The One Year Bible TLB (87 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
April 16Joshua was now an old man. “You are growing old,” the Lord said to him, “and there are still many nations to be conquered.
2-7
Here is a list of the areas still to be occupied:
All the land of the Philistines;
The land of the Geshurites;
The territory now belonging to the Canaanites from the brook of Egypt to the southern boundary of Ekron;
Five cities of the Philistines: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron;
The land of the Avvim in the south;
In the north,
*
all the land of the Canaanites, including Mearah (which belongs to the Sidonians), stretching northward to Aphek at the boundary of the Amorites;
The land of the Gebalites on the coast and all of the Lebanon mountain area from Baal-gad beneath Mount Hermon in the south to the entrance of Hamath in the north;
All the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, including all the land of the Sidonians.
“I am ready to drive these people out from before the nation of Israel, so include all this territory when you divide the land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh as I have commanded you.”
8
The other half of the tribe of Manasseh and the tribes of Reuben and Gad had already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, for Moses had previously assigned this land to them.
9
Their territory ran from Aroer, on the edge of the valley of the Arnon River, included the city in the valley, and crossed the tableland of Medeba to Dibon;
10
it also included all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and extended as far as the borders of Ammon.
11
It included Gilead; the territory of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; all of Mount Hermon; Mount Bashan with its city of Salecah;
12
and all the territory of King Og of Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was the last of the Rephaim, for Moses had attacked them and driven them out.
13
However, the people of Israel had not driven out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, who still live there among the Israelites to this day.)
14
The Territorial Assignments
The Land Given to the Tribe of Levi:
Moses hadn’t assigned any land to the tribe of Levi: instead, they were given the offerings brought to the Lord.
15
The Land Given to the Tribe of Reuben:
Fitting the size of its territory to the size of its population,
*
Moses had assigned the following area to the tribe of Reuben:
16
Their land extended from Aroer on the edge of the valley of the Arnon River, past the city of Arnon in the middle of the valley, to beyond the tableland near Medeba.
17
It included Heshbon and the other cities on the plain—Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,
18
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
19
Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the mountain above the valley,
20
Beth-peor, Beth-jeshimoth, and the slopes of Mount Pisgah.
21
The land of Reuben also included the cities of the tableland and the kingdom of Sihon. Sihon was the king who had lived in Heshbon and was killed by Moses along with the other chiefs of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba.
22
The people of Israel also killed Balaam the magician, the son of Beor.
23
The Jordan River was the western boundary of the tribe of Reuben.
24
The Land Given to the Tribe of Gad:
Moses also assigned land to the tribe of Gad in proportion to its population.
*
25
This territory included Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half of the land of Ammon as far as Aroer near Rabbah.
26
It also extended from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to Lodebar.
27-28
In the valley were Beth-haram, and Beth-nimrah, Succoth, Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon. The Jordan River was the western border, extending as far as the Lake of Galilee; then the border turned east from the Jordan River.
29
The Land Given to the Half-Tribe of Manasseh:
Moses had assigned the following territory to the half-tribe of Manasseh in proportion to its needs:
*
30
Their territory extended north from Mahanaim, included all of Bashan, the former kingdom of King Og, and the sixty cities of Jair in Bashan.
31
Half of Gilead and King Og’s royal cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei were given to half of the clan Machir, who was Manasseh’s son.
32
That was how Moses divided the land east of the Jordan River where the people were camped at that time across from Jericho.
33
But Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi for, as he had explained to them, the Lord God was their inheritance. He was all they needed. He would take care of them in other ways.
14:
1-2
The conquered lands of Canaan were allotted to the remaining nine and a half tribes of Israel. The decision as to which tribe would receive which area was decided by throwing dice
*
before the Lord, and he caused them to turn up in the ways he wanted. Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the tribal leaders supervised the lottery.
3-4
(Moses had already given land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River. The tribe of Joseph had become two separate tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and the Levites were given no land at all, except cities in which to live and the surrounding pasturelands for their cattle.
5
So the distribution of the land was in strict accordance with the Lord’s directions to Moses.)
6
The Land Given to Caleb:
A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb, came to Joshua in Gilgal.
“Remember what the Lord said to Moses about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea?” Caleb asked Joshua.
7
“I was forty years old at the time, and Moses had sent us from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land of Canaan. I reported what I felt was the truth,
8
but our brothers who went with us frightened the people and discouraged them from entering the Promised Land. But since I had followed the Lord my God,
9
Moses told me, ‘The section of Canaan you were just in shall belong to you and your descendants forever.’
10
“Now, as you see, from that time until now the Lord has kept me alive and well for all these forty-five years since crisscrossing the wilderness, and today I am eighty-five years old.
11
I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent us on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then!
12
So I’m asking that you give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as spies we found the Anakim living there in great, walled cities, but if the Lord is with me, I shall drive them out of the land.”
13-14
So Joshua blessed him and gave him Hebron as a permanent inheritance because he had followed the Lord God of Israel.
15
(Before that time Hebron had been called Kiriath-arba, after a great hero of the Anakim.)
And there was no resistance from the local populations as the Israelis resettled the land.
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must keep praying until the answer comes.
2
“There was a city judge,”
he said,
“a very godless man who had great contempt for everyone.
3
A widow of that city came to him frequently to appeal for justice against a man who had harmed her.
4-5
The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she got on his nerves.
“‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, ‘but this woman bothers me. I’m going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!’”
6
Then the Lord said,
“If even an evil judge can be worn down like that,
7
don’t you think that God will surely give justice to his people who plead with him day and night?
8
Yes! He will answer them quickly! But the question is: When I, the Messiah,
*
return, how many will I find who have faith and are praying?”
9
Then he told this story to some who boasted of their virtue and scorned everyone else:
10
“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a proud, self-righteous Pharisee, and the other a cheating tax collector.
11
The proud Pharisee ‘prayed’ this prayer: ‘Thank God, I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t commit adultery,
12
I go without food twice a week, and I give to God a tenth of everything I earn.’
13
“But the corrupt tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed, but beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’
14
I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven! For the proud shall be humbled, but the humble shall be honored.”
15
One day some mothers brought their babies to him to touch and bless. But the disciples told them to go away.
16-17
Then Jesus called the children over to him and said to the disciples,
“Let the little children come to me! Never send them away! For the Kingdom of God belongs to men who have hearts as trusting as these little children’s. And anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get within the Kingdom’s gates.”
Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on this land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel,
*
2
and forgiven the sins of your people—yes, covered over each one,
3
so that all your wrath, your blazing anger, is now ended.
4
Now bring us back to loving you,
*
O Lord, so that your anger will never need rise against us again.
5
(Or will you be always angry—on and on to distant generations?)
6
Oh, revive us! Then your people can rejoice in you again.
7
Pour out your love and kindness on us, Lord, and grant us your salvation.
8
I am listening carefully to all the Lord is saying—for he speaks peace to his people, his saints, if they will only stop their sinning.
9
Surely his salvation is near to those who reverence him; our land will be filled with his glory.
10
Mercy and truth have met together. Grim justice
*
and peace have kissed!
11
Truth rises from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12
Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings on the land, and it yields its bountiful crops.
13
Justice goes before him to make a pathway for his steps.
*
Some rich people are poor, and some poor people have great wealth!
8
Being kidnapped and held for ransom never worries the poor man!
April 17The Land Given to the Tribe of Judah
(as assigned by sacred lot): Judah’s southern boundary began at the northern border of Edom, crossed the wilderness of Zin, and ended at the northern edge of the Negeb.
2-4
More specifically, this boundary began at the south bay of the Dead Sea, ran along the road going south of Mount Akrabbim, on into the wilderness of Zin to Hezron (south of Kadesh-barnea), and then up through Karka and Azmon, until it finally reached the brook of Egypt, and along that to the Mediterranean Sea.
5
The eastern boundary extended along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan River.
The northern boundary began at the bay where the Jordan River empties into the Salt Sea,
6
crossed to Beth-hoglah, then proceeded north of Beth-arabah to the stone of Bohan (son of Reuben).
7
From that point it went through the valley of Achor to Debir, where it turned northwest toward Gilgal, opposite the slopes of Adummim on the south side of the valley. From there the border extended to the springs at En-shemesh and on to En-rogel.
8
The boundary then passed through the valley of Hinnom, along the southern shoulder of Jebus (where the city of Jerusalem is located), then west to the top of the mountain above the valley of Hinnom, and on up to the northern end of the valley of Rephaim.
9
From there the border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron before it turned northward to circle around Baalah (which is another name for Kiriath-jearim).
10-11
Then the border circled west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the town of Chesalon on the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim, and went down to Beth-shemesh. Turning northwest again, the boundary line proceeded past the south of Timnah to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, where it bent to the left, passing south of Shikkeron and Mount Baalah. Turning again to the north, it passed Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
12
The western border was the shoreline of the Mediterranean.
13
The Land Given to Caleb:
The Lord instructed Joshua to assign some of Judah’s territory to Caleb (son of Jephunneh), so he was given the city of Arba (also called Hebron), which had been named after Anak’s father.
14
Caleb drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak: Talmai, Sheshai, and Ahiman.
15
Then he fought against the people living in the city of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher).
16
Caleb said that he would give his daughter Achsah to be the wife of anyone who would go and capture Kiriath-sepher.
17
Othniel (son of Kenaz), Caleb’s nephew, was the one who conquered it, so Achsah became Othniel’s wife.
18-19
As she was leaving with him, she urged him to ask her father for an additional field as a wedding present.
*
She got off her donkey to speak to Caleb about this.
“What is it? What can I do for you?” he asked.
And she replied, “Give me another present! For the land you gave me is a desert. Give us some springs too!” Then he gave her the upper and lower springs.
20
So this was the assignment of land to the tribe of Judah:
21-32
The cities of Judah which were situated along the borders of Edom in the Negeb, namely: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (or, Hazor), Amam, Shema, Moladah, Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah, Baalah, Iim, Ezem, Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. In all, there were twenty-nine of these cities with their surrounding villages.
33-36
The following cities situated in the lowlands were also given to Judah: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim. In all, there were fourteen of these cities with their surrounding villages.
37-44
The tribe of Judah also inherited twenty-five other cities with their villages:
*
Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, Makkedah, Libnah, Ether, Ashan, Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah.
45
The territory of the tribe of Judah also included all the towns and villages of Ekron.
46
From Ekron the boundary extended to the Mediterranean and included the cities along the borders of Ashdod with their nearby villages;
47
also the city of Ashdod with its villages, and Gaza with its villages as far as the brook of Egypt; also the entire Mediterranean coast from the mouth of the brook of Egypt on the south to Tyre on the north.
48-62
Judah also received these forty-four cities in the hill country with their surrounding villages:
*
Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (or Debir), Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, Goshen, Holon, Giloh, Arab, Dumah, Eshan, Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, Humtah, Kiriath-arba (or, Hebron), Zior, Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah, Timnah, Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, Maarath, Beth-anoth, Eltekon, Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim), Rabbah, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, Nibshan, The City of Salt, and En-gedi.
63
But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites who lived in the city of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to this day.
Once a Jewish religious leader asked him [Jesus] this question: “Good sir, what shall I do to get to heaven?”
19
“Do you realize what you are saying when you call me ‘good’?”
Jesus asked him.
“Only God is truly good, and no one else.
20
“But as to your question, you know what the Ten Commandments say—don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your parents, and so on.”
21
The man replied, “I’ve obeyed every one of these laws since I was a small child.”
22
“There is still one thing you lack,”
Jesus said.
“Sell all you have and give the money to the poor—it will become treasure for you in heaven—and come, follow me.”
23
But when the man heard this he went sadly away, for he was very rich.
24
Jesus watched him go and then said to his disciples,
“How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!
25
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”
26
Those who heard him say this exclaimed, “If it is that hard, how can
anyone
be saved?”
27
He replied,
“God can do what men can’t!”
28
And Peter said, “We have left our homes and followed you.”
29
“Yes,”
Jesus replied,
“and everyone who has done as you have, leaving home, wife, brothers, parents, or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God,
30
will be repaid many times over now, as well as receiving eternal life in the world to come.”
31
Gathering the Twelve around him he told them,
“As you know, we are going to Jerusalem. And when we get there, all the predictions of the ancient prophets concerning me will come true.
32
I will be handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked and treated shamefully and spat upon,
33
and lashed and killed. And the third day I will rise again.”
34
But they didn’t understand a thing he said. He seemed to be talking in riddles.
35
As they approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting beside the road, begging from travelers.
36
When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening.
37
He was told that Jesus from Nazareth was going by,
38
so he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39
The crowds ahead of Jesus tried to hush the man, but he only yelled the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40
When Jesus arrived at the spot, he stopped.
“Bring the blind man over here,”
he said.
41
Then Jesus asked the man,
“What do you want?”
“Lord,” he pleaded, “I want to see!”
42
And Jesus said,
“All right, begin seeing! Your faith has healed you.”
43
And instantly the man could see and followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it happen praised God too.
Bend down and hear my prayer, O Lord, and answer me, for I am deep in trouble.
2
Protect me from death, for I try to follow all your laws. Save me, for I am serving you and trusting you.
3
Be merciful, O Lord, for I am looking up to you in constant hope.
4
Give me happiness, O Lord, for I worship only you.
5
O Lord, you are so good and kind, so ready to forgive, so full of mercy for all who ask your aid.
6
Listen closely to my prayer, O God. Hear my urgent cry.
7
I will call to you whenever trouble strikes, and you will help me.
8
Where among the heathen gods is there a god like you? Where are their miracles?
9
All the nations—and you made each one—will come and bow before you, Lord, and praise your great and holy name.
10
For you are great and do great miracles. You alone are God.
11
Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there. May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name.
12
With all my heart I will praise you. I will give glory to your name forever,
13
for you love me so much! You are constantly so kind! You have rescued me from deepest hell.
14
O God, proud and insolent men defy me; violent, godless men are trying to kill me.
15
But you are merciful and gentle, Lord, slow in getting angry, full of constant loving-kindness and of truth;
16
so look down in pity and grant strength to your servant and save me.
17
Send me a sign of your favor. When those who hate me see it, they will lose face because you help and comfort me.
The good man’s life is full of light. The sinner’s road is dark and gloomy.
10
Pride leads to arguments; be humble, take advice, and become wise.