Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 I said, “I’m enjoying the best years of my life.
Must I now go through the gates of death?
Will the rest of my years be taken away from me?”
11 I said, “Lord, I’ll never see you again
while I’m still alive.
I’ll never see people anymore.
I’ll never again be with those who live in this world.
12 My body is like a shepherd’s tent.
It has been pulled down and carried off.
My life is like a piece of cloth that I’ve rolled up.
You have cut it off from the loom.
In a short period of time you have brought my life to an end.
13 I waited patiently until sunrise.
But like a lion you broke all my bones.
In a short period of time you have brought my life to an end.
14 I cried softly like a weak little bird.
I sounded like a dove as I mourned.
My eyes grew tired as I looked up toward heaven.
Lord, my life is in danger. Please come and help me!
15 “But what can I say?
You have promised to heal me.
And you yourself have done it.
Once I was proud and bitter.
But now I will live the rest of my life free of pride.
16 Lord, people find the will to live because you keep your promises.
And my spirit also finds life in your promises.
You brought me back to health.
You let me live.
17 I’m sure it was for my benefit
that I suffered such great pain.
You love me. You kept me
from going down into the pit of death.
You have put all my sins
behind your back.
18 People in the grave can’t praise you.
Dead people can’t sing praise to you.
Those who go down to the grave
can’t hope for you to be faithful to them.
19 It is those who are alive who praise you.
And that’s what I’m doing today.
Parents tell their children
about how faithful you are.
20 “The Lord will save me.
So we will sing and play music on stringed instruments.
We will sing all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s temple.”
6 The gates of Jericho were shut tight and guarded closely because of the Israelites. No one went out. No one came in.
2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “I have handed Jericho over to you. I have also handed over to you its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all your fighting men. In fact, do it for six days. 4 Have seven priests get trumpets made out of rams’ horns. They must carry them in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. Tell the priests to blow the trumpets as you march. 5 You will hear them blow a long blast on the trumpets. When you do, tell the whole army to give a loud shout. The wall of the city will fall down. Then the whole army will march up to the city. Everyone will go straight in.”
6 So Joshua, the son of Nun, called for the priests. He said to them, “Go and get the ark of the covenant of the Lord. I want seven of you to carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 He gave an order to the army. He said, “Move out! March around the city. Some of the fighting men must march in front of the ark of the Lord.”
8 When Joshua had spoken to the men, the seven priests went forward. They were carrying the seven trumpets as they marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They were blowing the trumpets. The ark of the Lord’s covenant was carried behind the priests. 9 Some of the fighting men marched ahead of the priests who were blowing the trumpets. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all the priests. That whole time the priests were blowing the trumpets. 10 But Joshua had given an order to the army. He had said, “Don’t give a war cry. Don’t raise your voices. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests went and got the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets started out. They marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They blew the trumpets. Some of the fighting men marched ahead of them. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all of them. The priests kept blowing the trumpets. 14 On the second day they marched around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They did all those things for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at sunrise. They marched around the city, just as they had done before. But on that day they went around it seven times. 16 On the seventh time around, the priests blew a long blast on the trumpets. Then Joshua gave a command to the army. He said, “Shout! The Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and everything in it must be set apart to the Lord to be destroyed. But the prostitute Rahab and all those with her in her house must be spared. That’s because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the things that have been set apart to the Lord. If you take any of them, you will be destroyed. And you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel. You will cause it to be destroyed. 19 All the silver and gold is holy. It is set apart to the Lord. So are all the things made out of bronze and iron. All those things must be added to the treasures kept in the Lord’s house.”
20 The priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the army heard the sound, they gave a loud shout. Then the wall fell down. Everyone charged straight in. So they took the city. 21 They set it apart to the Lord to be destroyed. They destroyed every living thing in it with their swords. They killed men and women. They wiped out young people and old people. They destroyed cattle, sheep and donkeys.
29 The people of Israel had faith. So they passed through the Red Sea. They went through it as if it were dry land. The Egyptians tried to do it also. But they drowned.
30 Israel’s army had faith. So the walls of Jericho fell down. It happened after they had marched around the city for seven days.
31 Rahab, the prostitute, had faith. So she welcomed the spies. That’s why she wasn’t killed with those who didn’t obey God.
32 What more can I say? I don’t have time to tell about all the others. I don’t have time to talk about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah. I don’t have time to tell about David and Samuel and the prophets. 33 Because of their faith they took over kingdoms. They ruled fairly. They received the blessings God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions. 34 They put out great fires. They escaped being killed by swords. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became powerful in battle. They beat back armies from other countries. 35 Women received back their dead. The dead were raised to life again. There were others who were made to suffer greatly. But they refused to be set free. They did this so that after death they would be raised to an even better life. 36 Some were made fun of and even whipped. Some were held by chains. Some were put in prison. 37 Some were killed with stones. Some were sawed in two. Some were killed by swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats. They were poor. They were attacked. They were treated badly. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains. They lived in caves. They lived in holes in the ground.
39 All these people were praised because they had faith. But none of them received what God had promised. 40 That’s because God had planned something better for us. So they would only be made perfect together with us.
12 A huge cloud of witnesses is all around us. So let us throw off everything that stands in our way. Let us throw off any sin that holds on to us so tightly. And let us keep on running the race marked out for us. 2 Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the one who started this journey of faith. And he is the one who completes the journey of faith. He paid no attention to the shame of the cross. He suffered there because of the joy he was looking forward to. Then he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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