Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 I said, “Must I leave in the prime of my life?
Must I be consigned to the control[a] of Sheol?[b]
Bitter are[c] my years!”
11 I said, “I won’t see the Lord[d] in the land of the living;
and[e] I’ll no longer observe human beings
among the denizens of the grave.[f]
12 My house has been plucked up and vanishes[g] from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver, I’ve taken account of[h] my life,
and he cuts me off from the loom—
day and night you make an end of me.
13 I’ve been swept bare[i] until morning;
just like a lion, he breaks all my bones—
day and night you make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes look weakly upward.
O Lord,[j] I am oppressed, so[k] stand up for me!
15 What can I say, so I tell myself,[l]
since he has done this to me?[m]
I will walk slowly all my years
because of my soul’s anguish.
16 “My Lord is against them, yet they live,
and among all of them who live is his spirit.[n]
Now you have restored me to health,
so let me live!
17 Yes, it was for my own good
that I suffered extreme anguish.[o]
But in love you have held back[p] my life
from the Pit[q] in which it has been confined;[r]
you have tossed all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol[s] cannot thank you,
death cannot[t] sing your praise;
and[u] those who go down to the Pit[v] cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living—yes the living—they thank you,
just as I am doing today;
fathers will tell their children
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,[w]
and we will play my music on strings
all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s Temple.[x]
Instructions for Joshua
6 Meanwhile, Jericho was fortified inside and out because of the Israelis. Nobody could leave or enter.
2 The Lord told Joshua, “Look! I have given Jericho over to your control,[a] along with its kings and valiant soldiers. 3 March around the city, all the soldiers circling the city once. Do this for six days, 4 with seven priests carrying in front of the ark seven trumpets made from rams’ horns. On the seventh day march around the city seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. 5 When they sound a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then the entire army is to cry out loud, the city wall will collapse, and then all of the soldiers are to charge straight ahead.”
The Destruction of Jericho
6 So Nun’s son Joshua called for the priests. “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant,” he told them, “and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made from rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.”
7 He told the army, “Go out and encircle the city. Have the armed men march out in front of the ark of the Lord.”
8 And so, just as Joshua had commanded, seven of the priests went forward, carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns in the Lord’s presence, blowing the trumpets while the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them. 9 Armed men preceded the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and a rear guard followed the ark, while the trumpets continued to blow.
10 Joshua issued orders to the army: “You are not to shout or even let your voice be heard. Don’t utter a word until I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So the ark of the Lord was taken once around the city, then they went back to camp and spent the night there.[b]
12 Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests who carried the seven trumpets made from rams’ horns preceded the ark of the Lord, blowing their trumpets constantly. The armed men preceded them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets continued to blow. 14 On the second day they marched around the city once and then went back to camp. They did this for six days. 15 They rose early at dawn on the seventh day and marched around the city seven times, just as they had before, except that on that day only they marched around the city seven times.
16 As they completed the seventh time, after the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua told the army, “Shout, because the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city—along with everything in it—is to be turned over to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone who is with her in her house may live, because she hid the scouts we sent. 18 Now as for you, everything has been turned over for destruction. Don’t covet or take any of these things. Otherwise, you’ll make the camp of Israel itself an object worthy of destruction, and bring trouble on it. 19 But everything made of silver and gold, and vessels made of bronze and iron are set apart to the Lord. They are to go into the treasury of the Lord.”
20 So the army shouted and the trumpets were blown again. As soon as the army heard the sound of the trumpets, they shouted loudly and the wall collapsed. The army charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. 21 They turned over everyone in the city for destruction and executed them,[c] including both men and women, young and old, and oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
29 By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do this, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not die with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies with a greeting of[a] peace.
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 put out raging fires, escaped death by[b] the sword, found strength in weakness, became powerful in battle, and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated. 38 The world wasn’t worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.
39 All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be perfected without us.
We Must Look Off to Jesus
12 Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles[c] us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us, 2 fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of[d] the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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