Sunday, 07 July

1.   Now it came to pass, a long time after the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. 2.   And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: "I am old, advanced in age. 3.   "You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has fought for you. 4.   "See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. 5.   "And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you. 6.   "Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7.   " and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them ; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them, 8.   "but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. 9.   "For the LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10.   "One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. 11.   "Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God. 12.   "Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations––these that remain among you––and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, 13.   "know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. 14.   "Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. 15.   "Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the LORD your God promised you, so the LORD will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you. 16.   "When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you."

1.   "Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, And let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. 2.   "Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow? 3.   Who pursued them, and passed safely By the way that he had not gone with his feet? 4.   Who has performed and done it , Calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I am He.’" 5.   The coastlands saw it and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came. 6.   Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, "Be of good courage!" 7.   So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, Saying, "It is ready for the soldering"; Then he fastened it with pegs, That it might not totter. 8.   "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. 9.   You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10.   Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ 11.   "Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish. 12.   You shall seek them and not find them––Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing. 13.   For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ 14.   "Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you," says the LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15.   "Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff. 16.   You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, And glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17.   "The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I , the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18.   I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19.   I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together, 20.   That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it. 21.   "Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons ," says the King of Jacob. 22.   "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were , That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23.   Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together. 24.   Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination. 25.   "I have raised up one from the north, And he shall come; From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as though mortar, As the potter treads clay. 26.   Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, ‘ He is righteous’? Surely there is no one who shows, Surely there is no one who declares, Surely there is no one who hears your words. 27.   The first time I said to Zion, ‘Look, there they are!’ And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. 28.   For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29.   Indeed they are all worthless; Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion.

1.   I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2.   with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3.   endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4.   There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5.   one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6.   one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7.   But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8.   Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." 9.   (Now this, "He ascended" ––what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10.   He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) 11.   And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12.   for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13.   till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14.   that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15.   but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head––Christ–– 16.   from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 17.   This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18.   having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19.   who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20.   But you have not so learned Christ, 21.   if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22.   that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23.   and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24.   and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 25.   Therefore, putting away lying, " Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. 26.   "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27.   nor give place to the devil. 28.   Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29.   Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30.   And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31.   Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32.   And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.