The One Year Bible TLB (67 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself.
26
People curse the man who holds his grain for higher prices, but they bless the man who sells it to them in their time of need.
March 24“Then we turned back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea, for so the Lord had instructed me. For many years we wandered around in the area of Mount Seir.
2
Then at last the Lord said,
3
‘You have stayed here long enough. Turn northward.
4
Inform the people that they will be passing through the country belonging to their brothers the Edomites, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir; the Edomites will be nervous, so be careful.
5
Don’t start a fight! For I have given them all the Mount Seir hill country as their permanent possession, and I will not give you even a tiny piece of their land.
6
Pay them for whatever food or water you use.
7
The Lord your God has watched over you and blessed you every step of the way for all these forty years as you have wandered around in this great wilderness; and you have lacked nothing in all that time.’
8
“So we passed through Edom where our brothers lived, crossing the Arabah Road that goes south to Elath and Ezion-geber, and traveling northward toward the wilderness of Moab.
9
“Then the Lord warned us, ‘Don’t attack the Moabites either, for I will not give you any of their land; I have given it to the descendants of Lot.’
10
“(The Emim used to live in that area, a very large tribe, tall as the giants of Anakim;
11
both the Emim and the Anakim are often referred to as the Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
12
In earlier days the Horites lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, just as Israel would displace the peoples of Canaan, whose land had been assigned to Israel by the Lord.)
13
“‘Now cross Zered Brook,’ the Lord said; and we did.
14-15
“So it took us thirty-eight years to finally get across Zered Brook from Kadesh! For the Lord had decreed that this could not happen until all the men, who thirty-eight years earlier were old enough to bear arms, had died. Yes, the hand of the Lord was against them until finally all were dead.
16-17
“Then at last the Lord said to me,
18
‘Today Israel shall cross the borders of Moab at Ar,
19
into the land of the Ammonites. But do not attack them, for I will not give you any of their land. I have given it to the descendants of Lot.’
20
“(That area, too, used to be inhabited by the Rephaim, called ‘Zamzummim’ by the Ammonites.
21
They were a large and powerful tribe, as tall as the Anakim; but Jehovah destroyed them as the Ammonites came in, and the Ammonites lived there in their place.
22
The Lord had similarly helped the descendants of Esau at Mount Seir, for he destroyed the Horites who were living there before them.
23
Another similar situation occurred when the people of Caphtor invaded and destroyed the tribe of Avvim living in villages scattered across the countryside as far away as Gaza.)
24
“Then the Lord said, ‘Cross the Arnon River into the land of King Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon. War against him and begin to take possession of his land.
25
Beginning today I will make people throughout the whole earth tremble with fear because of you, and dread your arrival.’
26
“Then from the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with a proposal of peace.
27
‘Let us pass through your land,’ we said. ‘We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side.
28
We will not steal food as we go, but will purchase every bite we eat and everything we drink; all we want is permission to pass through.
29
The Edomites at Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, whose capital is at Ar. We are on our way across the Jordan into the land the Lord our God has given us.’
30
“But King Sihon refused because Jehovah your God made him obstinate, so that he could destroy Sihon by the hands of Israel, as has now been done.
31
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘I have begun to give you the land of King Sihon; when you possess it, it shall belong to Israel forever.’
32
“King Sihon then declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz.
33-34
But the Lord our God crushed him, and we conquered all his cities and utterly destroyed everything, including the women and babies. We left nothing alive
35-36
except the cattle, which we took as our reward, along with the booty gained from ransacking the cities we had taken. We conquered everything from Aroer to Gilead—from the edge of the Arnon River Valley, and including all the cities in the valley. Not one city was too strong for us, for the Lord our God gave all of them to us.
37
However, we stayed away from the people of Ammon and from the Jabbok River and the hill country cities, the places Jehovah our God had forbidden us to enter.
3:
1-2
“Next we turned toward King Og’s land of Bashan. He immediately mobilized his army and attacked us at Edrei. But the Lord told me not to be afraid of him. ‘All his people and his land are yours,’ the Lord told me. ‘You will do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites at Heshbon.’
3
So the Lord helped us fight against King Og and his people, and we killed them all.
4
We conquered all sixty of his cities, the entire Argob region of Bashan.
5
These were well-fortified cities with high walls and barred gates. Of course we also took all of the unwalled towns.
6
We utterly destroyed the kingdom of Bashan just as we had destroyed King Sihon’s kingdom at Heshbon, killing the entire population—men, women, and children alike.
7
But we kept the cattle and loot for ourselves.
8
“We now possessed all the land of the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan River—all the land from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon.
9
(The Sidonians called Mount Hermon ‘Sirion,’ while the Amorites called it ‘Senir.’)
10
We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau, and all of Gilead and Bashan as far as the cities of Salecah and Edrei.
11
“Incidentally, King Og of Bashan was the last of the giant Rephaim. His iron bedstead is kept in a museum at Rabbah, one of the cities of the Ammonites, and measures thirteen and a half feet long by six feet wide.
12
“At that time I gave the conquered land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. To the tribes of Reuben and Gad I gave the area beginning at Aroer on the Arnon River, plus half of Mount Gilead, including its cities.
13
The half-tribe of Manasseh received the remainder of Gilead and all of the former kingdom of King Og, the Argob region. (Bashan is sometimes called ‘The Land of the Rephaim.’)
14
The clan of Jair, of the tribe of Manasseh, took over the whole Argob region (Bashan) to the borders of the Geshurites and Maacathites. They renamed their country after themselves, calling it Havvoth-jair (meaning ‘Jair’s Villages’) as it is still known today.
15
Then I gave Gilead to the clan of Machir.
16
The tribes of Reuben and Gad received the area extending from the Jabbok River in Gilead (which was the Ammonite frontier) to the middle of the valley of the Arnon River.
17
They also received the Arabah (or wasteland), bounded by the Jordan River on the west, from Chinnereth to Mount Pisgah and the Dead Sea (also called the Sea of the Arabah).
18
“At that time I reminded the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh that, although the Lord had given them the land, they could not begin settling down until their armed men led the other tribes across the Jordan to the land the Lord was giving them.
19
“‘But your wives and children,’ I told them, ‘may live here in the cities the Lord has given you, caring for your many cattle
20
until you return after the Lord has given victory to the other tribes too. When they conquer the land the Lord your God has given them across the Jordan River, then you may return here to your own land.’
21
“Then I said to Joshua, ‘You have seen what the Lord your God has done to those two kings. You will do the same to all the kingdoms on the other side of the Jordan.
22
Don’t be afraid of the nations there, for the Lord your God will fight for you.’
23-25
“At that time I made this plea to God: ‘O Lord God, please let me cross over into the Promised Land—the good land beyond the Jordan River with its rolling hills—and Lebanon. I want to see the result of all the greatness and power you have been showing us; for what God in all of heaven or earth can do what you have done for us?’
26
“But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not let me cross over. ‘Speak of it no more,’ he ordered,
27
‘but go to the top of Mount Pisgah where you can look out in every direction, and there you will see the land in the distance. But you shall not cross the Jordan River.
28
Commission Joshua to replace you, and then encourage him, for he shall lead the people across to conquer the land you will see from the mountaintop.’
29
“So we remained in the valley near Beth-peor.”
One day soon afterwards he [Jesus] went out into the mountains to pray, and prayed all night.
13
At daybreak he called together his followers and chose twelve of them to be the inner circle of his disciples. (They were appointed as his “apostles,” or “missionaries.”)
14-16
Here are their names: Simon (he also called him Peter), Andrew (Simon’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (a member of the Zealots, a subversive political party), Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
17-18
When they came down the slopes of the mountain, they stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers who, in turn, were surrounded by the crowds. For people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon had come to hear him or to be healed. And he cast out many demons.
19
Everyone was trying to touch him, for when they did, healing power went out from him and they were cured.
20
Then he turned to his disciples and said,
“What happiness there is for you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours!
21
What happiness there is for you who are now hungry, for you are going to be satisfied! What happiness there is for you who weep, for the time will come when you shall laugh with joy!
22
What happiness it is when others hate you and exclude you and insult you and smear your name because you are mine!
*
23
When that happens, rejoice! Yes, leap for joy! For you will have a great reward awaiting you in heaven. And you will be in good company—the ancient prophets were treated that way too!
24
“But, oh, the sorrows that await the rich. For they have their only happiness down here.
25
They are fat and prosperous now, but a time of awful hunger is before them. Their careless laughter now means sorrow then.
26
And what sadness is ahead for those praised by the crowds—for
false
prophets have
always
been praised.
27
“Listen, all of you. Love your
enemies.
Do
good
to those who
hate
you.
28
Pray for the happiness of those who
curse
you; implore God’s blessing on those who
hurt
you.
29
“If someone slaps you on one cheek, let him slap the other too! If someone demands your coat, give him your shirt besides.
30
Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don’t worry about getting them back.
31
Treat others as you want them to treat you.
32
“Do you think you deserve credit for merely loving those who love you? Even the godless do that!
33
And if you do good only to those who do you good—is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much!
34
And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even the most wicked will lend to their own kind for full return!
35
“Love your
enemies!
Do good to
them!
Lend to
them!
And don’t be concerned about the fact that they won’t repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as sons of God: for he is kind to the
unthankful
and to those who are
very wicked.
36
“Try to show as much compassion as your Father does.
37
“Never criticize or condemn—or it will all come back on you. Go easy on others; then they will do the same for you.
*
38
For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give—large or small—will be used to measure what is given back to you.”