Bible Readings for April 20, 2017

Today our passages are Joshua 21:1–22:20; Luke 20:1-26; Psalm 89:1-13; and Proverbs 13:15-16. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. 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 by using the link below.

 

 

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Joshua 21-22:20 (Contemporary English Version)

Joshua 21

Levi's Towns

 ^1-2While the Israelites were still camped at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, the family leaders of the Levi tribe went to speak to the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the family leaders of the other Israelite tribes. The leaders of Levi said, " The LORD told Moses that you have to give us towns and provide pastures for our animals." ^[a] ³Since the LORD had said this, the leaders of the other Israelite tribes agreed to give some of the towns and pastures from their tribal lands to Levi. ⁴The leaders asked the LORD to show them ^[b] in what order the clans of Levi would be given towns, and which towns each clan would receive. The Kohath clans were first. The descendants of Aaron, Israel's first priest, ^[c] were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵The other members of the Kohath clans received ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and West Manasseh. ⁶The clans that were descendants of Gershon were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and East Manasseh. ⁷The clans that were descendants of Merari ^[d] received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ⁸The LORD had told Moses that he would show the Israelites which towns and pastures to give to the clans of Levi, and he did.    

Towns from Judah, Simeon, Benjamin

 ^9-19 The descendants of Aaron from the Kohath clans of Levi were priests, and they were chosen to receive towns first. They were given thirteen towns and the pastureland around them. Nine of these towns were from the tribes of Judah and Simeon and four from Benjamin.    Hebron, Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, Holon, Debir, Ashan, ^[e] Juttah, and Beth-Shemesh were from Judah and Simeon. Hebron, located in the hill country of Judah, was earlier called Arba's Town. ^[f] It had been named after Arba, the ancestor of the Anakim. ^[g] Hebron's pasturelands went along with the town, but its farmlands and the villages around it had been given to Caleb. ^[h] Hebron was also one of the Safe Towns for people who had accidentally killed someone. Gibeon, Geba, Anathoth, and Almon were from Benjamin.
   

Towns from Ephraim, Dan, West Manasseh

 ^20-26 The rest of the Kohath clans of the Levi tribe received ten towns and the pastureland around them. Four of these towns were from the tribe of Ephraim, four from Dan, and two from West Manasseh.    Shechem, Gezer, Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon were from Ephraim. Shechem was located in the hill country, and it was also one of the Safe Towns for people who had accidentally killed someone.
   Elteke, Gibbethon, Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon were from Dan.
   Taanach and Jibleam ^[i] were from West Manasseh.

Towns from East Manasseh, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali

 ^27-33 The clans of Levi that were descendants of Gershon received thirteen towns and the pastureland around them. Two of these towns were from the tribe of East Manasseh, four from Issachar, four from Asher, and three from Naphtali.    Golan in Bashan and Beeshterah were from East Manasseh.
   Kishion, Daberath, Jarmuth, and En-Gannim were from Issachar.
   Mishal, Abdon, Helkath, and Rehob were from Asher.
   Kedesh in Galilee, Hammothdor, and Kartan were from Naphtali. Golan in Bashan and Kedesh in Galilee were also Safe Towns for people who had accidentally killed someone.
   

Towns from Zebulun, Reuben, Gad

 ^34-40 The rest of the Levi clans were descendants of Merari, and they received twelve towns with the pastureland around them. Four towns were from the tribe of Zebulun, four from Reuben, and four from Gad.    Jokneam, Kartah, Rimmonah, ^[j] and Nahalal were from Zebulun. Bezer, Jazah, Kedemoth, and Mephaath were from Reuben. Bezer was located in the desert flatlands east of the Jordan River across from Jericho. ^[k] Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim, Heshbon, and Jazer were from Gad.
   Bezer and Ramoth in Gilead were Safe Towns ^[l] for people who had accidentally killed someone. ^41-42The people of the Levi tribe had a total of forty-eight towns within Israel, and they had pastures around each one of their towns.
   

Israel Settles in the Land

 ⁴³The LORD gave the Israelites the land he had promised their ancestors, and they captured it and settled in it. ⁴⁴There still were enemies around Israel, but the LORD kept his promise to let his people live in peace. And whenever the Israelites did have to go to war, no enemy could defeat them. The LORD always helped Israel win. ⁴⁵The LORD promised to do many good things for Israel, and he kept his promise every time.    

Joshua 22

The Two and a Half Tribes Return Home

 ¹Joshua had the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh come for a meeting, and he told them:     ^2-3You have obeyed every command of the LORD your God and of his servant Moses. And you have done everything I've told you to do. It's taken a long time, but you have stayed and helped your relatives. ⁴The LORD promised to give peace to your relatives, and that's what he has done. Now it's time for you to go back to your own homes in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan River.
    ⁵Moses taught you to love the LORD your God, to be faithful to him, and to worship and obey him with your whole heart and with all your strength. So be very careful to do everything Moses commanded.
    ^6-9You've become rich from what you've taken from your enemies. You have big herds of cattle, lots of silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and plenty of clothes. Take everything home with you and share with the people of your tribe.
   I pray that God will be kind to you. You are now free to go home.
   The tribes of Reuben and Gad started back to Gilead, their own land. Moses had given the land of Bashan to the East Manasseh tribe, so they started back along with Reuben and Gad. God had told Moses that these two and a half tribes should conquer Gilead and Bashan, and they had done so.
   Joshua had given land west of the Jordan River to the other half of the Manasseh tribe, so they stayed at Shiloh in the land of Canaan with the rest of the Israelites.
    ^10-11The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh reached the western side of the Jordan River valley ^[m] and built a huge altar there beside the river. When the rest of the Israelites heard what these tribes had done, ^[n] ¹²the Israelite men met at Shiloh to get ready to attack the two and a half tribes. ¹³But first they sent a priest, Phinehas the son of Eleazar, to talk with the two and a half tribes. ¹⁴Each of the tribes at Shiloh sent the leader of one of its families along with Phinehas. ¹⁵Phinehas and these leaders went to Gilead and met with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. They said:
    ¹⁶All of the LORD's people have gathered together and have sent us to find out why you are unfaithful to our God. You have turned your backs on the LORD by building that altar. Why are you rebelling against him? ¹⁷Wasn't our people's sin at Peor ^[o] terrible enough for you? The LORD punished us by sending a horrible sickness that killed many of us, and we still suffer because of that sin. ^[p] ¹⁸Now you are turning your backs on the LORD again. If you don't stop rebelling against the LORD right now, he will be angry at the whole nation. ¹⁹If you don't think your land is a fit place to serve God, then move across the Jordan and live with us in the LORD's own land, where his sacred tent is located. But don't rebel against the LORD our God or against us by building another altar besides the LORD's own altar. ^[q] ²⁰Don't you remember what happened when Achan was unfaithful ^[r] and took some of the things that belonged to God? This made God angry with the entire nation. Achan died because he sinned, but he also caused the death of many others.

Footnotes:

1. Joshua 21:1 The LORD told Moses. . . animals: See Numbers 35.1-8.
2. Joshua 21:4 asked the LORD to show them: Hebrew " cast lots to find out." See the note at 14.1-5.
3. Joshua 21:4 The descendants. . . priest: Hebrew text; three ancient translations " The priests, the descendants of Aaron." The male descendants of Aaron would also be priests.
4. Joshua 21:7 Kohath. . . Gershon. . . Merari: Sons of Levi, the ancestor of the tribe of Levi.
5. Joshua 21:9 Ashan: One ancient translation and the parallel in 1 Chronicles 6.59; Hebrew " Ain."
6. Joshua 21:9 Arba's Town: See the note at 14.15.
7. Joshua 21:9 Anakim: See the note at 11.21.
8. Joshua 21:9 Caleb: See 14.6-14.
9. Joshua 21:20 Jibleam: One ancient translation and the parallel in 1 Chronicles 6.70; Hebrew " "Gath-Rimmon.""
10. Joshua 21:34 Rimmonah: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
11. Joshua 21:34 Bezer. . . Jericho: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
12. Joshua 21:34 Bezer and Ramoth in Gilead were Safe Towns: One ancient translation; Hebrew " Ramoth in Gilead was a Safe Town."
13. Joshua 22:10 western. . . valley: Or " the town of Geliloth, which is in the land of Canaan near the Jordan River."
14. Joshua 22:10 built a huge altar. . . tribes had done: According to Deuteronomy 12.5-14, the LORD wanted the Israelites to have only one altar for offering sacrifices. To build another altar would be to disobey the LORD.
15. Joshua 22:17 our people's sin at Peor: See Numbers 25.
16. Joshua 22:17 we still. . . sin: Or " There are still people in Israel who want to worship other gods."
17. Joshua 22:19 or against. . . altar: Or " by building another altar besides the LORD's own altar. That would even make us into rebels along with you."
18. Joshua 22:20 Achan was unfaithful: See 7.1,26.

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Luke 20:1-26 (Contemporary English Version)

Luke 20

A Question about Jesus' Authority

(Matthew 21.23-27; Mark 11.27-33)

 ¹One day, Jesus was teaching in the temple and telling the good news. So the chief priests, the teachers, and the nation's leaders ²asked him, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?"     ³Jesus replied, "I want to ask you a question. ⁴Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?"
    ⁵They talked this over and said to each other, "We can't say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. ⁶And we can't say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize. The crowd will stone us to death, because they think John was a prophet."
    ⁷So they told Jesus, "We don't know who gave John the right to baptize."
    ⁸Jesus replied, "Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do."
   

Renters of a Vineyard

(Matthew 21.33-46; Mark 12.1-12)

 ⁹Jesus told the people this story:    A man once planted a vineyard and rented it out. Then he left the country for a long time. ¹⁰When it was time to harvest the crop, he sent a servant to ask the renters for his share of the grapes. But they beat up the servant and sent him away without anything. ¹¹So the owner sent another servant. The renters also beat him up. They insulted him terribly and sent him away without a thing. ¹²The owner sent a third servant. He was also beaten terribly and thrown out of the vineyard.
    ¹³The owner then said to himself, "What am I going to do? I know what. I'll send my son, the one I love so much. They will surely respect him!"
    ¹⁴When the renters saw the owner's son, they said to one another, "Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves." ¹⁵So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
   Jesus asked, "What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? ¹⁶I'll tell you what. He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard."
   When the people heard this, they said, "This must never happen!"
    ¹⁷But Jesus looked straight at them and said, "Then what do the Scriptures mean when they say, `The stone that the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all'? ¹⁸Anyone who stumbles over this stone will get hurt, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces."
    ¹⁹The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses knew that Jesus was talking about them when he was telling this story. They wanted to arrest him right then, but they were afraid of the people.
   

Paying Taxes

(Matthew 22.15-22; Mark 12.13-17)

 ²⁰Jesus' enemies kept watching him closely, because they wanted to hand him over to the Roman governor. So they sent some men who pretended to be good. But they were really spies trying to catch Jesus saying something wrong. ²¹The spies said to him, "Teacher, we know that you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. ²²Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?"     ²³Jesus knew that they were trying to trick him. So he told them, ²⁴"Show me a coin." Then he asked, "Whose picture and name are on it?"
   "The Emperor's," they answered.
    ²⁵Then he told them, "Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God." ²⁶Jesus' enemies could not catch him saying anything wrong there in front of the people. They were amazed at his answer and kept quiet.

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Psalm 89:1-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 89

(A special psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite.)

The LORD's Agreement with David

 ¹Our LORD, I will sing    of your love forever.
   Everyone yet to be born
   will hear me praise
   your faithfulness.
    ²I will tell them,
   "God's love
   can always be trusted,
   and his faithfulness lasts
   as long as the heavens."
    ³You said, "David, my servant,
   is my chosen one,
   and this is the agreement
   I made with him:
    ⁴David, one of your descendants
   will always be king."
    ⁵Our LORD, let the heavens
   now praise your miracles,
   and let all of your angels
   praise your faithfulness.
    ⁶None who live in the heavens
   can compare with you.
    ⁷You are the most fearsome
   of all who live in heaven;
   all the others fear
   and greatly honor you.
    ⁸You are LORD God All-Powerful!
   No one is as loving
   and faithful as you are.
    ⁹You rule the roaring sea
   and calm its waves.
    ¹⁰You crushed the monster Rahab, ^[a] and with your powerful arm
   you scattered your enemies.
    ¹¹The heavens and the earth
   belong to you.
   And so does the world
   with all its people
   because you created them
    ¹²and everything else. ^[b] Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon
   gladly praise you.
    ¹³You are strong and mighty!
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 89:10 Rahab: Many people in the ancient world thought that the world was controlled by this sea monster that the Lord destroyed at the time of creation (see Isaiah 51.9).
2. Psalm 89:12 and everything else: The Hebrew text has " Zaphon and Yamin," which may either be the names of mountains or refer to the directions " north and south," with the meaning " everything from north to south."

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Proverbs 13:15-16 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁵Sound judgment is praised,
   but people without good sense
   are on the way to disaster. ^[a] ¹⁶If you have good sense,
   you will act sensibly,
   but fools act like fools.
   

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 13:15 people. . . disaster: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Verse of the Day

 

“Where is its victory? Where is its sting?" Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin. But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!” - 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who served from December 19, 1975, until his retirement on June 29, 2010, John Paul Stevens wrote, “The practice of executing such offenders is a relic of the past and is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in a civilized society.”