Acts 13:1-25; Joshua 18; Joshua 19; Job 29

Acts 13:1-25

1 In the local church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work that I have called them to."

3 Then, after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

4 Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God's message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.

6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God's message.

8 But Elymas, the sorcerer, which is how his name is translated, opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

9 Then Saul-also called Paul-filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer

10 and said, "You son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won't you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

11 Now, look! The Lord's hand is against you: you are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time." Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

12 Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem.

14 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent [word] to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak."

16 Then standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and spoke: "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!

17 The God of this people Israel chose our forefathers, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm.

18 And for about 40 years He put up with them in the desert;

19 then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land to them as an inheritance.

20 This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

21 Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.

22 After removing him, He raised up David as their king, of whom He testified: ' I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will carry out all My will.'

23 "From this man's descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, to Israel.

24 Before He came to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25 Then as John was completing his life work, he said, 'Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.'

Joshua 18

1 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh where it set up the tent of meeting there; the land had been subdued by them.

2 Seven tribes among the Israelites were left who had not divided up their inheritance.

3 So Joshua said to the Israelites, "How long will you delay going out to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, gave you?

4 Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to go and survey the land, write a description of it for the purpose of their inheritance, and return to me.

5 Then they are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south, and Joseph's family in their territory in the north.

6 When you have written a description of the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots for you here in the presence of the Lord our God.

7 But the Levites among you do not get a portion, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses the Lord's servant gave them."

8 As the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them to write down a description of the land, saying, "Go and survey the land, write a description of it, and return to me. I will then cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord."

9 So the men left, went through the land, and described it by towns in a document of seven sections. They returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

10 Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

11 The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin's descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah's descendants and Joseph's descendants.

12 Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, ascended to the slope of Jericho on the north, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

13 From there the border went toward Luz, to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); it then went down by Ataroth-addar, over the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

14 On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side [of their border].

15 The south side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border extended westward; it went to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.

16 The border descended to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. It ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the south Jebusite slope and downward to En-rogel.

17 It curved northward and went to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben's son.

18 Then it went north to the slope opposite the Jordan Valleyand proceeded into the valley.

19 The border continued to the north slope of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

20 The Jordan formed the border on the east side. This was the inheritance of Benjamin's descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.

21 These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin's descendants by their clans: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba-12 cities, with their villages;

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-14 cities, with their villages. This was the inheritance for Benjamin's descendants by their clans.

Joshua 19

1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the portion of Judah's descendants.

2 Their inheritance included: Beer-sheba (or Sheba), Moladah,

3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,

4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,

6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen-13 cities, with their villages;

7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan-four cities, with their villages;

8 and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the south). This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon's descendants by their clans.

9 The inheritance of Simeon's descendants was within the territory of Judah's descendants, because the share for Judah's descendants was too large for them. So Simeon's descendants received an inheritance within Judah's portion.

10 The third lot came up for Zebulun's descendants by their clans. The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid;

11 their border went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.

12 From Sarid, it turned east toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth-tabor, went to Daberath, and went up to Japhia.

13 From there, it went east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin; it extended to Rimmon, curving around to Neah.

14 The border then circled around Neah on the north to Hannathon and ended at the valley of Iphtah-el,

15 along with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem-12 cities, with their villages.

16 This was the inheritance of Zebulun's descendants by their clans, these cities, with their villages.

17 The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar's descendants by their clans.

18 Their territory went to Jezreel, and [included] Chesulloth, Shunem,

19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,

21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez.

22 The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan-16 cities, with their villages.

23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar's descendants by their clans, the cities, with their villages.

24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher's descendants by their clans.

25 Their boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal and reached westward to Carmel and Shihor-libnath.

27 It turned eastward to Beth-dagon, passed Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah-el, north toward Beth-emek and Neiel, and went north to Cabul,

28 Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon.

29 The boundary then turned to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre; it turned back to Hosah and ended at the sea, including Mahalab, Achzib,

30 Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob-22 cities, with their villages.

31 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher's descendants by their clans, these cities with their villages.

32 The sixth lot came out for Naphtali's descendants by their clans.

33 Their boundary went from Heleph and from the oak in Zaanannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan.

34 To the west, the boundary turned to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok, reaching Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan on the east.

35 The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,

37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

38 Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh-19 cities, with their villages.

39 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali's descendants by their clans, the cities with their villages.

40 The seventh lot came out for the Danite tribe by its clans.

41 The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,

46 Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the territory facing Joppa.

47 When the territory of the Danites slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan.

48 This was the inheritance of the Danite tribe by its clans, these cities with their villages.

49 When they had finished distributing the land into its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them.

50 By the Lord's command, they gave him the city Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, which he requested. He rebuilt the city and lived in it.

51 These were the portions that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families distributed to the Israelite tribes by lot at Shiloh in the Lord's presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing up the land.

Job 29

1 Job continued his discourse, saying:

2 If only I could be as in months gone by, in the days when God watched over me,

3 when His lamp shone above my head, and I walked through darkness by His light!

4 [I would be] as I was in the days of my youth when God's friendship rested on my tent,

5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

6 when my feet were bathed in cream and the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square,

8 the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet.

9 City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with [their] hands.

10 The noblemen's voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

11 When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.

12 For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.

13 The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice.

14 I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.

15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

16 I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.

17 I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

18 So I thought: I will die in my own nest and multiply [my] days as the sand.

19 My roots will have access to water, and the dew will rest on my branches all night.

20 My strength will be refreshed within me, and my bow will be renewed in my hand.

21 Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my advice.

22 After a word from me they did not speak again; my speech settled on them [like dew].

23 They waited for me as for the rain and opened their mouths as for spring showers.

24 If I smiled at them, they couldn't believe [it]; they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.

25 I directed their course and presided as chief. I lived as a king among his troops, like one who comforts those who mourn.