JOSHUA 7:16-9:2
LUKE 16:1-18
PSALM 82:1-8
PROVERBS 13:2-3
JOSHUA 7:16-9:2
Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the LORD, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. 17 Then the clans of Judah came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came before the LORD, and the family of Zimri was singled out. 18 Every member of Zimri's family was brought forward person by person, and Achan was singled out. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, " My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don't hide it from me." 20 Achan replied, " I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. 21 For I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest." 22 So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. 23 They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the LORD.24 Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. 25 Then Joshua said to Achan, " Why have you brought trouble on us? The LORD will now bring trouble on you." And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. 26 They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble ever since. So the LORD was no longer angry. 8:1 THEN the LORD said to Joshua, " Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the entire army and attack Ai, for I have given to you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the captured goods and the cattle for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city." 3 So Joshua and the army of Israel set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand fighting men and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: " Hide in ambush close behind the city and be ready for action. 5 When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them. 6 We will let them chase us until they have all left the city. For they will say, ` The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.' 7 Then you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will give it to you. 8 Set the city on fire, as the LORD has commanded. You have your orders." 9 So they left that night and lay in ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night. 10 Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the leaders of Israel. 11 They camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the city. 12 That night Joshua sent five thousand men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. 13 So they stationed the main army north of the city and the ambush west of the city. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley. 14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurriedly went out early the next morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley. But he didn't realize there was an ambush behind the city. 15 Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten, 16 and all the men in the city were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the city. 17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the city was left wide open. 18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, " Point your spear toward Ai, for I will give you the city." Joshua did as he was commanded. 19 As soon as Joshua gave the signal, the men in ambush jumped up and poured into the city. They quickly captured it and set it on fire. 20 When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the city was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the city, they turned and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Then the Israelites who were inside the city came out and started killing the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in a trap, and all of them died. Not a single person survived or escaped. 23 Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua. 24 When the Israelite army finished killing all the men outside the city, they went back and finished off everyone inside. 25 So the entire population of Ai was wiped out that day--twelve thousand in all. 26 For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed. 27 Only the cattle and the treasures of the city were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these for themselves, as the LORD had commanded Joshua. 28 So Ai became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day. 29 Joshua hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body and threw it in front of the city gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal. 31 He followed the instructions that Moses the LORD's servant had written in the Book of the Law: " Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools." Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. 32 And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied the law of Moses onto the stones of the altar. 33 Then all the Israelites--foreigners and citizens alike--along with the leaders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood at the foot of Mount Gerizim, the other at the foot of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD's covenant. This was all done according to the instructions Moses, the servant of the LORD, had given for blessing the people of Israel.34 Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of the Law. 35 Every command Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among the Israelites. 9:1 NOW all the kings west of the Jordan heard about what had happened. (These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as the Lebanon mountains.) 2 These kings quickly combined their armies to fight against Joshua and the Israelites.
LUKE 16:1-18
Jesus told this story to his disciples: " A rich man hired a manager to handle his affairs, but soon a rumor went around that the manager was thoroughly dishonest. 2 So his employer called him in and said, ` What's this I hear about your stealing from me? Get your report in order, because you are going to be dismissed.' 3 " The manager thought to himself, ` Now what? I'm through here, and I don't have the strength to go out and dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg. 4 I know just the thing! And then I'll have plenty of friends to take care of me when I leave!' 5 " So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ` How much do you owe him?' 6 The man replied, ` I owe him eight hundred gallons of olive oil.' So the manager told him, ` Tear up that bill and write another one for four hundred gallons.' 7 " ` And how much do you owe my employer?' he asked the next man. ` A thousand bushels of wheat,' was the reply. ` Here,' the manager said, ` take your bill and replace it with one for only eight hundred bushels.'8 " The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more shrewd than the godly are. 9 I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. 10 " Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people's money, why should you be trusted with money of your own? 13 " No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." 14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, naturally scoffed at all this. 15 Then he said to them, " You like to look good in public, but God knows your evil hearts. What this world honors is an abomination in the sight of God. 16 " Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and eager multitudes are forcing their way in. 17 But that doesn't mean that the law has lost its force in even the smallest point. It is stronger and more permanent than heaven and earth. 18 " Anyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."
PSALM 82:1-8
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides over heaven's court;
he pronounces judgment on the judges:
2 " How long will your judges hand down unjust decisions?
How long will you shower special favors on the wicked?
Interlude
3 " Give fair judgment to the poor and the orphan;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
4 Rescue the poor and helpless;
deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
5 But these oppressors know nothing;
they are so ignorant!
And because they are in darkness,
the whole world is shaken to the core.
6 I say, ` You are gods
and children of the Most High.
7 But in death you are mere men.
You will fall as any prince,
for all must die.' "
8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to you.
PROVERBS 13:2-3
Good people enjoy the positive results of their words, but those who are treacherous crave violence. Those who control their tongue will have a long life; a quick retort can ruin everything.
