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3 Some Hivite people who lived in Gibeon heard how Joshua had won against Jericho and Ai. 4 So they had a clever idea. Some men took old bags of food and broken bags of wine that had holes in them. They put these things on their donkeys. 5 They wore old shoes on their feet, and they dressed themselves in old clothes. They took some bread that was old and dry. 6 They arrived at the tents of the Israelites in Gilgal. They said to Joshua and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a land that is very far away. Please let us make an agreement that we will not fight each other.’
7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you live near to us. So we could not make a promise not to fight against you.’
8 The Hivites said to Joshua, ‘If you agree, we will become your servants.’
Joshua asked them, ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’
9 They answered, ‘We, your servants, have come from a country that is very far away. We heard about the Lord, who is your God. We have heard about all the things that he did in Egypt. 10 We also heard what he did to the two kings of the Amorites. They ruled cities east of the Jordan: Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 Our leaders and all our people told us to come to meet you. Our leaders said, “Take food and drink for your journey. Go to meet them, and say to them, ‘We want to be your servants. Please promise not to fight against us.’ ” 12 We have come a very long way. This bread was warm when we put it in our bags on the day that we left home. But see how hard and dry it has become. 13 These bags of wine were new, but see how old and spoiled they are now. Our clothes and our shoes have become old as we made our long journey.’
14 The Israelite men tasted some of the Gibeonites' food, but they did not ask the Lord what they should do. 15 So Joshua agreed that they would not kill the people of Gibeon. The Israelite leaders also said that they would obey this agreement.
16 Three days after they made this agreement, the Israelites discovered that the Gibeonites lived near to them. 17 So the Israelites left Gilgal to find the cities where the Hivites lived. After three days they arrived at their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-Jearim. 18 The Israelites did not attack them, because of the promise that their leaders had made. They had made a strong promise in the name of the Lord God of Israel that they would not kill the Gibeonites.
The Israelite people were angry with their leaders, because of the agreement. 19 But all the leaders said to them, ‘We have made a strong promise to the Lord, Israel's God. So now we cannot hurt the Gibeonites. 20 But this is what we will do. We will let them live, because we made a strong promise to do that. Then God will not punish us. 21 We will let them live, but they will become our servants. They will cut wood and they will fetch water for all the Israelite people.’ That is what the Israelite leaders decided to do.
22 Joshua called the Gibeonites to come to him. He asked them, ‘Why did you deceive us like that? You said that you lived far away from us. But you really live near to us. 23 Because you told lies to us, you will always have to be our servants. You will cut wood and you will fetch water to serve our God.’
24 The Gibeonites said to Joshua, ‘We heard about the command that the Lord your God had given to his servant, Moses. We know that he told Moses to take the whole of our land for you to live in. We know that you must kill all the people who live there now. Because of that, we were very afraid that you would kill us. That is why we did what we did. 25 Now we are under your power. You must decide what to do with us. Do whatever you think is right and good.’
26 So Joshua agreed. He did not let the Israelites kill the Gibeonites. 27 Instead, they made the Gibeonites cut wood and fetch water, as servants for the Israelite people. They would also do this for the priests who served the Lord at his altar. They are still doing this, at the place that the Lord has chosen for his altar.
The Amorite kings
10 The king of Jerusalem was called Adoni-Zedek. He heard how Joshua had taken Ai city, as he had also taken Jericho city. He heard that Joshua had destroyed those cities and their kings. He also heard that the Israelites had made an agreement with the Gibeonites. They promised that they would not attack the Gibeonites. He knew that the Gibeonites now lived among the Israelites.
2 The king and the people of Jerusalem were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city. It was bigger than Ai, like a city with a king. All its men were brave soldiers. 3 So King Adoni-Zedek asked some other kings to join with him to attack Gibeon. They were Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish and Debir, king of Eglon. 4 Adoni-Zedek said to them, ‘The Gibeonites have made an agreement with Joshua and the Israelites not to fight them. So please come and help me to attack Gibeon.’
5 So the five Amorite kings with their armies met together. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. They put their soldiers near Gibeon city, and they began to attack it.
6 The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua at Gilgal. They said, ‘Please sir, do not refuse to help us! Come quickly and save us. All the Amorite kings from the hills have joined together to attack us.’
7 So Joshua took his whole army and they marched up from Gilgal. He had all his best soldiers with him. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them. I will cause you to win against their armies. They will not be strong enough to fight against you.’
9 The Israelite soldiers marched all night from Gilgal. When they reached Gibeon, they quickly attacked the Amorite armies by surprise. 10 The Lord caused the Amorites to become confused when they saw the Israelite army. So the Israelites won a great battle there at Gibeon. They chased their enemies along the road to Beth Horon. They continued to kill the Amorite soldiers as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As the Amorites ran down the hill from Beth Horon, the Lord sent large stones of hail down from the sky. The hail killed them all the way to Azekah. More of the Amorite soldiers died because of the heavy stones of hail, than because the Israelite soldiers killed them.
12 So the Lord caused the Israelites to win the fight against the Amorites. After the battle that day, Joshua stood in front of Israel and he prayed to the Lord. He said,
‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon city.
Moon, stand still over Aijalon valley.’
13 So the sun stood still and the moon stopped moving across the sky. They stayed still while the Israelites punished their enemies. People wrote about this in the Scroll of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky. It did not go down for about a whole day. 14 A day like that had never happened before, and it has not happened since then. The Lord answered the prayer of a man in such a great way! The Lord himself was fighting the battle on behalf of the Israelites!
15 Then Joshua and all the Israelite army went back to their tents at Gilgal.
The Israelites kill the five Amorite kings
16 The five kings had run away from the Israelite soldiers. They had hidden in a cave at Makkedah. 17 Joshua heard that they were hiding there. 18 He said to his men, ‘Take some big stones and cover the front of the cave. Put some men there to watch the cave.[a] 19 But you must continue to chase after your enemies. Do not stop now! Catch them! Do not let them reach their cities where they will be safe. Remember that the Lord your God has caused you to win against them.’
20 So Joshua and the Israelites destroyed nearly all the Amorite armies. But a few of the Amorites escaped and they reached their strong cities. 21 Then the whole Israelite army returned to Joshua at Makkedah. All the people in the land were too afraid to speak against the Israelites.
22 Then Joshua said to his men, ‘Take away the stones to open the cave where the five kings are. Bring them out here to me.’ 23 So they brought the five kings to Joshua. They were the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. 24 When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he called the men of Israel to meet there. He said to the officers of his army, ‘Put your feet on the necks of these kings.’ They did as he told them.
25 Joshua said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Be very strong and brave. Look at these kings! This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies that you will fight against.’ 26 Then Joshua killed the five kings with his sword. He hung their bodies on five trees. They remained there until evening time.
27 At sunset, Joshua told his men to take the kings down from the trees. They threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. They put big stones over the front of the cave. The stones are still there today.
Joshua attacks other cities[b]
28 That day, Joshua attacked Makkedah city. He took it, together with its king. He destroyed everyone who lived in it. He did not leave anyone alive. He did the same thing to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
29 After that, Joshua and his army marched from Makkedah to Libnah. They attacked Libnah city. 30 The Lord gave them power over that city and its king. Joshua destroyed the city and everyone who lived in it. He did not leave anyone alive. They did the same thing to Libnah's king as they had done to the king of Jericho.
31 After this, Joshua and all the Israelite army marched from Libnah to Lachish. They attacked Lachish city from all sides. 32 The Lord gave them power over the city. They fought for two days and then they took the city. They killed everyone who lived in it, as they had done at Libnah. 33 Then Horam, king of Gezer, came to help the people of Lachish. But Joshua's army fought against him and his army. He killed them all, with nobody left alive.
34 Then Joshua and his army marched from Lachish to Eglon. They attacked Eglon city from all sides. 35 They took it on the same day. They killed everyone who lived in that city, as they had done at Lachish.
36 After this, Joshua and all the Israelite army marched up from Eglon to Hebron. They attacked Hebron city. 37 They took the city and they killed its king. They killed all the people who lived there, and the people in the towns near to it. They destroyed the whole city, as they had done at Eglon. They did not leave anyone alive.
38 Then Joshua and his army turned round and they marched to Debir. They attacked Debir city. 39 They took the city, its king and all the towns near to it. They killed everyone who lived there. They did the same thing to Debir and its king as they had done to Hebron, and to Libnah and its king.
40 In that way, Joshua took the whole land and all the kings who ruled there. He took the hill country, the Negev in the south, the low hills in the west and the mountains in the east. He killed all the people who lived there. He did not leave anyone alive. The Lord God of Israel had told him to do this. 41 Joshua took the whole region, from Kadesh-Barnea in the south to Gaza near the sea. This included all of Goshen, as far as Gibeon in the north. 42 Joshua won all these battles in one long fight. He won against all these kings and their lands. He won because the Lord, Israel's God, was fighting on Israel's behalf.
43 After this, Joshua and all Israel's army went back to their tents at Gilgal.
Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a poor man
19 Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. This rich man ate big meals every day. 20 There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay outside the gate of the rich man. 21 He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body. 22 Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. 23 He went to Hades, the place for dead people. He was in a lot of pain there. He saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. 24 So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”
25 Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus, and you are in pain. 26 But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can cross from here to where you are. And nobody can cross from where you are to come here.”
27 The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. 28 I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”
29 Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”[a]
30 The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”
31 But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’[b]
17 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Some bad things in this world will make other people do wrong things. You can be sure about that. But God will punish anyone who makes these bad things happen. 2 These other people may not seem to be important.[c] But you must not make them do wrong things. Do not do that! It would be better if someone tied a big stone round your neck, and then he threw you into the sea.[d]
3 Be careful how you live. If your Christian brother does something wrong, speak to him. Tell him that he has done a bad thing. He may say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he says that, you must forgive him. 4 Your brother may do a bad thing to you seven times in one day. He may turn to you each time and say, “I am sorry for what I did. I will not do it again.” If he does that, you must forgive him every time.’
5 The apostles said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Help us to believe more and more in God.’
6 The Lord replied, ‘You may believe in God only a very little bit, like a very small seed. Even if you only believe that little bit, you could say to this tree, “Pull yourself out of the ground and plant yourself in the sea.” Then the tree would obey you.
7 Think about this. You may have a servant that is ploughing your land. Or you may have a servant that is taking care of your sheep. When he comes in from his work in the evening, you would not say to him, “Sit down and eat.” 8 No, you would not say that. You would say to your servant, “Prepare my meal for me. Dress yourself properly and bring the food to me. I will eat and drink first. You can eat when I have finished.” 9 Servants should do what their masters tell them to do. When they do that, their masters do not need to thank them. 10 It is the same with you. The Master tells you what you should do. So when you have done all of it, you should say, “We are not special servants. We have only done what we should do.” ’
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote.
Israel's enemies
83 God, do not continue to be silent!
Do not remain quiet.
Please do something!
2 Look! Your enemies are causing trouble.
The people who hate you are ready to attack.
3 They decide carefully how they will attack your people.
They want to hurt the people that you love.
4 They say, ‘Come now! We will destroy them.
They will no longer be a nation.
Nobody will remember the name of Israel any more.’
5 They agree together what they will do.
They join one another to fight against you.
6 Those enemies are Edomites and Ishmaelites,
Moabites and Hagrites.
7 They also come from Gebal, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia and Tyre.
8 Even the Assyrian army has joined with them.
They have given strength to Lot's descendants,
the Moabites and the Ammonites.
Selah.
9 God, punish them as you punished Midian.
Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon.[a]
10 You destroyed them at Endor.
Their bodies remained on the ground, like dirt.
11 Do to their leaders
what you did to Oreb and Zeeb.
Let their rulers die,
like Zebah and Zalmunna.[b]
12 Those people said,
‘Let us take God's valuable country for ourselves!’
13 God, blow them away like dust,
like chaff that blows away in the wind!
14 Go after them,
like a fire that burns both forest and mountains.
15 Chase them away with your storms.
Frighten them with your strong winds.
16 Cause them to be very ashamed, Lord,
so that they might turn to you.
17 May they always be ashamed and frightened.
Let them die with shame![c]
18 Then they will understand that you are the Lord.
They will know that you are the Most High God
who rules over all the earth.
4 A lazy person always wants to have more, but he will not get it.
If a person works hard, he will have more than he needs.
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