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Psalm 19

1  The heavens are telling the glory of God ♦︎
   and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
2  One day pours out its song to another ♦︎
   and one night unfolds knowledge to another.
3  They have neither speech nor language ♦︎
   and their voices are not heard,
4  Yet their sound has gone out into all lands ♦︎
   and their words to the ends of the world.
5  In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun, ♦︎
   that comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber
      and rejoices as a champion to run his course.
6  It goes forth from the end of the heavens
      and runs to the very end again, ♦︎
   and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7  The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; ♦︎
   the testimony of the Lord is sure
      and gives wisdom to the simple.
8  The statutes of the Lord are right and rejoice the heart; ♦︎
   the commandment of the Lord is pure
      and gives light to the eyes.
9  The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; ♦︎
   the judgements of the Lord are true
      and righteous altogether.
10  More to be desired are they than gold,
      more than much fine gold, ♦︎
   sweeter also than honey,
      dripping from the honeycomb.
11  By them also is your servant taught ♦︎
   and in keeping them there is great reward.
12  Who can tell how often they offend? ♦︎
   O cleanse me from my secret faults!
13  Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins
      lest they get dominion over me; ♦︎
   so shall I be undefiled,
      and innocent of great offence.
14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
      be acceptable in your sight, ♦︎
   O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, ⁴they on their part acted with cunning: they went and prepared provisions,^* and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, ⁵with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and mouldy. ⁶They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the Israelites, ‘We have come from a far country; so now make a treaty with us.’ ⁷But the Israelites said to the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a treaty with you?’ ⁸They said to Joshua, ‘We are your servants.’ And Joshua said to them, ‘Who are you? And where do you come from?’ ⁹They said to him, ‘Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard a report of him, of all that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰and of all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth. ¹¹So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, “Take provisions in your hand for the journey; go to meet them, and say to them, ‘We are your servants; come now, make a treaty with us.’ ” ¹²Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey, on the day we set out to come to you, but now, see, it is dry and mouldy; ¹³these wineskins were new when we filled them, and see, they are burst; and these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.’ ¹⁴So the leaders^* partook of their provisions, and did not ask direction from the Lord. ¹⁵And Joshua made peace with them, guaranteeing their lives by a treaty; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

16 But when three days had passed after they had made a treaty with them, they heard that they were their neighbours and were living among them. ¹⁷So the Israelites set out and reached their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders. ¹⁹But all the leaders said to all the congregation, ‘We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we must not touch them. ²⁰This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath may not come upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them.’ ²¹The leaders said to them, ‘Let them live.’ So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the leaders had decided concerning them.

22 Joshua summoned them, and said to them, ‘Why did you deceive us, saying, “We are very far from you”, while in fact you are living among us? ²³Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.’ ²⁴They answered Joshua, ‘Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you; so we were in great fear for our lives because of you, and did this thing. ²⁵And now we are in your hand: do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.’ ²⁶This is what he did for them: he saved them from the Israelites; and they did not kill them.

The Sign of Jonah

29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation. ³¹The queen of the South will rise at the judgement with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! ³²The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!

The Light of the Body

33 ‘No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar,^* but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.’