The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel Crossing the Jordan
3 In the morning Joshua got up early; then he and all the children of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan. They stayed there before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went through the camp. 3 They commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the Levite priests carrying it, then you shall set out from where you are and go behind it. 4 There must be a distance of two thousand cubits[a] between you and it. Do not draw closer to it, in order that you may know the way you should go. For you have not passed this way before.”
5 Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform wondrous deeds among you.”
6 Joshua said to the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant, and proceed ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went in front of the people.
7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the bank of the Jordan, stand still in the river.’ ”
9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will thoroughly drive out the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites from before you. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing before you into the Jordan. 12 Now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man per tribe. 13 When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water of the Jordan that flows from upstream will be cut off and pile up.”
14 When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests were carrying the ark of the covenant before the people. 15 When the carriers of the ark came to the Jordan, the feet of the priests carrying the ark dipped into the edge of the water. (Now the Jordan overflows its banks all the days of the harvest.) 16 Then the water that flows down from upstream stood still and rose up in a heap very far away at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The water that flows down toward the Sea of Arabah (the Dead Sea) stopped and was cut off. The people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire people completed crossing over the Jordan.
Twelve Memorial Stones
4 When the entire people had completed crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from among the people, one man per tribe. 3 Command them: ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the priests are standing; bring them over with you, and set them in the place you will camp tonight.’ ”
4 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from among the children of Israel, one man per tribe. 5 Then Joshua said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift up a stone upon your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 so that this will be a sign among you. When your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 you will answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones will be a memorial for the children of Israel continually.”
8 Then the children of Israel did as Joshua commanded and picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the tribes of the children of Israel, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua. They crossed over with them to the settlement and set them there. 9 Joshua also set twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are there to this day.
10 The priests who were carrying the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to say to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people quickly crossed over. 11 When all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. 12 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle formation in front of the children of Israel, according to what Moses had said to them. 13 About forty thousand battle-ready men crossed over before the Lord for battle on the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day, the Lord honored Joshua in the sight of all Israel. They feared him as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.
15 The Lord spoke to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the testimony: ‘Come up out of the Jordan!’ ”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan!”
18 Then when the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.
19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped at Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 Joshua set up in Gilgal those twelve stones that they took from the Jordan. 21 He said to the children of Israel, “When your children someday ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall explain to your children, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground!’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea when He dried it up before us until we crossed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, and you would fear the Lord your God always.”
A Lesson to Guests and a Host
7 When He marked how they chose the seats of honor, He told a parable to those who were invited, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by any man to a wedding banquet, do not sit down in a seat of honor, lest a more honorable man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give this man the seat,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest seat. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest seat, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have respect in the presence of those who sit at dinner with you. 11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 Then He said also to the one who invited Him, “When you prepare a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you prepare a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, for they cannot repay you. You shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
The Parable of the Great Banquet(A)
15 When one of those who sat at dinner with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
16 Then He said to him, “A man prepared a banquet and invited many, 17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now prepared.’
18 “But they all with one mind began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to prove them. I ask you to excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
21 “The servant came and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’
22 “The servant said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and yet there is room.’
23 “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
The Cost of Discipleship(B)
25 Large crowds went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For who among you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost to see whether he has resources to complete it? 29 Otherwise, perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to complete it, all who see it will begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to complete it.’
31 “Or what king, going to wage war against another king, does not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Otherwise, while the other is yet at a distance, he sends a delegation and requests conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, any of you who does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Tasteless Salt(C)
34 “Salt is good. But if the salt has lost its saltiness, how shall it be made salty? 35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the manure pile. So men throw it out.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Psalm 80
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Lilies of the Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who are enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth.
2 In the sight of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up Your strength,
and come and rescue us.
3 Restore us again, O God,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
4 O Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
against the prayers of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and have given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You make us contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us again, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow
and the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You then broken down its walls,
so that all those who pass by the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the woods ravages it,
and the insects of the field devour it.
14 Return again, O God of Hosts;
look down from heaven, and behold,
have regard for this vine
15 and the root that Your right hand has planted,
and the shoots that You made strong for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire; it is cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke from Your presence.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 So we will not turn back from You;
give us life, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us again, O Lord God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
27 The slothful man does not roast that which he took in hunting,
but the substance of a diligent man is precious.
28 In the way of righteousness is life,
and in its pathway there is no death.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.