Rahab Hides the Spies

1 And Joshua the son of Nun ^xsent¹ two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of ^ya prostitute whose name was ^zRahab and lodged there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” 6 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 7 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan ^aas far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

8 Before the men² lay down, she came up to them on the roof 9 and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, ^band that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^cmelt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord ^ddried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^ewhat you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to ^fSihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.³ 11 And ^gas soon as we heard it, ^hour hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for ⁱthe Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and ^jgive me a sure sign 13 that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” 14 And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land ^kwe will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

15 Then she ^llet them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. 16 And she said⁴ to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” 17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 ^mBehold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, ⁿand you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, ^ohis blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you ^ptell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

22 They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 23 Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and ^qpassed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly ^rthe Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land ^smelt away because of us.”

Israel Crosses the Jordan

1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out ^tfrom Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 ^uAt the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by ^vthe Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. 4 ^wYet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits⁵ in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, ^x“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, ^y“Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to ^zexalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ^aas I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command ^bthe priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ^cyou shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that ^dthe living God is among you and that he will without fail ^edrive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^fthe Lord of all the earth^{6 g}is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore ^htake twelve men from the tribes of Israel, ⁱfrom each tribe a man. 13 And ^jwhen the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, ^fthe Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall ^kstand in one heap.”

14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing ^lthe ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and ^mthe feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now ⁿthe Jordan overflows all its banks ^othroughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside ^pZarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of ^qthe Arabah, ^rthe Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, ^sand all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan

1 When all the nation had finished passing ^tover the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 ^u“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take ^vtwelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place ^wwhere the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in ^xthe place where you lodge tonight.’” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. ^yWhen your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that ^zthe waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel ^aa memorial forever.”

8 And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down⁷ there. 9 And Joshua set up⁸ twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, ^bin the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. 10 For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

The people passed over in haste. 11 And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. 12 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh ^cpassed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. 13 About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14 On that day the Lord ^dexalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

15 And the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests bearing ^ethe ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, ^fas before.

19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at ^gGilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And ^hthose twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21 And he said to the people of Israel, ⁱ“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ^j‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, ^kwhich he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 ^lso that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is ^mmighty, that you may ⁿfear the Lord your God forever.”⁹

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.

1 ^w“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in ^xthe Hebrew language,¹ they became even more quiet. And he said:

3 ^y“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^zat the feet of ^aGamaliel^{2 b}according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, ^cbeing zealous for God ^das all of you are this day. 4 ^eI persecuted ^fthis Way ^gto the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as ^hthe high priest and ⁱthe whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to ^jthe brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 ^k“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^lJesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 ^mNow those who were with me saw the light but did not understand³ the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ⁿ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

12 “And ^oone Ananias, a devout man ^paccording to the law, ^qwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 ^rcame to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^sat that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ^t‘The God of our fathers ^uappointed you to know his will, ^vto see ^wthe Righteous One and ^xto hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for ^yyou will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^zyou have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? ^aRise and be baptized and ^bwash away your sins, ^ccalling on his name.’

17 ^d“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^ewas praying in the temple, I fell into ^fa trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ^g‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^hI imprisoned and ⁱbeat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen ^jyour witness was being shed, ^kI myself was standing by and ^lapproving and ^kwatching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^mfar away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ⁿ“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^ohe should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^pthe barracks, saying that he should be ^qexamined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips,⁴ Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^ra man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about ^sto examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^twas afraid, ^ufor he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^vhe had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

30 But on the next day, ^wdesiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.