Psalm 150

Ai Destroyed

8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid;^(A) do not be discouraged.^(B) Take the whole army^(C) with you, and go up and attack Ai.^(D) For I have delivered^(E) into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder^(F) and livestock for yourselves.^(G) Set an ambush^(H) behind the city.”

³ So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night ⁴ with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. ⁵ I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. ⁶ They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, ⁷ you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand.^{(I) 8} When you have taken the city, set it on fire.^(J) Do what the Lord has commanded.^(K) See to it; you have my orders.”

⁹ Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush^(L) and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

¹⁰ Early the next morning^(M) Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel^(N) marched before them to Ai. ¹¹ The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. ¹² Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³ So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah.^(O) But he did not know^(P) that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. ¹⁵ Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back^(Q) before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.^{(R) 16} All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away^(S) from the city. ¹⁷ Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin^(T) that is in your hand,^(U) for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.^{(V) 19} As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly^(W) from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.^(X)

²⁰ The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,^(Y) but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹ For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around^(Z) and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.^{(AA) 23} But they took the king of Ai alive^(AB) and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.^{(AC) 26} For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin^(AD) until he had destroyed^[a](AE) all who lived in Ai.^{(AF) 27} But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.^(AG)

²⁸ So Joshua burned^(AH) Ai^[b](AI) and made it a permanent heap of ruins,^(AJ) a desolate place to this day.^{(AK) 29} He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,^(AL) Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks^(AM) over it, which remains to this day.

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak,^(A) without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.^{(B) 3} The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt^(C) the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge^(D) the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?^(E) To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another;^(F) another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God;^(G) and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone,^(H) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.^{(I) 9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life^(J) so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.^(K)

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt?^(L) For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.^{(M) 11} It is written:

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.^(P)

Jesus Arrested^(A)

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas,^(B) one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!”^(C) and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”^[a](D)

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword,^(E) drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.^(F)

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.^{(G) 53} Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?^{(H) 54} But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled^(I) that say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching,^(J) and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”^(K) Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.