In Praise of Joshua

¹Joshua was mighty in war.

He succeeded Moses as a prophet

and was worthy of his name,

for he was a great savior of the Lord’s chosen ones.

Joshua took vengeance on the enemies who rose up against them

so that he might give Israel its inheritance.

²How glorious he was when he raised his arm

and brandished his sword against the cities!

³Before Joshua’s time, who ever stood so firmly?

He fought the Lord’s battles.

⁴Wasn’t he the one through whom the sun stood still

and one day became as long as two?

⁵He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One,

when enemies assaulted him on every side.

The great Lord answered him

by sending a terrible storm of hailstones.

⁶Joshua overwhelmed that nation in battle.

He destroyed his adversaries as they were going down the pass

so that the nations might know the Lord’s power

and that he was fighting as the Lord watched over him.

Joshua was a devoted follower of the Mighty One,

⁷and he showed his allegiance in the days of Moses.

Joshua and Caleb son of Jephunneh

opposed the congregation,

kept them from sinning,

and halted their wicked complaining.

⁸These two alone were spared

out of six hundred thousand infantry.

They led the people into their inheritance,

the land flowing with milk and honey.

⁹The Lord gave strength to Caleb,

and he remained strong even in his old age.

He went up into the hill country,

and his descendants obtained it for an inheritance.

¹⁰He did this so the Israelites might see

that it is good to follow the Lord.

In Praise of the Judges and Samuel

¹¹Let us also consider all the judges with their respective names,

whose hearts did not fall into idolatry

or turn away from the Lord.

May their memory be blessed!

¹²May their bones, wherever they lie, give life to others,

and may their honored names

continue to live on in their children.

¹³Samuel was beloved by his Lord,

and this prophet of the Lord established the kingdom

and anointed leaders over his people.

¹⁴By the law of the Lord he judged the people,

and the Lord watched over Israel.

¹⁵His faithfulness proved that he was a prophet,

and his messages showed that he was a trustworthy seer.

¹⁶He called upon the Lord, the Mighty One,

when his enemies were attacking him on every side,

and he offered a young lamb as a sacrifice.

¹⁷Then the Lord thundered from heaven

and made his voice heard with a great noise.

¹⁸Samuel conquered the leaders of Tyre

and all the rulers of the Philistines.

¹⁹Before he died he proclaimed

before the Lord and his anointed:

“I have not taken anything from anyone,

not even a pair of shoes.”

And no one accused him.

²⁰Even after Samuel died, he prophesied,

revealing to the king that he, too, would die.

Samuel spoke from the grave

to prophesy and blot out the wickedness of the people.