1 Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

2 After three days the officers went through the camp 3and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it. 4But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”

5 Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

7 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. 8Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”

9 So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.

12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord — the Lord of all the earth — touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.

15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.

1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”

4 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, 6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

8 Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across, 11and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the Lord crossed in the sight of the people. 12The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them. 13About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the Lord into the plains of Jericho.

14 On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16“Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”

18 When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. 24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.”

7 When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a parable: 8“When you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited. 9Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place.

10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or brothers or relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may invite you in return, and you will be repaid. 13But when you host a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15 When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

16 But Jesus replied, “A certain man prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. 17When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’

19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’

20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, so I cannot come.’

21 The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

22 ‘Sir,’ the servant replied, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’

23 So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my banquet.’”

25 Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus, 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, even his own life — he cannot be My disciple. 27And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

28 Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? 29Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

31 Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

33 In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

34 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its savor, with what will it be seasoned? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out.