NUMBERS 21:1-22:20
LUKE 1:26-56
PSALM 57:1-11
PROVERBS 11:9-11
NUMBERS 21:1-22:20
The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and took some of them as prisoners. 2 Then the people of Israel made this vow to the LORD: " If you will help us conquer these people, we will completely destroy all their towns." 3 The LORD heard their request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah ever since. 4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way, 5 and they began to murmur against God and Moses. " Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. " There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!" 6 So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, " We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the LORD told him, " Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Whenever those who were bitten looked at the bronze snake, they recovered! 10 The Israelites traveled next to Oboth and camped there. 11 Then they went on to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness on the eastern border of Moab. 12 From there they traveled to the valley of Zered Brook and set up camp. 13 Then they moved to the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites. 14 For this reason The Book of the Wars of the LORD speaks of " the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines; and the Arnon River 15 and its ravines, which extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab." 16 From there the Israelites traveled to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, " Assemble the people, and I will give them water." 17 There the Israelites sang this song: " Spring up, O well!
Yes, sing about it!
18 Sing of this well,
which princes dug,
which great leaders hollowed out
with their scepters and staffs."
Then the Israelites left the wilderness and proceeded on through Mattanah, 19 Nahaliel, and Bamoth. 20 Then they went to the valley in Moab where Pisgah Peak overlooks the wasteland. 21 The Israelites now sent ambassadors to King Sihon of the Amorites with this message: 22 " Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the king's road until we have crossed your territory. We will not trample your fields or touch your vineyards or drink your well water."23 But King Sihon refused to let them cross his land. Instead, he mobilized his entire army and attacked Israel in the wilderness, engaging them in battle at Jahaz. 24 But the Israelites slaughtered them and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They went only as far as the Ammonite border because the boundary of the Ammonites was fortified. 25 So Israel captured all the towns of the Amorites and settled in them, including the city of Heshbon and its surrounding villages. 26 Heshbon had been the capital of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had conquered a former Moabite king and seized all his land as far as the Arnon River. 27 For this reason the ancient poets wrote this about him: " Come to Heshbon, city of Sihon!
May it be restored and rebuilt.
28 A fire flamed forth from Heshbon,
a blaze from the city of Sihon.
It burned the city of Ar in Moab;
it destroyed the rulers of the Arnon heights.
29 Your destruction is certain, O people of Moab!
You are finished, O worshipers of Chemosh!
Chemosh has left his sons as refugees,
and his daughters as captives of Sihon, the Amorite king.
30 We have utterly destroyed them,
all the way from Heshbon to Dibon.
We have completely wiped them out
as far away as Nophah and Medeba."
31 So the people of Israel occupied the territory of the Amorites. 32 After Moses sent men to explore the Jazer area, they captured all the towns in the region and drove out the Amorites who lived there. 33 Then they turned and marched toward Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and all his people attacked them at Edrei. 34 The LORD said to Moses, " Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, giving you all his land. You will do the same to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon." 35 And Israel was victorious and killed King Og, his sons, and his subjects; not a single survivor remained. Then Israel occupied their land. 22:1 THEN the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped east of the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 2 Balak son of Zippor, the Moabite king, knew what the Israelites had done to the Amorites. 3 And when they saw how many Israelites there were, he and his people were terrified. 4 The king of Moab said to the leaders of Midian, " This mob will devour everything in sight, like an ox devours grass!" So Balak, king of Moab, 5 sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor, who was living in his native land of Pethor near the Euphrates River. He sent this message to request that Balaam come to help him: " A vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and are threatening me. 6 Please come and curse them for me because they are so numerous. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land. I know that blessings fall on the people you bless. I also know that the people you curse are doomed."7 Balak's messengers, officials of both Moab and Midian, set out and took money with them to pay Balaam to curse Israel. They went to Balaam and urgently explained to him what Balak wanted. 8 " Stay here overnight," Balaam said. " In the morning I will tell you whatever the LORD directs me to say." So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam. 9 That night God came to Balaam and asked him, " Who are these men with you?" 10 So Balaam said to God, " Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message: 11 ` A vast horde of people has come from Egypt and has spread out over the whole land. Come at once to curse them. Perhaps then I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land.' " 12 " Do not go with them," God told Balaam. " You are not to curse these people, for I have blessed them!"13 The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak's officials, " Go on home! The LORD will not let me go with you." 14 So the Moabite officials returned to King Balak and reported, " Balaam refused to come with us." 15 Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time. 16 They went to Balaam and gave him this message: " This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don't let anything stop you from coming. 17 I will pay you well and do anything you ask of me. Just come and curse these people for me!"18 But Balaam answered them, " Even if Balak were to give me a palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the LORD my God. 19 But stay here one more night to see if the LORD has anything else to say to me." 20 That night God came to Balaam and told him, " Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But be sure to do only what I tell you to do."
LUKE 1:26-56
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, " Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 " Don't be frightened, Mary," the angel told her, " for God has decided to bless you! 31 You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!" 34 Mary asked the angel, " But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin." 35 The angel replied, " The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's already in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God." 38 Mary responded, " I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true." And then the angel left. 39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, " You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. 43 What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! 44 When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! 45 You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said." 46 Mary responded, " Oh, how I praise the Lord.
47 How I rejoice in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and now generation after generation
will call me blessed.
49 For he, the Mighty One, is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
50 His mercy goes on from generation to generation,
to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm does tremendous things!
How he scatters the proud and haughty ones!
52 He has taken princes from their thrones
and exalted the lowly.
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
54 And how he has helped his servant Israel!
He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful.
55 For he promised our ancestors--Abraham and his children--
to be merciful to them forever."
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
PSALM 57:1-11
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time he fled from Saul and went into the cave. To be sung to the tune " Do Not Destroy!"
1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!
I look to you for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings
until this violent storm ispast.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.
3 He will send help from heaven to save me,
rescuing me from those who are out to get me.
Interlude My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by fierce lions
who greedily devour human prey--
whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows,
and whose tongues cut like swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens!
May your glory shine over all the earth.
6 My enemies have set a trap for me.
I am weary from distress.
They have dug a deep pit in my path,
but they themselves have fallen into it.
Interlude7 My heart is confident in you, O God;
no wonder I can sing your praises!
8 Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, O harp and lyre!
I will waken the dawn with my song.
9 I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
10 For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.
PROVERBS 11:9-11
Evil words destroy one's friends; wise discernment rescues the godly. The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the godless die. Upright citizens bless a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.
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