Encouragement of Joshua

1 After the death of Moses^(A) the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun,^(B) Moses’s assistant: ² “Moses my servant is dead.^(C) Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan^(D) to the land I am giving the Israelites. ³ I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads,^(E) just as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon^(F) to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites^(G)—and west to the Mediterranean Sea.^{(H) 5} No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live.^(I) I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.^(J)

⁶ “Be strong and courageous,^(K) for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance.^{(L) 7} Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you.^(M) Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. ⁸ This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth;^(N) you are to meditate on^[a] it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.^{(O) 9} Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous?^(P) Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Prepares the People

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, ¹¹ “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit.’”^(Q)

¹² Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh,^{(R) 13} “Remember what Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you when he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest, and he will give you this land.’^{(S) 14} Your wives, dependents, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your best soldiers must cross over in battle formation^[b] ahead of your brothers and help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they too possess the land the Lord your God is giving them. You may then return to the land of your inheritance^(T) and take possession of what Moses the Lord’s servant^(U) gave you on the east side of the Jordan.”

¹⁶ They answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. ¹⁷ We will obey you, just as we obeyed Moses in everything. Certainly the Lord your God will be with you, as he was with Moses.^{(V) 18} Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!” ^(W)

Spies Sent to Jericho

2 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies^(X) from the Acacia Grove,^[c] saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab,^(Y) and stayed there.

² The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.” ³ Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house,^(Z) for they came to investigate the entire land.”

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them.^(AA) So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. ⁵ At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” ⁶ But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them^(AB) among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. ⁷ The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.

The Promise to Rahab

⁸ Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land^(AC) and that the terror of you has fallen on us,^(AD) and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.^{[d](AE) 10} For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt,^(AF) and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed^(AG) across the Jordan. ¹¹ When we heard this, we lost heart,^(AH) and everyone’s courage failed^[e] because of you,^(AI) for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.^{(AJ) 12} Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you.^(AK) Give me a sure sign^{[f] 13} that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

¹⁴ The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the Lord gives us the land.”

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window, since she lived in a house that was built into the wall of the city. ¹⁶ “Go to the hill country so that the men pursuing you won’t find you,” she said to them. “Hide there for three days until they return; afterward, go on your way.”

¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear, ¹⁸ unless, when we enter the land, you tie this scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. ¹⁹ If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his death will be his own fault,^(AL) and we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, his death will be our fault. ²⁰ And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

²¹ “Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

²² So the two men went into the hill country and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. They searched all along the way, but did not find them. ²³ Then the men returned, came down from the hill country, and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua son of Nun and reported everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ They told Joshua, “The Lord has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us.”^[g]

Crossing the Jordan

3 Joshua started early the next morning and left the Acacia Grove^[h] with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing. ² After three days the officers went through the camp^{(AM) 3} and commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests,^(AN) you are to break camp and follow it. ⁴ But keep a distance of about a thousand yards^[i] between yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.”

⁵ Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,^(AO) because the Lord will do wonders^(AP) among you tomorrow.” ⁶ Then he said to the priests, “Carry the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁷ The Lord spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel,^(AQ) so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses.^{(AR) 8} Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the water,^[j] stand in the Jordan.”

⁹ Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ He said, “You will know that the living God is among you^(AS) and that he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hethites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites^{(AT) 11} when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth^(AU) goes ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹² Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.^{(AV) 13} When the feet^[k] of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s water, its water will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.”^(AW)

¹⁴ When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant^(AX) ahead of the people. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season.^(AY) But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge ¹⁶ and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as^[l] Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah^(AZ)—the Dead Sea—was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan,^(BA) while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4 After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan,^(BB) the Lord spoke to Joshua: ² “Choose twelve men from the people, one man for each tribe,^{(BC) 3} and command them: Take twelve stones^(BD) from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests^[m] are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

⁴ So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, ⁶ so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ^{(BE) 7} you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”^(BF)

⁸ The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The twelve men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there. ⁹ Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle^[n] of the Jordan where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are still there today.^(BG)

¹⁰ The priests carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried across, ¹¹ and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the Lord crossed in the sight of the people. ¹² The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went in battle formation in front of the Israelites,^(BH) as Moses had instructed them. ¹³ About forty thousand equipped for war crossed to the plains of Jericho in the Lord’s presence.

¹⁴ On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him throughout his life, as they had revered Moses.^{(BI) 15} The Lord told Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony^(BJ) to come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ When the priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan, and their feet^[o] stepped out on solid ground, the water of the Jordan resumed its course, flowing over all the banks as before.

¹⁹ The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month,^(BK) and camped at Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.^{(BL) 20} Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan, ²¹ and he said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ ²² you should tell your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’^{(BM) 23} For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over,^(BN) just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴ This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know^(BO) that the Lord’s hand is strong,^(BP) and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.”^(BQ)

Psalm 143

A Cry for Help

A psalm of David.

A Sabbath Controversy

14 One Sabbath, when he went in to eat^[a] at the house of one of the leading Pharisees,^(A) they were watching him closely.^{(B) 2} There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid. ³ In response, Jesus asked the law experts^(C) and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”^{(D) 4} But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”^{(E) 6} They could find no answer to these things.

Teachings on Humility

⁷ He told a parable^(F) to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places^(G) for themselves: ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit in the place of honor, because a more distinguished person^(H) than you may have been invited by your host. ⁹ The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

¹⁰ “But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored^(I) in the presence of all the other guests.^{(J) 11} For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”^(K)

¹² He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. ¹³ On the contrary, when you host a banquet,^(L) invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.^{(M) 14} And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid^(N) at the resurrection of the righteous.”^(O)

The Parable of the Large Banquet

¹⁵ When^(P) one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ^(Q)

¹⁶ Then he told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

¹⁸ “But without exception^[b] they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

²⁰ “And another said, ‘I just got married,^(R) and therefore I’m unable to come.’

²¹ “So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’^(S)

²² “‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’

²³ “Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”

The Cost of Following Jesus

²⁵ Now^(T) great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me^(U) and does not hate^(V) his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross^(W) and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost^(X) to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce^[c] all his possessions^(Y) cannot be my disciple.

³⁴ “Now,^(Z) salt^(AA) is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? ³⁵ It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”^(AB)