Joshua Installed as Leader

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord,^(A) the Lord said to Joshua^(B) son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River^(C) into the land^(D) I am about to give to them^(E)—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot,^(F) as I promised Moses.^{(G) 4} Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon,^(H) and from the great river, the Euphrates^(I)—all the Hittite^(J) country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.^{(K) 5} No one will be able to stand against you^(L) all the days of your life. As I was with^(M) Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake^(N) you. ⁶ Be strong^(O) and courageous,^(P) because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors^(Q) to give them.

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey^(R) all the law^(S) my servant Moses^(T) gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left,^(U) that you may be successful wherever you go.^{(V) 8} Keep this Book of the Law^(W) always on your lips;^(X) meditate^(Y) on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.^{(Z) 9} Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid;^(AA) do not be discouraged,^(AB) for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”^(AC)

¹⁰ So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:^{(AD) 11} “Go through the camp^(AE) and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions^(AF) ready. Three days^(AG) from now you will cross the Jordan^(AH) here to go in and take possession^(AI) of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’”

¹² But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,^(AJ) Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest^(AK) by giving you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives,^(AL) your children and your livestock may stay in the land^(AM) that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle,^(AN) must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites.^(AO) You are to help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”^(AP)

¹⁶ Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.^{(AQ) 17} Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.^(AR) Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey^(AS) it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!^(AT)”

Awaiting the New Body

5 For we know that if the earthly^(A) tent^(B) we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan,^(C) longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^{(D) 3} because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan^(E) and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,^(F) so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.^(G)

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight.^{(H) 8} We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.^{(I) 9} So we make it our goal to please him,^(J) whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us^(K) for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,^(L) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.^{(M) 12} We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,^(N) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,^(O) so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³ If we are “out of our mind,”^(P) as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.^{(Q) 15} And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves^(R) but for him who died for them^(S) and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly^(T) point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,^(U) the new creation^(V) has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!^{(W) 18} All this is from God,^(X) who reconciled us to himself through Christ^(Y) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.^(Z) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,^(AA) as though God were making his appeal through us.^(AB) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.^{(AC) 21} God made him who had no sin^(AD) to be sin^[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.^(AE)