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Tue 2023-10-10 Judges18 Acts (of the Apostles)22 Jeremiah32 Psalms1 Psalms2
Judges 18.
18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
18:2 So the Danites sent five warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and explore it. These men represented all their clans. They told them, "Go, explore the land."The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.
18:3 When they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?"
18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, "He has hired me and I am his priest."
18:5 Then they said to him, "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful."
18:6 The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD'S approval."
18:7 So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.
18:8 When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, "How did you find things?"
18:9 They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over.
18:10 When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever."
18:11 Then six hundred men from the clan of the Danites, armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
18:12 On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan to this day.
18:13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house.
18:14 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do."
18:15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and greeted him.
18:16 The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate.
18:17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol while the priest and the six hundred armed men stood at the entrance to the gate.
18:18 When these men went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
18:19 They answered him, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest. Isn't it better that you serve a tribe and clan in Israel as priest rather than just one man's household?"
18:20 Then the priest was glad. He took the ephod, the other household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.
18:21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.
18:22 When they had gone some distance from Micah's house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites.
18:23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, "What's the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?"
18:24 He replied, "You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, 'What's the matter with you?'"
18:25 The Danites answered, "Don't argue with us, or some hot-tempered men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives."
18:26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.
18:27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city.
18:28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there.
18:29 They named it Dan after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel--though the city used to be called Laish.
18:30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idols, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.
18:31 They continued to use the idols Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
Acts (of the Apostles) 22.
22:1 "Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense."
22:2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said:
22:3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
22:4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,
22:5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
22:6 "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
22:7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
22:8 "'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied.
22:9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
22:10 "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. "'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.'
22:11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
22:12 "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.
22:13 He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
22:14 "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.
22:15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
22:16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
22:17 "When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
22:18 and saw the Lord speaking. 'Quick!' he said to me. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'
22:19 "'Lord,' I replied, 'these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.
22:20 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.'
22:21 "Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"
22:22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!"
22:23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
22:24 the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.
22:25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?"
22:26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man is a Roman citizen."
22:27 The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered.
22:28 Then the commander said, "I had to pay a big price for my citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied.
22:29 Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
22:30 The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
Jeremiah 32.
32:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
32:2 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.
32:3 Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, "Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
32:4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes.
32:5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.'"
32:6 Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me:
32:7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, 'Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.'
32:8 "Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, 'Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.' "I knew that this was the word of the LORD;
32:9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver.
32:10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales.
32:11 I took the deed of purchase--the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy--
32:12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
32:13 "In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions:
32:14 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.
32:15 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.'
32:16 "After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:
32:17 "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
32:18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers' sins into the laps of their children after them. O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty,
32:19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
32:20 You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours.
32:21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror.
32:22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
32:23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon them.
32:24 "See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see.
32:25 And though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign LORD, say to me, 'Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.'"
32:26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
32:27 "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
32:28 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
32:29 The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people provoked me to anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
32:30 "The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made, declares the LORD.
32:31 From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight.
32:32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done--they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem.
32:33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
32:34 They set up their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled it.
32:35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
32:36 "You are saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
32:37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.
32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
32:39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them.
32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
32:41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
32:42 "This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.
32:43 Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, 'It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.'
32:44 Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD."
Psalms 1.
1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
1:4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
1:6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalms 2.
2:1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
2:3 "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."
2:4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
2:5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
2:6 "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill."
2:7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.
2:8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
2:9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."
2:10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
2:11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.