jericho

¹Now Jericho was closed as well as fortified, out of fear of the sons of Israel, and no one dared to depart or to enter. ²And the Lord said to Joshua: “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and all the strong men. ³Have all the warriors circle the city once each day; you shall do so for six days. ⁴Then, on the seventh day, the priests shall take the seven trumpets, which are used on the jubilee, and they shall precede the ark of the covenant. And you shall circle the city seven times, and the priests shall sound the trumpets. ⁵And when the voice of the trumpet sounds longer and with interruptions, and it increases in your ears, then all the people shall cry out together with a very great shout, and the walls of the city shall fall to the foundation, and they shall enter it, each from a place opposite where they are standing.” ⁶Then Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests, and he said to them, “Take the ark of the covenant, and let seven other priests take the seven trumpets of the jubilee, and advance before the ark of the Lord.”

³⁰By faith, the walls of Jericho collapsed, after being encircled for seven days.

⁴⁶And they went to Jericho. And as he was setting out from Jericho with his disciples and a very numerous multitude, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, a blind man, sat begging beside the way. ⁴⁷And when he had heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and to say, “Jesus, Son of David, take pity on me.” ⁴⁸And many admonished him to be quiet. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, take pity on me.” ⁴⁹And Jesus, standing still, instructed him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying to him: “Be at peace. Arise. He is calling you.” ⁵⁰And casting aside his garment, he leapt up and went to him. ⁵¹And in response, Jesus said to him, “What do you want, that I should do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Master, that I may see.”

¹And so Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men from Shittim to explore in secret. And he said to them, “Go and consider the land and the city of Jericho.” And while traveling, they entered into the house of a harlot woman named Rahab, and they rested with her. ²And it was reported to the king of Jericho, and it was said: “Behold, men have entered to this place in the night, from the sons of Israel, so that they might explore the land.” ³And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: “Bring out the men who came to you, and who entered into your house. For certainly they are spies, and they have arrived to consider the entire land.” ⁴And the woman, taking the men, hid them. And she said: “I admit that they came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵And when the gate was closed, they went out together in the darkness. I do not know where they have gone. Pursue them quickly, and you will overtake them.” ⁶But she caused the men to ascend to the roof of her house, and she covered them with the stalks of flax that were there.

¹¹And you crossed over the Jordan, and you arrived at Jericho. And the men of that city fought against you: the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. And I delivered them into your hands.

³⁴In his days, Hiel from Bethel built up Jericho. With Abiram, his firstborn, he founded it, and with Segub, his youngest son, he set up its gates, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Joshua, the son of Nun.

¹And having entered, he walked through Jericho. ²And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. And he was the leader of the tax collectors, and he was wealthy. ³And he sought to see Jesus, to see who he was. But he was unable to do so, because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. ⁴And running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree, so that he might see him. For he was to pass near there. ⁵And when he had arrived at the place, Jesus looked up and saw him, and he said to him: “Zacchaeus, hurry down. For today, I should lodge in your house.” ⁶And hurrying, he came down, and he received him joyfully.

⁴Then Elijah said to Elisha: “Remain here. For the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And when they had arrived at Jericho, ⁵the sons of the prophets, who were at Jericho, drew near to Elisha. And they said to him, “Do you not know that today the Lord will take away your lord from you?” And he said: “I know it. Be silent.”

²⁹And as they were departing from Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰And behold, two blind men, sitting by the way, heard that Jesus was passing by; and they cried out, saying, “Lord, Son of David, take pity on us.” ³¹But the crowd rebuked them to be quiet. But they cried out all the more, saying, “Lord, Son of David, take pity on us.” ³²And Jesus stood still, and he called them and said, “What do you want, that I might do for you?” ³³They said to him, “Lord, that our eyes be opened.” ³⁴Then Jesus, taking pity on them, touched their eyes. And immediately they saw, and they followed him.

¹⁸And they returned to him, for he was living in Jericho. And he said to them: “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not send them?’ ” ¹⁹Also, the men of the city said to Elisha: “Behold, this city is a very good habitation, as you yourself perceive, O lord. But the waters are very bad, and the ground is barren.” ²⁰And so he said, “Bring a new vessel to me, and place salt in it.” And when they had brought it, ²¹he went out to the source of the waters, and he cast the salt into it. And he said: “Thus says the Lord: I have healed these waters, and no longer shall there be death or barrenness in them.” ²²Then the waters were healed, even to this day, in accord with the word of Elisha, which he spoke.

²⁶“Cursed before the Lord is the man who will raise up and rebuild the city of Jericho! With his firstborn, may he lay its foundation, and with the last of his children, may he set up its gates.”

⁵And when this had been reported to David, he sent to meet them. And the men were greatly disturbed by shame. And David commanded them, “Remain in Jericho, until your beards grow, and then return.”

²⁰Therefore, with all the people shouting, and the trumpets blaring, after the voice and the sound increased in the ears of the multitude, the walls promptly fell to ruin. And each one climbed up at the place which was opposite where he was. And they seized the city.

¹³And when Joshua was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and he saw a man standing opposite him, holding a drawn sword. And he went to him and said, “Are you one of ours, or one of our adversaries?” ¹⁴And he responded: “Not at all. Instead, I am a prince of the host of the Lord, and now I have arrived.” ¹⁵Joshua fell prone on the ground. And reverencing, he said, “What does my lord say to his servant?”