¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at ^(A)Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And ^(B)those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the people of Israel, ^(C)“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, ^(D)‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, ^(E)which he dried up for us until we passed over, ^24 (F)so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is ^(G)mighty, that you may ^(H)fear the Lord your God forever.”^[a]

The New Generation Circumcised

5 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^(A)who were by the sea, ^(B)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts ^(C)melted and ^(D)there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^(A)flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.^{[a] 4} And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^(B)all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵ Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ For the people of Israel walked ^(C)forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord ^(D)swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, ^(E)a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So it was ^(F)their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸ When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.

⁹ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the ^(A)reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called ^(B)Gilgal^[a] to this day.

First Passover in Canaan

¹⁰ While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover ^(C)on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² And ^(D)the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

^[a] Of David, when he ^(A)changed his behavior before ^(B)Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is ^(A)in Christ, he is ^(B)a new creation.^{[a] (C)}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, ^(D)who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us ^(E)the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling^[b] the world to himself, ^(F)not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us ^(G)the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, ^(H)we are ambassadors for Christ, ^(I)God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ^21 (J)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(K)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(L)the righteousness of God.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(A)the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ^(B)his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^(C)reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to^[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he ^(D)was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “But ^(E)when he ^(F)came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^(G)I have sinned against ^(H)heaven and before you. ^19 (I)I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^(J)ran and ^(K)embraced him and ^(L)kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^(M)I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[b] 22} But the father said to his servants,^[c] ‘Bring quickly ^(N)the best robe, and put it on him, and put ^(O)a ring on his hand, and ^(P)shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring ^(Q)the fattened calf and kill it, and ^(R)let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son ^(S)was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ^(T)celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, ^(U)who has devoured ^(V)your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, ^(W)you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting ^(X)to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother ^(Y)was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”