Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Commands Justice
A psalm of Asaph.[a]
82 God stands in the divine assembly;[b]
he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[c]
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked?[d] Selah
3 Judge on behalf of the helpless and the orphan;
provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
4 Rescue the helpless and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They do not know or consider.[e]
They go about in the darkness,
so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I have said,[f] “You are gods,
and sons of the Most High, all of you.
7 However, you will die like men,[g]
and you will fall like one of the princes.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
because you shall inherit[h] all the nations.
10 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why[a] have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned and transgressed my covenant[b] that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things;[c] they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put them among their belongings. 12 The Israelites[d] were unable to stand before their enemies; they fled from their enemies[e] because they have become a thing devoted[f] for destruction. I will be with you no more[g] unless you destroy the devoted things[h] from among you. 13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “There are devoted things[i] in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things[j] from your midst.” 14 In the morning you will come forward, tribe by tribe,[k] and the tribe that Yahweh will select by lot will come forward by clans, and the clan that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward by families, and the family that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward one by one. 15 The one caught with the devoted things[l] will be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he transgressed the covenant[m] of Yahweh, and because he did a disgraceful thing in Israel.”’”
16 So[n] Joshua rose early in the morning and brought forward Israel, tribe by tribe,[o] and the tribe of Judah was selected by lot. 17 And he brought forward the clans of Judah and selected the clan of the Zerahites[p] by lot. Then he brought forward the clan of the Zerahites,[q] one by one, and Zabdi was selected by lot. 18 He brought forward his family, one by one, and Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected by lot. 19 And Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and give him a doxology in court.[r] Tell me, please, what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar,[s] two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold that weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver is under it.”
22 Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there they were, hidden in his tent, and the silver was under it. 23 And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites.[t] And they spread them out before the presence of Yahweh. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his cattle and donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that was his, and they brought them to the valley of Achor.[u] 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring us trouble? Yahweh will bring you trouble on this day.” And all Israel stoned them[v] with stones;[w] and they burned them with fire after they stoned them with stones. 26 Then they placed[x] on top of him a great pile of stones that remains to this day. And Yahweh turned from his burning anger,[y] and thus the name of that place to this day is called the valley of Achor.[z]
A Serious Warning Against Continuing Deliberate Sin
26 For if[a] we keep on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think the person will be considered worthy of who treats with disdain the Son of God and who considers ordinary the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy and who insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said,
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay,”[b]
and again,
“The Lord will judge his people.”[c]
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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