Meditate

Numbers 32

32. The Transjordan Tribes

Conquest and Division of Transjordan

32

Now the Reubenites and the Gadites owned a very great number of cattle. When they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle,²the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,³“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—⁴the land that the Lord subdued before the congregation of Israel—is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle.”⁵They continued, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?⁷Why will you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?⁸Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.⁹When they went up to the Wadi Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land that the Lord had given them.¹⁰The Lord’s anger was kindled on that day and he swore, saying,¹¹‘Surely none of the people who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not unreservedly followed me—¹²none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have unreservedly followed the Lord.’¹³And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord had disappeared.¹⁴And now you, a brood of sinners, have risen in place of your fathers, to increase the Lord’s fierce anger against Israel!¹⁵If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.”

¹⁶ Then they came up to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and towns for our little ones,¹⁷but we will take up arms as a vanguard before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.¹⁸We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have obtained their inheritance.¹⁹We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

²⁰ So Moses said to them, “If you do this—if you take up arms to go before the Lord for the war,²¹and all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him²²and the land is subdued before the Lord—then after that you may return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.²³But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.²⁴Build towns for your little ones, and folds for your flocks; but do what you have promised.”

²⁵ Then the Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall remain there in the towns of Gilead;²⁷but your servants will cross over, everyone armed for war, to do battle for the Lord, just as my lord orders.”

²⁸ So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes.²⁹And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites, everyone armed for battle before the Lord, will cross over the Jordan with you and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;³⁰but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”³¹The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “As the Lord has spoken to your servants, so we will do.³²We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan.”

³³ Moses gave to them—to the Gadites and to the Reubenites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land and its towns, with the territories of the surrounding towns.³⁴And the Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,³⁵Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,³⁶Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.³⁷And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,³⁸Nebo, and Baal-meon (some names being changed), and Sibmah; and they gave names to the towns that they rebuilt.³⁹The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there;⁴⁰so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there.⁴¹Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and renamed them Havvoth-jair.⁴²And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and renamed it Nobah after himself.

1 Corinthians 15:54-58

15. Resurrection of Christ and the Dead

⁵⁴When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

 

Psalm 135

135. Psalm 135

Psalm 135

Praise for God’s Goodness and Might

1

Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord;

give praise, O servants of the Lord,

2

you that stand in the house of the Lord,

in the courts of the house of our God.

3

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;

sing to his name, for he is gracious.

4

For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel as his own possession.

 

5

For I know that the Lord is great;

our Lord is above all gods.

6

Whatever the Lord pleases he does,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all deeps.

7

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;

he makes lightnings for the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

 

8

He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

both human beings and animals;

9

he sent signs and wonders

into your midst, O Egypt,

against Pharaoh and all his servants.

10

He struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings—

11

Sihon, king of the Amorites,

and Og, king of Bashan,

and all the kingdoms of Canaan—

12

and gave their land as a heritage,

a heritage to his people Israel.

 

13

Your name, O Lord, endures forever,

your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.

14

For the Lord will vindicate his people,

and have compassion on his servants.

 

15

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

16

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

they have eyes, but they do not see;

17

they have ears, but they do not hear,

and there is no breath in their mouths.

18

Those who make them

and all who trust them

shall become like them.

 

19

O house of Israel, bless the Lord!

O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!

20

O house of Levi, bless the Lord!

You that fear the Lord, bless the Lord!

21

Blessed be the Lord from Zion,

he who resides in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!