Meditate

15. Allotment for Judah

The Territory of Judah

15

The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.²And their south boundary ran from the end of the Dead Sea, from the bay that faces southward;³it goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, makes a turn to Karka,⁴passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Wadi of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.⁵And the east boundary is the Dead Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan;⁶and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah, and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son;⁷and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh, and ends at En-rogel;⁸then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim;⁹then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the towns of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim);¹⁰and the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh, and passes along by Timnah;¹¹the boundary goes out to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.¹²And the west boundary was the Mediterranean with its coast. This is the boundary surrounding the people of Judah according to their families.

Caleb Occupies His Portion

¹³ According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).¹⁴And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.¹⁵From there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.¹⁶And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.¹⁸When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”¹⁹She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The Towns of Judah

²⁰ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families.²¹The towns belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,²⁵Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor),²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah,²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet,²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah,²⁹Baalah, Iim, Ezem,³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine towns, with their villages.

³³ And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,³⁴Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam,³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen towns with their villages.

³⁷ Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad,³⁸Dilan, Mizpeh, Jokthe-el,³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish,⁴¹Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen towns with their villages.

⁴² Libnah, Ether, Ashan,⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine towns with their villages.

⁴⁵ Ekron, with its dependencies and its villages;⁴⁶from Ekron to the sea, all that were near Ashdod, with their villages.

⁴⁷ Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Wadi of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coast.

⁴⁸ And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven towns with their villages.

⁵² Arab, Dumah, Eshan,⁵³Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine towns with their villages.

⁵⁵ Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten towns with their villages.

⁵⁸ Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor,⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six towns with their villages.

⁶⁰ Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah: two towns with their villages.

⁶¹ In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi: six towns with their villages.

⁶³ But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.

1. Paul Called by God

¹³ You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it.¹⁴I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.¹⁵But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased¹⁶to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being,¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

35. Psalm 35

Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.

1

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

2

Take hold of shield and buckler,

and rise up to help me!

3

Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers;

say to my soul,

“I am your salvation.”

4

Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life.

Let them be turned back and confounded

who devise evil against me.

5

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them on.

6

Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

7

For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pit for my life.

8

Let ruin come on them unawares.

And let the net that they hid ensnare them;

let them fall in it—to their ruin.

9

Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,

exulting in his deliverance.

10

All my bones shall say,

“O Lord, who is like you?

You deliver the weak

from those too strong for them,

the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”

11

Malicious witnesses rise up;

they ask me about things I do not know.

12

They repay me evil for good;

my soul is forlorn.

13

But as for me, when they were sick,

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting.

I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

14

as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;

I went about as one who laments for a mother,

bowed down and in mourning.

15

But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,

they gathered together against me;

ruffians whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16

they impiously mocked more and more,

gnashing at me with their teeth.

17

How long, O Lord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their ravages,

my life from the lions!

18

Then I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.