Daily Bible Reading from BibleStudyTools.com

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Today's Bible Reading

April 11

Acts 3; Deuteronomy 17-18; Job 12 CJB

Acts 3

1 One afternoon at three o'clock, the hour of minchah prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple,

2 a man crippled since birth was being carried in. Every day people used to put him at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, so that he could beg from those going into the Temple court.

3 When he saw Kefa and Yochanan about to enter, he asked them for some money.

4 But they stared straight at him; and Kefa said, "Look at us!"

5 The crippled man fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

6 Kefa said, "I don't have silver, and I don't have gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret, walk!"

7 And taking hold of him by his right hand, Kefa pulled him up. Instantly his feet and ankles became strong;

8 so that he sprang up, stood a moment, and began walking. Then he entered the Temple court with them, walking and leaping and praising God!

9 Everyone saw him walking and praising God.

10 They recognized him as the same man who had formerly sat begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were utterly amazed and confounded at what had happened to him.

11 While he clung to Kefa and Yochanan, all the people came running in astonishment toward them in Shlomo's Colonnade.

12 Seeing this, Kefa addressed the people: "Men of Isra'el! Why are you amazed at this? Or why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk through some power or godliness of our own?

13 The God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Yeshua - the same Yeshua you handed over and disowned before Pilate, even after he had decided to release him.

14 You denied the holy and innocent one, and instead asked for the reprieve of a murderer!

15 You killed the author of life! "But God has raised him from the dead! Of this we are witnesses.

16 And it is through putting trust in his name that his name has given strength to this man whom you see and know. Yes, it is the trust that comes through Yeshua which has given him this perfect healing in the presence of you all.

17 "Now, brothers, I know that you did not understand the significance of what you were doing; neither did your leaders.

18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had announced in advance, when he spoke through all the prophets, namely, that his Messiah was to die.

19 "Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased;

20 so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord's presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Yeshua.

21 He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.

22 For Moshe himself said, 'ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You are to listen to everything he tells you.

23 Everyone who fails to listen to that prophet will be removed from the people and destroyed.'

24 Indeed, all the prophets announced these days, starting with Sh'mu'el and continuing through all who followed.

25 "You are the sons of the prophets; and you are included in the covenant which God made with our fathers when he said to Avraham, 'By your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.'

26 So it is to you first that God has sent his servant whom he has raised up, so that he might bless you by turning each one of you from your evil ways."

Deuteronomy 17

1 "You are not to sacrifice to ADONAI your God a cow or sheep that has a defect or anything wrong with it; that would be an abomination to ADONAI your God.

2 "If there is found among you, within any of your gates [in any city] that ADONAI your God gives you, a man or woman who does what ADONAI your God sees as wicked, transgressing his covenant

3 by going and serving other gods and worshipping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky - something I have forbidden -

4 and it is told to you, or you hear about it; then you are to investigate the matter diligently. If it is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are being done in Isra'el;

5 then you are to bring the man or woman who has done this wicked thing to your city gates, and stone that man or woman to death.

6 The death sentence is to be carried out only if there was testimony from two or three witnesses; he may not be sentenced to death on the testimony of only one witness.

7 The witnesses are to be the first to stone him to death; afterwards, all the people are to stone him. Thus you will put an end to this wickedness among you.

8 "If a case comes before you at your city gate which is too difficult for you to judge, concerning bloodshed, civil suit, personal injury or any other controversial issue; you are to get up, go to the place which ADONAI your God will choose,

9 and appear before the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, and the judge in office at the time. Seek their opinion, and they will render a verdict for you.

10 You will then act according to what they have told you there in that place which ADONAI will choose; you are to take care to act according to all their instructions.

11 In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you.

12 Anyone presumptuous enough not to pay attention to the cohen appointed there to serve ADONAI your God or to the judge - that person must die. Thus you will exterminate such wickedness from Isra'el -

13 all the people will hear about it and be afraid to continue acting presumptuously.

14 "When you have entered the land ADONAI your God is giving you, have taken possession of it and are living there, you may say, 'I want to have a king over me, like all the other nations around me.'

15 In that event, you must appoint as king the one whom ADONAI your God will choose. He must be one of your kinsmen, this king you appoint over you - you are forbidden to appoint a foreigner over you who is not your kinsman.

16 However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as ADONAI told you never to go back that way again.

17 Likewise, he is not to acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart will not turn away; and he is not to acquire excessive quantities of silver and gold.

18 "When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L'vi'im use.

19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear ADONAI his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them;

20 so that he will not think he is better than his kinsmen; and so that he will not turn aside either to the right or to the left from the mitzvah. In this way he will prolong his own reign and that of his children in Isra'el.

Deuteronomy 18

1 The cohanim, who are L'vi'im, and indeed the whole tribe of Levi, is not to have a share or an inheritance with Isra'el. Instead, their support will come from the food offered by fire to ADONAI and from whatever else becomes his.

2 They will have no inheritance with their brothers, because ADONAI is their inheritance - as he has said to them.

3 "The cohanim will have the right to receive from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach.

4 You will also give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep.

5 For ADONAI your God has chosen him from all your tribes to stand and serve in the name of ADONAI, him and his sons forever.

6 "If a Levi from one of your towns anywhere in Isra'el where he is living comes, highly motivated, to the place which ADONAI will choose,

7 then he will serve there in the name of ADONAI his God, just like his kinsmen the L'vi'im who stand and serve in the presence of ADONAI.

8 Such a Levi will receive the same share as they do, in addition to what he may receive from selling his inherited ancestral property.

9 "When you enter the land ADONAI your God is giving you, you are not to learn how to follow the abominable practices of those nations.

10 There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer,

11 a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer.

12 For whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI, and because of these abominations ADONAI your God is driving them out ahead of you.

13 You must be wholehearted with ADONAI your God.

14 For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners; but you, ADONAI your God does not allow you to do this.

15 "ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him,

16 just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested ADONAI your God, 'Don't let me hear the voice of ADONAI my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!'

17 On that occasion ADONAI said to me, 'They are right in what they are saying.

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.

19 Whoever doesn't listen to my words, which he will speak in my name, will have to account for himself to me.

20 "'But if a prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name which I didn't order him to say, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet must die.'

21 You may be wondering, 'How are we to know if a word has not been spoken by ADONAI?'

22 When a prophet speaks in the name of ADONAI, and the prediction does not come true -that is, the word is not fulfilled -then ADONAI did not speak that word. The prophet who said it spoke presumptuously; you have nothing to fear from him.

Job 12

1 Iyov responded:

2 "No doubt you are [the only] people [that matter]; and when you die, so will wisdom.

3 But I too have a brain, as much as you, In no way am I inferior to you. Besides, who doesn't know things like these?

4 "Anyone who calls on God, and he answers him, becomes a laughingstock to his friends -they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.

5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering.

6 The tents of robbers prosper, [the homes of] those who anger God are secure, those who carry their gods in their hands.

7 "But ask the animals - they will teach you -and the birds in the air - they will tell you;

8 or speak to the earth - it will teach you -and the fish in the sea will inform you:

9 every one of them knows that the hand of ADONAI has done this!

10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the spirit of every human being.

11 Shouldn't the ear test words, just as the palate tastes food?

12 Is wisdom [only] with aged men? discernment [only] with long life?

13 "With God are wisdom and power; he has [good] counsel and understanding.

14 When he breaks something down, it can't be rebuilt; when he imprisons someone, he can't be released.

15 When he holds back water, there is drought; when he sends it out, it overruns the land.

16 With him are strength and common sense; both the misled and those who mislead are his.

17 He leads counselors away captive, he makes fools of judges.

18 He removes authority from kings, then binds them up [as prisoners].

19 He leads cohanim away captive and overthrows those long in power.

20 Those who are trusted he deprives of speech, and he removes the discernment of the aged.

21 He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.

22 He discloses the deepest recesses of darkness and brings light into shadows dark as death.

23 He makes nations great and destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.

24 He removes understanding from a country's leaders and makes them wander in trackless deserts.

25 They grope in unlit darkness; he makes them stagger like drunks.

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Today's Bible Reading

April 12

Acts 4:1-22; Deuteronomy 19-20; Job 13 CJB

Acts 4:1-22

1 Kefa and Yochanan were still speaking to the people when the cohanim, the captain in charge of the Temple police, and the Tz'dukim came upon them,

2 very annoyed that they were teaching the people the doctrine of resurrection from the dead and offering Yeshua as proof.

3 The Temple police arrested them; and since it was already evening, they put them in custody overnight.

4 However, many of those who heard the message trusted; the number of men alone was about five thousand.

5 The next day, the people's rulers, elders and Torah-teachers assembled in Yerushalayim,

6 along with 'Anan the cohen hagadol, Kayafa, Yochanan, Alexander and the other men from the family of the cohen hagadol.

7 They had the emissaries stand before them and asked, "By what power or in what name did you do this?"

8 Then Kefa, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people!

9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done for a disabled person, if you want to know how he was restored to health,

10 then let it be known to you and to all the people of Isra'el that it is in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua from Natzeret, whom you had executed on a stake as a criminal but whom God has raised from the dead, that this man stands before you perfectly healed.

11 "This Yeshua is the stone rejected by you builders which has become the cornerstone.

12 There is salvation in no one else! For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom we must be saved!"

13 When they saw how bold Kefa and Yochanan were, even though they were untrained 'am-ha'aretz, they were amazed; also they recognized them as having been with Yeshua.

14 Moreover, since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there beside them, there was nothing they could say to discredit the healing.

15 So they told them to step away from the Sanhedrin while they discussed the matter privately.

16 "What can we do with these men?" they asked each other. "Why, anyone in Yerushalayim can see that a remarkable miracle has come about through them - we can't possibly deny that.

17 But to prevent it from spreading any further among the people, let's warn them not to speak any more to anyone in this name."

18 So they called them in again and ordered them under no circumstances to speak or teach in the name of Yeshua.

19 But Kefa and Yochanan answered, "You must judge whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God.

20 As for us, we can't help talking about what we have actually seen and heard."

21 They threatened them some more but finally let them go - they couldn't punish them because of the people, for everyone was praising God over what had happened,

22 since the man who had been miraculously healed was more than forty years old.

Deuteronomy 19

1 "When ADONAI your God cuts off the nations whose land ADONAI your God is giving you, and you take their place and settle in their cities and houses,

2 you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in your land that ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.

3 Divide the territory of your land, which ADONAI your God is having you inherit, into three parts; and prepare the roads, so that any killer can flee to these cities.

4 The killer who will live if he flees there is someone who has killed his fellow member of the community by mistake, who did not hate him in the past.

5 An example would be if a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood and takes a stroke with the axe to fell a tree, but the head of the axe flies off the handle, hits his neighbor and kills him. Then he is to flee to one of these cities and live there.

6 Otherwise the next-of-kin avenger, in the heat of his anger, may pursue the killer, overtake him because the distance [to the city of refuge] is long, and strike him dead - even though he didn't deserve to die, inasmuch as he hadn't hated him in the past.

7 This is why I am ordering you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

8 "If ADONAI your God expands your territory, as he swore to your ancestors that he would, and gives you all the land he promised to give to your ancestors -

9 provided you keep and observe all these mitzvot I am giving you today, loving ADONAI your God and always following his ways - then you are to add three more cities for yourselves, besides these three;

10 so that innocent blood will not be shed in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus blood guilt be on you.

11 "However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;

12 then the leaders of his own town are to send and bring him back from there and hand him over to the next-of-kin avenger, to be put to death.

13 You are not to pity him. Rather, you must put an end to the shedding of innocent blood in Isra'el. Then things will go well with you.

14 "You are not to move your neighbor's boundary marker from the place where people put it long ago, in the inheritance soon to be yours in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.

15 "One witness alone will not be sufficient to convict a person of any offense or sin of any kind; the matter will be established only if there are two or three witnesses testifying against him.

16 "If a malicious witness comes forward and gives false testimony against someone,

17 then both the men involved in the controversy are to stand before ADONAI, before the cohanim and the judges in office at the time.

18 The judges are to investigate carefully. If they find that the witness is lying and has given false testimony against his brother,

19 you are to do to him what he intended to do to his brother. In this way, you will put an end to such wickedness among you.

20 Those who remain will hear about it, be afraid and no longer commit such wickedness among you.

21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 20

1 "When you go out to fight your enemies and see horses, chariots and a force larger than yours, you are not to be afraid of them; because ADONAI your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

2 When you are about to go into battle, the cohen is to come forward and address the people.

3 He should tell them, 'Listen, Isra'el! You are about to do battle against your enemies. Don't be fainthearted or afraid; don't be alarmed or frightened by them;

4 because ADONAI your God is going with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies and give you victory.'

5 "Then the officials will speak to the soldiers. They are to say, 'Is there a man here who has built a new house, but hasn't dedicated it yet? He should go back home now; otherwise he may die fighting, and another man will dedicate it.

6 "'Is there a man here who has planted a vineyard, but hasn't yet made use of its fruit? He should go back home; otherwise he may die fighting, and another man will use it.

7 "'Is there a man here who is engaged to a woman, but hasn't married her yet? He should go back home; otherwise he may die fighting, and another man will marry her.'

8 "The officials will then add to what they have said to the soldiers: 'Is there a man here who is afraid and fainthearted? He should go back home; otherwise his fear may demoralize his comrades as well.'

9 When the officials have finished speaking with the soldiers, commanders are to be appointed to lead the army.

10 "When you advance on a town to attack it, first offer it terms for peace.

11 If it accepts the terms for peace and opens its gates to you, then all the people there are to be put to forced labor and work for you.

12 However, if they refuse to make peace with you but prefer to make war against you, you are to put it under siege.

13 When ADONAI your God hands it over to you, you are to put every male to the sword.

14 However, you are to take as booty for yourself the women, the little ones, the livestock, and everything in the city - all its spoil. Yes, you will feed on your enemies' spoil, which ADONAI your God has given you.

15 This is what you are to do to all the towns which are at a great distance from you, which are not the towns of these nations.

16 "As for the towns of these peoples, which ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance, you are not to allow anything that breathes to live.

17 Rather you must destroy them completely - the Hitti, the Emori, the Kena'ani, the P'rizi, the Hivi and the Y'vusi - as ADONAI your God has ordered you;

18 so that they won't teach you to follow their abominable practices, which they do for their gods, thus causing you to sin against ADONAI your God.

19 "When, in making war against a town in order to capture it, you lay siege to it for a long time, you are not to destroy its trees, cutting them down with an axe. You can eat their fruit, so don't cut them down. After all, are the trees in the field human beings, so that you have to besiege them too?

20 However, if you know that certain trees provide no food, you may destroy them and cut them down, in order to build siege-works against the town making war with you, until it falls.

Job 13

1 "All this I have seen with my own eyes; with my own ears I have heard and understood it.

2 Whatever you know, I know too; I am not inferior to you.

3 However, it's Shaddai I want to speak with; I want to prove my case to God.

4 But you, what you do is whitewash with lies; you are all witch doctors!

5 I wish you would just stay silent; for you, that would be wisdom!

6 "Now listen to my reasoning, pay attention to how I present my dispute.

7 Is it for God's sake that you speak so wickedly? for him that you talk deceitfully?

8 Do you need to take his side and plead God's case for him?

9 If he examines you, will all go well? Can you deceive him, as one man deceives another?

10 If you are secretly flattering [him], he will surely rebuke you.

11 Doesn't God's majesty terrify you? Aren't you overcome with dread of him?

12 Your maxims are garbage-proverbs; your answers crumble like clay.

13 "So be quiet! Let me be! I'll do the talking, come on me what may!

14 Why am I taking my flesh in my teeth, taking my life in my hands?

15 Look, he will kill me - I don't expect more, but I will still defend my ways to his face.

16 And this is what will save me -that a hypocrite cannot appear before him.

17 "Listen closely, then, to my words; pay attention to what I am saying.

18 Here, now, I have prepared my case; I know I am in the right.

19 If anyone can contend with me, I will be quiet and die!

20 "Only grant two things to me, God; then I won't hide myself from your face -

21 take your hand away from me, and don't let fear of you frighten me.

22 Then, if you call, I will answer. Or let me speak, and you, answer me!

23 How many crimes and sins have I committed? Make me know my transgression and sin.

24 Why do you hide your face and think of me as your enemy?

25 Do you want to harass a wind-driven leaf? do you want to pursue a dry straw?

26 Is this why you draw up bitter charges against me and punish me for the faults of my youth?

27 You put my feet in the stocks, you watch me closely wherever I go, you trace out each footprint of mine

28 though [my body] decays like something rotten or like a moth-eaten garment.

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Today's Bible Reading

April 13

Acts 4:23-37; Deuteronomy 21-22; Job 14 CJB

Acts 4:23-37

23 Upon being released, they went back to their friends and reported what the head cohanim and elders had said to them.

24 When they heard it, they raised their voices to God with singleness of heart. "Master," they prayed, "You made heaven, earth, the sea and everything in them.

25 By the Ruach HaKodesh, through the mouth of our father David, your servant, you said, 'Why did the nations rage and the peoples devise useless plans?

26 The kings of the earth took their stand; and the rulers assembled together against ADONAI and against his Messiah.'

27 "This has come true in this city, since Herod and Pontius Pilate, with Goyim and the peoples of Isra'el, all assembled against your holy servant Yeshua, whom you made Messiah,

28 to do what your power and plan had already determined beforehand should happen.

29 "So now, Lord, take note of their threats; and enable your slaves to speak your message with boldness!

30 Stretch out your hand to heal and to do signs and miracles through the name of your holy servant Yeshua!"

31 While they were still praying, the place where they were gathered was shaken. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, and they spoke God's message with boldness.

32 All the many believers were one in heart and soul, and no one claimed any of his possessions for himself, but everyone shared everything he had.

33 With great power the emissaries continued testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and they were all held in high regard.

34 No one among them was poor, since those who owned lands or houses sold them and turned over the proceeds

35 to the emissaries to distribute to each according to his need.

36 Thus Yosef, whom the emissaries called Bar-Nabba (which means "the Exhorter"), a Levi and a native of Cyprus,

37 sold a field which belonged to him and brought the money to the emissaries.

Deuteronomy 21

1 "If, in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess, a murder victim is found lying in the countryside; and the perpetrator of the murder is not known;

2 then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns.

3 After it has been determined which town is the closest, the leaders of that town are to take a young female cow that has never been put to work or yoked for use as a draft animal.

4 The leaders of that town are to bring the heifer down to a vadi with a stream in it that never dries up, to a place that is neither plowed nor sown; and they are to break the cow's neck there in the vadi.

5 Then the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, are to approach; for ADONAI your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in the name of ADONAI; they will decide the outcome of every dispute and matter involving violence.

6 All the leaders of the town nearest the murder victim are to wash their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the vadi.

7 Then they are to speak up and say, 'This blood was not shed by our hands, nor have we seen who did it.

8 ADONAI, forgive your people Isra'el, whom you redeemed; do not allow innocent blood to be shed among your people Isra'el.' And they will be forgiven this bloodshed.

9 Thus you will banish the shedding of innocent blood from among you, by doing what ADONAI sees as right.

10 "When you go out to war against your enemies, and ADONAI your God hands them over to you, and you take prisoners,

11 and you see among the prisoners a woman who looks good to you, and you feel attracted to her and want her as your wife;

12 you are to bring her home to your house, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails

13 and remove her prison clothing. She will stay there in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month; after which you may go in to have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife.

14 In the event that you lose interest in her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes; but you may not sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you humiliated her.

15 "If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and unloved wives have borne him children, and if the firstborn son is the child of the unloved wife;

16 then, when it comes time for him to pass his inheritance on to his sons, he may not give the inheritance due the firstborn to the son of the loved wife in place of the son of the unloved one, who is in fact the firstborn.

17 No, he must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the unloved wife by giving him a double portion of everything he owns, for he is the firstfruits of his manhood, and the right of the firstborn is his.

18 "If a man has a stubborn, rebellious son who will not obey what his father or mother says, and even after they discipline him he still refuses to pay attention to them;

19 then his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him out to the leaders of his town, at the gate of that place,

20 and say to the leaders of his town, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he doesn't pay attention to us, lives wildly, gets drunk.'

21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you, and all Isra'el will hear about it and be afraid.

22 "If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree,

23 his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God -so that you will not defile your land, which ADONAI your God is giving you to inherit.

Deuteronomy 22

1 "You are not to watch your brother's ox or sheep straying and behave as if you hadn't seen it; you must bring them back to your brother.

2 If your brother is not close by, or you don't know who the owner is, you are to bring it home to your house; and it will remain with you until your brother asks for it; then you are to give it back to him.

3 You are to do the same with his donkey, his coat or anything else of your brother's that he loses. If you find something he lost, you must not ignore it.

4 "If you see your brother's donkey or ox collapsed on the road, you may not behave as if you hadn't seen it; you must help him get them up on their feet again.

5 "A woman is not to wear men's clothing, and a man is not to put on women's clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to ADONAI your God.

6 "If, as you are walking along, you happen to see a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground with chicks or eggs, and the mother bird is sitting on the chicks or the eggs, you are not to take the mother with the chicks.

7 You must let the mother go, but you may take the chicks for yourself; so that things will go well with you, and you will prolong your life.

8 "When you build a new house, you must build a low wall around your roof; otherwise someone may fall from it, and you will be responsible for his death.

9 "You are not to sow two kinds of seed between your rows of vines; if you do, both the two harvested crops and the yield from the vines must be forfeited.

10 You are not to plow with an ox and a donkey together.

11 You are not to wear clothing woven with two kinds of thread, wool and linen together.

12 "You are to make for yourself twisted cords on the four corners of the garment you wrap around yourself.

13 "If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her and then, having come to dislike her,

14 brings false charges against her and defames her character by saying, 'I married this woman, but when I had intercourse with her I did not find evidence that she was a virgin';

15 then the girl's father and mother are to take the evidence of the girl's virginity to the leaders of the town at the gate.

16 The girl's father will say to the leaders, 'I let my daughter marry this man, but he hates her,

17 so he has brought false charges that he didn't find evidence of her virginity; yet here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity'-(

18 )and they will lay the cloth before the town leaders.

19 The leaders of that town are to take the man, punish him, and fine him two-and-a-half pounds of silver shekels, which they will give to the girl's father, because he has publicly defamed a virgin of Isra'el. She will remain his wife, and he is forbidden from divorcing her as long as he lives.

20 "But if the charge is substantiated that evidence for the girl's virginity could not be found;

21 then they are to lead the girl to the door of her father's house, and the men of her town will stone her to death, because she has committed in Isra'el the disgraceful act of being a prostitute while still in her father's house. In this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you.

22 "If a man is found sleeping with a woman who has a husband, both of them must die -the man who went to bed with the woman and the woman too. In this way you will expel such wickedness from Isra'el.

23 "If a girl who is a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man comes upon her in the town and has sexual relations with her;

24 you are to bring them both out to the gate of the city and stone them to death - the girl because she didn't cry out for help, there in the city, and the man because he has humiliated his neighbor's wife. In this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you.

25 "But if the man comes upon the engaged girl out in the countryside, and the man grabs her and has sexual relations with her, then only the man who had intercourse with her is to die.

26 You will do nothing to the girl, because she has done nothing deserving of death. The situation is like the case of the man who attacks his neighbor and kills him.

27 For he found her in the countryside, and the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save her.

28 "If a man comes upon a girl who is a virgin but who is not engaged, and he grabs her and has sexual relations with her, and they are caught in the act,

29 then the man who had intercourse with her must give to the girl's father one-and-a-quarter pounds of silver shekels, and she will become his wife, because he humiliated her; he may not divorce her as long as he lives.

30 "A man is not to take his father's wife, thus violating his father's rights.

Job 14

1 "A human being, born from a woman, lives a short, trouble-filled life.

2 He comes up like a flower and withers away, flees like a shadow, doesn't last.

3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this? You drag him to court with you?

4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure? No one!

5 Since his days are fixed in advance, the number of his months is known to you, and you have fixed the limits which he can't cross;

6 look away from him, and let him be; so that, like a hired worker, he can finish his day in peace.

7 "For a tree, there is hope that if cut down, it will sprout again, that its shoots will continue to grow.

8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth and its stump dies in the ground,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.

10 But when a human being grows weak and dies, he expires; and then where is he?

11 Just as water in a lake disappears, as a river shrinks and dries up;

12 so a person lies down and doesn't arise until the sky no longer exists; it will not awaken, it won't be roused from its sleep.

13 "I wish you would hide me in Sh'ol, conceal me until your anger has passed, then fix a time and remember me!

14 If a man dies, will he live again? I will wait all the days of my life for my change to come.

15 You will call, and I will answer you; you will long to see what you made again.

16 Whereas now you count each step of mine, then you will not keep watch for my sin.

17 You will seal up my crime in a bag and cover over my iniquity.

18 "Just as a mountain erodes and falls away, its rock is removed from its place,

19 the water wears away its stones, and the floods wash away its soil, so you destroy a person's hope.

20 You overpower him, and he passes on; you change his appearance and send him away.

21 His children earn honor, but he doesn't know it; or they are brought low, but he doesn't notice.

22 He feels pain only for his own flesh; he laments only for himself."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 14

Acts 5:1-16; Deuteronomy 23-24; Job 15 CJB

Acts 5:1-16

1 But there was a man named Hananyah who, with his wife Shappirah, sold some property

2 and, with his wife's knowledge, withheld some of the proceeds for himself; although he did bring the rest to the emissaries.

3 Then Kefa said, "Why has the Adversary so filled your heart that you lie to the Ruach HaKodesh and keep back some of the money you received for the land?

4 Before you sold it, the property was yours; and after you sold it, the money was yours to use as you pleased. So what made you decide to do such a thing? You have lied not to human beings but to God!"

5 On hearing these words, Hananyah fell down dead; and everyone who heard about it was terrified.

6 The young men got up, wrapped his body in a shroud, carried him out and buried him.

7 Some three hours later, his wife came in, unaware of what had happened.

8 Kefa challenged her: "Tell me, is it true that you sold the land for such-and-such a price?" "Yes," she answered, "that is what we were paid for it."

9 But Kefa came back at her, "Then why did you people plot to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The men who buried your husband are at the door. They will carry you out too!"

10 Instantly she collapsed at his feet and died. The young men entered, found her there dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

11 As a result of this, great fear came over the whole Messianic community, and indeed over everyone who heard about it.

12 Meanwhile, through the emissaries many signs and miracles continued to be done among the people. United in mind and purpose, the believers met in Shlomo's Colonnade;

13 and no one else dared to join them. Nevertheless, the people continued to regard them highly;

14 and throngs of believers were added to the Lord, both men and women.

15 They went so far as to bring the sick into the streets and lay them on mattresses and stretchers, so that at least Kefa's shadow might fall on them as he passed by.

16 Crowds also gathered from the towns around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits; and every one of them was healed.

Deuteronomy 23

1 "A man with crushed or damaged private parts may not enter the assembly of ADONAI.

2 "A mamzer may not enter the assembly of ADONAI, nor may his descendants down to the tenth generation enter the assembly of ADONAI.

3 "No 'Amoni or Mo'avi may enter the assembly of ADONAI, nor may any of his descendants down to the tenth generation ever enter the assembly of ADONAI,

4 because they did not supply you with food and water when you were on the road after leaving Egypt, and because they hired Bil'am the son of B'or from P'tor in Aram-Naharayim to put a curse on you

5 But ADONAI your God would not listen to Bil'am; rather, ADONAI your God turned the curse into a blessing for you; because ADONAI your God loved you.

6 So you are never to seek their peace or well being, as long as you live.

7 "But you are not to detest an Edomi, because he is your brother; and you are not to detest an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.

8 The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of ADONAI.

9 "When you are in camp, at war with your enemies, you are to guard yourself against anything bad.

10 If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp; he is not to enter the camp.

11 When evening arrives he is to bathe himself in water, and after sunset he may enter the camp.

12 Also you are to have an area outside the camp to use as a latrine.

13 You must include a trowel with your equipment, and when you relieve yourself, you are to dig a hole first and afterwards cover your excrement.

14 For ADONAI your God moves about in your camp to rescue you and to hand over your enemies to you. Therefore your camp must be a holy place. [ADONAI] should not see anything indecent among you, or he will turn away from you

15 "If a slave has escaped from his master and taken refuge with you, you are not to hand him back to his master.

16 Allow him to stay with you, in whichever place suits him best among your settlements; do not mistreat him.

17 "No woman of Isra'el is to engage in ritual prostitution, and no man of Isra'el is to engage in ritual homosexual prostitution.

18 Nothing earned through heterosexual or homosexual prostitution is to be brought into the house of ADONAI your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to ADONAI your God.

19 "You are not to lend at interest to your brother, no matter whether the loan is of money, food or anything else that can earn interest

20 To an outsider you may lend at interest, but to your brother you are not to lend at interest, so that ADONAI your God will prosper you in everything you set out to do in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

21 "When you make a vow to ADONAI your God, you are not to delay in fulfilling it, for ADONAI your God will certainly demand it of you, and your failure to do so will be your sin

22 If you choose not to make a vow at all, that will not be a sin for

23 but if a vow passes your lips, you must take care to perform it according to what you voluntarily vowed to ADONAI your God, what you promised in words spoken aloud.

24 "When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat enough grapes to satisfy your appetite; but you are not to put any in your basket.

25 When you enter your neighbor's field of growing grain, you may pluck ears with your hand; but you are not to put a sickle to your neighbor's grain.

Deuteronomy 24

1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and consummates the marriage but later finds her displeasing, because he has found her offensive in some respect. He writes her a divorce document, gives it to her and sends her away from his house.

2 She leaves his house, goes and becomes another man's wife;

3 but the second husband dislikes her and writes her a get, gives it to her and sends her away from his house; or the second husband whom she married dies.

4 In such a case her first husband, who sent her away, may not take her again as his wife, because she is now defiled. It would be detestable to ADONAI, and you are not to bring about sin in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance.

5 "If a man has recently married his wife, he is not to be subject to military service; he is to be free of external obligations and left at home for one year to make his new wife happy.

6 "No one may take a mill or even an upper millstone as collateral for a loan, because that would be taking as collateral the debtor's very means of sustenance.

7 "If a man kidnaps any of his brothers, fellow members of the community of Isra'el, and makes him his slave or sells him, that kidnapper must die; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you.

8 "When there is an outbreak of tzara'at, be careful to observe and do just what the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, teach you. Take care to do as I ordered them.

9 Remember what ADONAI your God did to Miryam on the road after you left Egypt.

10 "When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you are not to enter his house to take his collateral.

11 You must stand outside, and the borrower will bring the collateral outside to you.

12 If he is poor, you are not to go to bed with what he gave as collateral in your possession;

13 rather, you must restore the pledged item at sunset; then he will go to sleep wearing his garment and bless you. This will be an upright deed of yours before ADONAI your God.

14 "You are not to exploit a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or a foreigner living in your land in your town.

15 You are to pay him his wages the day he earns them, before sunset; for he is poor and looks forward to being paid. Otherwise he will cry out against you to ADONAI, and it will be your sin.

16 "Fathers are not to be executed for the children, nor are children to be executed for the fathers; every person will be executed for his own sin.

17 "You are not to deprive the foreigner or the orphan of the justice which is his due, and you are not to take a widow's clothing as collateral for a loan.

18 Rather, remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and ADONAI your God redeemed you from there. That is why I am ordering you to do this.

19 "When harvesting the grain in your field, if you forgot a sheaf of grain there, you are not to go back and get it; it will remain there for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, so that ADONAI your God will bless you in all the work you do.

20 When you beat your olive tree, you are not to go back over the branches again; the olives that are left will be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow.

21 When you gather the grapes from your vineyard, you are not to return and pick grapes a second time; what is left will be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow.

22 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. That is why I am ordering you to do this.

Job 15

1 Then Elifaz the Teimani spoke:

2 "Should a wise man answer with hot-air arguments? Should he fill up his belly with the hot east wind?

3 Should he reason with useless talk or make speeches that do him no good?

4 "Why, you are abolishing fear of God and hindering prayer to him!

5 Your iniquity is teaching you how to speak, and deceit is your language of choice.

6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you.

7 "Were you the firstborn of the human race, brought forth before the hills?

8 Do you listen in on God's secrets? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

9 What do you know that we don't know? What discernment do you have that we don't?

10 With us are gray-haired men, old men, men much older than your father.

11 Are the comfortings of God not enough for you, or a word that deals gently with you?

12 Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash angrily,

13 so that you turn your spirit against God and let such words escape your mouth?

14 "What is a human being, that he could be innocent, someone born from a woman, that he could be righteous?

15 God doesn't trust even his holy ones; no, even the heavens are not innocent in his view.

16 How much less one loathesome and corrupt, a human being, who drinks iniquity like water.

17 "I will tell you - hear me out! I will recount what I have seen;

18 wise men have told it, and it wasn't hidden from their fathers either,

19 to whom alone the land was given -no foreigner passed among them.

20 "The wicked is in torment all his life, for all the years allotted to the tyrant.

21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity, robbers swoop down on him.

22 He despairs of returning from darkness -he is destined to meet the sword.

23 He wanders and looks for food, which isn't there. He knows the day of darkness is ready, at hand.

24 Distress and anguish overwhelm him, assaulting him like a king about to enter battle.

25 "He raises his hand against God and boldly defies Shaddai,

26 running against him with head held high and thickly ornamented shield.

27 "He lets his face grow gross and fat, and the rest of him bulges with blubber;

28 he lives in abandoned cities, in houses no one would inhabit, houses about to become ruins;

29 therefore he will not remain rich, his wealth will not endure, his produce will not bend [the grain stalks] to the earth.

30 "He will not escape from darkness. The flame will dry up his branches. By a breath from the mouth of [God], he will go away.

31 Let him not rely on futile methods, thereby deceiving himself; for what he will receive in exchange will be only futility.

32 This will be accomplished in advance of its day. His palm frond will not be fresh and green;

33 he will be like a vine that sheds its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that drops its flowers.

34 "For the community of the ungodly is sterile; fire consumes the tents of bribery.

35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb prepares deceit."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 15

Acts 5:17-42; Deuteronomy 25-27; Job 16 CJB

Acts 5:17-42

17 But the cohen hagadol and his associates, who were members of the party of the Tz'dukim, were filled with jealousy.

18 They arrested the emissaries and put them in the public jail.

19 But during the night, an angel of ADONAI opened the doors of the prison, led them out and said,

20 "Go, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!"

21 After hearing that, they entered the Temple area about dawn and began to teach. Now the cohen hagadol and his associates came and called a meeting of the Sanhedrin (that is, of Isra'el's whole assembly of elders) and sent to the jail to have them brought.

22 But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported,

23 "We found the jail securely locked and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened it, we found no one inside!"

24 When the captain of the Temple police and the head cohanim heard these things, they were puzzled and wondered what would happen next.

25 Then someone came and reported to them, "Listen! The men you ordered put in prison are standing in the Temple court, teaching the people!"

26 The captain and his officers went and brought them, but not with force; because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

27 They conducted them to the Sanhedrin, where the cohen hagadol demanded of them,

28 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name! Look here! you have filled Yerushalayim with your teaching; moreover, you are determined to make us responsible for this man's death!"

29 Kefa and the other emissaries answered, "We must obey God, not men.

30 The God of our fathersl raised up Yeshua, whereas you men killed him by having him hanged on a stake. m

31 God has exalted this man at his right handn as Ruler and Savior, in order to enable Isra'el to do t'shuvah and have her sins forgiven.

32 We are witnesses to these things; so is the Ruach HaKodesh, whom God has given to those who obey him."

33 On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were infuriated and wanted to put the emissaries to death.

34 But one of the members of the Sanhedrin rose to his feet, a Parush named Gamli'el, a teacher of the Torah highly respected by all the people. He ordered the men put outside for a little while

35 and then addressed the court: "Men of Isra'el, take care what you do to these people.

36 Some time ago, there was a rebellion under Todah, who claimed to be somebody special; and a number of men, maybe four hundred, rallied behind him. But upon his being put to death, his whole following was broken up and came to nothing.

37 After this, Y'hudah HaG'lili led another uprising, back at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax; and he got some people to defect to him. But he was killed, and all his followers were scattered.

38 So in the present case, my advice to you is not to interfere with these people, but to leave them alone. For if this idea or this movement has a human origin, it will collapse.

39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you might even find yourselves fighting God!" They heeded his advice.

40 After summoning the emissaries and flogging them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Yeshua, and let them go.

41 The emissaries left the Sanhedrin overjoyed at having been considered worthy of suffering disgrace on account of him.

42 And not for a single day, either in the Temple court or in private homes, did they stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Deuteronomy 25

1 "If people have a dispute, seek its resolution in court, and the judges render a decision in favor of the righteous one and condemning the wicked one;

2 then, if the wicked one deserves to be flogged, the judge is to have him lie down and be flogged in his presence. The number of strokes is to be proportionate to his offense;

3 but the maximum number is forty. He is not to exceed this; if he goes over this limit and beats him more than this, your brother will be humiliated before your eyes.

4 "You are not to muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.

5 "If brothers live together, and one of them dies childless, his widow is not to marry someone unrelated to him; her husband's brother is to go to her and perform the duty of a brother-in-law by marrying her.

6 The first child she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be eliminated from Isra'el.

7 If the man does not wish to marry his brother's widow, then his brother's widow is to go up to the gate, to the leaders, and say, 'My brother-in-law refuses to raise up for his brother a name in Isra'el; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother for me.'

8 The leaders of his town are to summon him and speak to him. If, on appearing before them, he continues to say, 'I don't want to marry her,'

9 then his brother's widow is to approach him in the presence of the leaders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face and say, 'This is what is done to the man who refuses to build up his brother's family.'

10 From that time on, his family is to be known in Isra'el as 'the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.'

11 "If men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one comes up to help her husband get away from the man attacking him by grabbing the attacker's private parts with her hand,

12 you are to cut off her hand; show no pity.

13 "You are not to have in your pack two sets of weights, one heavy, the other light.

14 You are not to have in your house two sets of measures, one big, the other small.

15 You are to have a correct and fair weight, and you are to have a correct and fair measure, so that you will prolong your days in the land ADONAI your God is giving you.

16 For all who do such things, all who deal dishonestly, are destestable to ADONAI your God.

17 "Remember what 'Amalek did to you on the road as you were coming out of Egypt,

18 how he met you by the road, attacked those in the rear, those who were exhausted and straggling behind when you were tired and weary. He did not fear God.

19 Therefore, when ADONAI your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance to possess, you are to blot out all memory of 'Amalek from under heaven. Don't forget!

Deuteronomy 26

1 "When you have come to the land ADONAI your God is giving you as your inheritance, taken possession of it and settled there;

2 you are to take the firstfruits of all the crops the ground yields, which you will harvest from your land that ADONAI your God is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place where ADONAI your God will choose to have his name live.

3 You will approach the cohen holding office at the time and say to him, 'Today I declare to ADONAI your God that I have come to the land ADONAI swore to our ancestors that he would give us.'

4 The cohen will take the basket from your hand and put it down in front of the altar of ADONAI your God.

5 "Then, in the presence of ADONAI your God, you are to say, 'My ancestor was a nomad from Aram. He went down into Egypt few in number and stayed. There he became a great, strong, populous nation.

6 But the Egyptians treated us badly; they oppressed us and imposed harsh slavery on us.

7 So we cried out to ADONAI, the God of our ancestors. ADONAI heard us and saw our misery, toil and oppression;

8 and ADONAI brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders.

9 Now he has brought us to this place and given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 Therefore, as you see, I have now brought the firstfruits of the land which you, ADONAI, have given me.' You are then to put the basket down before ADONAI your God, prostrate yourself before ADONAI your God,

11 and take joy in all the good that ADONAI your God has given you, your household, the Levi and the foreigner living with you.

12 "After you have separated a tenth of the crops yielded in the third year, the year of separating a tenth, and have given it to the Levi, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, so that they can have enough food to satisfy them while staying with you;

13 you are to say, in the presence of ADONAI your God, 'I have rid my house of the things set aside for God and given them to the Levi, the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, in keeping with every one of the mitzvot you gave me. I haven't disobeyed any of your mitzvot or forgotten them.

14 I haven't eaten any of this food when mourning, I haven't put any of it aside when unclean, nor have I given any of it for the dead. I have listened to what ADONAI my God has said, and I have done everything you ordered me to do.

15 Look out from your holy dwelling-place, from heaven; and bless your people Isra'el and the land you gave us, as you swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.'

16 "Today ADONAI your God orders you to obey these laws and rulings. Therefore, you are to observe and obey them with all your heart and all your being.

17 You are agreeing today that ADONAI is your God and that you will follow his ways; observe his laws, mitzvot and rulings; and do what he says.

18 In turn ADONAI is agreeing today that you are his own unique treasure, as he promised you; that you are to observe all his mitzvot;

19 and that he will raise you high above all the nations he has made, in praise, reputation and glory; and that, as he said, you will be a holy people for ADONAI your God."

Deuteronomy 27

1 Then Moshe and all the leaders of Isra'el gave orders to the people. They said, "Observe all the mitzvot I am giving you today.

2 When you cross the Yarden to the land ADONAI your God is giving you, you are to set up large stones, put plaster on them,

3 and, after crossing over, write this Torah on them, every word -so that you can enter the land ADONAI your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as ADONAI, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 When you have crossed the Yarden, you are to set up these stones, as I am ordering you today, on Mount 'Eival; and put plaster on them.

5 There you are to erect an altar to ADONAI your God, an altar made of stones. You are not to use any iron tool on them,

6 but are to build the altar of ADONAI your God of uncut stones; and you are to offer burnt offerings on it to ADONAI your God.

7 Also you are to sacrifice peace offerings, eat there and be joyful in the presence of ADONAI your God.

8 You are to write on the stones all the words of this Torah very clearly."

9 Next Moshe and the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, spoke to all Isra'el. They said, "Be quiet; and listen, Isra'el! Today you have become the people of ADONAI your God.

10 Therefore you are to listen to what ADONAI your God says and obey his mitzvot and laws, which I am giving you today."

11 That same day Moshe commissioned the people as follows:

12 "These are the ones who are to stand on Mount G'rizim and bless the people after you have crossed the Yarden: Shim'on, Levi, Y'hudah, Yissakhar, Yosef and Binyamin;

13 while these are to stand on Mount 'Eival for the curse: Re'uven, Gad, Asher, Z'vulun, Dan and Naftali.

14 The L'vi'im, speaking loudly, will proclaim to every man of Isra'el:

15 "'A curse on anyone who makes a carved or metal image, something ADONAI detests, the handiwork of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret!'All the people are to respond by saying, 'Amen!'

16 "'A curse on anyone who dishonors his father or mother.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

17 "'A curse on anyone who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

18 "'A curse on anyone who causes a blind person to lose his way on the road.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

19 "'A curse on anyone who interferes with justice for the foreigner, orphan or widow.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

20 "'A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with his father's wife, because he has violated his father's rights.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

21 "'A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with any kind of animal.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

22 "'A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with his sister, no matter whether she is the daughter of his father or of his mother.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

23 "'A curse on anyone who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

24 "'A curse on anyone who secretly attacks a fellow member of the community.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

25 "'A curse on anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.' All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

26 "'A curse on anyone who does not confirm the words of this Torah by putting them into practice.'All the people are to say, 'Amen!'

Job 16

1 In response Iyov said:

2 "I have heard this stuff so often! Such sorry comforters, all of you!

3 Is there no end to words of wind? What provokes you to answer this way?

4 "If I were in your place, I too could speak as you do -I could string phrases together against you and shake my head at you.

5 I could 'strengthen' you with my mouth, with lip service I could 'ease your grief.'

6 If I speak, my own pain isn't eased; and if I don't speak, it still doesn't leave.

7 "But now he has worn me out; you have desolated this whole community of mine.

8 Besides, you have shriveled me up; and this serves to witness against me. My being so thin rises up against me and testifies to my face.

9 He tears me apart in his anger; he holds a grudge against me; he gnashes on me with his teeth. "My enemies look daggers at me.

10 Wide-mouthed, they gape at me; with scorn, they slap my cheeks; they gather themselves together against me.

11 "God delivers me to the perverse, throws me into the hands of the wicked.

12 I was at peace, and he shook me apart. Yes, he grabbed me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. He set me up as his target

13 his archers surrounded me. He slashes my innards and shows no mercy, he pours my gall on the ground.

14 He breaks in on me again and again, attacking me like a warrior.

15 "I sewed sackcloth together to cover my skin and laid my pride in the dust;

16 my face is red from crying, and on my eyelids is a death-dark shadow.

17 Yet my hands are free from violence, and my prayer is pure.

18 "Earth, don't cover my blood; don't let my cry rest [without being answered].

19 Even now, my witness is in heaven; my advocate is there on high.

20 With friends like these as intercessors, my eyes pour out tears to God,

21 that he would arbitrate between a man and God, just as one does for his fellow human being.

22 For I have but few years left before I leave on the road of no return.

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 16

Acts 6; Deuteronomy 28; Job 17 CJB

Acts 6

1 Around this time, when the number of talmidim was growing, the Greek-speaking Jews began complaining against those who spoke Hebrew that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

2 So the Twelve called a general meeting of the talmidim and said, "It isn't appropriate that we should neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables.

3 Brothers, choose seven men from among yourselves who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will appoint them to be in charge of this important matter,

4 but we ourselves will give our full attention to praying and to serving the Word."

5 What they said was agreeable to the whole gathering. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Ruach HaKodesh, Philip, Prochoros, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas, who was a proselyte from Antioch.

6 They presented these men to the emissaries, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 So the word of God continued to spread. The number of talmidim in Yerushalayim increased rapidly, and a large crowd of cohanim were becoming obedient to the faith.

8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great miracles and signs among the people.

9 But opposition arose from members of the Synagogue of the Freed Slaves (as it was called), composed of Cyrenians, Alexandrians and people from Cilicia and the province of Asia. They argued with Stephen,

10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke.

11 So they secretly persuaded some men to allege, "We heard him speak blasphemously against Moshe and against God."

12 They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the Torah-teachers; so they came and arrested him and led him before the Sanhedrin.

13 There they set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Torah;

14 for we have heard him say that Yeshua from Natzeret will destroy this place and will change the customs Moshe handed down to us."

15 Everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin stared at Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

Deuteronomy 28

1 "If you listen closely to what ADONAI your God says, observing and obeying all his mitzvot which I am giving you today, ADONAI your God will raise you high above all the nations on earth;

2 and all the following blessings will be yours in abundance -if you will do what ADONAI your God says:

3 "A blessing on you in the city, and a blessing on you in the countryside.

4 "A blessing on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the fruit of your livestock - the young of your cattle and flocks.

5 "A blessing on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.

6 "A blessing on you when you go out, and a blessing on you when you come in.

7 "ADONAI will cause your enemies attacking you to be defeated before you; they will advance on you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8 "ADONAI will order a blessing to be with you in your barns and in everything you undertake; he will bless you in the land ADONAI your God is giving you.

9 "ADONAI will establish you as a people separated out for himself, as he has sworn to you - if you will observe the mitzvot of ADONAI your God and follow his ways.

10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that ADONAI's name, his presence, is with you; so that they will be afraid of you.

11 "ADONAI will give you great abundance of good things - of the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your land in the land ADONAI swore to your ancestors to give you.

12 ADONAI will open for you his good treasure, the sky, to give your land its rain at the right seasons and to bless everything you undertake. You will lend to many nations and not borrow;

13 ADONAI will make you the head and not the tail; and you will be only above, never below - if you will listen to, observe and obey the mitzvot of ADONAI your God

14 and not turn away from any of the words I am ordering you today, neither to the right nor to the left, to follow after other gods and serve them.

15 "But if you refuse to pay attention to what ADONAI your God says, and do not observe and obey all his mitzvot and regulations which I am giving you today, then all the following curses will be yours in abundance:

16 "A curse on you in the city, and a curse on you in the countryside.

17 "A curse on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.

18 "A curse on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the young of your cattle and flocks.

19 "A curse on you when you come in, and a curse on you when you go out.

20 "ADONAI will send on you curses, disasters and frustration in everything you set out to do, until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of your evil actions in abandoning me.

21 "ADONAI will bring on you a plague that will stay with you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

22 ADONAI will strike you down with wasting diseases, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, drought, blasting winds and mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish.

23 "The sky over your head will be brass and the earth under you iron.

24 ADONAI will turn the rain your land needs into powder and dust that will fall on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

25 "ADONAI your God will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will advance on them one way and flee before them seven. You will become an object of horror to every kingdom on earth.

26 Your carcasses will become food for all the birds in the air and the wild animals, and there will be no one to scare them away.

27 ADONAI will strike you down with the boils that broke out on the Egyptians, tumors, skin lesions and itching, all incurable.

28 ADONAI will strike you with insanity, blindness and utter confusion.

29 You will grope about at noon like a blind person groping in the dark, unable to find your way. "You will be continually oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to save you.

30 You will get engaged to a woman, but another man will marry her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not use its fruit.

31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you won't eat any of its meat. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force as you watch, and you won't get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you.

32 Your sons and daughters will be handed over to another people; you will watch for them longingly all day but not see them; and there will be nothing you can do about it.

33 A nation unknown to you will eat the fruit of your land and labor. Yes, you will be continually oppressed and crushed,

34 till you go crazy from what your eyes have to see.

35 ADONAI will strike you down in the knees and legs with painful and incurable boils; they will spread from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 ADONAI will bring you and your king whom you have put over yourselves to a nation you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; and there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone.

37 You will be so devastated as to become a proverb and a laughingstock among all the peoples to which ADONAI will drive you.

38 "You will carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, because locusts will devour it.

39 You will plant vineyards and dress them but neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will fall off unripe.

41 You will father sons and daughters, but they won't belong to you, because they will go into captivity.

42 The bugs will inherit all your trees and the produce of your land.

43 "The foreigner living with you will rise higher and higher while you sink lower and lower.

44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head and you the tail.

45 "All these curses will come on you, pursuing you and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you didn't pay attention to what ADONAI your God said, observing his mitzvot and regulations that he gave you.

46 These curses will be on you and your descendants as a sign and a wonder forever.

47 Because you didn't serve ADONAI your God with joy and gladness in your heart when you had such an abundance of everything;

48 ADONAI will send your enemy against you; and you will serve him when you are hungry, thirsty, poorly clothed and lacking everything; he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he destroys you.

49 Yes, ADONAI will bring against you a nation from far away that will swoop down on you from the end of the earth like a vulture, a nation whose language you don't understand,

50 a nation grim in appearance, whose people neither respect the old nor pity the young.

51 They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you have been destroyed. They will leave you without grain, wine, olive oil, or your young cattle and sheep - until they have caused you to perish.

52 They will besiege all your towns until your high, fortified walls, in which you trusted, collapse everywhere in your land, which ADONAI your God gave you.

53 Then, because of the severity of the siege and distress that your enemies are inflicting on you, you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom ADONAI your God has given you.

54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will be without pity for his brother, his beloved wife or his surviving children,

55 to the degree that he will refuse to share with any of them the flesh of his children whom he is eating; because if he did, he would have nothing left for himself -in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in all your towns.

56 The most delicate and sensitive woman among you, so sensitive and delicate that she wouldn't think of touching the sole of her foot to the ground, will so begrudge her own beloved husband, son and daughter

57 that she will secretly eat the afterbirth that comes out of her and even her own children as she bears them -so desperately hungry will she be in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in your towns.

58 "If you will not observe and obey all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, so that you will fear this glorious and awesome name, ADONAI your God;

59 then ADONAI will strike down you and your descendants with extraordinary plagues and severe sicknesses that go on and on.

60 He will bring back upon you all the diseases the Egyptians had, which you were in dread of; and they will cling to you.

61 Not only that, but ADONAI will bring upon you all the sicknesses and plagues that are not written in this book of the Torah - until you are destroyed.

62 You will be left few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars in the sky -because you did not pay attention to the voice of ADONAI your God.

63 "Thus it will come about that just as once ADONAI took joy in seeking to do you good and increase your numbers, so now ADONAI will take joy in causing you to perish and be destroyed, and you will be plucked off the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

64 ADONAI will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

65 Among these nations you will not find repose, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; rather ADONAI will give you there anguish of heart, dimness of eyes and apathy of spirit.

66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be afraid night and day and have no assurance that you will stay alive.

67 In the morning you will say, 'Oh, how I wish it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'Oh, how I wish it were morning!'-because of the fear overwhelming your heart and the sights your eyes will see.

68 Finally, ADONAI will bring you back in ships to Egypt, the place of which I said to you, 'You will never ever see it again'; and there you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you."

Job 17

1 "My spirit is broken, my days are quenched, I am marked for the grave.

2 Mockers are all around me; my eye meets only their hostility.

3 Be my guarantor, yourself! Who else will put up a pledge for me?

4 For you have shut their minds to common sense; therefore you will not let them triumph.

5 Should people share with their friends when their own children's eyes are so sad?

6 "He has made me a byword among the peoples, a creature in whose face they spit.

7 I am nearly blind with grief, my limbs reduced to a shadow.

8 The upright are perplexed at this, the innocent aroused against the hypocrites.

9 Yet the righteous hold on to their way, and those with clean hands grow stronger and stronger.

10 "But as for you all, turn around! Come back! -yet I won't find a wise man among you.

11 My days are over, my plans cut off, which I had cherished so;

12 but they [try to] turn [my] night into day, [saying,] 'Light is near!'-in the face of darkness.

13 "If I hope for Sh'ol to be my house; if I spread my couch in the dark;

14 if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,'and to worms, 'You are my mother and sister,'

15 then where is my hope? And that hope of mine, who will see it?

16 Only those who go down with me to the bars of Sh'ol, when we rest together in the dust."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 17

Acts 7:1-22; Deuteronomy 29-30; Job 18 CJB

Acts 7:1-22

1 The cohen hagadol asked, "Are these accusations true?"

2 and Stephen said: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran

3 and said to him, 'Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.'

4 So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now.

5 He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot; yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, even though at the time he was childless.

6 What God said to him was, 'Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years.

7 But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,' God said, 'and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.'

8 And he gave him b'rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz'chak and did his b'rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz'chak became the father of Ya'akov, and Ya'akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs.

9 "Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But ADONAI was with him;

10 he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household. t

11 Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena'anu

12 But when Ya'akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time.

13 The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers, and Yosef's family became known to Pharaoh.

14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya'akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people.

15 And Ya'akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors.

16 Their bodies were removed to Sh'khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh'khem for a certain sum of money.

17 "As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly,

18 until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef.

19 With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive.

20 "It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God's sight. For three months he was reared in his father's house;

21 and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.

22 So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action.

Deuteronomy 29

1 These are the words of the covenant which ADONAI ordered Moshe to make with the people of Isra'el in the land of Mo'av, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horev.

2 Then Moshe summoned all Isra'el and said to them, "You saw everything ADONAI did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants and to all his land;

3 the great testings which you saw with your own eyes, and the signs and those great wonders.

4 Nevertheless, to this day ADONAI has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see or ears to hear!

5 I led you forty years in the desert. Neither the clothes on your body nor the shoes on your feet wore out.

6 You didn't eat bread, and you didn't drink wine or other intoxicating liquor; this was so that you would know that 'I am ADONAI your God.'

7 When you arrived at this place, Sichon the king of Heshbon and 'Og the king of Bashan advanced against us in battle, and we defeated them,

8 took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the M'nashi.

9 Therefore, observe the words of this covenant and obey them; so that you can make everything you do prosper.

10 "Today you are standing, all of you, before ADONAI your God - your heads, your tribes, your leaders and your officers - all the men of Isra'el,

11 along with your little ones, your wives and your foreigners here with you in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water.

12 The purpose is that you should enter into the covenant of ADONAI your God and into his oath which ADONAI your God is making with you today,

13 so that he can establish you today for himself as a people, and so that for you he will be God -as he said to you and as he swore to your ancestors, to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov.

14 "But I am not making this covenant and this oath only with you.

15 Rather, I am making it both with him who is standing here with us today before ADONAI our God and also with him who is not here with us today.

16 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came directly through the nations you passed through;

17 and you saw their detestable things and their idols of wood, stone, silver and gold that they had with them.

18 So let there not be among you a man, woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away today from ADONAI our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there not be among you a root bearing such bitter poison and wormwood.

19 If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, 'I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although "dry," [sinful,] will be added to the "watered" [righteous].'

20 But ADONAI will not forgive him. Rather, the anger and jealousy of ADONAI will blaze up against that person. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. ADONAI will blot out his name from under heaven.

21 ADONAI will single him out from all the tribes of Isra'el to experience what is bad in all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the Torah.

22 "When the next generation, your children who will grow up after you, and the foreigner who arrives from a distant land, see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which ADONAI has made it sick,

23 and that the whole land has become burning sulfur and salt, that it isn't being sown or bearing crops or even producing grass - like the overthrow of S'dom, 'Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, which ADONAI overthrew in his furious anger -

24 then all the nations will ask, 'Why did ADONAI do this to this land? What is the meaning of such frenzied, furious anger?'

25 People will answer, 'It's because they abandoned the covenant of ADONAI, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

26 They went and served other gods, prostrating themselves before them, gods they had not known and which he had not assigned them.

27 For this reason, the anger of ADONAI blazed up against this land and brought upon it every curse written in this book;

28 and ADONAI, in anger, fury and incensed with indignation, uprooted them from their land and threw them out into another land - as it is today.'

29 "Things which are hidden belong to ADONAI our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.

Deuteronomy 30

1 "When the time arrives that all these things have come upon you, both the blessing and the curse which I have presented to you; and you are there among the nations to which ADONAI your God has driven you; then, at last, you will start thinking about what has happened to you;

2 and you will return to ADONAI your God and pay attention to what he has said, which will be exactly what I am ordering you to do today - you and your children, with all your heart and all your being.

3 At that point, ADONAI your God will reverse your exile and show you mercy; he will return and gather you from all the peoples to which ADONAI your God scattered you.

4 If one of yours was scattered to the far end of the sky, ADONAI your God will gather you even from there; he will go there and get you.

5 ADONAI your God will bring you back into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will possess it; he will make you prosper there, and you will become even more numerous than your ancestors.

6 Then ADONAI your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being, and thus you will live.

7 ADONAI your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hated and persecuted you;

8 but you will return and pay attention to what ADONAI says and obey all his mitzvot which I am giving you today.

9 Then ADONAI your God will give you more than enough in everything you set out to do - the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your land will all do well; for ADONAI will once again rejoice to see you do well, just as he rejoiced in your ancestors.

10 "However, all this will happen only if you pay attention to what ADONAI your God says, so that you obey his mitzvot and regulations which are written in this book of the Torah, if you turn to ADONAI your God with all your heart and all your being.

11 For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach.

12 It isn't in the sky, so that you need to ask, 'Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?'

13 Likewise, it isn't beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, 'Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?'

14 On the contrary, the word is very close to you - in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it!

15 "Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil -

16 in that I am ordering you today to love ADONAI your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and ADONAI your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

17 But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them;

18 I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.

19 "I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants,

20 loving ADONAI your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him - for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land ADONAI swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov."

Job 18

1 Bildad the Shuchi said,

2 "When will you put an end to words? Think about it -then we'll talk!

3 Why are we thought of as cattle, stupid in your view?

4 You can tear yourself to pieces in your anger, but the earth won't be abandoned just for your sake; not even a rock will be moved from its place.

5 "The light of the wicked will flicker and die, not a spark from his fire will shine,

6 the light in his tent is darkened, the lamp over him will be snuffed out.

7 His vigorous stride is shortened, his own plans make him trip and fall.

8 For his own feet plunge him into a net, he wanders into its meshes.

9 A trap grabs him by the heel, a snare catches hold of him.

10 A noose is hidden for him in the ground; pitfalls lie in his path.

11 Terrors overwhelm him on every side and scatter about his feet.

12 "Trouble is hungry for him, calamity ready for his fall;

13 disease eats away at his skin; the first stages of death devour him gradually.

14 What he relied on will be torn from his tent, and he will be marched before the king of terrors.

15 "What isn't his at all will live in his tent; sulfur will be scattered on his home.

16 His roots beneath him will dry up; above him, his branch will wither.

17 Memory of him will fade from the land, while abroad his name will be unknown.

18 He will be pushed from light into darkness and driven out of the world.

19 "Without son or grandson among his people, no one will remain in his dwellings.

20 Those who come after will be appalled at his fate, just as those there before were struck with horror.

21 "This is how things are in the homes of the wicked, and this is the place of those who don't know God."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 18

Acts 7:23-8:1; Deuteronomy 31-32; Job 19 CJB

Acts 7:23-60

23 "But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra'el.

24 On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian.

25 He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn't understand.

26 When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?'

27 the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?

28 Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?'

29 On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons.

30 "After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush.

31 When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of ADONAI,

32 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov.' But Moshe trembled with fear and didn't dare to look.

33 ADONAI said to him, 'Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.

34 I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.'

35 "This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge?' is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and ransomer by means of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush.

36 This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

37 This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra'el, 'God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers'

38 This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us.

39 "But our fathers did not want to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt,

40 saying to Aharon, 'Make us some gods to lead us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt - we don't know what has become of him.'a

41 That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands.

42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the starsb - as has been written in the book of the prophets, 'People of Isra'el, it was not to me that you offered slaughtered animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!

43 No, you carried the tent of Molekh and the star of your god Reifan, the idols you made so that you could worship them. Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel.'

44 "Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen.

45 Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y'hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them. "So it was until the days of David.

46 He enjoyed God's favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya'akov

47 and Shlomo did build him a house.

48 But Ha'Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says,

49 'Heaven is my throne,' says ADONAI, 'and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you build for me? What kind of place could you devise for my rest?

50 Didn't I myself make all these things?'

51 "Stiffnecked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh! You do the same things your fathers did!

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told in advance about the coming of the Tzaddik, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers! -

53 you! - who receive the Torah as having been delivered by angels - but do not keep it!"

54 On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him.

55 But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God's Sh'khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God.

56 "Look!" he exclaimed, "I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

57 At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn't have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him,

58 threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha'ul.

59 As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, "Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!"

60 Then he kneeled down and shouted out, "Lord! Don't hold this sin against them!" With that, he died;

Acts 8:1

1 and Sha'ul gave his approval to his murder. Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y'hudah and Shomron.

Deuteronomy 31

1 Moshe went and spoke the following words to all Isra'el:

2 "I am 120 years old today. I can't get around any longer; moreover, ADONAI has said to me, 'You will not cross this Yarden.'

3 ADONAI your God -he will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess them. Y'hoshua - he will cross over ahead of you, as ADONAI has said.

4 ADONAI will do to them what he did to Sichon and 'Og, the kings of the Emori, and to their land -he destroyed them.

5 ADONAI will defeat them ahead of you, and you are to do to them just as I have ordered you to do.

6 Be strong, be bold, don't be afraid or frightened of them, for ADONAI your God is going with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you."

7 Next Moshe summoned Y'hoshua and, in the sight of all Isra'el, said to him, "Be strong, be bold, for you are going with this people into the land ADONAI swore to their ancestors he would give them. You will be the one causing them to inherit it.

8 But ADONAI - it is he who will go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you, so don't be afraid or downhearted."

9 Then Moshe wrote down this Torah and gave it to the cohanim, the descendants of Levi who carried the ark with the covenant of ADONAI, and to all the leaders of Isra'el.

10 Moshe gave them these orders: "At the end of every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot in the year of sh'mittah,

11 when all Isra'el have come to appear in the presence of ADONAI at the place he will choose, you are to read this Torah before all Isra'el, so that they can hear it.

12 Assemble the people-the men, the women, the little ones and the foreigners you have in your towns -so that they can hear, learn, fear ADONAI your God and take care to obey all the words of this Torah;

13 and so that their children, who have not known, can hear and learn to fear ADONAI your God, for as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Yarden to possess."

14 ADONAI said to Moshe, "The time is coming for you to die. Summon Y'hoshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I can commission him." Moshe and Y'hoshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

15 ADONAI appeared in the tent in a column of cloud; the column of cloud stood above the entrance to the tent.

16 ADONAI said to Moshe, "You are about to sleep with your ancestors. But this people will get up and offer themselves as prostitutes to the foreign gods of the land where they are going. When they are with those gods, they will abandon me and break my covenant which I have made with them.

17 Then my anger will flare up, and I will abandon them and hide my face from them. They will be devoured, and many calamities and troubles will come upon them. Then they will ask, 'Haven't these calamities come upon us because our God isn't here with us?'

18 But I will be hiding my face from them because of all the evil they will have done in turning to other gods.

19 "Therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the people of Isra'el. Have them learn it by heart, so that this song can be a witness for me against the people of Isra'el.

20 For when I have brought them into the land I swore to their ancestors, flowing with milk and honey; and they have eaten their fill, grown fat and turned to other gods, serving them and despising me, and broken my covenant;

21 then, after many calamities and troubles have come upon them, this song will testify before them as a witness, because their descendants will still be reciting it and will not have forgotten it. For I know how they think even now, even before I have brought them into the land about which I swore."

22 So Moshe wrote this song that same day and taught it to the people of Isra'el.

23 ADONAI also commissioned Y'hoshua the son of Nun with these words: "Be strong and full of courage; for you are to bring the people of Isra'el into the land about which I swore to them; and I will be with you."

24 Moshe kept writing the words of this Torah in a book until he was done. When he had finished,

25 Moshe gave these orders to the L'vi'im who carried the ark with the covenant of ADONAI:

26 "Take this book of the Torah and put it next to the ark with the covenant of ADONAI your God, so that it can be there to witness against you.

27 For I know how rebellious and stiffnecked you are! Here, even while I am still alive with you today, you have rebelled against ADONAI; so how much more will you do so after my death?

28 Assemble for me all the leaders of your tribes and your officials, so that I can say these things in their hearing, calling heaven and earth to witness against them -

29 because I know that after my death you will become very corrupt and turn aside from the way that I have ordered you, and that disaster will come upon you in the acharit-hayamim, because you will do what ADONAI sees as evil and provoke him by your deeds."

30 Then Moshe spoke in the hearing of the whole assembly of Isra'el the words of this song, from beginning to end:

Deuteronomy 32

1 "Hear, oh heavens, as I speak! Listen, earth, to the words from my mouth!

2 May my teaching fall like rain. May my speech condense like dew, like light rain on blades of grass, or showers on growing plants.

3 "For I will proclaim the name of ADONAI. Come, declare the greatness of our God!

4 The Rock! His work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A trustworthy God who does no wrong, he is righteous and straight.

5 "He is not corrupt; the defect is in his children, a crooked and perverted generation.

6 You foolish people, so lacking in wisdom, is this how you repay ADONAI? He is your father, who made you his! It was he who formed and prepared you!

7 "Remember how the old days were; think of the years through all the ages. Ask your father -he will tell you; your leaders too -they will inform you.

8 "When 'Elyon gave each nation its heritage, when he divided the human race, he assigned the boundaries of peoples according to Isra'el's population;

9 but ADONAI's share was his own people, Ya'akov his allotted heritage.

10 "He found his people in desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness. He protected him and cared for him, guarded him like the pupil of his eye,

11 like an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young, spreads out her wings, takes them and carries them as she flies.

12 "ADONAI alone led his people; no alien god was with him.

13 He made them ride on the heights of the earth. They ate the produce of the fields. He had them suck honey from the rocks and olive oil from the crags,

14 curds from the cows and milk from the sheep, with lamb fat, rams from Bashan and goats, with the finest wheat flour; and you drank sparkling wine from the blood of grapes.

15 "But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked (you grew fat, thick, gross!). He abandoned God his Maker; he scorned the Rock, his salvation.

16 They roused him to jealousy with alien gods, provoked him with abominations.

17 They sacrificed to demons, non-gods, gods that they had never known, new gods that had come up lately, which your ancestors had not feared.

18 You ignored the Rock who fathered you, you forgot God, who gave you birth.

19 "ADONAI saw and was filled with scorn at his sons' and daughters' provocation.

20 He said, 'I will hide my face from them and see what will become of them; for they are a perverse generation, untrustworthy children.

21 They aroused my jealousy with a non-god and provoked me with their vanities; I will arouse their jealousy with a non-people and provoke them with a vile nation.

22 "'For my anger has been fired up. It burns to the depths of Sh'ol, devouring the earth and its crops, kindling the very roots of the hills.

23 I will heap disasters on them and use up all my arrows against them.

24 "'Fatigued by hunger, they will be consumed by fever and bitter defeat; I will send them the fangs of wild beasts, and the poison of reptiles crawling in the dust.

25 Outside, the sword makes parents childless; inside, there is panic, as young men and girls alike are slain, sucklings and graybeards together.

26 "'I considered putting an end to them, erasing their memory from the human race;

27 but I feared the insolence of their enemy, feared that their foes would mistakenly think, "We ourselves accomplished this; ADONAI had nothing to do with it."

28 "'They are a nation without common sense, utterly lacking in discernment.

29 If they were wise they could figure it out and understand their destiny.

30 After all, how can one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to rout, unless their Rock sells them to their enemies, unless ADONAI hands them over?

31 For our enemies have no rock like our Rock -even they can see that!

32 "'Rather, their vine is from the vine of S'dom, from the fields of 'Amora -their grapes are poisonous, their clusters are bitter;

33 their wine is snake poison, the cruel venom of vipers.

34 "'Isn't this hidden with me, sealed in my storehouses?

35 Vengeance and payback are mine for the time when their foot slips; for the day of their calamity is coming soon, their doom is rushing upon them.'

36 "Yes, ADONAI will judge his people, taking pity on his servants, when he sees that their strength is gone, that no one is left, slave or free.

37 Then he will ask, 'Where are their gods, the rock in whom they trusted?

38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let him get up and help you, let him protect you!

39 See now that I, yes, I, am he; and there is no god beside me. I put to death, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; no one saves anyone from my hand!

40 "'For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, "As surely as I am alive forever,

41 if I sharpen my flashing sword and set my hand to judgment, I will render vengeance to my foes, repay those who hate me.

42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, my sword will devour flesh the blood of the slain and the captives, flesh from the wild-haired heads of the enemy."'

43 "Sing out, you nations, about his people! For he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries and make atonement for the land of his people."

44 Moshe came and proclaimed all the words of this song in the hearing of the people and of Hoshea the son of Nun.

45 When he had finished speaking all these words to all Isra'el,

46 he said to them, "Take to heart all the words of my testimony against you today, so that you can use them in charging your children to be careful to obey all the words of this Torah.

47 For this is not a trivial matter for you; on the contrary, it is your life! Through it you will live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to possess."

48 That same day ADONAI said to Moshe,

49 "Go up into the 'Avarim Range, to Mount N'vo, in the land of Mo'av across from Yericho; and look out over the land of Kena'an, which I am giving the people of Isra'el as a possession.

50 On the mountain you are ascending you will die and be gathered to your people, just as Aharon your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

51 The reason for this is that both of you broke faith with me there among the people of Isra'el at the M'rivat-Kadesh Spring, in the Tzin Desert; you failed to demonstrate my holiness there among the people of Isra'el.

52 So you will see the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Isra'el."

Job 19

1 Then Iyov answered:

2 "How long will you go on making me angry, crushing me with words?

3 You've insulted me ten times already; aren't you ashamed to treat me so badly?

4 Even if it's true that I made a mistake, my error stays with me.

5 "You may take a superior attitude toward me and cite my disgrace as proof against me;

6 but know that it's God who has put me in the wrong and closed his net around me.

7 If I cry, 'Violence!' no one hears me; I cry aloud, but there is no justice.

8 "He has fenced off my way, so that I can't pass; he has covered my paths with darkness.

9 He has stripped me of my glory and removed the crown from my head.

10 He tears every part of me down - I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree.

11 "Inflamed with anger against me, he counts me as one of his foes.

12 His troops advance together, they make their way against me and encamp around my tent.

13 "He has made my brothers keep their distance, those who know me are wholly estranged from me,

14 my kinsfolk have failed me, and my close friends have forgotten me.

15 Those living in my house consider me a stranger; my slave-girls too - in their view I'm a foreigner.

16 I call my servant, and he doesn't answer, even if I beg him for a favor!

17 "My wife can't stand my breath, I am loathsome to my own family.

18 Even young children despise me -if I stand up, they start jeering at me.

19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and those I loved have turned against me.

20 My bones stick to my skin and flesh; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21 "Pity me, friends of mine, pity me! For the hand of God has struck me!

22 Must you pursue me as God does, never satisfied with my flesh?

23 I wish my words were written down, that they were inscribed in a scroll,

24 that, engraved with iron and filled with lead, they were cut into rock forever!

25 "But I know that my Redeemer lives, that in the end he will rise on the dust;

26 so that after my skin has been thus destroyed, then even without my flesh, I will see God.

27 I will see him for myself, my eyes, not someone else's, will behold him. My heart grows weak inside me!

28 "If you say, 'How will we persecute him?'-the root of the matter is found in me.

29 You had best fear the sword, for anger brings the punishment of the sword, so that you will know there is judgment!"

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 19

Acts 8:1b-25; Deuteronomy 33-34; Job 20 CJB

Acts 8:1-25

1 and Sha'ul gave his approval to his murder. Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y'hudah and Shomron.

2 Some godly men buried Stephen and mourned him deeply.

3 But Sha'ul set out to destroy the Messianic Community - entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison.

4 However, those who were scattered announced the Good News of the Word wherever they went.

5 Now Philip went down to a city in Shomron and was proclaiming the Messiah to them;

6 and the crowds were paying close attention to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was doing.

7 For many people were having unclean spirits driven out of them, shrieking; also many paralytics and crippled persons were being healed;

8 so that there was great joy in that city.

9 But there was a man named Shim'on in the city who for some time had been practicing magic and astonishing the nation of Shomron, claiming to be somebody great.

10 Everyone gave heed to him, from the lowest to the highest, saying, "This man is the power of God called 'The Great Power'."

11 They followed him because for a considerable time he had amazed them with his magic.

12 But when they came to believe Philip, as he announced the Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Yeshua the Messiah, they were immersed, both men and women.

13 Moreover, Shim'on himself came to believe; and after being immersed, he attached himself closely to Philip; and he was amazed as he saw the miraculous signs and great works of power that kept taking place.

14 When the emissaries in Yerushalayim heard that Shomron had received the Word of God, they sent them Kefa and Yochanan,

15 who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Ruach HaKodesh.

16 For until then he had not come upon any of them; they had only been immersed into the name of the Lord Yeshua.

17 Then, as Kefa and Yochanan placed their hands on them, they received the Ruach HaKodesh.

18 Shim'on saw that the Spirit was given when the emissaries placed their hands on them, and he offered them money.

19 "Give this power to me, too," he said, "so that whoever I place my hands on will receive the Ruach HaKodesh."

20 But Kefa said to him, "Your silver go to ruin - and you with it, for thinking the free gift of God can be bought!

21 You have no part at all in this matter; because in the eyes of God, your heart is crooked.

22 So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps you will yet be forgiven for holding such a thought in your heart.

23 For I see that you are extremely bitter and completely under the control of sin!"

24 Shim'on answered, "Pray to the Lord for me, so that none of the things you have spoken about will happen to me."

25 Then, after giving a thorough witness and speaking the Word of the Lord, Kefa and Yochanan started back to Yerushalayim, announcing the Good News to many villages in Shomron.

Deuteronomy 33

1 This is the blessing that Moshe, the man of God, spoke over the people of Isra'el before his death:

2 "ADONAI came from Sinai; from Se'ir he dawned on his people, shone forth from Mount Pa'ran; and with him were myriads of holy ones; at his right hand was a fiery law for them.

3 He truly loves the peoples -all his holy ones are in your hand; sitting at your feet, they receive your instruction,

4 the Torah Moshe commanded us as an inheritance for the community of Ya'akov.

5 Then a king arose in Yeshurun when the leaders of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Isra'el together.

6 "Let Re'uven live and not die out, even though his numbers grow few."

7 Of Y'hudah he said: "Hear, ADONAI, the cry of Y'hudah! Bring him in to his people, let his own hands defend him; but you, help him against his enemies."

8 Of Levi he said: "Let your tumim and urim be with your pious one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you struggled at M'rivah Spring.

9 Of his father and mother he said, 'I don't know them'; he didn't acknowledge his brothers or children. For he observed your word, and he kept your covenant.

10 They will teach Ya'akov your rulings, Isra'el your Torah. They will set incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

11 ADONAI, bless his possessions, accept the work he does; but crush his enemies hip and thigh; may those who hate him rise no more."

12 Of Binyamin he said: "ADONAI's beloved lives securely. He protects him day after day. He lives between his shoulders."

13 Of Yosef he said: "May ADONAI bless his land with the best from the sky, for the dew, and for what comes from the deep beneath,

14 with the best of what the sun makes grow, with the best of what comes up each month,

15 with the best from the mountains of old, with the best from the eternal hills,

16 with the best from the earth and all that fills it, and the favor of him who lived in the [burning] bush. May blessing come on the head of Yosef, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

17 His firstborn bull - glory is his; his horns are those of a wild ox; With them he will gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Efrayim; these are the thousands of M'nasheh."

18 Of Z'vulun he said: "Rejoice, Z'vulun, as you go forth, and you, Yissakhar, in your tents.

19 They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer righteous sacrifices; for they will draw from the abundance of the seas and from the hidden treasures of the sand."

20 Of Gad he said: "Blessed is he who makes Gad so large; he lies there like a lion, tearing arm and scalp.

21 He chose the best for himself when the princely portion was assigned. When the leaders of the people came, he carried out ADONAI's justice and his rulings concerning Isra'el."

22 Of Dan he said: "Dan is a lion cub leaping forth from Bashan."

23 Of Naftali he said: "You, Naftali, satisfied with favor and full of blessing from ADONAI, take possession of the sea and the south."

24 Of Asher he said: "May Asher be most blessed of sons, may he be the favorite among his brothers and bathe his feet in oil.

25 May your bolts be of iron and bronze and your strength last as long as you live.

26 "Yeshurun, there is no one like God, riding through the heavens to help you, riding on the clouds in his majesty.

27 The God of old is a dwelling-place, with everlasting arms beneath. He expelled the enemy before you and he said, 'Destroy!'

28 So Isra'el lives in security; the fountain of Ya'akov is alone in a land of grain and new wine, where the skies drip with dew.

29 Happy are you, Isra'el! "Who is like you, a people saved by ADONAI, your defender helping you and your sword of triumph? Your enemies will cringe before you, but you will trample down their high places."

Deuteronomy 34

1 Moshe ascended from the plains of Mo'av to Mount N'vo, to the summit of Pisgah, across from Yericho. There ADONAI showed him all the land -Gil'ad as far as Dan,

2 all Naftali, the land of Efrayim and M'nasheh, the land of Y'hudah all the way to the sea beyond,

3 the Negev, and the 'Aravah, including the valley where Yericho, the City of Date-Palms, as far away as Tzo'ar.

4 ADONAI said to him, "This is the land concerning which I swore to Avraham, Yitz'chak and Ya'akov, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there."

5 So Moshe, the servant of ADONAI, died there in the land of Mo'av, as ADONAI had said.

6 He was buried in the valley across from Beit-P'or in the land of Mo'av, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.

7 Moshe was 120 years old when he died, with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished.

8 The people of Isra'el mourned Moshe on the plains of Mo'av for thirty days; after this, the days of crying and mourning for Moshe ended.

9 Y'hoshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands on him, and the people of Isra'el heeded him and did what ADONAI had ordered Moshe.

10 Since that time there has not arisen in Isra'el a prophet like Moshe, whom ADONAI knew face to face.

11 What signs and wonders ADONAI sent him to perform in the land of Egypt upon Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land!

12 What might was in his hand! What great terror he evoked before the eyes of all Isra'el!

Job 20

1 Tzofar the Na'amati replied,

2 "My thoughts are pressing me to answer; I feel such an urge to speak!

3 I have heard reproof that outrages me, but a spirit past my understanding gives me a reply.

4 "Don't you know that ever since time began, ever since humans were placed on earth,

5 that the triumph of the wicked is always short-lived, and the joy of the ungodly is gone in a moment?

6 His pride may mount to the heavens, his head may touch the clouds;

7 but he will vanish completely, like his own dung -those who used to see him will ask, 'Where is he?'

8 Like a dream he flies off and is not found again; like a vision in the night he is chased away.

9 The eye which once saw him will see him no more, his place will not behold him again.

10 His children will have to pay back the poor; his hands will restore their wealth.

11 His bones may be filled with [the vigor of] his youth, but it will join him lying in the dust.

12 "Wickedness may taste sweet in his mouth, he may savor and roll it around on his tongue,

13 he may linger over it and not let it go but keep it there in his mouth -

14 yet in his stomach his food goes bad, it works inside him like snake venom;

15 the wealth he swallows he vomits back up; God makes him disgorge it.

16 He sucks the poison of asps, the viper's fangs will kill him.

17 He will not enjoy the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and cream.

18 He will have to give back what he toiled for; he won't get to swallow it down -to the degree that he acquired wealth, he won't get to enjoy it.

19 "For he crushed and abandoned the poor, seizing houses he did not build,

20 because his appetite would not let him rest, in his greed he let nothing escape;

21 nothing is left that he did not devour; therefore his well-being will not last.

22 With all needs satisfied, he will be in distress; the full force of misery will come over him.

23 "This is what will fill his belly! -[God] will lay on him all his burning anger and make it rain over him, into his insides.

24 If he flees from the weapon of iron, the bow of bronze will pierce him through

25 he pulls the arrow out of his back, the shining tip comes out from his innards; terrors come upon him.

26 "Total darkness is laid up for his treasures, a fire fanned by no one will consume him, and calamity awaits what is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will reveal his guilt, and the earth will rise up against him.

28 The income of his household will be carried off; his goods will flow away on the day of his wrath.

29 This is God's reward for the wicked, the heritage God decrees for him."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 20

Acts 8:26-40; Joshua 1-2; Job 21 CJB

Acts 8:26-40

26 An angel of ADONAI said to Philip, "Get up, and go southward on the road that goes down from Yerushalayim to 'Azah, the desert road."

27 So he got up and went. On his way, he caught sight of an Ethiopian, a eunuch who was minister in charge of all the treasure of the Kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia. He had been to Yerushalayim to worship;

28 and now, as he was returning home, he was sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Yesha'yahu.

29 The Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot, and stay close to it."

30 As Philip ran up, he heard the Ethiopian reading from Yesha'yahu the prophet. "Do you understand what you're reading?" he asked.

31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" And he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him.

32 Now the portion of the Tanakh that he was reading was this: "He was like a sheep led to be slaughtered; like a lamb silent before the shearer, he does not open his mouth.

33 He was humiliated and denied justice. Who will tell about his descendants, since his life has been taken from the earth?"i

34 The eunuch said to Philip, "Here's my question to you - is the prophet talking about himself or someone else?"

35 Then Philip started to speak - beginning with that passage, he went on to tell him the Good News about Yeshua.

36 As they were going down the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Here's some water! Is there any reason why I shouldn't be immersed?"

37

38 He ordered the chariot to stop; then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip immersed him.

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch saw no more of him, because he continued on his way - full of joy.

40 But Philip showed up at Ashdod and continued proclaiming the Good News as he went through all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Joshua 1

1 After the death of Moshe the servant of ADONAI, ADONAI said to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, Moshe's assistant,

2 "Moshe my servant is dead. So now, get up and cross over this Yarden, you and all the people, to the land I am giving to them, the people of Isra'el.

3 I am giving you every place you will step on with the sole of your foot, as I said to Moshe.

4 All the land from the desert and the L'vanon to the great river, the Euphrates River - all the land of the Hitti - and on to the Great Sea in the west will be your territory.

5 No one will be able to withstand you as long as you live. Just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. I will neither fail you nor abandon you.

6 "Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them.

7 Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go.

8 Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed.

9 Haven't I ordered you, 'Be strong, be bold'? So don't be afraid or downhearted, because ADONAI your God is with you wherever you go."

10 Y'hoshua instructed the officials of the people

11 to go through the camp and order the people, "Prepare provisions, because in three days you will cross this Yarden to go in and take possession of the land ADONAI your God is giving you."

12 To the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M'nasheh Y'hoshua said,

13 "Remember what Moshe the servant of ADONAI ordered you: 'ADONAI your God has let you rest and will give you this land.'

14 Your wives, your little ones and your livestock will stay in the land Moshe gave you on the east side of the Yarden; but you are to cross over armed as a fighting force ahead of your brothers, to help them;

15 until ADONAI allows your brothers to rest, as he has allowed you; and they too have taken possession of the land ADONAI your God is giving them. At that point, you will return to the land which is yours and possess it, the land Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you in 'Ever-HaYarden to the east, toward the sunrise."

16 They answered Y'hoshua, "We will do everything you have ordered us to do, and we will go wherever you send us.

17 Just as we listened to everything Moshe said, so will we listen to you. Only may ADONAI your God be with you as he was with Moshe.

18 If anyone rebels against your order and doesn't heed what you say in every detail of your order, he will be put to death. Just be strong, be bold!"

Joshua 2

1 Y'hoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Sheetim with these instructions: "Go, inspect the land and Yericho." They left and came to the house of a prostitute named Rachav, where they spent the night.

2 The king of Yericho was told about it - "Tonight some men from Isra'el came here to reconnoiter the land."

3 The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav, "Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land."

4 However, the woman, after taking the two men and hiding them, replied, "Yes, the men did come to me; but I didn't know where they had come from.

5 The men left around the time when they shut the gate, when it was dark. Where they went I don't know; but if you chase after them quickly, you will overtake them."

6 Actually she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there.

7 The men pursued them all the way to the fords at the Yarden; as soon as the pursuit party had left, the gate was shut.

8 The two men had not yet lain down when she returned to the roof

9 and said to them, "I know that ADONAI has given you the land. Fear of you has fallen on us; everyone in the land is terrified at the thought of you.

10 We've heard how ADONAI dried up the water in the Sea of Suf ahead of you, when you left Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori on the other side of the Yarden, Sichon and 'Og, that you completely destroyed them.

11 As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed us. Because of you, everyone is in a state of depression. For ADONAI your God - he is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

12 So, please, swear to me by ADONAI that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father's family. Give me some evidence of your good faith,

13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers and sisters and all who are theirs, so that we won't be killed."

14 The men replied to her, "Our lives are certainly worth yours, provided you don't betray our mission. So when ADONAI gives us the land, we will treat you kindly and in good faith."

15 Then she lowered them by a rope through the window; since her house abutted the city wall, indeed was actually built into it.

16 She told them, "Head for the hills, so that the pursuit party won't get their hands on you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned. After that, you can go on your way."

17 The men said to her, "We will not be guilty of violating the oath you made us swear, provided that

18 when we enter the land, you tie this piece of scarlet cord in the window you let us down from; and you gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and your father's entire household.

19 If anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, he will be responsible for his own blood, and we will be guiltless. But everyone who stays with you in the house - we will be responsible for his blood if anyone lays a hand on him.

20 However, if you say a word about this business of ours, then we will be free of your oath that you made us swear."

21 "According to your words, so be it," she said, and sent them away. As they departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

22 They left, arrived in the hills, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had searched for them all the way but hadn't found them.

23 Then the two men returned. Descending from the hills they crossed over and came to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, and reported everything that had happened to them.

24 "Truly ADONAI has handed over all the land to us," they told Y'hoshua. "Everyone in the land is terrified that we're coming."

Job 21

1 Then Iyov responded:

2 "Listen carefully to my words; let this be the comfort you give me.

3 Bear with me as I speak; then, after I have spoken, you can go on mocking.

4 "As for me, is my complaint merely to other people? Don't I have grounds for being short-tempered?

5 Look at me, and be appalled; cover your mouth with your hand!

6 Whenever I recall it, I am in shock; my whole body shudders.

7 "Why do the wicked go on living, grow old and keep increasing their power?

8 They see their children settled with them, their posterity assured.

9 Their houses are safe, with nothing to fear; God's rod is not on them.

10 Their bulls are fertile without fail, their cows get pregnant and don't miscarry.

11 They produce flocks of babies, and their children dance around.

12 They sing with tambourines and lyres and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

13 They spend their days in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.

14 "Yet to God they said, 'Leave us alone! We don't want to know about your ways.

15 What is Shaddai, that we should serve him? What do we gain if we pray to him?'

16 Isn't their prosperity already theirs? The plans of the wicked are far from me.

17 "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their calamity come upon them? How often does [God] deal out pain in his anger,

18 to make them like straw in the wind, like chaff carried off by a storm?

19 God lays up for their children [the punishment for their] iniquity. He should lay it on [the wicked] themselves, so that they can feel it!

20 Let their own eyes see their own destruction and themselves drink the wrath of Shaddai.

21 What joy can they have in their family after them, given that their months are numbered?

22 "Can anyone teach God knowledge? After all, he judges those who are on high.

23 One person dies in his full strength, completely at ease and content;

24 his pails are full of milk, and the marrow in his bones is moist.

25 Another dies with embittered heart, never having tasted happiness.

26 They lie down alike in the dust, and the worm covers them both.

27 "Look, I know what you are thinking and your plans to do me wrong.

28 You ask, 'Where is the great man's house? Where is the tent where the wicked once lived?'

29 Haven't you ever questioned travelers? Don't you accept their testimony

30 that the evil man is saved on the day of disaster, rescued on the day of wrath?

31 So who will confront him with his ways? Who will repay him for what he has done?

32 For he is carried off to the grave, people keep watch over his tomb,

33 the clods of the valley are sweet to him; so everyone follows his example, just as before him were countless others.

34 "Why offer me such meaningless comfort? Of your answers, only the perfidy remains."

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Today's Bible Reading

April 21

Acts 9:1-25; Joshua 3:1-5:1; Job 22 CJB

Acts 9:1-25

1 Meanwhile, Sha'ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol

2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to "the Way," and bring them back to Yerushalayim.

3 He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him.

4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Sha'ul! Sha'ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?"

5 "Sir, who are you?" he asked. "I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me.

6 But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do."

7 The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

8 They helped Sha'ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek.

9 For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

10 There was a talmid in Dammesek, Hananyah by name; and in a vision the Lord said to him, "Hananyah!" He said, "Here I am, Lord."

11 The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to Straight Street, to Y'hudah's house; and ask for a man from Tarsus named Sha'ul; for he is praying,

12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Hananyah coming in and placing his hands on him to restore his sight."

13 But Hananyah answered, "Lord, many have told me about this man, how much harm he has done to your people in Yerushalayim;

14 and here he has a warrant from the head cohanim to arrest everyone who calls on your name."

15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra'el as well.

16 For I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer on account of my name."

17 So Hananyah left and went into the house. Placing his hands on him, he said, "Brother Sha'ul, the Lord - Yeshua, the one who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh."

18 In that moment, something like scales fell away from Sha'ul's eyes; and he could see again. He got up and was immersed;

19 then he ate some food and regained his strength. Sha'ul spent some days with the talmidim in Dammesek,

20 and immediately he began proclaiming in the synagogues that Yeshua is the Son of God.

21 All who heard him were amazed. They asked, "Isn't he the man who in Yerushalayim was trying to destroy the people who call on this name? In fact, isn't that why he came here, to arrest them and bring them back to the head cohanim?"

22 But Sha'ul was being filled with more and more power and was creating an uproar among the Jews living in Dammesek with his proofs that Yeshua is the Messiah.

23 Quite some time later, the non-believing Jews gathered together and made plans to kill him;

24 but their plot became known to Sha'ul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to do away with him;

25 but under cover of night, his talmidim took him and let him down over the city wall, lowering him in a large basket.

Joshua 3

1 Y'hoshua got up early in the morning, and they left Sheetim and came to the Yarden, he with all the people of Isra'el; they camped there before crossing.

2 After three days, the officials circulated through the camp

3 and gave the people these orders: "When you see the ark for the covenant of ADONAI your God and the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, carrying it, you are to leave your position and follow it.

4 But keep a distance between yourelves and it of about a thousand yards - don't come any closer, so that you will understand which way to go, because you haven't gone this way before."

5 Y'hoshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, because tomorrow ADONAI is going to work wonders among you."

6 Then Y'hoshua said to the cohanim, "Take the ark for the covenant, and go on ahead of the people." They took the ark for the covenant and went ahead of the people.

7 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Starting today, I will make you great in full view of all Isra'el; so that they will know that just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you.

8 Now you are to order the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant as follows: 'When you come to the edge of the Yarden River, you are to stop in the Yarden itself.'"

9 Y'hoshua said to the people of Isra'el, "Come here, and listen to the words of ADONAI your God."

10 Then Y'hoshua said, "Here is how you will know that the living God is here with you and that, without fail, he will drive out from before you the Kena'ani, the Hitti, the Hivi, the P'rizi, the Girgashi, the Emori and the Y'vusi:

11 the ark for the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going on ahead of you across the Yarden.

12 Now choose yourselves twelve men out of the tribes of Isra'el, one man for each tribe.

13 As soon as the cohanim carrying the ark of ADONAI, the Lord of all the earth, put the soles of their feet in the water of the Yarden, the water of the Yarden will be cut off upstream and stand piled up like an embankment."

14 So the people left their tents to cross the Yarden, with the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant ahead of the people.

15 When those carrying the ark had come to the Yarden, and the cohanim carrying the ark had waded into the water (for throughout harvest season the Yarden overflows its banks),

16 the water upstream stood piled up like an embankment for a great distance at Adam, the city next to Tzartan; so that the water flowing downstream toward the Sea of the 'Aravah, the Dead Sea, was completely cut off; and the people crossed over right by Yericho.

17 The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of ADONAI stood fast on dry ground in the middle of the Yarden, while all Isra'el crossed on dry ground, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Yarden.

Joshua 4

1 After the whole nation had finished crossing the Yarden, ADONAI said to Y'hoshua,

2 "Take for yourselves from the people twelve men, a man from every tribe;

3 and give them this order: 'Take twelve stones from the middle of the Yarden riverbed, where the cohanim are standing, carry them over with you and set them down in the place where you will camp tonight.'"

4 Y'hoshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the people of Isra'el, a man from every tribe,

5 and said to them, "Go on ahead of the ark of ADONAI your God into the riverbed of the Yarden. Then, each of you take a stone on his shoulder, corresponding to the number of tribes of the people of Isra'el.

6 This will be a sign for you. In the future, when your children ask, 'What do you mean by these stones?'

7 you will answer them, 'It's because the water in the Yarden was cut off before the ark for the covenant of ADONAI; when it crossed the Yarden, the water in the Yarden was cut off; and these stones are to be a reminder for the people of Isra'el forever.'"

8 The people of Isra'el did just as Y'hoshua had ordered. They took twelve stones out of the Yarden riverbed, as ADONAI had said to Y'hoshua, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the people of Isra'el, carried them over with them to the place where they were camping, and set them down there.

9 Y'hoshua also set up twelve stones in the Yarden River itself, in the place where the feet of the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant had stood. They are there to this day.

10 The cohanim carrying the ark stood in the Yarden riverbed until Y'hoshua had finished saying to the people everything that ADONAI had ordered him to say, in keeping with everything that Moshe had ordered Y'hoshua; then the people hurried across.

11 When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of ADONAI passed on, and the cohanim, ahead of the people.

12 The descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh went on, armed, ahead of the people of Isra'el, as Moshe had said to them;

13 some 40,000 armed soldiers ready for battle crossed in the presence of ADONAI to the plains of Yericho.

14 That day ADONAI made Y'hoshua great in full view of all Isra'el. They were in awe of him, just as they had been in awe of Moshe all his life.

15 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua,

16 "Order the cohanim carrying the ark for the testimony to come up out of the Yarden."

17 So Y'hoshua ordered the cohanim, "Come up out of the Yarden!"

18 The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of ADONAI came up from the Yarden riverbed, and as soon as the soles of the feet of the cohanim touched dry ground, the water of the Yarden returned to its place and the river overflowed its banks as it had before.

19 The people came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern boundary of Yericho.

20 Those twelve stones which they took out of the Yarden, Y'hoshua piled up at Gilgal.

21 Then he said to the people of Isra'el, "In the future, when your children ask their fathers what these stones mean,

22 you are to explain it to them by saying, 'Isra'el came over this Yarden on dry land.

23 For ADONAI your God dried up the water in the Yarden from in front of you, until you had crossed, just as ADONAI your God did to the Sea of Suf, which he dried up from in front of us, until we had crossed.

24 From this all the peoples of the earth can know that the hand of ADONAI is strong, and you can fear ADONAI your God forever.'"

Joshua 5:1

1 When all the kings of the Emori on the west side of the Yarden and all the kings of the Kena'ani near the sea heard how ADONAI had dried up the Yarden River ahead of the people of Isra'el until they had crossed it, their hearts failed them, and they fell into depression because of the people of Isra'el.

Job 22

1 Next Elifaz the Teimani replied:

2 "Can a human be of advantage to God? Can even the wisest benefit him?

3 Does Shaddai gain if you are righteous? Does he profit if you make your ways blameless?

4 "Is he rebuking you because you fear him? Is this why he enters into judgment with you?

5 Isn't it because your wickedness is great? Aren't your iniquities endless?

6 "For you kept your kinsmen's goods as collateral for no reason, you stripped the poorly clothed of what clothing they have,

7 you didn't give water to the weary to drink, you withheld food from the hungry.

8 As a wealthy man, an owner of land, and as a man of rank, who lives on it,

9 you sent widows away empty-handed and left the arms of orphans crushed.

10 "No wonder there are snares all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,

11 or darkness , so that you can't see, and a flood of water that covers you up!

12 "Isn't God in the heights of heaven, looking [down even] on the highest stars?

13 Yet you say, 'What does God know? Can he see through thick darkness to judge?

14 The clouds veil him off, so that he can't see; he just wanders around in heaven.'

15 "Are you going to keep to the old way, the one the wicked have trodden,

16 the ones snatched away before their time, whose foundations a flood swept away?

17 They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can Shaddai do to us?'

18 Yet he himself had filled their homes with good things! (But the advice of the wicked is far away from me.)

19 The righteous saw this and rejoiced; the innocent laughed them to scorn -

20 'Indeed, our substance has not been not cut off, but the fire has consumed their wealth.'

21 "Learn to be at peace with [God]; in this way good will come [back] to you.

22 Please! Receive instruction from his mouth, and take his words to heart.

23 If you return to Shaddai, you will be built up. If you drive wickedness far from your tents,

24 if you lay your treasure down in the dust and the gold of Ofir among the rocks in the vadis,

25 and let Shaddai be your treasure and your sparkling silver;

26 then Shaddai will be your delight, you will lift up your face to God;

27 you will entreat him, and he will hear you, and you will pay what you vowed;

28 what you decide to do will succeed, and light will shine on your path;

29 when someone is brought down, you will say, 'It was pride, because [God] saves the humble.'

30 "He delivers even the unclean; so if your hands are clean, you will be delivered."

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Today's Bible Reading April 22 Acts 9:26-43; Joshua 5:2-6:27; Job 23 CJB Acts 9:26-43 26 On reaching Yerushalayim, he tried to join the talmidim; but they were all afraid of him - they didn't believe he was a talmid. 27 However, Bar-Nabba got hold of him and took him to the emissaries. He told them how Sha'ul had seen the Lord while traveling, that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Dammesek Sha'ul had spoken out boldly in the name of Yeshua. 28 So he remained with them and went all over Yerushalayim continuing to speak out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they began making attempts to kill him. 30 When the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. 31 Then the Messianic community throughout Y'hudah, the Galil and Shomron enjoyed peace and was built up. They lived in the fear of the Lord, with the counsel of the Ruach HaKodesh; and their numbers kept multiplying. 32 As Kefa traveled around the countryside, he came down to the believers in Lud. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas who had lain bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed. 34 Kefa said to him, "Aeneas! Yeshua the Messiah is healing you! Get up, and make your bed!" 35 Everyone living in Lud and the Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Now in Yafo there was a talmidah named Tavita 36 (which means "gazelle"); she was always doing tzedakah and other good deeds. 37 It happened that just at that time, she took sick and died. After washing her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38 Lud is near Yafo, and the talmidim had heard that Kefa was there, so they sent two men to him and urged him, "Please come to us without delay." 39 Kefa got up and went with them. When he arrived, they led him into the upstairs room. All the widows stood by him, sobbing and showing all the dresses and coats Tavita had made them while she was still with them. 40 But Kefa put them all outside, kneeled down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, "Tavita! Get up!" She opened her eyes; and on seeing Kefa, she sat up. 41 He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet; then, calling the believers and the widows, he presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Yafo, and many people put their trust in the Lord. 43 Kefa stayed on in Yafo for some time with a man named Shim'on, a leather-tanner. Joshua 5 1 When all the kings of the Emori on the west side of the Yarden and all the kings of the Kena'ani near the sea heard how ADONAI had dried up the Yarden River ahead of the people of Isra'el until they had crossed it, their hearts failed them, and they fell into depression because of the people of Isra'el. 2 It was at that time that ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Make yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the people of Isra'el again, a second time. 3 So Y'hoshua made himself knives of flint and circumcised the people of Isra'el at Giv'at-Ha'Aralot [the hill of foreskins]. 4 The reason Y'hoshua circumcised was that all the people who had left Egypt who were males, all the fighting men, had died in the desert along the way after leaving Egypt. 5 For although all the people who left Egypt had been circumcised, all those who had been born in the desert on the way as they went on from Egypt had not been circumcised; 6 because the people of Isra'el walked forty years in the desert until the whole nation, that is, the fighting men who had left Egypt, had died out; because they had not heeded what ADONAI said. ADONAI had sworn that he would not allow them to see the land which ADONAI swore to their ancestors that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their children to take their place, and it was these whom Y'hoshua circumcised; till then they had been uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised while traveling. 8 When all the nation had been circumcised, every one of them, they stayed where they were in camp until they had healed. 9 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Today I have rolled off from you the stigma of Egypt." This is why the place has been called Gilgal [rolling] ever since. 10 The people of Isra'el camped at Gilgal, and they observed Pesach on the fourteenth day of the month, there on the plains of Yericho. 11 The day after Pesach they ate what the land produced, matzah and roasted ears of grain that day. 12 The following day, after they had eaten food produced in the land, the man ended. From then on the people of Isra'el no longer had man; instead, that year, they ate the produce of the land of Kena'an. 13 One day, when Y'hoshua was there by Yericho, he raised his eyes and looked; and in front of him stood a man with his drawn sword in his hand. Y'hoshua went over to him and asked him, "Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?" 14 "No," he replied, "but I am the commander of ADONAI's army; I have come just now." Y'hoshua fell down with his face to the ground and worshipped him, then asked, "What does my lord have to say to his servant?" 15 The commander of ADONAI's army answered Y'hoshua, "Take your sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy." And Y'hoshua did so. Joshua 6 1 Yericho had completely barricaded its gates against the people of Isra'el - no one left, and no one entered. 2 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "I have handed Yericho over to you, including its king and his warriors. 3 You are to encircle the city with all your soldiers and march around it once. Do this for six days. 4 Seven cohanim are to carry seven shofars in front of the ark. On the seventh day you are to march around the city seven times, and the cohanim will blow the shofars. 5 Then they are to blow a long blast on the shofar. On hearing the sound of the shofar, all the people are to shout as loudly as they can; and the wall of the city will fall down flat. Then the people are to go up into the city, each one straight from where he stands." 6 Y'hoshua the son of Nun called the cohanim and told them, "Take up the ark for the covenant, and have seven cohanim carry seven shofars ahead of the ark of ADONAI." 7 To the people he said, "Move on, encircle the city, and have the army march ahead of the ark of ADONAI." 8 When Y'hoshua had spoken to the people, the seven cohanim carrying the seven shofars before ADONAI passed on and blew on the shofars, with the ark for the covenant of ADONAI following them. 9 The fighting men went ahead of the cohanim blowing the shofars, while the rearguard marched after the ark, with incessant blowing on the shofars. 10 Y'hoshua gave this order to the people: "Don't shout, don't let your voice be heard, don't let a single word out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout; then you will shout." 11 So he had the ark of ADONAI make a circle around the city, going around it once; then they returned to camp and stayed in the camp. 12 The next morning Y'hoshua got up early, and the cohanim took up the ark of ADONAI. 13 The seven cohanim carrying the seven shofars ahead of the ark of ADONAI went on, continually blowing on their shofars, with the fighting men marching ahead of them and the rearguard following after the ark of ADONAI; all the while the blowing on the shofars was incessant. 14 The second day, they went around the city once and returned to camp. They did the same for six days. 15 On the seventh day, they got up early, at sunrise, and went around the city in the same way seven times. That was the only day they encircled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time, when the cohanim blew on their shofars, Y'hoshua said to the people, "Shout! because ADONAI has given you the city! 17 But the city and everything in it is to be set aside for ADONAI and therefore to be destroyed completely; only Rachav the prostitute is to be spared, she and everyone with her in her house, because she hid the messengers we sent. 18 So you, keep clear of everything reserved for destruction. If you bring a curse on yourselves by taking anything set aside to be destroyed, you will bring a curse on the whole camp of Isra'el and cause great distress there. 19 All the silver and gold, and all the brass and iron utensils are to be separated out for ADONAI and added to the treasury of ADONAI." 20 So the people shouted, with the shofars blowing. When the people heard the sound of the shofars, the people let out a great shout; and the wall fell down flat; so that the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead of him; and they captured the city. 21 They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. 22 Y'hoshua said to the two men who had reconnoitered the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring the woman out with all that she has, as you swore to her." 23 The young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rachav with her father, mother, brothers and all she had; they brought out all her relatives and put them safely outside the camp of Isra'el. 24 Then they burned the city to ashes with everything in it, except for the silver, the gold and the brass and iron utensils, which they put in the treasury of the house of ADONAI. 25 But Y'hoshua spared Rachav the prostitute, her father's household and everything she had; and she has continued living with Isra'el from then until now; because she hid the messengers Y'hoshua had sent to reconnoiter Yericho. 26 Y'hoshua then made the people take this oath: "A curse before ADONAI on anyone who rises up and rebuilds this city of Yericho: he will lay its foundation with the loss of his firstborn son and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son." 27 So ADONAI was with Y'hoshua, and people heard about him throughout the land. Job 23 1 Then Iyov answered: 2 "Today too my complaint is bitter; my hand is weighed down because of my groaning. 3 I wish I knew where I could find him; then I would go to where he is. 4 I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments 5 I would know his answering words and grasp what he would tell me. 6 Would he browbeat me with his great power? No, he would pay attention to me. 7 There an upright person could reason with him; thus I might be forever acquitted by my judge. 8 "If I head east, he isn't there; if I head west, I don't detect him, 9 if I turn north, I don't spot him; in the south he is veiled, and I still don't see him. 10 Yet he knows the way I take; when he has tested me, I will come out like gold. 11 My feet have stayed in his footsteps; I keep to his way without turning aside. 12 I don't withdraw from his lips' command; I treasure his words more than my daily food. 13 "But he has no equal, so who can change him? What he desires, he does. 14 He will accomplish what is decreed for me, and he has many plans like this 15 This is why I am terrified of him; the more I think about it, the more afraid I am - 16 God has undermined my courage; Shaddai frightens me. 17 Yet I am not cut off by the darkness; he has protected me from the deepest gloom.

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 23

Acts 10:1-33; Joshua 7-8; Job 24 CJB

Acts 10:1-33

1 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a Roman army officer in what was called the Italian Regiment.

2 He was a devout man, a "God-fearer," as was his whole household; he gave generously to help the Jewish poor and prayed regularly to God.

3 One afternoon around three o'clock he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius!"

4 Cornelius stared at the angel, terrified. "What is it, sir?" he asked. "Your prayers," replied the angel, "and your acts of charity have gone up into God's presence, so that he has you on his mind.

5 Now send some men to Yafo to bring back a man named Shim'on, also called Kefa.

6 He's staying with Shim'on the leather-tanner, who has a house by the sea."

7 As the angel that had spoken to him went away, Cornelius called two of his household slaves and one of his military aides, who was a godly man;

8 he explained everything to them and sent them to Yafo.

9 The next day about noon, while they were still on their way and approaching the city, Kefa went up onto the roof of the house to pray.

10 He began to feel hungry and wanted something to eat; but while they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance

11 in which he saw heaven opened, and something that looked like a large sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners.

12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals, crawling creatures and wild birds.

13 Then a voice came to him, "Get up, Kefa, slaughter and eat!"

14 But Kefa said, "No, sir! Absolutely not! I have never eaten food that was unclean or treif."

15 The voice spoke to him a second time: "Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean."

16 This happened three times, and then the sheet was immediately taken back up into heaven.

17 Kefa was still puzzling over the meaning of the vision he had seen, when the men Cornelius had sent, having inquired for Shim'on's house, stood at the gate

18 and called out to ask if the Shim'on known as Kefa was staying there.

19 While Kefa's mind was still on the vision, the Spirit said, "Three men are looking for you.

20 Get up, go downstairs, and have no misgivings about going with them, because I myself have sent them."

21 So Kefa went down and said to the men, "You were looking for me? Here I am. What brings you here?"

22 They answered, "Cornelius. He's a Roman army officer, an upright man and a God-fearer, a man highly regarded by the whole Jewish nation; and he was told by a holy angel to have you come to his house and listen to what you have to say."

23 So Kefa invited them to be his guests. The next day, he got up and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Yafo;

24 and he arrived at Caesarea the day after that. Cornelius was expecting them - he had already called together his relatives and close friends.

25 As Kefa entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell prostrate at his feet.

26 But Kefa pulled him to his feet and said, "Stand up! I myself am just a man."

27 As he talked with him, Kefa went inside and found many people gathered.

28 He said to them, "You are well aware that for a man who is a Jew to have close association with someone who belongs to another people, or to come and visit him, is something that just isn't done. But God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean;

29 so when I was summoned, I came without raising any questions. Tell me, then, why did you send for me?"

30 Cornelius answered, "Three days ago around this time, I was at minchah prayers in my house, when suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me

31 and said, 'God has heard your prayer and remembered your acts of charity.

32 Now send to Yafo and ask for Shim'on, known as Kefa; he is staying in the house of Shim'on, a leather-tanner, by the sea.'

33 So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now all of us are here in the presence of God to hear everything the Lord has ordered you to say."

Joshua 7

1 But the people of Isra'el misappropriated some of the goods set aside to be destroyed; for 'Akhan, the son of Karmi, the son of Zavdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Y'hudah, took some of the things reserved for destruction. In consequence, the anger of ADONAI blazed up against the people of Isra'el.

2 Y'hoshua sent men from Yericho to 'Ai, which is next to Beit-Aven, east of Beit-El, telling them to go up and spy out the land. So the men went up, reconnoitered 'Ai,

3 returned to Y'hoshua and told him, "Don't have all the people go up; but let perhaps two or three thousand men go up and attack 'Ai. There's no point in making all the people exert themselves to get there, because there are only a few of them."

4 So from the people about three thousand men went up there, but they were routed by the men of 'Ai.

5 The men of 'Ai killed some thirty-six of them and chased them from before their gate all the way to Sh'varim, attacking them on the descent. The hearts of the people melted and turned to water.

6 Y'hoshua tore his clothes and fell to his face on the ground before the ark of ADONAI until evening, he and the leaders of Isra'el, and they put dust on their heads.

7 Y'hoshua said, "Oh, Adonai ELOHIM! Why did you take the trouble to bring this people across the Yarden if you meant to hand us over to the Emori and have us perish? We should have been satisfied to live on the other side of the Yarden!

8 Oh, ADONAI! What can I say, after Isra'el has turned their backs and retreated before their enemies?

9 For when the Kena'ani and the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe us off the face of the earth. What will you do then to save the honor of your great name?"

10 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Stand up! Why are you lying there face down?

11 Isra'el has sinned. Yes, they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them. They have taken some of what was to have been set aside for destruction. They have stolen it, lied about it and put it with their own things.

12 This is why the people of Isra'el cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs on their enemies, because they have come under a curse. I won't be with you any more unless you destroy the things meant for destruction that you have with you.

13 So get up, consecrate the people, and say, 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for here is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: "Isra'el, you have things under the curse of destruction among you; and you will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove the things that were to have been destroyed from among you."

14 Therefore, tomorrow morning you are to come forward, one tribe at a time; the tribe ADONAI takes is to come forward, one family at a time; the family ADONAI takes is to come forward, one household at a time; and the household ADONAI takes is to come forward, one person at a time.

15 The person who is caught with things in his possession that were reserved for destruction is to be burned to ashes, he and everything he has, because he has violated the covenant of ADONAI and has committed a shameful deed in Isra'el.'"

16 So Y'hoshua got up early in the morning and had Isra'el come forward, one tribe at a time; and the tribe of Y'hudah was taken.

17 He had the families of Y'hudah come forward and took the family of the Zarchi. He had the Zarchi family come forward by household leaders, and Zavdi was taken.

18 He had his household come forward, one person at a time; and 'Akhan the son of Karmi, the son of Zavdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Y'hudah, was taken.

19 Y'hoshua said to 'Akhan, "My son, swear to ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, that you will tell the truth and confess to him. Tell me, now, what did you do? Don't hide anything from me."

20 'Akhan answered Y'hoshua, "It is true: I have sinned against ADONAI, the God of Isra'el. Here is exactly what I did:

21 when I saw there with the spoil a beautiful robe from Shin'ar, five pounds of silver shekels and a one-and-a-quarter-pound wedge of gold, I really wanted them. So I took them. You will find them hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

22 Y'hoshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent. It was all there, hidden in his tent, including the silver underneath.

23 They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Y'hoshua and all the people of Isra'el, and put them down before ADONAI.

24 Y'hoshua, together with all Isra'el, took 'Akhan, the son of Zerach, with the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything he had, and brought them up to the Akhor Valley.

25 Y'hoshua said, "Why have you brought trouble on us? Today ADONAI will bring trouble on you!" Then all Isra'el stoned him to death; they burned them to ashes and stoned them.

26 Over him they piled a great mound of stones, which is there to this day. Finally ADONAI turned away from his fierce anger. And this is why that place is called the Valley of Akhor [trouble] to this day.

Joshua 8

1 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Don't be afraid or fall into despair! Take all the people who can fight with you, set out, and go up to 'Ai; because now I have handed over to you the king of 'Ai, his people, his city and his land.

2 Do to 'Ai and its king as you did to Yericho and its king; but this time, take its spoil and cattle as booty for yourselves. Ambush the city from behind."

3 So Y'hoshua set out for 'Ai with all the people who could fight. Y'hoshua chose 30,000 men, the most courageous of his troops, and sent them out by night.

4 He instructed them, "You are to lie in wait to ambush the city from behind. Stay close to the city; and all of you, be ready.

5 I and all the troops with me will approach the city; and when they come out to attack us, as they did before, we will run away from them.

6 They will chase after us until we have drawn them away from the city; because they will say, 'They're running away from us, as they did before'; so we'll run away from them.

7 Then you will jump up from your ambush position and take possession of the city, for ADONAI your God will hand it over to you.

8 When you have captured the city, you are to set it on fire; do according to what ADONAI has said. Those are your orders."

9 Y'hoshua sent them out; and they went to the place for the ambush, staying between Beit-El and 'Ai, to the west of 'Ai; while Y'hoshua camped that night with the people.

10 Y'hoshua got up early in the morning, mustered his men and went up to 'Ai ahead of the people, he and the leaders of Isra'el .

11 All the troops marching with him went up, advanced, arrived in front of the city and camped on the north side of 'Ai, with a valley between him and 'Ai.

12 Then he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Beit-El and 'Ai, to the west of 'Ai.

13 Thus the people arrayed themselves, with all the army to the north of the city, and their rearguard lying in wait to the west of the city. Y'hoshua spent that night in the valley.

14 The king of 'Ai saw this, so the men in the city hurried out early in the morning to battle against Isra'el, he and all his people, at a meeting-place facing the 'Aravah. But he was unaware that behind the city an ambush had been laid against him.

15 Y'hoshua and all Isra'el made as if they had been defeated before them and ran off on the road to the desert.

16 All the people in 'Ai were summoned together to pursue them, so they chased Y'hoshua and were drawn away from the city.

17 Not a man was left in 'Ai or Beit-El who had not gone after Isra'el; pursuing Isra'el, they left the city wide open.

18 Then ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Point the spear in your hand toward 'Ai, because I will hand it over to you." Y'hoshua pointed the spear in his hand toward the city.

19 The men in ambush jumped up quickly from their place; the moment he stretched out his hand, they ran, entered the city and captured it; and they hurried to set the city on fire.

20 When the men of 'Ai looked behind them, they saw it - there was the smoke from the city, rising to the sky; and they had no power to flee this way or that - at which point the people who had run off toward the desert turned back on the pursuers.

21 When Y'hoshua and all Isra'el saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city was going up, they turned back and slaughtered the men of 'Ai;

22 while the others came out of the city against them too; so that they were surrounded by Isra'el with some on this side and some on that side. They attacked them, allowing none to remain or escape.

23 But they took the king of 'Ai alive and brought him to Y'hoshua.

24 When Isra'el had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of 'Ai in the countryside, in the desert where they had pursued them, and they had all fallen, consumed by the sword, then all Isra'el returned to 'Ai and defeated it with the sword.

25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day, everyone in 'Ai.

26 For Y'hoshua did not withdraw his hand, which he had used to point the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of 'Ai.

27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city did Isra'el take as booty for themselves, in keeping with the order ADONAI had given Y'hoshua.

28 So Y'hoshua burned down 'Ai and turned it into a tel forever, so that it remains a ruin to this day.

29 The king of 'Ai he hanged on a tree until evening; at sundown Y'hoshua gave an order, so they took his carcass down from the tree, threw it at the entrance of the city gate and piled on it a big heap of stones, which is there to this day.

30 Then Y'hoshua built an altar to ADONAI, the God of Isra'el, on Mount 'Eival,

31 as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered the people of Isra'el to do (this is written in the book of the Torah of Moshe), an altar of uncut stones that no one had touched with an iron tool. On it they offered burnt offerings to ADONAI and sacrificed peace offerings.

32 He wrote there on the stones a copy of the Torah of Moshe, inscribing it in the presence of the people of Isra'el.

33 Then all Isra'el, including their leaders, officials and judges, stood on either side of the ark in front of the cohanim, who were L'vi'im and who carried the ark for the covenant of ADONAI. The foreigners were there along with the citizens. Half of the people were in front of Mount G'rizim and half of them in front of Mount 'Eival, as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered them earlier in connection with blessing the people of Isra'el.

34 After this, he read all the words of the Torah, the blessing and the curse, according to everything written in the book of the Torah.

35 There was not a word of everything Moshe had ordered that Y'hoshua did not read before all Isra'el assembled, including the women, the little ones and the foreigners living with them.

Job 24

1 "Why are times not kept by Shaddai? Why do those who know him not see his days?

2 There are those who move boundary markers; they carry off flocks and pasture them;

3 they drive away the orphan's donkey; as collateral, they seize the widow's ox.

4 They push the needy out of the way -the poor of the land are forced into hiding;

5 like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they have to go out and scavenge food, [hoping that] the desert will provide food for their children.

6 They must reap in fields that are not their own and gather late grapes in the vineyards of the wicked.

7 They pass the night without clothing, naked, uncovered in the cold,

8 wet with mountain rain, and hugging the rock for lack of shelter.

9 "There are those who pluck orphans from the breast and [those who] take [the clothes of] the poor in pledge,

10 so that they go about stripped, unclothed; they go hungry, as they carry sheaves [of grain];

11 between these men's rows [of olives], they make oil; treading their winepresses, they suffer thirst.

12 Men are groaning in the city, the mortally wounded are crying for help, yet God finds nothing amiss!

13 "There are those who rebel against the light -they don't know its ways or stay in its paths.

14 The murderer rises with the light to kill the poor and needy; while at night he is like a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer too waits for twilight; he thinks, 'No eye will see me'; but [to be sure], he covers his face.

16 When it's dark, they break into houses; in the daytime, they stay out of sight. [None of them] know the light.

17 For to all of them deep darkness is like morning, for the terrors of deep darkness are familiar to them.

18 "May they be scum on the surface of the water, may their share of land be cursed, may no one turn on the way of their vineyards,

19 may drought and heat steal away their snow water and Sh'ol those who have sinned.

20 May the womb forget them, may worms find them sweet, may they no longer be remembered -thus may iniquity be snapped like a stick.

21 They devour childless women and give no help to widows.

22 "Yet God keeps pulling the mighty along -they get up, even when not trusting their own lives.

23 However, even if God lets them rest in safety, his eyes are on their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while; and then they are gone, brought low, gathered in like all others, shriveled up like ears of grain.

25 "And even if it isn't so now, still no one can prove me a liar and show that my words are worthless."

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Today's Bible Reading April 24 Acts 10:34-48; Joshua 9-10; Job 25 CJB Acts 10 34 Then Kefa addressed them: "I now understand that God does not play favorites, 35 but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to. 36 "Here is the message that he sent to the sons of Isra'el announcing shalom through Yeshua the Messiah, who is Lord of everything. 37 You know what has been going on throughout Y'hudah, starting from the Galil after the immersion that Yochanan proclaimed; 38 how God anointed Yeshua from Natzeret with the Ruach HaKodesh and with power; how Yeshua went about doing good and healing all the people oppressed by the Adversary, because God was with him. 39 "As for us, we are witnesses of everything he did, both in the Judean countryside j 40 but and in Yerushalayim. They did away with him by hanging him on a stake;God raised him up on the third day and let him be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by witnesses God had previously chosen, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen again from the dead. 42 "Then he commanded us to proclaim and attest to the Jewish people that this man has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets bear witness to him, that everyone who puts his trust in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." 44 Kefa was still saying these things when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on all who were hearing the message. 45 All the believers from the Circumcision faction who had accompanied Kefa were amazed that the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh was also being poured out 46 on the Goyim, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Kefa's response was, 47 "Is anyone prepared to prohibit these people from being immersed in water? After all, they have received the Ruach HaKodesh, just as we did." 48 And he ordered that they be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Then they asked Kefa to stay on with them for a few days. Joshua 9 1 When all the kings on the west side of the Yarden in the hills, in the Sh'felah and all along the shore of the Great Sea that fronts the L'vanon - the Hitti, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi - heard what had happened, 2 they joined forces to fight together against Y'hoshua and Isra'el. 3 But when the inhabitants of Giv'ah heard what Y'hoshua had done to Yericho and 'Ai, 4 they developed a clever deception: they made themselves look as if they had been on a long journey by putting old sacks on their donkeys and taking used wineskins that had burst and been mended back together. 5 They put old, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes; and took as provisions nothing but dried-up bread that was crumbling to pieces. 6 Then they went to Y'hoshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Isra'el, "We have come from a country far away. Now, make a covenant with us." 7 The men of Isra'el said to the Hivi, "How do we know that you don't live here among us? If you do, we don't want to make a covenant with you." 8 But they answered Y'hoshua, "We are your servants." Y'hoshua asked, "Who are you, and where do you come from?" 9 They answered him, "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the reputation of ADONAI your God. We have heard reports about him - everything he did in Egypt, 10 and everything he did to the two kings of the Emori across the Yarden, Sichon king of Heshbon and 'Og king of Bashan at 'Ashtarot. 11 So our leaders and all the people living in our country said to us, "Take provisions with you for the journey, go to meet them, and say to them, 'We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.' 12 Here is the bread which we took for our provisions. It was still warm when we took it out of our homes the day we left to come to you. Now look at it! It's dry and turned to crumbs! 13 And these wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, now they're torn. Likewise these clothes of ours and our shoes are worn out because of the very long journey." 14 The men sampled some of their food but didn't seek the advice of ADONAI, 15 so Y'hoshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to spare their lives, and the leading officials of the community swore to them. 16 But three days later, after they had made the covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, that they lived there with them. 17 The people of Isra'el traveled and arrived at their cities on the third day. Their cities were Giv'on, K'firah, Be'erot and Kiryat-Ye'arim. 18 The people of Isra'el did not attack them, because the leading officials of the community had sworn to them by ADONAI, the God of Isra'el; but all the community grumbled against the leaders. 19 However, the leaders replied to the whole community, "We have sworn to them by ADONAI, the God of Isra'el; so we can't touch them. 20 Here is what we will do to them: we will let them live, so that God's anger will not be on us because of the oath we swore to them. 21 Yes, let them live," the leaders continued, "but let them chop wood and draw water for the whole community." This is what the leaders said. 22 Y'hoshua summoned them and said this to them: "Why have you deceived us by saying, 'We come from a place very far away,' when in fact you are living right here with us? 23 Now you have a curse on you: you will be slaves forever, supplying people to chop wood and draw water for the house of my God." 24 They answered Y'hoshua, "It is because we heard the reports that ADONAI your God had ordered his servant Moshe to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from ahead of you. So we were terrified for our lives on account of you; that's why we did this. 25 Now, as you see, we are in your hands; do to us whatever seems good and right to you." 26 So Y'hoshua did exactly that: he saved them from the power of the people of Isra'el, so that they didn't kill them. 27 But he did that same day make them choppers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of ADONAI in the place which he would choose; and they remain so to this day. Joshua 10 1 When Adoni-Tzedek king of Yerushalayim heard how Y'hoshua had taken 'Ai and utterly destroyed it - he had done the same to 'Ai and its king as he had done to Yericho and its king - and how the inhabitants of Giv'on had made peace with Isra'el and were living among them, 2 his people became greatly alarmed; because Giv'on was as large as one of the royal cities, larger than 'Ai, and all its men were courageous. 3 So Adoni-Tzedek king of Yerushalayim sent this message to Hoham king of Hevron, Pir'am king of Yarmut, Yafia king of Lakhish and D'vir king of 'Eglon: 4 "Come up and help me, and we'll attack Giv'on, because it has made peace with Y'hoshua and the people of Isra'el." 5 So the five kings of the Emori - the kings of Yerushalayim, Hevron, Yarmut, Lakhish and 'Eglon - got together, went up with all their armies, pitched camp against Giv'on and made war against it. 6 The people of Giv'on sent a message to Y'hoshua at their camp in Gilgal that said, "Don't ignore your servants! Come up to us quickly, and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Emori living in the hills have gotten together to fight us." 7 Y'hoshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the fighting men with him, including all the bravest ones. 8 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Don't be afraid of them, for I have handed them over to you; not one of their men will stand against you." 9 Having spent the entire night marching up from Gilgal, Y'hoshua fell upon them, taking them by surprise. 10 ADONAI threw them into confusion before Isra'el and defeated them in a great slaughter at Giv'on, pursuing them along the road that goes up from Beit-Horon, and beating them back to 'Azekah and all the way to Makkedah. 11 As they fled before Isra'el down the road to Beit-Horon, ADONAI threw huge hailstones down on them all the way to 'Azekah, and they died; more died because of the hail than because Isra'el had killed them with the sword. 12 Then, on the day ADONAI handed over the Emori to the people of Isra'el, Y'hoshua spoke to ADONA I; in the sight of Isra'el he said, "Sun, stand motionless over Giv'on! Moon, you too, over Ayalon Valley!" 13 So the sun stood still and the moon stayed put, till Isra'el took vengeance on their enemies. 14 This is written in the book of Yashar. The sun stood still in the sky and was in no rush to set for nearly a whole day. There has never been a day like that before or since, when ADONAI listened to the voice of a man; it happened because ADONAI was fighting on Isra'el's behalf. 15 Y'hoshua returned with all Isra'el to the camp at Gilgal. 16 But those five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah, 17 and it was reported to Y'hoshua that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah. 18 Y'hoshua said, "Roll big stones to the mouth of the cave, and put men there to guard them. 19 However, you, don't wait, but keep chasing your enemies, and attack those farthest in the rear. Don't allow them to return to their cities, because ADONAI has handed them over to you." 20 After Y'hoshua and the people of Isra'el had finished killing them off in a very great slaughter, till they had been destroyed, and the remaining remnant had entered the fortified cities, 21 all the people returned safely to Y'hoshua at the camp in Makkedah; and no one said a word against any of the people of Isra'el. 22 Then Y'hoshua said, "Open up the mouth of the cave, and bring those five kings out of the cave to me. 23 They did it; they brought the five kings out to him - the kings of Yerushalayim, Hevron, Yarmut, Lakhish and 'Eglon. 24 After they had brought the five kings to Y'hoshua, he summoned all the men of Isra'el and said to the commanders of the soldiers who had gone with him, "Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings." They came and put their feet on their necks. 25 Y'hoshua said to them, "Don't be afraid or confused, but be strong and bold, because this is what ADONAI will do to all your enemies that you fight against." 26 With that, Y'hoshua struck them and put them to death, hanging them on five trees, where they remained hanging until evening. 27 At sunset Y'hoshua gave an order, and they lowered them from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, then laid big stones at the mouth of the cave; and there they remain to this day. 28 Y'hoshua captured Makkedah that day, defeating it and its king by the sword. He completely destroyed them, everyone there - he left no one; and he did to the king of Makkedah what he had done to the king of Yericho. 29 Y'hoshua went on from Makkedah, and all Isra'el with him, to Livnah; and he fought against Livnah. 30 ADONAI also handed it and its king over to Isra'el. He defeated it with the sword, everyone there - he left no one, and he did to its king what he had done to the king of Yericho. 31 Y'hoshua went on from Livnah, and all Isra'el with him, to Lakhish; and he pitched camp against it and fought against it. 32 ADONAI handed it over to Isra'el; he captured it the second day. He defeated it with the sword, everyone there, exactly as he had done to Livnah. 33 But then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lakhish; so Y'hoshua attacked him and his people, until he had no one left with him. 34 Y'hoshua went on from Lakhish, and all Isra'el with him, to 'Eglon; and he pitched camp against it and fought against it. 35 They captured it that very day. He defeated it with the sword, completely destroying everyone there, exactly as he had done to Lakhish. 36 Y'hoshua went up from 'Eglon, and all Isra'el with him, to Hevron; and they fought against it. 37 They captured it, defeating it with the sword, including its king, its villages and everyone there; he left no one, exactly as he had done to 'Eglon; but he completely destroyed it and everyone there. 38 Y'hoshua turned back, and all Isra'el with him, to D'vir and fought against it. 39 They captured it, its king and all its villages, defeating them with the sword and utterly destroying everyone there; he left no one. He did to D'vir and it king as he had done to Hevron and as he had done to Livnah and its king. 40 So Y'hoshua attacked all the land - the hills, the Negev, the Sh'felah and the mountain slopes - and all their kings; he left none but completely destroyed everything that breathed, as ADONAI the God of Isra'el had ordered. 41 Y'hoshua attacked them from Kadesh-Barnea to 'Azah and all the land of Goshen, as far as Giv'on. 42 Y'hoshua captured all these kings and their land all at the same time, because ADONAI the God of Isra'el fought on Isra'el's behalf. 43 Then Y'hoshua returned, and all Isra'el with him, to the camp at Gilgal. Job 25 1 Bildad the Shuchi said, 2 "Dominion and fear belong to him; he makes peace in his high places. 3 Can his armies be numbered? On whom does his light not shine? 4 How then can humans be righteous with God? How can those born of women be clean? 5 Why, before him even the moon lacks brightness, and the stars themselves are not pure. 6 How much less a human, who is merely a maggot, a mortal, who is only a worm?!"

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Today's Bible Reading

April 25

Acts 11:1-18; Joshua 11-12; Job 26 CJB

Acts 11:1-18

1 The emissaries and the brothers throughout Y'hudah heard that the Goyim had received the word of God;

2 but when Kefa went up to Yerushalayim, the members of the Circumcision faction criticized him,

3 saying, "You went into the homes of uncircumcised men and even ate with them!"

4 In reply, Kefa began explaining in detail what had actually happened:

5 "I was in the city of Yafo, praying; and in a trance I had a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came down to me.

6 I looked inside and saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, crawling creatures and wild birds.

7 Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Kefa, slaughter and eat!'

8 I said, 'No, sir! Absolutely not! Nothing unclean or treif has ever entered my mouth!'

9 But the voice spoke again from heaven: 'Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.'

10 This happened three times, and then everything was pulled back up into heaven.

11 "At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying;

12 and the Spirit told me to have no misgivings about going back with them. These six brothers also came with me, and we went into the man's house.

13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Yafo and bring back Shim'on, known as Kefa.

14 He has a message for you which will enable you and your whole household to be saved.'

15 "But I had hardly begun speaking when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on them, just as on us at the beginning!

16 And I remembered that the Lord had said, 'Yochanan used to immerse people in water, but you will be immersed in the Ruach HaKodesh.'

17 Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as he gave us after we had come to put our trust in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who was I to stand in God's way?"

18 On hearing these things, they stopped objecting and began to praise God, saying, "This means that God has enabled the Goyim as well to do t'shuvah and have life!"

Joshua 11

1 When Yavin king of Hatzor heard of it, he informed Yovav king of Madon; the king of Shimron; the king of Akhshaf;

2 the kings to the north, in the hills, in the 'Aravah south of Kinn'rot, in the Sh'felah and in the regions of Dor on the west;

3 the Kena'ani to east and west; the Emori, Hitti, P'rizi and Y'vusi in the hills; and the Hivi at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mitzpah.

4 So they set out, they and all their armies, many people, in number like the sand at the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.

5 All these kings met together, then came and pitched camp together at the Merom Spring, to fight Isra'el.

6 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua, "Don't be afraid on their account; because at this time tomorrow I will hand them over, all of them dead, before Isra'el. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots."

7 So Y'hoshua came against them suddenly with all his fighting men and fell on them at the Merom Spring.

8 ADONAI handed them over to Isra'el - they attacked and chased them to Greater Tzidon, Misrefot-Mayim and eastward to the Mitzpeh Valley; they attacked them until none of them was left.

9 Y'hoshua did to them what ADONAI had ordered - he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.

10 Then Y'hoshua turned back and captured Hatzor, striking its king dead with the sword; for in time past Hatzor had been the head of all those kingdoms.

11 They put everyone there to death with the sword, completely destroying them; there was nothing left that breathed; and he burned Hatzor to the ground.

12 Y'hoshua captured all the cities of those kings and the kings as well; he defeated them with the sword and completely destroyed them, as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had ordered.

13 But as for the cities built on their tels, Isra'el burned none of them except Hatzor; Y'hoshua did burn that one.

14 All the spoil of these cities and the livestock the people of Isra'el took as booty for themselves; but every human being they put to death with the sword, until they had destroyed them - they left no one breathing.

15 Moshe had given orders to Y'hoshua, just as ADONAI had given orders to Moshe his servant, and Y'hoshua acted accordingly-he did everything ADONAI had ordered Moshe.

16 So Y'hoshua captured all that land, the hills, the Negev, all the land of Goshen, the Sh'felah, the 'Aravah and the Isra'el hills and Sh'felah,

17 from the bare mountain that goes up to Se'ir to Ba'al-Gad in the L'vanon Valley under Mount Hermon; and he took all their kings, struck them and put them to death.

18 Y'hoshua made war with all those kings for a long time.

19 Not one city made peace with the people of Isra'el, except for the Hivi living in Giv'on; they took everything in battle.

20 For it was ADONAI who caused them to harden their hearts and come against Isra'el in battle, so that they would be utterly destroyed, so that they would not find favor but be destroyed, in keeping with the orders ADONAI had given Moshe.

21 Y'hoshua at that time came and cut off the 'Anakim from the land - from Hevron, D'vir, 'Anav and from all the hill-country of Y'hudah and Isra'el; Y'hoshua utterly destroyed them and their cities.

22 No 'Anakim were left in the land of the people of Isra'el - only in 'Azah, Gat and Ashdod did some remain.

23 Y'hoshua took the whole land, in keeping with all that ADONAI had said to Moshe and to Isra'el according to their divisions into tribes. Then the land rested from war.

Joshua 12

1 These are the kings of the land whom the people of Isra'el defeated and of whose land they took possession, across the Yarden toward the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon and all the 'Aravah eastward:

2 Sichon king of the Emori, who lived in Heshbon and ruled the territory that includes 'Aro'er, at the edge of the Arnon Valley; the middle of the valley; half of Gil'ad, to the Yabok River, which forms the border with the people of 'Amon;

3 the 'Aravah to Lake Kinneret eastward and to the sea of the 'Aravah, the Dead Sea, eastward by way of Beit-Yeshimot and on the south under the slopes of Pisgah.

4 There was also the territory of 'Og king of Bashan, who belonged to the remnant of the Refa'im. He lived at 'Ashtarot and at Edre'i;

5 and he ruled Mount Hermon; Salkhah; all Bashan, to the border with the G'shuri and the Ma'akhati; and half of Gil'ad, to its border with Sichon king of Heshbon.

6 Moshe the servant of ADONAI, with the people of Isra'el, defeated them; and Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave it to the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M'nasheh as their possession.

7 Following are the kings of the land whom Y'hoshua, with the people of Isra'el, defeated in the area west of the Yarden, between Ba'al-Gad in the L'vanon Valley and the bare mountain that goes up to Se'ir. Y'hoshua gave this land, inhabited by the Hitti, Emori, Kena'ani, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi, to the tribes of Isra'el to possess, according to their divisions, in the hills, the Sh'felah, the 'Aravah, the mountain slopes, the desert and the Negev:

8

9 the king of Yericho, the king of 'Ai, by Beit-El,

10 the king of Yerushalayim, the king of Hevron,

11 the king of Yarmut, the king of Lakhish,

12 the king of 'Eglon, the king of Gezer,

13 the king of D'vir, the king of Geder,

14 the king of Hormah, the king of 'Arad,

15 the king of Livnah, the king of 'Adulam,

16 the king of Makkedah, the king of Beit-El,

17 the king of Tapuach, the king of Hefer,

18 the king of Afek, the king of Sharon,

19 the king of Madon, the king of Hatzor,

20 the king of Shimron-M'ron, the king of Akhshaf,

21 the king of Ta'anakh, the king of Megiddo,

22 the king of Kedesh, the king of Yokne'am in Karmel,

23 the king of Dor in the region of Dor, the king of Goyim in the Gilgal, and

24 the king of Tirtzah making a total of thirty-one kings.

Job 26

1 Then Iyov replied,

2 "What great help you bring to the powerless! what deliverance to the arm without strength!

3 Such wonderful advice for a man lacking wisdom! So much common sense you've expressed!

4 Who helped you to say these words? Whose spirit is it, coming forth from you?

5 "The ghosts of the dead tremble beneath the water, with its creatures.

6 Sh'ol is naked before him; Abaddon lies uncovered.

7 He stretches the north over chaos and suspends the earth on nothing.

8 He binds up the water in his thick clouds, yet no cloud is torn apart by it.

9 He shuts off the view of his throne by spreading his cloud across it.

10 He fixed a circle on the surface of the water, defining the boundary between light and dark.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble, aghast at his rebuke.

12 He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his skill he strikes down Rahav.

13 With his Spirit he spreads the heavens; his hand pierces the fleeing serpent.

14 And these are but the fringes of his ways; how faint the echo we hear of him! But who is able to grasp the meaning of his thundering power?"

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Today's Bible Reading

April 26

Acts 11:19-30; Joshua 13-14; Job 27 CJB

Acts 11:19-30

19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution which had arisen over Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch; they spoke God's word, but only to Jews.

20 However, some of these, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, when they arrived at Antioch, began speaking to the Greeks too, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Yeshua.

21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people trusted and turned to the Lord.

22 News of this reached the ears of the Messianic community in Yerushalayim, and they sent Bar-Nabba to Antioch.

23 On arriving and seeing for himself the grace of God at work, he was glad; and he encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with their whole hearts;

24 for he was a good man, full of the Ruach HaKodesh and trust.

25 Then Bar-Nabba went off to Tarsus to look for Sha'ul;

26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. They met with the congregation there for a whole year and taught a sizeable crowd. Also it was in Antioch that the talmidim for the first time were called "Messianic."

27 During this time, some prophets came down from Yerushalayim to Antioch;

28 and one of them named Agav stood up and through the Spirit predicted that there was going to be a severe famine throughout the Roman Empire. (It took place while Claudius was Emperor.)

29 So the talmidim decided to provide relief to the brothers living in Y'hudah, each according to his means;

30 and they did it, sending their contribution to the elders in the care of Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul.

Joshua 13

1 Now Y'hoshua was old; the years had taken their toll. ADONAI said to him, "You are old, and the years have taken their toll; but there is yet a great deal of land to be possessed.

2 "This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the P'lishtim and all the G'shuri,

3 from the Shichor which fronts Egypt, to the border of 'Ekron (northward from there the land is considered as belonging to the Kena'ani)-that is, the territory of the rulers of the P'lishtim in 'Azah, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gat and 'Ekron; also the 'Avim

4 to the south; all the land of the Kena'ani; Me'arah, which belongs to the Tzidonim, as far as Afek and on to the border with the Emori;

5 the land of the Givli; all the L'vanon eastward, from Ba'al-Gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamat.

6 "As for the inhabitants of the hills between the L'vanon and Misrefot-Mayim, that is, all the Tzidonim, I myself will expel them ahead of the people of Isra'el; all you have to do is assign it to Isra'el as an inheritance, as I have ordered you.

7 So now, divide this land as an inheritance for the nine tribes and the half-tribe of M'nasheh."

8 With the half-tribe of M'nasheh, the Re'uveni and the Gadi received their inheritance, which Moshe had given them, beyond the Yarden eastward, just as Moshe the servant of ADONAI had given them -

9 from 'Aro'er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau between Meidva and Divon,

10 and all the cities of Sichon king of the Emori who ruled in Heshbon to the border with the people of 'Amon;

11 and Gil'ad, the territory of the G'shuri and Ma'akhati, all Mount Hermon, all Bashan as far as Salkhah -

12 that is, all the kingdom of 'Og in Bashan, who ruled in 'Ashtarot and Edre'i. 'Og was one of those remaining from the Refa'im, whom Moshe defeated and expelled.

13 However, the people of Isra'el expelled neither the G'shuri nor the Ma'akhati, with the consequence that G'shur and Ma'akhat have lived among Isra'el to this day.

14 Only to the tribe of Levi did Moshe give no inheritance; because the offerings made by fire for ADONAI the God of Isra'el are its inheritance; as [ADONAI] had said to Moshe.

15 Moshe gave land to the tribe of the descendants of Re'uven by clans.

16 Their territory included 'Aro'er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau near Meidva,

17 Heshbon and its villages on the plateau, Divon, Bamot-Ba'al, Beit-Ba'al-M'on,

18 Yahatz, K'demot, Mefa'at,

19 Kiryatayim, Sivmah, Tzeret-Shachar at the top of the valley,

20 Beit-P'or, the slopes of Pisgah, Beit-Yeshimot,

21 all the cities of the plateau - all the kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori, who ruled in Heshbon. Moshe defeated him with the chiefs of Midyan, along with Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva the princes of Sichon who lived in the land.

22 Along with the others the people of Isra'el killed with the sword, they also struck down Bil'am the son of B'or, who practiced divination.

23 The Yarden formed the border for the descendants of Re'uven. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Re'uven by clans, with its cities and villages.

24 Moshe gave land to the tribe of the Gad, to the descendants of Gad by clans.

25 Their territory included Ya'zer; all the cities of Gil'ad; half the land of the people of 'Amon, as far as 'Aro'er fronting Rabbah -

26 that is, from Heshbon to Ramot-Mitzpeh and B'tonim; and from Machanayim to the border of Lidvir;

27 while in the valley it included Beit-Haram, Beit-Nimrah, Sukkot and Tzafon - in other words, the rest of the kingdom of Sichon king of Heshbon; with the Yarden to the far end of Lake Kinneret as its border, their territory extended eastward.

28 This is the inheritance of the descendants of Gad by clans, with its cities and villages.

29 Moshe gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of the M'nasheh; it was for the half-tribe of the descendants of M'nasheh by clans.

30 Their territory included Machanayim and all of Bashan - that is, all the kingdom of 'Og king of Bashan; all the villages of Ya'ir in Bashan, sixty cities;

31 half of Gil'ad; and 'Ashtarot and Edre'i, the cities of the kingdom of 'Og in Bashan. All this was for the descendants of Makhir the son of M'nasheh, or, rather, for half of the descendants of Makhir, by clans.

32 These are the inheritances which Moshe distributed in the plains of Mo'av, beyond the Yarden and Yericho, eastward.

33 But to the tribe of Levi Moshe gave no inheritance; ADONAI the God of Isra'el is their inheritance - as he told them.

Joshua 14

1 These are the inheritances which the people of Isra'el took in the land of Kena'an, which El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the heads of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra'el distributed to them

2 by lot for them to inherit, as ADONAI ordered through Moshe, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe.

3 Moshe had already given the inheritances to the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Yarden; to the L'vi'im he gave no inheritance among them.

4 The descendants of Yosef constituted two tribes, M'nasheh and Efrayim; and they gave no portion of the land to the L'vi'im except cities to live in, with the open land surrounding them for their livestock and crops.

5 As ADONAI had ordered Moshe, so the people of Isra'el did - they divided the land.

6 The descendants of Y'hudah approached Y'hoshua in Gilgal, and Kalev the son of Y'funeh the K'nizi said to him, "You know what ADONAI told Moshe the man of God about me and you in Kadesh-Barnea.

7 I was forty years old when Moshe the servant of ADONAI sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to reconnoiter the land, and I brought back to him an honest report.

8 My brothers who went up with me discouraged the people, but I followed ADONAI my God completely.

9 On that day Moshe swore, 'Surely the land where your foot has been will be the inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have followed ADONAI my God completely.'

10 Now, look: ADONAI has kept me alive these forty-five years, as he said he would, from the time ADONAI said this to Moshe, when Isra'el was going through the desert. Today I am eighty-five years old,

11 but I am as strong today as on the day Moshe sent me - I'm as strong now as I was then, whether for war or simply for going here and there.

12 Therefore, give me this hill, the one ADONAI spoke about on that day; for on that day you heard how the 'Anakim were there with great, fortified cities; perhaps ADONAI will be with me, and I will drive them away, as ADONAI said."

13 Y'hoshua blessed him and gave Hevron to Kalev the son of Y'funeh as his inheritance.

14 So Hevron became the inheritance of Kalev the son of Y'funeh the K'nizi, as it is to this day; because he followed ADONAI the God of Isra'el completely.

15 (Hevron was formerly called Kiryat-Arba; this Arba was the greatest man among the 'Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.

Job 27

1 Iyov continued his speech:

2 "I swear by the living God, who is denying me justice, and by Shaddai, who deals with me so bitterly,

3 that as long my life remains in me and God's breath is in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not speak unrighteousness, or my tongue utter deceit.

5 Far be it from me to say you are right; I will keep my integrity till the day I die.

6 I hold to my righteousness; I won't let it go; my heart will not shame me as long as I live.

7 "May my enemy meet the doom of the wicked; my foe the fate of the unrighteous.

8 For what hope does the godless have from his gain when God takes away his life?

9 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?

10 Will he take delight in Shaddai and always call on God?

11 "I am teaching you how God uses his power, not hiding what Shaddai is doing.

12 Look, you all can see for yourselves; so why are you talking such empty nonsense?

13 "This is God's reward for the wicked man, the heritage oppressors receive from Shaddai:

14 if his sons become many, they go to the sword; and his children never have enough to eat.

15 Those of his who remain are buried by plague, and their widows do not weep.

16 Even if he piles up silver like dust and stores away clothing [in mounds] like clay -

17 he may collect it, but the just will wear it, and the upright divide up the silver.

18 He builds his house weak as a spider's web, as flimsy as a watchman's shack.

19 He may lie down rich, but his wealth yields nothing; when he opens his eyes, it isn't there.

20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; at night a whirlwind steals him away.

21 The east wind carries him off, and he's gone; it sweeps him far from his place.

22 Yes, it hurls itself at him, sparing nothing; he does all he can to flee from its power.

23 [People] clap their hands at him in derision and hiss him out of his home.

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Today's Bible Reading April 27 Acts 12; Joshua 15-17; Job 28 CJB Acts 12 1 It was around this time that King Herod began arresting and persecuting certain members of the Messianic community; 2 and he had Ya'akov, Yochanan's brother, put to death by the sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Judeans, he went on to arrest Kefa as well. It was during the Days of Matzah, 4 so when Herod seized him, he threw him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, with the intention of bringing him to public trial after Pesach. 5 So Kefa was being held under watch in prison, but intense prayer was being made to God on his behalf by the Messianic community. 6 The night before Herod was going to bring him to trial, Kefa was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound with two chains; and guards were at the door, keeping watch over the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of ADONAI stood there, and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Kefa's side and woke him. "Hurry! Get up!" he said; and the chains fell off his hands. 8 The angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals," and he did. "Throw on your robe," he said, "and follow me!" 9 Going out, Kefa followed him but did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real - he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 Having passed a first guard and a second, they arrived at the iron gate leading to the city. This opened to them by itself, and they made their exit. They went down the length of one street, and suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Kefa came to himself and said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod's power and from everything the Judean people were hoping for." 12 Realizing what had happened, he went to the house of Miryam the mother of Yochanan (surnamed Mark), where many people had gathered to pray. 13 He knocked at the outside door, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Kefa's voice and was so happy that she ran back in without opening the door, and announced that Kefa was standing outside. 15 "You're out of your mind!" they said to her. But she insisted it was true. So they said, "It is his angel." 16 Meanwhile, Kefa kept knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be quiet, he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and said, "Tell all this to Ya'akov and the brothers." Then he left and went elsewhere. 18 When daylight came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Kefa. 19 Herod had a thorough search made for him, but they failed to find him, so he cross-examined the guards and ordered them put to death. Then Herod went down from Y'hudah to Caesarea and spent some time there. 20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tzor and Tzidon, so they joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, the king's chief personal servant, they asked for peace; because they depended on the king's lands for their food supply. 21 A day was set, and Herod in his royal robes sat on the throne and made a speech to them. 22 The mob cried out, "This is the voice of a god, not a man!" 23 At once, because Herod did not give the glory to God, an angel of ADONAI struck him down. He was eaten away by worms and died. 24 But the word of the Lord went on growing and being multiplied. 25 Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul, having completed their errand, returned from Yerushalayim, bringing with them Yochanan, surnamed Mark. Joshua 15 1 The territory chosen by lot for the tribe of the descendants of Y'hudah according to their families extended to the border of Edom in the Tzin Desert, toward the Negev in the far south. 2 Their southern border began at the far shore of the Dead Sea, from the bay facing southward, 3 and went out south of the Scorpion Ascent, passed toward Tzin, went up south of Kadesh-Barnea, passed Hetzron, went up toward Adar, turned toward Karka, 4 passed toward 'Atzmon, and went out at the Vadi of Egypt, with the border ending at the sea; this will be your southern border. 5 The eastern border was the Dead Sea to where the Yarden entered it. The northern border began at the bay of the sea at the end of the Yarden; 6 then the border went up to Beit-Hoglah and passed north of Beit-'Aravah; next the border went up to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re'uven; 7 then the border went up to D'vir from the Akhor Valley, then northward facing Gilgal (that is, across from Ma'alei-Adumim, which is on the south side of the vadi); next the border passed to the 'Ein-Shemesh Spring and went out at 'Ein-Rogel. 8 Then the border went up the Ben-Hinnom Valley to the south side of the Y'vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), and the border continued up to the top of the hill in front of the Hinnom Valley on the west (which is also at the northernmost end of the Refa'im Valley) 9 From this hilltop the border was drawn to the source of the Neftoach Spring and continued out to the cities of Mount 'Efron; next the border was drawn to Ba'alah (that is, Kiryat-Ye'arim). 10 Then the border turned from Ba'al westward to Mount Se'ir, passed the spur of Mount Ye'arim (also called K'salon) on the north, went down to Beit-Shemesh and passed Timnah. 11 Next the border went out toward the side of 'Ekron northward; and finally, the border was drawn to Shikron, passed Mount Ba'alah, and went out at Yavne'el, with the border ending at the sea. 12 As for the west border, the Great Sea was its border. These were the borders of the territory of the descendants of Y'hudah, by clans. 13 To Kalev the son of Y'funeh he gave a portion with the descendants of Y'hudah, as ADONAI had ordered Y'hoshua, namely, Kiryat-Arba (Arba was the father of the 'Anak), also called Hevron. 14 Kalev expelled from there three descendants of 'Anak - Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai, children of 'Anak. 15 From there he went up to fight the inhabitants of D'vir (D'vir was formerly called Kiryat-Sefer). 16 Kalev said, "To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter Akhsah as his wife." 17 'Otni'el the son of K'naz, Kalev's brother, captured it; so he gave him 'Akhsah his daughter as his wife. 18 After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, "What do you want?" 19 She said to him: "Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water." So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs. 20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Y'hudah, by clans. 21 The cities at the outer part of the tribe of Y'hudah toward the border with Edom in the south were: Kavtze'el, 'Eder, Yagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, 'Ad'adah, 23 Kedesh, Hatzor, Yitnan, 24 Zif, Telem, Be'alot, 25 Hatzor, Hadatah, K'riot, Hetzron (which is Hatzor), 26 Amam, Sh'ma, Moladah, 27 Hatzar-Gadah, Heshmon, Beit-Pelet, 28 Hatzar-Shu'al, Be'er-Sheva, Bizyot-Yah, 29 Ba'alah, 'Iyim, 'Etzem, 30 El-Tolad, K'sil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmanah, Sansanah, 32 L'va'ot, Shilchim, 'Ayin and Rimmon - twenty-nine cities in all, together with their villages. 33 In the Sh'felah: Eshta'ol, Tzor'ah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoach, 'Ein-Ganim, Tapuach, 'Enam, 35 Yarmut, 'Adulam, Sokhoh, 'Azekah, 36 Sh'arim, 'Aditayim, G'derah and G'derotayim - fourteen cities, together with their villages. 37 Tz'nan, Hadashah, Migdal-Gad, 38 Dil'an, Mitzpeh, Yokte'el, 39 Lakhish, Bozkat, 'Eglon, 40 Kabon, Lachmas, Kitlish, 41 G'derot, Beit-Dagon, Na'amah and Makkedah - sixteen cities, together with their villages. 42 Livnah, 'Eter, 'Ashan, 43 Yiftach, Ashnah, N'tziv, 44 Ke'ilah, Akhziv and Mareshah - nine cities, together with their villages. 45 'Ekron, with its towns and villages - 46 from 'Ekron to the sea; all those near Ashdod, with their villages; 47 Ashdod, with its towns and villages; 'Azah, with its towns and villages, to the Vadi of Egypt, with the Great Sea as its border. 48 In the hills: Shamir, Yatir, Sokhoh, 49 Danah, Kiryat-Sanna (that is, D'vir), 50 'Anav, Esht'moh, 'Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon and Giloh - eleven cities, together with their villages. 52 Arav, Dumah, Esh'an, 53 Yanum, Beit-Tapuach, Afekah, 54 Humtah, Kiryat-Arba (that is, Hevron) and Tzi'or - nine cities, together with their villages. 55 Ma'on, Karmel, Zif, Yutah, 56 Yizre'el, Yokde'am, Zanoach, 57 Kayin, Giv'ah and Timnah - ten cities, together with their villages. 58 Halchul, Beit-Tzur, G'dor, 59 Ma'arat, Beit-'Anot, Elt'kon - six cities, together with their villages. 60 Kiryat-Ba'al (that is, Kiryat-Ye'arim) and Rabbah - two cities, together with their villages. 61 In the desert: Beit-'Aravah, Middin, S'khakhah, 62 Nivshan, 'Ir-Hamelach and 'Ein-Gedi - six cities, together with their villages. 63 As for the Y'vusi, who lived in Yerushalayim, the descendants of Y'hudah could not drive them out; so the Y'vusi live with the descendants of Y'hudah in Yerushalayim to this day. Joshua 16 1 The border of the territory chosen by lot for the descendants of Yosef began from the Yarden at Yericho, at the spring of Yericho on the east, went up from Yericho through the hills and desert to Beit-El, 2 went out from Beit-El to Luz, passed on to the border with the Arki to 'Atarot, 3 went down westward to the border with the Yafleti, to the border of Lower Beit-Horon, on to Gezer and ending at the sea. 4 So the descendants of Yosef, M'nasheh and Efrayim took the inheritance. 5 The border of the descendants of Efrayim according to their families was as follows: the eastern border of their inheritance began at 'Atrot-Adar and went to Upper Beit-Horon; 6 then the border extended westward, with Mikhm'tat on the north; next the border turned eastward to Ta'anat-Shiloh and passed by it to the east of Yanochah; 7 then it went down from Yanochah to 'Atarot, went to Na'arah, extended to Yericho and ended at the Yarden. 8 From Tapuach the border went westward to Vadi Kanah and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Efrayim according to their families, 9 together with the cities set aside for the descendants of Efrayim inside the territory to be inherited by the descendants of M'nasheh, all the cities with their villages. 10 They did not drive out the Kena'ani living in Gezer, so the Kena'ani live together with Efrayim to this day, having become slaves to do the heavy work. Joshua 17 1 This was the territory chosen by lot for the tribe of M'nasheh, for he was the firstborn of Yosef. As for Makhir the firstborn of M'nasheh, the father of Gil'ad, because he was a warrior he got Gil'ad and Bashan. 2 So the lot was drawn for the other descendants of M'nasheh according to their families - for the descendants of Avi'ezer, Helek, Asri'el, Sh'khem, Hefer and Sh'mida; these were the male descendants of M'nasheh according to their families. 3 But Tz'lof'chad the son of Hefer, the son of Gil'ad, the son of Makhir, the son of M'nasheh, had no sons, only daughters; these are the names of his daughters: Machlah, No'ah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. 4 They approached El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, "ADONAI ordered Moshe to give us an inheritance together with our kinsmen." Therefore, in keeping with ADONAI's order, he gave them an inheritance together with the kinsmen of their father. 5 Thus ten parts fell to M'nasheh, in addition to the land of Gil'ad and Bashan beyond the Yarden, 6 because the daughters of M'nasheh had an inheritance along with his descendants; but the land of Gil'ad belonged to the rest of the descendants of M'nasheh. 7 The border of M'nasheh began at Asher and went to Mikhm'tat, which is across from Sh'khem; next the border went along to the right, to the people of 'Ein-Tapuach. 8 The land of Tapuach belonged to M'nasheh, but Tapuach on the border of M'nasheh belonged to the descendants of Efrayim. 9 The border descended to Vadi Kanah, south of the vadi, by cities which belonged to Efrayim among the cities of M'nasheh; but the border with M'nasheh was on the north side of the vadi, and it ended at the sea. 10 Southward it was Efrayim's, northward it was M'nasheh's, and the sea was its border; while to the north they extended to Asher, and on the east to Yissakhar. 11 In Asher and Yissakhar, M'nasheh had Beit-Sh'an and its villages; Yivle'am and its villages; and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, of 'Ein-Dor and its villages, of Ta'anakh and its villages, and of Megiddo and its villages - three districts in all. 12 But the descendants of M'nasheh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; the Kena'ani wanted to stay in that land. 13 After the people of Isra'el had become strong, they made the Kena'ani do heavy labor but didn't completely drive them out. 14 Then the descendants of Yosef spoke to Y'hoshua; they said, "Why have you given me only one lot and only one portion to inherit? After all, I am a great people, since ADONAI has blessed me so." 15 Y'hoshua answered them, "If you are a great people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the territory of the P'rizi and the Refa'im - since the hills of Efrayim don't give you enough space." 16 The descendants of Yosef replied, "The hills won't be enough for us; and all the Kena'ani living in the valleys have iron chariots - both those in Beit-Sh'an and its villages and those in the Yizre'el Valley." 17 Then Y'hoshua said to the house of Yosef, to both Efrayim and M'nasheh, "You are a great people with much power; you will not have only one lot, 18 but the hills too will be yours. Although it is a forest, you will clear it, and the resulting open land will be yours. You will drive out the Kena'ani, even though they have iron chariots and are strong." Job 28 1 "There are mines for silver and places where gold is refined; 2 iron is extracted from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. 3 Miners conquer the darkness and dig as far in as they can, to the ore in gloom and deep darkness. 4 There where no one lives, they break open a shaft; the feet passing over are oblivious to them; far from people, suspended in space, they swing to and fro. 5 "While the earth is [peacefully] yielding bread, underneath, it is being convulsed as if by fire; 6 its rocks have veins of sapphire, and there are flecks of gold. 7 Birds of prey don't know that path, no falcon's eye has seen it, 8 the proud beasts have never set foot on it, no lion has ever passed over it. 9 "[The miner] attacks the flint, overturns mountains at their roots, 10 and cuts out galleries in the rock, all the while watching for something of value. 11 He dams up streams to keep them from flooding, and brings what was hidden out into the light. 12 "But where can wisdom be found? Where is the source of understanding? 13 No one knows its value, and it can't be found in the land of the living. 14 The deep says, 'It isn't in me,'and the sea says, 'It isn't with me.' 15 It can't be obtained with gold, nor can silver be weighed out to buy it. 16 It can't be purchased with choice gold from Ofir, or with precious onyx or sapphires. 17 Neither gold nor glass can be compared with it; nor can it be exchanged for a bowl of fine gold, 18 let alone coral or crystal; for indeed, the price of wisdom is above that of pearls. 19 It can't be compared with Ethiopian topaz, and it can't be valued with pure gold. 20 "So where does wisdom come from? where is the source of understanding, 21 inasmuch as it is hidden from the eyes of all living and kept secret from the birds flying around in the sky? 22 Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor about it with our ears.' 23 "God understands its way, and he knows its place. 24 For he can see to the ends of the earth and view everything under heaven. 25 When he determined the force of the wind and parceled out water by measure, 26 when he made a law for the rain and cleared a path for the thunderbolts; 27 then he saw [wisdom] and declared it, yes, he set it up and searched it out. 28 And to human beings he said, 'Look, fear of Adonai is wisdom! Shunning evil is understanding!'"

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Today's Bible Reading

April 28

Acts 13:1-25; Joshua 18-19; Job 29 CJB

Acts 13:1-25

1 In the Antioch congregation were prophets and teachers - Bar-Nabba, Shim'on (known as "the Black"), Lucius (from Cyrene), Menachem (who had been brought up with Herod the governor) and Sha'ul.

2 One time when they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Ruach HaKodesh said to them, "Set aside for me Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul for the work to which I have called them."

3 After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

4 So these two, after they had been sent out by the Ruach HaKodesh, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.

5 After landing in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues, with Yochanan (Mark) as an assistant;

6 and thus they made their way throughout the whole island. They ended up in Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and pseudo-prophet named Bar-Yeshua.

7 He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. Now the governor had called for Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul and was anxious to hear the message about God;

8 but the sorcerer Elymas (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith.

9 Then Sha'ul, also known as Paul, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, stared straight at him and said,

10 "You son of Satan, full of fraud and evil! You enemy of everything good! Won't you ever stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?k

11 So now, look! The hand of the Lord is upon you; and for a while you will be blind, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas; and he groped about, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

12 Then, on seeing what had happened, the governor trusted, astounded by the teaching about the Lord.

13 Having set sail from Paphos, Sha'ul and his companions arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. There Yochanan left them and returned to Yerushalayim,

14 but the others went on from Perga to Pisidian Antioch, and on Shabbat they went into the synagogue and sat down.

15 After the reading from the Torah and from the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent them a message, "Brothers, if any of you has a word of exhortation for the people, speak!"

16 So Sha'ul stood, motioned with his hand, and said: "Men of Isra'el and God-fearers, listen!

17 The God of this people Isra'el chose our fathers. He made the people great during the time when they were living as aliens in Egypt and with a stretched-out arm he led them out of that land.

18 For some forty yearsm he took care of them in the desert,

19 and after he had destroyed seven nationsn in the land of Kena'an he gave their land to his people as an inheritance.

20 All this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges, o down to the prophet Sh'mu'el.

21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Sha'ul Ben-Kish, a man from the tribe of Binyamin. After forty years,

22 God removed him and raised up David as king for them, making his approval known with these words, 'I found David Ben-Yishai to be a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want.'

23 "In keeping with his promise, God has brought to Isra'el from this man's descendants a deliverer, Yeshua.

24 Now before the coming of Yeshua, Yochanan proclaimed to all the people of Isra'el an immersion in connection with turning to God from sin.

25 But as Yochanan was ending his work, he said, 'Who do you suppose I am? Well - I'm not! But after me is coming someone, the sandals of whose feet I am unworthy to untie.'

Joshua 18

1 The entire community of the people of Isra'el assembled themselves together at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, after the land had been subdued before them.

2 There still remained among the people of Isra'el seven tribes that had not yet received their inheritance.

3 Y'hoshua said to the people of Isra'el, "How long will you delay going in to take possession of the land which ADONAI the God of your ancestors has given you?

4 Appoint three men for each tribe; I will commission them; and they are to set out, go through the land and describe it according to their inheritance; then they are to come back to me.

5 They are to divide it into seven portions, with Y'hudah remaining in its territory to the south and the house of Yosef in their territory to the north.

6 You will describe seven portions of land and bring the descriptions here to me; then I will cast lots for you here before ADONAI our God.

7 But the L'vi'im have no share with you, because the office of cohen to ADONAI is their inheritance; and Gad and Re'uven and the half-tribe of M'nasheh have received their inheritance beyond the Yarden to the east, which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave them."

8 So the men got up and went. Y'hoshua gave them this commission as they left to describe the land: "Go; walk through the land; and describe it; then come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before ADONAI in Shiloh."

9 The men went and passed through the land, surveying it by cities, dividing it into seven regions and writing the results on a scroll. Then they came to Y'hoshua in the camp at Shiloh.

10 Y'hoshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before ADONAI, and there Y'hoshua divided the land among the people of Isra'el according to their regions.

11 The lot for the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin came up according to their families. The border of their territory chosen by lot was between the descendants of Y'hudah and the descendants of Yosef.

12 On the north side, their border began at the Yarden, went up alongside Yericho on the north, continued up through the hills westward and arrived at the Beit-Aven Desert.

13 From there the border passed on to Luz, to the south side of Luz (that is, Beit-El); then the border went down to 'Atrot-Adar, by the hill on the south side of Lower Beit-Horon.

14 The border was delineated as turning at the western corner and heading southward, from the hill located in front of Beit-Horon on the south; and it ended at Kiryat-Ba'al (that is, Kiryat-Ye'arim), a city belonging to the descendants of Y'hudah; this was the west side.

15 On the south the border extended westward from the most distant part of Kiryat-Ye'arim, going out to the source of the Neftoach Spring.

16 Then the border went down to the farthest part of the hill located in front of the Ben-Hinnom Valley, north of the Refa'im Valley, south of the Y'vusi; and continued down to 'Ein-Rogel,

17 where it was drawn to the north; then it went on to 'Ein-Shemesh; continued to G'lilot, which is across from Ma'alei-Adumim; went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re'uven;

18 passed alongside the 'Aravah, heading north; and went down to the 'Aravah.

19 Then the border passed alongside Beit-Hoglah, heading north; and the border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the south end of the Yarden; this was the south border.

20 The Yarden was to be its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin, defined by its surrounding borders, according to their families.

21 The cities of the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families were: Yericho, Beit-Hoglah, 'Emek-K'tzitz,

22 Beit-'Aravah, Tz'marayim, Beit-El,

23 'Avim, Parah, 'Ofrah,

24 K'far-Ha'amonah, 'Ofni and Geva - twelve cities, together with their villages.

25 Giv'on, Ramah, Be'erot,

26 Mitzpeh, K'firah, Motzah,

27 Rekem, Yirpe'el, Tar'alah,

28 Tzela, Elef, Y'vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), Giv'at and Kiryat - fourteen cities, together with their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families.

Joshua 19

1 The second lot came out for Shim'on, for the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on according to their families. Their inheritance was inside the inheritance of the descendants of Y'hudah.

2 For their inheritance they had Be'er-Sheva, Sheva, Moladah,

3 Hatzar-Shu'al, Balah, 'Etzem,

4 El-Tolad, B'tul, Hormah,

5 Ziklag, Beit-Markavot, Hatzar-Susah,

6 Beit-L'va'ot and Sharuchen - thirteen cities, together with their villages;

7 'Ayin, Rimmon, 'Eter and 'Ashan - four cities, together with their villages;

8 and all the villages surrounding these cities, as far as Ba'alat-Be'er, Ramah of the Negev. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on according to their families.

9 The inheritance of the descendants of Shim'on was taken out of the allotment for the descendants of Y'hudah, because the portion given to the descendants of Y'hudah was too much for them, so the descendants of Shim'on had an inheritance inside the descendants of Y'hudah.

10 The third lot came up for the descendants of Z'vulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance began at Sarid.

11 Then their border went up westward to Mar'alah, extended to Dabeshet and on to the vadi fronting Yokne'am.

12 Also from Sarid it turned toward the sunrise to the east to the border of Kislot-Tavor, went on to Dovrat and up to Yafia.

13 From there it passed eastward to Gat-Hefer, on to 'Et-Katzin, went out at Rimmon and reached to Ne'ah.

14 Then the border turned on the north side to Hanaton, ending in the Yiftach'el Valley.

15 Also Katat, Nahalal, Shimron, Yid'alah and Beit-Lechem-twelve cities, together with their villages.

16 This is the inheritance of the descendants of Z'vulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

17 The fourth lot came out for Yissakhar, for the descendants of Yissakhar according to their families.

18 Their territory included Yizre'el, K'sulot, Shunem,

19 Hafarayim, Shi'on, Anacharat,

20 Rabit, Kishyon, Evetz,

21 Remet, 'Ein-Ganim, 'Ein-Hadah and Beit-Patzetz.

22 Their territory extended to Tavor, Shachatzimah and Beit-Shemesh; and their territory ended at the Yarden - sixteen cities, together with their villages.

23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Yissakhar according to their families, the cities, with their villages.

24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their families.

25 Their territory included Helkat, Hali, Beten, Akhshaf,

26 Alamelekh, 'Am'ad and Mish'al. It extended to the Karmel on the west and to Shichor-Livnat.

27 The border turned eastward to Beit-Dagon, reached to Z'vulun and the Yiftach'el Valley on its north, then Beit-'Emek and Ne'i'el, went out to Kavul on the left,

28 then 'Evron, Rechov, Hamon, Kanah and on to greater Tzidon.

29 The border turned toward Ramah and the fortified city of Tzor; next the border turned to Hosah; and it ended at the sea from Hevel to Akhziv.

30 Also included were 'Umah, Afek and Rechov - twenty cities, together with their villages.

31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

32 The sixth lot came out for the descendants of Naftali, for the descendants of Naftali according to their families.

33 Their border went from Helef and the oak in Tza'ananim, included Adami-Nekev and Yavne'el, went on to Lakum and ended at the Yarden.

34 Westward the border turned to Aznot-Tavor and went out from there to Hukok, reaching to Z'vulun on the south, Asher on the west and Y'hudah at the Yarden toward the east.

35 The fortified cities were Tzidim, Tzer, Hamat, Rakat, Kinneret,

36 Adamah, Ramah, Hatzor,

37 Kedesh, Edre'i, 'Ein-Hatzor,

38 Yir'on, Migdal-El, Horem, Beit-'Anat and Beit-Shemesh - nineteen cities, together with their villages.

39 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Naftali according to their families, the cities with their villages.

40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families.

41 The territory of their inheritance included Tzor'ah, Eshta'ol, 'Ir-Shemesh,

42 Sha'alabin, Ayalon, Yitlah,

43 Eilon, Timnah, 'Ekron,

44 Elt'keh, Gib'ton, Ba'alat,

45 Y'hud, B'nei-Brak, Gat-Rimmon,

46 Yarkon Springs and Rakon, with the border fronting Yafo.

47 The territory of the descendants of Dan was too small for them, so the descendants of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, defeated it by the sword, took possession of it and lived there, calling Leshem "Dan" after Dan their ancestor.

48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

49 When they had finished distributing the land for inheritance according to its borders, the people of Isra'el gave an inheritance within their territory to Y'hoshua the son of Nun.

50 According to ADONAI's order they gave him the city he had asked for, Timnat-Serach in the hills of Efrayim; so he built up the city and lived in it.

51 These are the inheritances which El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra'el distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before ADONAI at the door of the tent of meeting. Thus they finished dividing up the land.

Job 29

1 Iyov went on speaking:

2 "I wish I were as in the old days, back in the times when God watched over me;

3 when his lamp shone over my head, and I walked through the dark by its light;

4 as I was when I was young, and God's counsel graced my tent.

5 Then Shaddai was still with me, my children were around me;

6 my steps were awash in butter, and the rocks poured out for me streams of olive oil.

7 I would go out to the city gate and set up my seat in the open space;

8 when young men saw me they would hide themselves, while the aged arose and stood;

9 leaders refrained from speaking -they would lay their hands on their mouths;

10 the voices of nobles were silenced; their tongues stuck to their palates.

11 Any ear that heard me blessed me, any eye that saw me gave witness to me,

12 for I delivered the poor when they cried for assistance, the orphan too, who had no one to help him.

13 Those who had been about to die would bless me, and I made widows sing in their hearts for joy.

14 I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed itself with me; my justice was like a robe and a crown.

15 I was eyes for the blind, and I was feet for the lame.

16 I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the problems of those I didn't know.

17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and snatched the prey from his teeth.

18 "I said, 'I will die with my nest, and I will live as long as a phoenix;

19 my root will spread till it reaches water, and dew will stay all night on my branch;

20 my glory will always be fresh, my bow always new in my hand.'

21 "People would listen to me; they waited and were silent when I gave advice.

22 After I spoke, they didn't talk back; my words were like drops [of dew] on them.

23 They waited for me as if for rain, as if for spring rain, with their mouths open wide.

24 When I joked with them, they couldn't believe it; and they never darkened the light on my face.

25 I chose their way [for them], sitting as chief; I lived like a king in the army, like one who comforts mourners.

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 29

Acts 13:26-52; Joshua 20-21; Job 30 CJB

Acts 13:26-52

26 "Brothers! - sons of Avraham and those among you who are 'God-fearers'! It is to us that the message of this deliverance has been sent!

27 For the people living in Yerushalayim and their leaders did not recognize who Yeshua was or understand the message of the Prophets read every Shabbat, so they fulfilled that message by condemning him.

28 They could not find any legitimate ground for a death sentence; nevertheless they asked Pilate to have him executed;

29 and when they had carried out all the things written about him, he was taken down from the stakeq and placed in a tomb.

30 "But God raised him from the dead!

31 He appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim; and they are now his witnesses to the people.

32 "As for us, we are bringing you the Good News that what God promised to the fathers,

33 he has fulfilled for us the children in raising up Yeshua, as indeed it is written in the second Psalm, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'

34 And as for his raising him up from the dead, to return to decay no more, he said, 'I will give the holy and trustworthy things of David to you.'

35 This is explained elsewhere: 'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'

36 For David did indeed serve God's purposes in his own generation; but after that, he died, was buried with his fathers and did see decay.

37 However, the one God raised up did not see decay.

38 "Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this man is proclaimed forgiveness of sins!

39 That is, God clears everyone who puts his trust in this man, even in regard to all the things concerning which you could not be cleared by the Torah of Moshe.

40 "Watch out, then, so that this word found in the Prophets may not happen to you:

41 'You mockers! Look, and marvel, and die! For in your own time, I am doing a work that you simply will not believe, even if someone explains it to you!' "

42 As they left, the people invited Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba to tell them more about these matters the following Shabbat.

43 When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the born Jews and devout proselytes followed Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, who spoke with them and urged them to keep holding fast to the love and kindness of God.

44 The next Shabbat, nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the Lord;

45 but when the Jews who had not believed saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and spoke up against what Sha'ul was saying and insulted him.

46 However, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba answered boldly: "It was necessary that God's word be spoken first to you. But since you are rejecting it and are judging yourselves unworthy of eternal life - why, we're turning to the Goyim!

47 For that is what ADONAI has ordered us to do: 'I have set you as a light for the Goyim, to be for deliverance to the ends of the earth.' "

48 The Gentiles were very happy to hear this. They honored the message about the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life came to trust.

49 And the message about the Lord was carried throughout the whole region.

50 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the women 'God-fearers' of high social standing and the leading men of the city, and they organized persecution against Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba and expelled them from their district.

51 However, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba shook off the dust of their feet against them and went on to Iconium;

52 and the talmidim were filled with joy and with the Ruach HaKodesh.

Joshua 20

1 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua,

2 "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'Select the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moshe;

3 so that anyone who kills someone by mistake and unknowingly may escape there; they will serve as refuges for you from the next-of-kin avenger.

4 He is to flee to one of those cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate and state his cause to the city leaders. Then they will bring him into the city with them and give him a place, so that he may live among them.

5 If the next-of-kin avenger pursues him, they are not to hand over the killer to him; because he struck his fellow community member unknowingly and had not hated him previously.

6 So he will live in that city until he stands trial before the community, until the death of the cohen hagadol who is in office at the time. When that time comes, the killer may return to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.'"

7 So they set apart Kedesh in the Galil, in the hills of Naftali; Sh'khem in the hills of Efrayim; and Kiryat-Arba (that is, Hevron) in the hills of Y'hudah.

8 Beyond the Yarden east of Yericho they selected Betzer in the desert, on the plateau, out of the tribe of Re'uven; Ramot in Gil'ad out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of M'nasheh.

9 These were the cities selected for all the people of Isra'el and for the foreigner living among them, so that anyone who kills any person by mistake could flee there and not die at the hand of the next-of-kin avenger prior to standing trial before the community.

Joshua 21

1 Then the leaders of the ancestral clans of the L'vi'im approached El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun and the leaders of the ancestral clans of the tribes of the people of Isra'el.

2 It was at Shiloh in the land of Kena'an that they spoke to them; they said, "ADONAI ordered through Moshe that we be given cities to live in, with the surrounding open land for our livestock."

3 So out of their inheritance the people of Isra'el gave the L'vi'im the following cities with the surrounding open land:

4 The lot came out for the families of the K'hati. The descendants of Aharon the cohen, who were of the L'vi'im, received by lot thirteen cities from the tribes of Y'hudah, Shim'on and Binyamin.

5 The rest of the descendants of K'hat received by lot ten cities from the families of the tribes of Efrayim and Dan and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.

6 The descendants of Gershon received by lot thirteen cities from the families of the tribes of Yissakhar, Asher, Naftali and the half-tribe of M'nasheh in Bashan.

7 The descendants of M'rari according to their families received twelve cities from the tribes of Re'uven, Gad and Z'vulun.

8 The people of Isra'el gave by lot to the L'vi'im these cities with the surrounding open land, as ADONAI had ordered through Moshe.

9 They gave from the tribe of the descendants of Y'hudah and from the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on these cities here mentioned by name;

10 they were for the descendants of Aharon, of the families of the K'hati, who were among the descendants of Levi; because theirs was the first lot.

11 They gave them: Kiryat-Arba - this Arba was the father of 'Anak - (that is, Hevron), in the hills of Y'hudah, with the surrounding open land;

12 but the fields and villages of the city they gave to Kalev the son of Y'funeh as his possession.

13 Thus to the descendants of Aharon the cohen they gave: Hevron with its surrounding open land, already a city of refuge for the killer; Livnah with its surrounding open land;

14 Yatir with its surrounding open land; Esht'moa with its surrounding open land;

15 Holon with its surrounding open land; D'vir with its surrounding open land;

16 'Ayin with its surrounding open land, Yutah with its surrounding open land and Beit-Shemesh with its surrounding open land - nine cities out of these two tribes.

17 Out of the tribe of Binyamin: Giv'on with its surrounding open land, Geva with its surrounding open land,

18 'Anatot with its surrounding open land and 'Almon with its surrounding open land - four cities.

19 All the cities of the descendants of Aharon, the cohanim, numbered thirteen cities with their surrounding open land.

20 The families of the descendants of K'hat, who were L'vi'im, that is, the rest of the descendants of K'hat, received the cities of their lot. Out of the tribe of Efrayim

21 they gave them: Sh'khem with its surrounding open land, in the hills of Efrayim, the city of refuge for the killer; Gezer with its surrounding open land;

22 Kivtzayim with its surrounding open land and Beit-Horon with its surrounding open land - four cities.

23 Out of the tribe of Dan: Elt'ke with its surrounding open land, Gib'ton with its surrounding open land,

24 Ayalon with its surrounding open land and Gat-Rimmon with its surrounding open land - four cities.

25 Out of the half-tribe of M'nasheh: Ta'nakh with its surrounding open land and Gat-Rimmon with its surrounding open land - two cities.

26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the descendants of K'hat numbered ten with their surrounding open land.

27 To the descendants of Gershon, of the families of the L'vi'im, out of the half-tribe of M'nasheh they gave: Golan in Bashan with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; and B'esht'rah with its surrounding open land - two cities.

28 Out of the tribe of Yissakhar: Kishyon with its surrounding open land, Dovrat with its surrounding open land,

29 Yarmut with its surrounding open land and 'Ein-Ganim with its surrounding open land - four cities.

30 Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its surrounding open land, 'Avdon with its surrounding open land,

31 Helkat with its surrounding open land and Rechov with its surrounding open land - four cities.

32 Out of the tribe of Naftali: Kedesh in the Galil with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; Hammot-Dor with its surrounding open land; and Kartan with its surrounding open land - three cities.

33 All the cities of the Gershuni according to their families were thirteen cities with their surrounding open land.

34 To the families of the descendants of M'rari, the rest of the L'vi'im, out of the tribe of Z'vulun: Yokne'am with its surrounding open land, Kartah with its surrounding open land,

35 Dimnah with its surrounding open land and Nahalal with its surrounding open land - four cities. {

36 Out of the tribe of Re'uven: Betzer with its surrounding open land, Yachtzah with its surrounding open land,

37 K'demot with its surrounding open land and Mefa'at with its surrounding open land - four cities.}

38 Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramot in Gil'ad with its surrounding open land, the city of refuge for the killer; Machanayim with its surrounding open land;

39 Heshbon with its surrounding open land and Ya'zer with its surrounding open land - four cities in all.

40 All these were the cities of the descendants of M'rari according to their families, the rest of the families of the L'vi'im; their lot totaled twelve cities.

41 All the cities of the L'vi'im, forty-eight cities with their surrounding open land, are to be in among the lands possessed by the people of Isra'el -

42 these cities, each with its surrounding open land; thus is it to be with all these cities.

43 So ADONAI gave Isra'el all the land which he swore to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and lived in it.

44 Then ADONAI gave them rest all around, according to everything he had sworn to their ancestors. Not a man from all their enemies stood against them; ADONAI handed all their enemies over to

45 Not one good thing that ADONAI had spoken of to the household of Isra'el failed to happen; it all took place.

Job 30

1 "But now those younger than I hold me in derision, men whose fathers I wouldn't even have put with the dogs that guarded my sheep.

2 What use to me was the strength in their hands? All their vigor had left them.

3 Worn out by want and hunger, they gnaw the dry ground in the gloom of waste and desolation.

4 They pluck saltwort and bitter leaves; these, with broom tree roots, are their food.

5 They are driven away from society, with men shouting after them as after a thief,

6 to live in gullies and vadis, in holes in the ground and caves in the rocks.

7 Among the bushes they howl like beasts and huddle among the nettles,

8 irresponsible nobodies driven from the land.

9 "Now I have become their song; yes, I am a byword with them.

10 They loathe me, they stand aloof from me; they don't hesitate to spit in my face!

11 For God has loosened my bowstring and humbled me; they throw off restraint in my presence.

12 At my right the street urchins attack, pushing me from place to place, besieging me with their ways of destruction,

13 breaking up my path, furthering my calamity -even those who have no one to help them.

14 They move in as through a wide gap; amid the ruin they roll on in waves.

15 Terrors tumble over me, chasing my honor away like the wind; my [hope of] salvation passes like a cloud.

16 "So now my life is ebbing away, days of grief have seized me.

17 At night pain pierces me to the bone, so that I never rest.

18 My clothes are disfigured by the force [of my disease]; they choke me like the collar of my coat.

19 [God] has thrown me into the mud; I have become like dust and ashes.

20 "I call out to you [God], but you don't answer me; I stand up to plead, but you just look at me.

21 You have turned cruelly against me; with your powerful hand you keep persecuting me.

22 You snatch me up on the wind and make me ride it; you toss me about in the tempest.

23 For I know that you will bring me to death, the house assigned to everyone living.

24 "Surely [God] wouldn't strike at a ruin, if in one's calamity one cried out to him for help.

25 Didn't I weep for those who were in trouble? Didn't I grieve for the needy?

26 Yet when I hoped for good, what came was bad; when I expected light, what came was darkness.

27 My insides are in turmoil; they can't find rest; days of misery confront me.

28 I go about in sunless gloom, I rise in the assembly and cry for help.

29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin is black and falling off me, and my bones are burning with heat.

31 So my lyre is tuned for mourning, my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

April 30

Acts 14; Joshua 22; Job 31 CJB

Acts 14

1 In Iconium the same thing happened - they went into the synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greeks came to trust.

2 But the Jews who would not be persuaded stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

3 Therefore, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba remained for a long time, speaking boldly about the Lord, who bore witness to the message about his love and kindness by enabling them to perform signs and miracles.

4 However, the people of the city were divided - some sided with the unbelieving Jews, others with the emissaries.

5 Eventually the unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, together with their leaders, made a move to mistreat the emissaries, even to stone them;

6 but they learned of it and escaped to Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country,

7 where they continued proclaiming the Good News.

8 There was a man living in Lystra who could not use his feet - crippled from birth, he had never walked.

9 This man listened to Sha'ul speaking. Sha'ul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

10 said with a loud voice, "Stand up on your feet!" He jumped up and began to walk.

11 When the crowds saw what Sha'ul had done, they began to shout in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the form of men!"

12 They began calling Bar-Nabba "Zeus" and Sha'ul "Hermes," since he did most of the talking;

13 and the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to them with the people.

14 When the emissaries Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul heard of it, they tore their clothes and ran into the crowd, shouting,

15 "Men! Why are you doing this? We're just men, human like you! We are announcing Good News to you - turn from these worthless things to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them!w

16 In times past, he allowed all peoples to walk in their own ways;

17 yet he did not leave himself without evidence of his nature; because he does good things, giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, filling you with food and your hearts with happiness!"

18 Even saying this barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19 Then some unbelieving Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. They won over the crowds, stoned Sha'ul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.

20 But as the talmidim gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day, he left with Bar-Nabba for Derbe.

21 After proclaiming the Good News in that city and making many people into talmidim, they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,

22 strengthening the talmidim, encouraging them to remain true to the faith, and reminding them that it is through many hardships that we must enter the Kingdom of God.

23 After appointing elders for them in every congregation, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.

24 Passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

25 After speaking the message in Perga, they came down to Attalia; and from there, they sailed back to Antioch,

26 the place where they had been handed over to the care of God for the work which they had now completed.

27 When they arrived, they gathered the Messianic community together and reported what God had done through them, that he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

28 And they stayed for some time there with the talmidim.

Joshua 22

1 Then Y'hoshua called the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M'nasheh,

2 and said to them, "You have done everything Moshe the servant of ADONAI ordered you to do and heeded what I said in all the orders I gave you.

3 All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as ADONAI your God ordered.

4 Now ADONAI your God has given rest to your kinsmen, as he told them he would. So you too, return to your tents in the land which is your possession, which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you beyond the Yarden.

5 Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you - to love ADONAI your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being."

6 Then Y'hoshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

7 (To the one half-tribe of M'nasheh, Moshe had given an inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half, Y'hoshua gave one among their kinsmen on the west side of the Yarden.) When Y'hoshua sent them away to their tents he blessed them,

8 saying, "Return with great riches to your tents - with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron and with great quantities of clothing; share the spoil of your enemies with your kinsmen."

9 So the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh returned; they left the people of Isra'el in Shiloh, in the land of Kena'an, to go to the land of Gil'ad, to the land they were to possess and which they already did possess - according to the order of ADONAI through Moshe.

10 When the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe arrived in the area of the land of Kena'an near the Yarden, they built an altar there by the Yarden, a large, impressive altar.

11 The people of Isra'el heard of it and said, "Look! The descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh have built an altar by the frontier of the land of Kena'an, in the area by the Yarden, on the side that belongs to the people of Isra'el."

12 When the people of Isra'el heard of it, the entire community of Isra'el gathered together in Shiloh to wage war against them.

13 The people of Isra'el sent Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen into the land of Gil'ad to the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.

14 With him were ten leaders, one leader of an ancestral clan for each of the tribes of Isra'el; each one was a head of his ancestral clan among the thousands of Isra'el.

15 They came to the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh in the land of Gil'ad and spoke with them; they said,

16 "Here is what the whole community of ADONAI is saying: 'What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Isra'el, turning away today from following ADONAI, in that you have built yourselves an altar, thus rebelling today against ADONAI?

17 Is the guilt we incurred at P'or not enough for us? We haven't cleansed ourselves from it to this day, even though a plague came on the community of ADONAI.

18 Is this why you have to turn away today from following ADONAI? If you rebel against ADONAI today, he will be angry tomorrow with the whole community of Isra'el.

19 If the land you have taken possession of is unclean, then cross back over into the land which belongs to ADONAI, where the tabernacle of ADONAI is located, and take a possession among us. But don't rebel against ADONAI, and don't rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of ADONAI our God.

20 Didn't Achan the son of Zerach commit a sin in regard to things set aside for destruction, and God's anger fell on the whole community of Isra'el? He was not the only one who died for his crime.'"

21 Then the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh answered the leaders of the thousands of Isra'el:

22 "The Mighty One, God, is ADONAI! He knows, and Isra'el will know - if we acted in rebellion or treachery against ADONAI, don't vindicate us today!

23 We haven't built an altar in order to turn away from following ADONAI or to offer on it burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices as peace offerings. If we have, let ADONAI himself require us to atone for it.

24 Rather, we did this out of anxiety, because we thought, 'Sometime in the future, your descendants might say to our descendants, "You don't have anything to do with ADONAI, the God of Isra'el,

25 because ADONAI made the Yarden the border between us and you, so you descendants of Re'uven and Gad have no share in ADONAI."' In this way your descendants could make our descendants stop fearing ADONAI.

26 So we said, 'Let us now make preparations and build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,

27 but as a witness between us and you, and between our generations who will come after us, so that we may perform the service for ADONAI in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and peace offerings - so that your descendants will not say to our descendants at some future time, "You have no share in ADONAI."'

28 For this reason we said, 'When they accuse us or future generations in this way, we will say, "Look! Here is a replica of the altar of ADONAI which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you."'

29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against ADONAI and turn away today from following ADONAI by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings or sacrifices other than the altar of ADONAI our God which stands in front of his tabernacle!"

30 When Pinchas the cohen and the leaders of the community, the heads of the thousands of Isra'el who were with him, heard what the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M'nasheh said, it satisfied them.

31 Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen said to the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the descendants of M'nasheh, "Today we know that ADONAI is here with us, because you have not committed this treasonous act against ADONAI. Now you have saved the people of Isra'el from the anger of ADONAI."

32 So Pinchas the son of El'azar the cohen and the leaders returned from the descendants of Re'uven and Gad, from the land of Gil'ad to the land of Kena'an and the people of Isra'el, bringing word back to them.

33 What they said satisfied the people of Isra'el. The people of Isra'el blessed God and said no more about going to wage war against the descendants of Re'uven and Gad and destroying the land where they lived.

34 The descendants of Re'uven and Gad called the altar "'Ed [a witness]" between us that ADONAI is God.

Job 31

1 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to let them lust after any girl.

2 "What share does God give from above? What is the heritage from Shaddai on high?

3 Isn't it calamity to the unrighteous? disaster to those who do evil?

4 Doesn't he see my ways and count all my steps?

5 "If I have gone along with falsehood, if my feet have hurried to deceit;

6 then let me be weighed on an honest scale, so that God will know my integrity.

7 "If my steps have wandered from the way, if my heart has followed my eyes, if the least dirt has stuck to my hands;

8 then let me sow and someone else eat, let what grows from my fields be uprooted.

9 "If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;

10 then let my wife grind for another man, and let others kneel on her.

11 For that would be a heinous act, a criminal offense,

12 a fire that would burn to the depths of Abaddon, uprooting all I produce.

13 "If I ever rejected my slave or slave-girl's cause, when they brought legal action against me;

14 then what would I do if God stood up? Were he to intervene, what answer could I give?

15 Didn't he who made me in the womb make them too? Didn't the same one shape us both before our birth?

16 "If I held back anything needed by the poor or made a widow's eye grow dim [with tears],

17 or ate my portion of food by myself, without letting the orphan eat any of it

18 No! From my youth he grew up with me as if with a father, and I have been her guide from my mother's womb!

19 or if I saw a traveler needing clothing, someone in need who had no covering,

20 who didn't bless me from his heart for being warmed with the fleece from my sheep,

21 or if I lifted my hand against an orphan, knowing that no one would dare charge me in court;

22 then let my arm fall from its socket, and let my forearm be broken at the elbow!

23 For calamity from God has always terrified me; before his majesty I could never do a thing [like that].

24 "If I made gold my hope, if I said to fine gold, 'You are my security,'

25 if I took joy in my great wealth, in my having acquired so much;

26 or if, on seeing the shining sun or the full moon as it moved through the sky,

27 my heart was secretly seduced, so that I would wave them a kiss with my hand;

28 then this too would be a criminal offense, for I would have been lying to God on high.

29 "Did I rejoice at the destruction of him who hated me? Was I filled with glee when disaster overtook him?

30 No, I did not allow my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse.

31 "Was there anyone in my tent who didn't say, 'No one can find a single person whom he has not filled with his meat'?

32 No stranger had to sleep in the street; I kept my house open to the traveler.

33 "If I concealed my sins, as most people do, by hiding my wrongdoing in my heart,

34 from fear of general gossip or dread of some family's contempt. keeping silent and not going outdoors

35 I wish I had someone who would listen to me! Here is my signature; let Shaddai answer me! I wish I had the indictment my adversary has written!

36 I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown.

37 I would declare to him every one of my steps; I would approach him like a prince.

38 "If my land cried out against me, if its furrows wept together,

39 if I ate its produce without paying or made its owners despair;

40 then let thistles grow instead of wheat and noxious weeds instead of barley! "The words of Iyov are finished."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

May 1

Acts 15:1-21; Joshua 23-24; Job 32 CJB

Acts 15:1-21

1 But some men came down from Y'hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, "You can't be saved unless you undergo b'rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe."

2 This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha'ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh'eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim.

3 After being sent off by the congregation, they made their way through Phoenicia and Shomron, recounting in detail how the Gentiles had turned to God; and this news brought great joy to all the brothers.

4 On arrival in Yerushalayim, they were welcomed by the Messianic community, including the emissaries and the elders; and they reported what God had done through them.

5 But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P'rushim; and they stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe."

6 The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter.

7 After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, "Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, God chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust.

8 And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us;

9 that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust.

10 So why are you putting God to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear?

11 No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered-and it's the same with them."

12 Then the whole assembly kept still as they listened to Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul tell what signs and miracles God had done through them among the Gentiles.

13 Ya'akov broke the silence to reply. "Brothers," he said, "hear what I have to say.

14 Shim'on has told in detail what God did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim a people to bear his name.

15 And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written,

16 '"After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it,

17 so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, that is, all the Goyim who have been called by my name,"

18 says ADONAI, who is doing these things.' All this has been known for ages.

19 "Therefore, my opinion is that we should not put obstacles in the way of the Goyim who are turning to God.

20 Instead, we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood.

21 For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat."

Joshua 23

1 A long time afterwards, when ADONAI had given Isra'el rest from all their surrounding enemies, and Y'hoshua was old, with age taking its toll,

2 Y'hoshua summoned all Isra'el - their leaders, heads, judges and officials - and said to them, "I am old; age is taking its toll.

3 You have seen everything that ADONAI your God has done to all these nations because of you, for it is ADONAI your God who has fought on your behalf.

4 Here, I have allotted to you land for inheritance according to your tribes between the Yarden and the Great Sea to the west; it includes the land of the nations I have destroyed and the nations which remain

5 ADONAI your God will thrust them out ahead of you and drive them out of your sight, so that you will possess their land, as ADONAI your God told you.

6 "Therefore be very firm about keeping and doing everything written in the book of the Torah of Moshe and not turning aside from it either to the right or to the left.

7 Then you won't become like those nations remaining among you. Don't even mention the name of their gods, let alone have people swear by them, serve them or worship them;

8 but cling to ADONAI your God, as you have done to this day.

9 This is why ADONAI has driven out great, strong nations ahead of you; and it explains why no one has prevailed against you to this day,

10 why one man of you has chased a thousand - it is because ADONAI your God has fought on your behalf, as he said to you.

11 "Therefore take great care to love ADONAI your God.

12 Otherwise, if you retreat and cling to the remnant of these other nations remaining among you, if you make marriages with them and have children with them and they with you,

13 know for certain that ADONAI your God will stop driving out these nations from your sight. Instead, they will become a snare and a trap for you, whipping your sides and pricking your eyes, until you perish from this good land which ADONAI your God has given you.

14 "Today I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore consider in all your heart and being that not one of all the good things ADONAI your God said concerning you has failed to happen; it has all come to pass; nothing of it has failed

15 Nevertheless, just as all the good things ADONAI your God promised you have come upon you, likewise ADONAI will bring upon you all the bad things too, until he has destroyed you from this good land which ADONAI your God has given you.

16 When you violate the covenant of ADONAI your God, which he ordered you to obey, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of ADONAI will blaze up against you; and you will perish quickly from the good land which he has given you!"

Joshua 24

1 Y'hoshua gathered all the tribes of Isra'el to Sh'khem; he summoned the leaders, heads, judges and officials of Isra'el; and they presented themselves before God.

2 Y'hoshua said to all the people, "This is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'In antiquity your ancestors lived on the other side of the [Euphrates] River-Terach the father of Avraham and Nachor-and they served other gods.

3 I took your ancestor Avraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Kena'an, increased his descendants and gave him Yitz'chak.

4 I gave to Yitz'chak Ya'akov and 'Esav. To 'Esav I gave Mount Se'ir as his possession, but Ya'akov and his children went down into Egypt.

5 I sent Moshe and Aharon, I inflicted plagues on Egypt in accordance with what I did among them, and afterwards I brought you out.

6 Yes, I brought your fathers out of Egypt: you arrived at the sea, and the Egyptians were pursuing your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Sea of Suf.

7 But when they cried out to ADONAI, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, overwhelmed them with the sea and drowned them. Your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time.

8 I brought you into the land of the Emori living beyond the Yarden; they fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them ahead of you.

9 Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, rose up and fought against Isra'el. He sent and summoned Bil'am the son of B'or to put a curse on you.

10 But I refused to listen to Bil'am, and he actually blessed you. In this way I rescued you from him.

11 Next you crossed the Yarden and came to Yericho. The men of Yericho fought against you-the Emori, P'rizi, Kena'ani, Hitti, Girgashi, Hivi and Y'vusi - and I handed them over to you.

12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, driving them out from ahead of you, the two kings of the Emori - it wasn't by your sword or your bow.

13 Then I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'

14 "Therefore fear ADONAI, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the [Euphrates]River and in Egypt, and serve ADONAI!

15 If it seems bad to you to serve ADONAI, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve ADONAI!"

16 The people answered, "Far be it from us that we would abandon ADONAI to serve other gods;

17 because it is ADONAI our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery, and did those great signs before our eyes, and preserved us all along the way we traveled and among all the peoples we passed through;

18 and it was ADONAI who drove out from ahead of us all the peoples, the Emori living in the land. Therefore we too will serve ADONAI, for he is our God."

19 Y'hoshua said to the people, "You can't serve ADONAI; because he is a holy God, a jealous God, and he will not forgive your crimes and sins.

20 If you abandon ADONAI and serve foreign gods, he will turn, doing you harm and destroying you after he has done you good."

21 But the people said to Y'hoshua, "No, but we will serve ADONAI."

22 Y'hoshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen ADONAI, to serve him." They answered, "We are witnesses."

23 "Now," Y'hoshua urged, "put away the foreign gods you have among you, and turn your hearts to ADONAI, the God of Isra'el."

24 The people answered Y'hoshua, "We will serve ADONAI our God; we will pay attention to what he says."

25 So Y'hoshua made a covenant with the people that day, laying down for them laws and rulings there in Sh'khem.

26 Y'hoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God. Then he took a big stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of ADONAI.

27 Y'hoshua said to all the people, "See, this stone will be a witness against us; because it has heard all the words of ADONAI which he said to us; therefore it will be a witness against you, in case you deny your God."

28 Then Y'hoshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

29 After this, Y'hoshua the son of Nun, the servant of ADONAI, died; he was 110 years old.

30 They buried him on his property in Timnat-Serach, which is in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga'ash.

31 Isra'el served ADONAI throughout Y'hoshua's lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who outlived Y'hoshua and had known all the deeds that ADONAI had done on behalf of Isra'el.

32 The bones of Yosef, which the people of Isra'el had brought up from Egypt, they buried in Sh'khem, in the parcel of ground which Ya'akov had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Sh'khem for a hundred pieces of silver; and they became a possession of the descendants of Yosef.

33 Finally, El'azar the son of Aharon died; and they buried him on the hill belonging to Pinchas his son, which had been given to him in the hills of Efrayim.

Job 32

1 So these three men stopped trying to answer Iyov, because he remained convinced of his own righteousness.

2 But then the anger of Elihu the son of Barakh'el the Buzi, from the family of Ram, blazed up against Iyov for thinking he was right and God wrong.

3 His anger also blazed up against his three friends, because they had found no answer to Iyov but condemned him anyway.

4 Elihu had waited to speak to Iyov because they were older than he;

5 however, when Elihu saw that these three had no answer, his anger flared up.

6 Elihu the son of Barakh'el the Buzi said: "I am young, and you are old, so I held back from telling you my opinion.

7 I said, 'Age should speak; an abundance of years should teach wisdom.'

8 But it is the spirit in a person, the breath from Shaddai, that gives him understanding -

9 it isn't [only] the great who are wise or the aged who know how to judge.

10 Therefore, I say, listen to me; I too will express my opinion.

11 "Here, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasoning, as you were searching for what to say.

12 I paid attention to you, but none of you convicted Iyov or refuted his arguments.

13 So don't say, 'We found the wise course -Let God defeat him, not a human being.'

14 For he did not direct his words against me, and I won't answer him with your arguments.

15 "They are confused, they don't reply, words have failed them.

16 But must I wait just because they don't speak, just because they stand there, stuck for an answer?

17 No, I will now give my answer; I too will express my opinion.

18 For I am full of words; the spirit within me compels me.

19 Yes, my insides feel like new wine under pressure, like new wineskins ready to burst.

20 I must speak, to find relief; I will open my lips and answer.

21 I will show no favor to anyone, and I will flatter no one;

22 I don't know how to flatter; if I did, my maker would soon put an end to me.

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

May 2

Acts 15:22-41; Judges 1; Job 33 CJB

Acts 15:22-41

22 Then the emissaries and the elders, together with the whole Messianic community, decided to select men from among themselves to send to Antioch with Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba. They sent Y'hudah, called Bar-Sabba, and Sila, both leading men among the brothers,

23 with the following letter: From: The emissaries and the elders, your brothers To: The brothers from among the Gentiles throughout Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings!

24 We have heard that some people went out from among us without our authorization, and that they have upset you with their talk, unsettling your minds.

25 So we have decided unanimously to select men and send them to you with our dear friends Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul,

26 who have dedicated their lives to upholding the name of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

27 So we have sent Y'hudah and Sila, and they will confirm in person what we are writing.

28 For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh and to us not to lay any heavier burden on you than the following requirements:

29 to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will be doing the right thing. Shalom!

30 The messengers were sent off and went to Antioch, where they gathered the group together and delivered the letter.

31 After reading it, the people were delighted by its encouragement.

32 Y'hudah and Sila, who were also prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent off with a greeting of "Shalom!" from the brothers to those who had sent them.

34

35 But Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba stayed in Antioch, where they and many others taught and proclaimed the Good News of the message about the Lord.

36 After some time, Sha'ul said to Bar-Nabba, "Let's go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we proclaimed the message about the Lord, and see how they're doing."

37 Now Bar-Nabba wanted to take with them Yochanan, the one called Mark.

38 But Sha'ul thought it would be unwise to take this man with them, since he had gone off and left them in Pamphylia to do the work by themselves.

39 There was such sharp disagreement over this that they separated from each other, with Bar-Nabba taking Mark and sailing off to Cyprus.

40 However, Sha'ul chose Sila and left, after the brothers had committed him to the love and kindness of the Lord.

41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the congregations.

Judges 1

1 After the death of Y'hoshua, the people of Isra'el asked ADONAI, "Who will go up for us first to fight against the Kena'ani?"

2 ADONAI said: "Y'hudah will go up; here, I have handed the land over to him."

3 Y'hudah said to his brother Shim'on, "Come up with me into my assigned territory, so that we can fight against the Kena'ani; and I likewise will go with you into your territory." So Shim'on went with him.

4 Y'hudah went up; and ADONAI gave the Kena'ani and the P'rizi into their hands; of those in Bezek they killed ten thousand men.

5 They found Adoni-Bezek in Bezek; and they fought against him. They killed the Kena'ani and the P'rizi,

6 but Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

7 Adoni-Bezek said: "Seventy kings, with their thumbs and their big toes cut off, gathered food under my table; God has paid me back in accordance with what I did." They brought him to Yerushalayim, and he died there.

8 Then the people of Y'hudah fought against Yerushalayim, captured it, overpowered it with the sword, and set the city on fire.

9 Afterwards, the people of Y'hudah went down to fight against the Kena'ani who lived in the hill-country, in the Negev, and in the Sh'felah.

10 Y'hudah also attacked the Kena'ani living in Hevron (formerly called Kiryat-Arba), and they overpowered Sheshai, Achiman and Talmai.

11 From there they attacked the inhabitants of D'vir (D'vir was formerly called Kiryat-Sefer).

12 Kalev said: "To whoever overpowers Kiryat-Sefer and captures it I will give my daughter 'Akhsah as his wife."

13 'Otni'el the son of K'naz, Kalev's younger brother, captured it; so he gave him 'Akhsah his daughter as his wife.

14 After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, "What do you want?"

15 She said to him: "Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water." So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs.

16 Next, the descendants of the Keini, Moshe's father-in-law, went up out of the City of Date-Palms with the people of Y'hudah into the Y'hudah Desert south of 'Arad; and they came and settled with the people.

17 Y'hudah went with Shim'on his brother; they overpowered the Kena'ani who inhabited Tz'fat, and completely destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.

18 Y'hudah also took 'Azah with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory and 'Ekron with its territory.

19 ADONAI was with Y'hudah, and they took possession of the hill-country, because they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, since they had iron chariots.

20 They gave Hevron to Kalev, as Moshe had said to do; and he drove out from there the three sons of 'Anak.

21 The people of Binyamin did not drive out the Y'vusi who inhabited Yerushalayim; rather, the Y'vusi continued living with the people of Binyamin in Yerushalayim, as they do to this day.

22 The house of Yosef likewise attacked Beit-El; and ADONAI was with them.

23 The house of Yosef sent spies to Beit-El (the city was formerly called Luz).

24 The spies saw a man coming out of the city and said to him: "Please show us the way to enter the city, and we will treat you kindly."

25 So he showed them the way into the city, and they overpowered the city with the sword, but they let the man and all his family go free.

26 He went into the land of the Hittim, built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

27 M'nasheh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Sh'an and its villages, Ta'anakh and its villages, Dor and its villages, Yivle'am and its villages or Megiddo and its villages; so that the Kena'ani managed to keep on living in that land.

28 In time, when Isra'el had grown strong, they did put the Kena'ani to forced labor but failed to drive them out completely.

29 Efrayim did not drive out the Kena'ani living in Gezer; so the Kena'ani continued living in Gezer along with them.

30 Z'vulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or Nahalol; so the Kena'ani continued to live among them but became subject to forced labor.

31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of 'Akko, Tzidon, Achlav, Akhziv, Helbah, Afik or Rechov;

32 so the Asheri lived among the Kena'ani who were living in the land, because they didn't drive them out.

33 Naftali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh or Beit-'Anat but lived among the Kena'ani living in the land; however, the inhabitants of Beit-Shemesh and Beit-'Anat became forced labor for them.

34 The Emori forced the people of Dan into the hills; for they would not let them come down to the valley.

35 The Emori had resolved to live in the Heres Hills, in Ayalon and in Sha'alvim; but when the power of the house of Yosef grew greater, they became subject to forced labor.

36 So the territory of the Emori was from the Scorpion Ascent and the Rock upward.

Job 33

1 "So, Iyov, please, hear my speech; listen to all my words.

2 Look, I am opening my mouth; the words are on the tip of my tongue.

3 I will say exactly what is on my mind; what my lips know, they will speak sincerely.

4 It is the Spirit of God that made me, the breath of Shaddai that gives me life.

5 So refute me, if you can; organize your words, take your stand!

6 Look, before God I'm the same as you; I too am fashioned from clay.

7 You don't need to be afraid of me; my pressure on you will not be heavy.

8 "You spoke within my hearing, and I heard what you said -

9 'I am clean, without transgression; I am innocent, not guilty.

10 Yet [God] finds pretexts for accusing me; he regards me as his enemy.

11 He puts my feet in the stocks and watches wherever I go.'

12 "But in this, you are wrong; I will answer you: God is greater than any mortal.

13 Why do you strive against him? He will not defend his words

14 God speaks once, even twice, and still the hearer misses the point.

15 "In a dream, in a vision at night, when slumber falls upon people, as they sleep in their beds,

16 he opens people's ears and seals the matter with a warning,

17 to turn a person away from his action and protect a man from pride,

18 so that he will keep himself away from the pit and from perishing by the sword.

19 "He is also warned by pain when in bed, when all his bones are hurting;

20 so that he detests bread as well as richer food.

21 His flesh wastes away, till one can't stand to look; his bones protrude and become unsightly.

22 His soul comes close to the pit and his life to those who bring death.

23 "If there is for him an angel, a mediator, one among a thousand, who can vouch for the man's uprightness;

24 then [God] is gracious to him and says, 'Redeem him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.'

25 His flesh becomes fresher than that of a child, he returns to the days of his youth.

26 He prays to God and is accepted by him, so that he sees [God's] face with joy, and [God] repays the man for his righteousness.

27 He declares before everyone, 'I sinned; I perverted what was right, and it gained me nothing.

28 [God] redeemed me from going into the pit, and now my life sees light.'

29 God will accomplish all these things twice, even three times, with a man,

30 to bring him back from the pit, so that he can enjoy the light of the living.

31 "Pay attention, Iyov, listen to me; keep quiet, and I will keep speaking.

32 If you have something to say, answer me; speak, because I want to show that you are right.

33 If not, then listen to me; keep quiet, and I will teach you wisdom."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

May 3

Acts 16:1-15; Judges 2-3; Job 34 CJB

Acts 16:1-15

1 Sha'ul came down to Derbe and went on to Lystra, where there lived a talmid named Timothy. He was the son of a Jewish woman who had come to trust, and a Greek father.

2 All the brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy.

3 Sha'ul wanted Timothy to accompany him; so he took him and did a b'rit-milah, because of the Jews living in those areas; for they all knew that his father had been a Greek.

4 As they went on through the towns, they delivered to the people the decisions reached by the emissaries and the elders in Yerushalayim for them to observe.

5 Accordingly, the congregations were strengthened in the faith and increased in number day by day.

6 They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Ruach HaKodesh from speaking the message in the province of Asia.

7 When they came to the frontier of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit of Yeshua would not let them.

8 So, after passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

9 There a vision appeared to Sha'ul at night. A man from Macedonia was standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"

10 As soon as he had seen the vision, we lost no time getting ready to leave for Macedonia; for we concluded that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.

11 Sailing from Troas, we made a straight run to Samothrace; the next day we went to Neapolis;

12 and from there, we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that part of Macedonia. We spent a few days in this city;

13 then on Shabbat, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we understood a minyan met. We sat down and began speaking to the women who had gathered there.

14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in fine purple cloth. She was already a "God-fearer," and the Lord opened up her heart to respond to what Sha'ul was saying.

15 After she and the members of her household had been immersed, she gave us this invitation: "If you consider me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she insisted till we went.

Judges 2

1 Now the angel of ADONAI came up from Gilgal to Bokhim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt, led you to the land I swore to your fathers and said, 'I will never break my covenant with you;

2 you, for your part, are not to make any covenant with the inhabitants of this land but must tear down their altars.' However, you have paid no attention to what I said. What is this you have done?

3 This is why I also said, 'I will not drive them out before you; but they will be on your flanks, and their gods will become a snare for you.'"

4 When the angel of ADONAI spoke these words to all the people of Isra'el, they began crying and wailing at the top of their voices.

5 So they called the name of that place Bokhim [crying] and sacrificed there to ADONAI.

6 When Y'hoshua had sent the people away, the people of Isra'el had gone each one to his assigned property in order to take possession of the land.

7 The people served ADONAI throughout Y'hoshua's life and throughout the lives of all the older men who outlived Y'hoshua and who had seen all the great work of ADONAI which he had done for Isra'el.

8 When Y'hoshua the son of Nun, the servant of ADONAI, died, he was 110 years old;

9 and they buried him near the boundary of his property in Timnat-Heres, in the hills of Efrayim, north of Mount Ga'ash.

10 When that entire generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation arose that knew neither ADONAI nor the work he had done for Isra'el.

11 Then the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective and served the ba'alim.

12 They abandoned ADONAI, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, selected from the gods of the peoples around them, and worshipped them; this made ADONAI angry.

13 They abandoned ADONAI and served Ba'al and the 'ashtarot.

14 The anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el; and he handed them over to pillagers, who plundered them, and to their enemies around them; so that they could no longer resist their enemies.

15 Whenever they launched an attack, the power of ADONAI was against them, so that things turned out badly - just as ADONAI had said would happen and had sworn to them. They were in dire distress.

16 But then ADONAI raised up judges, who rescued them from the power of those who were plundering them.

17 Yet they did not pay attention to their judges, but made whores of themselves to other gods and worshipped them; they quickly turned away from the path on which their ancestors had walked, the way of obeying ADONAI's mitzvot - they failed to do this.

18 When ADONAI raised up judges for them, ADONAI was with the judge and delivered them from the hands of their enemies throughout the lifetime of the judge; for ADONAI was moved to pity by their groaning under those oppressing and crushing them.

19 But after the judge died, they would relapse into worse behavior than that of their ancestors, following other gods to serve and worship them; they abandoned none of their practices or stubborn ways.

20 So the anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el; he said, "Because this nation violates my covenant, which I ordered their fathers to obey; and they don't pay attention to what I say;

21 in the future, I will not expel ahead of them any of the nations that Y'hoshua left when he died.

22 This is how I will test Isra'el, to see whether or not they will keep the way of ADONAI, living according to it, as their ancestors did."

23 So ADONAI allowed those nations to remain where they were, without quickly driving them out; he did not hand them over to Y'hoshua.

Judges 3

1 These are the nations which ADONAI allowed to remain, in order to put to the test all the people of Isra'el who had not known any of the wars with Kena'an.

2 This was only so that the generations of Isra'el who had previously known nothing of war might learn about it.

3 These nations consisted of the five chiefs of the P'lishtim, all the Kena'ani, the Tzidoni, and the Hivi who lived in the hills of the L'vanon between Mount Ba'al-Hermon and the entrance to Hamat.

4 They stayed there to test whether Isra'el would pay attention to the mitzvot of ADONAI, which, through Moshe, he had ordered their ancestors to obey.

5 So the people of Isra'el lived among the Kena'ani, Hitti, Emori, P'rizi, Hivi and Y'vusi;

6 taking their daughters as their wives, giving their own daughters to their sons and serving their gods.

7 Thus the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, forgot ADONAI their God, and served the ba'alim and asherim.

8 Therefore the anger of ADONAI blazed against Isra'el, and he gave them over into the hands of Kushan-Rish'atayim king of Aram-Naharayim; and the people of Isra'el served Kushan-Rish'atayim eight years.

9 But when the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, ADONAI raised up a savior for the people of Isra'el; and he rescued them; this was 'Otni'el, the son of Kalev's younger brother K'naz.

10 The spirit of ADONAI came upon him, and he judged Isra'el. Then he went out to war, and ADONAI gave Kushan-Rish'atayim king of Aram into his hands; his power prevailed against Kushan-Rish'atayim.

11 So the land had rest for forty years, until 'Otni'el the son of K'naz died.

12 But the people of Isra'el again did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI strengthened 'Eglon the king of Mo'av against Isra'el, because they had done what was evil from ADONAI's perspective.

13 In confederation with the people of 'Amon and 'Amalek, 'Eglon went out and defeated Isra'el, capturing the City of Date-Palms;

14 and the people of Isra'el served 'Eglon the king of Mo'av eighteen years.

15 But when the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, ADONAI raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, from the tribe of Binyamin, a left-handed man. The people of Isra'el appointed him to take their tribute to 'Eglon the king of Mo'av.

16 Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long and strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes.

17 Then he presented the tribute to 'Eglon king of Mo'av. Now 'Eglon was a very fat man.

18 When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had brought it.

19 But he himself, after reaching the quarries at Gilgal, went back and said, "King, I have a secret message for you." The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew.

20 Ehud came to him; he was sitting alone by himself in his upstairs room, where it was cool. Ehud said: "I have a message from God for you." As the king arose from his seat,

21 Ehud reached out with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into the king's belly.

22 The hilt too went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, so that it came out behind.

23 Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shut the doors of the upstairs room behind him and locked them.

24 After Ehud had left, the king's servants came. Seeing that the doors of the upper room were locked, they said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool room."

25 They waited until they became embarrassed, but he still didn't open the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened them; and there before them lay their master, dead on the ground.

26 But while they were delaying, Ehud escaped- he passed beyond the quarries and arrived safely in Se'irah.

27 Upon arrival in the hills of Efrayim, he began sounding the call on the shofar; and the people of Isra'el went down with him from the hill-country; he himself took the lead.

28 He said to them: "Follow me, because ADONAI has given your enemy Mo'av into your hands. They went down after him, seized the fords of the Yarden opposite Mo'av and permitted no one to cross.

29 On that occasion they defeated Mo'av, some ten thousand men, all tough, experienced soldiers; not one of them escaped.

30 Thus was Mo'av subdued that day under the power of Isra'el. Then the land had rest for eighty years.

31 After Ehud came Shamgar the son of 'Anat, who killed 600 P'lishtim with an oxgoad; and he too rescued Isra'el.

Job 34

1 Elihu continued speaking:

2 "Hear my words, you sages! Listen to me, you who know so much!

3 For the ear tests words, just as the palate tastes food.

4 Let's choose for ourselves what is just; let's decide among ourselves what is good.

5 For Iyov says, 'I am in the right, but God is denying me justice.

6 Against justice, I am considered a liar; my wound is mortal, though I committed no crime.'

7 "Is there a man like Iyov, who drinks in scoffing like water,

8 who keeps company with evildoers and goes with wicked men,

9 since he thinks, 'It profits a person nothing to be in accord with God'?

10 "So listen to me, you men with sense! Far be it from God to do anything wicked!

11 For he pays people back for what they do and sees that each gets what his conduct deserves.

12 It is certain that God does nothing wicked; Shaddai will not pervert justice.

13 Did someone else put him in charge of the earth? Who else established the entire world?

14 If he were to take back man's heart to himself, if he gathered to himself his spirit and breath;

15 all flesh would instantly perish, everyone would return to dust.

16 "If you have any sense, [Iyov,] hear this; listen to what I am saying.

17 Should a hater of justice be in control? If you wouldn't tell a king, 'You're a scoundrel!'or nobles, 'You are wicked men!'then you shouldn't condemn the Just and Mighty One,

18

19 who is neither partial toward princes nor favors the rich over the poor, since they all are the work of his hands.

20 They may die in a moment, in the middle of the night -the people are shaken and pass away, the mighty are removed without human hands.

21 For he keeps watch on a person's ways; he sees his every step.

22 There is no darkness, no death-like gloom, where wrongdoers can hide;

23 for he doesn't give warning to people when they must appear before God in judgment.

24 He shatters the mighty without needing to investigate and sets up others in their place.

25 Therefore, aware of what they are doing, he overturns them by night, and they are crushed.

26 He strikes them as if they were common criminals in the open sight of others,

27 because they turned away from following him and gave no thought to any of his ways,

28 thereby bringing before him the cries of the poor; and he hears the cries of the oppressed.

29 "But if God is silent, who can accuse him; if he hides his face, who can see him? He may do this to nations and persons alike,

30 so that godless men will not become kings, and the people will not be lured into traps.

31 "For has anyone said to God, 'I have been chastised without having offended;

32 teach me what I have failed to see; and if I have done wrong, I will do it no more'?

33 Must his rewards meet your approval? Well, you are the one who doesn't like them, so you, not I, should pick the alternative; come on, say what you think!

34 Intelligent people will tell me, every wise man who hears me will say,

35 'Iyov is speaking without thinking; his words lack discernment.'

36 "I wish Iyov would be kept on trial forever, because he answers like wicked men.

37 For now to his sin he adds rebellion; he [mockingly] claps his hands among us and keeps adding to his words against God."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

May 4

Acts 16:16-40; Judges 4-5; Job 35 CJB

Acts 16:16-40

16 Once, when we were going to the place where the minyan gathered, we were met by a slave girl who had in her a snake-spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes.

17 This girl followed behind Sha'ul and the rest of us and kept screaming, "These men are servants of God Ha'Elyon! They're telling you how to be saved!"

18 She kept this up day after day, until Sha'ul, greatly disturbed, turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Yeshua the Messiah, I order you to come out of her!" And the spirit did come out, at that very moment.

19 But when her owners saw that what had come out was any further prospect of profit for them, they seized Sha'ul and Sila and dragged them to the market square to face the authorities.

20 Bringing them to the judges, they said, "These men are causing a lot of trouble in our city, since they are Jews.

21 What they are doing is advocating customs that are against the law for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans."

22 The mob joined in the attack against them, and the judges tore their clothes off them and ordered that they be flogged.

23 After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely.

24 Upon receiving such an order, he threw them into the inner cell and clamped their feet securely between heavy blocks of wood.

25 Around midnight, Sha'ul and Sila were praying and singing hymns to God, while the other prisoners listened attentively.

26 Suddenly there was a violent earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose.

27 The jailer awoke, and when he saw the doors open he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, for he assumed that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Sha'ul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We're all here!"

29 Calling for lights, the jailer ran in, began to tremble and fell down in front of Sha'ul and Sila.

30 Then, leading them outside, he said, "Men, what must I do to be saved?"

31 They said, "Trust in the Lord Yeshua, and you will be saved - you and your household!"

32 Whereupon they told him and everyone in his household the message about the Lord.

33 Then, even at that late hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed off their wounds; and without delay, he and all his people were immersed.

34 After that, he brought them up to his house and set food in front of them; and he and his entire household celebrated their having come to trust in God.

35 The next morning, the judges sent police officers with the order, "Release those men."

36 The jailer told Sha'ul, "The judges have sent word to release both of you. So come out, and go on your way in peace."

37 But Sha'ul said to the officers, "After flogging us in public when we hadn't been convicted of any crime and are Roman citizens, they threw us in prison. Now they want to get rid of us secretly? Oh, no! Let them come and escort us out themselves!"

38 The officers reported these words to the judges, who became frightened when they heard that Sha'ul and Sila were Roman citizens.

39 They came and apologized to them; then, after escorting them out, requested them to leave the city.

40 From the prison they went to Lydia's house, and after seeing and encouraging the brothers they departed.

Judges 4

1 But after Ehud had died, the people of Isra'el again did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective.

2 So ADONAI handed them over to Yavin king of Kena'an. He ruled from Hatzor; and the commander of his army was Sisra, who lived in Haroshet-HaGoyim.

3 The people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI, because he had 900 iron chariots, and for twenty years he cruelly oppressed the people of Isra'el.

4 Now D'vorah, a woman and a prophet, the wife of Lapidot, was judging Isra'el at that time.

5 She used to sit under D'vorah's Palm between Ramah and Beit-El, in the hills of Efrayim; and the people of Isra'el would come to her for judgment.

6 She sent for Barak the son of Avino'am, from Kedesh in Naftali, and said to him: "ADONAI has given you this order: 'Go, march to Mount Tavor, and take with you 10,000 men from the people of Naftali and Z'vulun.

7 I will cause Sisra, the commander of Yavin's army, to encounter you at the Kishon River with his chariots and troops; and I will hand him over to you.'"

8 Barak answered her: "If you go with me, I'll go; but if you won't go with me, I won't go."

9 She replied, "Yes, I will gladly go with you; but the way you are doing it will bring you no glory; because ADONAI will hand Sisra over to a woman." Then D'vorah set out and went with Barak to Kedesh.

10 Barak summoned Z'vulun and Naftali to come to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him, and D'vorah went up with him.

11 Now Hever the Keini had cut himself off from the rest of Kayin, the descendants of Hovav Moshe's father-in-law; he had pitched his tent near the oak at Tza'ananim, which is close to Kedesh.

12 Sisra was informed that Barak the son of Avino'am had gone up to Mount Tavor.

13 So Sisra rallied his chariots, all 900 iron chariots, and all the troops he had with him, from Haroshet-HaGoyim to the Kishon River.

14 D'vorah said to Barak: "Get going! This is the day when ADONAI will hand Sisra over to you! ADONAI has gone out ahead of you!" So Barak went down from Mount Tavor with 10,000 men following him;

15 and ADONAI threw Sisra, all his chariots and his entire army into a panic before Barak's sword; so that Sisra got down from his chariot and fled on foot.

16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army all the way to Haroshet-HaGoyim. Sisra's entire army was put to the sword; not one man was left.

17 However, Sisra ran on foot to the tent of Ya'el the wife of Hever the Keini, because there was peace between Yavin the king of Hatzor and the family of Hever the Keini.

18 Ya'el went out to meet Sisra and said to him, "Come in, my lord; stay here with me; and don't be afraid." So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

19 He said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink - I'm thirsty." She opened a goatskin of milk, gave him some to drink, and covered him up again.

20 He said to her, "Stand at the entrance to the tent; and if anyone asks you if somebody is here, say, 'No.'"

21 But when he was deeply asleep, Ya'el the wife of Hever took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand, crept in to him quietly and drove the tent peg into his temple, right through to the ground; so that he died without waking up.

22 So here is Barak pursuing Sisra, and Ya'el steps out to meet him and says, "Come, I will show you the man you are looking for." He goes into her tent; and there is Sisra, lying dead with the tent peg through his temple.

23 Thus God on that day defeated Yavin the king of Kena'an in the presence of the people of Isra'el.

24 The hand of the people of Isra'el came down more and more heavily against Yavin the king of Kena'an, until they had completely destroyed Yavin the king of Kena'an.

Judges 5

1 On that day D'vorah and Barak the son of Avino'am sang this song:

2 "When leaders in Isra'el dedicate themselves, and the people volunteer, you should all bless ADONAI.

3 Hear, kings; listen, princes; I will sing to ADONAI! I will sing praise to ADONAI the God of Isra'el.

4 "ADONAI, when you went out from Se'ir, when you marched out from the field of Edom; the earth quaked, and the sky shook; yes, the clouds poured down torrents.

5 The mountains melted at the presence of ADONAI, at Sinai, before ADONAI the God of Isra'el.

6 "In the days of Shamgar the son of 'Anat, in the days of Ya'el, the main roads were deserted; travelers walked the byways.

7 The rulers ceased in Isra'el, they ceased, until you arose, D'vorah, arose a mother in Isra'el.

8 "They chose new gods when war was at the gates. Was there a shield or spear to be seen among Isra'el's forty thousand men?

9 My heart goes out to Isra'el's leaders and to those among the people who volunteer. All of you, bless ADONAI.

10 "You who ride white donkeys, sitting on soft saddle-blankets, and you walking on the road, talk about it!

11 Louder than the sound of archers at the watering-holes will they sound as they retell the righteous acts of ADONAI, the righteous acts of his rulers in Isra'el. "Then ADONAI's people marched down to the gates.

12 "Awake, awake, D'vorah! Awake, awake, break into song! Arise, Barak! Lead away your captives, son of Avino'am!

13 "Then a remnant of the nobles marched down; the people of ADONAI marched down to me like warriors.

14 From Efrayim came those rooted in 'Amalek. Behind you, Binyamin is with your peoples. From Makhir the commanders marched down, and from Z'vulun those holding the musterer's staff.

15 The princes of Yissakhar were with D'vorah, Yissakhar, along with Barak; into the valley they rushed forth behind him. Among the divisions of Re'uven they made great resolutions in their hearts.

16 But why did you stay at the pens for the sheep, and listen to the shepherd's flute playing for the flocks? Concerning the divisions of Re'uven there were great searchings of heart.

17 Gil'ad lives beyond the Yarden. Dan - why does he stay by the ships? Asher stayed by the shore of the sea, remaining near its bays.

18 The people of Z'vulun risked their lives, Naftali too, on the open heights.

19 "Kings came; they fought. Yes, the kings of Kena'an fought at Ta'anakh, by the waters of Megiddo; but they took no spoil of silver.

20 They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses; yes, they fought against Sisra.

21 The Kishon River swept them away, that ancient river, the Kishon River. O my soul, march on with strength!

22 Then the horses' hoofs pounded the ground, their mighty steeds galloping at full speed.

23 "'Curse Meroz!' said the angel of ADONAI, 'Curse the people living there with a bitter punishment for not coming to help ADONAI, to help ADONAI against the mighty warriors.'

24 "Ya'el will be blessed more than all women. The wife of Hever the Keini will be blessed more than any woman in the tent.

25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk; In an elegant bowl she brought him curds.

26 Then she took a tent peg in her left hand and a workman's hammer in her right; with the hammer she struck Sisra, pierced his skull, yes, she shattered and crushed his temple.

27 He sank down at her feet, he fell and lay there; he sank at her feet, he fell - where he sank down, there he fell dead.

28 "Sisra's mother looks out the window; peering out through the lattice she wonders, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are his horses so slow to return?'

29 The wisest of her ladies answer her, and she repeats it to herself,

30 'Of course! They're collecting and dividing the spoil a girl, two girls for every warrior, for Sisra booty of dyed clothing, a plunder of colorfully embroidered garments, two embroidered scarves for every soldier's neck.'

31 "May all your enemies perish like this, ADONAI; but may those who love him be like the sun going forth in its glory!" Then the land had rest for forty years.

Job 35

1 Elihu went on to say:

2 "Are you so convinced you are right, that you say, 'I am more just than God'?

3 For you ask what advantage it is to you, 'How do I gain from not sinning?'

4 "Here is my answer to you, to you and to your friends:

5 Look at the heavens and see; observe the skies, high above you.

6 If you sin, how do you hurt him? If your crimes are many, how do you affect him?

7 If you are righteous, what do you give him? What benefit does he get from you?

8 Your wickedness can affect only others like you, and your righteousness only other human beings.

9 People cry out from under many oppressions; they cry for help from under the fist of the mighty.

10 But no one asks, 'Where is God my maker, who causes glad songs to ring out at night,

11 who teaches us more than he teaches wild animals and makes us wiser than the birds in the air?'

12 They may cry out, but no one answers, because of evil men's pride.

13 For God will not listen to empty cries; Shaddai pays no attention to them.

14 All the more when you say that you don't see him! Just be patient; he's considering the matter.

15 But now, just because he doesn't get angry and punish, does it mean he doesn't know what arrogance is?

16 So Iyov is being futile when he opens his mouth; he is piling up words without knowledge."

[phkrause]

Today's Bible Reading

May 5

Acts 17:1-15; Judges 6; Job 36 CJB

Acts 17:1-15

1 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Sha'ul and Sila came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue.

2 According to his usual practice, Sha'ul went in; and on three Shabbats he gave them drashes from the Tanakh,

3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and that "this Yeshua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah."

4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and threw in their lot with Sha'ul and Sila, as did a great many of the Greek men who were "God-fearers," and not a few of the leading women.

5 But the unbelieving Jews grew jealous; so they got together some vicious men from the riffraff hanging around in the market square, collected a crowd and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason's house, hoping to bring Sha'ul and Sila out to the mob.

6 But when they didn't find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city authorities and shouted, "These men who have turned the whole world upside down have come here too!

7 And Jason has let them stay in his home! All of them are defying the decrees of the Emperor; because they assert that there is another king, Yeshua!"

8 Their words threw the crowd and the authorities into a turmoil,

9 so that only after Jason and the others had posted bond did they let them go.

10 But as soon as night fell, the brothers sent Sha'ul and Sila off to Berea. As soon as they arrived, they went to the synagogue.

11 Now the people here were of nobler character than the ones in Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh every day to see if the things Sha'ul was saying were true.

12 Many of them came to trust, as did a number of prominent Greek women and not a few Greek men.

13 But when the unbelieving Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Sha'ul in Berea as well, they went there too to make trouble and agitate the crowds.

14 The brothers sent Sha'ul away at once to go down to the seacoast, while Sila and Timothy stayed behind.

15 Sha'ul's escort went with him as far as Athens, then left with instructions for Sila and Timothy to come as quickly as they could.

Judges 6

1 But the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI handed them over to Midyan for seven years.

2 Midyan exercised its power harshly against Isra'el, and because of Midyan the people of Isra'el hid themselves in mountains, in caves and in other safe places.

3 One time, after Isra'el's sowing season, Midyan, with 'Amalek and others from the east, attacked them.

4 They set up camp by them and destroyed the produce of the country all the way to 'Azah; they left nothing for people to live on, no sheep, no oxen, no donkeys.

5 For they came up with their cattle and tents, and they came in as thick as locusts; both they and their camels were beyond numbering, and they came into the land to destroy it.

6 Isra'el became very discouraged because of Midyan, and the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI.

7 When the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI because of Midyan,

8 ADONAI sent a prophet to the people of Isra'el, who said to them: "ADONAI the God of Isra'el says, 'I brought you up from Egypt, out of a life of slavery.

9 I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all your oppressors. I drove them out ahead of you and gave you their land.

10 And I said to you: "I am ADONAI your God; you are not to be afraid of the gods of the Emori in whose land you are living." But you paid no attention to what I said!'"

11 Then the angel of ADONAI came and sat under the pistachio tree in 'Ofrah that belonged to Yo'ash the Avi'ezri. His son Gid'on was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from Midyan.

12 The angel of ADONAI appeared to him and said to him: "You valiant hero! ADONAI is with you!"

13 "Excuse me, sir," answered Gid'on, "but if ADONAI is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Didn't ADONAI bring us up from Egypt?' For now ADONAI has abandoned us and handed us over to Midyan."

14 ADONAI turned to him and said, "Go in this strength of yours and save Isra'el from the hands of Midyan. Haven't I sent you?"

15 But Gid'on answered him, "Forgive me, my Lord, but with what am I to save Isra'el? Why, my family is the poorest in M'nasheh, and I'm the youngest person in my father's house!"

16 ADONAI said to him, "Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man."

17 Gid'on replied, "If indeed you favor me, would you mind giving me a sign that it is really you talking with me?

18 Please don't leave until I go and return with a gift and present it to you." He replied, "I'll wait till you come back."

19 Gid'on went in, cooked a young goat and made matzot from a bushel of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them out to him under the pistachio tree and presented them.

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and matzot, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." Gid'on did so.

21 Then the angel of ADONAI reached out with the stick he was holding, touched the meat and matzot, and fire shot up out of the rock and burned up the meat and matzot. Then the angel of ADONAI disappeared before his eyes.

22 Gid'on realized that he was the angel of ADONAI and said, "Oh no! My Lord! ADONAI! Because I've seen the angel of ADONAI face-to-face!"

23 But ADONAI reassured him, "Shalom to you, don't be afraid, you won't die!"

24 Then Gid'on built an altar there to ADONAI and called it "ADONAI-Shalom"; to this day it remains in 'Ofrah of the Avi'ezri.

25 That very night ADONAI said to him, "Take your father's bull and the other bull, the seven-year-old. Destroy the altar to Ba'al that belongs to your father, cut down the sacred pole next to it,

26 and build a proper altar to ADONAI your God on top of this strong-point. Then take the second bull; and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred pole you cut down."

27 Gid'on took ten of his servants and did what ADONAI had told him to do. He didn't do it by day, because he was afraid of the men in his father's household and those from the city, so he did it at night.

28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, there was the altar of Ba'al destroyed, the sacred pole cut down, and the second bull a burnt offering on the newly built altar.

29 They asked each other, "Who could have done this?" But after investigating, they concluded that Gid'on the son of Yo'ash had done it.

30 "Bring out your son," the men of the city demanded of Yo'ash, "so that he may die, because he destroyed the altar of Ba'al and cut down the sacred pole next to it!"

31 But Yo'ash said to all those crowding around him, "You're defending Ba'al, are you? It's your job to save him? Anyone who defends Ba'al will be put to death before morning! If he's a god, let him defend himself! After all, somebody destroyed his altar!"

32 Therefore on that day Gid'on was given the name Yeruba'al [let Ba'al defend], because they said, "Let Ba'al defend himself against him, since he destroyed his altar."

33 Now all Midyan, 'Amalek and the others from the east joined forces, crossed the Yarden, and set up camp in the Yizre'el Valley.

34 But the Spirit of ADONAI covered Gid'on. He sounded the call on the shofar, and Avi'ezer rallied behind him.

35 He sent messengers throughout all M'nasheh, and they too rallied behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Z'vulun and Naftali; and they came up to join them.

36 Gid'on said to God, "If you are going to save Isra'el through me, as you said you would,

37 then, here: I will lay a wool fleece on the threshing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, while all the ground stays dry, I will be convinced that you will save Isra'el through me, as you said you would."

38 And it happened! He got up early in the morning, pressed the fleece together and wrung dew out of it, a bowlful of water.

39 But Gid'on said to God, "Don't be angry with me because I am asking one more thing, let me make one more test, please: this time let it be dry only on the fleece, with dew all over the ground."

40 And that is what God did that night - it was dry only on the fleece, even though there was dew all over the ground.

Job 36

1 Elihu added:

2 "Bear with me a little, and I will show you that there is more to say on God's behalf.

3 I may search far and wide for my arguments, but I will ascribe righteousness to God my maker.

4 For the fact is that my words are true; you have with you a man whose views are pure.

5 "Look, God is powerful and despises no one, powerful in his strength of understanding.

6 He does not preserve the lives of the wicked, but he gives justice to the poor.

7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous; but when he sets kings on their throne forever, they may become proud;

8 if, then, they are bound in chains, held in oppressive cords,

9 he shows them the results of their doings, the crimes caused by their pride.

10 He sounds a warning in their ears and orders them to repent of their evil.

11 "If they pay attention and obey him, they spend their days in prosperity; their years pass pleasantly.

12 But if they don't pay attention, they perish by the sword and die without learning their lesson.

13 The godless in heart cherish their anger, not crying for help when he binds them.

14 Their soul perishes in their youth, and their life becomes depraved.

15 "God, with his affliction, delivers the afflicted; and he gets their attention by pressing on them.

16 Indeed [Iyov], he is drawing you away from distress to an untroubled open place, with rich food on your table.

17 But the judgment on the wicked applies fully to you, judgment and condemnation take hold [of them].

18 For beware of wrath when abundance entices you; don't let a big bribe turn you aside.

19 Will your great wealth help you? or all your efforts, no matter how strong?

20 Don't desire the night, when people suddenly die.

21 Be careful; turn away from wrongdoing; for because of this, you have been tested by affliction.

22 "Look, God is exalted in his strength; who is a teacher like him?

23 Who ever prescribed his course for him? Who ever said, 'What you are doing is wrong'?

24 Remember, rather, to magnify his work, of which many have sung.

25 Everyone has seen it, [but] humans see it [only] from a distance.

26 Look, God is great, beyond what we can know; the number of his years is uncountable.

27 "He makes the droplets of water, which condense into rain from his mist.

28 The clouds pour it down upon humankind in abundance.

29 Can anyone fathom the spreading of the clouds, or the crashes that come from his canopy?

30 See how he scatters his lightning over it and covers the roots of the sea.

31 By these things he judges the people and also gives food in plenty.

32 He gathers the lightning into his hands and commands it to strike the target.

33 Its crashing announces its presence and apprises the cattle of what is coming.