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Fri 2023-07-28 Numbers31 Psalms75 Psalms76 Isaiah23 1 John1
Numbers 31.
31:1 The LORD said to Moses,
31:2 "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people."
31:3 So Moses said to the people, "Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the LORD'S vengeance on them.
31:4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel."
31:5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel.
31:6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.
31:7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man.
31:8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba--the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
31:9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.
31:10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps.
31:11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals,
31:12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.
31:13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp.
31:14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army--the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds--who returned from the battle.
31:15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them.
31:16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD'S people.
31:17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man,
31:18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
31:19 "All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives.
31:20 Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood."
31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, "This is the requirement of the law that the LORD gave Moses:
31:22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead
31:23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water.
31:24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp."
31:25 The LORD said to Moses,
31:26 "You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured.
31:27 Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community.
31:28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the LORD one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep or goats.
31:29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the LORD'S part.
31:30 From the Israelites' half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the LORD'S tabernacle."
31:31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
31:32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep,
31:33 72,000 cattle,
31:34 61,000 donkeys
31:35 and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.
31:36 The half share of those who fought in the battle was: 337,500 sheep,
31:37 of which the tribute for the LORD was 675;
31:38 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the LORD was 72;
31:39 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the LORD was 61;
31:40 16,000 people, of which the tribute for the LORD was 32.
31:41 Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the LORD'S part, as the LORD commanded Moses.
31:42 The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men--
31:43 the community's half--was 337,500 sheep,
31:44 36,000 cattle,
31:45 30,500 donkeys
31:46 and 16,000 people.
31:47 From the Israelites' half, Moses selected one out of every fifty persons and animals, as the LORD commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the LORD'S tabernacle.
31:48 Then the officers who were over the units of the army--the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds--went to Moses
31:49 and said to him, "Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing.
31:50 So we have brought as an offering to the LORD the gold articles each of us acquired--armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces--to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD."
31:51 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold--all the crafted articles.
31:52 All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.
31:53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself.
31:54 Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.
Psalms 75.
75:1 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.
75:2 You say, "I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly.
75:3 When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm. Selah
75:4 To the arrogant I say, 'Boast no more,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horns.
75:5 Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak with outstretched neck.'"
75:6 No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man.
75:7 But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
75:8 In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
75:9 As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
75:10 I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
Psalms 76.
76:1 In Judah God is known; his name is great in Israel.
76:2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion.
76:3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war. Selah
76:4 You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.
76:5 Valiant men lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands.
76:6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still.
76:7 You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?
76:8 From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet--
76:9 when you, O God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. Selah
76:10 Surely your wrath against men brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
76:11 Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfill them; let all the neighboring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared.
76:12 He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.
Isaiah 23.
23:1 An oracle concerning Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them.
23:2 Be silent, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched.
23:3 On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations.
23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken: "I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters."
23:5 When word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.
23:6 Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the island.
23:7 Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city, whose feet have taken her to settle in far-off lands?
23:8 Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth?
23:9 The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.
23:10 Till your land as along the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish, for you no longer have a harbor.
23:11 The LORD has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed.
23:12 He said, "No more of your reveling, O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed! "Up, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest."
23:13 Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.
23:14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed!
23:15 At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
23:16 "Take up a harp, walk through the city, O prostitute forgotten; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered."
23:17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
23:18 Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and fine clothes.
1 John 1.
1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
1:2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1:4 We write this to make our joy complete.
1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.