Joshua 1:1-9

Common English Bible

Orders from the Lord

1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord spoke to Joshua, Nun’s son. He had been Moses’ helper. ²“My servant Moses is dead. Now get ready to cross over the Jordan with this entire people to the land that I am going to give to the Israelites. ³I am giving you every place where you set foot, exactly as I promised Moses. ⁴Your territory will stretch from the desert and the Lebanon as far as the great Euphrates River, including all Hittite land, up to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. ⁵No one will be able to stand up against you during your lifetime. I will be with you in the same way I was with Moses. I won’t desert you or leave you. ⁶Be brave and strong, because you are the one who will help this people take possession of the land, which I pledged to give to their ancestors.

⁷“Be very brave and strong as you carefully obey all of the Instruction that Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t deviate even a bit from it, either to the right or left. Then you will have success wherever you go. ⁸Never stop speaking about this Instruction scroll. Recite it day and night so you can carefully obey everything written in it. Then you will accomplish your objectives and you will succeed. ⁹I’ve commanded you to be brave and strong, haven’t I? Don’t be alarmed or terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

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Psalm 59

Common English Bible

Psalm 59

For the music leader. Do not destroy. A miktam^[a] of David, when Saul sent men to watch the house in order to kill him.

59 Oh, my God, deliver me from my enemies;
    put me out of reach from those who rise up against me.
²Deliver me from evildoers;
    save me from the bloodthirsty.
³Look at how they lie in ambush for my life!
    Powerful people are attacking me, Lord—
        but not because of any error or sin of mine.
⁴    They run and take their stand—
        but not because of any fault of mine.

Get up when I cry out to you!
    Look at what’s happening!
⁵You are the Lord God of heavenly forces,
    the God of Israel!
Wake up and punish all the nations!
    Grant no mercy to any wicked traitor! Selah

⁶They come back every evening,
    growling like dogs,
    prowling around the city.
⁷See what they belch out with their mouths:
    swords are between their lips!
        Who can listen to them?^[b]
⁸But you, Lord, laugh at them.
    You mock all the nations.
⁹I keep looking for you, my strength,
    because God is my stronghold.
¹⁰My loving God will come to meet me.
    God will allow me to look down on my enemies.

¹¹Don’t kill them, or my people might forget;
    instead, by your power
    shake them up and bring them down,
        you who are our shield and my Lord.
¹²For the sin of their mouths,
    the words that they speak,
    let them be captured in their pride.
For the curses and lies they repeat,
¹³        finish them off in anger;
        finish them off until they are gone!
Then let it be known to the ends of the earth
    that God rules over Jacob. Selah

¹⁴They come back every evening,
    growling like dogs,
    prowling around the city.
¹⁵They roam about for food,
    and if they don’t get their fill,
    they stay all night.
¹⁶But me? I will sing of your strength!
    In the morning I will shout out loud
    about your faithful love
        because you have been my stronghold,
        my shelter when I was distraught.
¹⁷I will sing praises to you, my strength,
    because God is my stronghold,
    my loving God.

Footnotes

Psalm 59:1 Perhaps inscription
Psalm 59:7 Heb uncertain

Philippians 4:4-13

Common English Bible

⁴Be glad in the Lord always! Again I say, be glad! ⁵Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. ⁶Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. ⁷Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.

⁸From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. ⁹Practice these things: whatever you learned, received, heard, or saw in us. The God of peace will be with you.

Paul’s thanks for gifts

¹⁰I was very glad in the Lord because now at last you have shown concern for me again. (Of course you were always concerned but had no way to show it.) ¹¹I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. ¹²I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. ¹³I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.

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