Joshua 16-17
1 The land allotted to Joseph’s descendants extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho to the east, through the desert and on up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel. 2 The southern border extended from Bethel to Luz, and crossed to Arkite territory at Ataroth. 3 It then descended westward to Japhletite territory, as far as the territory of lower Beth Horon and Gezer, and ended at the sea.
4 Joseph’s descendants, Manasseh and Ephraim, were assigned their land. 5 The territory of the tribe of Ephraim by its clans included the following: The border of their assigned land to the east was Ataroth Addar as far as upper Beth Horon. 6 It then extended on to the sea, with Micmethath on the north. It turned eastward to Taanath Shiloh and crossed it on the east to Janoah. 7 It then descended from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah, touched Jericho, and extended to the Jordan River. 8 From Tappuah it went westward to the Valley of Kanah and ended at the sea. This is the land assigned to the tribe of Ephraim by its clans. 9 Also included were the cities set apart for the tribe of Ephraim within Manasseh’s territory, along with their towns.
10 The Ephraimites did not conquer the Canaanites living in Gezer. The Canaanites live among the Ephraimites to this very day and do hard labor as their servants.
1 The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s firstborn son, was also allotted land. The descendants of Makir, Manasseh’s firstborn and the father of Gilead, received land, for they were warriors. They were assigned Gilead and Bashan. 2 The rest of Manasseh’s descendants were also assigned land by their clans, including the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their clans.
3 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They went before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us land among our relatives.” So Joshua assigned them land among their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. 5 Manasseh was allotted ten shares of land, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan, 6 for the daughters of Manasseh were assigned land among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.
7 The border of Manasseh went from Asher to Micmethath, which is near Shechem. It then went south toward those who live by En Tappuah. 8 (The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah, located on the border of Manasseh, belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.) 9 The border then descended southward to the Valley of Kanah. Ephraim was assigned cities there among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was north of the valley and ended at the sea. 10 Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s to the north. The sea was Manasseh’s western border and their territory touched Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. 11 Within Issachar’s and Asher’s territories Manasseh was assigned Beth Shean, Ibleam, the residents of Dor, the residents of Endor, the residents of Taanach, the residents of Megiddo, the three of Napheth, and the towns surrounding all these cities. 12 But the men of Manasseh were unable to conquer these cities; the Canaanites managed to remain in those areas. 13 Whenever the Israelites were strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them.
14 The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you assigned us only one tribal allotment? After all, we have many people, for until now the Lord has enabled us to increase in number.” 15 Joshua replied to them, “Since you have so many people, go up into the forest and clear out a place to live in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites, if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you.” 16 The descendants of Joseph said, “The whole hill country is inadequate for us, and the Canaanites living down in the valley in Beth Shean and its surrounding towns and in the Valley of Jezreel have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.” 17 Joshua said to the family of Joseph—to both Ephraim and Manasseh: “You have many people and great military strength. You will not have just one tribal allotment. 18 The whole hill country will be yours; though it is a forest, you can clear it, and it will be entirely yours. You can conquer the Canaanites, though they have chariots with iron-rimmed wheels and are strong.”
Psalms 148
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the sky.
Praise him in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.
Praise him, all his heavenly assembly.
3 Praise him, O sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shiny stars.
4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he gave the command and they came into existence.
6 He established them so they would endure;
he issued a decree that will not be revoked.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,
8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds,
O stormy wind that carries out his orders,
9 you mountains and all you hills,
you fruit trees and all you cedars,
10 you animals and all you cattle,
you creeping things and birds,
11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,
you princes and all you leaders on the earth,
12 you young men and young women,
you elderly, along with you children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
14 He has made his people victorious,
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise—
the Israelites, the people who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!
Jeremiah 8
1 The Lord says, “When that time comes, the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets, and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves. 2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and the stars. These are things they adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, from which they sought guidance and worshiped. The bones of these people will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. 3 However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who survive may go, they will wish they had died rather than lived,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
4 The Lord said to me,
“Tell them, ‘The Lord says,
Do people not get back up when they fall down?
Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way?
5 Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem
continually turn away from me in apostasy?
They hold fast to their deception.
They refuse to turn back to me.
6 I have listened to them very carefully,
but they do not speak honestly.
None of them regrets the evil he has done.
None of them says, “I have done wrong!”
All of them persist in their own wayward course
like a horse charging recklessly into battle.
7 Even the stork knows
when it is time to move on.
The turtledove, swallow, and crane
recognize the normal times for their migration.
But my people pay no attention
to what I, the Lord, require of them.
8 How can you say, “We are wise!
We have the law of the Lord”?
The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings
to make it say what it does not really mean.
9 Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment.
Since they have rejected the Lord’s message,
what wisdom do they really have?
10 So I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
For from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike
all practice deceit.
11 They offer only superficial help
for the hurt my dear people have suffered.
They say, “Everything will be all right!”
But everything is not all right.
12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?
No, they are not at all ashamed!
They do not even know how to blush.
So they will die just like others have died.
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,
says the Lord.
13 I will take away their harvests, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on their vines.
There will be no figs on their fig trees.
Even the leaves on their trees will wither.
The crops that I gave them will be taken away.’”
14 The people say,
“Why are we just sitting here?
Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.
Let us at least die there fighting,
since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment
because we have sinned against him.
15 We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it.
We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror.
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses
is already being heard in the city of Dan.
The sound of the neighing of their stallions
causes the whole land to tremble with fear.
They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it.
They are coming to destroy the cities and everyone who lives in them.”
17 The Lord says,
“Yes indeed, I am sending an enemy against you
that will be like poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed away.
And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.”
18 Then I said,
“There is no cure for my grief!
I am sick at heart!
19 I hear my dear people crying out
throughout the length and breadth of the land.
They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her divine King no longer there?’”
The Lord answers,
“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?
20 They cry, ‘Harvest time has come and gone and the summer is over,
and still we have not been delivered.’
21 My heart is crushed because my dear people are being crushed.
I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay.
22 There is still medicinal ointment available in Gilead!
There is still a physician there!
Why then have my dear people
not been restored to health?
Matthew 22
1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’ 5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
15 Then the Pharisees went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words. 16 They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality. 17 Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius. 20 Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” 21 They replied, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 Now when they heard this they were stunned, and they left him and went away.
23 The same day Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him and asked him, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother. 26 The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.” 29 Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!” 33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
34 Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. 35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
41 While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,
44 ‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
45 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.
