The Death of Joshua

⁶ When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. ^7 (A)And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. ⁹ And they buried him within the boundaries of ^(B)his inheritance in Timnath-heres, ^(C)in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. ¹⁰ And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Israel's Unfaithfulness

^11 (D)And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. ^12 (E)And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. ^(F)They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and ^(G)bowed down to them. ^(H)And they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They abandoned the Lord ^(I)and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. ^14 (J)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he ^(K)gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. ^(L)And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, ^(M)so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵ Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, ^(N)and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

The Lord Raises Up Judges

^16 (O)Then the Lord raised up judges, ^(P)who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for ^(Q)they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. ^(R)They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. ¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, ^(S)the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. ^(T)For the Lord was moved to pity by ^(U)their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But ^(V)whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. ^20 (W)So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people ^(X)have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, ^21 (Y)I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, ²² in order ^(Z)to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” ²³ So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Warning Against Neglecting Salvation

2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ² For since ^(A)the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and ^(B)every transgression or disobedience received a just ^(C)retribution, ^3 (D)how shall we escape if we ^(E)neglect such a great salvation? It was ^(F)declared at first by the Lord, and it was ^(G)attested to us ^(H)by those who heard, ^4 (I)while God also bore witness ^(J)by signs and wonders and various miracles and by ^(K)gifts of the Holy Spirit ^(L)distributed according to his will.

The Founder of Salvation

⁵ For it was not to angels that God subjected the world ^(M)to come, of which we are speaking. ⁶ It has been testified somewhere,

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, ^(O)we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ⁹ But we see him ^(P)who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, ^(Q)crowned with glory and honor ^(R)because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might ^(S)taste death ^(T)for everyone.

¹⁰ For it ^(U)was fitting that he, ^(V)for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons ^(W)to glory, should make the ^(X)founder of their salvation ^(Y)perfect through suffering. ¹¹ For ^(Z)he who sanctifies and ^(AA)those who are sanctified ^(AB)all have one source.^[b] That is why he is not ashamed to call them ^(AC)brothers,^{[c] 12} saying,

¹³ And again,

And again,

¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise ^(AI)partook of the same things, that ^(AJ)through death he might ^(AK)destroy ^(AL)the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who ^(AM)through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he ^(AN)helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he had ^(AO)to be made like his brothers in every respect, ^(AP)so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest ^(AQ)in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered ^(AR)when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Ehud

^12 (A)And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon ^(B)the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹³ He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the ^(C)Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of ^(D)the city of palms. ¹⁴ And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ Then the people of Israel ^(E)cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them ^(F)a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, ^(G)a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. ¹⁶ And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit^[a] in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. ¹⁷ And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back ^(H)at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. ²⁰ And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his ^(I)cool roof chamber. ^(J)And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. ²¹ And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²² And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. ²³ Then Ehud went out into the porch^[b] and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him ^(K)and locked them.

²⁴ When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, ^(L)“Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” ²⁵ And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

²⁶ Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond ^(M)the idols and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ When he arrived, ^(N)he sounded the trumpet in ^(O)the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. ²⁸ And he said to them, “Follow after me, ^(P)for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized ^(Q)the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. ²⁹ And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. ^(R)And the land had rest for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹ After him was ^(S)Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines ^(T)with an oxgoad, and he also ^(U)saved Israel.

Jesus Greater Than Moses

3 Therefore, holy brothers,^[a] you who share in ^(A)a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, ^(B)the apostle and high priest of our confession, ² who was faithful to him who appointed him, ^(C)just as Moses also was faithful in all God's^[b] house. ³ For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. ⁴ (For every house is built by someone, but ^(D)the builder of all things is God.) ^5 (E)Now Moses was faithful in all God's house ^(F)as a servant, ^(G)to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, ⁶ but Christ is faithful over God's house as ^(H)a son. And ^(I)we are his house, if indeed we ^(J)hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.^[c]

A Rest for the People of God

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from ^(N)the living God. ¹³ But ^(O)exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by ^(P)the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, ^(Q)if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said,

¹⁶ For ^(S)who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not ^(T)all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^(U)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that ^(V)they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So we see that ^(W)they were unable to enter because of unbelief.