Joshua Installed as Leader

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,^(A) the Lord said to Joshua^(B) son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River^(C) into the land^(D) I am about to give to them^(E)—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot,^(F) as I promised Moses.^{(G) 4} Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,^(H) and from the great river, the Euphrates^(I)—all the Hittite^(J) country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.^{(K) 5} No one will be able to stand against you^(L) all the days of your life. As I was with^(M) Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake^(N) you. ⁶ Be strong^(O) and courageous,^(P) because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors^(Q) to give them.

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey^(R) all the law^(S) my servant Moses^(T) gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,^(U) that you may be successful wherever you go.^{(V) 8} Keep this Book of the Law^(W) always on your lips;^(X) meditate^(Y) on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.^{(Z) 9} Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid;^(AA) do not be discouraged,^(AB) for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”^(AC)

¹⁰ So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:^{(AD) 11} “Go through the camp^(AE) and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions^(AF) ready. Three days^(AG) from now you will cross the Jordan^(AH) here to go in and take possession^(AI) of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

¹² But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,^(AJ) Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest^(AK) by giving you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives,^(AL) your children and your livestock may stay in the land^(AM) that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle,^(AN) must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites.^(AO) You are to help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”^(AP)

¹⁶ Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.^{(AQ) 17} Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.^(AR) Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey^(AS) it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!^(AT)”

Rahab and the Spies

2 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies^(A) from Shittim.^(B) “Go, look over^(C) the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.^(D)” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab^(E) and stayed there.

² The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab:^(F) “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men^(G) and hidden them.^(H) She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. ⁵ At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,^(I) they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”^{(J) 6} (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax^(K) she had laid out on the roof.)^{(L) 7} So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan,^(M) and as soon as the pursuers^(N) had gone out, the gate was shut.

⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof^{(O) 9} and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear^(P) of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up^(Q) the water of the Red Sea^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt,^(R) and what you did to Sihon and Og,^(S) the two kings of the Amorites^(T) east of the Jordan,^(U) whom you completely destroyed.^{[b](V) 11} When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear^(W) and everyone’s courage failed^(X) because of you,^(Y) for the Lord your God^(Z) is God in heaven above and on the earth^(AA) below.

¹² “Now then, please swear to me^(AB) by the Lord that you will show kindness^(AC) to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign^{(AD) 13} that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them^(AE)—and that you will save us from death.”

¹⁴ “Our lives for your lives!”^(AF) the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully^(AG) when the Lord gives us the land.”

¹⁵ So she let them down by a rope^(AH) through the window,^(AI) for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. ¹⁶ She said to them, “Go to the hills^(AJ) so the pursuers^(AK) will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days^(AL) until they return, and then go on your way.”^(AM)

¹⁷ Now the men had said to her, “This oath^(AN) you made us swear will not be binding on us ¹⁸ unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord^(AO) in the window^(AP) through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family^(AQ) into your house. ¹⁹ If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads;^(AR) we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head^(AS) if a hand is laid on them. ²⁰ But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.^(AT)”

²¹ “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”

So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord^(AU) in the window.^(AV)

²² When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days,^(AW) until the pursuers^(AX) had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. ²³ Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ They said to Joshua, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands;^(AY) all the people are melting in fear^(AZ) because of us.”

Psalm 37^[a]

Of David.

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters^(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ² For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.^{(B) 3} So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.^(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law^(D) through the body of Christ,^(E) that you might belong to another,^(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the realm of the flesh,^[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law^(H) were at work in us,^(I) so that we bore fruit for death.^{(J) 6} But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law^(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.^(L)

The Law and Sin

⁷ What shall we say, then?^(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!^(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.^(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”^{[b](P) 8} But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.^{(R) 9} Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life^(S) actually brought death. ¹¹ For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(T) deceived me,^(U) and through the commandment put me to death. ¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.^(V)

¹³ Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good^(W) to bring about my death,^(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,^(Y) sold^(Z) as a slave to sin.^{(AA) 15} I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.^{(AB) 16} And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.^{(AC) 17} As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.^{(AD) 18} For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^{(AF) 20} Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.^(AG)

²¹ So I find this law at work:^(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being^(AI) I delight in God’s law;^{(AJ) 23} but I see another law at work in me, waging war^(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin^(AL) at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?^{(AM) 25} Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!^(AN)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,^(AO) but in my sinful nature^[d] a slave to the law of sin.^(AP)