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.

Paul Speaks to the People

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Are you not ^(A)the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(B)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ Paul replied, ^(C)“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, ^(D)motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in ^(E)the Hebrew language,^[a] saying:

22 ^(F)“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in ^(G)the Hebrew language,^[b] they became even more quiet. And he said:

^3 (H)“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^(I)at the feet of ^(J)Gamaliel^{[c] (K)}according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, ^(L)being zealous for God ^(M)as all of you are this day. ^4 (N)I persecuted ^(O)this Way ^(P)to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, ⁵ as ^(Q)the high priest and ^(R)the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to ^(S)the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

^6 (T)“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^(U)Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ^9 (V)Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand^[d] the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ^(W)‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹² “And ^(X)one Ananias, a devout man ^(Y)according to the law, ^(Z)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ^13 (AA)came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^(AB)at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ And he said, ^(AC)‘The God of our fathers ^(AD)appointed you to know his will, ^(AE)to see ^(AF)the Righteous One and ^(AG)to hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵ for ^(AH)you will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^(AI)you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why do you wait? ^(AJ)Rise and be baptized and ^(AK)wash away your sins, ^(AL)calling on his name.’

^17 (AM)“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^(AN)was praying in the temple, I fell into ^(AO)a trance ¹⁸ and saw him saying to me, ^(AP)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^(AQ)I imprisoned and ^(AR)beat those who believed in you. ²⁰ And when the blood of Stephen ^(AS)your witness was being shed, ^(AT)I myself was standing by and ^(AU)approving and ^(AV)watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^(AW)far away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²² Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ^(AX)“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^(AY)he should not be allowed to live.”

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 When all the nation had finished passing ^(A)over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ^2 (B)“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take ^(C)twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place ^(D)where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in ^(E)the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. ^(F)When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that ^(G)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel ^(H)a memorial forever.”

⁸ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down^[a] there. ⁹ And Joshua set up^[b] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, ^(I)in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

The people passed over in haste. ¹¹ And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. ¹² The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh ^(J)passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. ¹³ About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord ^(K)exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests bearing ^(L)the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁸ And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, ^(M)as before.

¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at ^(N)Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And ^(O)those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the people of Israel, ^(P)“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, ^(Q)‘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, ^(R)which he dried up for us until we passed over, ^24 (S)so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is ^(T)mighty, that you may ^(U)fear the Lord your God forever.”^[c]

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 ^(V)who were by the sea, ^(W)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts ^(X)melted and ^(Y)there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

²³ And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^(A)the barracks, saying that he should be ^(B)examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵ But when they had stretched him out for the whips,^[a] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^(C)a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹ So those who were about ^(D)to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^(E)was afraid, ^(F)for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^(G)he had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰ But on the next day, ^(H)desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

23 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, ^(I)I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ² And the high priest ^(J)Ananias commanded those who stood by him ^(K)to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^(L)whitewashed ^(M)wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ^(N)contrary to the law you ^(O)order me to be struck?” ⁴ Those who stood by said, “Would you revile ^(P)God's high priest?” ⁵ And Paul said, ^(Q)“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ^(R)‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶ Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^(S)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^(T)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ^(U)with respect to the ^(V)hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷ And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees ^(W)say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹ Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^(X)the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, ^(Y)“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ^(Z)if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰ And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^(AA)the barracks.

^11 (AB)The following night ^(AC)the Lord stood by him and said, ^(AD)“Take courage, for ^(AE)as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ^(AF)testify also in Rome.”