The One Year Bible TLB (38 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
O Lord, fight those fighting me; declare war on them for their attacks on me.
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Put on your armor, take your shield and protect me by standing in front.
3
Lift your spear in my defense, for my pursuers are getting very close. Let me hear you say that you will save me from them.
4
Dishonor those who are trying to kill me. Turn them back and confuse them.
5
Blow them away like chaff in the wind—wind sent by the Angel of the Lord.
6
Make their path dark and slippery before them, with the Angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7
For though I did them no wrong, yet they laid a trap for me and dug a pitfall in my path.
8
Let them be overtaken by sudden ruin, caught in their own net and destroyed.
9
But I will rejoice in the Lord. He shall rescue me!
10
From the bottom of my heart praise rises to him. Where is his equal in all of heaven and earth? Who else protects the weak and helpless from the strong, and the poor and needy from those who would rob them?
11
These evil men swear to a lie. They accuse me of things I have never even heard about.
12
I do them good, but they return me harm. I am sinking down to death.
13
When they were ill, I mourned before the Lord in sackcloth, asking him to make them well; I refused to eat; I prayed for them with utmost earnestness, but God did not listen.
14
I went about sadly as though it were my mother, friend, or brother who was sick and nearing death.
15
But now that I am in trouble they are glad; they come together in meetings filled with slander against me—I didn’t even know some of those who were there.
16
For they gather with the worthless fellows of the town and spend their time cursing me.
“I, Wisdom, will make the hours of your day more profitable and the years of your life more fruitful.”
12
Wisdom is its own reward, and if you scorn her, you hurt only yourself.
February 16The Lord now spoke to Moses from the Tabernacle,
2-3
and commanded him to give the following instructions to the people of Israel: “When you sacrifice to the Lord, use animals from your herds and flocks.
“If your sacrifice is to be an ox given as a burnt offering, use only a bull with no physical defects. Bring the animal to the entrance of the Tabernacle where the priests will accept your gift for the Lord.
4
The person bringing it is to lay his hand upon its head, and it then becomes his substitute: the death of the animal will be accepted by God instead of the death of the man who brings it, as the penalty for his sins.
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5
The man shall then kill the animal there before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will present the blood before the Lord, sprinkling it upon all sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
6-7
Then the priests will skin
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the animal and quarter it, and build a wood fire upon the altar,
8
and put the sections of the animal and its head and fat upon the wood.
9
The internal organs and the legs are to be washed, then the priests will burn them upon the altar, and they will be an acceptable burnt offering with which the Lord is pleased.
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10
“If the animal used as a burnt offering is a sheep or a goat, it too must be a male, and without any blemishes.
11
The man who brings it will kill it before the Lord on the north side of the altar, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, will sprinkle its blood back and forth upon the altar.
12
Then the man will quarter it, and the priests will lay the pieces, with the head and the fat, on top of the wood on the altar.
13
But the internal organs and the legs shall first be washed with water. Then the priests shall burn it all upon the altar as an offering to the Lord; for burnt offerings give much pleasure to the Lord.
14
“If anyone wishes to use a bird as his burnt offering, he may choose either turtledoves or young pigeons.
15-17
A priest will take the bird to the altar and wring off its head, and the blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar. Then the priest will remove the crop and the feathers and throw them on the east side of the altar with the ashes. Then, grasping it by the wings, he shall tear it apart, but not completely. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, and the Lord will have pleasure in this sacrifice.
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2:
1
“Anyone who wishes to sacrifice a grain offering to the Lord is to bring fine flour and is to pour olive oil and incense upon it.
2
Then he is to take a handful, representing the entire amount,
*
to one of the priests to burn, and the Lord will be fully pleased.
3
The remainder of the flour is to be given to Aaron and his sons as their food; but all of it is counted as a holy burnt offering to the Lord.
4
“If bread baked in the oven is brought as an offering to the Lord, it must be made from finely ground flour, baked with olive oil but without yeast. Wafers made without yeast and spread with olive oil may also be used as an offering.
5
If the offering is something from the griddle, it shall be made of finely ground flour without yeast, and mingled with olive oil.
6
Break it into pieces and pour oil upon it—it is a form of grain offering.
7
If your offering is cooked in a pan, it too shall be made of fine flour mixed with olive oil.
8
“However it is prepared—whether baked, fried, or grilled—you are to bring this grain offering to the priest and he shall take it to the altar to present it to the Lord.
9
“The priests are to burn only a representative portion
*
of the offering, but all of it will be fully appreciated by the Lord.
10
The remainder belongs to the priests for their own use, but it is all counted as a holy burnt offering to the Lord.
11
“Use no yeast with your offerings of flour; for no yeast or honey is permitted in burnt offerings to the Lord.
12
You may offer yeast bread and honey as thanksgiving offerings at harvest time, but not as burnt offerings.
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13
“Every offering must be seasoned with salt,
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because the salt is a reminder of God’s covenant.
14
“If you are offering from the first of your harvest, remove the kernels from a fresh ear, crush and roast them, then offer them to the Lord.
15
Put olive oil and incense on the offering, for it is a grain offering.
16
Then the priests shall burn part of the bruised grain mixed with oil and all of the incense as a representative portion before the Lord.
3:
1
“When anyone wants to give an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord, he may use either a bull or a cow, but the animal must be entirely without defect if it is to be offered to the Lord!
2
The man who brings the animal shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the door of the Tabernacle. Then Aaron’s sons shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar
3-5
and shall burn before the Lord the fat that covers the inward parts, the two kidneys and the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder. And it will give the Lord much pleasure.
6
“If a goat or sheep is used as a thank offering to the Lord, it must have no defect and may be either a male or female.
7-8
“If it is a lamb, the man who brings it shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the entrance of the Tabernacle; the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar,
9-11
and shall offer upon the altar the fat, the tail removed close to the backbone, the fat covering the internal organs, the two kidneys with the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder, as a burnt offering to the Lord.
12
“If anyone brings a goat as his offering to the Lord,
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he shall lay his hand upon its head and kill it at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The priest shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar,
14
and shall offer upon the altar, as a burnt offering to the Lord, the fat that covers the insides,
15-16
the two kidneys and the loin fat on them, and the gall bladder. This burnt offering is very pleasing to the Lord. All the fat is Jehovah’s.
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This is a permanent law throughout your land, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.”
Then, leaving the synagogue, he [Jesus] and his disciples went over to Simon and Andrew’s home, where they found Simon’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away.
31
He went to her bedside, and as he took her by the hand and helped her to sit up, the fever suddenly left, and she got up and prepared dinner for them!
32-33
By sunset the courtyard was filled with the sick and demon-possessed, brought to him for healing; and a huge crowd of people from all over the city of Capernaum gathered outside the door to watch.
34
So Jesus healed great numbers of sick folk that evening and ordered many demons to come out of their victims. (But he refused to allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.)
35
The next morning he was up long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray.
36-37
Later, Simon and the others went out to find him, and told him, “Everyone is asking for you.”
38
But he replied,
“We must go on to other towns as well, and give my message to them too, for that is why I came.”
39
So he traveled throughout the province of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and releasing many from the power of demons.
40
Once a leper came and knelt in front of him and begged to be healed. “If you want to, you can make me well again,” he pled.
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And Jesus, moved with pity, touched him and said,
“I want to! Be healed!”
42
Immediately the leprosy was gone—the man was healed!
43-44
Jesus then told him sternly,
“Go and be examined immediately by the Jewish priest. Don’t stop to speak to anyone along the way. Take along the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed, so that everyone will have proof that you are well again.”
45
But as the man went on his way he began to shout the good news that he was healed; as a result, such throngs soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn’t publicly enter a city anywhere, but had to stay out in the barren wastelands. And people from everywhere came to him there.
2:
1
Several days later he returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the city.
2
Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for a single person more, not even outside the door. And he preached the Word to them.
3
Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher.
4
They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus.
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5
When Jesus saw how strongly they believed that he would help, Jesus said to the sick man,
“Son, your sins are forgiven!”
6
But some of the Jewish religious leaders
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said to themselves as they sat there,
7
“What? This is blasphemy! Does he think he is God? For only God can forgive sins.”
8
Jesus could read their minds and said to them at once,
“Why does this bother you?
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I, the Messiah,
*
have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.”
Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded,
“Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!”
12
The man jumped up, took the stretcher, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers! Then how they praised God. “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” they all exclaimed.
Lord, how long will you stand there, doing nothing? Act now and rescue me, for I have but one life and these young lions are out to get it.
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Save me, and I will thank you publicly before the entire congregation, before the largest crowd I can find.
19
Don’t give victory to those who fight me without any reason! Don’t let them rejoice
*
at my fall—let them die.
20
They don’t talk of peace and doing good, but of plots against innocent men who are minding their own business.
21
They shout that they have seen
me
doing wrong! “Aha!” they say. “With our own eyes we saw him do it.”
22
Lord, you know all about it. Don’t stay silent! Don’t desert me now!
23
Rise up, O Lord my God; vindicate me.
24
Declare me “not guilty,” for you are just.
*
Don’t let my enemies rejoice over me in my troubles.
25
Don’t let them say, “Aha! Our dearest wish against him will soon be fulfilled!” and, “At last we have him!”
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Shame them; let these who boast against me and who rejoice at my troubles be themselves overcome by misfortune that strips them bare of everything they own. Bare them to dishonor.
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But give great joy to all who wish me well. Let them shout with delight, “Great is the Lord who enjoys helping his child!”
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And I will tell everyone how great and good you are; I will praise you all day long.
A prostitute is loud and brash and never has enough of lust and shame.
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She sits at the door of her house or stands at the street corners of the city,
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whispering to men going by and to those minding their own business.
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“Come home with me,” she urges simpletons.
17
“Stolen melons
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are the sweetest; stolen apples taste the best!”
18
But they don’t realize that her former guests are now citizens of hell.