Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 Hezekiah: I thought for sure in the prime of my life
that I’d been brought to the gates of death,
that I’d miss out on the rest of my years.
11 I thought: That’s it. I will never again see the Eternal in the land of the living.
I will never again enjoy the company of those alive in this world.
12 My time on earth is folded up and packed away like a shepherd’s tent.
It’s as if a weaver has snipped me off from the loom and rolled me up.
From day to night You bring my life to an end.
13 I stay calm until morning arrives,
then like a lion He breaks all my bones.
From day to night You bring my life to an end.
14 Oh, how I argue and mourn for my passing life!
Like a swallow or a crane I twitter;
like a lonesome dove I moan.
My eyes become bleary from looking up to the heavens for help.
I cry, “O Lord, way up high, I am oppressed; come and help me!”
15 But what can I say? God has spoken to me.
Things are as He made them.
So I am determined to go slowly, make the most of my years,
even though I am bitter to the core.
16 But I so wanted to live! So I prayed, “Lord, by these things, people live
and my spirit is grounded in the same.
So heal me, let me live!”
17 Paradoxically, my bitter experience was pushing me toward wholeness.
For You, God, have put behind all my shortcomings and wrongdoings.
You have rescued me from death.
You pulled me from a black hole of nothingness and held me close to You.
18 And so I join the living in giving thanks to You.
After all, thankful voices never rise from the land of the dead.
After all, the songs of praise never soar from death’s dark realm.
Those who go down into the pit—that great black nothingness—
Hezekiah becomes confident that God will restore his health and bring him back from the edge of death. Ironically, many years earlier his father Ahaz refused to ask for a sign even though God insisted that he do so. The son, it seems, has learned a valuable lesson; so he asks for a sign because he wants to know when he will be well enough to return to God’s house and offer thanks to Him among the rest of his citizens. Unfortunately, with some people, it is only in the bitterness of disease and in death’s dark shadow that a person learns to embrace life and live it to the fullest. Hezekiah’s near-death experience embitters his soul, but it also moves him toward wholeness. What Hezekiah does not know is that the Babylonians have their eyes set on dominating the rest of the world. For years, the Assyrians and Babylonians have coexisted, but the Babylonians are not content to remain a regional power. As they build their empire—annexing lands, conquering peoples, gaining strength—they begin to take an interest in little Judah. Hezekiah doesn’t account for how his actions might affect his nation. He simply isn’t that shrewd.
They can’t even begin to hope for Your faithfulness.
19 But ah, the living! And I am among them today,
giving praise and thanks to You for life,
The old telling the young about the loyalty of Your love.
20 The Eternal will rescue me,
and we will break out the stringed instruments.
We will sing and make music for the rest of our lives,
right here in the house of the Eternal.
6 The citizens of Jericho had barricaded themselves behind its high walls because of the Israelite forces. No one could get in or out.
Eternal One (to Joshua): 2 I have given Jericho, its king, and all its soldiers into your hands. 3 Every day for the next six days, you will march once around the city walls with all your fighting force. 4 Seven priests will go in front of the covenant chest, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. On the seventh day, you will march around the city walls seven times, and the priests will blow their trumpets. 5 When they play a long final blast, then all the people will give a mighty shout. The city walls will collapse in front of you, and all the Israelites will charge in and take the city.
6 So Joshua, the son of Nun, summoned the priests and instructed them.
Joshua: Take up the chest and have seven priests, each carrying a ram’s horn trumpet, march in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal.
7 Then he gave orders to the people.
Joshua: March around the city with the fighting men marching ahead of the chest of the Eternal.
8-9 So they all proceeded as Joshua had commanded them. The fighting men led the way; the seven priests marched after them, blowing their horns continually in front of the covenant chest of the Eternal, and the rear guard followed behind.
10 Joshua gave the Israelites very strict instructions.
Joshua: Don’t yell or shout. Don’t let your voice be heard until the day I tell you. And then I want you to shout with all your might.
11 So they circled the city once, carrying the covenant chest of the Eternal, and that night they returned to their camp. 12 The next morning, Joshua rose early, the priests carried the chest of the Eternal, 13-14 and they all marched around the city in exactly the same order as they had the day before: the armed men, seven trumpeting priests, the chest of the Eternal, and the rear guard, all making one complete circuit around the city with its great walls. That night they returned to their camp, and the next four days proceeded just like the first two.
15 But on the seventh day, they rose with the sun and the procession marched around the city walls seven times; that was the only day they made seven circuits around the city walls. 16 After the seventh and final circuit, when the priests had raised a mighty noise on their trumpets, Joshua turned to the people.
Joshua: Shout! Shout! For the Eternal One has given you the city! 17 The city and all who are in it will be destroyed completely as an offering to Him, except for the prostitute Rahab and those who are with her in her house. Her life will be spared as a reward for sheltering our two spies.
18 Be sure to stay away from these things that He has devoted to complete destruction so that you won’t be tempted to pick something up and carry it away. Anyone who disobeys God in this matter will bring destruction on all of us.
19 Any silver or gold, any bronze or iron vessels should not be burned; instead, they should be set aside for the Eternal’s treasury.
20 Then the people shouted, and the trumpets blasted. The noise of the voices and trumpets rose higher and higher, and the thick walls of Jericho collapsed, just as God had promised. When the wall fell before them, they rushed straight ahead and took the city, 21 killing everyone—all the men and women and children, all the cattle and livestock—with their swords.
29 By faith the people crossed through the Red Sea as if they were walking on dry land, although the pursuing Egyptian soldiers were drowned when they tried to follow.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho toppled after the people had circled them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab welcomed the Hebrew spies into her home so that she did not perish with the unbelievers.
32 I could speak more of faith; I could talk until time itself ran out. If I continued, I could speak of the examples of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and all the prophets. 33 I could give accounts of people alive with faith who conquered kingdoms, brought justice, obtained promises, and closed the mouths of hungry lions. 34 I could tell you how people of faith doused raging fires, escaped the edge of the sword, made the weak strong, and—stoking great valor among the champions of God—sent opposing armies into panicked flight.
35 I could speak of faith bringing women their loved ones back from death and how the faithful accepted torture instead of earthly deliverance because they believed they would obtain a better life in the resurrection. 36 Others suffered mockery and whippings; they were placed in chains and in prisons. 37 The faithful were stoned, sawn in two,[a] killed by the sword, clothed only in sheepskins and goatskins; they were penniless, afflicted, and tormented. 38 The world was not worthy of these saints. They wandered across deserts, crossed mountains, and lived in the caves, cracks, and crevasses of the earth.
Stories of faith and faithfulness are central to the First Testament. The writer of Hebrews recalls some of the most memorable examples of how people of faith lived their lives. But what is faith? Faith is more than belief; it is trust, assurance, and firm conviction. Ironically most of those who lived by faith never fully realized the promises God had made. Like us they journeyed as strangers and exiles, longing for another country. We should remember their patient faith when we face prolonged hardships and allow the trials we face to strengthen our faith rather than destroy it. If we are comfortable here and don’t face suffering for our faith, perhaps we aren’t fully living by faith and looking forward to a future hope.
39 These, though commended by God for their great faith, did not receive what was promised. 40 That promise has awaited us, who receive the better thing that God has provided in these last days, so that with us, our forebears might finally see the promise completed.
12 So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.
We may feel alone, but we aren’t. We are surrounded by an army of witnesses. They have run the race of faith and finished well. It is now our turn.
2 Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.