Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant^[a] of the church at ^(A)Cenchreae, ² that you ^(B)may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

³ Greet ^(C)Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. ⁵ Greet also ^(D)the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was ^(E)the first convert^[b] to Christ in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia,^[c] my kinsmen and my ^(F)fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,^[d] and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those ^(G)who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers^[e] who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ^16 (H)Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles ^(I)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; ^(J)avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(K)their own appetites,^[f] and ^(L)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For ^(M)your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you ^(N)to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ^20 (O)The God of peace ^(P)will soon crush Satan under your feet. ^(Q)The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

^21 (R)Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²² I Tertius, ^(S)who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

^23 (T)Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.^[g]

Doxology

^25 (U)Now to him who is able to strengthen you ^(V)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^(W)according to the revelation of the mystery ^(X)that was kept secret for ^(Y)long ages ²⁶ but ^(Z)has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, ^(AA)to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to ^(AB)the only wise God ^(AC)be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Israel Crosses the Jordan

3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out ^(A)from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. ^2 (B)At the end of three days the officers went through the camp ³ and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by ^(C)the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. ^4 (D)Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits^[a] in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” ⁵ Then Joshua said to the people, ^(E)“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” ⁶ And Joshua said to the priests, ^(F)“Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to ^(G)exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ^(H)as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸ And as for you, command ^(I)the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ^(J)you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” ⁹ And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that ^(K)the living God is among you and that he will without fail ^(L)drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^(M)the Lord of all the earth^{[b] (N)}is passing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore ^(O)take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, ^(P)from each tribe a man. ¹³ And ^(Q)when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, ^(R)the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall ^(S)stand in one heap.”

¹⁴ So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing ^(T)the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and ^(U)the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now ^(V)the Jordan overflows all its banks ^(W)throughout the time of harvest), ¹⁶ the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside ^(X)Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of ^(Y)the Arabah, ^(Z)the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, ^(AA)and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 When all the nation had finished passing ^(AB)over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ^2 (AC)“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take ^(AD)twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place ^(AE)where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in ^(AF)the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. ^(AG)When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that ^(AH)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 the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel ^(AI)a memorial forever.”

⁸ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down^[c] there. ⁹ And Joshua set up^[d] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, ^(AJ)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 bearing 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 And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. ¹² The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh ^(AK)passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. ¹³ About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord ^(AL)exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests bearing ^(AM)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 bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, ^(AN)as before.

¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at ^(AO)Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And ^(AP)those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the people of Israel, ^(AQ)“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, ^(AR)‘Israel passed 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, ^(AS)which he dried up for us until we passed over, ^24 (AT)so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is ^(AU)mighty, that you may ^(AV)fear the Lord your God forever.”^[e]

The New Generation Circumcised

5 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^(AW)who were by the sea, ^(AX)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts ^(AY)melted and ^(AZ)there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^(BA)flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.^{[f] 4} And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^(BB)all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵ Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ For the people of Israel walked ^(BC)forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord ^(BD)swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, ^(BE)a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So it was ^(BF)their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸ When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. ⁹ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the ^(BG)reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called ^(BH)Gilgal^[g] to this day.

First Passover in Canaan

¹⁰ While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover ^(BI)on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² And ^(BJ)the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Lord's Army

¹³ When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(BK)a man was standing before him ^(BL)with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua ^(BM)fell on his face to the earth and worshiped^[h] and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” ¹⁵ And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, ^(BN)“Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.