The One Year Bible TLB (29 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The Lord is my light and my salvation; he protects me from danger—whom shall I fear?
2
When evil men come to destroy me, they will stumble and fall!
3
Yes, though a mighty army marches against me, my heart shall know no fear! I am confident that God will save me.
4
The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory.
5
There I’ll be when troubles come. He will hide me. He will set me on a high rock
6
out of reach of all my enemies. Then I will bring him sacrifices and sing his praises with much joy.
Young man, obey your father and your mother.
21
Take to heart all of their advice; keep in mind everything they tell you.
22
Every day and all night long their counsel will lead you and save you from harm; when you wake up in the morning, let their instructions guide you into the new day.
23
For their advice is a beam of light directed into the dark corners of your mind to warn you of danger and to give you a good life.
24
Their counsel will keep you far away from prostitutes, with all their flatteries, and unfaithful wives of other men.
25
Don’t lust for their beauty. Don’t let their coyness seduce you.
26
For a prostitute will bring a man to poverty, and an adulteress may cost him his very life.
February 3But now the warriors of Amalek came to fight against the people of Israel at Rephidim.
9
Moses instructed Joshua to issue a call to arms to the Israelites, to fight the army of Amalek.
“Tomorrow,” Moses told him, “I will stand at the top of the hill, with the rod of God in my hand!”
10
So Joshua and his men went out to fight the army of Amalek. Meanwhile Moses, Aaron, and Hur
*
went to the top of the hill.
11
And as long as Moses held up the rod in his hands, Israel was winning; but whenever he rested his arms at his sides, the soldiers of Amalek were winning.
12
Moses’ arms finally became too tired to hold up the rod any longer; so Aaron and Hur rolled a stone for him to sit on, and they stood on each side, holding up his hands until sunset.
13
As a result, Joshua and his troops crushed the army of Amalek, putting them to the sword.
14
Then the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this into a permanent record, to be remembered forever, and announce to Joshua that I will utterly blot out every trace of Amalek.”
15-16
Moses built an altar there and called it “Jehovah-nissi” (meaning “Jehovah is my flag”).
“Raise the banner of the Lord!” Moses said. “For the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.”
18:
1
Word soon reached Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, the priest of Midian, about all the wonderful things God had done for his people and for Moses, and how the Lord had brought them out of Egypt.
2
Then Jethro took Moses’ wife, Zipporah, to him (for he had sent her home),
3
along with Moses’ two sons, Gershom (meaning “foreigner,” for Moses said when he was born, “I have been wandering in a foreign land”)
4
and Eliezer (meaning “God is my help,” for Moses said at his birth, “The God of my fathers was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).
5-6
They arrived while Moses and the people were camped at Mount Sinai.
*
“Jethro, your father-in-law, has come to visit you,” Moses was told, “and he has brought your wife and your two sons.”
7
Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and greeted him warmly; they asked about each other’s health and then went into Moses’ tent to talk further.
8
Moses related to his father-in-law all that had been happening and what the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians in order to deliver Israel, and all the problems there had been along the way, and how the Lord had delivered his people from all of them.
9
Jethro was very happy about everything the Lord had done for Israel, and about his bringing them out of Egypt.
10
“Bless the Lord,” Jethro said, “for he has saved you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh, and has rescued Israel.
11
I know now that the Lord is greater than any other god because he delivered his people from the proud and cruel Egyptians.”
12
Jethro offered sacrifices to God,
*
and afterwards Aaron and the leaders of Israel came to meet Jethro, and they all ate the sacrificial meal together before the Lord.
13
The next day Moses sat as usual to hear the people’s complaints against each other, from morning to evening.
14
When Moses’ father-in-law saw how much time this was taking, he said, “Why are you trying to do all this alone, with people standing here all day long to get your help?”
15-16
“Well, because the people come to me with their disputes, to ask for God’s decisions,” Moses told him. “I am their judge, deciding who is right and who is wrong, and instructing them in God’s ways. I apply the laws of God to their particular disputes.”
17
“It’s not right!” his father-in-law exclaimed.
18
“You’re going to wear yourself out—and if you do, what will happen to the people? Moses, this job is too heavy a burden for you to try to handle all by yourself.
19-20
Now listen, and let me give you a word of advice, and God will bless you: Be these people’s lawyer—their representative before God—bringing him their questions to decide; you will tell them his decisions, teaching them God’s laws, and showing them the principles of godly living.
21
“Find some capable, godly, honest men who hate bribes, and appoint them as judges, one judge for each 1000 people; he in turn will have ten judges under him, each in charge of a hundred; and under each of them will be two judges, each responsible for the affairs of fifty people; and each of these will have five judges beneath him, each counseling ten persons.
22
Let these men be responsible to serve the people with justice at all times. Anything that is too important or complicated can be brought to you. But the smaller matters they can take care of themselves. That way it will be easier for you because you will share the burden with them.
23
If you follow this advice, and if the Lord agrees, you will be able to endure the pressures, and there will be peace and harmony in the camp.”
24
Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed this suggestion.
25
He chose able men from all over Israel and made them judges over the people—thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
26
They were constantly available to administer justice. They brought the hard cases to Moses but judged the smaller matters themselves.
27
Soon afterwards Moses let his father-in-law return to his own land.
19:
1
The Israelis arrived in the Sinai peninsula three months after the night of their departure from Egypt.
2-3
After breaking camp at Rephidim, they came to the base of Mount Sinai and set up camp there. Moses climbed the rugged mountain to meet with God, and from somewhere in the mountain God called to him and said, “Give these instructions to the people of Israel. Tell them,
4
‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I brought you to myself as though on eagles’ wings.
5
Now if you will obey me and keep your part of my contract with you, you shall be my own little flock from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth is mine.
6
And you shall be a kingdom of priests to God, a holy nation.’”
7
Moses returned from the mountain and called together the leaders of the people and told them what the Lord had said.
8
They all responded in unison, “We will certainly do everything he asks of us.” Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
9
Then he said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in the form of a dark cloud, so that the people themselves can hear me when I talk with you, and then they will always believe you.
10
Go down now and see that the people are ready for my visit. Sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes.
11
Then, the day after tomorrow, I will come down upon Mount Sinai as all the people watch.
12
Set boundary lines the people may not pass, and tell them, ‘Beware! Do not go up into the mountain or even touch its boundaries; whoever does shall die—
13
no hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot to death with arrows, whether man or animal.’ Stay away from the mountain entirely until you hear a ram’s horn sounding one long blast; then gather at the foot of the mountain!”
14
So Moses went down to the people and sanctified them and they washed their clothing.
15
He told them, “Get ready for God’s appearance two days from now, and do not have sexual intercourse with your wives.”
The crowds were profoundly impressed by his answers—
34-35
but not the Pharisees! When they heard that he had routed the Sadducees with his reply, they thought up a fresh question of their own to ask him. One of them, a lawyer, spoke up:
36
“Sir, which is the most important command in the laws of Moses?”
37
Jesus replied,
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’
38-39
This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’
40
All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others.”
41
Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, he asked them a question:
42
“What about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43
“Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call him ‘Lord’?”
Jesus asked.
“For David said,
44
‘God said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet.’
45
Since David called him ‘Lord,’ how can he be merely his son?”
46
They had no answer. And after that no one dared ask him any more questions.
23:
1
Then Jesus said to the crowds, and to his disciples,
2
“You would think these Jewish leaders and these Pharisees were Moses, the way they keep making up so many laws!
*
3
And of course you should obey their every whim! It may be all right to do what they say, but above anything else,
don’t follow their example.
For they don’t do what they tell you to do.
4
They load you with impossible demands that they themselves don’t even try to keep.
5
“Everything they do is done for show. They act holy
*
by wearing on their arms little prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and by lengthening the memorial fringes of their robes.
6
And how they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the reserved pews in the synagogue!
7
How they enjoy the deference paid them on the streets and to be called ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Master’!
8
Don’t ever let anyone call you that. For only God is your Rabbi and all of you are on the same level, as brothers.
9
And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven should be addressed like that.
10
And don’t be called ‘Master,’ for only one is your master, even the Messiah.
11
“The more lowly your service to others, the greater you are. To be the greatest, be a servant.
12
But those who think themselves great shall be disappointed and humbled; and those who humble themselves shall be exalted.”
Listen to my pleading, Lord! Be merciful and send the help I need.
8
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me, O my people.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
9
Oh, do not hide yourself when I am trying to find you. Do not angrily reject your servant. You have been my help in all my trials before; don’t leave me now. Don’t forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10
For if my father and mother should abandon me, you would welcome and comfort me.
11
Tell me what to do, O Lord, and make it plain because I am surrounded by waiting enemies.
12
Don’t let them get me, Lord! Don’t let me fall into their hands! For they accuse me of things I never did, and all the while are plotting cruelty.
13
I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see his goodness to me here in the land of the living.
14
Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you.
Can a man hold fire against his chest and not be burned?
28
Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?
29
So it is with the man who commits adultery with another’s wife. He shall not go unpunished for this sin.
30
Excuses might even be found for a thief if he steals when he is starving!
31
But even so, he is fined seven times as much as he stole, though it may mean selling everything in his house to pay it back.
32
But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul.
33
Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot,
34
for the woman’s husband will be furious in his jealousy, and he will have no mercy on you in his day of vengeance.
35
You won’t be able to buy him off no matter what you offer.