← Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
April 19 (Joshua 10–11; Psalm 101; Acts 26)
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A reading from the Book of Joshua. As soon as Adoni Zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured AI and had devoted it to destruction, doing to AI and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them. He feared greatly because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than AI and all its men were warriors. So Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Ebron, to Pirim, king of Jarmuth, to Japhaiah, king of Lachish, and to Deber, king of Eglon, saying, come up to me and help me, and let us strike Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the people of Israel. Then the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and and the king of Eglon, gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and encamped against Gibeon and made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, saying, do not relax your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us, and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the hill country are gathered against us. So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you. So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth Horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth Horon, the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. At that time, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel. And he said, in the sight of Israel, son, stand still at Gibeon and moon in the valley of Aijalon. And the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the book of Jasher. The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. So Joshua returned, and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal. These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah. And it was told to Joshua, the five kings have been found hidden in the cave at Makkedah. And Joshua said, roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them. But do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies. Attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand. When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out. And when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel. Then Joshua said, open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave. And they did so and brought those five kings out to him from the cave. The king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings. Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. And Joshua said to them, do not be afraid or dismayed. Be strong and courageous, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight. And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death. And they hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening. But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded. And they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves. And they set large stones against the mouth of the cave which remained to this very day. As for Makkedah, Joshua captured it on that day and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword. He devoted to destruction every person in it. He left none remaining. And he did to the king of Makkedah, just as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah. And the Lord gave it also, and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king, as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Libnah to Lachish and laid siege to it and fought against it. And the Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he captured it on the second day and struck it with the edge of the sword and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah. Then Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish. And Joshua struck him and his people until he left none remaining. Then Joshua and all Israel with him passed on from Lachish to Eglon. And they laid siege to it and fought against it. And they captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword. And he devoted every person in it to destruction that day, as he had done to Lachish. Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron, and they fought against it and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword and its king and its towns, and every person in it. He left none remaining, as he had done to Eglon, and devoted it to destruction, and every person in it. Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned back to Deber and fought against it. And he captured it with its king and all its towns, and they struck them with the edge of the sword and devoted to destruction every person in it. He left none remaining. Just as he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king, so he did to Debur and to its king. So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. And Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea as far as Gaza, and all the country of Goshen as far as Gibeon. And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him to the camp at Gilgal. When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab, king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph and to the kings who were in the northern hill country and in the Arabah south of Kenneroth, and in the lowland and in the west to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country. And the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. And they came out with all their troops, a great horde in number, like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel. And the Lord said to Joshua, do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them slain to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as great Sidon and Mizrephoth, ma'am, and eastward as far as the valley of Mizpah. And they struck them until he left none remaining. And Joshua did to them, just as the Lord said to him. He hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire. And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword. For Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction. There was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire in all the cities of those kings and all their kings Joshua captured and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone that Joshua burned. And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock the people of Israel took for their plunder, but every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them. And they did not leave any who breathed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant. So Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses. So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel in its lowland from Mount Halek, which rises toward Seir as far as BAAL Gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And it captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded. Moses and Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debur, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza and Gath and in Ashdod did some remain. So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel, according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war. A reading from the Book of Psalms, A psalm of David. I will sing of steadfast love and justice to you, O Lord. I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. O when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house. I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me. I will know nothing of evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly, I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land that they may dwell with me. He who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house. No one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. Morning. By morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land, cutting off all the evildoers from the city of the Lord. A reading from the Book of Acts. So Agrippa said to Paul, you have permission to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense. I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa. I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify that, according to the strictest party of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers to which our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews. O King, why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth, and I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme. And in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. In this connection, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God. And so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass. That the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you out of your mind. But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent, Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly, for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? And Paul said, whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains. Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with him, and when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, this man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment. And Agrippa said to Festus, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.