Judges 1 - 2, Colossians 1 - 2, Psalm 144

The Fight Against the Canaanites

1Now it happened after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel ^aasked of ¹Yahweh, saying, “Who shall go up first for us ^bagainst the Canaanites, to fight against them?” ²And Yahweh said, “^aJudah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” ³Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into ¹the territory allotted me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and ²I in turn will go with you into ³the territory allotted you.” So Simeon went with him. ⁴So Judah went up, and ^aYahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down 10,000 men at Bezek. ⁵Then they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and seized him and cut off his ¹thumbs and big toes. ⁷And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; ^aas I have done, so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸Then the sons of Judah fought against ^aJerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. ⁹And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the ¹Negev and in the ²Shephelah. ¹⁰^aSo Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

¹¹Then ^afrom there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher). ¹²And Caleb said, “The one who strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.” ¹³^aThen Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. ¹⁴Now ^ait happened that when she came to him, she enticed him to ask her father for the field. Then she alighted from ¹her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What ²do you want?” ¹⁵And she said to him, “Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the ¹Negev, so you shall give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶Now the sons of ^athe Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the ^bcity of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of ^cArad; and they went and lived with the people. ¹⁷Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called ^aHormah. ¹⁸And Judah captured ^aGaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory. ¹⁹Now Yahweh was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley because they had ^airon chariots. ²⁰Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, ^aas Moses had ¹promised; and he dispossessed from there ^bthe three sons of Anak. ²¹^aBut the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the ^bJebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²²Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. ²³And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (^anow the name of the city was formerly Luz). ²⁴Then the ¹spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and ^awe will treat you with lovingkindness.” ²⁵So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, ^abut they let the man and all his family go free. ²⁶So the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz ¹which is its name to this day.

Israel Fails to Complete the Conquest

²⁷^aBut Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its towns or Taanach and its towns or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; so ^bthe Canaanites persisted to live in that land. ²⁸And it happened when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely.

²⁹^aAlso Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

³⁰Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of ¹Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.

³¹Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob. ³²So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not dispossess them.

³³Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

³⁴Then the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; ³⁵and the Amorites persisted in ¹living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy, and they became forced labor. ³⁶Now the border of the Amorites ran from the ^aascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

The Angel of Yahweh Speaks to Israel

2Then ^athe angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to ^bBochim. And he said, “^cI brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘^dI will never break My covenant with you, ²and as for you, ^ayou shall cut no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^byou shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not listened to My voice; what is this you have done? ³“Therefore I also said, ‘^aI will not drive them out before you; but they will ¹become ^bas thorns in your sides, and their gods will become a snare to you.’” ⁴So it happened that when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵So they named that place ¹Bochim; and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

⁶^aThen Joshua sent the people away, and the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. ⁷And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who ¹survived Joshua, who saw all the great work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel. ⁸Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died at the age of 110. ⁹And they buried him in the territory of ^ahis inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who ^adid not know Yahweh or even the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel Serves Baals

¹¹Then the sons of Israel did ^awhat was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and ¹served the ^bBaals, ¹²and ^athey forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked Yahweh to anger. ¹³So they forsook Yahweh and ^aserved Baal and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴^aAnd the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and ^bHe sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. ¹⁵Wherever they went, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken and ^aas Yahweh had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.

Yahweh Raises Up Judges

¹⁶^aThen Yahweh raised up judges ¹who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. ¹⁷Yet they did not listen to their judges either, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way ^ain which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of Yahweh; they did not do as their fathers. ¹⁸Now when Yahweh raised up judges for them, ^aYahweh was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for Yahweh was ^bmoved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and suppressed them. ¹⁹But it happened when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰^aSo the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has trespassed against My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice, ²¹^aI also will no longer dispossess before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, ²²in order to ^atest Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk in it as their fathers ¹did, or not.” ²³So Yahweh allowed those nations to rest, not dispossessing them quickly; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

1^aPaul, ^ban apostle of Christ Jesus ¹^,^cby the will of God, and ^dTimothy ²our brother,

²To the ¹^,^asaints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: ^bGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

³^aWe give thanks to God, ^bthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴^asince we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^blove which you have ¹for ^call the ²saints, ⁵because of the ^ahope ^blaid up for you in ¹heaven, of which you previously ^cheard in the word of truth, ²the gospel ⁶which has come to you, just as ¹^,^ain all the world also it is constantly bearing ^bfruit and ²multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^cheard and ³understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷just as you learned it from ^aEpaphras, our ^bbeloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸who also informed us of your ^alove in the Spirit.

⁹For this reason also, ^asince the day we heard, ^bwe have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the ¹^,^cfull knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^dwisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so that you may ^awalk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ¹^,^bto please Him in all respects, ^cbearing fruit in every good work and ²multiplying in the ³full knowledge of God; ¹¹^abeing strengthened with all power, according to ¹His glorious might, ²for the attaining of all steadfastness and ³patience; ^bjoyously ¹²giving thanks to ^athe Father, who has qualified us ¹to share in ^bthe inheritance of the ²saints in ^clight. ¹³Who rescued us from the ^aauthority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^bthe Son of His love, ¹⁴^ain whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Firstborn of All Creation

¹⁵¹Who is the ^aimage of the ^binvisible God, the ^cfirstborn of all creation.¹⁶For ¹^,^ain Him all things were created, ^bboth in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^cthrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—^dall things have been created through Him and for Him.¹⁷And He ¹^,^ais before all things,And in Him all things ²hold together.¹⁸And He is the ^ahead of ^bthe body, the church;Who is ^cthe beginning, ^dthe firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.¹⁹For in Him ¹all ^athe fullness of God ^bwas pleased to dwell,²⁰And through Him to ^areconcile all things to Himself, having made ^bpeace through ^cthe blood of His cross—through Him—^dwhether things on earth or things in ¹heaven.

²¹And although you were ^aformerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds, ²²but now He ^areconciled you in the ^bbody of His flesh through death, in order to ^cpresent you before Him ^dholy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³if indeed you continue in ¹the faith firmly ^agrounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the ^bhope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed ^cin all creation under heaven, ^dand of which I, Paul, ²was made a ³^,^eminister.

²⁴^aNow I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and ^bI fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of ^cHis body, which is the church, ²⁵^aof which I ¹was made a minister according to the ^bstewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might ²fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶that is, ^athe mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His ¹saints, ²⁷to whom ^aGod willed to make known what is ^bthe riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is ^cChrist in you, the ^dhope of glory. ²⁸Him we proclaim, ^aadmonishing every man and teaching every man ¹with all ^bwisdom, so that we may ^cpresent every man ²^,^dcomplete in Christ. ²⁹For this purpose I also ^alabor, ^bstriving ^caccording to His working, which He works in me in power.

Alive with Christ

2For I want you to understand how great a ^astruggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at ^bLaodicea, and for all those who have not seen my face in the flesh, ²so that their ^ahearts may be encouraged, having been ^bheld together in love, even unto all ^cthe wealth of the full assurance of understanding, unto the ^dfull knowledge of ^eGod’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³in whom are hidden all ^athe treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴^aI say this so that no one will delude you with ^bpersuasive argument. ⁵For even though I am ^aabsent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing ¹to see your ^bgood order and the ^cstability of your faith in Christ.

⁶Therefore as you received ^aChrist Jesus the Lord, so ¹^,^bwalk in Him, ⁷having been firmly ^arooted and being ^bbuilt up in Him, and having been ^cestablished ¹in your faith—just as you ^dwere instructed—and abounding ²with thanksgiving.

⁸^aSee to it that no one takes you captive through ^bphilosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the ^celementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in Him all the ^afullness of Deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and in Him you have been ^afilled, ^bwho is the head ¹over all ^crule and authority; ¹¹in whom ^ayou were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of ^bthe body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, ¹²having been ^aburied with Him in baptism, in which you were also ^braised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who ^craised Him from the dead. ¹³And you being ^adead ¹in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He ^bmade you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions. ¹⁴Having canceled out ^athe certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, ^bHe also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵Having ¹^,^adisarmed the ^brulers and authorities, He ^cmade a public display of them, having ^dtriumphed over them in ²Him.

¹⁶Therefore, no one is to ^ajudge you in ^bfood and ^cdrink, or in respect to a ^dfestival or a ^enew moon or a ^fSabbath ¹day— ¹⁷things which are only a ^ashadow of what is to come; but the ¹substance ²belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Let no one keep ¹^,^adefrauding you of your prize by ^bdelighting in ²self-abasement and the worship of the angels, going into detail about visions he has seen, ^cbeing puffed up for nothing by his ^dfleshly mind, ¹⁹and not holding fast to ^athe head, from whom ^bthe entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ¹ligaments, grows with a growth ²that is from God.

²⁰^aIf you have died with Christ ¹to the ^belementary principles of the world, ^cwhy, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to ^ddecrees: ²¹“Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”? ²²Which ¹deal with everything ^adestined to perish ²with use, which are in accordance with the ^bcommands and teachings of men; ²³which are matters having, to be sure, a ¹word of wisdom in ²^,^aself-made religion and self-abasement and ^bsevere treatment of the body, but are of no value against ^cfleshly indulgence.

Blessed Be Yahweh, My Rock

144

Of David.

Blessed be Yahweh, ^amy rock,Who ^btrains my hands for war,My fingers for battle;²My lovingkindness and ^amy fortress,My ^bstronghold and my deliverer,My ^cshield and He in whom I take refuge,Who ^dsubdues ¹my people under me.³O Yahweh, ^awhat is man, that You know him?Or the son of man, that You think of him?⁴^aMan is like a breath;His ^bdays are like a passing shadow.⁵O Yahweh, ^abow Your heavens, and ^bcome down;^cTouch the mountains, that they may smoke.⁶Flash forth ^alightning and scatter them;Send out Your ^barrows and confuse them.⁷Send forth Your hand ^afrom on high;Set me free and ^bdeliver me out of many waters,Out of the hand of ^cforeigners⁸Whose mouth ^aspeaks worthlessness,And whose ^bright hand is a right hand of lying.⁹O God, I will sing a ^anew song to You;Upon a ^bharp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,¹⁰Who ^agives salvation to kings,Who ^bsets David His servant free from the evil sword.¹¹Set me free and deliver me out of the hand of the sons of a ^aforeigner,Whose mouth ^bspeaks worthlessnessAnd whose ^cright hand is a right hand of lying.¹²That our sons would be as ^agrown-up plants in their youth,And our daughters as ^bcorner pillars ¹fashioned as for a palace;¹³That our ^agranaries would be full, furnishing every kind of produce,And our flocks would bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields outside;¹⁴That our ^acattle would ¹bearWithout ²^,^bmishap and without ³^,^closs,And without ^doutcry in our streets!¹⁵How blessed are the people for whom this is so;How ^ablessed are the people for whom God is Yahweh!