Today's Reading

¹Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.

²The Lord said to Joshua, "Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.

³All your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.

⁴Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

⁵It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him."

⁶Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord."

⁷They said to the people, "Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the Lord's ark."

⁸It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord advanced, and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.

⁹The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went.

¹⁰Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."

¹¹So he caused the ark of the Lord to go around the city, going about it once. Then they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

¹²Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

¹³The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the ark of the Lord. The trumpets sounded as they went.

¹⁴The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days.

¹⁵It happened on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. Only on this day they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶It happened at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!

¹⁷The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

¹⁸But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so would you make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

¹⁹But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy to the Lord. They shall come into the Lord's treasury."

²⁰So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets. It happened, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

²¹They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²²Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring out from there the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her."

²³The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.

²⁴They burnt 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 the Lord's house.

²⁵But Rahab the prostitute, her father's household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, "Cursed be the man before the Lord, who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates."

²⁷So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.

¹But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore the Lord's anger burned against the children of Israel.

²Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, "Go up and spy out the land." The men went up and spied out Ai.

³They returned to Joshua, and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Do not make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them."

⁴So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.

⁵The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them, and they chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.

⁶Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

⁷Joshua said, "Alas, Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan!

⁸Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!

⁹For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?"

¹⁰The Lord said to Joshua, "Get up! Why are you fallen on your face like that?

¹¹Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff.

¹²Therefore the children of Israel can't stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

¹³Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for the Lord, the God of Israel, says, "There is a devoted thing in the midst of you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you."

¹⁴In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which the Lord selects shall come near by families. The family which the Lord selects shall come near by households. The household which the Lord selects shall come near man by man.

¹⁵It shall be, that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.'"

¹⁶So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. The tribe of Judah was selected.

¹⁷He brought near the family of Judah; and he selected the family of the Zerahites. He brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was selected.

¹⁸He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.

¹⁹Joshua said to Achan, "My son, please give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done! Do not hide it from me!"

²⁰Achan answered Joshua, and said, "I have truly sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done.

²¹When I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it."

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. Behold, it was hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.

²³They took them from the middle of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel. They laid them down before the Lord.

²⁴Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.

²⁵Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day." All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

²⁶They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. The Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called "The valley of Achor" to this day.

¹The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid, neither be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land.

²You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except its spoil and its livestock, you shall take for a plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."

³So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.

⁴He commanded them, saying, "Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

⁵I, and all the people who are with me, will approach to the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.

⁶They will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, 'They flee before us, like the first time.' So we will flee before them,

⁷and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁸It shall be, when you have seized on the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the word of the Lord. Behold, I have commanded you."

⁹Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.

¹⁰Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

¹¹All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up, and drew near, and came before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.

¹²He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹³So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

¹⁴It happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

¹⁵Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁶All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.

¹⁷There was not a man left in Ai or Beth El who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.

¹⁸The Lord said to Joshua, "Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

¹⁹The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered into the city, and took it. They hurried and set the city on fire.

²⁰When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and killed the men of Ai.

²²The others came out of the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

²³They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴It happened, when Israel had made an end of killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned to Ai, and struck it with the edge of the sword.

²⁵All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

²⁶For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁷Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took for prey to themselves, according to the word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day.

²⁹He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening, and at the sundown Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day.

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

³¹as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the scroll of the Law of Moses, "an altar of uncut stones, on which no man has touched with an iron tool." They offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.

³²He wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

³³All Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, who carried the ark of the Lord's covenant, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

³⁴Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the scroll of the Law.

³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them.

¹He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury.

²He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins.

³He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them,

⁴for all these put in gifts from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on."

⁵As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said,

⁶"As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down."

⁷They asked him, "Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?"

⁸He said, "Watch out that you do not get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Therefore do not follow them.

⁹When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won't come immediately."

¹⁰Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

¹¹There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

¹²But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake.

¹³It will turn out as a testimony for you.

¹⁴Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer,

¹⁵for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.

¹⁶You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death.

¹⁷You will be hated by all men for my name's sake.

¹⁸And not a hair of your head will perish.

¹⁹"By your endurance you will win your lives.

²⁰"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.

²¹Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the midst of her depart. Let those who are in the country not enter therein.

²²For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

²³Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people.

²⁴They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves;

²⁶men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

²⁷Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near."

²⁹He told them a parable. "See the fig tree, and all the trees.

³⁰When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near.

³¹Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.

³²Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished.

³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

³⁴"So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.

³⁵For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth.

³⁶Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be able to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man."

³⁷Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.

³⁸All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.

¹ Praise waits for you, God, in Zion. To you shall vows be performed.

²You who hear prayer, to you all men will come.

³Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions.

⁴Blessed is one whom you choose, and cause to come near, that he may live in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.

⁵By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us, God of our salvation. You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth, of those who are far away on the sea;

⁶Who by his power forms the mountains, having armed yourself with strength;

⁷who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.

⁸They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your wonders. You call the morning's dawn and the evening with songs of joy.

⁹You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.

¹⁰You drench its furrows. You level its ridges. You soften it with showers. You bless it with a crop.

¹¹You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance.

¹²The wilderness grasslands overflow. The hills are clothed with gladness.

¹³The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.

¹My son, do not forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments:

²for length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.

³Do not let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

⁸It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.

⁹Honor the Lord with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase:

¹⁰so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, neither be weary of his reproof:

¹²for whom the Lord loves, he reproves; even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding.

¹⁴For her good profit is better than getting silver, and her return is better than fine gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.

¹⁶Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

¹⁹By wisdom the Lord founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens.

²⁰By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.

²¹My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion:

²²so they will be life to your soul, and grace for your neck.

²³Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won't stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Do not be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes:

²⁶for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you," when you have it by you.

²⁹Do not devise evil against your neighbor, seeing he dwells securely by you.

³⁰Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.

³²For the perverse is an abomination to the Lord, but his friendship is with the upright.

³³The Lord's curse is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the righteous.

³⁴Surely he is scornful to scoffers, but he gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.