells us withstood the Grecian warriors for quite some time. It would almost seem that these ancient cities were more like places of refuge for the area’s population when an enemy approached. During peaceful times a large proportion of the inhabitants would live outside the city’s walls, because they were shepherds and farmers. Generally, only the craftsmen and administrators lived within the walls.
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