The Sun Stands Still
1 As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai and had devoted it to destruction,1 mdoing to Ai and its king nas he had done to Jericho and its king, and ohow the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 phe2 feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3 So Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, to Piram king of Jarmuth, to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon. For qit has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel.” 5 Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, rgathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it.
6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua sat the camp in Gilgal, saying, “Do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us.” 7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and tall the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8 And the Lord said to Joshua, u“Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. vNot a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. 10 wAnd the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who3 struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of xthe ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 And as they fled before Israel, while they were xgoing down the ascent of Beth-horon, ythe Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
12 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
z“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. 14 aThere has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for bthe Lord fought for Israel.
15 So cJoshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
Five Amorite Kings Executed
16 These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at dMakkedah. 17 And it was told to Joshua, “The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah.” 18 And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; eattack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” 20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow funtil they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. gNot a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.
22 Then Joshua said, “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave.” 23 And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. 24 And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. 25 And Joshua said to them, h“Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. iFor thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And jthey hung on the trees until evening. 27 But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and kthey took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.
28 As for lMakkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it, and its king, with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah mjust as he had done to the king of Jericho.
Conquest of Southern Canaan
29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to nLibnah and fought against Libnah. 30 And the Lord gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king mas he had done to the king of Jericho.
31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to oLachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. 32 And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah.
33 Then Horam king of pGezer came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people, until he left none remaining.
34 Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to qEglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. 35 And they captured it on that day, and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish.
36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to rHebron. And they fought against it 37 and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword, and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction and every person in it.
38 Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to sDebir and fought against it 39 and he captured it with its king and all its towns. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it; he left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debir and to its king.
40 So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland tand the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, ubut devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. 41 And Joshua struck them from vKadesh-barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of wGoshen, as far as Gibeon. 42 And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, xbecause the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. 43 yThen Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
1 mAnd he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 nand he sent them out to oproclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 pAnd he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, qno staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.1 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town rshake off the dust from your feet sas a testimony tagainst them.” 6 uAnd they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.
Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus
7 vNow wHerod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that xJohn had been raised from the dead, 8 xby some that Elijah had appeared, and xby others that one of the prophets of old had risen. 9 Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And yhe sought to see him.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
10 On their return zthe apostles told him all that they had done. aAnd he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he bwelcomed them and cspoke to them of the kingdom of God and ccured those who had need of healing. 12 Now dthe day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, e“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, f“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than gfive loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, hhe looked up to heaven and isaid a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
18 jNow it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, k“John the Baptist. But others say, lElijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, m“The Christ of God.”
Jesus Foretells His Death
21 nAnd he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 osaying, p“The Son of Man must qsuffer many things and rbe rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on sthe third day be raised.”
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him tdeny himself and utake up his cross vdaily and follow me. 24 For uwhoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 wFor what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For xwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ywhen he comes in zhis glory and the glory of the Father and of athe holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not btaste death cuntil they see the kingdom of God.”
The Transfiguration
28 dNow about eight days after these sayings he took with him ePeter and John and James and fwent up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was galtered, and hhis clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,2 which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him iwere heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake jthey saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ktents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—lnot knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, ma cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And ma voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, nmy Chosen One;3 olisten to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. pAnd they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit
37 qOn the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for rhe is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but sthey could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “O tfaithless and twisted generation, uhow long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus vrebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and wgave him back to his father. 43 And all were astonished at xthe majesty of God.
Jesus Again Foretells His Death
yBut while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus4 said zto his disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears: zThe Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” 45 aBut they did not understand this saying, and bit was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
Who Is the Greatest?
46 cAn argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48 and said to them, d“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and dwhoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ehe who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us
49 fJohn answered, “Master, we saw someone gcasting out demons in your name, and hwe tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ifor the one who is not against you is for you.”
A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus
51 When the days drew near for jhim to be taken up, khe set his face lto go to Jerusalem. 52 And mhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of nthe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But othe people did not receive him, because phis face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell qfire to come down from heaven and consume them?”5 55 But he turned and rebuked them.6 56 And they went on to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were going ralong the road, ssomeone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus7 said to him, “Leave tthe dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and uproclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, vbut let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, w“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
