Israel Crosses the Jordan

3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out ^(A)from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. ^2 (B)At the end of three days the officers went through the camp ³ and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by ^(C)the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. ^4 (D)Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits^[a] in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” ⁵ Then Joshua said to the people, ^(E)“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” ⁶ And Joshua said to the priests, ^(F)“Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to ^(G)exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ^(H)as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸ And as for you, command ^(I)the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ^(J)you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” ⁹ And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that ^(K)the living God is among you and that he will without fail ^(L)drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^(M)the Lord of all the earth^{[b] (N)}is passing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore ^(O)take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, ^(P)from each tribe a man. ¹³ And ^(Q)when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, ^(R)the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall ^(S)stand in one heap.”

¹⁴ So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing ^(T)the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and ^(U)the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now ^(V)the Jordan overflows all its banks ^(W)throughout the time of harvest), ¹⁶ the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside ^(X)Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of ^(Y)the Arabah, ^(Z)the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, ^(AA)and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

The Queen of Sheba

10 ^(A)Now when ^(B)the queen of ^(C)Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came ^(D)to test him with hard questions. ² She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels ^(E)bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. ³ And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. ⁴ And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, ⁵ the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

⁶ And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, ⁷ but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. ^8 (F)Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ^9 (G)Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! ^(H)Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, ^(I)that you may execute justice and righteousness.” ^10 (J)Then she gave the king 120 talents^[a] of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ Moreover, ^(K)the fleet of Hiram, which brought ^(L)gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. ¹² And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.

¹³ And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.

²⁰ Then he went ^(A)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(B)so that they could not even eat. ^21 (C)And when ^(D)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ^(E)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(F)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(G)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ^23 (H)And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But ^(I)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(J)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

^28 (K)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever ^(L)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^31 (M)And his mother and his ^(N)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[a] are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And ^(O)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35 (P)For whoever ^(Q)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

The Macedonian Call

⁶ And ^(A)they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^(B)the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^(C)to Troas. ⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ And when Paul^[a] had seen the vision, immediately ^(D)we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ So, setting sail from Troas, we ^(E)made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to ^(F)Philippi, which is a leading city of the^[b] district of Macedonia and ^(G)a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³ And ^(H)on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^(I)to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^(J)sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^(K)who was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^(L)opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ And after she was baptized, ^(M)and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^(N)prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ As we were going to ^(O)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^(P)a spirit of ^(Q)divination and ^(R)brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, ^(S)crying out, “These men are ^(T)servants of ^(U)the Most High God, who proclaim to you ^(V)the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^(W)“I command you ^(X)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^(Y)it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But ^(Z)when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(AA)dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They ^(AB)advocate customs that are not lawful for us ^(AC)as Romans to accept or practice.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^(AD)to beat them with rods. ²³ And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴ Having received this order, he put them into the inner ^(AE)prison and fastened their feet in ^(AF)the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25 (AG)About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AH)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^(AI)all the doors were opened, and ^(AJ)everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^(AK)was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ And the jailer^[c] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^(AL)fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^(AM)what must I do to be ^(AN)saved?” ³¹ And they said, ^(AO)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^(AP)and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(AQ)the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^(AR)was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴ Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^(AS)rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.