Day 109 of 365

Josh 2:1–4:24

2:1 Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, and Jericho." They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.

2:2 The king of Jericho was told, "Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land."

2:3 The king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land."

2:4 The woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from.

2:5 It happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly; for you will overtake them."

2:6 But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.

2:7 The men pursued them the way to the Jordan to the fords: and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

2:8 Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof;

2:9 and she said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

2:10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

2:11 As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.

2:12 Now therefore, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token;

2:13 and that you will save alive my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters, and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death."

2:14 The men said to her, "Our life for yours, if you do not talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when the Lord gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."

2:15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall.

2:16 She said to them, "Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go your way."

2:17 The men said to her, "We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear.

2:18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by. You shall gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household.

2:19 It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him.

2:20 But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you have made us to swear."

2:21 She said, "According to your words, so be it." She sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet line in the window.

2:22 They went, and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but did not find them.

2:23 Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun; and they told him all that had happened to them.

2:24 They said to Joshua, "Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land. Moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us."

3:1 Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They lodged there before they passed over.

3:2 It happened after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp;

3:3 and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall move from your place, and follow it.

3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before."

3:5 Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

3:6 Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people." They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

3:7 The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

3:8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"

3:9 Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God."

3:10 Joshua said, "Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you.

3:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.

3:12 Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.

3:13 It shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap."

3:14 It happened, when the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,

3:15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),

3:16 that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over right against Jericho.

3:17 The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

4:1 It happened, when all the nation had completely passed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

4:2 "Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

4:3 and command them, saying, 'Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place, where you will lodge tonight.'"

4:4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

4:5 Joshua said to them, "Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;

4:6 that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do you mean by these stones?'

4:7 then you shall tell them, 'Because the 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. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.'"

4:8 The children of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

4:9 Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

4:10 For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and passed over.

4:11 It happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, with the priests, in the presence of the people.

4:12 The children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them.

4:13 About forty thousand men, ready and armed for war passed over before the Lord to battle, to the plains of Jericho.

4:14 On that day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

4:15 The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

4:16 "Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan."

4:17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, "Come up out of the Jordan!"

4:18 It happened, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.

4:19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.

4:20 Joshua set up those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, in Gilgal.

4:21 He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean?'

4:22 Then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

4:23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you had passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had passed over;

4:24 that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; that you may fear the Lord your God forever.'"

Luke 14:22–35

22 "The servant said, 'Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.'

23 "The lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.'"

25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,

26 "If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

27 Whoever does not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?

29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,

30 saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'

31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.

33 So therefore whoever of you who does not renounce all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.

34 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?

35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Prov 25:1–8

1 These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

4 Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner;

5 Take away the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

6 Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

7 for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.

8 Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?