Joshua 2

• 1. Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia. He instructed them, "Spy out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho." So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.
• 2. But someone told the king of Jericho, "Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land."
• 3. So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: "Bring out the men who have come into your house. They are spies sent here to discover the best way to attack us."
• 4. Rahab, who had hidden the two men, replied, "The men were here earlier, but I didn't know where they were from.
• 5. They left the city at dusk, as the city gates were about to close, and I don't know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them."
• 6. (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath piles of flax.)
• 7. So the king's men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossing places of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king's men had left, the city gate was shut.
• 8. Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them.
• 9. "I know the LORD has given you this land," she told them. "We are all afraid of you. Everyone is living in terror.
• 10. For we have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed.
• 11. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
• 12. Now swear to me by the LORD that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that
• 13. when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families."
• 14. "We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety," the men agreed. "If you don't betray us, we will keep our promise when the LORD gives us the land."
• 15. Then, since Rahab's house was built into the city wall, she let them down by a rope through the window.
• 16. "Escape to the hill country," she told them. "Hide there for three days until the men who are searching for you have returned; then go on your way."
• 17. Before they left, the men told her, "We can guarantee your safety
• 18. only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your family members--your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives--must be here inside the house.
• 19. If they go out into the street, they will be killed, and we cannot be held to our oath. But we swear that no one inside this house will be killed--not a hand will be laid on any of them.
• 20. If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way."
• 21. "I accept your terms," she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.
• 22. The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days. The men who were chasing them had searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned to the city without success.
• 23. Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them.
• 24. "The LORD will certainly give us the whole land," they said, "for all the people in the land are terrified of us."

Psalms 127

• 1. Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.
• 2. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
• 3. Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.
• 4. Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows in a warrior's hands.
• 5. How happy is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Isaiah 62

• 1. Because I love Zion, because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
• 2. The nations will see your righteousness. Kings will be blinded by your glory. And the LORD will give you a new name.
• 3. The LORD will hold you in his hands for all to see--a splendid crown in the hands of God.
• 4. Never again will you be called the Godforsaken City or the Desolate Land. Your new name will be the City of God's Delight and the Bride of God, for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his own.
• 5. Your children will care for you with joy, O Jerusalem, just as a young man cares for his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
• 6. O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray to the LORD day and night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray.
• 7. Give the LORD no rest until he makes Jerusalem the object of praise throughout the earth.
• 8. The LORD has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength: "I will never again hand you over to your enemies. Never again will foreign warriors come and take away your grain and wine.
• 9. You raised it, and you will keep it, praising the LORD. Within the courtyards of the Temple, you yourselves will drink the wine that you have pressed."
• 10. Go out! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see.
• 11. The LORD has sent this message to every land: "Tell the people of Israel, `Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.'"
• 12. They will be called the Holy People and the People Redeemed by the LORD. And Jerusalem will be known as the Desirable Place and the City No Longer Forsaken.

New Living Translation: 181 of 365 days.