Reading With the People of God #15 Purpose

Name Above All

Adventure in Evangelism

What Is the Fear of the Lord?

Healing Family Relationships Through Boundaries

Becoming a Hero With Lisa Bevere

Celebrate

Mission Trip Checkup: On Mission

Living in the Tension: A Study on the "Now and Not Yet" Kingdom of God

Lift Others Up: 3 Days of Encouragement

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJOS">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="JOS.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="p"> 1Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.</div><div class="p"> 2Then the Lord said to Joshua, &#8220;See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams&#8217; horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, &#8220;Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.&#8221; 7And he ordered the army, &#8220;Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the Lord.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the Lord went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the Lord&#8217;s covenant followed them. 9The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10But Joshua had commanded the army, &#8220;Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!&#8221; 11So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.</div><div class="p"> 12Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. 13The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the Lord and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.</div><div class="p"> 15On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, &#8220;Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17The city and all that is in it are to be devoted#6:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 18 and 21. to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it&#8212;men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.</div><div class="p"> 22Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, &#8220;Go into the prostitute&#8217;s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.&#8221; 23So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 24Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord&#8217;s house. 25But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho&#8212;and she lives among the Israelites to this day.</div><div class="p"> 26At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: &#8220;Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;At the cost of his firstborn son</div><div class="q2">he will lay its foundations;</div><div class="q1">at the cost of his youngest</div><div class="q2">he will set up its gates.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJOS">
 <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="JOS.7">
 <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1">Achan&#8217;s Sin</div><div class="p"> 1But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things#7:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 11, 12, 13 and 15.; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,#7:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 2:6; Hebrew Zabdi; also in verses 17 and 18. the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord&#8217;s anger burned against Israel.</div><div class="p"> 2Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, &#8220;Go up and spy out the region.&#8221; So the men went up and spied out Ai.</div><div class="p"> 3When they returned to Joshua, they said, &#8220;Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.&#8221; 4So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.</div><div class="p"> 6Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same, and sprinkled dust on their heads. 7And Joshua said, &#8220;Alas, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The Lord said to Joshua, &#8220;Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, &#8216;Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;In the morning, present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. 15Whoever is caught with the devoted things shall be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. 17The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen. He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. 18Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was chosen.</div><div class="p"> 19Then Joshua said to Achan, &#8220;My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20Achan replied, &#8220;It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia,#7:21 Hebrew Shinar two hundred shekels#7:21 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,#7:21 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 24Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25Joshua said, &#8220;Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor#7:26 Achor means trouble. ever since.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJOS">
 <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="JOS.8">
 <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1">Ai Destroyed</div><div class="p"> 1Then the Lord said to Joshua, &#8220;Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night 4with these orders: &#8220;Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don&#8217;t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, &#8216;They are running away from us as they did before.&#8217; So when we flee from them, 7you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. See to it; you have my orders.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai&#8212;but Joshua spent that night with the people.</div><div class="p"> 10Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. 11The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13So the soldiers took up their positions&#8212;with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.</div><div class="p"> 14When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. 16All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 18Then the Lord said to Joshua, &#8220;Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.&#8221; So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. 19As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.</div><div class="p"> 20The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. 23But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.</div><div class="p"> 24When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25Twelve thousand men and women fell that day&#8212;all the people of Ai. 26For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed#8:26 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. all who lived in Ai. 27But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.</div><div class="p"> 28So Joshua burned Ai#8:28 Ai means the ruin. and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 29He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.</div><div class="s1">The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal</div><div class="p"> 30Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses&#8212;an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. 33All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 34Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law&#8212;the blessings and the curses&#8212;just as it is written in the Book of the Law. 35There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch48" data-usfm="PSA.48">
 <div class="label">48</div><div class="cl">Psalm 48#In Hebrew texts 48:1-14 is numbered 48:2-15.</div><div class="d">A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.</div><div class="q1"> 1Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,</div><div class="q2">in the city of our God, his holy mountain.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 2Beautiful in its loftiness,</div><div class="q2">the joy of the whole earth,</div><div class="q1">like the heights of Zaphon#48:2 Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites. is Mount Zion,</div><div class="q2">the city of the Great King.</div><div class="q1"> 3God is in her citadels;</div><div class="q2">he has shown himself to be her fortress.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 4When the kings joined forces,</div><div class="q2">when they advanced together,</div><div class="q1"> 5they saw her and were astounded;</div><div class="q2">they fled in terror.</div><div class="q1"> 6Trembling seized them there,</div><div class="q2">pain like that of a woman in labor.</div><div class="q1"> 7You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish</div><div class="q2">shattered by an east wind.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 8As we have heard,</div><div class="q2">so we have seen</div><div class="q1">in the city of the Lord Almighty,</div><div class="q2">in the city of our God:</div><div class="q1">God makes her secure</div><div class="q2">forever.#48:8 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 9Within your temple, O God,</div><div class="q2">we meditate on your unfailing love.</div><div class="q1"> 10Like your name, O God,</div><div class="q2">your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;</div><div class="q2">your right hand is filled with righteousness.</div><div class="q1"> 11Mount Zion rejoices,</div><div class="q2">the villages of Judah are glad</div><div class="q2">because of your judgments.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 12Walk about Zion, go around her,</div><div class="q2">count her towers,</div><div class="q1"> 13consider well her ramparts,</div><div class="q2">view her citadels,</div><div class="q1">that you may tell of them</div><div class="q2">to the next generation.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 14For this God is our God for ever and ever;</div><div class="q2">he will be our guide even to the end.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkACT">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="ACT.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">The Choosing of the Seven</div><div class="p"> 1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews#6:1 That is, Jews who had adopted the Greek language and culture among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, &#8220;It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.</div><div class="p"> 7So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.</div><div class="s1">Stephen Seized</div><div class="p"> 8Now Stephen, a man full of God&#8217;s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)&#8212;Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia&#8212;who began to argue with Stephen. 10But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.</div><div class="p"> 11Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, &#8220;We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13They produced false witnesses, who testified, &#8220;This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.</div>
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