And soon afterward He journeyed from city to city and village to village,  ¹preaching and  ²announcing the gospel of the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with Him,

As well as certain  ¹women who were healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women, who ministered to  ¹them out of their possessions.

And while a great crowd was coming together and those from city to city were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

The  ¹sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell beside the way, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of heaven devoured it.

And other seed fell on the rock, and as it grew, it withered because it had no moisture.

And other seed fell in the midst of the thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it off.

And other seed fell into the good earth, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold. When He had said these things, He called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

And His disciples questioned Him as to what this parable might be.

And He said, To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the  ¹kingdom of God, but to the rest they are in parables, in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

And those beside the way are those who heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they would not believe and be saved.

And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; yet these have no root, who believe only for a while, and in time of trial they draw back.

And that which fell into the thorns, these are those who heard and, going away, are utterly choked by anxieties and riches and pleasures of this  ¹life, and do not bring any fruit to maturity.

But that which is in the good earth, these are those who in a noble and good heart hear the word and hold it fast and bear fruit with endurance.

Now no one who has lit a  ¹lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it underneath a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand in order that those who come in may see the light.

For nothing is hidden which shall not become manifest, nor concealed which shall not by all means be made known and come into the open.

Take heed therefore how you hear, for whoever has, it shall be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.

And His  ¹mother and brothers came up to Him and were not able to get to Him because of the crowd.

And it was reported to Him, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside wanting to see You.

But He answered and said to them, My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.

And on one of the days He and His disciples  ¹got into a boat. And He said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out.

And while they were sailing, He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down upon the lake, and they began to fill with water and were in danger.

And they came to Him and woke Him, saying,  ¹Master, Master, we are perishing! And being awakened, He rebuked the wind and the surging of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm.

And He said to them, Where is your faith? And they became frightened and marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that He orders even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?

But the children of Israel acted unfaithfully in that which was devoted to destruction, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of that which was devoted to destruction; and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the children of Israel.

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, east of Bethel; and he spoke to them, saying, Go up and  ¹spy out the land. So the men went up and spied out Ai.

And they returned to Joshua and said to him,  ¹Not all the people need go up; let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Do not make all the people labor there, for  ²the enemies are few.

So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they  ¹fled before the men of Ai.

And the men of Ai struck some of them, about thirty-six men; and they pursued them from before the gate unto Shebarim and struck them on the slope. And the heart of the people melted and became like water.

And Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the ground upon his face before the Ark of Jehovah until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads.

And Joshua said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all? To give us over into the hand of the Amorites and cause us to perish? If only we had been content to dwell across the Jordan!

O Lord, what can I say after Israel has turned its back before its enemies?

For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?

Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Rise up! Why have you fallen upon your face?

 ¹Israel has sinned. Indeed they have trespassed My covenant, which I commanded them; indeed they have taken of that which was devoted to destruction; indeed they have stolen; indeed they have been deceptive; indeed they have put it among their goods.

Thus the children of Israel are not able to stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become something devoted to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy that which was devoted to destruction from among you.

Rise up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, There is something devoted to destruction among you, O Israel; you will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove that which was devoted to destruction from among you.

Therefore in the morning you shall be brought near by your tribes; and the tribe which Jehovah takes shall draw near family by family; and the family which Jehovah takes shall draw near house by house; and the house which Jehovah takes shall draw near warrior by warrior.

And he who is taken with that which was devoted to destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has trespassed the covenant of Jehovah and because he has committed folly in Israel.

So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was  ¹taken.

And he brought the family of Judah near, and the family of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought the family of the Zerahites near warrior by warrior, and Zabdi was taken.

And he brought the house of Zabdi near warrior by warrior, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to Jehovah the God of Israel, and  ¹make confession to Him. And tell me what you have done; do not hide anything from me.

Then Achan answered Joshua and said, It is true; I have sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel; and this is what I did:

When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle of  ¹Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And now they are hidden in the earth in my tent, with the silver under it.

And Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. And there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.

And they took  ¹the things from within the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and spread them out before Jehovah.

Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver and the mantle and the wedge of gold, and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his donkeys and his sheep and his tent and all that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? Jehovah will trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire when they had stoned them with stones.

Then they erected over him a great heap of stones, which is there to this day; and Jehovah turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place is called the Valley of  ¹Achor to this day.

Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the people of war with you, and rise and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai and his people and his city and his land into your hand.

And you shall do to Ai and to its king as you did to Jericho and to its king; except its spoil and its cattle you shall take for your plunder. Set an ambush for the city behind it.

So Joshua rose up with all the people of war to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose thirty thousand men, mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.

And he commanded them, saying, See, you shall lie in ambush for the city behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, and all of you be ready.

And I and all the people who are with me will draw near to the city. Then when they come forth to meet us, as it was the first time, we will flee before them.

And they will come out after us until we have drawn them out from the city, for they will say, They are fleeing before us as they did the first time. Thus we will flee before them.

Then you shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Jehovah your God will give it into your hand.

And when you capture the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of Jehovah. See, I have commanded you.

Then Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. And Joshua spent that night among the people.

And Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people; and he and the elders of Israel went up before the people to Ai.

And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and came before the city. And they camped to the north of Ai, so that the valley was between them and Ai.

Now he had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

So they set the people, the whole camp, which was north of the city, and the rearguard to the west of the city. And Joshua went into the valley that night.

Now when the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people, at the assigned place, facing the Arabah; for he did not know that there was an ambush set for him behind the city.

And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and they fled by the way of the wilderness.

Then all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua and thus were drawn out of the city.

And not a man was left in Ai or in Bethel who did not go forth after Israel, but they abandoned the city, leaving it open, and pursued after Israel.

Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

And the ambush rose up quickly from their place and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and captured it; and they hurried and set the city on fire.

And when the men of Ai turned to see behind them, they looked, and there it was — the smoke of the city going up to heaven; and they had no way to flee this way or that way when the people who had fled into the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city was rising, they turned and slew the men of Ai.

And the others came out from the city to meet them, so that they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them, so that no one was left to survive or escape.

But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

And when Israel had finished slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they had pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

And all those who fell that day, both of men and of women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.

And Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for themselves as plunder, according to the word of Jehovah, which He commanded Joshua.

So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever; it is a desolation to this day.

And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening time. And when the sun set, Joshua commanded, and they took his corpse down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and they erected over him a great heap of stones, which is there to this day.

Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah the God of Israel on Mount Ebal,

As Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones upon which no one had lifted up an iron tool. And they offered upon it burnt offerings to Jehovah, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

And there he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the children of Israel.

And all Israel and their elders and their officers and their judges stood on either side of the Ark in front of the Levitical priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, both sojourner and native alike: half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had first commanded, to bless the people of Israel.

And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that was written in the book of the law.

There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel and the women and the little ones and the sojourners who went among them.