Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.

A Song of ^[a]Ascents.

The Conquest of Jericho

6 Now Jericho [a fortified city with high walls] was tightly closed because [of the people’s fear] of the sons of Israel; no one went out or came in. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty warriors. ³ Now you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do this [once each day] for six days. ⁴ Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets [made] of rams’ horns ahead of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall cry out with a great shout (battle cry); and the wall of the city will fall down in its place, and the people shall go up, each man [going] straight ahead [climbing over the rubble].”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called for the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ He said to the people, “Go forward! March around the city, and let the armed men go 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 made of rams’ horns went on before the Lord and blew the trumpets; then the ark of the covenant of the Lord went behind them. ⁹ The armed men went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout [the battle cry] nor let your voice be heard nor let a word come out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout!” ¹¹ So Joshua had the ark of the Lord taken around the city [on the first day], circling it once; then they came back into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Then Joshua got up early in the morning [on the second day], and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord went on continually, blowing the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁴ On the second day they marched around the city once, and returned to the camp; they did this for six days.

¹⁵ Then on the seventh day they got up early at daybreak and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day they marched around the city ^[a]seven times. ¹⁶ And the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.

²⁰ So the people shouted [the battle cry], and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, they raised a great shout and the wall [of Jericho] fell down, so that the sons of Israel went up into the city, every man straight ahead [climbing over the rubble], and they overthrew the city.

First Missionary Journey

13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets [who spoke a new message of God to the people] and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called ^[a]Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with ^[b]Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].

⁴ So then, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When Barnabas and Saul arrived at Salamis, they began to preach the word of God [proclaiming the message of eternal salvation through faith in Christ] in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John [Mark] as their assistant. ⁶ When they had traveled through the entire island [of Cyprus] as far as Paphos, they found a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was [closely associated] with the ^[c]proconsul [of the province], Sergius Paulus, an intelligent and sensible man. He called for Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ]. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from accepting the faith. ⁹ But ^[d]Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him, looked steadily at Elymas, ¹⁰ and said, “^[e]You [Elymas] who are full of every [kind of] deceit, and every [kind of] fraud, you son of the devil, enemy of everything that is right and good, will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?^{(A) 11 [f]}Now, watch! The hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, [so blind that you will be] unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he groped around, seeking people to lead him by the hand. ¹² The proconsul believed [the message of salvation] when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching concerning the Lord.