Joshua 4; Joshua 5; Joshua 6; Luke 1:1-20

1 After all the people had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,

2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe.

3 Tell them to get twelve rocks from the middle of the river, from where the priests stood. Carry the rocks and put them down where you stay tonight."

4 So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together

5 and said to them, "Go out into the river where the Ark of the Lord your God is. Each of you bring back one rock, one for each tribe of Israel, and carry it on your shoulder.

6 They will be a sign among you. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these rocks mean?'

7 Tell them the water stopped flowing in the Jordan when the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord crossed the river. These rocks will always remind the Israelites of this."

8 So the Israelites obeyed Joshua and carried twelve rocks from the middle of the Jordan River, one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Joshua. They carried the rocks with them and put them down where they made their camp.

9 Joshua also put twelve rocks in the middle of the Jordan River where the priests had stood while carrying the Ark of the Agreement. These rocks are still there today.

10 The priests carrying the Ark continued standing in the middle of the river until everything was done that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, just as Moses had told Joshua. The people hurried across the river.

11 After they finished crossing the river, the priests carried the Ark of the Lord to the other side as the people watched.

12 The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh obeyed what Moses had told them. They were dressed for war, and they crossed the river ahead of the other people.

13 About forty thousand soldiers prepared for war passed before the Lord as they marched across the river, going toward the plains of Jericho.

14 That day the Lord made Joshua great in the opinion of all the Israelites. They respected Joshua all his life, just as they had respected Moses.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua,

16 "Command the priests to bring the Ark of the Agreement out of the river."

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."

18 Then the priests carried the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord out of the river. As soon as their feet touched dry land, the water began flowing again. The river again overflowed its banks, just as it had before they crossed.

19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho.

20 They carried with them the twelve rocks taken from the Jordan, and Joshua set them up at Gilgal.

21 Then he spoke to the Israelites: "In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these rocks mean?'

22 Tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land.

23 The Lord your God caused the water to stop flowing until you finished crossing it, just as the Lord did to the Red Sea. He stopped the water until we crossed it.

24 The Lord did this so all people would know he has great power and so you would always respect the Lord your God.'"

1 All the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan and the Canaanite kings living by the Mediterranean Sea heard that the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites had crossed it. After that they were scared and too afraid to face the Israelites.

2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, "Make knives from flint stones and circumcise the Israelites."

3 So Joshua made knives from flint stones and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

4 This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men old enough to serve in the army died in the desert on the way out of Egypt.

5 The men who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised, but none of those who were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised.

6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert for forty years. During that time all the fighting men who had left Egypt had died because they had not obeyed the Lord. So the Lord swore they would not see the land he had promised their ancestors to give them, a fertile land.

7 Their sons took their places. But none of the sons born on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised, so Joshua circumcised them.

8 After all the Israelites had been circumcised, they stayed in camp until they were healed.

9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "As slaves in Egypt you were ashamed, but today I have removed that shame." So Joshua named that place Gilgal, which it is still named today.

10 The people of Israel were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho. It was there, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, they celebrated the Passover Feast.

11 The day after the Passover, the people ate food grown on that land: bread made without yeast and roasted grain.

12 The day they ate this food, the manna stopped coming. The Israelites no longer got the manna from heaven. They ate the food grown in the land of Canaan that year.

13 Joshua was near Jericho when he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, "Are you a friend or an enemy?"

14 The man answered, "I am neither. I have come as the commander of the Lord's army." Then Joshua bowed facedown on the ground and asked, "Does my master have a command for me, his servant?"

15 The commander of the Lord's army answered, "Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy." So Joshua did.

1 The people of Jericho were afraid because the Israelites were near. They closed the city gates and guarded them. No one went into the city, and no one came out.

2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Look, I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its fighting men.

3 March around the city with your army once a day for six days.

4 Have seven priests carry trumpets made from horns of male sheep and have them march in front of the Ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times and have the priests blow the trumpets as they march.

5 They will make one long blast on the trumpets. When you hear that sound, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the walls of the city will fall so the people can go straight into the city."

6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, "Carry the Ark of the Agreement. Tell seven priests to carry trumpets and march in front of it."

7 Then Joshua ordered the people, "Now go! March around the city. The soldiers with weapons should march in front of the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord."

8 When Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests began marching before the Lord. They carried the seven trumpets and blew them as they marched. The priests carrying the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord followed them.

9 Soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests, and armed men walked behind the Ark. The priests were blowing their trumpets.

10 But Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, "Don't shout. Don't say a word until the day I tell you. Then shout."

11 So Joshua had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city one time. Then they went back to camp for the night.

12 Early the next morning Joshua got up, and the priests carried the Ark of the Lord again.

13 The seven priests carried the seven trumpets and marched in front of the Ark of the Lord, blowing their trumpets. Soldiers with weapons marched in front of them, and other soldiers walked behind the Ark of the Lord. All this time the priests were blowing their trumpets.

14 So on the second day they marched around the city one time and then went back to camp. They did this every day for six days.

15 On the seventh day they got up at dawn and marched around the city, just as they had on the days before. But on that day they marched around the city seven times.

16 The seventh time around the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: "Now, shout! The Lord has given you this city!

17 The city and everything in it are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house should remain alive. They must not be killed, because Rahab hid the two spies we sent out.

18 Don't take any of the things that are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. If you take them and bring them into our camp, you yourselves will be destroyed, and you will bring trouble to all of Israel.

19 All the silver and gold and things made from bronze and iron belong to the Lord and must be saved for him."

20 When the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the people's shout, the walls fell, and everyone ran straight into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city.

21 They completely destroyed with the sword every living thing in the city -- men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house. Bring her out and bring out those who are with her, because of the promise you made to her."

23 So the two men went into the house and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all those with her. They put all of her family in a safe place outside the camp of Israel.

24 Then Israel burned the whole city and everything in it, but they did not burn the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron. These were saved for the Lord.

25 Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her family, and all who were with her, because Rahab had helped the men he had sent to spy out Jericho. Rahab still lives among the Israelites today.

26 Then Joshua made this oath: "Anyone who tries to rebuild this city of Jericho will be cursed by the Lord. The one who lays the foundation of this city will lose his oldest son, and the one who sets up the gates will lose his youngest son."

27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and Joshua became famous through all the land.

1 Many have tried to report on the things that happened among us.

2 They have written the same things that we learned from others -- the people who saw those things from the beginning and served God by telling people his message.

3 Since I myself have studied everything carefully from the beginning, most excellentn Theophilus, it seemed good for me to write it out for you. I arranged it in order

4 to help you know that what you have been taught is true.

5 During the time Herod ruled Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to Abijah's group. Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, came from the family of Aaron.

6 Zechariah and Elizabeth truly did what God said was good. They did everything the Lord commanded and were without fault in keeping his law.

7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth could not have a baby, and both of them were very old.

8 One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God, because his group was on duty.

9 According to the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10 There were a great many people outside praying at the time the incense was offered.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing on the right side of the incense table.

12 When he saw the angel, Zechariah was startled and frightened.

13 But the angel said to him, "Zechariah, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son, and you will name him John.

14 He will bring you joy and gladness, and many people will be happy because of his birth.

15 John will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer, and even from birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

16 He will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God.

17 He will go before the Lord in spirit and power like Elijah. He will make peace between parents and their children and will bring those who are not obeying God back to the right way of thinking, to make a people ready for the coming of the Lord."

18 Zechariah said to the angel, "How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too."

19 The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand before God, who sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news.

20 Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen."