Daily Bible Reading: August 4

Judges 18.

In those days there was no king in Israel.

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in.

For until that day the land among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them as an inheritance.

So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, men of valor from

Zorah and Eshtol, to spy out the land and to search it.

And they said to them, Go, search the land.

And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

They were near the house of Micah, and they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite.

So they turned aside there and said to him, Who brought you here?

And what are you doing in this place?

And what do you have here?

And he said to them, Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.

And they said to him, Ask of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be

successful.

So the priest said to them, Go in peace.

Your way in which you are going is before Yahweh.

Then the five men went forth and came to Laish, and saw the people who were in it living in security,

after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure.

For there was no oppressive conqueror dishonoring them for anything in the land, and they were far from the

Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

So they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtol, and their brothers said to them, What do you report?

And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very

good.

And will you be silent?

Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land.

When you enter, you will come to a secure people and a spacious land, for God has given it into your hand,

a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.

Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtol, six hundred men armed with weapons of

war set out.

And they went up and camped at Kiriath -Jerim in Judah.

Therefore they called that place Mahana -Dan to this day.

Behold, it is west of Kiriath -Jerim.

Then they passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

And the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish, answered and said to their relatives, Do you know that

there are in these houses an ephod and household idols, and a graven image and a molten image?

So now know what you should do.

Then they turned aside there and came to the house of a young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of

his welfare.

Now the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, were standing by the

entrance of the gate.

Then the five men who went to spy out the land went up and entered there, and took the graven image, and the

ephod, and the household idols, and the molten image.

And the priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

Now these had entered into Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod, and household idols, and the

molten image.

Then the priest said to them, What are you doing?

And they said to him, Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a

father and a priest.

Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and a family in

Israel?

And the priest's heart was merry, and he took the ephod, and household idols, and the graven image, and entered among

the people.

Then they turned and went away, and put the little ones, and the livestock, and the valuables in front of them.

They had gone some distance from the house of Micah, and the men who were in the houses near Micah's house were summoned,

and then overtook the sons of Dan.

And they called out to the sons of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, What is the matter with you, that you

are summoned together?

And he said, You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and

what do I have besides?

So how can you say to me, What is the matter with you?

Then the sons of Dan said to him, Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest men, bitter of

soul, fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.

So the sons of Dan went on their way.

And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

Now they took what Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet

and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword, and they burned the city with fire.

And there was no one to deliver them, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone.

And it was in the valley which is near Beth Rehob, and they rebuilt the city and lived in it.

And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel.

However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

Then the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image.

And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the

Danites until the day of the exile of the land.

So they set up for themselves Micah's graven image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was

at Shiloh.

Acts 22.

Men, brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.

And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter.

And he said, I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but having been brought up in this city,

having been instructed at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous

for God just as you are all today, I persecuted this way to the death, binding and

delivering both men and women into prisons, as also the high priest and all the council of the elders

can testify.

From them I also received letters to the brothers and started off for Damascus in order to bring even

those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light

suddenly flashed from heaven all around me.

And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you

persecuting me?

And I answered, who are you, Lord?

And he said to me, I am Jesus the Nazarene whom you are persecuting.

And those who were with me beheld the light to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking

to me.

And I said, what should I do, Lord?

And the Lord said to me, rise up and go on to Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been

determined for you to do.

But since I could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me,

I came into Damascus.

Now a certain Ananias, a man who is devout by the standard of the law and well spoken of by

all the Jews who live there, came to me and standing near me said to me, Brother Saul,

regain your sight.

And at that very hour I regained my sight and saw him.

And he said, the God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the righteous one and to

hear a voice from his mouth, for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Now why do you delay?

Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on his name.

Now it happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple that I fell into a trance

and I saw him saying to me, hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly because they will not accept your

witness about me.

And I said, Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another, I used to

imprison and beat those who believed in you.

And when the blood of your witness, Stephen, was being shed, I also was standing by approving and

guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.

And he said to me, go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

And they were listening to him up to this statement.

And then they raised their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be

allowed to live.

And as they were crying out and throwing off their garments and tossing dust into the air, the commander ordered

him to be brought into the barracks, stating that he should be examined by flogging so that he might find out the

reason why they were shouting against him that way.

But when they stretched him out with leather straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, is

it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?

And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported to him saying, what are you about to do?

For this man is a Roman.

And the commander came and said to him, tell me, are you a Roman?

And he said, yes.

And the commander answered, I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.

And Paul said, but I have been born a citizen.

Therefore, those who were about to examine him immediately withdrew from him.

And the commander also was afraid when he learned that he was a Roman and because he had bound him.

But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him

and ordered the chief priest and all the Sanhedrin to come together and brought Paul down and set him before

them.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the 10th year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the

18th year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Now at that time, the military force of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem and Jeremiah the

prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.

Because Zedekiah, king of Judah had shut him up saying, why do you prophesy saying thus says

Yahweh?

Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.

And Zedekiah, king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given

into the hand of the king of Babylon.

And he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.

And he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon and he will be there until I visit him, declares Yahweh.

If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.

And Jeremiah said, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, behold, Hanamel, the son of

Shalom, your uncle is coming to you saying, buy for yourself my field, which is at Anathoth,

for you have the legal judgment for redemption to buy it.

Then Hanamel, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard, according to the word of Yahweh and said to me,

buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for you have the legal

judgment for possession and the redemption is yours.

Buy it for yourself.

Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.

I bought the field, which was at Anathoth from Hanamel, my uncle's son, and I weighed out the silver for

him, 17 shekels of silver.

And I signed and sealed the deed and called in witnesses and weighed out the silver on the scale.

Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the commandment and statutes and the open

copy.

And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Messiah, in the sight of

Hanamel, my uncle's son, and in the sight of witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all

the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.

And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel,

Take these deeds, this deed of purchase, that is the sealed one, as well as this open deed, and

put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.

For thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought

in this land.

After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, then I prayed to Yahweh, saying,

Ah, Lord Yahweh, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your

outstretched arm.

Nothing is too difficult for you, who shows loving kindness to thousands, but repays the

iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them.

O great and mighty God!

Yahweh of Hosts is his name, great in counsel and abundant in deeds, whose eyes are

open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the

fruit of his deeds, who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day

both in Israel and among mankind, and you have made a name for yourself as at this day.

You brought your people out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an

outstretched arm and with great terror, and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them,

a land flowing with milk and honey.

They came in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice and did not walk in your law.

They have not done anything that you commanded them to do.

Therefore you have made all this harmful evil come upon them.

Behold, the siege ramps have come to the city to capture it, and the city is given into the hand of the

Chaldeans, who fight against it because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence.

And what you have spoken has happened, and behold, you see it.

And you have said to me, O LORD Yahweh, buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses,

but the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh.

Is anything too difficult for me?

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans

and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the

houses where people have burned incense to bale on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods

to provoke me to anger.

Indeed, the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in my sight from their youth.

For the sons of Israel have been only provoking me to anger by the work of their hands, declares Yahweh.

Indeed, this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and my wrath from the day that they built it

even to this day, so that it should be removed from before my face.

Because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke me to anger,

they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the

inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they have turned their back to me and not their face, though I taught

them, rising up early and teaching, they would not listen and receive discipline.

But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by my name to defile it, and they built

the high places of bale that are in the valley of Ben -Hanom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass

through the fire to Moloch, which I had not commanded them, nor had it come upon my heart that they should

do this abomination to cause Judah to sin.

So now, therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you are saying,

it is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have banished them in my anger, in my

wrath, and in great indignation, and I will cause them to return to this place and make them inhabit it

in safety.

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, and I will give them one heart and one way,

that they may fear me always for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

And I will cut an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good, and

I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me.

And I will rejoice over them to do good and will truly plant them in this land with all my heart and

with all my soul.

For thus says Yahweh, Just as I brought all this great evil on this people, so I am going to

bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

Thus fields will be bought in this land of which you are all saying, It is a desolation without man or

beast.

It is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of

Benjamin, in the surroundings of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the

cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev.

For I will return their fortunes, declares Yahweh.

Psalm 1.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor

sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of Yahweh, and in his law he meditates day and night.

And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and

its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does he prospers.

The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not rise in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 2.

Why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate on a vain thing?

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh and against

his anointed, saying, Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us.

He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord mocks them.

Then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his fury, saying, But as for me,

I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain.

I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh.

He said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You shall shatter them like a potter's vessel.

So now, O kings, show insight.

Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the sun, lest he become angry, and you perish in the way.

For his wrath may soon be kindled.

How blessed are all who take refuge in him!