BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

The Lord, an Abundant Helper.

The Promise to Rahab

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. ¹⁶ And she said to them, “^(A)Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not encounter you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” ¹⁷ And the men said to her, “^(B)We shall be exempt from this oath ^[a]to you which you have made us swear, ^18 [b]unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and ^(C)gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹ And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have ^[c]his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, ^(D)his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be exempt from the oath which you have made us swear.” ²¹ She then said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²² So they departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days, until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had searched for them ^[d]all along the road, but had not found them. ²³ Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country, and they crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun. Then they reported to him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, ^(E)all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.”

¹³ But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Therefore insofar as ^(A)I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ if somehow I may ^(B)move ^(C)my ^[a]own people to jealousy and ^(D)save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection proves to be the ^(E)reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but ^(F)life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the ^(G)first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are as well.

¹⁷ But if some of the ^(H)branches were broken off, and ^(I)you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the ^[b]rich root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that ^(J)it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. ^19 (K)You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you ^(L)stand by your faith. ^(M)Do not be conceited, but fear; ²¹ for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. ²² See then the kindness and severity of God: to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s ^(N)kindness, ^(O)if you continue in His kindness; for otherwise you too ^(P)will be cut off. ²³ And they also, ^(Q)if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “^(A)For it is just like a man ^(B)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five ^[a](C)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^(D)went on his journey. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five ^(E)talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. ¹⁸ But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his ^[b]master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *^(F)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five ^(G)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(H)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^(I)put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your ^[c]master.’

²² “Also the one who had received the two ^(J)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(K)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “Now the one who had received the one ^(L)talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You ^[d]worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have ^[e]put my money in the bank, and ^[f]on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

²⁹ “^(M)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ³⁰ And throw the worthless slave into ^(N)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.