Crossing the Jordan

3 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim^(A) and went to the Jordan,^(B) where they camped before crossing over. ² After three days^(C) the officers^(D) went throughout the camp,^{(E) 3} giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant^(F) of the Lord your God, and the Levitical^(G) priests^(H) carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. ⁴ Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits^[a](I) between you and the ark; do not go near it.”

⁵ Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,^(J) for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things^(K) among you.”

⁶ Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.

⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you^(L) in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.^{(M) 8} Tell the priests^(N) who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ This is how you will know that the living God^(O) is among you^(P) and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,^(Q) Hivites, Perizzites,^(R) Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.^{(S) 11} See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth^(T) will go into the Jordan ahead of you.^{(U) 12} Now then, choose twelve men^(V) from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³ And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth^(W)—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream^(X) will be cut off^(Y) and stand up in a heap.^(Z)”

¹⁴ So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant^(AA) went ahead^(AB) of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan^(AC) is at flood stage^(AD) all during harvest.^(AE) Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing.^(AF) It piled up in a heap^(AG) a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,^(AH) while the water flowing down^(AI) to the Sea of the Arabah^(AJ) (that is, the Dead Sea^(AK)) was completely cut off.^(AL) So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.^{(AM) 17} The priests^(AN) who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,^(AO) while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.^(AP)

4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,^(AQ) the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men^(AR) from among the people, one from each tribe, ³ and tell them to take up twelve stones^(AS) from the middle of the Jordan,^(AT) from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.^(AU)”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men^(AV) he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.^(AW) Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign^(AX) among you. In the future, when your children^(AY) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’^{(AZ) 7} tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off^(BA) before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial^(BB) to the people of Israel forever.”

⁸ So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones^(BC) from the middle of the Jordan,^(BD) according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua;^(BE) and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones^(BF) that had been^[b] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.^(BG)

¹⁰ Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, ¹¹ and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. ¹² The men of Reuben,^(BH) Gad^(BI) and the half-tribe of Manasseh^(BJ) crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites,^(BK) as Moses had directed them.^{(BL) 13} About forty thousand armed for battle^(BM) crossed over^(BN) before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.

¹⁴ That day the Lord exalted^(BO) Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law^(BP) to come up out of the Jordan.”

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

¹⁸ And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place^(BQ) and ran at flood stage^(BR) as before.

¹⁹ On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal^(BS) on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰ And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones^(BT) they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’^{(BU) 22} tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’^{(BV) 23} For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea^[c] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.^{(BW) 24} He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know^(BX) that the hand of the Lord is powerful^(BY) and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.^(BZ)”

Psalm 144

Of David.

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John^(A)— ² although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³ So he left Judea^(B) and went back once more to Galilee.

⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria.^{(C) 5} So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.^{(D) 6} Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”^{(E) 8} (His disciples had gone into the town^(F) to buy food.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan^(G) woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.^[a])

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”^(H)

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well^(I) and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.^(J) Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water^(K) welling up to eternal life.”^(L)

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty^(M) and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.^{(N) 20} Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,^(O) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”^(P)

²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming^(Q) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.^{(R) 22} You Samaritans worship what you do not know;^(S) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.^{(T) 23} Yet a time is coming and has now come^(U) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit^(V) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit,^(W) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)^(X) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”^(Y)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷ Just then his disciples returned^(Z) and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

²⁸ Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.^(AA) Could this be the Messiah?”^{(AB) 30} They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³¹ Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,^(AC) eat something.”

³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat^(AD) that you know nothing about.”

³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will^(AE) of him who sent me and to finish his work.^{(AF) 35} Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.^{(AG) 36} Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests^(AH) a crop for eternal life,^(AI) so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷ Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’^(AJ) is true. ³⁸ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹ Many of the Samaritans from that town^(AK) believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”^{(AL) 40} So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹ And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴² They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”^(AM)

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴³ After the two days^(AN) he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)^{(AO) 45} When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,^(AP) for they also had been there.

⁴⁶ Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.^(AQ) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,^(AR) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸ “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”^(AS) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹ The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹ While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵² When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household^(AT) believed.

⁵⁴ This was the second sign^(AU) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.