1. The inhabitants of Jericho had closed the city and had fastened their bolts so that the Israelites could not enter. No one came in and no one went out.

2. But Yahweh said to Joshua: "I will give you the city, its king and all its men of war.

3. For this, you shall have to go around the city once every day for six days.

4. Seven priests shall go before the Ark bearing the seven trumpets used in the time of the Jubilee. On the seventh day, they shall march around the city seven times,

5. and when they blow the horn, all the people shall come up to attack, shouting their battle cry. At that moment, the walls of the city will fall and everyone shall enter straight ahead of him."

6. Joshua, son of Nun, called the priests and said to them: "You shall carry the Ark of the Covenant; seven priests shall go ahead with the trumpets they use for the Jubilee."

7. Then Joshua said to the people: "You shall march around the city and the vanguard of the army shall go before the Ark of Yahweh."

8. When Joshua finished speaking, the priests began to blow the seven trumpets they used to blow on the Feast of the Jubilee, and they went before the Ark of Yahweh.

9. The vanguard of the people went before the priests, and the rest of the people came after the Ark.

10. The trumpets blew continually. Joshua had given this order: "Do not shout or utter anything, nor let even a single word be heard, until the day comes when I say: Shout and cry out!"

11. That day he had the Ark of Yahweh carried around the city once, then all returned to the camp where they spent the night.

12. On the following day, Joshua rose early in the morning

13. and the priests took the Ark and those who blew the seven trumpets again went before the Ark. The vanguard went before them and the rest followed the Ark while the trumpets blew.

14. So they did the next day, and for six days they marched once a day around the city and then returned to the camp.

15. On the seventh day, the Israelites rose early at dawn and marched around Jericho in the same way as on the previous days. But on that day, they did it seven times.

16. At the seventh time, as the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua ordered the people: "Shout your battle cry for Yahweh has given you the city!

17. The city and all that is in it shall be given in anathema to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute with all who may be with her in her house shall live, since she hid the spies we sent.

18. But for your part, be careful not to touch anything, big or small since everything shall be consecrated in anathema; do not take anything for yourself lest the curse be upon the camp of Israel and bring trouble upon it.

19. All the gold, silver, copper and iron are to be consecrated to Yahweh and shall go into the treasury of Yahweh."

20. The people shouted and the trumpets blew. At this precise moment, the walls of the city fell. Then everyone went straight into the city to the place before him.

21. They seized Jericho. And with sword in hand, they killed all the men and women, both young and old, as well as the oxen, sheep and asses, and they gave these as anathema or, rather, sacrificed them to God.

22. Two men had been sent to explore Jericho, (and upon entering the city, were hidden by a prostitute). Then Joshua said to them: "Go into the house of the prostitute and bring her out with all her family as you had sworn to her."

23. These young men then brought out the woman named Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers and sisters with all her relatives to safety outside the camp of Israel.

24. Afterwards, they burned the city and all that was in it. They saved only the silver, gold and the vessels of bronze and iron which they put with the precious things in the Sanctuary of Yahweh.

25. Joshua saved the prostitute and all her family, and she lived in Israel, because she had kept the spies sent by Joshua.

26. Joshua asked the people to pronounce this curse: "May Yahweh curse the man who rebuilds Jericho. May its foundation rise on the body of his eldest son, and the gates on that of his youngest son."

27. So Yahweh was with Joshua and made him famous in all the land.





“Pode-se manter a paz de espírito mesmo no meio das tempestades da vida”. São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina