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Daily Readings for June 3
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Joshua 20
1.Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, 2."Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, 3.that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4.He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them. 5.If the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and didn't hate him before. 6.He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the manslayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.'"
7.They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8.Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9.These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands before the congregation.
Joshua 21
1.Then the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. 2.They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "Yahweh commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for our livestock."
3.The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their suburbs. 4.The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin. 5.The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh. 6.The children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. 7.The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun. 8.The children of Israel gave these cities with their suburbs by lot to the Levites, as Yahweh commanded by Moses. 9.They gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are mentioned by name: 10.and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. 11.They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (the same is Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its suburbs around it. 12.But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. 13.To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah with its suburbs, 14.Jattir with its suburbs, Eshtemoa with its suburbs, 15.Holon with its suburbs, Debir with its suburbs, 16.Ain with its suburbs, Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth Shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes. 17.Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its suburbs, Geba with its suburbs, 18.Anathoth with its suburbs, and Almon with its suburbs; four cities. 19.All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
20.The families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21.They gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs, 22.Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth Horon with its suburbs; four cities. 23.Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs, 24.Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; four cities. 25.Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; two cities. 26.All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.
27.They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be Eshterah with its suburbs; two cities. 28.Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs, 29.Jarmuth with its suburbs, En Gannim with its suburbs; four cities. 30.Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs, 31.Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities. 32.Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammothdor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities. 33.All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
34.To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, Kartah with its suburbs, 35.Dimnah with its suburbs, and Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities. 36.Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, Jahaz with its suburbs, 37.Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities. 38.Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs, 39.Heshbon with its suburbs, Jazer with its suburbs; four cities in all. 40.All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities.
41.All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs. 42.Each of these cities included their suburbs around them. It was this way with all these cities.
43.So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it. 44.Yahweh gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45.Nothing failed of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
Isaiah 26
1.In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
"We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks. 2.Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith. 3.You will keep whoever's mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you. 4.Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock. 5.For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to the dust. 6.The foot shall tread it down; Even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy." 7.The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level. 8.Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul. 9.With my soul have I desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10.Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh's majesty. 11.Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don't see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries. 12.Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also worked all our works for us. 13.Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name. 14.The dead shall not live. The deceased shall not rise. Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish. 15.You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land. 16.Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them. 17.Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before you, Yahweh. 18.We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19.Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast forth the dead.
20.Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past. 21.For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.
Isaiah 27
1.In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea. 2.In that day, sing to her, "A pleasant vineyard! 3.I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day. 4.Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together. 5.Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me."
6.In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit. 7.Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? Or are they killed like those who killed them were killed? 8.In measure, when you send them away, you contend with them. He has removed them with his rough blast in the day of the east wind. 9.Therefore, by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherim and the incense altars shall rise no more. 10.For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches. 11.When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor. 12.It will happen in that day, that Yahweh will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, children of Israel. 13.It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come; and they will worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Hebrews 10
1.For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2.Or else wouldn't they have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? 3.But in those sacrifices there is a yearly reminder of sins. 4.For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 5.Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, "Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire, but you prepared a body for me; 6.You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. 7.Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.'"30
8.Previously saying, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn't desire, neither had pleasure in them" (those which are offered according to the law), 9.then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second, 10.by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11.Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, 12.but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13.from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet. 14.For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 15.The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16."This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;'"31
then he says, 17."I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more."32
18.Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19.Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20.by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21.and having a great priest over the house of God, 22.let's draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water, 23.let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.
24.Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25.not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching. 26.For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, 27.but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. 28.A man who disregards Moses' law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29.How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30.For we know him who said, "Vengeance belongs to me," says the Lord, "I will repay."33 Again, "The Lord will judge his people."34 31.It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32.But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings; 33.partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so. 34.For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens. 35.Therefore don't throw away your boldness, which has a great reward. 36.For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. 37."In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait. 38.But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."35
39.But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.