Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Conquest of Jericho

6 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. ² But the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with ^(A)its king and the valiant warriors. ³ And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. ⁴ Also seven priests shall carry seven ^(B)trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down ^[a]flat, and the people shall go up, everyone ^[b]straight ahead.”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ Then ^[c]he said to the people, “Go forward and march around the city, and the armed men shall go on ahead of the ark of the Lord.” ⁸ And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. ⁹ And the armed men went ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and ^(C)the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed from your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord ^[d]taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Now Joshua got up early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ Then ^(D)the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them, and ^(E)the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁴ So the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did the same for six days.

¹⁵ Then on the seventh day they got up early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day did they march around the city seven times. ¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “^(F)Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ But the city shall be ^(G)designated for ^[e]destruction, it and everything that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute ^[f]and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things designated for destruction, so that you do not covet them and ^(H)take some of the designated things, and turn the camp of Israel into something designated for destruction and bring disaster on it. ^19 (I)But all the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and ^[g]the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the ^(J)wall fell down ^[h]flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight ^[i]ahead, and they took the city. ^21 (K)They ^[j]utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²⁹ By faith they ^(A)passed through the Red Sea as through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were ^[a]drowned.

³⁰ By faith ^(B)the walls of Jericho fell down ^[b](C)after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days. ³¹ By faith the prostitute ^(D)Rahab did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies ^[c]in peace.

³² And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of ^(E)Gideon, ^(F)Barak, ^(G)Samson, ^(H)Jephthah, of ^(I)David and ^(J)Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who by faith ^(K)conquered kingdoms, ^(L)performed acts of righteousness, ^(M)obtained promises, ^(N)shut the mouths of lions, ^34 (O)quenched the power of fire, ^(P)escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, ^(Q)became mighty in war, ^(R)put foreign armies to flight. ^35 (S)Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their ^[d]release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others ^[e]experienced mocking and flogging, and further, ^(T)chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were ^(U)stoned, they were sawn in two, ^[f]they were tempted, they were ^(V)put to death with the sword; they went about ^(W)in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ^(X)tormented ³⁸ (people of whom the world was not worthy), ^(Y)wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes ^[g]in the ground.

³⁹ And all these, having ^(Z)gained approval through their faith, ^(AA)did not receive ^[h]what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had ^[i]provided ^(AB)something better for us, so that ^(AC)apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Jesus, the Example

12 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s ^(AD)rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s ^(AE)run with ^(AF)endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking only at Jesus, the ^[j](AG)originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him ^(AH)endured the cross, ^(AI)despising the shame, and has ^(AJ)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.