Joshua the New Leader of Israel^(A)

31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them: “I ^(B)am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer ^(C)go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ^(D)‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God ^(E)Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^(F)Joshua himself crosses over before you, just ^(G)as the Lord has said. ^4 (H)And the Lord will do to them ^(I)as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. ^5 (J)The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. ^6 (K)Be strong and of good courage, ^(L)do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, ^(M)He is the One who goes with you. ^(N)He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

⁷ Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(O)“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. ⁸ And the Lord, ^(P)He is the One who goes before you. ^(Q)He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years

⁹ So Moses wrote this law ^(R)and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(S)who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the ^(T)year of release, ^(U)at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to ^(V)appear before the Lord your God in the ^(W)place which He chooses, ^(X)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12 (Y)Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their children, ^(Z)who have not known it, ^(AA)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

Ministering at Corinth

18 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. ² And he found a certain Jew named ^(A)Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. ³ So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them ^(B)and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. ^4 (C)And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

^5 (D)When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was ^(E)compelled ^[a]by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶ But ^(F)when they opposed him and blasphemed, ^(G)he shook his garments and said to them, ^(H)“Your blood be upon your own heads; ^(I)I am clean. ^(J)From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷ And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named ^[b]Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ^8 (K)Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

⁹ Now ^(L)the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; ^10 (M)for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the ^[c]judgment seat, ¹³ saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴ And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. ¹⁵ But if it is a ^(N)question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” ¹⁶ And he drove them from the judgment seat. ¹⁷ Then ^[d]all the Greeks took ^(O)Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸ So Paul still remained ^[e]a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. ^(P)He had his hair cut off at ^(Q)Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. ¹⁹ And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, ²¹ but took leave of them, saying, ^(R)“I^[f] must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, ^(S)God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.

²² And when he had landed at ^(T)Caesarea, and ^[g]gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. ²³ After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of ^(U)Galatia and Phrygia ^[h]in order, ^(V)strengthening all the disciples.

Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that ^(B)I may ^[a]inaugurate him.”

So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁵ Now ^(C)the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will ^[b]rest with your fathers; and this people will ^(D)rise and ^(E)play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will ^(F)forsake Me and ^(G)break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger shall be ^(H)aroused against them in that day, and ^(I)I will forsake them, and I will ^(J)hide My face from them, and they shall be ^[c]devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ^(K)‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is ^(L)not among us?’ ¹⁸ And ^(M)I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(N)a witness for Me against the children of Israel. ²⁰ When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves ^(O)and grown fat, ^(P)then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it shall be, ^(Q)when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for ^(R)I know the inclination ^(S)of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”

²² Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. ^23 (T)Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ^(U)“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴ So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, ²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law, ^(V)and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there ^(W)as a witness against you; ^27 (X)for I know your rebellion and your ^(Y)stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing ^(Z)and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will ^(AA)become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And ^(AB)evil will befall you ^(AC)in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Ministry of Apollos

^24 (A)Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being ^(B)fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, ^(C)though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ²⁷ And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, ^(D)he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; ²⁸ for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, ^(E)showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Paul at Ephesus

19 And it happened, while ^(F)Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through ^(G)the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples ² he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So they said to him, ^(H)“We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So they said, ^(I)“Into John’s baptism.”

⁴ Then Paul said, ^(J)“John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized ^(K)in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had ^(L)laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and ^(M)they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷ Now the men were about twelve in all.