1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the Israelites, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall be yours as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries, 3 your southern region shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary from the end of the Salt (Dead) Sea eastward. 4 Your boundary shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and continue on to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar and pass on to Azmon. 5 Then the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-arish), and its limit shall be at the [Mediterranean] Sea.
6 ‘As the western boundary you shall have the Great [Mediterranean] Sea and its coastline. This shall be your western boundary.
7 ‘And this shall be your north border: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea mark out your boundary line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your boundary to the entrance of Hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad; 9 then the [northern] boundary shall go on to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern boundary.
10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; 11 the [eastern] boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and shall descend and reach to the slope on the east of the Sea of Chinnereth [the Sea of Galilee]; 12 and the [eastern] boundary shall go down to the Jordan [River], and its limit shall be at the Salt (Dead) Sea. This shall be your land according to its boundaries all around.’”
13 So Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, “This is the land you are to inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe [of Manasseh], 14 for the tribe of the sons of Reuben and the tribe of the sons of Gad have received their inheritance by their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan [River] opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one leader from every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; 22 from the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 of the sons of Joseph: from the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod; 24 from the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 from the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; 26 from the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 from the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 from the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the [twelve] men whom the Lord commanded [to work with Joshua and Eleazar] to divide the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.
38
But He, the source of compassion and lovingkindness, forgave their wickedness and did not destroy them;
Many times He restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
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For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh,
A wind that goes and does not return.
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How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
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Again and again they tempted God,
And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
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They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand,
Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
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How He worked His miracles in Egypt
And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
44
And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45
He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
46
He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
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He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
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He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.
49
He sent upon them His burning anger,
His fury and indignation and distress,
A band of angels of destruction [among them].
50
He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.
51
He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
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But God led His own people forward like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
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He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.
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So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
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He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
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Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
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They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
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For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
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When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath;
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
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So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
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And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity,
And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).
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He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).
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The fire [of war] devoured His young men,
And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
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His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.
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Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,
Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
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He drove His enemies backward;
He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
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Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
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But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader],
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
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And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens],
Like the earth which He has established forever.
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He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
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From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
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So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
2
“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that remains faithful and trustworthy.
3
“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
4
“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],
For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].
5
“For He has thrown down the [arrogant] ones who dwell on high, the lofty and inaccessible city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He hurls it to the dust.
6
“The foot will trample it,
Even the feet of the suffering, and the steps of the helpless.”
7
The way of the righteous [those in right-standing with God—living in moral and spiritual integrity] is smooth and level;
O Upright One, make a level path for the just and righteous.
8
Indeed, in the path of Your judgments, O Lord,
We have waited expectantly for You;
Your name, even Your memory, is the desire and deep longing of our souls.
9
In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord],
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For [only] when Your judgments are experienced on the earth
Will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10
Though the wicked is shown compassion and favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly,
And refuses to see the majesty of the Lord.
11
Though Your hand is lifted up [to strike], O Lord, the wicked do not see it.
Let them see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame;
Indeed, let the fire reserved for Your enemies consume them.
12
Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.
13
O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled over us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.
14
The [wicked] dead will not live [again], the spirits of the dead will not rise and return;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out every memory of them [every trace of them].
15
You have increased the nation, O Lord;
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16
O Lord, they sought You in distress;
They managed only a prayerful whisper
When Your discipline was upon them.
17
As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth,
She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor,
So we were before You, O Lord.
18
We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor;
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.
19
Your dead will live;
Their dead bodies will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy!
For your dew is a dew of [celestial] light [heavenly, supernatural],
And the earth will give birth to the spirits of the dead.
20
Come, my people, enter your chambers
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until the [Lord’s] wrath is past.
21
Listen carefully, the Lord is about to come out of His [heavenly] place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];
The earth will reveal the [innocent] blood shed upon her
And will no longer cover her slain.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know and recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ has [actually] come in the flesh [as a man] is from God [God is its source]; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus [acknowledging that He has come in the flesh, but would deny any of the Son’s true nature] is not of God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is now already in the world. 4 Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind]. 5 They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them. 6 We [who teach God’s word] are from God [energized by the Holy Spirit], and whoever knows God [through personal experience] listens to us [and has a deeper understanding of Him]. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know [without any doubt] the spirit of truth [motivated by God] and the spirit of error [motivated by Satan].
7 Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. 8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.] 9 By this the love of God was displayed in us, in that God has sent His [One and] only begotten Son [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind] into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath]. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us [in this incredible way], we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us. 13 By this we know [with confident assurance] that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given to us His [Holy] Spirit. 14 We [who were with Him in person] have seen and testify [as eye-witnesses] that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses and acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him. 17 In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him.
