Numbers 21
Christian Standard Bible
Canaanite King Defeated
21 When the Canaanite king of Arad,(A) who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the Atharim road, he fought against Israel and captured some prisoners. 2 Then Israel made a vow to the Lord, “If you will hand this people over to us, we will completely destroy their cities.”(B) 3 The Lord listened to Israel’s request and handed the Canaanites over to them, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.[a](C)
The Bronze Snake
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous[b] snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.(D)
7 The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”(E) 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
Journey around Moab
10 The Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.(F) 11 They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness that borders Moab on the east. 12 From there they went and camped at Zered Valley. 13 They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border, because the Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Therefore it is stated in the Book of the Lord’s Wars:
Waheb in Suphah
and the ravines of the Arnon,
15 even the slopes of the ravines
that extend to the site of Ar(G)
and lie along the border of Moab.
16 From there they went to Beer,[c] the well the Lord told Moses about, “Gather the people so I may give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song:
Spring up, well—sing to it!
18 The princes dug the well;
the nobles of the people hollowed it out
with a scepter and with their staffs.
They went from the wilderness to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab near the Pisgah highlands(H) that overlook the wasteland.[d](I)
Amorite Kings Defeated
21 Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon(J) of the Amorites, 22 “Let us travel through your land. We won’t go into the fields or vineyards. We won’t drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway until we have traveled through your territory.”(K) 23 But Sihon would not let Israel travel through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz,(L) he fought against Israel. 24 Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok,(M) but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.[e]
25 Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its surrounding villages. 26 Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the poets[f] say:
Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt;
let the city of Sihon be restored.[g]
28 For fire came out of Heshbon,
a flame from the city of Sihon.
It consumed Ar of Moab,
the citizens of Arnon’s heights.
29 Woe to you, Moab!
You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh!(N)
He gave up his sons as refugees,
and his daughters into captivity
to Sihon the Amorite king.
30 We threw them down;
Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon.(O)
We caused desolation as far as Nophah,
which reaches as far as Medeba.(P)
31 So Israel lived in the Amorites’ land. 32 After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its surrounding villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.
33 Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan(Q) came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.(R) 34 But the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”(S) 35 So they struck him, his sons, and his whole army until no one was left,[h] and they took possession of his land.(T)
Psalm 60-61
Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 60
Prayer in Difficult Times
For the choir director: according to “The Lily of Testimony.”(A) A Miktam of David for teaching. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in Salt Valley, killing twelve thousand.(B)
1 God, you have rejected us;
you have broken us down;
you have been angry. Restore us
2 You have shaken the land and split it open.
Heal its fissures, for it shudders.(D)
3 You have made your people suffer hardship;
you have given us wine to drink
that made us stagger.(E)
4 You have given a signal flag to those who fear you,
so that they can flee before the archers.[b](F)Selah
5 Save with your right hand, and answer me,
so that those you love may be rescued.(G)
6 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[c]
“I will celebrate!
I will divide up Shechem.(H)
I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.(I)
7 Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine,
and Ephraim is my helmet;(J)
Judah is my scepter.(K)
8 Moab is my washbasin.(L)
I throw my sandal on Edom;(M)
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”(N)
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?(O)
10 God, haven’t you rejected us?
God, you do not march out with our armies.(P)
11 Give us aid against the foe,
for human help is worthless.(Q)
12 With God we will perform valiantly;(R)
he will trample our foes.(S)
Psalm 61
Security in God
For the choir director: on stringed instruments. Of David.
1 God, hear my cry;
pay attention to my prayer.(T)
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth
when my heart is without strength.(U)
Lead me to a rock that is high above me,(V)
3 for you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower(W) in the face of the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever
and take refuge under the shelter of your wings.(X)Selah
5 God, you have heard my vows;(Y)
you have given a heritage
to those who fear your name.(Z)
6 Add days to the king’s life;
may his years span many generations.(AA)
7 May he sit enthroned before God forever.(AB)
Appoint faithful love and truth to guard him.(AC)
8 Then I will continually sing of your name,(AD)
fulfilling my vows day by day.(AE)
Isaiah 10:5-34
Christian Standard Bible
Assyria, the Instrument of Wrath
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger—
the staff in their hands is my wrath.
6 I will send him against a godless nation;
I will command him to go
against a people destined for my rage,
to take spoils, to plunder,(A)
and to trample them down like clay(B) in the streets.
7 But this is not what he intends;
this is not what he plans.
It is his intent to destroy
and to cut off many nations.
8 For he says,
“Aren’t all my commanders kings?
9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria(C) like Damascus?[a]
10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of worthless images,
kingdoms whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 and as I did to Samaria and its worthless images
will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?” (D)
Judgment on Assyria
12 But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I[b] will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”(E) 13 For he said:
I have done this by my own strength
and wisdom, for I am clever.
I abolished the borders of nations
and plundered their treasures;(F)
like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.[c](G)
14 My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered the whole earth.
No wing fluttered;
no beak opened or chirped.
15 Does an ax exalt itself
above the one who chops with it?
Does a saw magnify itself
above the one who saws with it?
It would be like a rod waving the ones who lift[d] it!
It would be like a staff lifting the one who isn’t wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of Armies
will inflict an emaciating disease
on the well-fed of Assyria,
and he will kindle a burning fire
under its glory.
17 Israel’s Light will become a fire,
and its Holy One, a flame.(H)
In one day it will burn and consume Assyria’s thorns and thistles.(I)
18 He will completely destroy
the glory of its forests and orchards
as a sickness consumes a person.
19 The remaining trees of its forest
will be so few in number
that a child could count them.
The Remnant Will Return
20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.(J)
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
to the Mighty God.
22 Israel, even if your people were as numerous
as the sand of the sea,
only a remnant of them will return.(K)
Destruction has been decreed;
justice overflows.
23 For throughout the land
the Lord God of Armies
is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.
24 Therefore, the Lord God of Armies says this: “My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though they strike you with a rod and raise their staff over you as the Egyptians did. 25 In just a little while my wrath will be spent and my anger will turn to their destruction.” 26 And the Lord of Armies will brandish a whip against him as he did when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;(L) and he will raise his staff over the sea as he did in Egypt.
God Will Judge Assyria
27 On that day
his burden will fall from your shoulders,
and his yoke from your neck.
The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large.[e](M)
28 Assyria has come to Aiath
and has gone through Migron,
storing their equipment at Michmash.
29 They crossed over at the ford, saying,
“We will spend the night at Geba.”
The people of Ramah are trembling;
those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.
30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim!
Listen, Laishah!
Anathoth is miserable.
31 Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
32 Today the Assyrians will stand at Nob,
shaking their fists at the mountain of Daughter Zion,
the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Look, the Lord God of Armies
will chop off the branches with terrifying power,
and the tall trees will be cut down,
the high trees felled.
34 He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax,
and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.
James 4
Christian Standard Bible
Proud or Humble
4 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions(A) that wage war within you?[a] 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war.[b] You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.(B)
4 You adulterous people![c] Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.(C) 5 Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely?[d](D)
6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says:
7 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.(F) 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.(G) 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.(H) 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer[f] defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.(I) 12 There is one lawgiver and judge[g] who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?(J)
Our Will and God’s Will
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”(K) 14 Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.(L)
15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.(M) 17 So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.(N)
Footnotes
- 4:1 Or war in your members
- 4:2 Or You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war.
- 4:4 Lit Adulteresses
- 4:5 Or Scripture says: He jealously yearns for the spirit he made to live in us?, or Scripture says: The Spirit he made to dwell in us longs jealously?
- 4:6 Pr 3:34
- 4:11 Or his brother or sister
- 4:12 Other mss omit and judge
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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