Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 I said in the [a]cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, [b]I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I shall see man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine habitation is departed, and is removed from me, like a shepherd’s tent: I [c]have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the height: from day [d]to night, thou wilt make an end of me.
13 I reckoned [e]to the morning: but he brake all my bones like a lion, from day to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I [f]chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes were lifted up on high: O Lord, [g]it hath oppressed me, comfort me.
15 What shall I say, [h]for he hath said it to me, and he hath done it: I shall walk [i]weakly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, [j]to them that overlive them, and to all that are in them, the life of my spirit shall be known, that thou causest me to [k]sleep and hast given life to me.
17 Behold, for [l]felicity I had bitter grief, but it was thy pleasure to deliver my soul from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my [m]sins behind thy back.
18 For [n]the grave cannot confess thee: death cannot praise thee: they that go down into the pit, cannot hope for thy truth.
19 But the living, the living, he shall confess thee, as I do this day: the father to the [o]children shall declare thy truth.
20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my song, all the days of [p]our life in the house of the Lord.
8 3 The siege, 19 and winning of Ai. 29 The king thereof is hanged. 30 Joshua setteth up an Altar. 32 He writeth the Law upon stones, 35 and readeth it to all the people.
1 After, the Lord said unto Joshua, (A)Fear not, neither be thou faint hearted: take all the men of war with thee and arise, go up to Ai: behold, I have given into thine hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.
2 And thou shalt do to Ai and to the king thereof, as thou didst unto (B)Jericho and to the king thereof: nevertheless the spoil thereof and (C)the cattle thereof shall ye take unto you for a prey: thou shalt lie in wait against the city on the [a]back side thereof.
3 ¶ Then Joshua arose, and all the men of war to go up against Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand strong men, and valiant, and sent them away by night.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye [b]shall lie in wait against the city on the back side of the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all in a readiness.
5 And I and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city: and when they shall come out against us, as they did at the first time, then will we flee before them.
6 For they will come out after us, till we have brought them out of the city: for they will say, They flee before us as at the first time: so we will flee before them.
7 Then you shall rise up from lying in wait and [c]destroy the city: for the Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 And when ye have taken the city, ye shall set it on fire: according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do: behold, I have charged you.
9 ¶ Joshua then sent them forth, and they went to lie in wait, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the West side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night [d]among the people.
10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and [e]numbered the people: and he and the Elders of Israel went up before the people against Ai.
11 Also all the men of war that were with him went up and drew near, and came against the city, and pitched on the North side of Ai: and there was a valley between them and Ai.
12 And he took about five thousand men, [f]and set them to lie in wait between Bethel and Ai on the West side of the city.
13 And the people set all the host that was on the North side against the city, and the liars in wait on the West, against the city: and Joshua went the same night into the [g]midst of the valley.
14 ¶ And when the king of Ai saw it, then the men of the city hasted and rose up early, and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the plain: for he knew not that any lay in wait against him on the back side of the city.
15 Then Joshua and all Israel [h]as beaten before them, fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 And all the people of the city were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away out of the city,
17 So that there was not a man left in Ai, nor in Bethel, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
18 Then the Lord said unto Joshua, [i]Stretch out the spear that is in thine hand, toward Ai: for I will give it into thine hand: and Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand, toward the city.
19 And they that lay in wait, arose quickly out of their place, and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted, and set the city on fire.
20 And the men of Ai looked behind them, and saw it: for lo, the smoke of the city ascended up [j]to heaven, and they had no [k]power to flee this way or that way: for the people that fled to the wilderness, turned back upon the pursuers.
21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that they that lay in wait, had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city mounted up, then they turned again and slew the men of Ai.
22 Also the [l]other issued out of the city against them: so were they in the midst of Israel, these being on the one side, and the rest on the other side: and they slew them, so that they let none of them (D)remain nor escape.
23 And the King of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
3 [a]Consider therefore him that endureth such speaking against of sinners, lest ye should be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 [b]Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
5 [c]And ye have forgotten the consolation, which speaketh unto you as unto children, (A)My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked of him.
6 For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth: and he scourgeth every son that he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God offered himself unto you as unto sons: for what son is it whom the father chasteneth not?
8 If therefore ye be without correction, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 [d]Moreover we have had the fathers of our bodies which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: should we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits, that we might live?
10 [e]For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he chastened us for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastising for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: but afterward, it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousness, unto them which are thereby exercised.
12 [f]Wherefore lift up your hands which [g]hang down, and your weak knees,
13 And make [h]straight steps unto your feet, lest that which is halting, be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.
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