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Daily Readings for May 23
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Joshua 9
1.It happened, when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard of it 2.that they gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord. 3.But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4.they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up, 5.and old and patched shoes on their feet, and wore old garments. All the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. 6.They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country. Now therefore make a covenant with us."
7.The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "What if you live among us. How could we make a covenant with you?"
8.They said to Joshua, "We are your servants."
Joshua said to them, "Who are you? Where do you come from?"
9.They said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far country because of the name of Yahweh your God; for we have heard of his fame, all that he did in Egypt, 10.and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11.Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, 'Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, "We are your servants. Now make a covenant with us."' 12.This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we went out to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and has become moldy. 13.These wineskins, which we filled, were new; and behold, they are torn. These our garments and our shoes have become old because of the very long journey."
14.The men sampled their provisions, and didn't ask counsel from the mouth of Yahweh. 15.Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live. The princes of the congregation swore to them. 16.It happened at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they lived among them. 17.The children of Israel traveled and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18.The children of Israel didn't strike them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel. All the congregation murmured against the princes. 19.But all the princes said to all the congregation, "We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. 20.This we will do to them, and let them live; lest wrath be on us, because of the oath which we swore to them." 21.The princes said to them, "Let them live, so they became wood cutters and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the princes had spoken to them."
22.Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you live among us? 23.Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you will never fail to be bondservants, both wood cutters and drawers of water for the house of my God."
24.They answered Joshua, and said, "Because your servants were certainly told how Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25.Now, behold, we are in your hand. Do to us as it seems good and right to you to do."
26.He did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they didn't kill them. 27.That day Joshua made them wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place which he should choose.
Isaiah 13
1.The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw: 2.Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3.I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones. 4.The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle. 5.They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6.Wail; for the day of Yahweh is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7.Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone's heart will melt. 8.They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame. 9.Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it. 10.For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11.I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the haughtiness of the terrible. 12.I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir. 13.Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14.It will happen that like a hunted gazelle, and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land. 15.Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16.Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped. 17.Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it. 18.Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children. 19.Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20.It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. 21.But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. 22.Wolves will cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
1Timothy 4
1.But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 2.through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; 3.forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4.For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving. 5.For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer. 6.If you instruct the brothers of these things, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which you have followed. 7.But refuse profane and old wives' fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness. 8.For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come. 9.This saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance. 10.For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have set our trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11.Command and teach these things.
12.Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. 13.Until I come, pay attention to reading, to exhortation, and to teaching. 14.Don't neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders. 15.Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all. 16.Pay attention to yourself, and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1Timothy 5
1.Don't rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brothers; 2.the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity. 3.Honor widows who are widows indeed. 4.But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to repay their parents, for this is6 acceptable in the sight of God. 5.Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. 6.But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives. 7.Also command these things, that they may be without reproach. 8.But if anyone doesn't provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. 9.Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, 10.being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.
11.But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry; 12.having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge. 13.Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. 14.I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for insulting. 15.For already some have turned aside after Satan. 16.If any man or woman who believes has widows, let them relieve them, and don't let the assembly be burdened; that it might relieve those who are widows indeed.
17.Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. 18.For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain."7 And, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."8
19.Don't receive an accusation against an elder, except at the word of two or three witnesses. 20.Those who sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear. 21.I command you in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality. 22.Lay hands hastily on no one, neither be a participant in other men's sins. Keep yourself pure. 23.Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.
24.Some men's sins are evident, preceding them to judgment, and some also follow later. 25.In the same way also there are good works that are obvious, and those that are otherwise can't be hidden.