Joshua told the Israelites, “Come near to hear the words of the Lord your God.” And he continued: “By this you will know that the living God is in your midst and that he will destroy the Canaanites before your eyes: the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will pass over the Jordan before you and, as soon as the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth touch the Jordan, the waters that go down will continue to flow and those that come from above will stop, forming a wall”.
Thus, the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, led by the priests who carried the ark of the covenant. As soon as they touched with their feet the waters of the Jordan (which flows swollen to the banks all the time of the harvest), the waters that came from above stopped and formed a single block in a great extension from the town of Adam, until Sartan’s fortress; Meanwhile, the waters that descended towards the Dead Sea disappeared completely and the people crossed the Jordan, in front of Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan, which had dried up, while all the people of Israel crossed through the empty channel.
Then Jesus said to them: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. The first one presented to him owed him many millions. Since he had nothing to pay with, the lord ordered them to sell him.” , his wife, his children and all his possessions, to settle the debt. The servant, throwing himself at his feet, begged him, saying: ‘Have patience with me and I will pay you everything.’ The king took pity on that servant, he released him and even forgave him the debt.
But, as soon as that servant had left, he met one of his companions, who owed him little money. Then he grabbed him by the neck and almost strangled him, while he told him: ‘Pay me what you owe me.’ The partner knelt down and begged him: ‘Be patient with me and I’ll pay you everything.’ But the other did not want to listen to him, but he went and put him in jail until he paid the debt.
Upon seeing what happened, his companions were filled with indignation and went to tell the king what had happened. Then the lord called him and said: ‘Wicked servant. I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had compassion on your companion, as I had compassion on you?’ And the lord, enraged, handed him over to the executioners so that they would not release him until he paid what he owed.
Well, my heavenly Father will do the same with you if each one does not forgive his brother from his heart.
When Jesus finished speaking, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan.
