Encouraging others Spiritually and Physically

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wednesday, Nov 9, 2011 - May 1 Reading "One Year Bible"

4:45 a.m. Prayer/Devotion

5:40 a.m. - 6:40 a.m. Cardio

JUDGES 13:1-14:20; John 1:29-51; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16

Judges 13-14:20

New Living Translation (NLT)

Judges 13

The Birth of Samson

¹ Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years. ² In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. ⁴ So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.^[a] ⁵ You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”
⁶ The woman ran and told her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see. I didn’t ask where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.’”
⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born.”
⁹ God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. ¹⁰ So she quickly ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!”
¹¹ Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I am.”
¹² So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?”
¹³ The angel of the Lord replied, “Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. ¹⁴ She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food.”
¹⁵ Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”
¹⁶ “I will stay,” the angel of the Lord replied, “but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord.” (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the Lord.)
¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.”
¹⁸ “Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the Lord replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.”
¹⁹ Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the Lord. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the Lord did an amazing thing. ²⁰ As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the Lord ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.
²¹ The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, ²² and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!”
²³ But his wife said, “If the Lord were going to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn’t have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles.”
²⁴ When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the Lord blessed him as he grew up. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14

Samson’s Riddle

¹ One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. ² When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.” ³ His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”
   But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” ⁴ His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.
⁵ As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion suddenly attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. ⁶ At that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it. ⁷ When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.
⁸ Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. ⁹ He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.
¹⁰ As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young men. ¹¹ When the bride’s parents^[b] saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.
¹² Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing. ¹³ But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.”
   “All right,” they agreed, “let’s hear your riddle.”
¹⁴ So he said:
   “Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
      out of the strong came something sweet.”
   Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. ¹⁵ On the fourth^[c] day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle for us, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?”
¹⁶ So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”
   “I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,” he replied. “Why should I tell you?” ¹⁷ So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day he told her the answer because she was tormenting him with her nagging. Then she explained the riddle to the young men.
¹⁸ So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer:
   “What is sweeter than honey?
      What is stronger than a lion?”
   Samson replied, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have solved my riddle!”
¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. ²⁰ So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.

Footnotes:

Judges 13:4 Hebrew any unclean thing; also in 13:7, 14.
Judges 14:11 Hebrew they.
Judges 14:15 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads seventh.

New Living Translation (NLT)Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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John 1:29-51

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ ³¹ I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. ³³ I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.^[a]”

The First Disciples

³⁵ The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶ As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
   They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
³⁹ “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.
⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. ⁴¹ Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”^[b]).
⁴² Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”^[c]).
⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” ⁴⁴ Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.
⁴⁵ Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses^[d] and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”
⁴⁶ “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
   “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
⁴⁷ As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
⁴⁸ “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
   Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
⁴⁹ Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
⁵⁰ Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” ⁵¹ Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.^[e]”

Footnotes:

John 1:34 Some manuscripts read the Son of God.
John 1:41 Messiah (a Hebrew term) and Christ (a Greek term) both mean “the anointed one.”
John 1:42 The names Cephas (from Aramaic) and Peter (from Greek) both mean “rock.”
John 1:45 Greek Moses in the law.
John 1:51 Greek going up and down on the Son of Man; see Gen 28:10-17. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.

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Psalm 102:1-28

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 102

A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the Lord.

¹ Lord, hear my prayer!
      Listen to my plea!
² Don’t turn away from me
      in my time of distress.
   Bend down to listen,
      and answer me quickly when I call to you.
³ For my days disappear like smoke,
      and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
⁴ My heart is sick, withered like grass,
      and I have lost my appetite.
⁵ Because of my groaning,
      I am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶ I am like an owl in the desert,
      like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.
⁷ I lie awake,
      lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
⁸ My enemies taunt me day after day.
      They mock and curse me.
⁹ I eat ashes for food.
      My tears run down into my drink
¹⁰ because of your anger and wrath.
      For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
¹¹ My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
      I am withering away like grass. ¹² But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever.
      Your fame will endure to every generation.
¹³ You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem^[a]—
      and now is the time to pity her,
      now is the time you promised to help.
¹⁴ For your people love every stone in her walls
      and cherish even the dust in her streets.
¹⁵ Then the nations will tremble before the Lord.
      The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem.
      He will appear in his glory.
¹⁷ He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
      He will not reject their pleas.
¹⁸ Let this be recorded for future generations,
      so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord.
¹⁹ Tell them the Lord looked down
      from his heavenly sanctuary.
   He looked down to earth from heaven
    ²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
      to release those condemned to die.
²¹ And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion,
      his praises in Jerusalem,
²² when multitudes gather together
      and kingdoms come to worship the Lord.
²³ He broke my strength in midlife,
      cutting short my days.
²⁴ But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
      don’t take my life while I am so young!
²⁵ Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
      and made the heavens with your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but you remain forever;
      they will wear out like old clothing.
   You will change them like a garment
      and discard them.
²⁷ But you are always the same;
      you will live forever.
²⁸ The children of your people
      will live in security.
   Their children’s children
      will thrive in your presence.”

Footnotes:

Psalm 102:13 Hebrew Zion; also in 102:16.

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Proverbs 14:15-16

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁵ Only simpletons believe everything they’re told!
The prudent carefully consider their steps.
¹⁶ The wise are cautious^[a] and avoid danger;
fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 14:16 Hebrew The wise fear.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - One Year Bible

4:45 a.m. Prayer/Devotion

5:50-6:50 Total Body Weights/Cardio 10 min - 455 kcal burned

Judges 11:1-12:15; John 1:1-28; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 14:13-14

Judges 11-12:15

New Living Translation (NLT)

Judges 11

Jephthah Becomes Israel’s Judge

¹ Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. ² Gilead’s wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. “You will not get any of our father’s inheritance,” they said, “for you are the son of a prostitute.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him. ⁴ At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel. ⁵ When the Ammonites attacked, the elders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. The elders said, ⁶ “Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!”
⁷ But Jephthah said to them, “Aren’t you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now when you’re in trouble?”
⁸ “Because we need you,” the elders replied. “If you lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead.”
⁹ Jephthah said to the elders, “Let me get this straight. If I come with you and if the Lord gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?”
¹⁰ “The Lord is our witness,” the elders replied. “We promise to do whatever you say.”
¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the Lord, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the elders.
¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking, “Why have you come out to fight against my land?”
¹³ The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.”
¹⁴ Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king:
¹⁵ “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon. ¹⁶ When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea,^[a] ¹⁷ they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn’t let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.
¹⁸ “Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab’s eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.
¹⁹ “Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination. ²⁰ But King Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them. ²¹ But the Lord, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region, ²² from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan.
²³ “So you see, it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you? ²⁴ You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us. ²⁵ Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war against them?
²⁶ “Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now? ²⁷ Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today which of us is right—Israel or Ammon.”
²⁸ But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.

Jephthah’s Vow

²⁹ At that time the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and from there he led an army against the Ammonites. ³⁰ And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, ³¹ I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” ³² So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory. ³³ He crushed the Ammonites, devastating about twenty towns from Aroer to an area near Minnith and as far away as Abel-keramim. In this way Israel defeated the Ammonites.
³⁴ When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter came out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. She was his one and only child; he had no other sons or daughters. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “Oh, my daughter!” he cried out. “You have completely destroyed me! You’ve brought disaster on me! For I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”
³⁶ And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the Lord has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. ³⁷ But first let me do this one thing: Let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.”
³⁸ “You may go,” Jephthah said. And he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. ³⁹ When she returned home, her father kept the vow he had made, and she died a virgin.
So it has become a custom in Israel ⁴⁰ for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter.

Judges 12

Ephraim Fights with Jephthah

¹ Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!” ² Jephthah replied, “I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon. ³ So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?”
⁴ The people of Ephraim responded, “You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them.
⁵ Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him. “Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they would ask. If the man said, “No, I’m not,” ⁶ they would tell him to say “Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say “Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.
⁷ Jephthah judged Israel for six years. When he died, he was buried in one of the towns of Gilead.

Ibzan Becomes Israel’s Judge

⁸ After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹ He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He sent his daughters to marry men outside his clan, and he brought in thirty young women from outside his clan to marry his sons. Ibzan judged Israel for seven years. ¹⁰ When he died, he was buried at Bethlehem.

Elon Becomes Israel’s Judge

¹¹ After Ibzan died, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun judged Israel for ten years. ¹² When he died, he was buried at Aijalon in Zebulun.

Abdon Becomes Israel’s Judge

¹³ After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel. ¹⁴ He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. ¹⁵ When he died, he was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Footnotes:

Judges 11:16 Hebrew sea of reeds.

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John 1:1-28

New Living Translation (NLT)

John 1

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

¹ In the beginning the Word already existed.
      The Word was with God,
      and the Word was God.
² He existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through him,
      and nothing was created except through him.
⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,^[a]
      and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
      and the darkness can never extinguish it.^[b] ⁶ God sent a man, John the Baptist,^[c] ⁷ to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. ⁸ John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. ⁹ The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
¹⁴ So the Word became human^[d] and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.^[e] And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
¹⁵ John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
¹⁶ From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.^[f] ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God,^[g] is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants^[h] from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹ “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
   “No,” he replied.
   “Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”^[i]
   “No.”
²² “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
²³ John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
   “I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
      ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”^[j]
²⁴ Then the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”
²⁶ John told them, “I baptize with^[k] water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. ²⁷ Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.”
²⁸ This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

Footnotes:

John 1:4 Or and nothing that was created was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything.
John 1:5 Or and the darkness has not understood it.
John 1:6 Greek a man named John.
John 1:14 Greek became flesh.
John 1:14 Or grace and truth; also in 1:17.
John 1:16 Or received the grace of Christ rather than the grace of the law; Greek reads received grace upon grace.
John 1:18 Some manuscripts read But the one and only Son.
John 1:19 Greek and Levites.
John 1:21 Greek Are you the Prophet? See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
John 1:23 Isa 40:3.
John 1:26 Or in; also in 1:31, 33.

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Psalm 101:1-8

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 101

A psalm of David.

¹ I will sing of your love and justice, Lord.
      I will praise you with songs.
² I will be careful to live a blameless life—
      when will you come to help me?
   I will lead a life of integrity
      in my own home.
³ I will refuse to look at
      anything vile and vulgar.
   I hate all who deal crookedly;
      I will have nothing to do with them.
⁴ I will reject perverse ideas
      and stay away from every evil.
⁵ I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
      I will not endure conceit and pride. ⁶ I will search for faithful people
      to be my companions.
   Only those who are above reproach
      will be allowed to serve me.
⁷ I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
      and liars will not stay in my presence.
⁸ My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
      and free the city of the Lord from their grip.

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Proverbs 14:13-14

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ Laughter can conceal a heavy heart,
but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.
¹⁴ Backsliders get what they deserve;
good people receive their reward.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Monday, Nov 7, 2011 - April 29 Reading "One Year Bible"

4:50 am Prayer/Devotion

5:40 a.m. Total Body

Judges 9:22-10:18; Luke 24:13-53; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 14:11-12

Judges 9:22-10:18

New Living Translation (NLT)

Shechem Rebels against Abimelech

²² After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, ²³ God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. ²⁴ God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers. ²⁵ The citizens of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech on the hilltops and robbed everyone who passed that way. But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.

²⁶ One day Gaal son of Ebed moved to Shechem with his brothers and gained the confidence of the leading citizens of Shechem. ²⁷ During the annual harvest festival at Shechem, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely, and everyone began cursing Abimelech. ²⁸ “Who is Abimelech?” Gaal shouted. “He’s not a true son of Shechem,^[a] so why should we be his servants? He’s merely the son of Gideon, and this Zebul is merely his deputy. Serve the true sons of Hamor, the founder of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech? ²⁹ If I were in charge here, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say^[b] to him, ‘Get some soldiers, and come out and fight!’”

³⁰ But when Zebul, the leader of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious. ³¹ He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah,^[c] telling him, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you. ³² Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields. ³³ In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, attack the city. When Gaal and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all his men went by night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem. ³⁵ Gaal was standing at the city gates when Abimelech and his army came out of hiding. ³⁶ When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, “Look, there are people coming down from the hilltops!”

Zebul replied, “It’s just the shadows on the hills that look like men.”

³⁷ But again Gaal said, “No, people are coming down from the hills.^[d] And another group is coming down the road past the Diviners’ Oak.^[e]”

³⁸ Then Zebul turned on him and asked, “Now where is that big mouth of yours? Wasn’t it you that said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should we be his servants?’ The men you mocked are right outside the city! Go out and fight them!”

³⁹ So Gaal led the leading citizens of Shechem into battle against Abimelech. ⁴⁰ But Abimelech chased him, and many of Shechem’s men were wounded and fell along the road as they retreated to the city gate. ⁴¹ Abimelech returned to Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.

⁴² The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech heard about it, ⁴³ he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them. ⁴⁴ Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in the fields. ⁴⁵ The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.

⁴⁶ When the leading citizens who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith.^[f] ⁴⁷ Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered in the temple, ⁴⁸ so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some branches from a tree, then put them on his shoulder. “Quick, do as I have done!” he told his men. ⁴⁹ So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech’s example. They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women—the entire population—fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower. ⁵² Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, ⁵³ a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.

⁵⁴ He quickly said to his young armor bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died. ⁵⁵ When Abimelech’s men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.

⁵⁶ In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.

Judges 10

Tola Becomes Israel’s Judge

¹ After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.

Jair Becomes Israel’s Judge

³ After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years. ⁴ His thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair.^[g] ⁵ When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

The Ammonites Oppress Israel

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. ⁷ So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead). ⁹ The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim.

The Israelites were in great distress. ¹⁰ Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”

¹¹ The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹² the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. ¹³ Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

¹⁵ But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” ¹⁶ Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery.

¹⁷ At that time the armies of Ammon had gathered for war and were camped in Gilead, and the people of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah. ¹⁸ The leaders of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead.”

Footnotes:

Judges 9:28 Hebrew Who is Shechem?
Judges 9:29 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads And he said.
Judges 9:31 Or in secret; Hebrew reads in Tormah; compare 9:41.
Judges 9:37 Or the center of the land.
Judges 9:37 Hebrew Elon-meonenim.
Judges 9:46 Hebrew El-berith, another name for Baal-berith; compare 9:4.
Judges 10:4 Hebrew Havvoth-jair.

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Luke 24:13-53

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The Walk to Emmaus

¹³ That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. ¹⁶ But God kept them from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”

They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. ¹⁸ Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”

¹⁹ “What things?” Jesus asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. ²⁰ But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. ²¹ We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.

²² “Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. ²³ They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! ²⁴ Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”

²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. ²⁶ Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” ²⁷ Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸ By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, ²⁹ but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. ³⁰ As they sat down to eat,^[b] he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. ³¹ Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!

³² They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” ³³ And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, ³⁴ who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.^[c]”

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁵ Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. ³⁶ And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. ³⁷ But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!

³⁸ “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? ³⁹ Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” ⁴⁰ As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.

⁴¹ Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he ate it as they watched.

⁴⁴ Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,^[d] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of all these things.

⁴⁹ “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven.^[e] ⁵² So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. ⁵³ And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.

Footnotes:

Luke 24:13 Greek 60 stadia [11.1 kilometers].
Luke 24:30 Or As they reclined.
Luke 24:34 Greek Simon.
Luke 24:47 Or all peoples.
Luke 24:51 Some manuscripts do not include and was taken up to heaven.

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Psalm 100:1-5

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Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

¹ Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
² Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

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Proverbs 14:11-12

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¹¹ The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the godly will flourish.

¹² There is a path before each person that seems right,
but it ends in death.

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