Library
Stories, Genesis to Revelation
20 storiesJudges
Joshua 2
Rahab and the Scarlet CordTwo Israelite spies slip into Jericho and are nearly caught. A woman named Rahab hides them on her roof, risks her life for theirs, and asks for one thing in return: a scarlet cord in her window.
Joshua 3–4
Crossing the JordanThe Jordan is in full flood, and a whole nation must cross it. The priests carrying the ark step into the water, the river stops, and twelve stones are carried out to make sure no one ever forgets.
Joshua 6
The Walls of JerichoJericho is shut up tight, and God gives Joshua the strangest battle plan in history: march, stay silent, blow the trumpets, and wait. On the seventh day, the people shout, and the walls come down.
Joshua 7
Achan's SecretAfter the walls of Jericho fall, one man hides a few stolen treasures under his tent, and a whole nation learns that secret sin is never only private.
Joshua 10:1–15
The Day the Sun Stood StillFive kings surround the city of Gibeon, and Joshua keeps a promise he was tricked into making. By the end of the day, Israel will say there has never been a day like it.
Joshua 24
Choose This DayAn old Joshua gathers every tribe at Shechem, tells the story of all God has done, and asks one question that every generation has to answer for itself: whom will you serve?
Judges 3:12–30
Ehud the Left-HandedFor eighteen years Israel pays tribute to the king of Moab, until God raises up an unlikely rescuer: a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin with a secret message.
Judges 4–5
Deborah and BarakNine hundred iron chariots against an army on foot. A prophet under a palm tree, a hesitant general, a sudden storm, and a woman in a tent turn the battle, and Deborah sings about it.
Judges 6
Gideon in the WinepressA frightened young farmer hiding from raiders is greeted by an angel as a mighty warrior. Gideon is full of questions, but God is patient, and one step at a time, Gideon begins to trust him.
Judges 7
Gideon's Three HundredGod tells Gideon his army of thirty-two thousand is too big. Down to three hundred men armed with trumpets, jars and torches, they surround a vast camp in the middle of the night.
Judges 11
Jephthah's VowAn outcast becomes the leader who saves his people, but on the way to battle he makes a rash promise to God, and the price falls on the person he loves most. A sobering story about careless words.
Judges 13
A Promise in the Field: Samson's BirthIn a dark time for Israel, a messenger from God visits a childless woman in a field with a promise: a son, set apart for God from birth, who will begin to rescue his people.
Judges 14
Samson, the Lion and the RiddleSamson meets a roaring lion with his bare hands, finds honey where nobody would look, and sets a riddle at his wedding feast that ends in betrayal and anger. Great strength, not much wisdom.
Judges 16
Samson and DelilahThe strongest man in Israel gives away his secret, bit by bit, to a woman paid to betray him. He loses his strength, his sight and his freedom, but in the dark, his hair begins to grow again.
Ruth 1–2
Ruth and Naomi: Where You Go, I Will GoWidowed and far from home, Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to leave her. Ruth refuses, follows her to Bethlehem, and goes out to glean grain in a field that happens to belong to a kind man named Boaz.
Ruth 3–4
Ruth and Boaz: The RedeemerRuth asks Boaz to be her family's redeemer, and Boaz settles the matter at the town gate with a sandal and ten witnesses. A son is born, Naomi's arms are full again, and the line leads to King David.
1 Samuel 1–2
Hannah's PrayerYear after year Hannah longs for a child and is taunted for having none. At Shiloh she pours out her heart to God so silently that the priest thinks she is drunk. God answers, and Hannah keeps her costly promise.
1 Samuel 3
Samuel Hears His NameIn the middle of the night at Shiloh, a voice calls the boy Samuel by name. Three times he runs to old Eli, until Eli realises who is calling and teaches him how to answer.
1 Samuel 4–6
The Ark Is CapturedIsrael carries the ark of God into battle like a lucky charm and loses it to the Philistines. But in the temple of Dagon, the captured ark proves that the God of Israel is nobody's trophy.
Joshua 22
The Altar by the JordanThe eastern tribes head home and build a huge altar by the Jordan. The other tribes think it is rebellion and gather for war, until they send a delegation to talk first, and discover it was built as a witness to their shared faith.