8 Soon afterward, [Jesus] went on through towns and villages, preaching and bringing the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God. And the Twelve [apostles] were with Him,

² And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had been expelled;

³ And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager; and Susanna; and many others, who ministered to and provided for ^[a]Him and them out of their property and personal belongings.

⁴ And when a very great throng was gathering together and people from town after town kept coming to Jesus, He said in a parable:

⁵ A sower went out to sow seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the traveled path and was trodden underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up.

⁶ And some [seed] fell on the rock, and as soon as it sprouted, it withered away because it had no moisture.

⁷ And other [seed] fell in the midst of the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it [off].

⁸ And some seed fell into good soil, and grew up and yielded a crop a hundred times [as great]. As He said these things, He called out, He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him ^[b]consider and understand by hearing!

⁹ And when His disciples asked Him the meaning of this parable,

¹⁰ He said to them, To you it has been given to [come progressively to] know (to recognize and understand more strongly and clearly) the mysteries and secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that, [though] looking, they may not see; and hearing, they may not comprehend.^(A)

¹¹ Now the meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.

¹² Those along the traveled road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and carries away the message out of their hearts, that they may not believe (^[c]acknowledge Me as their Savior and devote themselves to Me) and be saved [here and hereafter].

¹³ And those upon the rock [are the people] who, when they hear [the Word], receive and welcome it with joy; but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation fall away (withdraw and stand aloof).

¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, these are [the people] who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked and suffocated with the anxieties and cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen (come to maturity and perfection).

¹⁵ But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just (^[d]noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience.

¹⁶ No one after he has lighted a lamp covers it with a vessel or puts it under a [dining table] couch; but he puts it on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.

¹⁷ For there is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come out into the open.

¹⁸ Be careful therefore how you listen. For to him who has [spiritual knowledge] will more be given; and from him who does not have [spiritual knowledge], even what he thinks and ^[e]guesses and ^[f]supposes that he has will be taken away.

¹⁹ Then Jesus’ mother and His brothers came along toward Him, but they could not get to Him because of the crowd.

²⁰ And it was told Him, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to have an interview with You.

²¹ But He answered them, My mother and My brothers are those who listen to the Word of God and do it!

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3 Joshua rose early in the morning and they removed from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the Israelites, and lodged there before passing over.

² After three days the officers went through the camp,

³ Commanding the people: When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being borne by the Levitical priests, set out from where you are and follow it.

⁴ Yet a space must be kept between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure; come not near it, that you may [be able to see the ark and] know the way you must go, for you have not passed this way before.

⁵ And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves [that is, separate yourselves for a special holy purpose], for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

⁶ Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took it up and went on before the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

⁸ You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.

⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites, Come near, hear the words of the Lord your God.

¹⁰ Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan!

¹² So now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

¹³ When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan coming down from above shall be cut off and they shall stand in one heap.

¹⁴ So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵ And when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were in the brink of the water—for the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest—

¹⁶ Then the ^[a]waters which came down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, were wholly cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.^(A)

¹⁷ And while all Israel passed over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

4 When all the nation had fully passed over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,

² Take twelve men from among the people, one man out of every tribe,

³ And command them, Take twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm; carry them over with you and leave them at the place where you lodge tonight.

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men of the Israelites whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe.

⁵ And Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God in the midst of the Jordan, and take up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, as is the number of the tribes of the Israelites,

⁶ That this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, What do these stones mean to you?

⁷ Then you shall tell them that 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 Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.

⁸ And the Israelites did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord told Joshua, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there.

⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan 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 who bore 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 When all the people had passed over, the ark of the Lord and the priests went over in the presence of the people.

¹² And the sons of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the [other] Israelites, as Moses had bidden them;

¹³ About 40,000 [of these] prepared for war passed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.

¹⁴ On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Joshua,

¹⁶ Order the priests bearing 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 who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were lifted up to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as they had before.

¹⁹ And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

²⁰ And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan Joshua set up in Gilgal.

²¹ And he said to the Israelites, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, What do these stones mean?

²² You shall let your children know, Israel came 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, which He dried up for us until we passed over,

²⁴ That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever.