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Land Still to Be Taken
13 When Joshua was very old, the Lord said to him, “Joshua, you have grown old, but there is still much land for you to ·take [possess; conquer]. 2 This is what is left: the regions of Geshur and of the Philistines [C the southern coastline along the Mediterranean Sea]; 3 the area from the Shihor River [C Wadi el-Arish located below Gaza] ·at the border [east; L in front] of Egypt ·to [L to the border of] Ekron in the north, which ·belongs to the Canaanites [L is regarded/counted as Canaanite]; the five Philistine ·leaders [rulers; lords] at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron; the Avvites, 4 ·who live south of the Canaanite land, from Arah of the Sidonians [C the people of the northern coastal plains] to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; 5 the ·Gebalites [C inhabitants of the city of Byblos, located north of modern Beirut], and the area of Lebanon east of Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.
6 “The Sidonians are living in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, but I will ·force [drive] all of them out ahead of the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. Be sure to ·remember this land when you divide the land among the Israelites [L allocate this land to Israel as an inheritance], as I ·told [commanded] you.
7 “Now divide the land ·among [L as an inheritance among] the nine tribes and ·West [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh.”
Dividing the Land
8 ·East Manasseh and [L With it; C referring to the other half-tribe of Manasseh] the tribes of Reuben and Gad had received their ·land [inheritance]. The Lord’s servant Moses had given them the land east of the Jordan River [Deut. 3:18–20]. 9 ·Their land started at [L From] Aroer at the Arnon ·Ravine [Valley; 12:1] ·and continued to [or including] the town in the middle of the ravine, and it included the whole ·plain [or plateau] from Medeba to Dibon. 10 All the towns ruled by Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in the city of Heshbon, were in that land. The land continued to the area where the Ammonites lived. 11 Gilead [12:3] was also there, as well as the area where the people of Geshur and Maacah lived, and all of Mount Hermon and Bashan as far as Salecah. 12 All the kingdom of Og king of Bashan was in the land [12:4–5]. Og was ·one of the last [L from the remnant] of the Rephaites, and in the past he ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. Moses had ·defeated [struck] them and had taken their land. 13 Because the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] did not ·force [drive] out the people of Geshur and Maacah, they still live among the Israelites today.
14 The tribe of Levi was the only one that ·did not get any land [L he gave no inheritance]. Instead, they were given all the burned sacrifices [C a portion of the food offerings] made to the Lord, the God of Israel, as he had promised them [14:3–4; Num. 3:45; 35:1–8].
15 Moses had given each ·family group [clan] from the tribe of Reuben some land: 16 Theirs was the land from Aroer near the Arnon ·Ravine [Valley; 12:1] to the town of Medeba, including the whole plain and the town in the middle of the ·ravine [valley]; 17 Heshbon and all ·the [L its] towns on the plain: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, 18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, 20 Beth Peor, the ·hills [slopes] of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth. 21 So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that Sihon king of the Amorites had ruled from the town of Heshbon. Moses had defeated him along with the leaders of the Midianites, including Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. All these ·leaders [princes] ·fought together with [or were subjects of] Sihon and lived in that country. 22 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·killed [L slayed with the sword] many people during the fighting, including Balaam of Beor, who ·tried to use magic to tell the future [practiced divination; Num. 22–24]. 23 The land given to Reuben stopped at the shore of the Jordan River. So the ·land [inheritance] given to the ·family groups [clans] of Reuben included all these towns and their villages.
24 This is the land Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to all its ·family groups [clans]: 25 the land of Jazer and all the towns of Gilead; half the land of the Ammonites that went as far as Aroer near Rabbah; 26 the area from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim; the area from Mahanaim to the land of Debir; 27 in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the ·other land [rest of the kingdom] Sihon king of Heshbon had ruled east of the Jordan River and continuing to the end of Lake ·Galilee [L Kinnereth]. 28 ·All this land went to [L This is the inheritance of] the ·family groups [clans] of Gad, including all these towns and their villages.
29 This is the land Moses had given to ·East [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh. Half of all the ·family groups [clans] in the tribe of Manasseh were given this land: 30 The land started at Mahanaim and included all of Bashan [12:4] and the land ruled by Og king of Bashan; all the towns of Jair in Bashan, sixty cities in all; 31 half of Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities where Og king of Bashan had ruled. All this went to the ·family [or descendants; L children/sons] of Makir son of Manasseh, and half of all his ·sons [descendants] were given this land.
32 Moses had given this land to these tribes on the plains of Moab across the Jordan River east of Jericho [Num. 32:32, 39–42]. 33 But Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi because the Lord, the God of Israel, promised that he himself would be the gift for the Levites [v. 14; 18:7; Num. 18:20; Deut. 18:1–8].
14 Eleazar the priest [the son of Aaron; Ex. 28:1; Num. 34:17], Joshua son of Nun, and the ·leaders [L heads of the fathers] of all the tribes of Israel decided what land to give to the people in the land of Canaan. 2 The Lord had commanded Moses long ago how he wanted the people to choose their land. The people of the nine-and-a-half tribes threw lots [C casting lots left the decision to God; the Urim and Thummim may have been used; Ex. 28:30; Num. 27:21] to decide which land they would receive. 3 Moses had already given the two-and-a-half tribes their land east of the Jordan River. But the tribe of Levi was not given any ·land [inheritance] like the others. 4 The sons of Joseph had ·divided into [L become] two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. The tribe of Levi was not given any ·land [inheritance]. It was given only some towns in which to live and pastures for its ·animals [L cattle and property]. 5 The Lord had told Moses how to give the land to the tribes of Israel, and the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] divided the land.
Caleb’s Land
6 One day ·some men from the tribe of Judah [L the sons/descendants of Judah] went to Joshua at Gilgal [4:19]. Among them was Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. He said to Joshua, “You remember what the Lord said at Kadesh Barnea when he was speaking to ·the prophet Moses [L Moses, the man of God] about you and me [Num. 14:6–9, 24, 30]. 7 Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me to ·look at [spy out] the land where we were going. I was forty years old then. When I came back, I ·told Moses what I thought about the land [brought back an honest report; L brought him word as it was in my heart; Num. 13:30]. 8 The other men who went with me ·frightened the people [L made the heart of the people melt; Num. 13:27–29; 14:1–4], but I ·fully believed the Lord would allow us to take the land [or remained loyal to the Lord; L followed the Lord]. 9 So that day Moses ·promised [swore to; made an oath to] me, ‘The land where ·you went [L your foot has trodden] will become your ·land [inheritance], and your children will own it forever. I will give you that land because you ·fully believed in [or remained loyal to; L followed] the Lord, my God.’
10 “Now then, [L look; T behold] the Lord has kept his promise. He has kept me alive for forty-five years from the time he said this to Moses during the time ·we all [L Israel] wandered in the ·desert [wilderness]. Now ·here [L look; T behold] I am, eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out, ·and I am just as ready to fight now as I was then [L my strength then is like my strength now, for battle and for going out and coming in]. 12 So give me the mountain country the Lord promised me that day long ago. Back then you heard that the ·Anakite people [Anakim] lived there and the cities were large and well protected. But now with the Lord helping me, I will ·force [drive] them out, just as the Lord said.”
13 Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him the city of Hebron [C southwest of Jerusalem in the Judean hills] as his ·own [L inheritance]. 14 Hebron still ·belongs to [remains the inheritance of] the family of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he ·had faith and obeyed [remained loyal to; L wholly followed] the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 (In the past Hebron was called Kiriath Arba, named for Arba, the greatest man among the Anakites.)
After this ·there was peace in the land [L the land had rest from war].
God Will Answer His People
18 Then Jesus used this ·story [parable] to ·teach his followers [show the necessity] that they should always pray and never ·lose hope [become discouraged]. 2 “In a certain town there was a judge who did not ·respect [fear] God or ·care about people [or care what people thought]. 3 In that same town there was a widow [C among the most vulnerable members of society] who kept coming to this judge, saying, ‘Give me ·my rights [justice] against my ·enemy [opponent; adversary].’ 4 For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t ·respect [fear] God or ·care about people [or care what people think], 5 yet because she ·keeps bothering me [is causing me such trouble], I will see that she gets ·her rights [justice]. Otherwise she will ·keep coming until she wears me out [or eventually come and punch me/blacken my eye].’”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the ·unfair [unjust; unrighteous] judge said. 7 God will always [L Will not God…?] ·give what is right [provide justice] to his ·people [L chosen people; elect] who cry to him day and night, and ·he will not [L will he…?] ·be slow to answer them [or keep putting them off]. 8 I tell you, God will ·help [provide justice to] his people ·quickly [or suddenly]. ·But [However; Yet] when the Son of Man comes again, will he find ·those on earth who believe in him [L faith on the earth; C God’s faithfulness is certain; the only question is whether people will remain faithful to him]?”
Being Right with God
9 Jesus told this ·story [parable] to some people who ·thought they were very good [were confident of their own righteousness] and ·looked down on [scorned; despised] everyone else: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple [courts] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [C despised by their fellow Jews because they worked for the hated Romans and were notorious for extortion]. 11 The Pharisee ·stood alone and prayed [or stood and prayed about himself], ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—thieves, ·cheaters [evildoers; unrighteous people], adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week [C Pharisees commonly fasted on Monday and Thursday], and I ·give one-tenth of [pay tithes on] everything I get!’
13 “[L But] The tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even ·look up [L raise his eyes] to heaven. But he beat on his chest [C a sign of sorrow and remorse] and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, when this man went home, he was ·right with God [justified], ·but the Pharisee was not [L rather than that (other) man]. [L Because] All who ·make themselves great [exalt themselves] will be made humble, but all who make themselves humble will be ·made great [exalted].”
Who Will Enter God’s Kingdom?(A)
15 Some people brought even their babies to Jesus so he could touch them. When the ·followers [disciples] saw this, they ·told them to stop [scolded/rebuked them]. 16 But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t ·stop [hinder; forbid] them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children [C meaning humble and dependent]. 17 I tell you the truth, you must ·accept [receive] the kingdom of God as if you were a child, or you will never enter it.”
A Prayer for the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
85 Lord, you ·have been kind to [delight in] your land;
you ·brought back [restored the fortunes of; C perhaps at the end of the exile] the people of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
2 You forgave the guilt of the people
and covered all their sins. ·
3 You ·stopped [drew back from] all your anger;
you turned back from your ·strong [burning] anger.
4 God our Savior, ·bring us back again [restore us again].
Stop being angry with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you ·stay angry [draw out your anger against us] from now on?
6 Won’t you give us life again?
Your people would rejoice in you.
7 Lord, show us your ·love [loyalty],
and ·save us [L give to us your salvation/victory].
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says.
He has ·ordered [spoken; promised] ·peace [prosperity] for ·those who worship him [L his people, his saints/loyal ones].
Don’t let them go back to foolishness.
9 ·God will soon save those who respect him [L His salvation/victory is near to those who fear him; Prov. 1:7],
and his glory will ·be seen [L dwell] in our land.
10 ·Love [Loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] ·belong to God’s people [L meet];
·goodness [righteousness] and ·peace [prosperity] ·will be theirs [L kiss].
11 ·On earth people will be loyal to God [Faithfulness sprouts/blooms from the earth/land],
and ·God’s goodness [righteousness] will ·shine [look] down from heaven.
12 The Lord will give his ·goodness [or good gifts],
and the land will give its crops.
13 ·Goodness [Righteousness] will go before ·God [L him]
and prepare the way for ·him [L his steps].
7 Some people pretend to be rich but really have nothing.
Others pretend to be poor but really are wealthy.
8 The rich may have to pay a ransom for their lives,
but the poor will face no ·such danger [threats].
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