⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you^(A) in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.^{(B) 8} Tell the priests^(C) who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ This is how you will know that the living God^(D) is among you^(E) and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,^(F) Hivites, Perizzites,^(G) Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.^{(H) 11} See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth^(I) will go into the Jordan ahead of you.^{(J) 12} Now then, choose twelve men^(K) from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³ And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth^(L)—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream^(M) will be cut off^(N) and stand up in a heap.^(O)”

¹⁴ So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant^(P) went ahead^(Q) of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan^(R) is at flood stage^(S) all during harvest.^(T) Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing.^(U) It piled up in a heap^(V) a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,^(W) while the water flowing down^(X) to the Sea of the Arabah^(Y) (that is, the Dead Sea^(Z)) was completely cut off.^(AA) So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.^{(AB) 17} The priests^(AC) who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,^(AD) while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.^(AE)

Psalm 114

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?^(A) Up to seven times?”^(B)

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a](C)

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like^(D) a king who wanted to settle accounts^(E) with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[b] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay,^(F) the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold^(G) to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him.^(H) ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”^(I)

Divorce^(J)

19 When Jesus had finished saying these things,^(K) he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.