Joshua 11

• 1. When King Jabin of Hazor heard what had happened, he sent urgent messages to the following kings: King Jobab of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Acshaph;
• 2. all the kings of the northern hill country; the kings in the Jordan Valley south of Galilee; the kings in the western foothills; the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west;
• 3. the kings of Canaan, both east and west; the kings of the Amorites; the kings of the Hittites; the kings of the Perizzites; the kings in the Jebusite hill country; and the Hivites in the towns on the slopes of Mount Hermon, in the land of Mizpah.
• 4. All these kings responded by mobilizing their warriors and uniting to fight against Israel. Their combined armies, along with a vast array of horses and chariots, covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore.
• 5. They established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel.
• 6. Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow they will all be dead. Cripple their horses and burn their chariots."
• 7. So Joshua and his warriors traveled to the water near Merom and attacked suddenly.
• 8. And the LORD gave them victory over their enemies. The Israelites chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward into the valley of Mizpah, until not one enemy warrior was left alive.
• 9. Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the LORD had instructed.
• 10. Joshua then turned back and captured Hazor and killed its king. (Hazor had at one time been the capital of the federation of all these kingdoms.)
• 11. The Israelites completely destroyed every living thing in the city. Not a single person was spared. And then Joshua burned the city.
• 12. Joshua slaughtered all the other kings and their people, completely destroying them, just as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded.
• 13. However, Joshua did not burn any of the cities built on mounds except Hazor.
• 14. And the Israelites took all the captured goods and cattle of the ravaged cities for themselves, but they killed all the people.
• 15. As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all of the LORD's instructions to Moses.
• 16. So Joshua conquered the entire region--the hill country, the Negev, the land of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, and the mountains and lowlands of Israel.
• 17. The Israelite territory now extended all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir, to Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories,
• 18. waging war for a long time to accomplish this.
• 19. No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated.
• 20. For the LORD hardened their hearts and caused them to fight the Israelites instead of asking for peace. So they were completely and mercilessly destroyed, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
• 21. During this period, Joshua destroyed all the descendants of Anak, who lived in the hill country of Hebron, Debir, Anab, and the entire hill country of Judah and Israel. He killed them all and completely destroyed their towns.
• 22. Not one was left in all the land of Israel, though some still remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.
• 23. So Joshua took control of the entire land, just as the LORD had instructed Moses. He gave it to the people of Israel as their special possession, dividing the land among the tribes. So the land finally had rest from war.

Psalms 144

• 1. Bless the LORD, who is my rock. He gives me strength for war and skill for battle.
• 2. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my deliverer. He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in him. He subdues the nations under me.
• 3. O LORD, what are mortals that you should notice us, mere humans that you should care for us?
• 4. For we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.
• 5. Bend down the heavens, LORD, and come down. Touch the mountains so they billow smoke.
• 6. Release your lightning bolts and scatter your enemies! Release your arrows and confuse them!
• 7. Reach down from heaven and rescue me; deliver me from deep waters, from the power of my enemies.
• 8. Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie.
• 9. I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.
• 10. For you grant victory to kings! You are the one who rescued your servant David.
• 11. Save me from the fatal sword! Rescue me from the power of my enemies. Their mouths are full of lies; they swear to tell the truth, but they lie.
• 12. May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.
• 13. May our farms be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands,
• 14. and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no breached walls, no forced exile, no cries of distress in our squares.
• 15. Yes, happy are those who have it like this! Happy indeed are those whose God is the LORD.

Jeremiah 5

• 1. "Run up and down every street in Jerusalem," says the LORD. "Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one person who is just and honest, I will not destroy the city.
• 2. Even when they are under oath, saying, `As surely as the LORD lives,' they all tell lies!"
• 3. LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to turn from sin. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.
• 4. Then I said, "But what can we expect from the poor and ignorant? They don't know the ways of the LORD. They don't understand what God expects of them.
• 5. I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they will know the LORD's ways and what God requires of them." But the leaders, too, had utterly rejected their God.
• 6. So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.
• 7. "How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were fully satisfied. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the city's brothels.
• 8. They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife.
• 9. Should I not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?
• 10. "Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy them, but leave a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vine, for they do not belong to the LORD.
• 11. The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me," says the LORD.
• 12. "They have lied about the LORD and have said, `He won't bother us! No disasters will come upon us! There will be no war or famine!
• 13. God's prophets are windbags full of words with no divine authority. Their predictions of disaster will fall on themselves!'"
• 14. Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty says: "Because the people are talking like this, I will give you messages that will burn them up as if they were kindling wood.
• 15. O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you," says the LORD. "It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.
• 16. Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.
• 17. They will eat your harvests and your children's bread, your flocks of sheep and your herds of cattle. Yes, they will eat your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified cities, which you think are so safe.
• 18. "Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely," says the LORD.
• 19. "And when your people ask, `Why is the LORD our God doing this to us?' you must reply, `You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.'
• 20. "Make this announcement to Israel and to Judah:
• 21. Listen, you foolish and senseless people--who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
• 22. Do you have no respect for me? Why do you not tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, am the one who defines the ocean's sandy shoreline, an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the bounds I set.
• 23. "But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned against me and have chosen to practice idolatry.
• 24. They do not say from the heart, `Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of plentiful harvests.'
• 25. Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.
• 26. "Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They are continually setting traps for other people.
• 27. Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And the result? Now they are great and rich.
• 28. They are well fed and well groomed, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.
• 29. Should I not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?
• 30. "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land--
• 31. the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. And worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

New Living Translation: 190 of 365 days.