And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
This verse comes immediately after one of the most famous stories in the Bible — the fall of Jericho. The Israelites, a people who believed God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and led them to a promised land, marched around the heavily fortified city of Jericho for seven days. On the seventh day, the walls collapsed. After this stunning victory, their leader Joshua pronounced a solemn curse: anyone who tries to rebuild Jericho will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations, and his youngest son when he sets up its gates. It was a way of marking the city as permanently off-limits — a monument to what God had done. Centuries later, a man named Hiel rebuilt Jericho, and the Bible records that his sons died exactly as Joshua had warned.
Lord, I don't always understand your ways, and some of your words in Scripture are genuinely hard for me to sit with. Give me the courage to wrestle with them honestly and the humility to trust you when I don't have answers. And show me if I'm quietly rebuilding something you already helped me walk away from. Amen.
This is one of those verses that doesn't hand you a warm feeling. It's a curse. It involves dead children. It sits in the Old Testament like a stone you can't quite get around, and if you're honest, you've probably wondered what to do with passages like this — whether to skip them, explain them away, or feel quietly unsettled and move on. But there's something here worth sitting with: Joshua was drawing a hard line around a victory that cost everything, saying 'this place is marked — don't undo what God has done.' The fulfillment of that curse centuries later was read as evidence that God's word doesn't fade with time. That's not comfortable, but it is honest. And maybe the most personal question this verse raises isn't 'why was God so harsh?' but something quieter: is there something God has clearly helped you leave behind — an old habit, a destructive relationship, a way of living — that you keep circling back to rebuild? Some Jerichos are better left as rubble.
What was the significance of Jericho to the Israelites, and why would Joshua feel compelled to pronounce such a severe curse on anyone who attempts to rebuild it?
Have you ever ignored a clear warning — from God, from a wise friend, from your own conscience — and gone ahead anyway? What followed?
What do you do with the parts of the Bible that feel harsh or troubling? Is it okay to wrestle openly with them, or does that feel like a lack of faith to you?
Is there something in your own life that God has helped you move past, but you keep returning to rebuild — an old pattern, a grievance, a way of coping that no longer serves you?
What would it mean for you to draw a firm, clear line around something in your life — a commitment to yourself and God — and actually hold to it?
Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
Numbers 5:21
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Matthew 26:63
In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
1 Kings 16:34
Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, "Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates."
AMP
Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the LORD be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. “At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.”
ESV
Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, 'Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with [the loss of] his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with [the loss of] his youngest son he shall set up its gates.'
NASB
At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.”
NIV
Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”
NKJV
At that time Joshua invoked this curse: “May the curse of the LORD fall on anyone who tries to rebuild the town of Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son, he will lay its foundation. At the cost of his youngest son, he will set up its gates.”
NLT
Joshua swore a solemn oath at that time: Cursed before God is the man who sets out to rebuild this city Jericho. He'll pay for the foundation with his firstborn son, he'll pay for the gates with his youngest son.
MSG