Joshua 18-19
1 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting. Though they had subdued the land, 2 seven Israelite tribes had not been assigned their allotted land. 3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long do you intend to put off occupying the land the Lord God of your ancestors has given you? 4 Pick three men from each tribe. I will send them out to walk through the land and make a map of it for me. 5 Divide it into seven regions. Judah will stay in its territory in the south, and the family of Joseph in its territory in the north. 6 But as for you, map out the land into seven regions and bring it to me. I will draw lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land east of the Jordan, which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned them.”
8 When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, “Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.” 9 The men journeyed through the land and mapped it and its cities out into seven regions on a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Joshua drew lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord and divided the land among the Israelites according to their allotted portions.
11 The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph. 12 Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 It then crossed from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel), and descended to Ataroth Addar located on the hill that is south of lower Beth Horon. 14 It then turned on the west side southward from the hill near Beth Horon on the south and extended to Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This is the western border. 15 The southern side started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and extended westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 The border then descended to the edge of the hill country near the Valley of Ben Hinnom located in the Valley of the Rephaites to the north. It descended through the Valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south and then down to En Rogel. 17 It went northward, extending to En Shemesh and Geliloth opposite the Pass of Adummim, and descended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 18 It crossed to the slope in front of the rift valley to the north and descended into the rift valley. 19 It then crossed to the slope of Beth Hoglah to the north and ended at the northern tip of the Salt Sea at the mouth of the Jordan River. This was the southern border. 20 The Jordan River bordered it on the east. These were the borders of the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans.
21 These cities belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—a total of twelve cities and their towns.
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—a total of fourteen cities and their towns. This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans.
1 The second lot belonged to the tribe of Simeon by its clans. Their assigned land was in the middle of Judah’s assigned land. 2 Their assigned land included Beer Sheba, Moladah, 3 Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, 6 Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen—a total of thirteen cities and their towns, 7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—a total of four cities and their towns, 8 as well as all the towns around these cities as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the land assigned to the tribe of Simeon by its clans. 9 Simeon’s assigned land was taken from Judah’s allotted portion, for Judah’s territory was too large for them; so Simeon was assigned land within Judah.
10 The third lot belonged to the tribe of Zebulun by its clans. The border of their territory extended to Sarid. 11 Their border went up westward to Maralah and touched Dabbesheth and the valley near Jokneam. 12 From Sarid it turned eastward to the territory of Kisloth Tabor, extended to Daberath, and went up to Japhia. 13 From there it crossed eastward to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin and extended to Rimmon, turning toward Neah. 14 It then turned on the north to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtah El. 15 Their territory included Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; in all they had twelve cities and their towns. 16 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Zebulun by its clans, including these cities and their towns.
17 The fourth lot belonged to the tribe of Issachar by its clans. 18 Their assigned land included Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah and Beth Pazzez. 22 Their border touched Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh, and ended at the Jordan. They had sixteen cities and their towns. 23 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Issachar by its clans, including these cities and their towns.
24 The fifth lot belonged to the tribe of Asher by its clans. 25 Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, 26 Alammelech, Amad, and Mishal. Their border touched Carmel to the west and Shihor Libnath. 27 It turned eastward toward Beth Dagon, touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah El to the north, as well as Beth Emek and Neiel, and extended to Cabul on the north 28 and on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon. 29 It then turned toward Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre, turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea near Hebel, Achzib, 30 Umah, Aphek, and Rehob. In all they had twenty-two cities and their towns. 31 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Asher by its clans, including these cities and their towns.
32 The sixth lot belonged to the tribe of Naphtali by its clans. 33 Their border started at Heleph and the oak of Zaanannim, went to Adami Nekeb, Jabneel and on to Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan River. 34 It turned westward to Aznoth Tabor, extended from there to Hukok, touched Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and the Jordan on the east. 35 The fortified cities included Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, 38 Yiron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh. In all they had nineteen cities and their towns. 39 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Naphtali by its clans, including these cities and their towns.
40 The seventh lot belonged to the tribe of Dan by its clans. 41 Their assigned land included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, 46 the waters of Jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory in front of Joppa. 47 (The Danites failed to conquer their territory, so they went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. They put the sword to it, took possession of it, and lived in it. They renamed it Dan after their ancestor.) 48 This was the land assigned to the tribe of Dan by its clans, including these cities and their towns.
49 When they finished dividing the land into its regions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun some land. 50 As the Lord had instructed, they gave him the city he requested—Timnath Serah in the Ephraimite hill country. He built up the city and lived in it.
51 These are the land assignments that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders made by drawing lots in Shiloh before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing up the land.
Psalms 149-150
1 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Praise him in the assembly of the godly.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator.
Let the people of Zion delight in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing.
Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he exalts the oppressed by delivering them.
5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication.
Let them shout for joy upon their beds.
6 May the praises of God be in their mouths
and a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 in order to take revenge on the nations,
and punish foreigners.
8 The godly bind their enemies’ kings in chains,
and their nobles in iron shackles,
9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies have been sentenced.
All his loyal followers will be vindicated.
Praise the Lord.
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength!
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with the lyre and the harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with clanging cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Jeremiah 9
1 (8:23) I wish that my head were a well full of water
and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!
If they were, I could cry day and night
for those of my dear people who have been killed.
2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the wilderness
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler.
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation of people that has been disloyal to him.”
3 The Lord says,
“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies.
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means.
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another
and do not pay attention to me.
4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.
He must not even trust any of his relatives.
For every one of them will find some way to cheat him.
And all his friends will tell lies about him.
5 One friend deceives another
and no one tells the truth.
These people have trained themselves to tell lies.
They do wrong and are unable to repent.
6 They do one act of violence after another,
and one deceitful thing after another.
They refuse to pay attention to me,”
says the Lord.
7 Therefore the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction and test them.
The wickedness of my dear people has left me no choice.
What else can I do?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They are always telling lies.
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths,
but their minds are thinking up ways to trap them.
9 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!”
10 I said,
“I will weep and mourn for the grasslands on the mountains;
I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness
because they are so scorched no one travels through them.
The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.
Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields
have fled and are gone.”
11 The Lord said,
“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there.
I will destroy the towns of Judah
so that no one will be able to live in them.”
12 I said,
“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?
Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it?
Why does the land lie in ruins?
Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. 14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to the gods called Baal, as their fathers taught them to do. 15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, say, ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”
17 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies told me to say to this people:
“Take note of what I say.
Call for the women who mourn for the dead!
Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”
18 I said, “Indeed, let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.
Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes
and our eyelids overflow with water.
19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion,
‘We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced!
For we have left our land,
for our houses have been torn down!’”
20 I said,
“So now, you wailing women, listen to the Lord’s message.
Open your ears to the message from his mouth.
Teach your daughters this mournful song,
and let every woman teach her neighbor this lament.
21 ‘Death has climbed in through our windows.
It has entered into our fortified houses.
It has taken away our children who play in the streets.
It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’
22 Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says:
“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere
like manure scattered on a field.
They will lie scattered on the ground
like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’”
23 The Lord says,
“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful.
Rich people should not boast that they are rich.
24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this:
They should boast that they understand and know me.
They should boast that they know and understand
that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth
and that I desire people to do these things,”
says the Lord.
25 The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. 26 That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.”
Matthew 23
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
15 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too!
27 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
34 “For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things!
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! 39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
