Live-Wire Bible Study - Day 64 - Tue Joshua 5–8 · Luke 15 · Psalm 14 - FeedTheGoodHorse

A year-long cultural and psychological reading of the entire Bible. An enduring human text.

 ← Day 63 | About | Day 65 →

Day 64: Joshua 5–8 · Luke 15 · Psalm 14 · Commentary · Commentary² · Audio

---

• The Bible text is included for reading continuity; it is accurate in substance, aligned with major modern translations, and may be read alongside any Bible you prefer.¹

Special Note about the following Bible text: The following translation uses the Hebrew terms tamé (טָמֵא) and tahor (טָהוֹר) instead of the traditional “unclean” and “clean.” These terms describe ritual status in relation to sanctuary access, not moral fault, shame, or physical dirtiness. A fuller explanation will follow in a dedicated article.

Joshua 5

When all the kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites by the sea, heard how Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the people of Israel until they crossed, their hearts melted, and no courage remained in them because of the people of Israel.

At that time Jehovah told Joshua to make flint knives and circumcise the people of Israel again, a second time. So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the people of Israel at the Hill of Foreskins.

This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt—all the males, all the men of war—had died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. All the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. The people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until the entire nation—the men of war who came out of Egypt—had come to an end, because they did not listen to the voice of Jehovah. Jehovah swore to them that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. He raised up their sons in their place, and these Joshua circumcised, because they were uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way.

When they had finished circumcising the entire nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they healed.

Jehovah said to Joshua that on that day he had rolled away the reproach of Egypt from them. So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.

While the people of Israel camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening on the plains of Jericho.

On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate from the produce of the land—unleavened bread and roasted grain.

The manna stopped on the day after they ate from the produce of the land. There was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate from the yield of the land of Canaan that year.

When Joshua was near Jericho, he lifted his eyes and saw a man standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went toward him and asked whether he was for them or for their enemies.

He said that he was neither, but that he had now come as commander of the army of Jehovah. Joshua fell with his face to the ground and bowed down. He asked what his lord was saying to his servant.

The commander of the army of Jehovah told Joshua to remove his sandals from his feet, because the place where you are standing is set apart ground. And Joshua did so.

Joshua 6

Now Jericho was completely shut up because of the people of Israel. No one went out and no one came in.

Jehovah said to Joshua that he had given Jericho into his hand, along with its king and its strong warriors. All the men of war were to march around the city once. They were to do this for six days. Seven priests were to carry seven rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times, and the priests were to blow the horns. When the priests made a long blast with the rams’ horn and the sound of the horn was heard, all the people were to shout with a great shout. Then the wall of the city would fall beneath itself, and the people were to go up, each one straight ahead.

Joshua son of Nun called the priests and told them to take up the ark of the covenant and to have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns before the ark of Jehovah. He told the people to pass on and march around the city, with the armed men passing ahead of the ark of Jehovah.

So it happened just as Joshua had spoken to the people. The seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before Jehovah went forward and blew the horns, while the ark of the covenant of Jehovah followed behind them. The armed men went ahead of the priests who blew the horns, and the rear guard followed behind the ark, while the horns were blown as they marched.

Joshua had commanded the people not to shout or make their voice heard, and not to let any word go out from their mouth until the day he told them to shout. Then they were to shout.

So the ark of Jehovah circled the city once, and they returned to the camp and spent the night there.

Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Jehovah. The seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the ark of Jehovah went forward and blew the horns continually. The armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard followed behind the ark of Jehovah, while the horns were blown as they marched.

On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

On the seventh day they rose early, at the breaking of dawn, and marched around the city seven times in the same way. Only on that day did they march around the city seven times.

At the seventh time, when the priests blew the horns, Joshua told the people to shout, because Jehovah had given them the city. The city and everything in it was to be devoted to Jehovah for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute was to live—she and all who were with her in the house—because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent.

But the people were to keep themselves from the things devoted for destruction, so that they would not devote themselves to destruction by taking any of the devoted things and so make the camp of Israel devoted for destruction and bring trouble upon it.

All the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, were set apart to Jehovah. They were to go into the treasury of Jehovah.

So the people shouted, and the horns were blown. When the people heard the sound of the horn, they shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell beneath itself. Then the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead, and they captured the city.

They devoted everything in the city for destruction—men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys—with the edge of the sword.

But to the two men who had scouted the land, Joshua told them to go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who belonged to her, just as they had sworn to her.

So the young men who had served as scouts went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel.

They burned the city with fire and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they placed into the treasury of the house of Jehovah.

Joshua preserved Rahab the prostitute alive, along with her father’s household and all who belonged to her. She lives among Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to scout out Jericho.

At that time Joshua pronounced an oath, saying that cursed before Jehovah was the man who rose up and rebuilt this city Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn he would lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest he would set up its gates.

So Jehovah was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the land.

Joshua 7

But the people of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things devoted for destruction, and the anger of Jehovah burned against the people of Israel.

Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and told them to go up and spy out the land. So the men went up and spied out Ai.

They returned to Joshua and told him that not all the people needed to go up. About two or three thousand men should go up and strike Ai. They said not to make all the people labor there, because the people there were few.

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

The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men from among them and pursued them from the gate as far as Shebarim, striking them down on the descent. The hearts of the people melted and became like water.

Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of Jehovah until evening, along with the elders of Israel, and they threw dust on their heads.

Joshua said, Ah, Lord Jehovah, why did you bring this people across the Jordan at all, to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been willing to remain beyond the Jordan.

Please, my Lord, what can I say now that Israel has turned its back before its enemies?

The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it. They will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will you do for your great name?

Jehovah said to Joshua, “Rise up. Why have you fallen on your face?”

Israel had sinned. They had violated his covenant that he commanded them. They had taken some of the things devoted for destruction, and had stolen and deceived, and had even put them among their own belongings.

Because of this, the people of Israel could not stand before their enemies. They turned their backs before their enemies because they had become devoted for destruction. He would not be with them anymore unless they destroyed the things devoted for destruction from among them.

Joshua was told to rise up and set the people apart, and to tell them to set themselves apart for the next day. Jehovah, the God of Israel, said that there were things devoted for destruction in their midst. Israel could not stand before their enemies until they removed the things devoted for destruction from among them.

In the morning they were to come near tribe by tribe. The tribe that Jehovah selected was to come near clan by clan. The clan that Jehovah selected was to come near household by household. The household that Jehovah selected was to come near man by man.

The one taken with the things devoted for destruction was to be burned with fire—he and all that belonged to him—because he had violated the covenant of Jehovah and committed an outrage in Israel.

Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.

He brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was selected.

He brought near his household man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected.

Joshua told Achan to give glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and to give praise to him. He told him to declare what he had done and not to hide it.

Achan answered Joshua and said that he had sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel, and that this was what he had done.

When he saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, he desired them and took them. They were hidden in the ground inside his tent, with the silver underneath.

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

They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel, and laid them out before Jehovah.

Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, along with the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that belonged to him, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

Joshua said, “Why have you brought trouble on us? Jehovah will bring trouble on you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones and burned him with fire.

They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then Jehovah turned from the heat of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor to this day.

Joshua 8

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

You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king, except that its spoil and its livestock you may take for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

So Joshua arose, along with all the people of war, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, strong warriors, and sent them out at night.

He commanded them, saying that they were to watch the city and lie in ambush behind the city. They were not to go very far from the city, but all of them were to remain ready.

Joshua and all the people with him were to approach the city. When they came out against them as before, they were to flee before them.

Then the men of Ai would come out after them until they had drawn them away from the city. They would say that they were fleeing before them as before, and so they would flee before them.

Then the men in ambush were to rise quickly from their place and take possession of the city, because Jehovah their God would give it into their hand.

When they had captured the city, they were to set the city on fire, acting according to the word of Jehovah. This was the command Joshua had given them.

So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

Joshua rose early in the morning and assembled the people. He went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

All the people of war who were with him went up and approached and came before the city, and they camped on the north side of Ai, with the valley between them and Ai.

He also took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

So they stationed the people, all the camp that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard to the west of the city. Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.

When the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled along the way toward the wilderness.

All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

Jehovah said to Joshua to stretch out the javelin toward Ai, because he would give the city into his hand. So Joshua stretched out the javelin toward the city.

The men in ambush rose quickly from their place when he stretched out the javelin. They ran and entered the city and captured it, and they hurried to set it on fire.

When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke from the city rising to the sky, and they had no strength to flee this way or that way. The people who had fled toward the wilderness turned back against their pursuers.

Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that smoke from the city had risen, so they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

The others came out from the city against them, so they were trapped in the middle of Israel, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until not one survivor or fugitive remained.

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

When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the wilderness where they had pursued them, and all had fallen by the edge of the sword until destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

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

Joshua did not draw back his hand until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai for destruction.

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

So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent ruin, a desolation to this day.

Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. At sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree and throw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and they raised over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

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

This was just as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the people of Israel, as written in the book of the law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones on which no one had lifted an iron tool. They offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah and sacrificed peace offerings.

There Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written before the people of Israel.

All Israel, along with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the priests, the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, both the foreigner and the native-born. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

Afterward he read all the words of the law—the blessing and the curse—according to everything written in the book of the law.

There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the whole assembly of Israel, along with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

Luke 15

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. The Pharisees and the legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This one welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one person who changes their thinking than over ninety-nine who have no need of change.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins and losing one, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy before the messengers of God over one person who changes their thinking.”

He said, “A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.’ So he divided his life between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered everything and went to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to be filled with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough bread, but I am perishing here with hunger! I will rise and go to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired workers.”’ So he rose and went to his father.

“While he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. He ran, embraced him, and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his older son was in the field. As he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this meant. The servant said, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and urged him, but he answered, ‘Look, all these years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your life with sex workers, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him!’

“But the father said, ‘Child, you are always with me, and everything that is mine is yours. But it was necessary to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found.’”

Psalm 14

The foolish say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”

They act corruptly;
their deeds are vile.
There is no one who does what is good.

The Lord looks down from heaven on humanity
to see whether any understand,
whether any seek God.

All have turned aside;
together they have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good—
not even one.

Do those who do wrong never understand?
They devour my people as if eating bread
and do not call on the Lord.

There they are, filled with dread,
for God is present among those who do what is right.

You frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.

Oh, that rescue for Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice;
Israel will be glad.

Commentary - Day 64

Joshua 5–8 · Luke 15 · Psalm 14

A camp at Gilgal. Knives of flint. A city circled in silence. A buried garment beneath a tent floor. A father standing at the road. A fool speaking in his heart.

Joshua 5 begins with the people encamped at Gilgal after crossing the Jordan. The generation born in the wilderness is circumcised with flint knives, restoring a sign that had been neglected during years of wandering. Healing follows before movement resumes. The Passover is kept on the plains near Jericho, and the manna that had sustained them ceases the day after they eat from the produce of the land. Provision shifts from daily falling bread to crops already present in the soil. Outside Jericho, Joshua encounters a man standing with a drawn sword. The ground beneath Joshua’s feet is named as holy, and his sandals are removed before any battle begins.

Joshua 6 moves toward Jericho without direct assault. The ark is carried around the city once each day for six days, priests blowing rams’ horns while the people remain silent. On the seventh day, the city is circled seven times. At the final blast, the people shout, and the wall collapses beneath them. Rahab’s house is spared, marked by the scarlet cord that remains in her window. Silver, gold, bronze, and iron are placed into the treasury, while the city itself is burned. The victory is carried out through repetition and obedience rather than sudden force.

Joshua 7 shifts the scene from open conquest to hidden trespass. Achan takes silver, gold, and a garment from Jericho and buries them beneath his tent floor. The next battle at Ai begins with confidence but ends in retreat. Men fall in the valley, and fear spreads through the camp. Joshua lies before the ark while the cause is sought among the tribes. Lots narrow the search from tribe to clan, from clan to household, until the buried items are uncovered. Stones are raised in the Valley of Achor, marking the place where concealment is brought into the open.

Joshua 8 returns to Ai with instruction given in detail. An ambush is set behind the city while the main force approaches from the front. When the men of Ai pursue the visible army, the ambush rises and enters the city, setting it on fire. Smoke rises behind them, and the men of Ai find themselves surrounded between two forces. The king of Ai is captured and hanged, and a heap of stones is raised over his body. Afterward, an altar of uncut stones is built on Mount Ebal, and the law is read aloud before the assembly, with blessings and curses spoken in hearing of all.

Luke 15 gathers attention around what is lost—a sheep in open country, a coin on the floor, and a son in a distant land. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep in the open country to seek one that is missing. A woman lights a lamp and sweeps her house until a lost coin is found. A father watches the road while his younger son returns from a distant land after wasting his inheritance. The son rehearses words of confession, but the father runs to meet him, clothing him with a robe and placing a ring on his hand. Music and feasting follow inside the house, while the older son remains outside, refusing to enter. The father steps out to speak with him, leaving both brothers standing at opposite edges of the celebration.

Psalm 14 turns from scattered searching to settled judgment. The fool speaks in his heart that there is no God, and corruption spreads through actions that follow. The Lord looks down from heaven to see whether any understand or seek after him, yet none are found doing good. The poor are consumed as bread, and fear rises where no refuge stands. The psalm ends with longing for deliverance to come from Zion, restoring the fortunes of Jacob and bringing rejoicing to Israel.

Across camp, city, tent, road, and mountain, actions move from marking to testing to uncovering—flint knives mark the camp, the march around Jericho tests obedience, and buried silver is uncovered beneath a tent floor. Stones remain piled in valleys and over kings, roads remain open for those returning, and altars stand where words are read aloud so they will not be forgotten. The fool’s words spoken in the heart shape what follows among the people in the land. Lost animals are carried home, coins are lifted from the floor, sons return to the threshold of their father’s house.

Joshua 5–8 moves from renewal to conquest to exposure. At Gilgal the wilderness generation is circumcised with flint knives, Passover is kept, and the manna stops when the people eat the land’s produce. Jericho falls after priests carry the ark, horns sound, and the people circle the city in silence before shouting. Rahab is spared by the scarlet cord in her window. Then Achan hides silver, gold, and a garment beneath his tent, and Israel falls before Ai until the hidden trespass is uncovered. Ai is later taken by ambush, and the law is read aloud on Mount Ebal.

Luke 15 tells of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The father runs to meet the younger son, while the older son stands outside.

Psalm 14 begins with the fool saying in his heart there is no God, and ends by longing for deliverance from Zion.

← Day 63 | About | How-To | Schedule | Day 65 →

1. The Bible text provided in the daily readings is included so readers can follow the commentary without interruption or needing to choose between various versions. It is accurate in substance and consistent with all major modern translations.
The longer-term aim of this project is a more fully natural modern-English rendering, one not filtered through inherited Bible-specific language nor centuries of various divergent interpretations. That work is ongoing and deliberately unrushed.
You don’t have to know anything about Bible translations to read here. You are free to use any Bible you prefer, or to read the text provided.
For a brief explanation of why this translation is provided and why it appears as it does, see So… What Bible Is This?