Day 109 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 69:1–12

¹Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck. ²I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me. ³I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. ⁴Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me— my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay. ⁵You know my folly, O God, and my guilt is not hidden from You. ⁶May those who hope in You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of Hosts; may those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel. ⁷For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face. ⁸I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons, ⁹because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me. ¹⁰I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach. ¹¹I made sackcloth my clothing, and I was sport to them. ¹²Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.

New Testament·Luke 12:44–59

⁴⁴Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows. ⁴⁸But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded. ⁴⁹I have come to ignite a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵²From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” ⁵⁴Then Jesus said to the crowds, “As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and that is what happens. ⁵⁵And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be hot,’ and it is. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you know how to interpret the present time? ⁵⁷And why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸Make every effort to reconcile with your adversary while you are on your way to the magistrate. Otherwise, he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and the officer may throw you into prison. ⁵⁹I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

Old Testament·Joshua 1–3

¹Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ²“Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. ³I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses. ⁴Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—and west as far as the Great Sea. ⁵No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶Be strong and courageous, for you shall give these people the inheritance of the land that I swore to their fathers I would give them. ⁷Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go. ⁸This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do. ⁹Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” ¹⁰Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: ¹¹“Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’” ¹²But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, ¹³“Remember what Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and He will give you this land.’ ¹⁴Your wives, your young children, and your livestock may remain in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But all your mighty men of valor must be armed for battle to cross over ahead of your brothers and help them, ¹⁵until the LORD gives them rest as He has done for you, and your brothers also possess the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan.” ¹⁶So they answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. ¹⁷Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. And may the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. ¹⁸Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words, all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”

2Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. ²And it was reported to the king of Jericho: “Behold, some men of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.” ³So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.” ⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from. ⁵At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!” ⁶(But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.) ⁷So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut. ⁸Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof ⁹and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction. ¹¹When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. ¹²Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will deliver us from death.” ¹⁴“Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land.” ¹⁵Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city. ¹⁶“Go to the hill country,” she said, “so that your pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there for three days until they have returned; then go on your way.” ¹⁷The men said to her, “We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear ¹⁸unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother and brothers and all your family into your house. ¹⁹If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads. ²⁰And if you report our mission, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.” ²¹“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. And when they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord in the window. ²²So the spies went out into the hill country and stayed there three days, until their pursuers had returned without finding them, having searched all along the road. ²³Then the two men started back, came down from the hill country, and crossed the river. So they came to Joshua son of Nun and reported all that had happened to them. ²⁴“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”

3Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. ²After three days the officers went through the camp ³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it. ⁴But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.” ⁵Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” ⁶And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them. ⁷Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. ⁸Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’” ⁹So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” ¹⁰He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. ¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹²Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.” ¹⁴So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them. ¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.