John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^athe Son of God.¹

2 ^bAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet,²

4 ^fJohn appeared, baptizing in ^gthe wilderness and proclaiming ^ha baptism of ⁱrepentance ^jfor the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^kconfessing their sins. 6 Now John was ^lclothed with camel’s hair and ^lwore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^mlocusts and ⁿwild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, ^o“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 ^pI have baptized you with water, but ^qhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Greeting

1 Paul, ^acalled ^bby the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those ^csanctified in Christ Jesus, ^dcalled to be saints together with all those who in every place ^ecall upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

3 ^dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

4 I ^fgive thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way ^gyou were enriched in him in all ^hspeech and all knowledge— 6 even as ⁱthe testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you ^jwait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 ^kwho will sustain you to the end, ^lguiltless ^min the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 ⁿGod is faithful, by whom you were called into the ^ofellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10 I appeal to you, brothers,¹ by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no ^pdivisions among you, but that you be united ^qin the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is ^rquarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that ^seach one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow ^tApollos,” or “I follow ^uCephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 ^vIs Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you ^wbaptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except ^xCrispus and ^yGaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also ^zthe household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and ^anot with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Give the King Your Justice

Of ^qSolomon.

God Commissions Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the ^aservant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ ^bassistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 ^cEvery place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 ^dFrom the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. 5 ^eNo man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just ^fas I was with Moses, so ^gI will be with you. ^hI will not leave you or forsake you. 6 ⁱBe strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and ^jvery courageous, being careful to do according to all the law ^kthat Moses my servant commanded you. ^lDo not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success¹ wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but ^myou shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? ⁿBe strong and courageous. ^oDo not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Assumes Command

10 And Joshua commanded the ^pofficers of the people, 11 “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for ^qwithin three days ^ryou are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’”

12 And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, 13 “Remember the word that ^sMoses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, 15 ^tuntil the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. ^uThen you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

16 And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God ^vbe with you, as he was with Moses! 18 Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. ^wOnly be strong and courageous.”

Rahab Hides the Spies

1 And Joshua the son of Nun ^xsent² 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 men³ 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.⁴ 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 said⁵ 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.”