Monday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2Verse 2. “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3Verse 3. and 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.’” 4Verse 4. So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5Verse 5. and 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, 6Verse 6. to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7Verse 7. you 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.” 8Verse 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. 9Verse 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. 10Verse 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, 11Verse 11. and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people. 12Verse 12. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them. 13Verse 13. About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho. 14Verse 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. 15Verse 15. Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16Verse 16. “Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” 17Verse 17. So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18Verse 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. 19Verse 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. 20Verse 20. And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. 21Verse 21. Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22Verse 22. you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23Verse 23. For 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. 24Verse 24. He 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.”

18Verse 18. “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you. 19Verse 19. And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’” 20Verse 20. Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: 21Verse 21. “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. 22Verse 22. Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it. 23Verse 23. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away. 24Verse 24. They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’ 25Verse 25. Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty. 26Verse 26. For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. 27Verse 27. Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. 28Verse 28. They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy. 29Verse 29. Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? 30Verse 30. A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land. 31Verse 31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?[’’]