Book of Common Prayer

God Chooses Joshua to Lead Israel

1 Moses was the Lord’s servant, and Joshua son of Nun was Moses’ helper. After Moses died, the Lord spoke to Joshua and said, ² “My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people must go across the Jordan River. You must go into the land I am giving to the Israelites. ³ I promised Moses that I would give you this land, so I will give you all the land wherever you go. ⁴ All the land from the desert to Lebanon all the way to the great river (that is, the Euphrates River) and all the land of the Hittites will be yours. And all the land from here to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (that is, the place where the sun sets) will be within your borders. ⁵ Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. No one will be able to stop you all your life. I will not abandon you. I will never leave you.

⁶ “Joshua, you must be strong and brave! You must lead these people so that they can take their land. I promised their fathers that I would give them this land. ⁷ But you must be strong and brave about obeying the commands my servant Moses gave you. If you follow his teachings exactly, you will be successful in everything you do. ⁸ Always remember what is written in that book of law. Speak about that book and study it day and night. Then you can be sure to obey what is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything you do. ⁹ Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Takes Command

¹⁰ So Joshua gave orders to the leaders of the people: ¹¹ “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get some food ready. Three days from now we will go across the Jordan River and take the land that the Lord our God is giving us.’”

¹² Then Joshua said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, ^13-14 “Remember what the Lord’s servant Moses told you. He said that the Lord your God would give you a place to live. So he has given you this land east of the Jordan River. But now you must help your relatives get their land. Your wives and children can stay here with your animals. But all your fighting men must prepare for battle and lead the men of the other tribes across the river. ¹⁵ The Lord has given you a place to live, and he will do the same for your brothers. But you must help them until they take control of the land the Lord your God is giving them. Then you can come back and settle here on the east side of the river. This is the land that the Lord’s servant Moses said would be yours.”

¹⁶ Then the people answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us to do. We will go wherever you tell us to go. ¹⁷ We will obey whatever you say, just as we obeyed Moses. We only ask that the Lord your God be with you just as he was with Moses. ¹⁸ Then anyone who refuses to obey your commands or turns against you will be killed. Just be strong and brave!”

³ We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it on the north side, but we did not stop. We sailed to the country of Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. ⁴ We found the Lord’s followers there and stayed with them for seven days. They warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem because of what the Spirit had told them. ⁵ But when our time there was up, we returned to the ship to continue our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came with us to the seashore. We all knelt down on the beach, prayed, ⁶ and said goodbye. Then we got on the ship, and the followers went home.

⁷ We continued our trip from Tyre and went to the city of Ptolemais. We greeted the believers there and stayed with them one day. ⁸ The next day we left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. We went into the home of Philip and stayed with him. He had the work of telling the Good News. He was one of the seven helpers.^{[a] 9} He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying.

¹⁰ After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt. He used it to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit tells me, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt.^[b] Then they will hand him over to people who don’t know God.’”

¹² When we heard this, we and the other followers there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ¹³ But he said, “Why are you crying and making me feel so sad? I am willing to be put in jail in Jerusalem. I am even ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!”

¹⁴ We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”

¹⁵ After this, we got ready and left for Jerusalem.

Jesus Frees a Man From an Evil Spirit^(A)

²¹ Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath day, Jesus went into the synagogue and taught the people. ²² They were amazed at his teaching. He did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like someone with authority. ²³ While Jesus was in the synagogue, a man was there who had an evil spirit inside him. The man shouted, ²⁴ “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”

²⁵ Jesus, his voice full of warning, said, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ The evil spirit made the man shake. Then the spirit made a loud noise and came out of him.

²⁷ The people were amazed. They asked each other, “What is happening here? This man is teaching something new, and he teaches with authority! He even commands evil spirits, and they obey him.”