Israel Defeated at Ai

1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for ^aAchan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^bBeth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And ^cthey fled before the men of Ai, 5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people ^dmelted and became as water.

6 Then Joshua ^etore his clothes and ^ffell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put ^gdust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, ^hwhy have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and ⁱcut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have ^jtransgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ^kdevoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 ^lTherefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ^mturn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ⁿdevoted for destruction.¹ I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ^othe devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ^p‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near ^qby your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 ^rAnd he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ^stransgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done ^tan outrageous thing in Israel.’”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the ^uZerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ^vgive glory to the Lord God of Israel and ^wgive praise² to him. And ^xtell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly ^yI have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,³ then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the ^zValley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you ^abring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel ^bstoned him with stones. ^cThey burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him ^da great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then ^ethe Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.⁴

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one ^aof the priests who were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of ^cJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in ^dthe thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of ^eJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and ^funtil the end of the eleventh year of ^gZedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^huntil the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Call of Jeremiah

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^lI do not know how to speak, ^mfor I am only a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,

9 ^qThen the Lord put out his hand and ^rtouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^u“Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond¹ branch.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see ^va boiling pot, facing away ^wfrom the north.” 14 Then the Lord said to me, ^w“Out of the north disaster² shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, ^xI am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, ^yand they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And ^zI will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil ^ain forsaking me. ^bThey have made offerings to other gods and ^cworshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, ^ddress yourself for work;³ arise, and ^esay to them everything that I command you. ^fDo not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, I make you this day ^ga fortified city, ^han iron pillar, and ⁱbronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 ⁱThey will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for ^jI am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

Traditions and Commandments

1 ^eThen Pharisees and ^fscribes came to Jesus ^ffrom Jerusalem and said, 2 ^g“Why do your disciples break ^hthe tradition of the elders? ^jFor they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ^k‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ^l‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”¹ 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have ^mmade void the word² of God. 7 ⁿYou hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

What Defiles a Person

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, ^q“Hear and understand: 11 ^rit is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were ^soffended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, ^t“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted ^uwill be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; ^vthey are blind guides.³ And ^wif the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, ^x“Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, ^y“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that ^zwhatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?⁴ 18 But ^awhat comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come ^bevil thoughts, ^cmurder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, ^dslander. 20 ^eThese are what defile a person. But ^fto eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21 ^gAnd Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, ^ha Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, ⁱ“Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, ^j“Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, ^k“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and ^lknelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and ^mthrow it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat ⁿthe crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, ^ogreat is your faith! ^pBe it done for you as you desire.” ^qAnd her daughter was ^phealed instantly.⁵

Jesus Heals Many

29 ^rJesus went on from there and walked ^sbeside the Sea of Galilee. And he ^twent up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them ^uthe lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, 31 ^vso that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, ^wthe crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And ^xthey glorified ^ythe God of Israel.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

32 ^zThen Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ^a“I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, ^b“Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and ^chaving given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And ^dthey all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of ^eMagadan.