The One Year Bible TLB (80 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Truth stands the test of time; lies are soon exposed.
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Deceit fills hearts that are plotting for evil; joy fills hearts that are planning for good!
April 7After Moses had said all these things to the people of Israel,
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he told them, “I am now 120 years old! I am no longer able to lead you,
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for the Lord has told me that I shall not cross the Jordan River.
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But the Lord himself will lead you and will destroy the nations living there, and you shall overcome them. Joshua is your new commander, as the Lord has instructed.
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The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites.
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The Lord will deliver over to you the people living there, and you shall destroy them as I have commanded you.
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Be strong! Be courageous! Do not be afraid of them! For the Lord your God will be with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.”
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Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him, as all Israel watched, “Be strong! Be courageous! For you shall lead these people into the land promised by the Lord to their ancestors; see to it that they conquer it.
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Don’t be afraid, for the Lord will go before you and will be with you; he will not fail nor forsake you.”
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Then Moses wrote out the laws he had already delivered to the people and gave them to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Ark containing the Ten Commandments of the Lord. Moses also gave copies of the laws to the elders of Israel.
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The Lord commanded that these laws be read to all the people at the end of every seventh year—the Year of Release—at the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel would assemble before the Lord at the sanctuary.
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“Call them all together,” the Lord instructed, “—men, women, children, and foreigners living among you—to hear the laws of God and to learn his will, so that you will reverence the Lord your God and obey his laws.
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Do this so that your little children who have not known these laws will hear them and learn how to revere the Lord your God as long as you live in the Promised Land.”
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Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come when you must die. Summon Joshua and come into the Tabernacle where I can give him his instructions.” So Moses and Joshua came and stood before the Lord.
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He appeared to them in a great cloud at the Tabernacle entrance,
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and said to Moses, “You shall die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin worshiping foreign gods in the Promised Land. They will forget about me and break the contract I have made with them.
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Then my anger will flame out against them and I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they shall be destroyed. Terrible trouble will come upon them, so that they will say, ‘God is no longer among us!’
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I will turn away from them because of their sins in worshiping other gods.
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“Now write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel as my warning to them.
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When I have brought them into the land I promised their ancestors—a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’—and when they have become fat and prosperous, and worship other gods and despise me and break my contract,
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and great disasters come upon them, then this song will remind them of the reason for their woes. (For this song will live from generation to generation.) I know now, even before they enter the land, what these people are like.”
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So, on that very day, Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites.
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Then he charged Joshua (son of Nun) to be strong and courageous and said to him, “You must bring the people of Israel into the land the Lord promised them; for the Lord says, ‘I will be with you.’”
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When Moses had finished writing down all the laws that are recorded in this book,
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he instructed the Levites who carried the Ark containing the Ten Commandments
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to put this book of the law beside the Ark, as a solemn warning to the people of Israel.
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“For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are,” Moses told them. “If even today, while I am still here with you, you are defiant rebels against the Lord, how much more rebellious will you be after my death!
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Now summon all the elders and officers of your tribes so that I can speak to them, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
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I know that after my death you will utterly defile yourselves and turn away from God and his commands; and in the days to come evil will crush you for you will do what the Lord says is evil, making him very angry.”
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So Moses recited this entire song to the whole assembly of Israel:
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1
“Listen, O heavens and earth!
Listen to what I say!
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My words shall fall upon you
Like the gentle rain and dew,
Like rain upon the tender grass,
Like showers on the hillside.
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I will proclaim the greatness of the Lord.
How glorious he is!
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He is the Rock. His work is perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is faithful, without sin.
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But Israel has become corrupt,
Smeared with sin. They are no longer his;
They are a stubborn, twisted generation.
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Is this the way you treat Jehovah?
O foolish people,
Is not God your Father?
Has he not created you?
Has he not established you and made you strong?
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Remember the days of long ago!
(Ask your father and the aged men;
They will tell you all about it.)
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When God divided up the world among the nations,
He gave each of them a supervising angel!
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But he appointed none for Israel;
For Israel was God’s own personal possession!
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God protected them in the howling wilderness
As though they were the apple of his eye.
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He spreads his wings over them,
Even as an eagle overspreads her young.
She carries them upon her wings—
As does the Lord his people!
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When the Lord alone was leading them,
And they lived without foreign gods,
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God gave them fertile hilltops,
Rolling, fertile fields,
Honey from the rock,
And olive oil from stony ground!
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He gave them milk and meat—
Choice Bashan rams, and goats—
And the finest of the wheat;
They drank the sparkling wine.
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But Israel
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was soon overfed;
Yes, fat and bloated;
Then, in plenty, they forsook their God.
They shrugged away the Rock of their salvation.
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Israel began to follow foreign gods,
And Jehovah was very angry;
He was jealous of his people.
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They sacrificed to heathen gods,
To new gods never before worshiped.
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They spurned the Rock who had made them,
Forgetting it was God who had given them birth.
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God saw what they were doing,
And detested them!
His sons and daughters were insulting him.
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He said, ‘I will abandon them;
See what happens to them then!
For they are a stubborn, faithless generation.
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They have made me very jealous of their idols,
Which are not gods at all.
Now I, in turn, will make them jealous
By giving my affections
To the foolish Gentile nations of the world.
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For my anger has kindled a fire
That burns to the depths of the underworld,
Consuming the earth and all of its crops,
And setting its mountains on fire.
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I will heap evils upon them
And shoot them down with my arrows.
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I will waste them with hunger,
Burning fever, and fatal disease.
I will devour them! I will set wild beasts upon them,
To rip them apart with their teeth;
And deadly serpents
Crawling in the dust.
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Outside, the enemies’ sword—
Inside, the plague
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—
Shall terrorize young men and girls alike;
The baby nursing at the breast,
And aged men.
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I had decided to scatter them to distant lands,
So that even the memory of them
Would disappear.
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But then I thought,
“My enemies will boast,
‘Israel is destroyed by our own might;
It was not the Lord
Who did it!’”
“And I assure you of this: I, the Messiah,
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will publicly honor you in the presence of God’s angels if you publicly acknowledge me here on earth as your Friend.
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But I will deny before the angels those who deny me here among men.
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(Yet those who speak against me
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may be forgiven—while those who speak against the Holy Spirit shall never be forgiven.)
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“And when you are brought to trial before these Jewish rulers and authorities in the synagogues, don’t be concerned about what to say in your defense,
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for the Holy Spirit will give you the right words even as you are standing there.”
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Then someone called from the crowd, “Sir, please tell my brother to divide my father’s estate with me.”
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But Jesus replied,
“Man, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?
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Beware! Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.”
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Then he gave an illustration:
“A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops.
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In fact, his barns were full to overflowing—he couldn’t get everything in. He thought about his problem,
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and finally exclaimed, ‘I know—I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I’ll have room enough.
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And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “Friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Wine, women, and song for you!”’
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“But God said to him, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. Then who will get it all?’
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“Yes, every man is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven.”
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Then turning to his disciples he said,
“Don’t worry about whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear.
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For life consists of far more than food and clothes.
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Look at the ravens—they don’t plant or harvest or have barns to store away their food, and yet they get along all right—for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!
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“And besides, what’s the use of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day to your life? Of course not!
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And if worry can’t even do such little things as that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?
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“Look at the lilies! They don’t toil and spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are.
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And if God provides clothing for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, don’t you suppose that he will provide clothing for you, you doubters?
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And don’t worry about food—what to eat and drink; don’t worry at all that God will provide it for you.
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All mankind scratches for its daily bread, but your heavenly Father knows your needs.
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He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
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“So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.
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Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will fatten your purses in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no rips or holes in them. Your treasures there will never disappear; no thief can steal them; no moth can destroy them.
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Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.”