Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹ ¶ O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.

² Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has 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 lost in the wilderness, alone and out of the way; they found no city to dwell in.

⁵ Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in 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 of habitation.

³³ ¶ He turned rivers into a wilderness and the watersprings into dry ground;

³⁴ the fruitful land into salt flats, because of the wickedness of those that dwell therein.

³⁵ He turns the wilderness into reservoirs of water and dry ground into watersprings.

³⁶ And there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation

³⁷ and sow the fields and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of 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, men of the sons of Israel have come here this night to spy out the land.

³ Then the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that have come unto thee, who have entered into thy house; for they are come to spy out all the land.

⁴ And the woman had taken the two men and hidden them and said thus, It is true that some men came unto me, but I did not know where they came from.

⁵ And at the time of shutting the gate, when it was dark, these men went out, and I do not know where the men went; 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 among the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

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

⁸ ¶ And before they went to sleep, she came up unto them upon the roof;

⁹ and she said unto the men, I know that the LORD has given you this land because the fear of you has fallen upon us and 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 that were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

¹¹ Hearing this has melted our heart, neither has there remained any more spirit in any man because of you, for the LORD your God is God above in the heavens and in the earth beneath.

¹² Now, therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD since I have showed you mercy that ye will also do the same unto my father’s house, of which thou shalt give me a true sign,

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 do not declare this our business. And it shall be when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal with thee according to mercy and truth.

2 ¶ But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who covertly shall bring in destructive sects and shall deny the Lord that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed;

³ ¶ and in covetousness they shall make merchandise of you with feigned words, upon whom the condemnation from a long time ago does not delay, and their perdition does not sleep.