Day 64 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Joshua 1

1 And it came to pass after the death of Moses, that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Naue, the minister of Moses, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now then arise, go over Jordan, thou and all this people, into the land, which I give them. 3 Every spot on which ye shall tread I will give it you, as I said to Moses. 4 The wilderness and Antilibanus, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and as far as the extremity of the sea; your coasts shall be from the setting of the sun. 5 Not a man shall stand against you all the days of thy life; and as I was with Moses, so will I also be with thee, and I will not fail thee, or neglect thee. 6 Be strong and quit thyself like a man, for thou shalt divide the land to this people, which I sware to give to your fathers. 7 Be strong, therefore, and quit thyself like a man, to observe and do as Moses my servant commanded thee; and thou shalt not turn therefrom to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest be wise in whatsoever thou mayest do. 8 And the book of this law shall not depart out of thy mouth, and thou shalt meditate in it day and night, that thou mayest know how to do all the things that are written [in it]; then shalt thou prosper, and make thy ways prosperous, and then shalt thou be wise. 9 Lo! I have commanded thee; be strong and courageous, be not cowardly nor fearful, for the Lord thy God is with thee in all places whither thou goest. 10 And Joshua commanded the scribes of the people, saying, 11 Go into the midst of the camp of the people, and command the people, saying, Prepare provisions; for yet three days and ye shall go over this Jordan, entering in to take possession of the land, which the Lord God of your fathers gives to you. 12 And to Ruben, and to Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasse, Joshua said, 13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God has caused you to rest, and has given you this land. 14 Let your wives and your children and your cattle dwell in the land, which he has given you; and ye shall go over well armed before your brethren, every one of you who is strong; and ye shall fight on their side; 15 until the Lord your God shall have given your brethren rest, as also to you, and they also shall have inherited the land, which the Lord your God gives them; then ye shall depart each one to his inheritance, which Moses gave you beyond Jordan eastward. 16 And they answered Joshua and said, We will do all things which thou commandest us, and we will go to every place whither thou shalt send us. 17 Whereinsoever we hearkened to Moses we will hearken to thee; only let the Lord our God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 18 And whosoever shall disobey thee, and whosoever shall not hearken to thy words as thou shalt command him, let him die; but be thou strong and courageous.

Joshua 2

1 And Joshua the son of Naue sent out of Sattin two young men to spy [the land], saying, Go up and view the land and Jericho: and the two young men went and entered into Jericho; and they entered into the house of a harlot, whose name [was] Raab, and lodged there. 2 And it was reported to the king of Jericho, saying, Men of the sons of Israel have come in hither to spy the land. 3 And the king of Jericho sent and spoke to Raab, saying, Bring out the men that entered into thine house this night; for they are come to spy out the land. 4 And the woman took the two men and hid them; and she spoke to the messengers, saying, The men came in to me, 5 but when the gate was shut in the evening, the men went out; I know not whither they are gone: follow after them, if ye may overtake them. 6 But she [had] brought them up upon the house, and hid them in the flax-stalks that were spread by her on the house. 7 And the men followed after them in the way to Jordan to the fords; and the gate was shut. 8 And it came to pass when the men who pursued after them were gone forth, and before the spies had lain down to sleep, that she came up to them on the top of the house; 9 and she said to them, I know that the Lord has given you the land; for the fear of you has fallen upon us. 10 For we have heard that the Lord God dried up the Red Sea before you, when ye came out of the land of Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan, to Seon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And when we heard it we were amazed in our heart, and there was no longer any spirit in any of us because of you, for the Lord your God [is] God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath. 12 And now swear to me by the Lord God; since I deal mercifully with you, so do ye also deal mercifully with the house of my father: 13 and save alive the house of my father, my mother, and my brethren, and all my house, and all that they have, and ye shall rescue my soul from death. 14 And the men said to her, Our life for yours [even] to death: and she said, When the Lord shall have delivered the city to you, ye shall deal mercifully and truly with me. 15 And she let them down by the window; 16 and she said to them, Depart into the hill-country, lest the pursuers meet you, and ye shall be hidden there three days until your pursuers return from after you, and afterwards ye shall depart on your way. 17 And the men said to her, We are clear of this thy oath. 18 Behold, we shall enter into a part of the city, and thou shalt set a sign; thou shalt bind this scarlet cord in the window, by which thou hast let us down, and thou shalt bring in to thyself, into thy house, thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all the family of thy father. 19 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall go outside the door of thy house, his guilt shall be upon him, and we shall be quit of this thine oath; and we will be responsible for all that shall be found with thee in thy house. 20 But if any one should injure us, or betray these our matters, we shall be quit of this thine oath. 21 And she said to them, Let it be according to your word; and she sent them out, and they departed. 22 And they came to the hill-country, and remained there three days; and the pursuers searched all the roads, and found them not. 23 And the two young men returned, and came down out of the mountain; and they went over to Joshua the son of Naue, and told him all things that had happened to them. 24 And they said to Joshua, The Lord has delivered all the land into our power, and all the inhabitants of that land tremble because of us.

Joshua 3

1 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and departed from Sattin; and they came as far as Jordan, and lodged there before they crossed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp; 3 and they charged the people, saying, When ye shall see the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God, and our priests and the Levites bearing it, ye shall depart from your places, and ye shall go after it. 4 But let there be a distance between you and it; ye shall stand as much as two thousand cubits [from it]. Do not draw nigh to it, that ye may know the way which ye are to go; for ye have not gone the way before. 5 And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you. 6 And Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and go before the people: and the priests took up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and went before the people. 7 And the Lord said to Joshua, This day do I begin to exalt thee before all the children of Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I also be with thee. 8 And now charge the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, As soon as ye shall enter on a part of the water of Jordan, then ye shall stand in Jordan. 9 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hearken to the word of the Lord our God. 10 Hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among you, and will utterly destroy from before our face the Chananite, and the Chettite and Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Amorite, and the Gergesite, and the Jebusite. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan. 12 Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, when the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth rest in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan [below] shall fail, and the water coming down from above shall stop. 14 And the people removed from their tents to cross over Jordan, and the priests bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord before the people. 15 And when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered upon Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were dipped in part of the water of Jordan; (now Jordan overflowed all its banks about the time of wheat harvest:) 16 then the waters that came down from above stopped; there stood one solid heap very far off, as far as the region of Kariathiarim, and the lower part came down to the sea of Araba, the salt sea, till it completely failed; and the people stood opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the midst of Jordan; and all the children of Israel went through on dry land, until all the people had completely gone over Jordan.

Luke 2

1 Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant. 6 While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. 11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” 13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.” 15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They came with haste and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough. 17 When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. 18 All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them. 21 When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, 28 then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said, 29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; 32 a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.” 33 Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him. 34 Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” 36 There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day. 38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem. 39 When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. 41 His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast; 43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.” 49 He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 They didn’t understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.