Book of Common Prayer

To the director: A song of praise from the Korah family.

A song of praise from the Korah family.

¹⁴ The priests carried the Box of the Agreement, and the people left the place they had camped. The people started going across the Jordan River. ¹⁵ (During harvest time the Jordan River overflows its banks, so the river was at its fullest.) The priests who were carrying the Box came to the shore of the river. When they stepped into the water, ¹⁶ immediately the water stopped flowing and piled up like a wall. The water piled up high a long way up the river—all the way to Adam (a town near Zarethan). And the water flowing down to the sea of Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. The people crossed the river near Jericho. ¹⁷ The ground at that place became dry, and the priests carried the Box of the Agreement of the Lord to the middle of the river and stopped. They waited there while all the Israelites walked across the Jordan River on dry land.

Rocks to Remind the People

4 After all the people had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe. ³ Tell them to look in the river where the priests were standing and get twelve rocks from that place. Carry these rocks with you and put them where you stay tonight.”

⁴ So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together. ⁵ He said to them, “Go out into the river where the Holy Box of the Lord your God is. Each of you must find one rock. There will be one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Carry that rock on your shoulder. ⁶ These rocks will be a sign for you. In the future, your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ ⁷ You will tell them that the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan River. When the Holy Box of the Lord’s Agreement crossed the river, the water stopped flowing. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever.”

5 You are God’s dear children, so try to be like him. ² Live a life of love. Love others just as Christ loved us. He gave himself for us—a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But there must be no sexual sin among you. There must not be any kind of evil or selfishly wanting more and more, because such things are not right for God’s holy people. ⁴ Also, there must be no evil talk among you. Don’t say things that are foolish or filthy. These are not for you. But you should be giving thanks to God. ⁵ You can be sure of this: No one will have a place in the kingdom of Christ and of God if that person commits sexual sins, or does evil things, or is a person who selfishly wants more and more. A greedy person like that is serving a false god.

⁶ Don’t let anyone fool you with words that are not true. God gets very angry when people who don’t obey him talk like that. ⁷ So don’t have anything to do with them. ⁸ In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. ⁹ This light produces every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. ¹⁰ Try to learn what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have no part in the things that people in darkness do, which produce nothing good. Instead, tell everyone how wrong those things are. ¹² Actually, it is shameful to even talk about the things those people do in secret. ¹³ But the light makes clear how wrong those things are. ¹⁴ Yes, everything is made clear by the light. This is why we say,

¹⁵ So be very careful how you live. Live wisely, not like fools. ¹⁶ I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times. ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish with your lives, but learn what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don’t be drunk with wine, which will ruin your life, but be filled with the Spirit. ¹⁹ Encourage each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord. ²⁰ Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9 While Jesus was walking, he saw a man who had been blind since the time he was born. ² Jesus’ followers asked him, “Teacher, why was this man born blind? Whose sin made it happen? Was it his own sin or that of his parents?”

³ Jesus answered, “It was not any sin of this man or his parents that caused him to be blind. He was born blind so that he could be used to show what great things God can do. ⁴ While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the one who sent me. The night is coming, and no one can work at night. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶ After Jesus said this, he spit on the dirt, made some mud and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷ Jesus told him, “Go and wash in Siloam pool.” (Siloam means “Sent.”) So the man went to the pool, washed and came back. He was now able to see.

⁸ His neighbors and some others who had seen him begging said, “Look! Is this the same man who always sits and begs?”

⁹ Some people said, “Yes! He is the one.” But others said, “No, he can’t be the same man. He only looks like him.”

So the man himself said, “I am that same man.”

¹⁰ They asked, “What happened? How did you get your sight?”

¹¹ He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went there and washed. And then I could see.”

¹² They asked him, “Where is this man?”

He answered, “I don’t know.”

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ When Jesus heard that they had forced the man to leave, he found him and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ The man said, “Tell me who he is, sir, so I can believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him. The Son of Man is the one talking with you now.”

³⁸ The man answered, “Yes, I believe, Lord!” Then he bowed and worshiped Jesus.