NUMBERS 30:1-31:54
LUKE 4:1-30
PSALM 63:1-11
PROVERBS 11:20-21
NUMBERS 30:1-31:54
Now Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes of Israel and told them, " This is what the LORD has commanded: 2 A man who makes a vow to the LORD or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do. 3 " If a young woman makes a vow to the LORD or a pledge under oath while she is still living at her father's home, 4 and her father hears of the vow or pledge but says nothing, then all her vows and pledges will stand. 5 But if her father refuses to let her fulfill the vow or pledge on the day he hears of it, then all her vows and pledges will become invalid. The LORD will forgive her because her father would not let her fulfill them. 6 " Now suppose a young woman takes a vow or makes an impulsive pledge and later marries. 7 If her husband learns of her vow or pledge and raises no objections on the day he hears of it, her vows and pledges will stand. 8 But if her husband refuses to accept her vow or impulsive pledge on the day he hears of it, he nullifies her commitments, and the LORD will forgive her. 9 If, however, a woman is a widow or is divorced, she must fulfill all her vows and pledges no matter what. 10 " Suppose a woman is married and living in her husband's home when she makes a vow or pledge. 11 If her husband hears of it and does nothing to stop her, her vow or pledge will stand. 12 But if her husband refuses to accept it on the day he hears of it, her vow or pledge will be nullified, and the LORD will forgive her. 13 So her husband may either confirm or nullify any vows or pledges she makes to deny herself. 14 But if he says nothing on the day he hears of it, then he is agreeing to it. 15 If he waits more than a day and then tries to nullify a vow or pledge, he will suffer the consequences of her guilt." 16 These are the regulations the LORD gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter who still lives at home.31:1 THEN the LORD said to Moses, 2 " Take vengeance on the Midianites for leading the Israelites into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors." 3 So Moses said to the people, " Choose some men to fight the LORD's war of vengeance against Midian. 4 From each tribe of Israel, send one thousand men into battle." 5 So they chose one thousand men from each tribe of Israel, a total of twelve thousand men armed for battle. 6 Then Moses sent them out, a thousand men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge. 7 They attacked Midian just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. 8 All five of the Midianite kings--Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba--died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9 Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. 10 They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. 11 After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, 12 they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the people went to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses was furious with all the military commanders who had returned from the battle. 15 " Why have you let all the women live?" he demanded. 16 " These are the very ones who followed Balaam's advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD's people. 17 Now kill all the boys and all the women who have slept with a man. 18 Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. 19 And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. 20 Also, purify all your clothing and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood." 21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, " The LORD has given Moses this requirement of the law: 22 Anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead--23 that is, metals that do not burn--must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone. 24 On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified. Then you may return to the camp." 25 And the LORD said to Moses, 26 " You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals. 27 Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people. 28 But first give the LORD his share of the captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats that belong to the army. Set apart one out of every five hundred as the LORD's share. 29 Give this share of their half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD. 30 Also take one of every fifty of the captives, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats in the half that belongs to the people of Israel. Give this share to the Levites in charge of maintaining the LORD's Tabernacle." 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 The plunder remaining from the spoils that the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 young girls. 36 So the half of the plunder given to the fighting men totaled 337,500 sheep, 37 of which 675 were the LORD's share; 38 36,000 cattle, of which 72 were the LORD's share; 39 30,500 donkeys, of which 61 were the LORD's share; 40 16,000 young girls, of whom 32 were the LORD's share. 41 Moses gave all the LORD's share to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had directed him. 42 The half of the plunder belonging to the people of Israel, which Moses had separated from the half belonging to the fighting men, 43 amounted to 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 young girls. 47 From the half-share given to the people, Moses took one of every fifty prisoners and animals and gave them to the Levites who maintained the LORD's Tabernacle. All this was done just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 48 Then all the military commanders came to Moses 49 and said, " Sir, we have accounted for all the men who went out to battle under our command; not one of us is missing! 50 So we are presenting the items of gold we captured as an offering to the LORD from our share of the plunder--armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This will make atonement for our lives before the LORD." 51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from all the military commanders, all kinds of jewelry and crafted objects. 52 In all, the gold that the commanders presented as a gift to the LORD weighed about 420 pounds. 53 All the fighting men had taken some of the plunder for themselves. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gifts from the military commanders and brought the gold to the Tabernacle as a reminder to the LORD that the people of Israel belong to him.
LUKE 4:1-30
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit to go out into the wilderness, 2 where the Devil tempted him for forty days. He ate nothing all that time and was very hungry. 3 Then the Devil said to him, " If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread." 4 But Jesus told him, " No! The Scriptures say, ` People need more than bread for their life.'" 5 Then the Devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 The Devil told him, " I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them--because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will bow down and worship me." 8 Jesus replied, " The Scriptures say, ` You must worship the Lord your God;
serve only him.'"
9 Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, " If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say, ` He orders his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you with their hands
to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.'"
12 Jesus responded, " The Scriptures also say, ` Do not test the Lord your God.'" 13 When the Devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. 14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Soon he became well known throughout the surrounding country. 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll containing the messages of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, and he unrolled the scroll to the place where it says:18 " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors,
19 and that the time of the Lord's favor has come."
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. 21 Then he said, " This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!" 22 All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips. " How can this be?" they asked. " Isn't this Joseph's son?" 23 Then he said, " Probably you will quote me that proverb, ` Physician, heal yourself'--meaning, ` Why don't you do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum?' 24 But the truth is, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. 25 " Certainly there were many widows in Israel who needed help in Elijah's time, when there was no rain for three and a half years and hunger stalked the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a widow of Zarephath--a foreigner in the land of Sidon. 27 Or think of the prophet Elisha, who healed Naaman, a Syrian, rather than the many lepers in Israel who needed help." 28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and took him to the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he slipped away through the crowd and left them.
PSALM 63:1-11
A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself;
how I praise you!
4 I will honor you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
7 I think how much you have helped me;
I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings.
8 I follow close behind you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
9 But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
10 They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
All who trust in him will praise him,
while liars will be silenced.
PROVERBS 11:20-21
The LORD hates people with twisted hearts, but he delights in those who have integrity. You can be sure that evil people will be punished, but the children of the godly will go free.
