Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 I thought that I might die in the middle of my life.
I thought that I would go into the deep hole of death,
before I had lived all the years of my life.
11 I thought, ‘I will not see the Lord again,
while I live in this world.
I will no longer see the people who live in the world.
I will no longer live among them.’
12 My home here has gone,
as easily as they pull down a shepherd's tent.
God has cut off my life,
like a piece of cloth that they have just made.
They cut it off and they roll it up.
As quickly as day becomes night,
God brings my life to an end.
13 I waited until morning would come.
It seemed like God was breaking all my bones,
like a lion does.
As quickly as day becomes night,
God brings my life to an end.
14 I cry like a swallow.
I make a sad noise like a dove.
My eyes are weak as I look up to heaven for help.
Lord God, save me from my trouble!
15 I do not know what I can say.
The Lord has told me what must happen.
He has done what he decided to do.
I will live quietly for the rest of my life,
because I am very sad and upset.
16 Lord God, your promises give life to people.
May they give life to my spirit.
Please make me well again and let me live.
17 Yes, it was good for me to have this trouble.
You rescued me from the deep hole of death.
You removed my sins,
and you put them behind your back.
18 Dead people in their graves cannot praise you.
They cannot sing to thank you.
People who go down into the deep hole of death
cannot trust you to help them.
19 It is those people who are alive that can thank you.
And I am doing it today.
Fathers tell their children that they can trust you.
20 The Lord will now save me from death.
We will sing to thank the Lord in his temple.
We will sing with happy music every day of our lives.
The Israelites destroy Ai
8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid. Continue to be brave! Take the whole army with you and go to attack Ai. This time, I will give the king and all his people to you. I will also give to you the city and its land. 2 You must destroy the city and its king as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may take their valuable things and their animals for yourselves. Hide some of your men behind the city, so that they are ready to attack.’
3 So Joshua and the whole army marched towards Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of the best soldiers and he sent some of them out at night time. 4 He said to them, ‘Listen carefully. Go and hide behind the city. Stay near to it. Be ready to attack! 5 In the morning, I will march towards the city with our other soldiers. When we get near to the city, the enemy's men will come out of the city to fight against us, as they did before. Then we will turn round and we will run away. 6 They will chase us away from the city. They will say, “The Israelites are running away from us, as they did before.” We will continue to run away from them. 7 Then you must leave the place where you have hidden. Go into the city and take it. The Lord your God will give it to you. 8 When you have taken the city, start to burn it. Do what the Lord has told you to do. Be sure that you obey my commands.’
9 Then Joshua sent the men away. They went and they hid on the west side of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua stayed with his other soldiers that night.
10 Early the next morning, Joshua took the army to march towards Ai. He and the leaders of Israel marched in front. 11 The soldiers who were with Joshua marched up to the city. They stopped in front of it, on the north side. They put up their tents there, where there was a valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had already sent about 5,000 men to hide on the west side of the city, between Bethel and Ai. 13 The whole Israelite army was ready to fight. Most of them were with their tents on the north side of the city. The other soldiers were hiding on the west side of the city. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 The king of Ai saw that Israel's army had arrived. Early the next morning, the king and his army hurried out of the city. They wanted to fight against Israel's army at the same place as before, on the hill near the Jordan Valley. But the king of Ai did not know that some Israelite soldiers were hiding behind the city. 15 Joshua and his army let the men of Ai chase after them. They pretended to be afraid. They ran towards the desert. 16 The king told all the men who remained in the city to chase the Israelites. So they continued to chase after them, far away from their city. 17 No men remained in Ai or Bethel. They all chased after the Israelites. There was nobody left to keep the city safe.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Hold out the spear that is in your hand. Point it towards Ai. I am now giving the city to you.’
So Joshua held out his spear towards Ai.
19 As soon as he did this, the men who were hiding behind the city came out quickly. They ran into the city and they took it. Immediately, they used fire to burn it. 20 The men of Ai looked behind them and they saw smoke in the sky above the city. But they could do nothing to escape. The Israelites who had been running away from them now turned round to fight them. 21 Joshua and his army also saw the smoke. They knew that the other group of soldiers had taken the city. So they turned round and began to attack the men of Ai. 22 Now the Israelites who had gone into the city also came out to fight. So the men of Ai were in between the two groups of Israelite soldiers. The Israelites killed all the men of Ai. 23 Only the king of Ai was still alive. They caught him and they took him to Joshua.
3 So think carefully about how Jesus lived on earth. Bad people did very bad things against him, but he continued to be strong. Think about him, and then you will not become weak as Christians. You will not stop trusting God.
4 You have been fighting against sin in your lives. But you have not yet had to fight like that until someone killed you. 5 God speaks to you as his children. Do not ever forget these words in the Bible that will make you strong:[a]
‘My son, when the Lord shows you what is right,
do not easily forget it.
Do not be upset when he punishes you.
6 The Lord does that to everyone that he loves.
He punishes everyone that he accepts as a son.’
7 When you have troubles in your life, you must be patient and strong. Remember that God is teaching you what is right because you are his children. There has never been any son whose father did not punish him. 8 God teaches all his children not to do wrong things. So if he does not punish you, it shows that you are not really his children. Instead, you are like children who do not really belong to him. 9 Also, we have all had human fathers who punished us. As a result, we respected them. So think about our Father that our spirits belong to. We must surely obey him, and then he will give us true life.
10 Our human fathers punished us for a few years. They did this in a way that they thought was good. But God punishes us in a way that will really help us. As a result, we can become completely good, like he is. 11 Punishment never makes us happy at the time when we receive it. No, the pain makes us sad. But later we know that the punishment has taught us good things. It helps us to live in a right way that gives us peace in our minds.
12 So be strong as servants of God! If your hands feel weak, lift them up! If your knees are not strong, stand up straight! 13 Walk straight in front of you, step by step! Your example will help other Christians to serve God well. People who cannot walk well will not become worse and fall down. Instead, their legs will become strong again.[b]
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