Monday, March 23, 2015

Reading through the Word....Day 82, March 23

NUMBERS 36:1-- DEUTERONOMY 1:46
LUKE 5:29- 6:11
PSALM 66:1- 20
PROVERBS 11:24- 26


Then the heads of the clan of Gilead-- descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph-- came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel with a petition. 2 They said, "Sir, the LORD instructed you to divide the land by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 But if any of them marries a man from another tribe, their inheritance of land will go with them to the tribe into which they marry. In this way, the total area of our tribal land will be reduced. 4 Then when the Year of Jubilee comes, their inheritance of land will be added to that of the new tribe, causing it to be lost forever to our ancestral tribe." 5 So Moses gave the Israelites this command from the LORD:"The men of the tribe of Joseph are right. 6 This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad:Let them marry anyone they like, as long as it is within their own ancestral tribe. 7 None of the inherited land may pass from tribe to tribe, for the inheritance of every tribe must remain fixed as it was first allotted. 8 The daughters throughout the tribes of Israel who are in line to inherit property must marry within their tribe, so that all the Israelites will keep their ancestral property. 9 No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another; each tribe of Israel must hold on to its allotted inheritance of land." 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah all married cousins on their father's side. 12 They married into the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. Thus, their inheritance of land remained within their ancestral tribe. 13 These are the commands and regulations that the LORD gave to the people of Israel through Moses while they were camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 1:1 THIS book records the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di- zahab on the other. 2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh- barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Mount Sinai, on a day in midwinter, Moses gave these speeches to the Israelites, telling them everything the LORD had commanded him to say. 4 This was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who had ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. 5 So Moses addressed the people of Israel while they were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River. He began to explain the law as follows:6 "When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, `You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions-- the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants. '9" At that time I told you, `You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself. 10 The LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars! 11 And may the LORD, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised! 12 But how can I settle all your quarrels and problems by myself? 13 Choose some men from each tribe who have wisdom, understanding, and a good reputation, and I will appoint them as your leaders.' 14 "You agreed that my plan was a good one. 15 So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten. 16 I instructed the judges, `You must be perfectly fair at all times, not only to fellow Israelites, but also to the foreigners living among you. 17 When you make decisions, never favor those who are rich; be fair to lowly and great alike. Don't be afraid of how they will react, for you are judging in the place of God. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them. '18 And at that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do. 19" Then, just as the LORD our God directed us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, which you yourselves saw, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh- barnea, 20 I said to you, `You have now reached the land that the LORD our God is giving us. 21 Look! He has placed it in front of you. Go and occupy it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don't be afraid! Don't be discouraged!' 22 "But you responded, `First, let's send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and decide which towns we should capture. '23 This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. 24 They crossed into the hills and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported that the land the LORD our God had given us was indeed a good land. 26" But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to go in. 27 You murmured and complained in your tents and said, `The LORD must hate us, bringing us here from Egypt to be slaughtered by these Amorites. 28 How can we go on? Our scouts have demoralized us with their report. They say that the people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and that the walls of their towns rise high into the sky! They have even seen giants there-- the descendants of Anak!' 29 "But I said to you, `Don't be afraid! 30 The LORD your God is going before you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you again and again here in the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place. '32 But even after all he did, you refused to trust the LORD your God, 33 who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day. 34" When the LORD heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 `Not one of you from this entire wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the LORD completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the land he walked over during his scouting mission.' 37 "And the LORD was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, `You will never enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him as he prepares to enter it. 39 I will give the land to your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. 40 As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. '41" Then you confessed, `We have sinned against the LORD! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the LORD our God has told us.' So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to conquer the hill country. 42 "But the LORD said to me, `Tell them not to attack, for I will not go with them. If they do, they will be crushed by their enemies. '43 This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the LORD's command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight. 44 But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but he refused to listen. 46 So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time."


Soon Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi's fellow tax collectors and other guests were there. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with such scum?" 31 Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor-- sick people do. 32 I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough." 33 The religious leaders complained that Jesus 'disciples were feasting instead of fasting. "John the Baptist's disciples always fast and pray," they declared, "and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are yours always feasting?" 34 Jesus asked, "Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? 35 Someday he will be taken away from them, and then they will fast." 36 Then Jesus gave them this illustration:"No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be torn, and the patch wouldn't even match the old garment. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would burst the old skins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. 38 New wine must be put into new wineskins. 39 But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. `The old is better,' they say." 6:1 ONE Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of wheat, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grains. 2 But some Pharisees said, "You shouldn't be doing that! It's against the law to work by harvesting grain on the Sabbath." 3 Jesus replied, "Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures what King David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, ate the special bread reserved for the priests alone, and then gave some to his friends. That was breaking the law, too." 5 And Jesus added, "I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath." 6 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched closely to see whether Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath, because they were eager to find some legal charge to bring against him. 8 But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, "Come and stand here where everyone can see." So the man came forward. 9 Then Jesus said to his critics, "I have a question for you. Is it legal to do good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing harm? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" 10 He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, "Reach out your hand." The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again! 11 At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.


For the choir director:A psalm. A song.
1 Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth!
2 Sing about the glory of his name!
Tell the world how glorious he is.
3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!
Your enemies cringe before your mighty power.
4 Everything on earth will worship you;
they will sing your praises,
shouting your name in glorious songs."
Interlude5 Come and see what our God has done,
what awesome miracles he does for his people!
6 He made a dry path through the Red Sea,
and his people went across on foot.
Come, let us rejoice in who he is.
7 For by his great power he rules forever.
He watches every movement of the nations;
let no rebel rise in defiance.
Interlude8 Let the whole world bless our God
and sing aloud his praises.
9 Our lives are in his hands,
and he keeps our feet from stumbling.
10 You have tested us, O God;
you have purified us like silver melted in a crucible.
11 You captured us in your net
and laid the burden of slavery on our backs.
12 You sent troops to ride across our broken bodies.
We went through fire and flood.
But you brought us to a place of great abundance.
13 Now I come to your Temple with burnt offerings
to fulfill the vows I made to you--
14 yes, the sacred vows you heard me make
when I was in deep trouble.
15 That is why I am sacrificing burnt offerings to you--
the best of my rams as a pleasing aroma.
And I will sacrifice bulls and goats.
Interlude16 Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 For I cried out to him for help,
praising him as I spoke.
18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,
my Lord would not have listened.
19 But God did listen!
He paid attention to my prayer.
20 Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.


It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy, but those who are stingy will lose everything. The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hold their grain for higher prices, but they bless the one who sells to them in their time of need