Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

107 O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.

² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

³ and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

⁴ They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

⁵ Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.

⁶ Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷ And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for habitation.

³³ He turneth rivers into a wilderness and the watersprings into dry ground,

³⁴ a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

³⁵ He turneth the wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into watersprings;

³⁶ and there He maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation,

³⁷ and sow the fields and plant vineyards, which may yield fruitful increase.

2 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, even Jericho.” And they went and came into a harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

² And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country.”

³ And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, “Bring forth the men who have come to thee, who have entered into thine house, for they have come to search out all the country.”

⁴ And the woman took the two men and hid them, and said thus, “There came men unto me, but I knew not from whence they came.

⁵ And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Whither the men went I know not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them.”

⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them with the stalks of flax which she had laid in order upon the roof.

⁷ And the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan unto the fords; and as soon as those who pursued after them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸ And before they lay down, she came up unto them upon the roof,

⁹ and she said unto the men, “I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when ye came out of Egypt, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

¹¹ And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

¹² Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token,

¹³ and that ye will save alive my father and my mother, and my brethren and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

¹⁴ And the men answered her, “Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.”

2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evilly spoken of.

³ And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you — they whose judgment now for a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.