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16 Bright and early the next morning Joshua made Israel approach in tribal order,[a] and the tribe of Judah was selected. 17 He then made the clans of Judah approach, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He made the clan of the Zerahites approach, and Zabdi[b] was selected.[c] 18 He then made Zabdi’s[d] family approach man by man[e] and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected. 19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, honor[f] the Lord God of Israel and give him praise! Tell me what you did; don’t hide anything from me.” 20 Achan told Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel in this way:[g] 21 I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon,[h] 200 silver pieces,[i] and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent, with the silver underneath.”
22 Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent. The things were hidden right in his tent, with the silver underneath.[j] 23 They took it all from the middle of the tent, brought it to Joshua and all the Israelites, and placed[k] it before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, son of Zerah, along with the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, oxen, donkeys, sheep, tent, and all that belonged to him and brought them up to the Valley of Disaster.[l] 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on[m] us? The Lord will bring disaster on you today!” All Israel stoned him to death. (They also stoned and burned the others.)[n] 26 Then they erected over him a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day[o]) and the Lord’s anger subsided. So that place is called the Valley of Disaster to this very day.
Israel Conquers Ai
8 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic![p] Take the whole army with you and march against Ai![q] See, I am handing over to you[r] the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city.”
3 Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai.[s] Joshua selected 30,000 brave warriors and sent them out at night. 4 He ordered them, “Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready! 5 I and all the troops[t] who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them. 6 They will attack[u] us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them. 7 Then you rise up from your hiding place[v] and seize[w] the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 When you capture the city, set it[x] on fire in keeping with the Lord’s message. See, I have given you orders.”[y] 9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place[z] west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai.[aa] Joshua spent that night with the army.[ab]
10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered[ac] the army,[ad] and he and the leaders[ae] of Israel marched[af] at the head of it[ag] to Ai. 11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city.[ah] They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.[ai] 12 He took 5,000 men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai. 13 The army was in position—the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into[aj] the middle of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai and all his people saw Israel, they rushed to get up early. Then the king and the men of the city went out to meet Israel in battle, at the meeting place near the rift valley.[ak] But he did not realize an ambush was waiting for him behind the city.[al] 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them, and they retreated along the way to the wilderness. 16 All the reinforcements[am] in Ai[an] were ordered[ao] to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel;[ap] they all went out after Israel.[aq] They left the city wide open and chased Israel.
18 The Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword[ar] in your hand, for I am handing the city[as] over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand. 19 When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked.[at] They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw[au] the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction.[av] In the meantime the men who were retreating to the wilderness turned against their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke,[aw] they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. 22 At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle.[ax] The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees. 23 But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men[ay] of Ai who had chased them toward the wilderness[az] (they all fell by the sword),[ba] all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it. 25 So 12,000 men and women died[bb] that day, including all the men of Ai. 26 Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.[bc] 27 But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in keeping with the Lord’s orders[bd] to Joshua. 28 Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day).[be] 29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening.[bf] At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree.[bg] They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day).[bh]
Covenant Renewal
30 Then Joshua built an altar for the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool.[bi] On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed tokens of peace.[bj] 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.[bk] 33 All the people,[bl] rulers,[bm] leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there.[bn] Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord’s servant had previously instructed them to do for the formal blessing ceremony.[bo] 34 Then[bp] Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. 35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given[bq] before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.[br]
The Gibeonites Deceive Israel
9 When the news reached all the kings on the west side of the Jordan[bs]—in the hill country, the foothills,[bt] and all along the Mediterranean coast[bu] as far as[bv] Lebanon (including the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)— 2 they formed an alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.[bw]
The Parable of the Clever Steward
16 Jesus[a] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations[b] that his manager[c] was wasting[d] his assets. 2 So[e] he called the manager[f] in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you?[g] Turn in the account of your administration,[h] because you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 Then[i] the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position[j] away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig,[k] and I’m too ashamed[l] to beg. 4 I know[m] what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’[n] 5 So[o] he contacted[p] his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man[q] replied, ‘100 measures[r] of olive oil.’ The manager[s] said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’[t] 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man[u] replied, ‘100 measures[v] of wheat.’ The manager[w] said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’[x] 8 The[y] master commended the dishonest[z] manager because he acted shrewdly.[aa] For the people[ab] of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries[ac] than the people[ad] of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth,[ae] so that when it runs out you will be welcomed[af] into the eternal homes.[ag]
10 “The one who is faithful in a very little[ah] is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy[ai] in handling worldly wealth,[aj] who will entrust you with the true riches?[ak] 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy[al] with someone else’s property,[am] who will give you your own[an] ? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate[ao] the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise[ap] the other. You cannot serve God and money.”[aq]
More Warnings about the Pharisees
14 The Pharisees[ar] (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed[as] him. 15 But[at] Jesus[au] said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes,[av] but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized[aw] among men is utterly detestable[ax] in God’s sight.
16 “The law and the prophets were in force[ay] until John;[az] since then,[ba] the good news of the kingdom of God[bb] has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.[bc] 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter[bd] in the law to become void.[be]
18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries[bf] someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Psalm 82[a]
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God stands in[b] the assembly of El;[c]
in the midst of the gods[d] he renders judgment.[e]
2 He says,[f] “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked?[g] (Selah)
3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless.[h]
Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.
4 Rescue the poor and needy.
Deliver them from the power[i] of the wicked.
5 They[j] neither know nor understand.
They stumble around[k] in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble.[l]
6 I thought,[m] ‘You are gods;
all of you are sons of the Most High.’[n]
7 Yet you will die like mortals;[o]
you will fall like all the other rulers.”[p]
8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!
For you own[q] all the nations.
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