¹³ Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(A)a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” ¹⁴ He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua ^(B)fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” ¹⁵ And the captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “^(C)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Conquest of Jericho

6 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. ² But the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with ^(D)its king and the valiant warriors. ³ And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. ⁴ Also seven priests shall carry seven ^(E)trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ It 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 will fall down ^[a]flat, and the people shall go up, everyone ^[b]straight ahead.”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ Then ^[c]he said to the people, “Go forward and march around the city, and the armed men shall go on ahead of the ark of the Lord.” ⁸ And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. ⁹ And the armed men went ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and ^(F)the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed from your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord ^[d]taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Now Joshua got up early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ Then ^(G)the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them, and ^(H)the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁴ So the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did the same for six days.

¹⁵ Then on the seventh day they got up early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day did they march around the city seven times. ¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “^(I)Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ But the city shall be ^(J)designated for ^[e]destruction, it and everything that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute ^[f]and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things designated for destruction, so that you do not covet them and ^(K)take some of the designated things, and turn the camp of Israel into something designated for destruction and bring disaster on it. ^19 (L)But all the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and ^[g]the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the ^(M)wall fell down ^[h]flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight ^[i]ahead, and they took the city.

A Conspiracy to Kill Paul

¹² When it was day, ^(A)the Jews formed a ^[a]conspiracy and ^(B)put themselves under an ^[b]oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty who formed this plot. ¹⁴ They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have ^(C)put ourselves under an ^[c]oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now therefore, you ^[d]and ^(D)the ^[e]Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly; and as for us, we are ready to kill him before he comes near the place.”

¹⁶ But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, ^[f]and he came and entered ^(E)the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸ So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul ^(F)the prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” ¹⁹ The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰ And he said, “^(G)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to ^(H)the ^[g]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. ²¹ So do not ^[h]listen to them, for more than forty ^[i]of them are ^(I)in hiding to ambush him, and these men have ^(J)put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.” ²² Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

Paul Moved to Caesarea

²³ And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by ^[j]the third hour of the night to proceed to ^(K)Caesarea, ^[k]with seventy horsemen and two hundred ^[l]spearmen.” ²⁴ They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^(L)Felix the governor. ²⁵ And he wrote a letter ^[m]with the following content:

³¹ So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² But on the next day they let ^(Y)the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to ^(Z)the barracks. ³³ When these horsemen had come to ^(AA)Caesarea and delivered the letter to ^(AB)the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴ Now when he had read it, he also asked from what ^(AC)province Paul was, and when he learned that ^(AD)he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will give you a hearing when your ^(AE)accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for ^[r]Paul to be ^(AF)kept in Herod’s ^[s]Praetorium.

Israel Is Defeated at Ai

7 ^(A)But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things designated for destruction, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the designated things; therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.

² Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^(B)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “^[a]Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up; have only about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not trouble all the people there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but ^(C)they fled ^[b]from the men of Ai. ⁵ And the men of Ai struck and killed about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them ^[c]from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them on the mountainside; and the ^(D)hearts of the people melted and became like water.

⁶ Then Joshua ^(E)tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and ^(F)they put dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Oh, Lord ^[d]God! Why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to eliminate us? If only we had been willing ^[e]to live beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their ^[f]back before their enemies? ^9 (G)For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about it, and they will surround us and eliminate our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned, and ^(H)they have also violated My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things designated for destruction, and have both stolen and kept it a secret. Furthermore, they have also put them among their own things. ¹² Therefore the ^(I)sons of Israel cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their ^[g]backs before their enemies, because they have become designated for destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you eliminate from your midst the things designated for destruction. ¹³ Stand up! ^(J)Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has said this: “^(K)There are things designated for destruction in your midst, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you have removed the designated things from your midst.” ¹⁴ So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which ^(L)the Lord selects by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the Lord selects shall come forward by households, and the household which the Lord selects shall come forward man by man. ¹⁵ And ^(M)it shall be that the one who is selected with the things designated for destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant of the Lord, and because he ^(N)has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁶ So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by ^[h]tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected. ¹⁷ So he brought the family of Judah forward, and he selected the family of the Zerahites; then he brought the family of the Zerahites forward man by man, and Zabdi was selected. ¹⁸ And he brought his household forward man by man; and ^(O)Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, ^(P)give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and ^[i]this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoils a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I ^(Q)wanted them and took them; and behold, they are hidden in the ground 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 it. ²³ So they took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel; and they ^[j]laid them out before the Lord. ²⁴ Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his ^[k]oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to ^(R)the Valley of ^[l]Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why have you ^(S)brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you this day.” And all Israel stoned ^[m]them with stones; and they burned them with fire ^[n]after they had stoned them with stones. ²⁶ Then they erected over him a large heap of stones that stands to this day, and the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called ^(T)the Valley of ^[o]Achor to this day.

Paul before Felix

24 Now after ^(A)five days the high priest ^(B)Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they ^[a]brought charges against Paul to ^(C)the governor. ² After ^[b]Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor,

“Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight, ³ we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, ^(D)most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. ⁴ But, that I may not ^[c]weary you further, I beg you ^[d]to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness. ⁵ For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout ^[e]the world, and a ringleader of the ^(E)sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶ And he even tried to ^(F)desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.^{[f] 8} By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.” ^9 (G)The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰ And when ^(H)the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, ¹¹ since you can take note of the fact that no more than ^(I)twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. ^12 (J)And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or ^(K)causing ^[g]a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself. ^13 (L)Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me. ¹⁴ But I confess this to you, that in accordance with ^[h](M)the Way, which they call a ^(N)sect, I do serve ^(O)the God of our fathers, ^(P)believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets; ¹⁵ having a hope in God, which ^(Q)these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ In view of this ^(R)I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always. ¹⁷ Now ^(S)after several years I ^(T)came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings, ¹⁸ in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been ^(U)purified, without any ^(V)crowd or uproar. But there were some ^(W)Jews from ^[i]Asia— ¹⁹ who ought to have been present before you and to have been ^(X)bringing charges, if they should have anything against me. ²⁰ Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before ^(Y)the ^[j]Council, ²¹ other than in regard to this one declaration which ^(Z)I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’”

²² But Felix, ^[k]having quite accurate knowledge about ^[l](AA)the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³ He gave orders to the centurion for ^[m]Paul to be ^(AB)kept in custody and yet ^(AC)have some freedom, and not to prevent any of ^(AD)his friends from providing for his needs.