The Commander of the Lord's Army

¹³ When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(A)a man was standing before him ^(B)with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua ^(C)fell on his face to the earth and worshiped^[a] and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” ¹⁵ And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, ^(D)“Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Fall of Jericho

6 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. ² And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, ^(E)I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. ³ You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. ⁴ Seven priests shall bear seven ^(F)trumpets of ^(G)rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and ^(H)the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat,^[b] and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” ⁶ So Joshua 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.” ⁷ And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let ^(I)the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. ⁹ The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the ^(J)rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” ¹¹ So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and ^(K)the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. ¹⁴ And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ And the city and all that is within it shall be ^(L)devoted to the Lord for destruction.^[c] Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she ^(M)hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel ^(N)a thing for destruction and ^(O)bring trouble upon it. ¹⁹ But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and ^(P)the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.

A Plot to Kill Paul

¹² When it was day, ^(A)the Jews made a plot and ^(B)bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶ Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered ^(C)the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul ^(D)the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” ¹⁹ The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” ²⁰ And he said, ^(E)“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. ²¹ But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who ^(F)have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” ²² So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

²³ Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.^{[a] 24} Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to ^(G)Felix ^(H)the governor.” ²⁵ And he wrote a letter to this effect:

²⁶ “Claudius Lysias, to ^(I)his Excellency the governor Felix, ^(J)greetings. ^27 (K)This man was seized by the Jews and ^(L)was about to be killed by them ^(M)when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, ^(N)having learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ And ^(O)desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. ²⁹ I found that he was being accused ^(P)about questions of their law, but ^(Q)charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. ^30 (R)And when it was disclosed to me ^(S)that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ^(T)ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

³¹ So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² And on the next day they returned to ^(U)the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. ³³ When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. ³⁴ On reading the letter, he asked what ^(V)province he was from. And when he learned ^(W)that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will give you a hearing ^(X)when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's ^(Y)praetorium.

Israel Defeated at Ai

7 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for ^(A)Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

² Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^(B)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And ^(C)they fled before the men of Ai, ⁵ and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people ^(D)melted and became as water.

⁶ Then Joshua ^(E)tore his clothes and ^(F)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 ^(G)dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, ^(H)why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! ⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and ^(I)cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have ^(J)transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ^(K)devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. ^12 (L)Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ^(M)turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ^(N)devoted for destruction.^[a] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ^(O)the devoted things from among you. ¹³ Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ^(P)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” ¹⁴ In the morning therefore you shall be brought near ^(Q)by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. ^15 (R)And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ^(S)transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done ^(T)an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

¹⁶ So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. ¹⁷ And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the ^(U)Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. ¹⁸ And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ^(V)give glory to the Lord God of Israel and ^(W)give praise^[b] to him. And ^(X)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly ^(Y)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,^[c] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. ²³ And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. ²⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the ^(Z)Valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why did you ^(AA)bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel ^(AB)stoned him with stones. ^(AC)They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. ²⁶ And they raised over him ^(AD)a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then ^(AE)the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.^[d]

Paul Before Felix at Caesarea

24 And ^(A)after five days the high priest ^(B)Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before ^(C)the governor their case against Paul. ² And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

“Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, ^(D)most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, ³ in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. ⁴ But, to detain^[a] you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. ⁵ For we have found this man a plague, ^(E)one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of ^(F)the sect of the Nazarenes. ^6 (G)He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.^{[b] 8} By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹ The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

¹⁰ And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. ¹¹ You can verify that ^(H)it is not more than twelve days since I ^(I)went up ^(J)to worship in Jerusalem, ¹² and ^(K)they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. ^13 (L)Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. ¹⁴ But this I confess to you, that according to ^(M)the Way, which they call ^(N)a sect, ^(O)I worship ^(P)the God of our fathers, believing everything ^(Q)laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, ^15 (R)having ^(S)a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be ^(T)a resurrection ^(U)of both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶ So I always ^(V)take pains to have a ^(W)clear conscience toward both God and man. ¹⁷ Now ^(X)after several years ^(Y)I came to bring alms to ^(Z)my nation and to present ^(AA)offerings. ¹⁸ While I was doing this, they found me ^(AB)purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But ^(AC)some Jews from Asia— ^19 (AD)they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, ²¹ other than this one thing ^(AE)that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”

Paul Kept in Custody

²² But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of ^(AF)the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³ Then he gave orders to the centurion that he ^(AG)should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that ^(AH)none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.