Monday, 20 May

34.   "And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, 35.   ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, 36.   ‘except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the LORD.’ 37.   "The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there; 38.   ‘Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39.   ‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40.   ‘But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’ 41.   "Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain. 42.   "And the LORD said to me, ‘Tell them, "Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies."’ 43.   "So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. 44.   "And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. 45.   "Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46.   "So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there .

1.   "Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days. 2.   "And the LORD spoke to me, saying: 3.   ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. 4.   ‘And command the people, saying, "You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5.   "Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6.   "You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7.   "For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing."’ 8.   "And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. 9.   "Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’" 10.   (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. 11.   They were also regarded as giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12.   The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.) 13.   "‘Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. 14.   "And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty–eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them. 15.   "For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed. 16.   "So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17.   "that the LORD spoke to me, saying: 18.   ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. 19.   ‘And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’" 20.   (That was also regarded as a land of giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21.   a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, 22.   just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. 23.   And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza––the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.) 24.   "‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it , and engage him in battle. 25.   ‘This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

1.   Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; 2.   For their heart devises violence, And their lips talk of troublemaking. 3.   Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; 4.   By knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. 5.   A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength; 6.   For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude of counselors there is safety. 7.   Wisdom is too lofty for a fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate. 8.   He who plots to do evil Will be called a schemer. 9.   The devising of foolishness is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men. 10.   If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small. 11.   Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. 12.   If you say, "Surely we did not know this," Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it ? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it ? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds? 13.   My son, eat honey because it is good, And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste; 14.   So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; If you have found it , there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off. 15.   Do not lie in wait, O wicked man , against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not plunder his resting place; 16.   For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity. 17.   Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; 18.   Lest the LORD see it , and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him. 19.   Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked; 20.   For there will be no prospect for the evil man ; The lamp of the wicked will be put out. 21.   My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change; 22.   For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring? 23.   These things also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment. 24.   He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Him the people will curse; Nations will abhor him. 25.   But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, And a good blessing will come upon them. 26.   He who gives a right answer kisses the lips. 27.   Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house. 28.   Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, For would you deceive with your lips? 29.   Do not say, "I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work." 30.   I went by the field of the lazy man , And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; 31.   And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. 32.   When I saw it , I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction: 33.   A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; 34.   So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

1.   Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2.   Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. 3.   I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4.   Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. 5.   For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. 6.   Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7.   and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8.   For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 9.   Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10.   For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11.   For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 12.   Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. 13.   Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14.   For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true. 15.   And his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. 16.   Therefore I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything.