the Third Week after Easter
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
April 14 - Old & New Testament
niv
Judges 1,2,3
Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites(a)
1 After the death(b) of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord , "Who of us is to go up first(c) to fight against the Canaanites?(d)"
2 The Lord answered, "Judah(e) shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.(f)"
3 The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites(g) went with them.
4 When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites(h) into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek.(i) 5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek(j) and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back(k) for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem,(l) and he died there.
8 The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem(m) also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
9 After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country,(n) the Negev(o) and the western foothills. 10 They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron(p) (formerly called Kiriath Arba(q)) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai.(r) 11 From there they advanced against the people living in Debir(s) (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).
12 And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." 13 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.
14 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him[a] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"
15 She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.(t)
16 The descendants of Moses' father-in-law,(u) the Kenite,(v) went up from the City of Palms[b](w) with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.(x)
17 Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites(y) their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed[c] the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.[d](z) 18 Judah also took[e] Gaza,(aa) Ashkelon(ab) and Ekron—each city with its territory.
19 The Lord was with(ac) the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country,(ad) but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron.(ae) 20 As Moses had promised, Hebron(af) was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.(ag) 21 The Benjamites, however, did not drive out(ah) the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem;(ai) to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.
22 Now the tribes of Joseph(aj) attacked Bethel,(ak) and the Lord was with them. 23 When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz),(al) 24 the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.(am)" 25 So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared(an) the man and his whole family. 26 He then went to the land of the Hittites,(ao) where he built a city and called it Luz,(ap) which is its name to this day.
27 But Manasseh did not(aq) drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor(ar) or Ibleam(as) or Megiddo(at) and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites(au) were determined to live in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely.(av) 29 Nor did Ephraim(aw) drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer,(ax) but the Canaanites continued to live there among them.(ay) 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. 31 Nor did Asher(az) drive out those living in Akko or Sidon(ba) or Ahlab or Akzib(bb) or Helbah or Aphek(bc) or Rehob.(bd) 32 The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh(be) or Beth Anath(bf); but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34 The Amorites(bg) confined the Danites(bh) to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain.(bi) 35 And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres,(bj) Aijalon(bk) and Shaalbim,(bl) but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36 The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass(bm) to Sela(bn) and beyond.(bo)
The Angel of the Lord at Bokim
1 The angel of the Lord (a) went up from Gilgal(b) to Bokim(c) and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt(d) and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors.(e) I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,(f) 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land,(g) but you shall break down their altars.(h)' Yet you have disobeyed(i) me. Why have you done this? 3 And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you;(j) they will become traps(k) for you, and their gods will become snares(l) to you.'"
4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud,(m) 5 and they called that place Bokim.[a](n) There they offered sacrifices to the Lord .
Disobedience and Defeat(o)
6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.(p)
8 Joshua son of Nun,(q) the servant of the Lord , died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres[b](r) in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.(s) 11 Then the Israelites did evil(t) in the eyes of the Lord (u) and served the Baals.(v) 12 They forsook the Lord , the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods(w) of the peoples around them.(x) They aroused(y) the Lord 's anger(z) 13 because they forsook(aa) him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.(ab) 14 In his anger(ac) against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands(ad) of raiders who plundered(ae) them. He sold them(af) into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.(ag) 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them(ah) to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.(ai)
16 Then the Lord raised up judges,[c](aj) who saved(ak) them out of the hands of these raiders. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted(al) themselves to other gods(am) and worshiped them.(an) They quickly turned(ao) from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord 's commands.(ap) 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved(aq) them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented(ar) because of their groaning(as) under those who oppressed and afflicted(at) them. 19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt(au) than those of their ancestors,(av) following other gods and serving and worshiping them.(aw) They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn(ax) ways.
20 Therefore the Lord was very angry(ay) with Israel and said, "Because this nation has violated the covenant(az) I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out(ba) before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test(bb) Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did." 23 The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.(bc)
1 These are the nations the Lord left to test(a) all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five(b) rulers of the Philistines,(c) all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites(d) living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon(e) to Lebo Hamath.(f) 4 They were left to test(g) the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord 's commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
5 The Israelites lived(h) among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,(i) Hivites and Jebusites.(j) 6 They took their daughters(k) in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.(l)
Othniel
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord ; they forgot the Lord (m) their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.(n) 8 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold(o) them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim(p) king of Aram Naharaim,[a](q) to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 9 But when they cried out(r) to the Lord , he raised up for them a deliverer,(s) Othniel(t) son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came on him,(u) so that he became Israel's judge[b] and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim(v) king of Aram(w) into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace(x) for forty years,(y) until Othniel son of Kenaz(z) died.
Ehud
12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord ,(aa) and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab(ab) power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites(ac) and Amalekites(ad) to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.[c](ae) 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab(af) for eighteen years.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord , and he gave them a deliverer(ag)—Ehud(ah), a left-handed(ai) man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute(aj) to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud(ak) had made a double-edged sword about a cubit[d] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute(al) to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.(am) 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. 19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, "Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you."
The king said to his attendants, "Leave us!" And they all left.
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace[e](an) and said, "I have a message from God for you." As the king rose(ao) from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword(ap) from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch[f]; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself(aq) in the inner room of the palace." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment,(ar) but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet(as) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.
28 "Follow me," he ordered, "for the Lord has given Moab,(at) your enemy, into your hands.(au)" So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan(av) that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. 30 That day Moab(aw) was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace(ax) for eighty years.
Shamgar
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath,(ay) who struck down six hundred(az) Philistines(ba) with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
Luke 12:32-59
Chapter 12
32 "Do not be afraid,(aa) little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.(ab) 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor.(ac) Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven(ad) that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.(ae) 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.(af)
Watchfulness(ag)(ah)
35 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.(ai) Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.(aj) 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief(ak) was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready,(al) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
41 Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?"
42 The Lord(am) answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.(an) He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47 "The servant who knows the master's will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.(ao) 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows.(ap) From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Not Peace but Division(aq)
49 "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism(ar) to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!(as) 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."(at)
Interpreting the Times
54 He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It's going to rain,' and it does.(au) 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It's going to be hot,' and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?(av)
57 "Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.(aw) 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."(ax)
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