Bible Readings for April 17, 2016

Today our passages are Joshua 15:1-63; Luke 18:18-43; Psalm 86:1-17; and Proverbs 13:9-10. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.  If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal.

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Joshua 15:1-63 (The Message)

Joshua 15

Judah

 ¹ The lot for the people of Judah, their clans, extended south to the border of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin in the extreme south.  ^2-4 The southern border ran from the tip of the Salt Sea south of The Tongue; it ran southward from Scorpions Pass, went around Zin and just south of Kadesh Barnea; then it ran past Hezron, ascended to Addar, and curved around to Karka; from there it passed along to Azmon, came out at the Brook of Egypt, ending at the Sea. This is the southern boundary. ^5-11 The eastern boundary: the Salt Sea up to the mouth of the Jordan.
    The northern boundary started at the shallows of the Sea at the mouth of the Jordan, went up to Beth Hoglah and around to the north of Beth Arabah and to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. The border then ascended to Debir from Trouble Valley and turned north toward Gilgal, which lies opposite Red Pass, just south of the gorge. The border then followed the Waters of En Shemesh and ended at En Rogel. The border followed the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite ridge (that is, Jerusalem). It ascended to the top of the mountain opposite Hinnom Valley on the west, at the northern end of Rephaim Valley; the border then took a turn at the top of the mountain to the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah, and followed the valley out to Mount Ephron, turned toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim), took another turn west of Baalah to Mount Seir, curved around to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), descended to Beth Shemesh, and crossed to Timnah. The border then went north to the ridge of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, passed along to Mount Baalah, and came out at Jabneel. The border ended at the Sea.
 ¹² The western border: the coastline of the Great Sea.
    This is the boundary around the people of Judah for their clans.
 ¹³ Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a section among the people of Judah, according to God's command. He gave him Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. Arba was the ancestor of Anak.
 ^14-15 Caleb drove out three Anakim from Hebron: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, all descendants of Anak. He marched up from there against the people of Debir. Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher.
 ^16-17 Caleb said, "Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I'll give my daughter Acsah to him as his wife." Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave him his daughter Acsah as his wife.
 ^18-19 When she arrived she got him
      to ask for farmland from her father.
   As she dismounted from her donkey
      Caleb asked her, "What would you like?"
   She said, "Give me a marriage gift.
      You've given me desert land;
   Now give me pools of water!"
      And he gave her the upper and the lower pools.
 ^20-32 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah, clan by clan.
    The southern towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev were near the boundary of Edom:
    Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,
   Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,
   Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,
   Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,
   Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor),
   Amam, Shema, Moladah,
   Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet,
   Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
   Baalah, Iim, Ezem,
   Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah,
   Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,
   Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—
      a total of twenty-nine towns and their villages.
 ^33-47 In the Shephelah (the western foothills) there were:
   Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,
   Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam,
   Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,
   Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (or Gederothaim)—
      fourteen towns and their villages.
   Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad,
   Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel,
   Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,
   Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish,
   Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah—
      sixteen towns and their villages.
   Libnah, Ether, Ashan,
   Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,
   Keilah, Aczib, and Mareshah—
      nine towns and their villages.
   Ekron with its towns and villages;
   From Ekron, west to the sea, all that bordered Ashdod with its villages;
   Ashdod with its towns and villages;
   Gaza with its towns and villages all the way to the Brook of Egypt.
   The Great Sea is the western border.
 ^48-60 In the hill country:
   Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,
   Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (that is, Debir),
   Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,
   Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—
      eleven towns and their villages.
   Arab, Dumah, Eshan,
   Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah,
   Humtah, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—
      nine towns and their villages.
   Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,
   Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,
   Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—
      ten towns and their villages.
   Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor,
   Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon—
      six towns and their villages.
   Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah—
      two towns and their villages.
 ^61-62 In the wilderness:
   Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,
   Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi—
      six towns and their villages.
 ⁶³ The people of Judah couldn't get rid of the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites stayed put, living alongside the people of Judah. They are still living there in Jerusalem.

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Luke 18:18-43 (The Message)

The Rich Official

 ¹⁸One day one of the local officials asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?"  ^19-20Jesus said, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good—only God. You know the commandments, don't you? No illicit sex, no killing, no stealing, no lying, honor your father and mother."
 ²¹He said, "I've kept them all for as long as I can remember."
 ²²When Jesus heard that, he said, "Then there's only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me."
 ²³This was the last thing the official expected to hear. He was very rich and became terribly sad. He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let them go.
 ^24-25Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God's kingdom? I'd say it's easier to thread a camel through a needle's eye than get a rich person into God's kingdom."
 ²⁶"Then who has any chance at all?" the others asked.
 ²⁷"No chance at all," Jesus said, "if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."
 ²⁸Peter tried to regain some initiative: "We left everything we owned and followed you, didn't we?"
 ^29-30"Yes," said Jesus, "and you won't regret it. No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever—will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life!"

I Want to See Again

 ^31-34Then Jesus took the Twelve off to the side and said, "Listen carefully. We're on our way up to Jerusalem. Everything written in the Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. He will be handed over to the Romans, jeered at, made sport of, and spit on. Then, after giving him the third degree, they will kill him. In three days he will rise, alive." But they didn't get it, could make neither heads nor tails of what he was talking about.  ^35-37He came to the outskirts of Jericho. A blind man was sitting beside the road asking for handouts. When he heard the rustle of the crowd, he asked what was going on. They told him, "Jesus the Nazarene is going by."
 ³⁸He yelled, "Jesus! Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
 ³⁹Those ahead of Jesus told the man to shut up, but he only yelled all the louder, "Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
 ⁴⁰Jesus stopped and ordered him to be brought over. When he had come near, Jesus asked, "What do you want from me?"
 ⁴¹He said, "Master, I want to see again."
 ^42-43Jesus said, "Go ahead—see again! Your faith has saved and healed you!" The healing was instant: He looked up, seeing—and then followed Jesus, glorifying God. Everyone in the street joined in, shouting praise to God.

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Psalm 86:1-17 (The Message)

Psalm 86

A David Psalm

 ^1-7 Bend an ear, God; answer me. I'm one miserable wretch!
   Keep me safe—haven't I lived a good life?
      Help your servant—I'm depending on you!
   You're my God; have mercy on me.
      I count on you from morning to night.
   Give your servant a happy life;
      I put myself in your hands!
   You're well-known as good and forgiving,
      bighearted to all who ask for help.
   Pay attention, God, to my prayer;
      bend down and listen to my cry for help.
   Every time I'm in trouble I call on you,
      confident that you'll answer.

 ^8-10 There's no one quite like you among the gods, O Lord,
      and nothing to compare with your works.
   All the nations you made are on their way,
      ready to give honor to you, O Lord,
   Ready to put your beauty on display,
      parading your greatness,
   And the great things you do—
      God, you're the one, there's no one but you!

 ^11-17 Train me, God, to walk straight;
      then I'll follow your true path.
   Put me together, one heart and mind;
      then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear.
   From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord;
      I've never kept secret what you're up to.
   You've always been great toward me—what love!
      You snatched me from the brink of disaster!
   God, these bullies have reared their heads!
      A gang of thugs is after me—
      and they don't care a thing about you.
   But you, O God, are both tender and kind,
      not easily angered, immense in love,
      and you never, never quit.
   So look me in the eye and show kindness,
      give your servant the strength to go on,
      save your dear, dear child!
   Make a show of how much you love me
      so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed,
   As you, God, gently and powerfully
      put me back on my feet.

 

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Proverbs 13:9-10 (The Message)

 ⁹ The lives of good people are brightly lit streets;
   the lives of the wicked are dark alleys.

 ¹⁰ Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord,
   but wise men and women listen to each other's counsel.

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Verse of the Day

“The message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God's power at work.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American playwright and novelist, Thornton Wilder wrote, “Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.”