Study Desk

"In the morning you will say, 'I wish it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'I wish it were morning!'—because of the dread in your heart with which you tremble, and because of the sight of your eyes which you will see.

"Then people will say, 'It is because they abandoned (broke) the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

"Then My anger will be kindled and burn against them in that day, and I will abandon (turn away from) them and hide My face from them. They will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them, so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come on us?'

"But I will certainly hide My face [from them] in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods [to worship lifeless idols, to honor handmade relics].

"For I know that after my death you will behave corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will come upon you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands."

"They (Israel) have acted corruptly toward Him. They are not His children, because of their [moral] defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation.

because you broke faith with Me among of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat Me as holy among of the sons of Israel.

So the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, because they have come [as spies] to search out all the land."

and she said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror and dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of you.

"When we heard it, our hearts melted [in despair], and a [fighting] spirit no longer remained in any man because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.

They said to Joshua, "Certainly the LORD has given all the land into our hands; for all the inhabitants of the land have melted [in despair] because of us."

Now it happened when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted [in despair], and there was no [fighting] spirit in them any longer because of the Israelites [and what God had done for them].

For the Israelites walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, died because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD; to them the LORD had sworn [an oath] that He would not let them see the land which He had promised to their fathers to give us, a land [of abundance] flowing with milk and honey.

So it was their uncircumcised sons whom He raised up in their place, whom Joshua circumcised, because circumcision had not been performed on the way.

The captain of the LORD'S army said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy (set apart to the LORD)." And Joshua did so.

Now Jericho [a fortified city with high walls] was tightly closed because [of the people's fear] of the sons of Israel; no one went out or came in.

"The city and everything that is in it shall be under the ban [that is, designated to be destroyed as a form of tribute] to the LORD; only Rahab the prostitute and all [the people] who are with her in her house shall [be allowed to] live, because she hid and protected the messengers (scouts) whom we sent.

So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her father's household and everything that she had; and she has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers (scouts) whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

"That is why the soldiers of Israel could not stand [and defend themselves] before their enemies; they turned their backs [and ran] before them, because they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from among you.

'It shall be that the one who is chosen with the things under the ban shall be [killed and his body] burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done a disgraceful and disobedient thing in Israel.'"