Friday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. 2Verse 2. And it was reported to the king of Jericho: “Behold, some men of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 3Verse 3. So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.” 4Verse 4. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5Verse 5. At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!” 6Verse 6. (But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.) 7Verse 7. So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut. 8Verse 8. Before the spies lay down for the night, Rahab went up on the roof 9Verse 9. and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you. 10Verse 10. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction. 11Verse 11. When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. 12Verse 12. Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13Verse 13. that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will deliver us from death.” 14Verse 14. “Our lives for your lives!” the men agreed. “If you do not report our mission, we will show you kindness and faithfulness when the LORD gives us the land.”

1Verse 1. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2Verse 2. “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD! 3Verse 3. This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing. 4Verse 4. Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins. 5Verse 5. You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD. 6Verse 6. They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. 7Verse 7. Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken? 8Verse 8. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. 9Verse 9. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD. 10Verse 10. Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built, 11Verse 11. tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth. 12Verse 12. Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ 13Verse 13. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury. 14Verse 14. I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 15Verse 15. And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it — 16Verse 16. those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.’