Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 I thought I would live a full life.
But now, in the middle of my life, the time has come for me to die.
11 So I said, “I will not see the Lord Yah[a] in the land of the living again.
I will not see the people living on earth.
12 My home, my shepherd’s tent, is being pulled down and taken from me.
I am finished like the cloth someone rolls up and cuts from the loom.
You ended my life in such a short time.
13 All night I cried as loud as a lion,
but my hopes were crushed like a lion eating bones.
You finished my life in such a short time.
14 I cried like a bird
and moaned like a dove.
My eyes became tired,
but I continued looking to the heavens.
Lord, I am so depressed.
Promise to help me.”
15 What can I say?
He told me what would happen,
and he will make it happen.
I have had these troubles in my soul,
so now I will be humble all my life.
16 Lord, use this hard time to make my spirit live again.
Help my spirit become strong and healthy.
Help me become well!
Help me live again!
17 Look, my troubles are gone!
I now have peace.
You love me very much.
You did not let me rot in the grave.
You took my sins
and threw them away.
18 The dead cannot praise you.
People in Sheol cannot sing praises to you.
Those who have died and gone below
are not trusting in your faithfulness.
19 People who are alive, people like me,
are the ones who will praise you.
Fathers should tell their children about how faithful you are.
20 So I say, “The Lord saved me.
So we will sing and play songs in the Lord’s Temple all our lives.”
6 The gates of the city of Jericho were closed. The people in the city were afraid because the Israelites were near. No one went into the city, and no one came out.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I will let you defeat the city of Jericho. You will defeat the king and all the fighting men in the city. 3 March around the city with your army once every day for six days. 4 Tell seven of the priests to carry trumpets made from the horns of male sheep and to march in front of the priests who are carrying the Holy Box. On the seventh day march around the city seven times and tell the priests to blow the trumpets while they march. 5 They will make one loud noise from the trumpets. When you hear that noise, tell all the people to begin shouting. When you do this, the walls of the city will fall down and your people will be able to go straight into the city.”
The Battle Against Jericho
6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, “Carry the Holy Box of the Lord. Tell seven priests to carry the trumpets and march in front of it.”
7 Then Joshua ordered the people, “Now go! March around the city. The soldiers with weapons will march in front of the Holy Box of the Lord.”
8 After Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests with the trumpets began marching before the Lord, blowing the trumpets as they marched. The priests carrying the Lord’s Holy Box followed them. 9 The soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests who were blowing the horns. And the rest of the men walked behind the Holy Box, marching and blowing their trumpets. 10 Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, “Don’t shout. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you. Then you will shout.”
11 So Joshua made the priests carry the Holy Box of the Lord around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.
12 Early the next morning Joshua got up, and the priests carried the Lord’s Holy Box again. 13 The seven priests with the trumpets marched in front of the Lord’s Holy Box, blowing their trumpets. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of them. The rest of the people marched behind the Lord’s Holy Box. During the whole time they marched, the priests were blowing the trumpets. 14 On the second day, they all marched around the city one time. And then they went back to the camp. They continued to do this every day for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at dawn and marched around the city seven times. They marched in the same way they had marched on the days before, but on that day they marched around the city seven times. 16 The seventh time they marched around the city, the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord is giving you this city! 17 The city and everything is to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house will be left alive. These people must not be killed because she helped the two spies. 18 Remember, we must destroy everything else. Don’t take anything. If you take anything and bring it into our camp, you yourselves will be destroyed, and you will cause trouble for the rest of our people. 19 All the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron belong to the Lord. They must be put in the Lord’s treasury.”
20 So then the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the trumpets, they began shouting. The walls fell down, and the people ran up into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city. 21 The people destroyed everything in the city. They destroyed everything that was living there. They killed the young and old men, the young and old women, and the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.
29 And God’s people all walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. They were able to do this because they had faith. But when the Egyptians tried to follow them, they were drowned.
30 And the walls of Jericho fell because of the faith of God’s people. They marched around the walls for seven days, and then the walls fell.
31 And Rahab, the prostitute, welcomed the Israelite spies like friends. And because of her faith, she was not killed with the ones who refused to obey.
32 Do I need to give you more examples? I don’t have enough time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 All of them had great faith. And with that faith they defeated kingdoms. They did what was right, and God helped them in the ways he promised. With their faith some people closed the mouths of lions. 34 And some were able to stop blazing fires. Others escaped from being killed with swords. Some who were weak were made strong. They became powerful in battle and defeated other armies. 35 There were women who lost loved ones but got them back when they were raised from death. Others were tortured but refused to accept their freedom. They did this so that they could be raised from death to a better life. 36 Some were laughed at and beaten. Others were tied up and put in prison. 37 They were killed with stones. They were cut in half. They were killed with swords. The only clothes some of them had were sheepskins or goatskins. They were poor, persecuted, and treated badly by others. 38 The world was not good enough for these great people. They had to wander in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground.
39 God was pleased with all of them because of their faith. But not one of them received God’s great promise. 40 God planned something better for us. He wanted to make us perfect. Of course, he wanted those great people to be made perfect too, but not before we could all enjoy that blessing together.
We Also Should Follow Jesus’ Example
12 We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall. 2 We must never stop looking to Jesus. He is the leader of our faith, and he is the one who makes our faith complete. He suffered death on a cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing because of the joy he could see waiting for him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International