Old/New Testament

Rocks to Remind the People

4 All the people finished crossing the Jordan. Then the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose 12 men from among the people. Choose 1 from each tribe. ³ Tell the men to get 12 large rocks from the middle of the river. Take them from where the priests stood. Carry the rocks and put them down where you stay tonight.”

⁴ So Joshua chose 1 man from each tribe. Then he called the 12 men together. ⁵ He said to them, “Go out into the river where the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God is. Each of you should find 1 large rock. There will be 1 rock for each tribe of Israel. Carry the rock on your shoulder. ⁶ They will be a sign among you. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ ⁷ Tell them the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan. When the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord crossed the river, the water was stopped. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever.”

⁸ So the Israelites obeyed Joshua. They carried 12 rocks from the middle of the Jordan River. There was 1 rock for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. They did this the way the Lord had commanded Joshua. They carried the rocks with them. And they put them down where they made their camp. ⁹ Joshua also put 12 rocks in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them where the priests had stood while carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. These rocks are still there today.

¹⁰ The Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people what to do. It was what Moses had said Joshua must do. So the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant continued standing in the middle of the river until everything was done. And the people hurried across the river. ¹¹ The people finished crossing the river. Then the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to the other side. As they carried it, the people watched. ¹² The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh obeyed what Moses had told them. They were prepared for war. So they crossed the river ahead of the other people. ¹³ About 40,000 soldiers were prepared for war. They passed before the Lord as they marched across the river. Then they went toward the plains of Jericho to go to war.

¹⁴ That day the Lord made Joshua a great man to all the Israelites. They respected Joshua all his life, just as they had respected Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. ¹⁶ He said, “Command the priests to bring the Ark of the Covenant out of the river.”

¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁸ So the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord out of the river. As soon as their feet touched dry land, the water began flowing again. The river again overflowed its banks. It was just as it had been before they crossed.

¹⁹ The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. ²⁰ They carried with them the 12 rocks taken from the Jordan. And Joshua set them up at Gilgal. ²¹ Then he spoke to the Israelites. He said, “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ ²² Tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land. ²³ The Lord your God caused the water to stop flowing. The river was dry until the people finished crossing it. The Lord did the same thing for us at the Jordan that he did for the people at the Red Sea. Remember that he stopped the water at the Red Sea so we could cross. ²⁴ The Lord did this so all people would know he has great power. Then they will always respect the Lord your God.’”

5 So the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites had crossed it. Now all the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan heard about it. And the Canaanite kings living by the Mediterranean Sea heard about it. They were very scared. After that they were too afraid to face the Israelites.

The Israelites Are Circumcised

² At that time the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Make knives from flint stones. Circumcise the Israelites again.” ³ So Joshua made knives from flint stones. Then he circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

⁴ This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men old enough to serve in the army died. They died in the desert on the way out of Egypt. ⁵ The men who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised. But many were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt. They had not been circumcised. ⁶ The Israelites had moved about in the desert for 40 years. During that time all the fighting men who had left Egypt had died. This was because they had not obeyed the Lord. So the Lord swore they would not see the land. This was the land he had promised their ancestors to give them. It was a land where much food grows. ⁷ So their sons took their places. But none of the sons born on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them. ⁸ After all the Israelites had been circumcised, they stayed in camp until they were healed.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “As slaves in Egypt you were ashamed. But today I have removed that shame.” So Joshua named that place Gilgal. And it is still named Gilgal today.

¹⁰ The people of Israel were still camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho. It was there, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, they celebrated the Passover Feast. ¹¹ The next day after the Passover, the people ate some of the food grown on that land: bread made without yeast and roasted grain. ¹² The day they ate this food, the manna stopped coming. The Israelites no longer got the manna from heaven. They ate the food grown in the land of Canaan that year.

¹³ Joshua was near Jericho. He looked up and saw a man standing in front of him. The man had a sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Are you a friend or an enemy?”

¹⁴ The man answered, “I am neither one. I have come as the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Then Joshua bowed facedown on the ground. He asked, “Does my master have a command for me, his servant?”

¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army answered, “Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did.

The Fall of Jericho

6 Now the people of Jericho were afraid because the Israelites were near. So they closed the city gates and guarded them. No one went into the city. And no one came out.

² Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Look, I have given you Jericho, its king and all its fighting men. ³ March around the city with your army one time every day. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets made from horns of male sheep. Tell them to march in front of the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day march around the city seven times. On that day tell the priests to blow the trumpets as they march. ⁵ They will make one long blast on the trumpets. When you hear that sound, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the walls of the city will fall. And the people will go straight into the city.”

⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together. He said to them, “Carry the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. Tell seven priests to carry trumpets and march in front of it.” ⁷ Then Joshua ordered the people, “Now go! March around the city. The soldiers with weapons should march in front of the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord.”

⁸ So Joshua finished speaking to the people. Then the seven priests began marching before the Lord. They carried the seven trumpets and blew them as they marched. The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord followed them. ⁹ The soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests. And armed men walked behind the Ark of the Covenant. They were blowing their trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, “Don’t shout. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you. Then shout!” ¹¹ So Joshua had the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord carried around the city one time. Then they went back to camp for the night.

¹² Early the next morning Joshua got up. And the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord again. ¹³ The seven priests carried the seven trumpets. They marched in front of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, blowing their trumpets. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of them. Other soldiers walked behind the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. All this time the priests were blowing their trumpets. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city one time. Then they went back to camp. They did this every day for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up at dawn. They marched around the city seven times. They marched just as they had on the days before. But on that day they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord has given you this city! ¹⁷ The city and everything in it are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house should remain alive. They must not be killed. This is because Rahab hid the two spies we sent out. ¹⁸ Don’t take any of the things that are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. If you take them and bring them into our camp, then you yourselves will be destroyed. You will also bring trouble to all of Israel. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and things made from bronze and iron belong to the Lord. They must be saved for him.”

²⁰ When the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the people’s shout, the walls fell. And everyone ran straight into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city. ²¹ They completely destroyed every living thing in the city. They killed men and women, young and old. They killed cattle, sheep and donkeys.

²² Joshua spoke to the two men who had spied out the land. Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house. Bring her out. And bring out all the people who are with her. Do this because of the promise you made to her.” ²³ So the two men went into the house and brought out Rahab. They also brought out her father, mother, brothers and all those with her. They put all of her family in a safe place outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Then Israel burned the whole city and everything in it. But they did not burn the things made from silver, gold, bronze and iron. These were saved for the Lord. ²⁵ Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her family and all who were with her. He let them live. This was because Rahab had helped the men he had sent to spy out Jericho. Rahab still lives among the Israelites today.

²⁶ Then Joshua made this important promise. He said:

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua. And Joshua became famous through all the land.

Luke Writes About Jesus’ Life

1 To Theophilus:

Many have tried to give a history of the things that happened among us. ² They have written the same things that we learned from others—the people who saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message. ³ I myself studied everything carefully from the beginning, your Excellency.^[a] I thought I should write it out for you. So I put it in order in a book. ⁴ I write these things so that you can know that what you have been taught is true.

Zechariah and Elizabeth

⁵ During the time Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to Abijah’s group.^[b] Zechariah’s wife came from the family of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ Zechariah and Elizabeth truly did what God said was good. They did everything the Lord commanded and told people to do. They were without fault in keeping his law. ⁷ But Zechariah and Elizabeth had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby; and both of them were very old.

⁸ Zechariah was serving as a priest before God for his group. It was his group’s time to serve. ⁹ According to the custom of the priests, he was chosen to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ There were a great many people outside praying at the time the incense was offered. ¹¹ Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah. ¹² When he saw the angel, Zechariah was confused and frightened. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son. You will name him John. ¹⁴ You will be very happy. Many people will be happy because of his birth. ¹⁵ John will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even at the time John is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ He will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ He himself will go first before the Lord. John will be powerful in spirit like Elijah. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will bring those who are not obeying God back to the right way of thinking. He will make people ready for the coming of the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too.”

¹⁹ The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand before God. God sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But these things will really happen.”