Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Ascents

The Blessings of Fearing God

Instructions for Joshua

6 Meanwhile, Jericho was fortified inside and out because of the Israelis. Nobody could leave or enter.

² The Lord told Joshua, “Look! I have given Jericho over to your control,^[a] along with its kings and valiant soldiers. ³ March around the city, all the soldiers circling the city once. Do this for six days, ⁴ with seven priests carrying in front of the ark seven trumpets made from rams’ horns. On the seventh day march around the city seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. ⁵ When they sound a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then the entire army is to cry out loud, the city wall will collapse, and then all of the soldiers are to charge straight ahead.”

The Destruction of Jericho

⁶ So Nun’s son Joshua called for the priests. “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant,” he told them, “and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made from rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.”

⁷ He told the army, “Go out and encircle the city. Have the armed men march out in front of the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ And so, just as Joshua had commanded, seven of the priests went forward, carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns in the Lord’s presence, blowing the trumpets while the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them. ⁹ Armed men preceded the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and a rear guard followed the ark, while the trumpets continued to blow.

¹⁰ Joshua issued orders to the army: “You are not to shout or even let your voice be heard. Don’t utter a word until I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So the ark of the Lord was taken once around the city, then they went back to camp and spent the night there.^[b]

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests who carried the seven trumpets made from rams’ horns preceded the ark of the Lord, blowing their trumpets constantly. The armed men preceded them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets continued to blow. ¹⁴ On the second day they marched around the city once and then went back to camp. They did this for six days. ¹⁵ They rose early at dawn on the seventh day and marched around the city seven times, just as they had before, except that on that day only they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶ As they completed the seventh time, after the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua told the army, “Shout, because the Lord has given you the city!

²⁰ So the army shouted and the trumpets were blown again. As soon as the army heard the sound of the trumpets, they shouted loudly and the wall collapsed. The army charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.

Barnabas and Saul Travel to Cyprus

13 Now Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen, who grew up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me to do the work for which I called them.” ³ Then they fasted and prayed, laid their hands on them, and let them go. ⁴ After they had been sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ Arriving in Salamis, they began to preach God’s word in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John to help them.

⁶ They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish occult practitioner and false prophet named Bar-jesus. ⁷ He was associated with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the occult practitioner (that is the meaning of his name) continued to oppose them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, also known as^[a] Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye ¹⁰ and said, “You’re full of every form of deception and trickery, you son of the Devil, you enemy of all that is right! You’ll never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord, will you? ¹¹ The^[b] Lord is against you now, and you’ll be blind and unable to see the sun for a while!” At that moment a dark mist came over him, and he went around looking for someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he was astonished at the Lord’s teaching.