The master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.’ Luke 14:23

Joshua 3-4

Joshua 3

The Crossing of the Jordan

¹ Joshua got up early in the morning, and they moved from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the Israelites. They camped there before they crossed over. ² After three days, the officers went throughout the camp, ³ and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the Ark of the Lord your God’s Covenant, and the Levitical priests bearing it, then leave your place and follow it. ⁴ Yet there shall be a space between you and it of about 3,000 feet by measure. Do not come closer to it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵ Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

⁶ Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant and cross over before the people.” They took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people.

⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸ You shall command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’ ”

⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and hear the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will, without fail, drive the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you, ¹¹ when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth crosses over ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹² Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, a man for every tribe. ¹³ It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.”

¹⁴ When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests bore the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the people. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest, and when those who bore the Ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the Ark had dipped in the edge of the water, ¹⁶ the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho.

¹⁷ The priests who bore the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

Joshua 4

Twelve Stones from the Jordan

¹ When the whole nation had completely crossed over the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Take twelve men out of the people, a man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones. Carry them over with you and lay them down in the place where you will camp tonight.’ ”

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared, of the Israelites, a man from every tribe. ⁵ Joshua said to them, “Cross before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones shall be a memorial to the Israelites forever.’ ”

⁸ The Israelites did as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites. They carried them over with them to the place where they camped and laid them down there. ⁹ Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant stood, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ For the priests who bore the Ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people hurried and passed over. ¹¹ When all the people had completely crossed over, the Ark of the Lord crossed over with the priests in the presence of the people.

¹² The Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses spoke to them. ¹³ About 40,000 men, armed and ready for war, passed over before the Lord to battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant, that they come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan!” ¹⁸ When the priests who bore the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet had been lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks, as before.

The Camp at Gilgal

¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.

²⁰ Joshua set up those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, in Gilgal. ²¹ He spoke to the Israelites, saying, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had crossed over, ²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord’s hand is mighty, and that you may fear the Lord your God forever.’ ”

Luke 14:7-35

The Parable of the Guests

⁷ Jesus spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit in the best seat, since someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor and pay you back. ¹³ But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they do not have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Parable of the Banquet

¹⁵ When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in the Kingdom of God!”

¹⁶ But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. ¹⁷ He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ But all of them at once began making excuses.

“The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’

¹⁹ “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’

²⁰ “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’

²¹ “That servant came and told his master these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

²² “The servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’

²³ “The master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’ ”

The Cost of Following Jesus

²⁵ Now great crowds were going with him. He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000? ³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks for conditions of peace. ³³ So therefore whoever of you who does not renounce all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.

Good Salt

³⁴ Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Psalm 80

Hear Us, Shepherd of Israel

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm by Asaph.

¹ Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock,
you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.
² Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might!
Come to save us!
³ Turn to us again, Lord.
Cause your face to shine,
and we will be saved.

⁴ Lord, God of Hosts,
how long will you be angry
against the prayer of your people?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in large measure.
⁶ You make us a source of contention to our neighbors.
Our enemies laugh among themselves.
⁷ Turn to us again, Lord of Hosts.
Cause your face to shine,
and we will be saved.

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt.
You drove 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,
its shoots to the River.

¹² Why have you broken down its walls,
so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?
¹³ The boar out of the wood ravages it.
The wild animals of the field feed on it.
¹⁴ Return to us, we beg you, God of Hosts.
Look down from heaven and see and visit this vine,
¹⁵ the stock which your right hand planted,
the branch that you made strong for yourself.

¹⁶ It is burned with fire.
It is cut down.
They perish at your rebuke.
¹⁷ Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
on the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁸ So we will not turn away from you.
Revive us, and we will call on your name.
¹⁹ Restore us, Lord God of Hosts.
Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

Proverbs 12:27-28

²⁷ The slothful man does not roast his game,
but the possessions of diligent men are prized.
²⁸ In the way of righteousness is life;
in its path there is no death.

«     »