How do I replace text from the 3rd element of a list of 10 items in jQuery

Either the :eq() selector or the .eq() method will allow you to select the proper item. However, to replace the text, you must get the value before you set it:

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// This doesn't work; text() returns a string, not the jQuery object: $( this ).find( "li a" ).eq( 2 ).text().replace( "foo", "bar" ); // This works: var thirdLink = $( this ).find( "li a" ).eq( 2 ); var linkText = thirdLink.text().replace( "foo", "bar" ); thirdLink.text( linkText );

The first example just discards the modified text. The second example saves the modified text and then replaces the old text with the new modified text. Remember, .text() gets; .text( "foo" ) sets.