Daily Bible GNT April 27 Scroll

The Church at Antioch

Acts 11 ¹⁹Some of the believers who were scattered by the persecution which took place when Stephen was killed went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message to Jews only. ²⁰But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and proclaimed the message to Gentiles also, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord's power was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²²The news about this reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³When he arrived and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad and urged them all to be faithful and true to the Lord with all their hearts. ²⁴Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶When he found him, he took him to Antioch, and for a whole year the two met with the people of the church and taught a large group. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.

²⁷About that time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸One of them, named Agabus, stood up and by the power of the Spirit predicted that a severe famine was about to come over all the earth. (It came when Claudius was emperor.) ²⁹The disciples decided that they each would send as much as they could to help their fellow believers who lived in Judea. ³⁰They did this, then, and sent the money to the church elders by Barnabas and Saul.

The Land Still to Be Taken

Joshua 13 Joshua was now very old. The LORD said to him, "You are very old, but there is still much land to be taken: ²all the territory of Philistia and Geshur, ³as well as all the territory of the Avvim to the south. (The land from the stream Shihor, at the Egyptian border, as far north as the border of Ekron was considered Canaanite; the kings of the Philistines lived at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.) ⁴There is still all the Canaanite country, and Mearah (which belonged to the Sidonians), as far as Aphek, at the Amorite border; ⁵the land of the Gebalites; all of Lebanon to the east, from Baalgad, which is south of Mount Hermon, to Hamath Pass. ⁶This includes all the territory of the Sidonians, who live in the hill country between the Lebanon Mountains and Misrephoth Maim. I will drive all these peoples out as the people of Israel advance. You must divide the land among the Israelites, just as I have commanded you to do. ⁷Now then, divide this land among the other nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh, for them to possess as their own."

The Division of the Territory East of the Jordan

⁸The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh had already received the land that Moses, the LORD's servant, had given them; it was on the east side of the Jordan River. ⁹Their territory extended to Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and the city in the middle of that valley and included all of the plateau from Medeba to Dibon. ¹⁰It went as far as the border of Ammon and included all the cities that had been ruled by the Amorite king Sihon, who had ruled at Heshbon. ¹¹It included Gilead, the regions of Geshur and Maacah, all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah. ¹²It included the kingdom of Og, the last of the Rephaim, who had ruled at Ashtaroth and Edrei. Moses had defeated these people and driven them out. ¹³However, the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah; they still live in Israel.

¹⁴Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi. As the LORD had told Moses, they were to receive as their possession a share of the sacrifices burned on the altar to the LORD God of Israel.

The Territory Assigned to Reuben

¹⁵Moses had given a part of the land to the families of the tribe of Reuben as their possession. ¹⁶Their territory extended to Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and the city in the middle of that valley and included all the plateau around Medeba. ¹⁷It included Heshbon and all the cities on the plateau: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baalmeon, ¹⁸Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, ²⁰Bethpeor, the slopes of Mount Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth. ²¹It included all the cities of the plateau and the whole kingdom of the Amorite king Sihon, who had ruled at Heshbon. Moses defeated him, as well as the rulers of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. All of them had ruled the land for King Sihon. ²²Among those whom the people of Israel killed was the fortune teller Balaam son of Beor. ²³The Jordan was the western border of the tribe of Reuben. These were the cities and towns given to the families of the tribe of Reuben as their possession.

The Territory Assigned to Gad

²⁴Moses had also given a part of the land to the families of the tribe of Gad as their possession. ²⁵Their territory included Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, half the land of Ammon as far as Aroer, which is east of Rabbah; ²⁶their land extended from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh and Betonim, from Mahanaim to the border of Lodebar. ²⁷In the Jordan Valley it included Beth Haram, Bethnimrah, Sukkoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon. Their western border was the Jordan River as far north as Lake Galilee. ²⁸These were the cities and towns given to the families of the tribe of Gad as their possession.

The Territory Assigned to East Manasseh

²⁹Moses had given a part of the land to the families of half the tribe of Manasseh as their possession. ³⁰Their territory extended to Mahanaim and included all of Bashan--the whole kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, as well as all sixty of the villages of Jair in Bashan. ³¹It included half of Gilead, as well as Ashtaroth and Edrei, the capital cities of Og's kingdom in Bashan. All this was given to half the families descended from Machir son of Manasseh.

³²This is how Moses divided the land east of Jericho and the Jordan when he was in the plains of Moab. ³³But Moses did not assign any land to the tribe of Levi. He told them that their possession was to be a share of the offerings to the LORD God of Israel.

The Division of the Territory West of the Jordan

Joshua 14 What follows is an account of how the land of Canaan west of the Jordan was divided among the people of Israel. Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the families of the Israelite tribes divided it among the population. ²As the LORD had commanded Moses, the territories of the nine and one-half tribes west of the Jordan were determined by drawing lots. ^3-4Moses had already assigned the land east of the Jordan to the other two and one-half tribes. (The descendants of Joseph were divided into two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim.) However, Moses gave the Levites no portion of the territory. Instead, they received cities to live in, with fields for their cattle and flocks. ⁵The people of Israel divided the land as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Hebron Is Given to Caleb

⁶One day some people from the tribe of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. One of them, Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him, "You know what the LORD said in Kadesh Barnea about you and me to Moses, the man of God. ⁷I was forty years old when the LORD's servant Moses sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out this land. I brought an honest report back to him. ⁸The men who went with me, however, made our people afraid. But I faithfully obeyed the LORD my God. ⁹Because I did, Moses promised me that my children and I would certainly receive as our possession the land which I walked over. ¹⁰But now, look. It has been forty-five years since the LORD said that to Moses. That was when Israel was going through the desert, and the LORD, as he promised, has kept me alive ever since. Look at me! I am eighty-five years old ¹¹and am just as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out. I am still strong enough for war or for anything else. ¹²Now then, give me the hill country that the LORD promised me on that day when my men and I reported. We told you then that the race of giants called the Anakim were there in large walled cities. Maybe the LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out, just as the LORD said."

¹³Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him the city of Hebron as his possession. ¹⁴Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, because he faithfully obeyed the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁵Before this, Hebron was called the city of Arba. (Arba had been the greatest of the Anakim.)

There was now peace in the land.

Job 27

Job

^1-2I swear by the living Almighty God,

who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter--

as long as God gives me breath,

⁴

my lips will never say anything evil,

my tongue will never tell a lie.

⁵I will never say that you men are right;

I will insist on my innocence to my dying day.

⁶I will never give up my claim to be right;

my conscience is clear.

⁷May all who oppose me and fight against me

be punished like the wicked and the unrighteous.

⁸What hope is there for the godless

in the hour when God demands their life?

⁹When trouble comes, will God hear their cries?

¹⁰They should have desired the joy he gives;

they should have constantly prayed to him.

¹¹Let me teach you how great is God's power,

and explain what Almighty God has planned.

¹²But no, after all, you have seen for yourselves;

so why do you talk such nonsense?

[Zophar]

¹³This is how Almighty God

punishes wicked, violent people.

¹⁴They may have many sons,

but all will be killed in war;

their children never have enough to eat.

¹⁵Those who survive will die from disease,

and even their widows will not mourn their death.

¹⁶The wicked may have too much silver to count

and more clothes than anyone needs;

¹⁷but some good person will wear the clothes,

and someone honest will get the silver.

¹⁸The wicked build houses like a spider's web

or like the hut of a slave guarding the fields.

¹⁹One last time they will lie down rich,

and when they wake up, they will find their wealth gone.

²⁰Terror will strike like a sudden flood;

a wind in the night will blow them away;

²¹

the east wind will sweep them from their homes;

²²

it will blow down on them without pity

while they try their best to escape.

²³The wind howls at them as they run,

frightening them with destructive power.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.