April 12 Reading through the Bible Day 103

JOSHUA 5:1-7:15
LUKE 15:1-32
PSALM 81:1-16
PROVERBS 13:1

JOSHUA 5:1-7:15
When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear. 2 At that time the LORD told Joshua, " Use knives of flint to make the Israelites a circumcised people again." 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to bear arms when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness. 5 Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised. 6 The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to bear arms when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the LORD, and the LORD vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us--a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So Joshua circumcised their sons who had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land--those who had grown up to take their fathers' places. 8 After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed. 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, " Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt." So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month--the month that marked their exodus from Egypt. 11 The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. 12 No manna appeared that day, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan. 13 As Joshua approached the city of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man facing him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, " Are you friend or foe?" 14 " Neither one," he replied. " I am commander of the LORD's army." At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. " I am at your command," Joshua said. " What do you want your servant to do?" 15 The commander of the LORD's army replied, " Take off your sandals, for this is holy ground." And Joshua did as he was told.6:1 NOW the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go in or out. 2 But the LORD said to Joshua, " I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its mighty warriors. 3 Your entire army is to march around the city once a day for six days. 4 Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram's horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. 5 When you hear the priests give one long blast on the horns, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the walls of the city will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the city." 6 So Joshua called together the priests and said, " Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and assign seven priests to walk in front of it, each carrying a ram's horn." 7 Then he gave orders to the people: " March around the city, and the armed men will lead the way in front of the Ark of the LORD."8 After Joshua spoke to the people, the seven priests with the rams' horns started marching in the presence of the LORD, blowing the horns as they marched. And the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD's covenant followed behind them. 9 Armed guards marched both in front of the priests and behind the Ark, with the priests continually blowing the horns. 10 " Do not shout; do not even talk," Joshua commanded. " Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout. Then shout!" 11 So the Ark of the LORD was carried around the city once that day, and then everyone returned to spend the night in the camp. 12 Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests again carried the Ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests with the rams' horns marched in front of the Ark of the LORD, blowing their horns. Armed guards marched both in front of the priests with the horns and behind the Ark of the LORD. All this time the priests were sounding their horns. 14 On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They followed this pattern for six days. 15 On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the city as they had done before. But this time they went around the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, " Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies. 18 Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. 19 Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the LORD and must be brought into his treasury." 20 When the people heard the sound of the horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the city from every side and captured it. 21 They completely destroyed everything in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, donkeys--everything. 22 Then Joshua said to the two spies, " Keep your promise. Go to the prostitute's house and bring her out, along with all her family." 23 The young men went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all the other relatives who were with her. They moved her whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel. 24 Then the Israelites burned the city and everything in it. Only the things made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron were kept for the treasury of the LORD's house. 25 So Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute and her relatives who were with her in the house, because she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. And she lives among the Israelites to this day. 26 At that time Joshua invoked this curse: " May the curse of the LORD fall on anyone
who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho.
At the cost of his firstborn son,
he will lay its foundation.
At the cost of his youngest son,
he will set up its gates."
27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his name became famous throughout the land. 7:1 BUT Israel was unfaithful concerning the things set apart for the LORD. A man named Achan had stolen some of these things, so the LORD was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, of the family of Zimri, of the clan of Zerah, and of the tribe of Judah. 2 Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the city of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven. 3 When they returned, they told Joshua, " It's a small town, and it won't take more than two or three thousand of us to destroy it. There's no need for all of us to go there." 4 So approximately three thousand warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai 5 chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away. 6 Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed down facing the Ark of the LORD until evening. 7 Then Joshua cried out, " Sovereign LORD, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! 8 Lord, what am I to say, now that Israel has fled from its enemies? 9 For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe us off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?" 10 But the LORD said to Joshua, " Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? 11 Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen the things that I commanded to be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them; they have also lied about it and hidden the things among their belongings. 12 That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction. 13 " Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the LORD. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things. 14 In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the LORD will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the LORD will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the LORD will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come one by one. 15 The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the LORD and has done a horrible thing in Israel."

LUKE 15:1-32
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people--even eating with them! 3 So Jesus used this illustration: 4 " If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? 5 And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. 6 When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found. 7 In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away! 8 " Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin. 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents." 11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: " A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ` I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13 " A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. 16 The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.17 " When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ` At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, " Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man."' 20 " So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ` Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'22 " But his father said to the servants, ` Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began. 25 " Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ` Your brother is back,' he was told, ` and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast. We are celebrating because of his safe return.' 28 " The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ` All these years I've worked hard for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest calf we have.' 31 " His father said to him, ` Look, dear son, you and I are very close, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!' "

PSALM 81:1-16
For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 Sing praises to God, our strength.
Sing to the God of Israel.
2 Sing! Beat the tambourine.
Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
3 Sound the trumpet for a sacred feast
when the moon is new,
when the moon is full.
4 For this is required by the laws of Israel;
it is a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree for Israel
when he attacked Egypt to set us free.
I heard an unknown voice that said,
6 " Now I will relieve your shoulder of its burden;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
7 You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud.
I tested your faith at Meribah,
when you complained that there was no water.
Interlude8 " Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
O Israel, if you would only listen!
9 You must never have a foreign god;
you must not bow down before a false god.
10 For it was I, the LORD your God,
who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
11 " But no, my people wouldn't listen.
Israel did not want me around.
12 So I let them follow their blind and stubborn way,
living according to their own desires.
13 But oh, that my people would listen to me!
Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him;
their desolation would last forever.
16 But I would feed you with the best of foods.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

PROVERBS 13:1
A wise child accepts a parent's discipline; a young mocker refuses to listen.

April 11 Reading through the Bible Day 102

JOSHUA 3:1-4:24
LUKE 14:7-35
PSALM 80:1-19
PROVERBS 12:27-28

JOSHUA 3:1-4:24
Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. 2 Three days later, the Israelite leaders went through the camp 3 giving these instructions to the people: " When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don't come any closer." 5 Then Joshua told the people, " Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you." 6 In the morning Joshua said to the priests, " Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river." And so they started out. 7 The LORD told Joshua, " Today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all the Israelites. Now they will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. 8 Give these instructions to the priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant: ` When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop.' " 9 So Joshua told the Israelites, " Come and listen to what the LORD your God says. 10 Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11 Think of it! The Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! 12 Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 13 The priests will be carrying the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth. When their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will pile up there in one heap." 14 When the people set out to cross the Jordan, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now it was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, 16 the water began piling up at a town upstream called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho. 17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the LORD's covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by them. They waited there until everyone had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.4:1 WHEN all the people were safely across the river, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 " Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell the men to take twelve stones from where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan and pile them up at the place where you camp tonight." 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men 5 and told them, " Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder--twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, ` What do these stones mean to you?' 7 Then you can tell them, ` They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD's covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a permanent memorial among the people of Israel."8 So the men did as Joshua told them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the LORD had commanded Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there. 9 Joshua also built another memorial of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. The memorial remains there to this day. 10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the LORD's instructions, which Moses had given to Joshua, were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed. 11 And when everyone was on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the LORD. 12 The armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan, just as Moses had directed. 13 These warriors--about forty thousand strong--were ready for battle, and they crossed over to the plains of Jericho in the LORD's presence.14 That day the LORD made Joshua great in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses. 15 The LORD had said to Joshua, 16 " Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to come up out of the riverbed." 17 So Joshua gave the command. 18 And as soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD's covenant came up out of the riverbed, the Jordan River flooded its banks as before. 19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month--the month that marked their exodus from Egypt. They camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. 20 It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River. 21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, " In the future, your children will ask, ` What do these stones mean?' 22 Then you can tell them, ` This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23 For the LORD your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the nations of the earth might know the power of the LORD, and that you might fear the LORD your God forever."

LUKE 14:7-35
When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 " If you are invited to a wedding feast, don't always head for the best seat. What if someone more respected than you has also been invited? 9 The host will say, ` Let this person sit here instead.' Then you will be embarrassed and will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! 10 " Do this instead--sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ` Friend, we have a better place than this for you!' Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored." 12 Then he turned to his host. " When you put on a luncheon or a dinner," he said, " don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will repay you by inviting you back. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you." 15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, " What a privilege it would be to have a share in the Kingdom of God!" 16 Jesus replied with this illustration: " A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to come. 18 But they all began making excuses. One said he had just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, so he asked to be excused. 19 Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and wanted to try them out. 20 Another had just been married, so he said he couldn't come. 21 " The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was angry and said, ` Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.' 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ` There is still room for more.' 23 So his master said, ` Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I invited first will get even the smallest taste of what I had prepared for them.' " 25 Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 " If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.28 " But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you! 30 They would say, ` There's the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!' 31 " Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him? 32 If he is not able, then while the enemy is still far away, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace. 33 So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me. 34 "Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for fertilizer. It is thrown away. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"

PSALM 80:1-19
For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune " Lilies of the Covenant."
1 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Israel like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
display your radiant glory
2 to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power.
Come to rescue us!
3 Turn us again to yourself, O God.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
4 O LORD God Almighty,
how long will you be angry and reject our prayers?
5 You have fed us with sorrow
and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
6 You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
Our enemies treat us as a joke.
7 Turn us again to yourself, O God Almighty.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
8 You brought us from Egypt as though we were a tender vine;
you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.
9 You cleared the ground for us,
and we took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with our shade;
the mighty cedars were covered with our branches.
11 We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea,
our limbs east to the Euphrates River.
12 But now, why have you broken down our walls
so that all who pass may steal our fruit?
13 The boar from the forest devours us,
and the wild animals feed on us.
14 Come back, we beg you, O God Almighty.
Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Watch over and care for this vine
15 that you yourself have planted,
this son you have raised for yourself.
16 For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of your frown.
17 Strengthen the man you love,
the son of your choice.
18 Then we will never forsake you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God Almighty.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.

PROVERBS 12:27-28
Lazy people don't even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find. The way of the godly leads to life; their path does not lead to death.

April 10 Reading through the Bible Day 101

DEUTERONOMY 34:1--JOSHUA 2:24
LUKE 13:22-14:6
PSALM 79:1-13
PROVERBS 12:26

DEUTERONOMY 34:1--JOSHUA 2:24
Then Moses went to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; 2 all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho--the city of palms--as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, " This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I told them I would give it to their descendants. I have now allowed you to see it, but you will not enter the land." 5 So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, just as the LORD had said. 6 He was buried in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever. 8 The people of Israel mourned thirty days for Moses on the plains of Moab, until the customary period of mourning was over. 9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 There has never been another prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. 11 The LORD sent Moses to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and his entire land. 12 And it was through Moses that the LORD demonstrated his mighty power and terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.1:1 AFTER the death of Moses the LORD's servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said, 2 " Now that my servant Moses is dead, you must lead my people across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ` Everywhere you go, you will be on land I have given you--4 from the Negev Desert in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River on the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and all the land of the Hittites.' 5 No one will be able to stand their ground against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. 6 " Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people to possess all the land I swore to give their ancestors. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed. 9 I command you--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." 10 Joshua then commanded the leaders of Israel, 11 " Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the LORD your God has given you." 12 Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He told them, 13 " Remember what Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: ` The LORD your God is giving you rest and has given you this land.' 14 Your wives, children, and cattle may remain here on the east side of the Jordan River, but your warriors, fully armed, must lead the other tribes across the Jordan to help them conquer their territory. Stay with them 15 until the LORD gives rest to them as he has given rest to you, and until they, too, possess the land the LORD your God is giving them. Only then may you settle here on the east side of the Jordan River in the land that Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you." 16 They answered Joshua, " We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us. 17 We will obey you just as we obeyed Moses. And may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Anyone who rebels against your word and does not obey your every command will be put to death. So be strong and courageous!"2:1 THEN Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia. He instructed them, " Spy out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho." So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night. 2 But someone told the king of Jericho, " Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: " Bring out the men who have come into your house. They are spies sent here to discover the best way to attack us." 4 Rahab, who had hidden the two men, replied, " The men were here earlier, but I didn't know where they were from. 5 They left the city at dusk, as the city gates were about to close, and I don't know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath piles of flax.) 7 So the king's men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossing places of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king's men had left, the city gate was shut. 8 Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. 9 " I know the LORD has given you this land," she told them. " We are all afraid of you. Everyone is living in terror. 10 For we have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. 11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below. 12 Now swear to me by the LORD that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that 13 when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families." 14 " We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety," the men agreed. " If you don't betray us, we will keep our promise when the LORD gives us the land." 15 Then, since Rahab's house was built into the city wall, she let them down by a rope through the window. 16 " Escape to the hill country," she told them. " Hide there for three days until the men who are searching for you have returned; then go on your way." 17 Before they left, the men told her, " We can guarantee your safety 18 only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your family members--your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives--must be here inside the house. 19 If they go out into the street, they will be killed, and we cannot be held to our oath. But we swear that no one inside this house will be killed--not a hand will be laid on any of them. 20 If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way." 21 " I accept your terms," she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window. 22 The spies went up into the hill country and stayed there three days. The men who were chasing them had searched everywhere along the road, but they finally returned to the city without success. 23 Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. 24 " The LORD will certainly give us the whole land," they said, " for all the people in the land are terrified of us."

LUKE 13:22-14:6
Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, " Lord, will only a few be saved?" He replied, 24 " The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, because many will try to enter, 25 but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ` Lord, open the door for us!' But he will reply, ` I do not know you.' 26 You will say, ` But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27 And he will reply, ` I tell you, I don't know you. Go away, all you who do evil.' 28 " And there will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets within the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. 29 Then people will come from all over the world to take their places in the Kingdom of God. 30 And note this: Some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; and some who are greatly honored now will be despised then." 31 A few minutes later some Pharisees said to him, " Get out of here if you want to live, because Herod Antipas wants to kill you!" 32 Jesus replied, " Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and doing miracles of healing today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose. 33 Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I must proceed on my way. For it wouldn't do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem! 34 " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me. 35 And now look, your house is left to you empty. And you will never see me again until you say, ` Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"14:1 ONE Sabbath day Jesus was in the home of a leader of the Pharisees. The people were watching him closely, 2 because there was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, " Well, is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?" 4 When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he turned to them and asked, " Which of you doesn't work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don't you proceed at once to get him out?" 6 Again they had no answer.

PSALM 79:1-13
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, pagan nations have conquered your land, your special possession.
They have defiled your holy Temple
and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of heaven.
The flesh of your godly ones
has become food for the wild animals.
3 Blood has flowed like water all around Jerusalem;
no one is left to bury the dead.
4 We are mocked by our neighbors,
an object of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 O LORD, how long will you be angry with us? Forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to recognize you--
on kingdoms that do not call upon your name.
7 For they have devoured your people Israel,
making the land a desolate wilderness.
8 Oh, do not hold us guilty for our former sins!
Let your tenderhearted mercies quickly meet our needs,
for we are brought low to the dust.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation!
Help us for the honor of your name.
Oh, save us and forgive our sins
for the sake of your name.
10 Why should pagan nations be allowed to scoff,
asking, " Where is their God?"
Show us your vengeance against the nations,
for they have spilled the blood of your servants.
11 Listen to the moaning of the prisoners.
Demonstrate your great power by saving those condemned to die.
12 O Lord, take sevenfold vengeance on our neighbors
for the scorn they have hurled at you.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will thank you forever and ever,
praising your greatness from generation to generation.

PROVERBS 12:26
The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.

April 9 Reading through the Bible Day 100

DEUTERONOMY 33:1-29
LUKE 13:1-21
PSALM 78:65-72
PROVERBS 12:25

DEUTERONOMY 33:1-29
This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave to the people of Israel before his death: 2 " The LORD came from Mount Sinai
and dawned upon us from Mount Seir;
he shone forth from Mount Paran
and came from Meribah-kadesh
with flaming fire at his right hand.
3 Indeed, you love the people;
all your holy ones are in your hands.
They follow in your steps
and accept your instruction.
4 Moses charged us with the law,
the special possession of the assembly of Israel.
5 The LORD became king in Israel--
when the leaders of the people assembled,
when the tribes of Israel gathered."
6 Moses said this about the tribe of Reuben: " Let the tribe of Reuben live and not die out,
even though their tribe is small."
7 Moses said this about the tribe of Judah: " O LORD, hear the cry of Judah
and bring them again to their people.
Give them strength to defend their cause;
help them against their enemies!"
8 Moses said this about the tribe of Levi: " O LORD, you have given the sacred lots
to your faithful servants the Levites.
You put them to the test at Massah
and contended with them at the waters of Meribah.
9 The Levites obeyed your word
and guarded your covenant.
They were more loyal to you
than to their parents, relatives, and children.
10 Now let them teach your regulations to Jacob;
let them give your instructions to Israel.
They will present incense before you
and offer whole burnt offerings on the altar.
11 Bless the Levites, O LORD,
and accept all their work.
Crush the loins of their enemies;
strike down their foes so they never rise again."
12 Moses said this about the tribe of Benjamin: " The people of Benjamin are loved by the LORD
and live in safety beside him.
He surrounds them continuously
and preserves them from every harm."
13 Moses said this about the tribes of Joseph: " May their land be blessed by the LORD
with the choice gift of rain from the heavens,
and water from beneath the earth;
14 with the riches that grow in the sun,
and the bounty produced each month;
15 with the finest crops of the ancient mountains,
and the abundance from the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness,
and the favor of the one who appeared in the burning bush.
May these blessings rest on Joseph's head,
crowning the brow of the prince among his brothers.
17 Joseph has the strength and majesty of a young bull;
his power is like the horns of a wild ox.
He will gore distant nations,
driving them to the ends of the earth.
This is my blessing for the multitudes of Ephraim
and the thousands of Manasseh."
18 Moses said this about the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar: " May the people of Zebulun prosper in their expeditions abroad.
May the people of Issachar prosper at home in their tents.
19 They summon the people to the mountain
to offer proper sacrifices there.
They benefit from the riches of the sea
and the hidden treasures of the sand."
20 Moses said this about the tribe of Gad: " Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad's territory!
Gad is poised there like a lion
to tear off an arm or a head.
21 The people of Gad took the best land for themselves;
a leader's share was assigned to them.
When the leaders of the people were assembled,
they carried out the LORD's justice
and obeyed his regulations for Israel."
22 Moses said this about the tribe of Dan: " Dan is a lion's cub,
leaping out from Bashan."
23 Moses said this about the tribe of Naphtali: " O Naphtali, you are rich in favor
and full of the LORD's blessings;
may you possess the west and the south."
24 Moses said this about the tribe of Asher: " May Asher be blessed above other sons;
may he be esteemed by his brothers;
may he bathe his feet in olive oil.
25 May the bolts of your gates be of iron and bronze;
may your strength match the length of your days!"
26 " There is no one like the God of Israel.
He rides across the heavens to help you,
across the skies in majestic splendor.
27 The eternal God is your refuge,
and his everlasting arms are under you.
He thrusts out the enemy before you;
it is he who cries, ` Destroy them!'
28 So Israel will live in safety,
prosperous Jacob in security,
in a land of grain and wine,
while the heavens drop down dew.
29 How blessed you are, O Israel!
Who else is like you, a people saved by the LORD?
He is your protecting shield
and your triumphant sword!
Your enemies will bow low before you,
and you will trample on their backs!"

LUKE 13:1-21
About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. 2 " Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?" he asked. " Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish." 6 Then Jesus used this illustration: " A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. 7 Finally, he said to his gardener, ` I've waited three years, and there hasn't been a single fig! Cut it down. It's taking up space we can use for something else.' 8 " The gardener answered, ` Give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I'll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, you can cut it down.' " 10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, " Woman, you are healed of your sickness!" 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God! 14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. " There are six days of the week for working," he said to the crowd. " Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath." 15 But the Lord replied, " You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? 16 Wasn't it necessary for me, even on the Sabbath day, to free this dear woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?" 17 This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. 18 Then Jesus said, " What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds come and find shelter among its branches." 20 He also asked, " What else is the Kingdom of God like? 21 It is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough."

PSALM 78:65-72
Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep,
like a mighty man aroused from a drunken stupor.
66 He routed his enemies
and sent them to eternal shame.
67 But he rejected Joseph's descendants;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 There he built his towering sanctuary,
as solid and enduring as the earth itself.
70 He chose his servant David,
calling him from the sheep pens.
71 He took David from tending the ewes and lambs
and made him the shepherd of Jacob's descendants--
God's own people, Israel.
72 He cared for them with a true heart
and led them with skillful hands.

PROVERBS 12:25
Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

April 8 Reading through the Bible Day 99

DEUTERONOMY 32:28-52
LUKE 12:35-59
PSALM 78:56-64
PROVERBS 12:24

DEUTERONOMY 32:28-52
" Israel is a nation that lacks sense;
the people are foolish, without understanding.
29 Oh, that they were wise and could understand this!
Oh, that they might know their fate!
30 How could one person chase a thousand of them,
and two people put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
unless the LORD had given them up?
31 But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock,
as even they recognize.
32 Their vine grows from the vine of Sodom,
from the vineyards of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are poison,
and their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is the venom of snakes,
the deadly poison of vipers.
34 " ` I am storing up these things,
sealing them away within my treasury.
35 I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it.
In due time their feet will slip.
Their day of disaster will arrive,
and their destiny will overtake them.'
36 " Indeed, the LORD will judge his people,
and he will change his mind about his servants,
when he sees their strength is gone
and no one is left, slave or free.
37 Then he will ask, ` Where are their gods,
the rocks they fled to for refuge?
38 Where now are those gods,
who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their offerings?
Let those gods arise and help you!
Let them provide you with shelter!
39 Look now; I myself am he!
There is no god other than me!
I am the one who kills and gives life;
I am the one who wounds and heals;
no one delivers from my power!
40 Now I raise my hand to heaven
and declare, " As surely as I live,
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword
and begin to carry out justice,
I will bring vengeance on my enemies
and repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh--
the blood of the slaughtered and the captives,
and the heads of the enemy leaders."'
43 " Rejoice with him, O heavens,
and let all the angels of God worship him,
for he will avenge the blood of his servants.
He will take vengeance on his enemies
and cleanse his land and his people."
44 So Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people. 45 When Moses had finished reciting these words to Israel, 46 he added: " Take to heart all the words I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of this law. 47 These instructions are not mere words--they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to occupy." 48 That same day the LORD said to Moses, 49 " Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river, and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel as their own possession. 50 Then you must die there on the mountain and join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. 51 For both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. 52 So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel."

LUKE 12:35-59
" Be dressed for service and well prepared, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 There will be special favor for those who are ready and waiting for his return. I tell you, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, there will be special favor for his servants who are ready! 39 " Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would not permit the house to be broken into. 40 You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected." 41 Peter asked, " Lord, is this illustration just for us or for everyone?" 42 And the Lord replied, " I'm talking to any faithful, sensible servant to whom the master gives the responsibility of managing his household and feeding his family. 43 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 44 I assure you, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 45 But if the servant thinks, ` My master won't be back for a while,' and begins oppressing the other servants, partying, and getting drunk--46 well, the master will return unannounced and unexpected. He will tear the servant apart and banish him with the unfaithful. 47 The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. 48 " But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given.49 " I have come to bring fire to the earth, and I wish that my task were already completed! 50 There is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to bring strife and division! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against--or the other way around. 53 There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law." 54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, " When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ` Here comes a shower.' And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, ` Today will be a scorcher.' And it is. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but you can't interpret these present times. 57 " Why can't you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If you are on the way to court and you meet your accuser, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, or you may be sentenced and handed over to an officer and thrown in jail. 59 And if that happens, you won't be free again until you have paid the last penny."

PSALM 78:56-64
Yet though he [God] did all this for them,
they continued to test his patience.
They rebelled against the Most High
and refused to follow his decrees.
57 They turned back and were as faithless as their parents had been.
They were as useless as a crooked bow.
58 They made God angry by building altars to other gods;
they made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was very angry,
and he rejected Israel completely.
60 Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.
61 He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured;
he surrendered his glory into enemy hands.
62 He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword,
because he was so angry with his own people--his special possession.
63 Their young men were killed by fire;
their young women died before singing their wedding songs.
64 Their priests were slaughtered,
and their widows could not mourn their deaths.

PROVERBS 12:24
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave.

April 7 Reading through the Bible Day 98

DEUTERONOMY 31:1-32:27
LUKE 12:8-34
PSALM 78:32-55
PROVERBS 12:21-23

DEUTERONOMY 31:1-32:27
When Moses had finished saying these things to all the people of Israel, 2 he said, " I am now 120 years old and am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has told me that I will not cross the Jordan River. 3 But the LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua is your new leader, and he will go with you, just as the LORD promised. 4 The LORD will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. 5 The LORD will hand over to you the people who live there, and you will deal with them as I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The LORD your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you." 7 Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched he said to him, " Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the LORD swore to give their ancestors. You are the one who will deliver it to them as their inheritance. 8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you." 9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the LORD's covenant, and to the leaders of Israel. 10 Then Moses gave them this command: " At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, 11 you must read this law to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the LORD your God at the place he chooses. 12 Call them all together--men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns--so they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully obey all the terms of this law. 13 Do this so that your children who have not known these laws will hear them and will learn to fear the LORD your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy." 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, " The time has come for you to die. Call Joshua and take him with you to the Tabernacle, and I will commission him there." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle. 15 And the LORD appeared to them in a pillar of cloud at the entrance to the sacred tent. 16 The LORD said to Moses, " You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin worshiping foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Terrible trouble will come down on them, so that they will say, ` These disasters have come because God is no longer among us!' 18 At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the sins they have committed by worshiping other gods. 19 " Now write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Teach them to sing it, so it may serve as a witness against them. 20 For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors--a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous; they will eat all the food they want and become well nourished. Then they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant. 21 Then great disasters will come down on them, and this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know what these people are like, even before they have entered the land I swore to give them." 22 So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites. 23 Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: " Be strong and courageous! You must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you." 24 When Moses had finished writing down this entire body of law in a book, 25 he gave these instructions to the Levites who carried the Ark of the LORD's covenant: 26 " Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, so it may serve as a witness against the people of Israel. 27 For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still with you, you have rebelled against the LORD. How much more rebellious will you be after my death! 28 Now summon all the leaders and officials of your tribes so that I can speak to them and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the path I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will make the LORD very angry by doing what is evil in his sight." 30 So Moses recited this entire song to the assembly of Israel:32:1 " LISTEN, O heavens, and I will speak!
Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
2 My teaching will fall on you like rain;
my speech will settle like dew.
My words will fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.
3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
how glorious is our God!
4 He is the Rock; his work is perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is!
5 " But they have acted corruptly toward him;
when they act like that, are they really his children?
They are a deceitful and twisted generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the LORD,
you foolish and senseless people?
Isn't he your Father who created you?
Has he not made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of long ago;
think about the generations past.
Ask your father and he will inform you.
Inquire of your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High assigned lands to the nations,
when he divided up the human race,
he established the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of angelic beings.
9 For the people of Israel belong to the LORD;
Jacob is his special possession.
10 " He found them in a desert land,
in an empty, howling wasteland.
He surrounded them and watched over them;
he guarded them as his most precious possession.
11 Like an eagle that rouses her chicks
and hovers over her young,
so he spread his wings to take them in
and carried them aloft on his pinions.
12 The LORD alone guided them;
they lived without any foreign gods.
13 He made them ride over the highlands;
he let them feast on the crops of the fields.
He nourished them with honey from the cliffs,
with olive oil from the hard rock.
14 He fed them curds from the herd and milk from the flock,
together with the fat of lambs and goats.
He gave them choice rams and goats from Bashan,
together with the choicest wheat.
You drank the finest wine,
made from the juice of grapes.
15 But Israel soon became fat and unruly;
the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed!
Then they abandoned the God who had made them;
they made light of the Rock of their salvation.
16 They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods;
they provoked his fury with detestable acts.
17 They offered sacrifices to demons, non-gods,
to gods they had not known before,
to gods only recently arrived,
to gods their ancestors had never feared.
18 You neglected the Rock who had fathered you;
you forgot the God who had given you birth.
19 " The LORD saw this and was filled with loathing.
He was provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.
20 He said, ` I will abandon them;
I will see to their end!
For they are a twisted generation,
children without integrity.
21 They have roused my jealousy by worshiping non-gods;
they have provoked my fury with useless idols.
Now I will rouse their jealousy by blessing other nations;
I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.
22 For my anger blazes forth like fire
and burns to the depths of the grave.
It devours the earth and all its crops
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap disasters upon them
and shoot them down with my arrows.
24 I will send against them wasting famine,
burning fever, and deadly disease.
They will be troubled by the fangs of wild beasts,
by poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.
25 Outside, the sword will bring death,
and inside, terror will strike
both young men and young women,
both infants and the aged.
26 I decided to scatter them,
so even the memory of them would disappear.
27 But I feared the taunt of the enemy,
that their adversaries might misunderstand and say,
" Our power has triumphed!
It was not the LORD who did this!" ' "

LUKE 12:8-34
" And I [Jesus] assure you of this: If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I, the Son of Man, will openly acknowledge that person in the presence of God's angels. 9 But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before God's angels. 10 Yet those who speak against the Son of Man may be forgiven, but anyone who speaks blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. 11 " And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don't worry about what to say in your defense, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you what needs to be said even as you are standing there." 13 Then someone called from the crowd, " Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me." 14 Jesus replied, " Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?" 15 Then he said, " Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." 16 And he gave an illustration: " A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. 18 So he said, ` I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. 19 And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' 20 " But God said to him, ` You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' 21 " Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." 22 Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said, " So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. 23 For life consists of far more than food and clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can't do little things like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? 27 " Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! 29 And don't worry about food--what to eat and drink. Don't worry whether God will provide it for you. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. 32 " So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 33 " Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no holes in them. Your treasure will be safe--no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be."

PSALM 78:32-55
But in spite of this, the people kept on sinning.
They refused to believe in his miracles.
33 So he ended their lives in failure
and gave them years of terror.
34 When God killed some of them, the rest finally sought him.
They repented and turned to God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
that their redeemer was the Most High.
36 But they followed him only with their words;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They did not keep his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins
and didn't destroy them all.
Many a time he held back his anger
and did not unleash his fury!
39 For he remembered that they were merely mortal,
gone in a moment like a breath of wind, never to return.
40 Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the desert
and grieved his heart in the wilderness.
41 Again and again they tested God's patience
and frustrated the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot about his power
and how he rescued them from their enemies.
43 They forgot his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders on the plain of Zoan.
44 For he turned their rivers into blood,
so no one could drink from the streams.
45 He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them
and hordes of frogs to ruin them.
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars;
their harvest was consumed by locusts.
47 He destroyed their grapevines with hail
and shattered their sycamores with sleet.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He loosed on them his fierce anger--
all his fury, rage, and hostility.
He dispatched against them
a band of destroying angels.
50 He turned his anger against them;
he did not spare the Egyptians' lives
but handed them over to the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family,
the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.
52 But he led his own people like a flock of sheep,
guiding them safely through the wilderness.
53 He kept them safe so they were not afraid;
but the sea closed in upon their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this land of hills he had won for them.
55 He drove out the nations before them;
he gave them their inheritance by lot.
He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.

PROVERBS 12:21-23
No real harm befalls the godly, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. The LORD hates those who don't keep their word, but he delights in those who do. Wise people don't make a show of their knowledge, but fools broadcast their folly.

April 6 Reading through the Bible Day 97

DEUTERONOMY 29:1-30:20
LUKE 11:37-12:7
PSALM 78:1-31
PROVERBS 12:19-20

DEUTERONOMY 29:1-30:20
These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Mount Sinai. 2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them, " You have seen with your own eyes everything the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and his whole country--3 all the great tests of strength, the miraculous signs, and the amazing wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear! 5 For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out. 6 You had no bread or wine or other strong drink, but he gave you food so you would know that he is the LORD your God. 7 When we came here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh as their inheritance. 9 " Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do. 10 All of you--your tribal leaders, your judges, your officers, all the men of Israel--are standing today before the LORD your God. 11 With you are your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners living among you who chop your wood and carry your water. 12 You are standing here today to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God. The LORD is making this covenant with you today, and he has sealed it with an oath. 13 He wants to confirm you today as his people and to confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you, and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 But you are not the only ones with whom the LORD is making this covenant with its obligations. 15 The LORD your God is making this covenant with you who stand in his presence today and also with all future generations of Israel.16 " Surely you remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the lands of enemy nations as we left. 17 You have seen their detestable idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 The LORD made this covenant with you so that no man, woman, family, or tribe among you would turn away from the LORD our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you would bear bitter and poisonous fruit. 19 Let none of those who hear the warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking, ` I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This would lead to utter ruin! 20 The LORD will not pardon such people. His anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the LORD will erase their names from under heaven. 21 The LORD will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the covenant curses recorded in this Book of the Law. 22 " Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the LORD will send against it. 23 They will find its soil turned into sulfur and salt, with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It will be just like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD destroyed in his anger. 24 The surrounding nations will ask, ` Why has the LORD done this to his land? Why was he so angry?' 25 " And they will be told, ` This happened because the people of the land broke the covenant they made with the LORD, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 They turned to serve and worship other gods that were foreign to them, gods that the LORD had not designated for them. 27 That is why the LORD's anger burned against this land, bringing down on it all the curses recorded in this book. 28 In great anger and fury the LORD uprooted his people from their land and exiled them to another land, where they still live today!' 29 " There are secret things that belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we may obey these words of the law.30:1 " SUPPOSE all these things happen to you--the blessings and the curses I have listed--and you meditate on them as you are living among the nations to which the LORD your God has exiled you. 2 If at that time you return to the LORD your God, and you and your children begin wholeheartedly to obey all the commands I have given you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. 4 Though you are at the ends of the earth, the LORD your God will go and find you and bring you back again. 5 He will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. He will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors! 6 " The LORD your God will cleanse your heart and the hearts of all your descendants so that you will love him with all your heart and soul, and so you may live! 7 The LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and persecutors. 8 Then you will again obey the LORD and keep all the commands I am giving you today. 9 The LORD your God will make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and your fields will produce abundant harvests, for the LORD will delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. 10 The LORD your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and laws written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. 11 " This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform. 12 It is not up in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ` Who will go to heaven and bring it down so we can hear and obey it?' 13 It is not beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ` Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear and obey it?' 14 The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. 15 " Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death. 16 I have commanded you today to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, laws, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. 17 But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. 19 " Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! 20 Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

LUKE 11:37-12:7
As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the ceremonial washing required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, " You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are still filthy--full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn't God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So give to the needy what you greedily possess, and you will be clean all over. 42 " But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things. 43 " How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! For how you love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the respectful greetings from everyone as you walk through the markets! 44 Yes, how terrible it will be for you. For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on." 45 " Teacher," said an expert in religious law, " you have insulted us, too, in what you just said."46 " Yes," said Jesus, " how terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you crush people beneath impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger to help ease the burden. 47 How terrible it will be for you! For you build tombs for the very prophets your ancestors killed long ago. 48 Murderers! You agree with your ancestors that what they did was right. You would have done the same yourselves. 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ` I will send prophets and apostles to them, and they will kill some and persecute the others.' 50 " And you of this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God's prophets from the creation of the world--51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will surely be charged against you. 52 " How terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you hide the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering." 53 As Jesus finished speaking, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were furious. From that time on they grilled him with many hostile questions, 54 trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him.12:1 MEANWHILE, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and crushing each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, " Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees--beware of their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! 4 " Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill the body; they cannot do any more to you. 5 But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill people and then throw them into hell. 6 " What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows."

PSALM 78:1-31
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O my people, listen to my teaching.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past--
3 stories we have heard and know,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4 We will not hide these truths from our children
but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD.
We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.
5 For he issued his decree to Jacob;
he gave his law to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them--
even the children not yet born--
that they in turn might teach their children.
7 So each generation can set its hope anew on God,
remembering his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors--
stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
refusing to give their hearts to God.
9 The warriors of Ephraim, though fully armed,
turned their backs and fled when the day of battle came.
10 They did not keep God's covenant,
and they refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done--
the wonderful miracles he had shown them,
12 the miracles he did for their ancestors in Egypt, on the plain of Zoan.
13 For he divided the sea before them and led them through!
The water stood up like walls beside them!
14 In the daytime he led them by a cloud,
and at night by a pillar of fire.
15 He split open the rocks in the wilderness
to give them plenty of water, as from a gushing spring.
16 He made streams pour from the rock,
making the waters flow down like a river!
17 Yet they kept on with their sin,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They willfully tested God in their hearts,
demanding the foods they craved.
19 They even spoke against God himself, saying,
" God can't give us food in the desert.
20 Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,
but he can't give his people bread and meat."
21 When the LORD heard them, he was angry.
The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob.
Yes, his anger rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe God
or trust him to care for them.
23 But he commanded the skies to open--
he opened the doors of heaven--
24 and rained down manna for them to eat.
He gave them bread from heaven.
25 They ate the food of angels!
God gave them all they could hold.
26 He released the east wind in the heavens
and guided the south wind by his mighty power.
27 He rained down meat as thick as dust--
birds as plentiful as the sands along the seashore!
28 He caused the birds to fall within their camp
and all around their tents.
29 The people ate their fill.
He gave them what they wanted.
30 But before they finished eating this food they had craved,
while the meat was yet in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed their strongest men;
he struck down the finest of Israel's young men.

PROVERBS 12:19-20
Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed. Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace!

April 5 Reading through the Bible Day 96

DEUTERONOMY 28:1-68
LUKE 11:14-36
PSALM 77:1-20
PROVERBS 12:18

DEUTERONOMY 28:1-68
" If you fully obey the LORD your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the LORD your God will exalt you above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in your towns and in the country. 4 You will be blessed with many children and productive fields. You will be blessed with fertile herds and flocks. 5 You will be blessed with baskets overflowing with fruit, and with kneading bowls filled with bread. 6 You will be blessed wherever you go, both in coming and in going. 7 " The LORD will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven! 8 " The LORD will bless everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 " If you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways, the LORD will establish you as his holy people as he solemnly promised to do. 10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you.11 " The LORD will give you an abundance of good things in the land he swore to give your ancestors--many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. 12 The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens to bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. 13 If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God and carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always have the upper hand. 14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today to follow after other gods and worship them. 15 " But if you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and laws I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:16 You will be cursed in your towns and in the country. 17 You will be cursed with baskets empty of fruit, and with kneading bowls empty of bread. 18 You will be cursed with few children and barren fields. You will be cursed with infertile herds and flocks. 19 You will be cursed wherever you go, both in coming and in going. 20 " The LORD himself will send against you curses, confusion, and disillusionment in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and forsaking me. 21 The LORD will send diseases among you until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew. These devastations will pursue you until you die. 23 The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron. 24 The LORD will turn your rain into sand and dust, and it will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed. 25 " The LORD will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your dead bodies will be food for the birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away. 27 " The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. 29 You will grope around in broad daylight, just like a blind person groping in the darkness, and you will not succeed at anything you do. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you. 30 " You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will ravish her. You will build a house, but someone else will live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you won't get a single bite of the meat. Your donkey will be driven away, never to be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you. 32 You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break as you long for them, but nothing you do will help. 33 A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow. You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment. 34 You will go mad because of all the tragedy around you. 35 The LORD will cover you from head to foot with incurable boils. 36 " The LORD will exile you and the king you crowned to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. Then in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! 37 You will become an object of horror, a proverb and a mockery among all the nations to which the LORD sends you. 38 " You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops. 39 You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines. 40 You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the trees will drop the fruit before it is ripe. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but you will not keep them, for they will be led away into captivity. 42 Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops. 43 The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker. 44 They will lend money to you, not you to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail! 45 " If you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and to obey the commands and laws he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed. 46 These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you have not served the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. They will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed. 49 " The LORD will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like an eagle. It is a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. 51 Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will starve to death. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, bringing about your destruction. 52 They will lay siege to your cities until all the fortified walls in your land--the walls you trusted to protect you--are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the LORD your God has given you. 53 The siege will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you. 54 The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. 55 He will refuse to give them a share of the flesh he is devouring--the flesh of one of his own children--because he has nothing else to eat during the siege that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. 56 The most tender and delicate woman among you--so delicate she would not so much as touch her feet to the ground--will be cruel to the husband she loves and to her own son or daughter. 57 She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. 58 " If you refuse to obey all the terms of this law that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will overwhelm both you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. 60 He will bring against you all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and they will claim you. 61 The LORD will bring against you every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 Though you are as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the LORD your God. 63 " Just as the LORD has found great pleasure in helping you to prosper and multiply, the LORD will find pleasure in destroying you, until you disappear from the land you are about to enter and occupy. 64 For the LORD will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone! 65 There among those nations you will find no place of security and rest. And the LORD will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. 66 Your lives will hang in doubt. You will live night and day in fear, with no reason to believe that you will see the morning light. 67 In the morning you will say, ` If only it were night!' And in the evening you will say, ` If only it were morning!' You will say this because of your terror at the awesome horrors you see around you. 68 Then the LORD will send you back to Egypt in ships, a journey I promised you would never again make. There you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you."

LUKE 11:14-36
One day Jesus cast a demon out of a man who couldn't speak, and the man's voice returned to him. The crowd was amazed, 15 but some said, " No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons!" 16 Trying to test Jesus, others asked for a miraculous sign from heaven to see if he was from God. 17 He knew their thoughts, so he said, " Any kingdom at war with itself is doomed. A divided home is also doomed. 18 You say I am empowered by the prince of demons. But if Satan is fighting against himself by empowering me to cast out his demons, how can his kingdom survive? 19 And if I am empowered by the prince of demons, what about your own followers? They cast out demons, too, so they will judge you for what you have said. 20 But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 21 For when Satan, who is completely armed, guards his palace, it is safe--22 until someone who is stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings. 23 " Anyone who isn't helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me.24 " When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ` I will return to the person I came from.' 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and clean. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before." 27 As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, " God bless your mother--the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!" 28 He replied, " But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice." 29 As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, " These are evil times, and this evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. 30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to me will be a sign that God has sent me, the Son of Man, to these people.31 " The queen of Sheba will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now someone greater than Solomon is here--and you refuse to listen to him. 32 The people of Nineveh, too, will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here--and you refuse to repent. 33 " No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, it is put on a lampstand to give light to all who enter the room. 34 Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. 35 Make sure that the light you think you have is not really darkness. 36 If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight is shining on you."

PSALM 77:1-20
For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry out to God without holding back.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord.
All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading.
There can be no joy for me until he acts.
3 I think of God, and I moan,
overwhelmed with longing for his help.
Interlude4 You don't let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
5 I think of the good old days, long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and think about the difference now.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again show me favor?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be kind?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
Interlude10 And I said, " This is my fate,
that the blessings of the Most High have changed to hatred."
11 I recall all you have done, O LORD;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about them.
13 O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of miracles and wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
15 You have redeemed your people by your strength,
the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph by your might.
Interlude16 When the Red Sea saw you, O God,
its waters looked and trembled!
The sea quaked to its very depths.
17 The clouds poured down their rain;
the thunder rolled and crackled in the sky.
Your arrows of lightning flashed.
18 Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world!
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your road led through the sea,
your pathway through the mighty waters--
a pathway no one knew was there!
20 You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

PROVERBS 12:18
Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.