Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.^[a]

¹⁴ That day the Lord exalted^(A) Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law^(B) to come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁸ And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place^(C) and ran at flood stage^(D) as before.

¹⁹ On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal^(E) on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰ And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones^(F) they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’^{(G) 22} tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’^{(H) 23} For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea^[a] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.^{(I) 24} He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know^(J) that the hand of the Lord is powerful^(K) and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.^(L)”

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.^{(A) 8} We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.^{(B) 9} So we make it our goal to please him,^(C) 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^(D) 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,^(E) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.^{(F) 12} We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,^(G) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,^(H) 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,”^(I) 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.^{(J) 15} And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves^(K) but for him who died for them^(L) and was raised again.