¹⁸ This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink^(A) and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor^(B) under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. ¹⁹ Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions,^(C) and the ability to enjoy them,^(D) to accept their lot^(E) and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.^{(F) 20} They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.^(G)

Ai Destroyed

8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid;^(A) do not be discouraged.^(B) Take the whole army^(C) with you, and go up and attack Ai.^(D) For I have delivered^(E) into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder^(F) and livestock for yourselves.^(G) Set an ambush^(H) behind the city.”

³ So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night ⁴ with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. ⁵ I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. ⁶ They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, ⁷ you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand.^{(I) 8} When you have taken the city, set it on fire.^(J) Do what the Lord has commanded.^(K) See to it; you have my orders.”

⁹ Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush^(L) and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

¹⁰ Early the next morning^(M) Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel^(N) marched before them to Ai. ¹¹ The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. ¹² Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³ So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah.^(O) But he did not know^(P) that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. ¹⁵ Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back^(Q) before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.^{(R) 16} All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away^(S) from the city. ¹⁷ Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin^(T) that is in your hand,^(U) for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.^{(V) 19} As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly^(W) from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.^(X)

²⁰ The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,^(Y) but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹ For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around^(Z) and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.^{(AA) 23} But they took the king of Ai alive^(AB) and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.^{(AC) 26} For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin^(AD) until he had destroyed^[a](AE) all who lived in Ai.^{(AF) 27} But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.^(AG)

²⁸ So Joshua burned^(AH) Ai^[b](AI) and made it a permanent heap of ruins,^(AJ) a desolate place to this day.^{(AK) 29} He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,^(AL) Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks^(AM) over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

³⁰ Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal^(AN) an altar^(AO) to the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹ as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool^(AP) had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.^{(AQ) 32} There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.^{(AR) 33} All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical^(AS) priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born^(AT) were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,^(AU) as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴ Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.^{(AV) 35} There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.^(AW)

Unfaithful Israel

⁶ During the reign of King Josiah,^(A) the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless^(B) Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree^(C) and has committed adultery^(D) there. ⁷ I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister^(E) Judah saw it.^{(F) 8} I gave faithless Israel^(G) her certificate of divorce^(H) and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;^(I) she also went out and committed adultery. ⁹ Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land^(J) and committed adultery^(K) with stone^(L) and wood.^{(M) 10} In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return^(N) to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,^(O)” declares the Lord.^(P)

¹¹ The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous^(Q) than unfaithful^(R) Judah.^{(S) 12} Go, proclaim this message toward the north:^(T)

¹⁴ “Return,^(AC) faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^(AD) I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds^(AE) after my own heart,^(AF) who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark^(AG) of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;^(AH) it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^(AI) of the Lord, and all nations^(AJ) will gather in Jerusalem to honor^(AK) the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^{(AL) 18} In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^(AM) and together^(AN) they will come from a northern^(AO) land to the land^(AP) I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

¹⁹ “I myself said,

³ This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

Divorce^(A)

19 When Jesus had finished saying these things,^(B) he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them^(C) there.

³ Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife^(D) for any and every reason?”

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a](E) 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]?^{(F) 6} So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”^(G)

⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”^(H)

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.^{(I) 12} For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The Little Children and Jesus^(J)

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them^(K) and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs^(L) to such as these.”^{(M) 15} When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich and the Kingdom of God^(N)

¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life^(O)?”^(P)

¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”^(Q)

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery,^(R) you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[c](S) and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”^(T)

²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect,^(U) go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,^(V) and you will have treasure in heaven.^(W) Then come, follow me.”

²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich^(X) to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”^(Y)

²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!^(Z) What then will there be for us?”

²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,^(AA) you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.^{(AB) 29} And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.^{(AC) 30} But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.^(AD)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like^(AE) a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.^{(AF) 2} He agreed to pay them a denarius^[f] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸ “When evening came,^(AG) the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble^(AH) against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat^(AI) of the day.’

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend.^(AJ) Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’^(AK)

¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”^(AL)