Joshua Dies

^6 (A)When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went, each one to his inheritance, to take possession of the land. ⁷ The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who ^[a]survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel. ⁸ Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. ⁹ And they buried him in the territory of ^(B)his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and another generation rose up after them who ^(C)did not know the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel Serves the Baals

¹¹ Then the sons of Israel did ^(D)evil in the sight of the Lord and ^[b]served the ^(E)Baals, ¹² and ^(F)they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed other gods from the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them; so they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They abandoned the Lord and ^(G)served Baal and the Ashtaroth. ^14 (H)Then the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He handed them over to plunderers, and they plundered them; and ^(I)He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand ^[c]against their enemies. ¹⁵ Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for ^[d]evil, as the Lord had spoken and ^(J)just as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.

^16 (K)Then the Lord raised up judges ^[e]who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they ^[f]committed infidelity with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way ^(L)in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do the same as their fathers. ¹⁸ And when the Lord raised up judges for them, ^(M)the Lord was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was ^(N)moved to pity by their groaning because of those who tormented and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But it came about, when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their obstinate ways. ^20 (O)So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has violated My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice, ^21 (P)I in turn will no longer drive out from them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, ²² in order to ^(Q)test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it as their fathers ^[g]did, or not.” ²³ So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out quickly; and He did not hand them over to Joshua.

Pay Attention

2 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to ^[a]what we have heard, so that ^(A)we do not drift away from it. ² For if the word ^(B)spoken through ^(C)angels proved ^[b]unalterable, and ^(D)every violation and act of disobedience received a just ^[c](E)punishment, ^3 (F)how will we escape if we neglect so great a ^(G)salvation? ^[d]After it was at first ^(H)spoken through the Lord, it was ^(I)confirmed to us by those who heard, ⁴ God also testifying with them, both by ^(J)signs and wonders, and by ^(K)various ^[e]miracles and by ^[f](L)gifts of the Holy Spirit ^(M)according to His own will.

Earth Subject to Man

⁵ For He did not subject to angels ^[g](N)the world to come, about which we are speaking. ⁶ But someone has testified ^(O)somewhere, saying,

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now ^(S)we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

Jesus Briefly Humbled

⁹ But we do see Him who was ^(T)made ^[j]for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, ^(U)because of His suffering death ^(V)crowned with glory and honor, so that ^(W)by the grace of God He might ^(X)taste death ^(Y)for everyone.

¹⁰ For ^(Z)it was fitting for Him, ^(AA)for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to ^(AB)perfect the ^[k](AC)originator of their salvation through sufferings. ¹¹ For both He who ^(AD)sanctifies and those who ^(AE)are ^[l]sanctified are all ^(AF)from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them ^(AG)brothers and sisters, ¹² saying,

¹³ And again,

And again,

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in ^[m](AK)flesh and blood, ^(AL)He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that ^(AM)through death He might destroy ^(AN)the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and free those who through ^(AO)fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. ¹⁶ For clearly He does not ^[n]give help to angels, but He gives help to the ^[o]descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He ^[p]had ^(AP)to be made like His brothers so that He might ^(AQ)become a merciful and faithful ^(AR)high priest in ^(AS)things pertaining to God, to ^(AT)make ^[q]propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For since He Himself was ^[r](AU)tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are ^[s]tempted.

¹² Now the sons of Israel again ^(A)did evil in the sight of the Lord. So ^(B)the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹³ And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and ^[a]defeated Israel, and they took possession of ^(C)the city of the palm trees. ¹⁴ And the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab for eighteen years.

Ehud Kills Eglon

¹⁵ But when the sons of Israel ^(D)cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by ^[b]him to Eglon the king of Moab. ¹⁶ Now Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length, and he strapped it on his right thigh under his cloak. ¹⁷ Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ And it came about, when he had finished presenting the tribute, that Ehud sent away the people who had carried the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back from the idols which were at Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” And all who were attending him left him. ²⁰ Then Ehud came to him while he was sitting in his cool roof chamber alone. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he got up from his seat. ²¹ Then Ehud reached out with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²² The hilt of the sword also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and ^[c]the refuse came out. ²³ Then Ehud went out into the ^[d]vestibule, and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him, and locked them.

²⁴ When he had left, ^[e]the king’s servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “^(E)Undoubtedly he is ^[f]relieving himself in the cool room.” ²⁵ So they waited ^[g]until it would have been shameful to wait longer; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. So they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the ^[h]floor dead.

²⁶ Now Ehud escaped while they were hesitating, and he passed by the idols and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷ And ^[i]when he arrived, ^(F)he blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was ^[j]leading them. ²⁸ Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you.” So they went down after him and took control of ^(G)the crossing places of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross. ²⁹ They struck and killed about ten thousand Moabites at that time, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was at rest for eighty years.

Shamgar Saves Israel

³¹ Now after him came ^(H)Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck and killed six hundred Philistines with an ^[k]oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.

Jesus Our High Priest

3 Therefore, ^(A)holy brothers and sisters, partakers of a ^(B)heavenly calling, consider ^(C)the Apostle and ^(D)High Priest of our ^(E)confession: Jesus; ^2 [a]He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as ^(F)Moses also was in all His house. ^3 (G)For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. ⁵ Now ^(H)Moses was faithful in all ^[b]God’s house as ^(I)a servant, ^(J)for a testimony of those things ^(K)which were to be spoken later; ⁶ but Christ was faithful as ^(L)a Son over His house—^(M)whose house we are, ^(N)if we hold firmly to our ^(O)confidence and the boast of our ^[c](P)hope.

⁷ Therefore, just as ^(Q)the Holy Spirit says,

The Danger of Unbelief

^12 (X)Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart ^[e]that falls away from ^(Y)the living God. ¹³ But ^(Z)encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the ^(AA)deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ ^(AB)if we keep the beginning of our ^[f](AC)commitment firm until the end, ¹⁵ while it is said,

¹⁶ For who ^(AE)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, ^(AF)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^(AG)whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did He swear ^(AH)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were ^(AI)disobedient? ¹⁹ And so we see that they were not able to enter because of ^(AJ)unbelief.