Meditate

19. Rest of Land Divided

The Territory of Simeon

19

The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; its inheritance lay within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.²It had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Moladah,³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen towns with their villages;⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their villages;⁸together with all the villages all around these towns as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families.⁹The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance within their inheritance.

The Territory of Zebulun

¹⁰ The third lot came up for the tribe of Zebulun, according to its families. The boundary of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid;¹¹then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Maralah, and touches Dabbesheth, then the wadi that is east of Jokneam;¹²from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor; from there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia;¹³from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah;¹⁴then on the north the boundary makes a turn to Hannathon, and it ends at the valley of Iphtah-el;¹⁵and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve towns with their villages.¹⁶This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun, according to its families—these towns with their villages.

The Territory of Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the tribe of Issachar, according to its families.¹⁸Its territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez;²²the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen towns with their villages.²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, according to its families—the towns with their villages.

The Territory of Asher

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families.²⁵Its boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath,²⁷then it turns eastward, goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah-el northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it continues in the north to Cabul,²⁸Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Great Sidon;²⁹then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib,³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two towns with their villages.³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families—these towns with their villages.

The Territory of Naphtali

³² The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naphtali, for the tribe of Naphtali, according to its families.³³And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan;³⁴then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan.³⁵The fortified towns are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,³⁸Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen towns with their villages.³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali according to its families—the towns with their villages.

The Territory of Dan

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan, according to its families.⁴¹The territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron,⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,⁴⁶Me-jarkon, and Rakkon at the border opposite Joppa.⁴⁷When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword, they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after their ancestor Dan.⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families—these towns with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the Israelites gave an inheritance among them to Joshua son of Nun.⁵⁰By command of the Lord they gave him the town that he asked for, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim; he rebuilt the town, and settled in it.

⁵¹ These are the inheritances that the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites distributed by lot at Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

2. Paul Opposes Peter

Paul Rebukes Peter at Antioch

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned;¹²for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.¹³And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

37. Psalm 37

Psalm 37

Exhortation to Patience and Trust

Of David.

1

Do not fret because of the wicked;

do not be envious of wrongdoers,

2

for they will soon fade like the grass,

and wither like the green herb.

3

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

4

Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

6

He will make your vindication shine like the light,

and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

7

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;

do not fret over those who prosper in their way,

over those who carry out evil devices.

8

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.

Do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9

For the wicked shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10

Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;

though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.

11

But the meek shall inherit the land,

and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

12

The wicked plot against the righteous,

and gnash their teeth at them;

13

but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that their day is coming.

14

The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to kill those who walk uprightly;

15

their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

16

Better is a little that the righteous person has

than the abundance of many wicked.

17

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18

The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will abide forever;

19

they are not put to shame in evil times,

in the days of famine they have abundance.

20

But the wicked perish,

and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.