Bible Readings for April 23, 2015

Today our passages are Judges 1:1–2:9; Luke 21:29–22:13; Psalm 90:1–91:1; and Proverbs 13:24-25. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. 

---

Judges 1-2:9 (Contemporary English Version)

Judges 1

The Tribes of Judah and Simeon Fight the Canaanites

 ¹After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, " Which of our tribes should attack the Canaanites first?"     ²" Judah!" the LORD answered. " I'll help them take the land."
    ³The people of Judah went to their relatives, the Simeon tribe, and said, " Canaanites live in the land God gave us. Help us fight them, and we will help you."
   Troops from Simeon came to help Judah.
    ^4-5Together they attacked an army of ten thousand Canaanites and Perizzites at Bezek, and the LORD helped Judah defeat them. During the battle, Judah's army found out where the king of Bezek ^[a] was, and they attacked there.
    ⁶Bezek tried to escape, but soldiers from Judah caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes,
    ⁷and he said, " I've cut off the thumbs and big toes of seventy kings and made those kings crawl around under my table for scraps of food. Now God is paying me back." The army of Judah took the king of Bezek along with them to Jerusalem, where he died.
    ⁸They attacked Jerusalem, ^[b] captured it, killed everyone who lived there, and then burned it to the ground.
    ⁹Judah's army fought the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, the Southern Desert, and the foothills to the west.
    ¹⁰After that, they attacked the Canaanites who lived at Hebron, defeating the three clans called ^[c] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. At that time, Hebron was called Kiriath-Arba.
    ¹¹From Hebron, Judah's army went to attack Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher.
    ¹²Caleb ^[d] told his troops, " The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah."
    ¹³Caleb's nephew Othniel captured Kiriath-Sepher, so Caleb let him marry Achsah. Othniel was the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz. ^[e]
    ¹⁴Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he ^[f] ought to ask her father for a field. She went to see her father, and while she was getting down from ^[g] her donkey, Caleb asked, " What's bothering you?"
    ¹⁵She answered, " I need your help. The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so please give me some spring-fed ponds for a water supply."
   Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds named Higher Pond and Lower Pond. ^[h]
    ¹⁶The people who belonged to the Kenite clan were the descendants of the father-in-law of Moses. They left Jericho ^[i] with the people of Judah and settled near Arad in the Southern Desert of Judah not far from the Amalekites. ^[j]
    ¹⁷Judah's army helped Simeon's army attack the Canaanites who lived at Zephath. They completely destroyed ^[k] the town and renamed it Hormah. ^[l]
    ^18-19The LORD helped the army of Judah capture Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, and the land near those towns. They also took the hill country. But the people who lived in the valleys had iron chariots, so Judah was not able to make them leave or to take their land.
    ²⁰The tribe of Judah gave the town of Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had told them to do. Caleb defeated the three Anakim ^[m] clans ^[n] and took over the town.
   

The Benjamin Tribe Does Not Capture Jerusalem

 ²¹The Jebusites were living in Jerusalem, and the Benjamin tribe did not defeat them or capture the town. That's why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Benjamin.    

The Ephraim and Manasseh Tribes Capture Bethel

 ^22-23The Ephraim and Manasseh tribes ^[o] were getting ready to attack Bethel, which at that time was called Luz. And the LORD helped them when they sent spies to find out as much as they could about Bethel.     ²⁴While the spies were watching the town, a man came out, and they told him, " If you show us how our army can get into the town, ^[p] we will make sure that you aren't harmed."
    ²⁵The man showed them, and the two Israelite tribes attacked Bethel, killing everyone except the man and his family. The two tribes made the man and his family leave,
    ²⁶so they went to the land of the Hittites, ^[q] where he built a town. He named the town Luz, and that is still its name.
   

Israel Does Not Get Rid of All the Canaanites

 ^27-28Canaanites lived in the towns of Beth-Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all the villages nearby. The Canaanites were determined to stay, and the Manasseh tribe never did get rid of them. But later on, when the Israelites grew more powerful, they made slaves of the Canaanites.     ²⁹The Ephraim tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived there with Israelites all around them.
    ³⁰The Zebulun tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Kitron and Nahalol, and the Canaanites stayed there with Israelites around them. But the people of Zebulun did force the Canaanites into slave labor.
    ^31-32The Asher tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob, and the Asher tribe lived with Canaanites all around them.
    ³³The Naphtali tribe did not get rid of the Canaanites who lived in Beth-Shemesh and Beth-Anath, but they did force the Canaanites into slave labor. The Naphtali tribe lived with Canaanites around them.
    ³⁴The Amorites ^[r] were strong enough to keep the tribe of Dan from settling in the valleys, so Dan had to stay in the hill country.
    ³⁵The Amorites on Mount Heres and in Aijalon and Shaalbim were also determined to stay. Later on, as Ephraim and Manasseh grew more powerful, they forced those Amorites into slave labor.
   

The Amorite-Edomite Border

 ³⁶The old Amorite-Edomite border used to go from Sela through Scorpion Pass ^[s] into the hill country. ^[t]    

Judges 2

The LORD's Angel Speaks to Israel

 ¹The LORD's angel went from Gilgal to Bochim ^[u] and gave the Israelites this message from the LORD: I promised your ancestors that I would give this land to their families, and I brought your people here from Egypt. We made an agreement that I promised never to break,     ²and you promised not to make any peace treaties with the other nations that live in the land. Besides that, you agreed to tear down the altars where they sacrifice to their idols. But you didn't keep your promise.
    ³And so, I'll stop helping you defeat your enemies. Instead, they will be there to trap ^[v] you into worshiping their idols.
    ⁴The Israelites started crying loudly,
    ⁵and they offered sacrifices to the LORD. From then on, they called that place " Crying." ^[w]
   

Israel Stops Worshiping the LORD

 ^6-9Joshua had been faithful to the LORD. And after Joshua sent the Israelites to take the land they had been promised, they remained faithful to the LORD until Joshua died at the age of one hundred ten. He was buried on his land in Timnath-Heres, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash. Even though Joshua was gone, the Israelites were faithful to the LORD during the lifetime of those men who had been leaders with Joshua and who had seen the wonderful things the LORD had done for Israel.    

Footnotes:

1. Judges 1:4 king of Bezek: Or " Adoni-Bezek."
2. Judges 1:8 Jerusalem: This probably refers to towns and villages belonging to Jerusalem but lying in Judah's territory south of the city wall. Jerusalem itself was just inside Benjamin's territory, but was not captured by Israel at this time (see verse 21; Joshua 15.5-9; 18.15-18).
3. Judges 1:10 clans called: Or " warriors."
4. Judges 1:12 Caleb: One of the leaders of Judah; see Joshua 14.6-14 and Numbers 13.6,30; 14.6,10,20-24. For verses 12-15, see Joshua 15.13-19.
5. Judges 1:13 Othniel was the son of. . . Kenaz: Or "Othniel and Caleb both belonged to the Kenaz clan, but Othniel was younger than Caleb."
6. Judges 1:14 Achsah. . . Othniel. . . he: Hebrew; two ancient translations " Othniel. . . Achsah. . . she."
7. Judges 1:14 getting down from: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
8. Judges 1:15 spring-fed ponds. . . small ponds. . . Higher Pond and Lower Pond: Or " wells. . . wells. . . Higher Well and Lower Well."
9. Judges 1:16 Jericho: The Hebrew text has " Town of Palm Trees," another name for Jericho.
10. Judges 1:16 not far. . . Amalekites: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
11. Judges 1:17 completely destroyed: The Hebrew word means that the town was given completely to the LORD, and since it could not be used for normal purposes any more, it had to be destroyed.
12. Judges 1:17 Hormah: In Hebrew " Hormah" sounds like " completely destroyed."
13. Judges 1:20 Anakim: Perhaps a group of very large people that lived in Palestine before the Israelites (see Numbers 13.33 and Deuteronomy 2.10,11,20,21).
14. Judges 1:20 clans: See the note at 1.10.
15. Judges 1:22 The Ephraim and Manasseh tribes: The Hebrew text has " The Joseph family," which was divided into these two tribes named after Joseph's sons.
16. Judges 1:24 If you. . . town: Sometimes there were small doors in the town wall that could be opened from the inside even when the main town gates were shut and locked.
17. Judges 1:26 land of the Hittites: The Hittites had an empire centered in what is now Turkey. At one time their empire reached south into Syria, north of Israel.
18. Judges 1:34 Amorites: Used in the general sense of nations that lived in Canaan before the Israelites.
19. Judges 1:36 Scorpion Pass: Or " Akrabbim Pass."
20. Judges 1:36 country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 36.
21. Judges 2:1 Bochim: In Hebrew " Bochim" means " crying" (see verse 5).
22. Judges 2:3 trap: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
23. Judges 2:5 Crying: Or " Bochim."

---

Luke 21:29-22:13 (Contemporary English Version)

A Lesson from a Fig Tree

(Matthew 24.32-35; Mark 13.28-31)

 ²⁹Then Jesus told them a story:    When you see a fig tree or any other tree ³⁰putting out leaves, you know that summer will soon come. ³¹So, when you see these things happening, you know that God's kingdom will soon be here. ³²You can be sure that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all of this takes place. ³³The sky and the earth won't last forever, but my words will.
   

A Warning

 ³⁴Don't spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you ³⁵like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth. ³⁶Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you.     ³⁷Jesus taught in the temple each day, and he spent each night on the Mount of Olives. ³⁸Everyone got up early and came to the temple to hear him teach.
   

Luke 22

A Plot To Kill Jesus

(Matthew 26.1-5,14,16; Mark 14.1,2,10,11; John 11.45-53)

 ¹The Festival of Thin Bread, also called Passover, was near. ²The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus, because they were afraid of what the people might do. ³Then Satan entered the heart of Judas Iscariot, ^[a] who was one of the twelve apostles. ⁴Judas went to talk with the chief priests and the officers of the temple police about how he could help them arrest Jesus. ⁵They were very pleased and offered to pay Judas some money. ⁶He agreed and started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus when the crowds were not around.    

Jesus Eats with His Disciples

(Matthew 26.17-25; Mark 14.12-21; John 13.21-30)

 ⁷The day had come for the Festival of Thin Bread, and it was time to kill the Passover lambs. ⁸So Jesus said to Peter and John, "Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat."     ⁹But they asked, "Where do you want us to prepare it?"
    ¹⁰Jesus told them, "As you go into the city, you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. ^[b] Follow him into the house ¹¹and say to the owner, `Our teacher wants to know where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.' ¹²The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there." ¹³Peter and John left. They found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
   

Footnotes:

1. Luke 22:3 Iscariot: See the note at 6.16.
2. Luke 22:10 a man carrying a jar of water: A male slave carrying water would probably mean that the family was rich.

---

Psalm 90-91:16 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 90

BOOK IV

(Psalms 90-106)

(A prayer by Moses, the man of God.)

God Is Eternal

 ¹Our Lord, in all generations    you have been our home.
    ²You have always been God--
   long before the birth
   of the mountains,
   even before you created
   the earth and the world.
    ³At your command we die
   and turn back to dust,
    ⁴but a thousand years
   mean nothing to you!
   They are merely a day gone by
   or a few hours in the night.
    ⁵You bring our lives to an end
   just like a dream.
   We are merely tender grass
    ⁶that sprouts and grows
   in the morning,
   but dries up by evening.
    ⁷Your furious anger frightens
   and destroys us,
    ⁸and you know all of our sins,
   even those we do in secret.
    ⁹Your anger is a burden
   each day we live,
   then life ends like a sigh.
    ¹⁰We can expect seventy years,
   or maybe eighty,
   if we are healthy,
   but even our best years
   bring trouble and sorrow.
   Suddenly our time is up,
   and we disappear.
    ¹¹No one knows the full power
   of your furious anger,
   but it is as great as the fear
   that we owe to you.
    ¹²Teach us to use wisely
   all the time we have.
    ¹³Help us, LORD! Don't wait!
   Pity your servants.
    ¹⁴When morning comes,
   let your love satisfy
   all our needs.
   Then we can celebrate
   and be glad for what time
   we have left.
    ¹⁵Make us happy for as long
   as you caused us trouble
   and sorrow.
    ¹⁶Do wonderful things for us,
   your servants,
   and show your mighty power
   to our children.
    ¹⁷Our Lord and our God,
   treat us with kindness
   and let all go well for us.
   Please let all go well!
   

Psalm 91

The LORD Is My Fortress

 ¹Live under the protection    of God Most High
   and stay in the shadow
   of God All-Powerful.
    ²Then you will say to the LORD,
   "You are my fortress,
   my place of safety;
   you are my God,
   and I trust you."
    ³The Lord will keep you safe
   from secret traps
   and deadly diseases.
    ⁴He will spread his wings
   over you
   and keep you secure.
   His faithfulness is like
   a shield or a city wall. ^[a] ⁵You won't need to worry
   about dangers at night
   or arrows during the day.
    ⁶And you won't fear diseases
   that strike in the dark
   or sudden disaster at noon.
    ⁷You will not be harmed,
   though thousands fall
   all around you.
    ⁸And with your own eyes
   you will see
   the punishment
   of the wicked.
    ⁹The LORD Most High
   is your fortress.
   Run to him for safety,
    ¹⁰and no terrible disasters
   will strike you
   or your home.
    ¹¹God will command his angels
   to protect you
   wherever you go.
    ¹²They will carry you
   in their arms,
   and you won't hurt your feet
   on the stones.
    ¹³You will overpower
   the strongest lions
   and the most deadly snakes.
    ¹⁴The Lord says,
   "If you love me
   and truly know who I am,
   I will rescue you
   and keep you safe.
    ¹⁵When you are in trouble,
   call out to me.
   I will answer and be there
   to protect and honor you.
    ¹⁶You will live a long life
   and see my saving power."
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 91:4 city wall: One possible meaning for a difficult Hebrew word; it may possibly mean some kind of shield or weapon.

---

Proverbs 13:24-25 (Contemporary English Version)

²⁴If you love your children,
   you will correct them;
   if you don't love them,
   you won't correct them.
    ²⁵If you live right,
   you will have plenty to eat;
   if you don't live right,
   you will go away empty.

---

Verse of the Day

“In the Scriptures God says, "I swear by my very life that everyone will kneel down and praise my name!” - Romans 14:11

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

---

 

Thought for the Day

 

German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, Max Planck wrote, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”