Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for Victory
118 ·Thank [Praise] the Lord because he is good.
His ·love [loyalty] ·continues [endures] forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His ·love [loyalty] ·continues [endures] forever.”
14 The Lord ·gives me strength and a song [L is my strength and song/or might].
He has ·saved me [given me victory].
15 Shouts of joy and victory
come from the tents of ·those who do right [the righteous]:
“The right hand of the Lord has done powerful things.”
16 The ·power [L right hand] of the Lord ·has won the victory [is exalted];
with his ·power [L right hand] the Lord has done powerful things.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will ·tell [recount] what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has ·taught me a hard lesson [L surely disciplined/instructed me],
but he did not ·let me die [L give me over to death].
19 Open for me the ·Temple gates [L gates of righteousness].
Then I will come in and ·thank [praise] the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate;
only ·those who are good [the righteous] may enter through it [15; 24:3–6].
21 Lord, I ·thank [praise] you for answering me.
You have ·saved me [given me victory].
22 The stone that the builders rejected
became the chief cornerstone [Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:7].
23 ·The Lord did this [L This is from the Lord],
and it is wonderful ·to us [L in our eyes; Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10–11].
24 This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad ·today [L in it]!
16 During the fight the five kings ran away and hid in a cave ·near [at] Makkedah, 17 but someone found them hiding in the cave at Makkedah and told Joshua. 18 So he said, “·Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks [L Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave]. Put some men there to guard it, 19 but don’t stay there yourselves. Continue chasing the enemy and attacking them from behind. Don’t let them get to their cities, because the Lord your God will ·hand them over to you [L give them into your hand].”
20 So Joshua and the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·killed the enemy [L finished slaying them with a very great slaughter], but a ·few [remnant; few survivors] were able to get back to their strong, walled cities. 21 After the fighting, Joshua’s men came back safely to him at Makkedah. No one ·was brave enough to say a word against [or suffered even a scratch on his tongue; C the Hebrew idiom “sharpened/scratched his tongue” may mean to threaten with words or to suffer a minor injury] the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel].
22 Joshua said, “Move the ·rocks that are covering the opening [L mouth] of the cave and bring those five kings out to me.” 23 So Joshua’s men brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 24 When they brought the five kings out to Joshua, he called for all his men. He said to the commanders of his army, “Come here! Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came close and put their feet on their necks [C a gesture of triumph and dominance; 2 Sam. 22:41; Ps. 18:41].
25 Joshua said to his men, “Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid or ·discouraged [dismayed; 1:9; 8:1], because I will show you what the Lord will do to the enemies you will fight in the future.” 26 Then Joshua killed the five kings and hung their bodies on five trees [C an act of humiliation and shame; Deut. 21:23], where he left them until evening.
27 At sunset Joshua ·told [commanded] his men to take the bodies down from the trees. Then they threw them into the same cave where they had been hiding and covered the opening of the cave with large rocks, which are still there today.
6 Your ·bragging [boasting] is not good. You know the saying, “Just a little ·yeast [or leaven; C leaven is a small lump of fermented dough used to make a loaf rise, as yeast is today] makes the whole batch of dough rise [C yeast/leaven symbolizes the permeating influence of this man’s sin within the community; Gal. 5:9].” 7 ·Take out all [Cleanse; Purge] the old ·yeast [leaven] so that you will be a new batch of dough without ·yeast [leaven], which you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed [C Christ’s sacrificial death rescued us from spiritual death, just as the blood of the first Passover lambs rescued the children of Israel; Ex. 11—12]. 8 So let us celebrate this feast [C a new kind of Passover feast], but not with the bread that has the old ·yeast [leaven]—the ·yeast [leaven] of ·sin [evil; malice] and wickedness [C unleavened bread was used in the Passover celebration; Ex. 12:15; Deut. 16:3]. Let us celebrate this feast with the bread that has no ·yeast [leaven]—the bread of ·goodness [sincerity] and truth.
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