Joshua 9, Psalm 140, 141, Jeremiah 3, Matthew 17

Joshua 9,

1 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things-those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)-
 
2 they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.
 
3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
 
4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
 
5 The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy.
 
6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us."
 
7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?"
 
8 "We are your servants," they said to Joshua. But Joshua asked, "Who are you and where do you come from?"
 
9 They answered: "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt,
 
10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan-Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.
 
11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, 'Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; make a treaty with us." '
 
12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is.
 
13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey."
 
14 The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD.
 
15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.
 
16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them.
 
17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim.
 
18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders,
 
19 but all the leaders answered, "We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now.
 
20 This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them."
 
21 They continued, "Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community." So the leaders' promise to them was kept.
 
22 Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, "Why did you deceive us by saying, 'We live a long way from you,' while actually you live near us?
 
23 You are now under a curse: You will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God."
 
24 They answered Joshua, "Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this.
 
25 We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you."
 
26 So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them.
 
27 That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the LORD at the place the LORD would choose. And that is what they are to this day.

Psalm 140, 141,

1 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; protect me from men of violence,
 
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.
 
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips. Selah
 
4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet.
 
5 Proud men have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. Selah
 
6 O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God." Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy.
 
7 O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle-
 
8 do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah
 
9 Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.
 
10 Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.
 
11 Let slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down men of violence.
 
12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
 
13 Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you.

1 O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you.
 
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
 
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
 
4 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.
 
5 Let a righteous man strike me-it is a kindness; let him rebuke me-it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;
 
6 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
 
7 They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave. "
 
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge-do not give me over to death.
 
9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers.
 
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

Jeremiah 3,

1 "If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.
 
2 "Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
 
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.
 
4 Have you not just called to me: 'My Father, my friend from my youth,
 
5 will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue forever?' This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can."
 
6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there.
 
7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.
 
8 I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.
 
9 Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.
 
10 In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.
 
11 The LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.
 
12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: " 'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD, 'I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,' declares the LORD, 'I will not be angry forever.
 
13 Only acknowledge your guilt-you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,' " declares the LORD.
 
14 "Return, faithless people," declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I will choose you-one from a town and two from a clan-and bring you to Zion.
 
15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
 
16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land," declares the LORD, "men will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made.
 
17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
 
18 In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.
 
19 "I myself said," 'How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.' I thought you would call me 'Father' and not turn away from following me.
 
20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel," declares the LORD.
 
21 A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the LORD their God.
 
22 "Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding." "Yes, we will come to you, for you are the LORD our God.
 
23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
 
24 From our youth shameful gods have consumed the fruits of our fathers' labor-their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
 
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth till this day we have not obeyed the LORD our God."

Matthew 17

1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
 
2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
 
3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
 
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
 
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
 
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.
 
7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid."
 
8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
 
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
 
10 The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
 
11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.
 
12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."
 
13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
 
14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.
 
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
 
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
 
17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."
 
18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
 
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
 
20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
 
21 NONE
 
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.
 
23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." And the disciples were filled with grief.
 
24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"
 
25 "Yes, he does," he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes-from their own sons or from others?"
 
26 "From others," Peter answered. "Then the sons are exempt," Jesus said to him.
 
27 "But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."