Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to ·make you great [exalt/honor you] in the ·opinion [L eyes] of all the Israelites so the people will know I am with you just as I was with Moses. 8 ·Tell [Command] the priests who carry the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] to go to the edge of the Jordan River and stand in the water.”
9 Then Joshua said to the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 Here is proof that the living God is ·with [among] you and that he will ·force [drive] out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11 [L Look; T Behold] The Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord of the whole world will go ahead of you into the Jordan River. 12 Now choose twelve men from among you, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the ·Master [Ruler; Lord] of the whole world [Ex. 9:29], into the Jordan ahead of you. When they step into the water, it will stop. The ·river will stop flowing [L waters going down will be cut off from above] and will stand up in a heap [C thus reminding them of the crossing of the sea in Ex. 14].”
14 So the people left ·the place where they had camped [their camp/L tents], and they followed the priests who carried the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] across the Jordan River. 15 During harvest the Jordan overflows its banks. When the priests carrying the Ark came to the edge of the river and stepped into the water, 16 the water ·upstream [L going down from above] stopped flowing. It stood up in a heap a great distance away at Adam, a town near Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Sea of Arabah (the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed the river ·near [opposite; across from] Jericho. 17 The priests carried the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord to the middle of the river and stood there on dry ground. They waited there while ·all the people [the whole nation] of Israel walked across the Jordan River on dry land.
Book 5: Psalms 107–150
God Saves from Many Dangers
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His ·love [loyalty] continues forever.
2 That is what those whom the Lord has ·saved [redeemed] should say.
He has ·saved [redeemed] them from the ·enemy [foe]
3 and has gathered them from other lands,
from east and west, north and south [Is. 51:11; C perhaps after the Babylonian exile].
4 Some people had wandered in the ·desert lands [L wilderness, wasteland].
They found no way to a city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and they were ·discouraged [faint].
6 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved [rescued; protected] them from their troubles [vv. 13, 19, 28].
7 He led them on a straight road
to a city where they could live.
33 He ·changed [turned; L set] rivers into a ·desert [wilderness]
and springs of water into ·dry [parched; thirsty] ground.
34 He made ·fertile [fruitful] land salty
because the people there did evil [Gen. 19].
35 He ·changed [turned; L set] the ·desert [wilderness] into pools of water
and ·dry [parched] ground into springs of water.
36 He had the hungry settle there
so they could ·build [establish] a city in which to live.
37 They ·planted seeds in the fields and vineyards [L sowed fields and planted vineyards],
and they had a ·good harvest [fruitful crop].
9 Brothers and sisters, ·I know [surely] you remember our hard work and ·difficulties [hardship; labor]. We worked night and day so we would not burden any of you while we preached God’s ·Good News [Gospel] to you.
10 When we were with you, we lived in a holy and ·honest [righteous; just] way, ·without fault [blameless; innocent]. You ·know this is true, and so does [L are witnesses, and so is] God. 11 You know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We ·encouraged [exhorted; urged] you, we ·urged [encouraged; comforted] you, and we ·insisted [appealed/bore witness to you] that you ·live good lives for [L walk worthy of] God, who calls you to his ·glorious kingdom [L kingdom and glory].
13 ·Also [L For this reason], we always thank God because when you ·heard his message [received the message you heard] from us, you accepted it not as ·merely human words [a human message], but for what it truly is—·the word of [a message from] God, which ·works in [transforms] you who believe.
Jesus Accuses Some Leaders(A)
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his ·followers [disciples], 2 “The ·teachers of the law [scribes] and the Pharisees ·have the authority to interpret what the law of Moses says [L sit in Moses’ seat/chair]. 3 So you should ·obey [do; practice] and ·follow [keep; observe] whatever they tell you, but ·their lives are not good examples for you to follow [L do not follow their actions]. ·They tell you to do things, but they themselves don’t do them [L For they say but do not do]. 4 They ·make strict rules [L tie up heavy loads/burdens that are hard to carry] and ·try to force people to obey them [L put them on people’s shoulders], but they are unwilling to ·help those who struggle under the weight of their rules [lift a finger to move them; L move them with their finger].
5 “They do good things so that other people will see them. They enlarge ·the little boxes holding Scriptures that they wear [L their phylacteries; C leather cases worn on the left arm and forehead to literally fulfill Deut. 6:8; 11:18], and they ·make their special prayer clothes very long [L lengthen their tassels; C Jewish males were to wear tassels on the four corners of their garment; Num. 15:38; Deut. 22:12]. 6 Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the ·most important seats [places of greatest honor] at ·feasts [banquets] and [L the best seats] in the synagogues. 7 They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them ·‘Teacher [L Rabbi].’
8 “But you must not be called ‘·Teacher [Rabbi],’ because you have only one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters together. 9 And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father,’ because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And you should not be called ‘·Master [Leader; Teacher; Instructor]’ because you have only one ·Master [Leader; Teacher; Instructor], the ·Christ [Messiah]. 11 ·Whoever is your servant is the greatest among you [L The greatest among you will be your servant]. 12 Whoever ·makes himself great [lifts up/exalts himself] will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be ·made great [exalted; lifted up].
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