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 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.
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<="" value="[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:
- Judges 1:4 king of Bezek: Or " Adoni-Bezek."
- 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).
- Judges 1:10 clans called: Or " warriors."
- 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.
- 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."
- Judges 1:14 Achsah. . . Othniel. . . he: Hebrew; two ancient translations " Othniel. . . Achsah. . . she."
- Judges 1:14 getting down from: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- Judges 1:15 spring-fed ponds. . . small ponds. . . Higher Pond and Lower Pond: Or " wells. . . wells. . . Higher Well and Lower Well."
- Judges 1:16 Jericho: The Hebrew text has " Town of Palm Trees," another name for Jericho.
- Judges 1:16 not far. . . Amalekites: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 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.
- Judges 1:17 Hormah: In Hebrew " Hormah" sounds like " completely destroyed."
- 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).
- Judges 1:20 clans: See the note at 1.10.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Judges 1:34 Amorites: Used in the general sense of nations that lived in Canaan before the Israelites.
- Judges 1:36 Scorpion Pass: Or " Akrabbim Pass."
- Judges 1:36 country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 36.
- Judges 2:1 Bochim: In Hebrew " Bochim" means " crying" (see verse 5).
- Judges 2:3 trap: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 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<="" value="[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:
- Luke 22:3 Iscariot: See the note at 6.16.
- 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
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:
- 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.
“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 DayAmerican politician and lawyer from Illinois, Stephen Douglas wrote, “There are only two sides to this question. Every man must be for the United States or against it. There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors.”
A Joke for Today
I couldn't repair my brakes, so I made the horn louder.
Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?
What happens if you get scared half-to-death twice?
If I worked as much as others, I would do as little as they.
When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded.
I intend to live forever -- so far, so good!
Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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