Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before Yahweh, 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.”
Joshua 6:24 They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only they put the silver, the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron into the treasury of Yahweh’s house.
Joshua 6:25 But 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.
Joshua 6:26 Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before Yahweh, 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.”
Joshua 6:27 So Yahweh was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
The verse centers on "joshua", "commanded", "oath", "time", "saying", "cursed", "before", and "yahweh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "joshua" and "commanded", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 25's "But Rahab the prostitute her father s..." into verse 27's "So Yahweh was with Joshua and his...", so "joshua" and "commanded" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "joshua" and "commanded" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.