The LORD is my strength. He saves me

And I sing songs of praise to him. He is my God.

I praise him. He is the God of my ancestors, and I honor him.

The LORD is a great soldier. The LORD is his name.

With your kindness you led the people you saved.

And with your strength you led them to your holy land.

After Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests with the trumpets began marching before the LORD, blowing the trumpets as they marched. The priests carrying the LORD'S Holy Box followed them. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests who were blowing the horns. And the rest of the men walked behind the Holy Box, marching and blowing their trumpets. Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, “Don't shout. Don't say a word until the day I tell you. Then you will shout.” So Joshua made the priests carry the Holy Box of the LORD around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.

Early the next morning Joshua got up, and the priests carried the LORD'S Holy Box again. The seven priests with the trumpets marched in front of the LORD'S Holy Box, blowing their trumpets. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of them. The rest of the people marched behind the LORD'S Holy Box. During the whole time they marched, the priests were blowing the trumpets. On the second day, they all marched around the city one time. And then they went back to the camp. They continued to do this every day for six days.

On the seventh day, they got up at dawn and marched around the city seven times. They marched in the same way they had marched on the days before, but on that day they marched around the city seven times. The seventh time they marched around the city, the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: "Now, shout! The LORD is giving you this city! So then the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the trumpets, they began shouting. The walls fell down, and the people ran up into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city.

So it is just as the Holy Spirit says: “If you hear God's voice today, don't be stubborn as you were in the past, when you turned against God. That was the day you tested God in the desert. For 40 years in the desert, your people saw what I did. But they tested me and my patience. So I was angry with them. I said, 'Their thoughts are always wrong. They have never understood my ways.' So I was angry and made a promise: 'They will never enter my place of rest.'”

So, brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has the evil thoughts that cause so much doubt that you stop following the living God. But encourage each other every day, while you still have something called “today.” Help each other so that none of you will be fooled by sin and become too hard to change. We have the honor of sharing in all that Christ has if we continue until the end to have the sure faith we had in the beginning. That's why the Spirit said, “If you hear God's voice today, don't be stubborn as in the past when you turned against God.”

Then Moses went down the mountain. He had the two stone tablets with the agreement on them. The commandments were written on both sides of the stone, front and back. God himself made the stones, and God himself wrote the commandments on them. Joshua heard the noise from the party in camp. He said to Moses, “It sounds like war down in the camp!” Moses answered, “It is not the noise of an army shouting for victory. And it is not the noise of an army crying from defeat. The noise I hear is the sound of music.”

When Moses came near the camp, he saw the golden calf and the people dancing. He became very angry, and he threw the stone tablets on the ground. The stones broke into several pieces at the bottom of the mountain. Then Moses destroyed the calf that the people had made. He melted it in the fire. Then he ground the gold until it became dust and threw it into the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink that water. Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you that would make you do this? Why did you lead them to do such a terrible sin?”

Aaron answered, “Don't be angry, sir. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong. The people said to me, 'Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don't know what has happened to him. So make us some gods to lead us.' So I told the people, 'If you have any gold rings, then give them to me.' The people gave me their gold. I threw the gold into the fire, and out of the fire came this calf!” Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control. They were being wild, and all their enemies could see them acting like fools.

The next morning Moses told the people, “You have committed a terrible sin! But now I will go up to the LORD, and maybe I can do something so that he will forgive you for your sin.” So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Please listen! These people committed a terrible sin and made a god from gold. Now, forgive them of this sin. If you will not forgive them, then erase my name from your book.” But the LORD said to Moses, “The only people I erase from my book are those who sin against me. So now, go down and lead the people where I tell you to go. My angel will go before you and lead you. When the time comes to punish those who sinned, they will be punished.”