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Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead
32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock. 2 So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “[The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land which the Lord conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land [suitable] for livestock, and your servants have [very large herds of] livestock.” 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan [River].”
6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why are you discouraging the hearts of the Israelites from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 And the Lord’s anger was kindled on that day and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not followed Me completely, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord completely.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger was kindled against the sons of Israel (Jacob) and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed. 14 Now look, you [the tribes of Reuben and Gad] have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you turn back from following Him [completely], He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
16 But the people of Reuben and Gad approached Moses and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and [walled] cities for our children, 17 but we will be armed and ready to go to war before the [other tribes of the] Israelites, until we have brought them to their place, while our children live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every one of the [other] sons of Israel has taken possession of his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the west side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan [River] toward the east.”
20 Moses replied, “If you will do as you say, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for war, 21 and every armed man of yours will cross the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him, 22 and the land [west of the Jordan] is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be blameless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land [east of the Jordan] shall be yours as a possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do this, behold, you will have sinned against the Lord; and be sure that your sin will find you out. 24 Build yourselves cities for your children, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken.”
25 Then the descendants of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26 Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the battle, just as my lord says.”
28 So Moses gave the command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the leaders of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the Israelites. 29 Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead [east of the Jordan River] as a possession; 30 but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan [and surrender their right to their land east of the Jordan River].” 31 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, so that the possession of our inheritance on [the east] side of the Jordan may be ours.”
33 So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities and territories, the cities of the surrounding land. 34 The sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified (walled) cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37 The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names being changed) and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to [the tribe of] Machir the son of Manasseh, and they settled in it. 41 [The sons of] Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns (tent villages) and called them Havvoth-jair. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after his own name.
Review of the Journey from Egypt to Jordan
33 These are the stages of the journeys of the Israelites, by which they came out of the land of Egypt by their [tribal] armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses recorded their points of departure, as the Lord commanded, stage by stage; and these are their journeys according to their points of departure: 3 They set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the Israelites moved out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. Upon their gods the Lord also executed judgments.
5 Then the Israelites moved out from Rameses [where they had all joined together], and camped in Succoth. 6 They moved out from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 They moved out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 They moved out from before Pi-hahiroth and passed through the midst of the [Red] Sea into the wilderness; and they went a three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 They moved out from Marah and came to Elim; in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 They moved out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds). 11 They moved out from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin. 12 They moved out from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 They moved out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 They moved out from Alush and camped at Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink. 15 They moved out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai [where they remained for about a year]. 16 They moved out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
17 They moved out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 They moved out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah [near Kadesh, the place from which the twelve spies were sent to spy out the land of Canaan]. 19 They moved out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 They moved out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21 They moved out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 They moved out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 They moved out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They moved out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 They moved out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 They moved out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 They moved out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 They moved out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 They moved out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 They moved out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 They moved out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32 They moved out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33 They moved out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 They moved out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 They moved out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber [or Elath on the gulf of Aqabah]. 36 They moved out from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. 37 They moved out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.
38 Aaron the priest went up on Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.(A) 39 Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
31 Then He came down [from the hills of Nazareth] to Capernaum, a city of Galilee [on the shore of the sea], and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;(A) 32 and they were surprised [almost overwhelmed] at His teaching, because His message was [given] with authority and power and great ability. 33 There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice, 34 “Let us alone! [a]What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent (muzzled, gagged) and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown the man down among them, he came out of him without injuring him in any way. 36 They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!” 37 And the news about Him spread into every place in the surrounding district (Galilee).
Many Are Healed
38 Then Jesus got up and left the synagogue and went to Simon’s (Peter’s) house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.(B) 39 Standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she got up and began serving them [as her guests].
40 While the sun was setting [marking the end of the Sabbath day], all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them [exhibiting His authority as Messiah].(C) 41 Demons also were coming out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
42 When daybreak came, Jesus left [Simon Peter’s house] and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and [they] came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them. 43 But He said, “I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose.”
44 So He continued preaching in the synagogues of Judea [the country of the Jews, including Galilee].
The First Disciples
5 Now it happened that while Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee), with the people crowding all around Him and listening to the word of God; 2 that He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the shore. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon [Peter], “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish].” 5 Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night [to the point of exhaustion] and caught nothing [in our nets], but at Your word I will [do as you say and] lower the nets [again].” 6 When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were [at the point of] breaking; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats [with fish], so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all his companions were completely astounded at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!” 11 After they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and [b]followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
Prayer for Protection from Secret Enemies.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my [a]complaint;
Guard my life from the terror of the enemy.
2
Hide me from the secret counsel and conspiracy of the ungodly,
From the scheming of those who do wrong,
3
Who have sharpened their tongues like a sword.
They aim venomous words as arrows,
4
To shoot from ambush at the blameless [one];
Suddenly they shoot at him, without fear.
5
They encourage themselves in [their pursuit of] an evil agenda;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
They say, “Who will discover us?”
6
They devise acts of injustice, saying,
“We are ready with a well-conceived plan.”
For the inward thought and the heart of a man are deep (mysterious, unsearchable).
7
But God will shoot them with an [unexpected] arrow;
Suddenly they will be wounded.
8
So they will be caused to stumble;
Their own tongue is against them;
All who gaze at them will shake the head [in scorn].
9
Then all men will fear [God’s judgment];
They will declare the work of God,
And they will consider and wisely acknowledge what He has done.
10
The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him;
All the upright in heart will glory and offer praise.
22
As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout,
So is a beautiful woman who is without discretion [her lack of character mocks her beauty].
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.