The Daily Audio Bible
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19 The second allotment went to the tribe of the Simeonites, clan by clan, and its inheritance lay within the lands of the people of Judah. 2 Simeon had for its inheritance Beersheba, 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 surrounding villages; 7 also Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their surrounding villages; 8 also all the villages surrounding these towns as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negev. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the Simeonites, clan by clan. 9 The inheritance of the people of Simeon was taken from the people of Judah because the allotment of the people of Judah was too large for them. So the tribe of Simeon received an inheritance within Judah’s inheritance.
Simeon receives no land allotment for himself. He is to be scattered within Judah’s territory.
10 The third lot fell to the people of Zebulun, clan by clan. The boundary of its inheritance stretched as far as Sarid, 11 then it climbed up westward to Maralah and brushed Dabbesheth, then on to the wadi that is east of Jokneam. 12 From Sarid it turned in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the frontier of Chisloth-tabor; and from there it went to Daberath, then up to Japhia. 13 From there it went eastward to Gath-hepher, then Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon, it curved toward Neah. 14 Then on the north, the boundary curved toward Hannathon and ended at the valley of Iphtahel 15 with Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—12 cities with their surrounding villages. 16 This, then, was the land granted to the people of Zebulun, clan by clan: these cities with their surrounding villages.
17 The fourth lot went to the people of Issachar, clan by clan. 18 The territory that they inherited included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez. 22 The boundary extended up to Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan—16 cities with their surrounding villages. 23 This, then, was the land granted to the tribe of the Issacharites, clan by clan: these cities with their surrounding villages.
24 The fifth lot was drawn for the tribe of the Asherites, clan by clan. 25 The boundary of its inheritance included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, 26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. It reached Carmel on the west and the brook Shihor-libnath, 27 then it turned eastward toward Beth-dagon and brushed Zebulun and the valley of Iphtahel north to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it continued on north passing by Cabul on the left, 28 to Ebron,[a] Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great. 29 The border turned to Ramah and the fortified city of Tyre. Then it turned to Hosah and ended at the sea near the region of Achzib; 30 also, Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—22 cities with their surrounding villages. 31 This, then, was the land allotted to the tribe of the Asherites, clan by clan: these cities and their surrounding villages.
32 The sixth lot was drawn for the people of the Naphtalites, clan by clan; 33 and its boundary ran from Heleph and the oak in Zaanannim, with Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; it ended at the Jordan. 34 The western boundary ran from Heleph to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok, brushing the inheritance of Zebulun to the south, Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan. 35 The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, 38 Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—19 cities in all with their surrounding villages. 39 This, then, was the land granted to the tribe of the Naphtalites, clan by clan: these cities with their surrounding villages.
40 The seventh lot fell to the tribe of the Danites, clan by clan; 41 and the territory of its 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 and Me-jarkon and Rakkon on the border opposite Joppa. 47 The people of Dan had a difficult time subduing their allotted territory so they went up and attacked Leshem, and when they had captured it and killed its inhabitants, they settled there, renaming Leshem “Dan,” after their ancestor. 48 This, then, was the land granted to the tribe of the Danites, clan by clan: these cities with their surrounding villages.
49 When at last they had finished distributing the territories of the land as inheritances, the Israelites gave Joshua, son of Nun, a special inheritance among them. 50 As the Eternal had commanded, they gave Joshua the town he had asked for, Timnath-serah in the highlands of Ephraim. So he built a city and settled there.
51 These, then, are the inheritances that the priest Eleazar, Joshua (son of Nun), and the heads of the leaders of the Israelite tribes distributed by drawing lots at Shiloh. All this was done in the presence of the Eternal at the entrance of the congregation tent. And the division of the land was complete.
20 Then the Eternal One spoke to Joshua.
Eternal One: 2 Tell the Israelites, “You must set apart cities of refuge, as I directed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who accidentally or unintentionally kills a person may flee there. These cities shall be set up as a refuge from anyone seeking blood revenge. 4 If the slayer flees to one of these cities, he can stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive will be taken into the city and given a place, and he will live among them. 5 If the person seeking to avenge in blood comes after him, the people of the city may not give up the slayer since the neighbor was killed by mistake and there was no premeditation or prior hatred. 6 The slayer may remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation. And when the high priest who currently holds the office dies, then the slayer may return home to the town from which he fled.”
God asks the people to set aside places of sanctuary. This is a violent time, and people often take justice into their own hands. But these cities of refuge are set aside as places where those who have accidentally killed someone might be safe from avenging relatives until a determination of guilt might be made.
7 So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee (in the hill country of Naphtali), Shechem (in the hill country of Ephraim), and Kiriath-arba (Hebron, in the hill country of Judah). 8 Beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer (in the desert plateau from the tribe of Reuben), Ramoth in Gilead (from the tribe of Gad), and Golan in Bashan (from the tribe of Manasseh). 9 These, then, were the cities set aside to be sanctuaries for all the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who killed a person accidentally could flee there and not die at the hands of someone seeking blood revenge until there was a trial before the congregation.
28 When He finished the parable, He pushed onward, climbing the steep hills toward Jerusalem.
29 He approached the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, which are near Mount Olivet. He sent two of the disciples ahead.
Jesus: 30 Go to the next village. When you enter, you will find a colt tied—a colt that has never been ridden before. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you why you’re untying it, just say, “The Lord needs it.”
32 So the two disciples found things just as He had told them. 33 When its owners did indeed ask why they were untying the colt, 34 the disciples answered as they had been instructed.
Disciples: The Lord needs it.
35 They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their coats on the colt’s back, and then sat Jesus on it. 36 As Jesus rode along, some people began to spread their garments on the road as a carpet. 37 When they passed the crest of Mount Olivet and began descending toward Jerusalem, a huge crowd of disciples began to celebrate and praise God with loud shouts, glorifying God for the mighty works they had witnessed.
Crowd of Disciples: 38 The King who comes in the name of the Eternal One is blessed![a]
Peace in heaven! Glory in the highest!
Pharisees (who were in the crowd): 39 Teacher, tell these people to stop making these wild claims and acting this way!
Jesus: 40 Listen—if they were silent, the very rocks would start to shout!
41 When Jerusalem came into view, He looked intently at the city and began to weep.
Jesus: 42 How I wish you knew today what would bring peace! But you can’t see. 43 Days will come when your enemies will build up a siege ramp, and you will be surrounded and contained on every side.[b] 44 Your enemies will smash you into rubble and not leave one stone standing on another, and they will cut your children down too, because you did not recognize the day when God’s Anointed One visited you.
In this powerful scene as Jesus comes into the city, echoing the words of Zechariah 9:9, Jesus shows how His kingdom is upside down compared to the kingdoms of this world. Caesar enters a town riding a white stallion, accompanied by dignitaries and soldiers with weapons. Jesus comes on a little donkey, cheered by common people tossing their coats in the donkey’s path. The contrast between the two ways, He suggests through tears, is the difference between violent destruction and peace.
45 He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. He began driving out the temple merchants.
Jesus: 46 The Hebrew Scriptures say, “My house shall be a house of prayer,”[c] but you have turned it into a shelter for thieves.[d]
47 He came back day after day to teach in the temple. The chief priests, the religious scholars, and the leading men of the city wanted to kill Him, 48 but because He was so popular among the people—who hung upon each word He spoke—they were unable to do anything.
Psalm 88
For the worship leader. A song of the sons of Korah accompanied by dance.[a] A contemplative song[b] of Heman the Ezrahite.
This individual lament was composed by someone afflicted with a grave illness, feeling lonely and abandoned by God. This song is reminiscent of Job’s sufferings.
1 O Eternal One! O True God my Savior!
I cry out to You all the time, under the sun and the moon.
2 Let my voice reach You!
Please listen to my prayers!
3 My soul is deeply troubled,
and my heart can’t bear the weight of this sorrow. I feel so close to death.
4 I’m like the poor and helpless who die alone,
left for dead, as good as the unknowable sea of souls lying under our feet,
5-6 Forsaken by Him and cut off from His hand,
abandoned among the dead who rest in their graves.
And You have sent me to be forgotten with them,
in the lowest pits of the earth,
in the darkest canyons of the ocean.
7 You crush me with Your anger.
You crash against me like the relentless, angry sea.
[pause][c]
8 Those whom I have known, who have been with me,
You have gathered like sheaves and cast to the four winds.
They can’t bear to look me in the eye, and they are horrified when they think of me.
I am in a trap and cannot be free.
9 My eyes grow dim, weakened by this sickness;
it is taking my strength from me.
Like a worn cloth, my hands are unfolded before You daily, O Eternal One.
10 Are You the miracle-worker for the dead?
Will they rise from the dark shadows to worship You again?
[pause]
11 Will Your great love be proclaimed in the grave
or Your faithfulness be remembered in whispers like mists throughout the place of ruin?[d]
12 Are Your wonders known in the dominion of darkness,
or is Your righteousness recognized in a land where all is forgotten?
13 But I am calling out to You, Eternal One.
My prayers rise before You with every new sun!
14 Why do You turn Your head
and brush me aside, O Eternal One?
Why are You avoiding me?
15 Since the days of my youth, I have been sick and close to death.
My helpless soul has suffered Your silent horrors;
now I am desperate.
16 Your rage spills over me like rivers of fire;
Your assaults have all but destroyed me.
17 They surround me like a flood, rising throughout the day,
closing in from every direction.
18 You have taken from me the one I love and my friend;
even the light of my acquaintances are darkness.
12 Hope postponed grieves the heart;
but when a dream comes true, life is full and sweet.
13 The one who hates good counsel will reap failure and ruin,
but the one who reveres God’s instruction will be rewarded.
14 Wise instruction is a spring yielding a satisfied life;
those who follow it avoid the traps that lead to death.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.