The Daily Audio Bible
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16 Joshua got up early in the morning, and he had Israel come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe of Judah was identified. 17 Then he had the tribe of Judah come forward, and he identified the clan of the Zerahites. Next, he had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by individual families, and Zabdi’s family was identified. 18 Then he had Zabdi’s household come forward one man at a time, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was identified.
19 Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory now to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give him praise. Now tell me what you did. Do not conceal it from me.”
20 Achan answered Joshua, “It is true. I am the one who has sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 Among the plunder I saw an expensive Mesopotamian robe,[a] a fine one, and two hundred shekels of silver and one wedge[b] of gold—it weighed fifty shekels.[c] I coveted them and I took them. Now they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver is underneath it.”
22 So Joshua sent agents. They ran to the tent, and there it was! The robe was hidden in his tent, and the silver was underneath it! 23 They took them from the middle of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel, where they poured them out before the Lord.
24 Then Joshua took Achan son of Zerah and the silver, the garment, and the wedge of gold, as well as Achan’s sons and his daughters, his ox, his donkey and his flock, and his tent and everything that belonged to him—so all Israel, led by Joshua, brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you this day!”
Then all Israel stoned Achan to death. They also burned him and them[d] with fire, and they pelted them with stones. 26 They erected a large heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from the heat of his anger. For that reason the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor[e] to this day.
The Capture of Ai
8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid. Do not be overwhelmed. Take with you the whole military force[f] and get ready to go up to Ai. You see, I have given the king of Ai into your hand with his people, his city, and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king, but its plunder and its livestock you may take as spoils of war for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city on the west side of it.”
3 So Joshua and the whole military force got ready to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, strong warriors, and sent them out during the night. 4 He commanded them, “See to it that you set up an ambush against the city on its west side, not very far from the city. All of you are to be on alert. 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When the men of Ai come out to face us just as they did the first time, we will flee from them. 6 They will come out after us until we lure them away from the city, because they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us just as they did the first time!’ and we will flee from them. 7 Then you are to spring up from the ambush and seize the city, and the Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8 When you have taken the city, you are to set the city on fire. According to the word of the Lord you are to act in this way. Look, I have commanded you.”
9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place for the ambush. They lay hidden on the west side of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people of the main force.
10 Joshua got up early in the morning, and he mustered the people. Then he went up—he and the elders of Israel—leading the main force of the people to Ai. 11 The whole military force that was with him went up and advanced. They arrived opposite the city, and they camped north of Ai. The valley was between Joshua and Ai. 12 He had taken about five thousand men and set them as an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
13 This is how they positioned the people: The whole army that had come from the camp was north of the city, but the detachment in the ambush was west of the city. That night Joshua went out into the middle of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city got up quickly and went out to face Israel in battle—the king and all his people—at the chosen place[g] facing the Arabah. But he did not know that there was an ambush for him west of the city. 15 Then Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled toward the wilderness. 16 All the people that were in the city were marshaled to pursue them. As they pursued Joshua, they were lured away from the city. 17 So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Point toward Ai with the javelin that is in your hand, because I will give Ai into your hand.” So Joshua reached out toward the city with the javelin that was in his hand. 19 The ambush force quickly sprang up from its place and came running as soon as he reached out his hand. Then they went into the city, took it, and quickly set it on fire.
20 The men of Ai turned to look behind them, and, to their surprise, the smoke of the city was rising to the sky! They were not strong enough to escape this way or that, because the people of Israel who had been fleeing toward the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush force had taken the city and that smoke was rising from the city, they turned back and struck the men of Ai. 22 Then the other Israelites came out of the city against the men of Ai so that they were trapped in the middle of Israel, with some Israelites on this side of them and some on that. So Israel struck them down until there was no one left, no survivor, no escapee. 23 But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai who were in the open country of the wilderness, into which the men of Ai had pursued them, and when all of the men of Ai had fallen by the edge[h] of the sword so that they were finished off, then all Israel turned back to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 All those who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. 26 Joshua did not lower his hand that held the javelin until he had completely destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 But the livestock and the plunder from that city the Israelites took as spoils of war for themselves, according to the word of the Lord that he had commanded Joshua.
28 Then Joshua burned Ai and reduced it to a mound of rubble, which lies in ruins to this day. 29 He hanged the king of Ai on a tree[i] until evening. When the sun was setting, Joshua gave the command, and they took down his corpse from the tree and threw it at the entrance to the gatehouse of the city. Then they erected a large heap of stones over him, which remains to this day.
The Altar at Mount Ebal
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the people of Israel. According to the directions written in the Book of the Law of Moses, it was an altar of uncut stones, upon which no one had used an iron tool. They offered up burnt offerings to the Lord on it, and they also sacrificed fellowship offerings.
32 There on the stones Joshua wrote a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the people of Israel.
33 All Israel with its elders and officers and its judges were standing on both sides of the ark facing the priests from the tribe of Levi who held the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Both the resident aliens and the native-born stood there, half in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded previously, so that the people of Israel could be blessed.
34 After that, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, exactly as all of it is written in the Book of the Law.
35 There was not one word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read aloud before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, the children, and the aliens living among them.
The Deception by Gibeon
9 When all the kings who were west of the Jordan in the hill country,[j] in the Shephelah,[k] and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea[l] as far as Lebanon (the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites) heard what had happened, 2 they gathered together with one purpose: to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
The Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be manager.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking away the management position from me? I am not strong enough to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position as manager, people will receive me into their houses.’
5 “He called each one of his master’s debtors to him. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘Six hundred gallons[a] of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write three hundred.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘Six hundred bushels[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write four hundred and eighty.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children[c] of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation[d] than the children of the light are. 9 I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon,[e] so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings. 10 The person who is faithful with very little is also faithful with much. And the person who is unrighteous with very little is also unrighteous with much. 11 So if you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust you with what is really valuable? 12 If you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something to be your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters. Indeed, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, also heard all these things and sneered at him. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts. In fact, what is highly regarded among people is an abomination in God’s sight. 16 The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since that time the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is trying to force his way into it.[f]
17 “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for even one part of a letter in the Law to fail. 18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another is committing adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband is committing adultery.
Psalm 82
Woe to Corrupt Rulers
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.
Judgment on Corrupt Rulers
1 God is standing in the assembly of God.
In the midst of the gods[a] he renders judgment.
God’s Verdict
2 How long will you judge unjustly Interlude
and show favoritism to the wicked?
3 Judge in favor of the weak and the fatherless.
Acquit the oppressed and the poor.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy.
Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know. They do not understand.
They walk around in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I myself said, “You are ‘gods,’
and you are all ‘sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like men.
You will fall like any other ruler.”
Prayer
8 Rise up, O God. Judge the earth,
for you will take possession of all the nations.
2 From the fruit of his mouth a person eats well,
but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.
3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life.
Whoever opens his lips carelessly ruins himself.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.