The One Year Bible TLB (5 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
January 6Lot too was very wealthy, with sheep and cattle and many servants.
*
6
But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds. There were too many animals for the available pasture.
7
So fights broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot, despite the danger they all faced
*
from the tribes of Canaanites and Perizzites present in the land.
8
Then Abram talked it over with Lot. “This fighting between our men has got to stop,” he said. “We can’t afford to let a rift develop between our clans. Close relatives such as we are must present a united front!
9
I’ll tell you what we’ll do. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want that part over there to the east, then I’ll stay here in the western section. Or, if you want the west, then I’ll go over there to the east.”
10
Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan River, well watered everywhere (this was before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah); the whole section was like the Garden of Eden,
*
or like the beautiful countryside around Zoar in Egypt.
11
So that is what Lot chose—the Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants, and thus he and Abram parted company.
12
For Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, settling at a place near the city of Sodom.
13
The men of this area were unusually wicked, and sinned greatly against Jehovah.
14
After Lot was gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction,
15
for I am going to give it all to you and your descendants.
16
And I am going to give you so many descendants that, like dust, they can’t be counted!
17
Hike in all directions and explore the new possessions I am giving you.”
18
Then Abram moved his tent to the oaks of Mamre, near Hebron, and built an altar to Jehovah there.
14:
1
Now war filled the land—Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim
2
fought against: Bera, king of Sodom, Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (later called Zoar).
3
These kings (of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela) mobilized their armies in Siddim Valley (that is, the valley of the Dead Sea).
4
For twelve years they had all been subject to King Chedorlaomer, but now in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.
5-6
One year later, Chedorlaomer and his allies arrived and the slaughter began. For they were victorious over the following tribes at the places indicated: the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim; the Zuzim in Ham; the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim; the Horites in Mount Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the desert.
7
Then they swung around to Enmishpat (later called Kadesh) and destroyed the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazan-tamar.
8-9
But now the other army, that of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar), unsuccessfully
*
attacked Chedorlaomer and his allies as they were in the Dead Sea Valley (four kings against five).
10
As it happened, the valley was full of asphalt pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some slipped into the pits, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
11
Then the victors plundered
*
Sodom and Gomorrah and carried off all their wealth and food, and went on their homeward way,
12
taking with them Lot—Abram’s nephew
*
who lived in Sodom—and all he owned.
13
One of the men who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was camping among the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite (brother of Eshcol and Aner, Abram’s allies).
14
When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called together the men born into his household, 318 of them in all, and chased after the retiring army as far as Dan.
15
He divided his men and attacked during the night from several directions, and pursued the fleeing army to Hobah, north of Damascus,
16
and recovered everything—the loot that had been taken, his relative Lot, and all of Lot’s possessions, including the women and other captives.
17
As Abram returned from his strike against Chedorlaomer and the other kings at the valley of Shaveh (later called King’s Valley), the king of Sodom came out to meet him,
18
and Melchizedek, the king of Salem (Jerusalem), who was a priest of the God of Highest Heaven, brought him bread and wine.
19-20
Then Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“The blessing of the supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth, be upon you, Abram; and blessed be God, who has delivered your enemies over to you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot.
21
The king of Sodom told him, “Just give me back my people who were captured; keep for yourself the booty stolen from my city.”
22
But Abram replied, “I have solemnly promised Jehovah, the supreme God, Creator of heaven and earth,
23
that I will not take so much as a single thread from you, lest you say, ‘Abram is rich because of what I gave him!’
24
All I’ll accept is what these young men of mine have eaten; but give a share of the loot to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, my allies.”
15:
1
Afterwards Jehovah spoke to Abram in a vision, and this is what he told him: “Don’t be fearful, Abram, for I will defend you. And I will give you great blessings.”
2-3
But Abram replied, “O Lord Jehovah, what good are all your blessings when I have no son? For without a son, some other member of my household
*
will inherit all my wealth.”
4
Then Jehovah told him, “No, no one else will be your heir, for you will have a son to inherit everything you own.”
5
Then God brought Abram outside beneath the nighttime sky and told him, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that—too many to count!”
6
And Abram believed God; then God considered him righteous on account of his faith.
7
And he told him, “I am Jehovah who brought you out of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land.”
8
But Abram replied, “O Lord Jehovah, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?”
9
Then Jehovah told him to take a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon,
10
and to slay them and to cut them apart down the middle, and to separate the halves, but not to divide the birds.
11
And when the vultures came down upon the carcasses, Abram shooed them away.
12
That evening as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a vision of terrible foreboding, darkness, and horror.
13
Then Jehovah told Abram, “Your descendants will be oppressed as slaves in a foreign land for 400 years.
14
But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and at the end they will come away with great wealth.
15
(But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.)
16
After four generations they will return here to this land; for the wickedness of the Amorite nations living here now
*
will not be ready for punishment until then.”
17
As the sun went down and it was dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch that passed between the halves of the carcasses.
18
So that day Jehovah made this covenant with Abram: “I have given this land to your descendants from the Wadi-el-Arish
*
to the Euphrates River.
19-21
And I give to them these nations: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, Jebusites.”
“The laws of Moses said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28
But I say: Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29
So if your eye—even if it is your best eye!
*
—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. Better for part of you to be destroyed than for all of you to be cast into hell.
30
And if your hand—even your right hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better that than find yourself in hell.
31
“The law of Moses says, ‘If anyone wants to be rid of his wife, he can divorce her merely by giving her a letter of dismissal.’
32
But I say that a man who divorces his wife, except for fornication, causes her to commit adultery if she marries again. And he who marries her commits adultery.
33
“Again, the law of Moses says, ‘You shall not break your vows to God but must fulfill them all.’
34
But I say: Don’t make any vows! And even to say ‘By heavens!’ is a sacred vow to God, for the heavens are God’s throne.
35
And if you say ‘By the earth!’ it is a sacred vow, for the earth is his footstool. And don’t swear ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the capital of the great King.
36
Don’t even swear ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black.
37
Say just a simple ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong.
38
“The law of Moses says, ‘If a man gouges out another’s eye, he must pay with his own eye. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth
*
of the one who did it.’
39
But I say: Don’t resist violence! If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other too.
40
If you are ordered to court, and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too.
41
If the military demand that you carry their gear for a mile, carry it two.
42
Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.
43
“There is a saying, ‘Love your
friends
and hate your enemies.’
44
But I say: Love your
enemies!
Pray for those who
persecute
you!
45
In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too.
46
If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much.
47
If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that.
48
But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
No, Lord! Don’t punish me in the heat of your anger.
2
Pity me, O Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, for my body is sick,
3
and I am upset and disturbed. My mind is filled with apprehension and with gloom. Oh, restore me soon.
4
Come, O Lord, and make me well. In your kindness save me.
5
For if I die, I cannot give you glory by praising you before my friends.
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6
I am worn out with pain; every night my pillow is wet with tears.
7
My eyes are growing old and dim with grief because of all my enemies.
8
Go, leave me now, you men of evil deeds, for the Lord has heard my weeping
9
and my pleading. He will answer all my prayers.
10
All my enemies shall be suddenly dishonored, terror-stricken, and disgraced. God will turn them back in shame.
“For you closed your eyes to the facts and did not choose to reverence and trust the Lord,
30
and you turned your back on me, spurning my advice.
31
That is why you must eat the bitter fruit of having your own way and experience the full terrors of the pathway you have chosen.
32
For you turned away from me—to death; your own complacency will kill you. Fools!
33
But all who listen to me shall live in peace and safety, unafraid.”