Joshua Reviews Israel’s History

24 Then ^(A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ² Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates River, namely, ^(B)Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. ³ Then ^(C)I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and ^(D)multiplied his ^[a]descendants and gave him ^(E)Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave ^(F)Jacob and Esau, and ^(G)to Esau I gave Mount Seir, to possess it; but ^(H)Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ Then ^(I)I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt ^[b]by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.

¹³ And ^(A)I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

“We Will Serve the Lord”

¹⁴ “Now, therefore, ^[a](B)fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and ^[b]truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or ^(C)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would abandon the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, and did these great signs in our sight and watched over us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸ The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, ^(D)for He is a holy God. He is ^(E)a jealous God; ^(F)He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins. ^20 (G)If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.” ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” ²² So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ^(H)you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ “Now then, do away with the foreign gods which are in your midst, and ^(I)incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” ²⁴ And ^(J)the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and ^[c]obey His voice.” ^25 (K)So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, ^(A)Ahab said to him, “Is this you, the cause of disaster to Israel?” ¹⁸ He said, “I have not brought disaster to Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because ^(B)you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and ^(C)you have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now then, send orders and gather to me all Israel at ^(D)Mount Carmel, ^(E)together with 450 prophets of Baal and four hundred prophets of ^[a](F)the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

God or Baal on Mount Carmel

²⁰ So Ahab sent orders among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “^(G)How long are you going to ^[b]struggle with the two choices? ^(H)If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him so much as a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I ^(I)alone am left as a prophet of the Lord, while Baal’s prophets are ^(J)450 men. ²³ Now have them give us two oxen; and have them choose the one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and ^(K)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people replied, “^[c]That is a good idea.”

²⁵ So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose the one ox for yourselves and prepare it first, since there are many of you, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under the ox.” ²⁶ Then they took the ox which ^[d]was given them and they prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was ^(L)no voice and no one answered. And they ^[e]limped about the altar which ^[f]they had made. ²⁷ And at noon Elijah ridiculed them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, since he is a god; undoubtedly he is attending to business, or is on the way, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep, and will awaken.” ²⁸ So they cried out with a loud voice, and ^(M)cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until blood gushed out on them. ²⁹ When midday was past, they raved ^(N)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and ^[g]no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come forward to me.” So all the people came forward to him. And ^(O)he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. ³¹ Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “^(P)Israel shall be your name.” ³² And with the stones he built an altar in ^(Q)the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two ^[h]measures of seed. ^33 (R)Then he laid out the wood, and he cut the ox in pieces and placed it on the wood. ³⁴ And he said, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” so they did it a second time. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” so they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah’s Prayer

³⁶ Then ^(S)at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached and said, “^(T)Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that ^(U)You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that ^(V)I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back.” ³⁸ Then the ^(W)fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and the stones and the dust; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell on their faces; and they said, “^(X)The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God!”

The Twelve Sent Out

^7 (A)And ^(B)He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out ^(C)in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ^8 (D)and He instructed them that they were to take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no ^[a]bag, no money in their belt— ⁹ but ^[b]to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not wear two ^[c]tunics.” ¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you ^[d]leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, ^(E)shake the dust ^[e]off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them.” ^12 (F)And they went out and ^[f]preached that people are to repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and ^(G)were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

^14 (H)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(I)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(J)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(K)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(L)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(M)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And ^(N)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; ²⁰ for ^(O)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he ^[g]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, ^(P)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people ^(Q)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(R)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[h]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to ^(S)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and ^[i]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

^30 (T)The ^(U)apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and ^(V)they did not even have time to eat.) ^32 (W)And they went away in ^(X)the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

²¹ Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in ^[a]the Spirit to ^(A)go to Jerusalem ^(B)after he had passed through ^(C)Macedonia and ^(D)Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, ^(E)I must also see Rome.” ²² And after he sent into ^(F)Macedonia two of ^(G)those who assisted him, ^(H)Timothy and ^(I)Erastus, he himself stayed in ^[b](J)Asia for a while.

²³ About that time ^[c]a major disturbance occurred in regard to ^[d](K)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of ^[e]Artemis, ^(L)was bringing ^[f]considerable ^[g]business to the craftsmen; ²⁵ he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ^[h]depends upon this business. ²⁶ You see and hear that not only in ^(M)Ephesus, but in almost all of ^[i](N)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^[j](O)gods made by hands are not gods at all. ²⁷ Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ^[k]Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of ^[l](P)Asia and ^(Q)the ^[m]world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸ When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is ^[n]Artemis of the ^(R)Ephesians!” ²⁹ The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along ^(S)Gaius and ^(T)Aristarchus, Paul’s ^(U)Macedonian traveling ^(V)companions. ³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, ^(W)the disciples would not let him. ³¹ Also some of the ^[o]Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to ^[p]venture into the theater. ^32 (X)So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the ^[q]assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know ^[r]for what reason they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd ^[s]concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^(Y)motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is ^[t]Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of ^(Z)Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great ^[u]Artemis and of the image which fell down from ^[v]the sky? ³⁶ So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither ^(AA)temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and ^[w](AB)proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the ^[x]lawful ^[y]assembly. ⁴⁰ For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹ After saying this he dismissed the ^[z]assembly.