the Fifth Week after Easter
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
May 5 - Bible-in-a-Year
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Judges 4-5
Chapter 4
Deborah and Barak
1 Then (C1)the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died.2 So the LORD sold them into the hand of (C1)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in (C2)Harosheth-hagoyim.3 The sons of Israel cried out to the LORD; for he had nine hundred (C1)iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.
4 Now Deborah, a (F1)prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.5 She used to (F1)sit under the (C1)palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went up to her for judgment.6 Now she sent word and summoned (C1)Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, "(F1)The LORD, the God of Israel, has indeed commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.7 'I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his (F1)many troops to the river Kishon, and (C1)I will hand him over to you.'"8 Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go."9 She said, "I will certainly go with you; however, the fame shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, (C1)for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.10 Barak summoned (C1)Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up (F1)(C2)with him; Deborah also went up with him.
11 Now Heber (C1)the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the (F1)father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the (F2)oak in (C2)Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.13 Sisera summoned all his chariots, (C1)nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from (C2)Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Arise! For this is the day on which the LORD has handed Sisera over to you; (F1)behold, (C1)the LORD has gone out before you." So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.15 (C1)And the LORD (F1)routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.16 But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; (C1)not even one was left.
17 Now Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a (F1)rug.19 (C1)And he said to her, "Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty." So she opened a leather bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him.20 And he said to her, "Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there anyone here?' that you shall say, 'No.'"21 But Jael, Heber's wife, (C1)took a tent peg and (F1)a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.22 And behold, while Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." So he entered (F1)with her, and behold, Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.
23 So (C1)God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan on that day before the sons of Israel.24 And the hand of the sons of Israel pressed harder and harder upon Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had eliminated Jabin the king of Canaan.
Chapter 5
The Song of Deborah and Barak
1 (C1)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
2 "(C1)For (F1)the leaders leading in Israel,
For (C2)the people volunteering,
Bless the LORD!
3 "Hear, you kings; listen, you dignitaries!
(C1)I myself—to the LORD, I myself will sing,
I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel!
4 "(C1)LORD, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
(C2)The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
The clouds also dripped water.
5 "(C1)The mountains (F1)flowed with water at the presence of the LORD,
(C2)This Sinai, at the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel.
6 "In the days of (C1)Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of (C2)Jael, the roads (F1)were deserted,
And travelers went by (F2)roundabout ways.
7 "The (F1)peasantry came to an end, they came to an end in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 "(C1)New gods were chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
9 "My heart goes out to (C1)the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the LORD!
10 "(C1)You who ride on (F1)white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—shout in praise!
11 "At the sound of those who distribute water among (C1)the watering places,
There they will recount (C2)the righteous deeds of the LORD,
The righteous deeds for His (F1)peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of the LORD went down (C3)to the gates.
12 "(C1)Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, (F1)sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and (C2)lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
13 "Then survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the LORD came down to me as warriors.
14 "From Ephraim those whose root is (C1)in Amalek came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of (F1)office.
15 "And the (F1)princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed (C1)at his (F2)heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great determinations of heart.
16 "Why did you sit among (C1)the (F1)sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
17 "(C1)Gilead (F1)remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay on ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And (F1)remained by its landings.
18 "(C1)Zebulun was a people who risked their lives,
And Naphtali too, on the high places of the field.
19 "(C1)The kings came and fought;
Then the kings of Canaan fought
(C2)At Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;
(C3)They took no plunder in silver.
20 "(C1)The stars fought from heaven,
From their paths they fought against Sisera.
21 "The torrent of Kishon swept them away,
The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
(C1)My soul, march on with strength!
22 "(C1)Then the horses' hoofs beat
From the galloping, the galloping of his mighty stallions.
23 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD,
'Utterly curse its inhabitants,
(C1)Because they did not come to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the warriors.'
24 "(C1)Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
25 "He asked for water, she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
26 "She reached out her hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen's hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 "Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell (F1)dead.
28 "Out of the window she looked and wailed,
The mother of Sisera through the (F1)lattice,
'Why does his chariot delay in coming?
Why do the (F2)hoofbeats of his chariots delay?'
29 "Her wise princesses would answer her,
Indeed she repeats her words to herself,
30 '(C1)Are they not finding, are they not dividing the spoils?
A concubine, two concubines for every warrior;
To Sisera a spoil of dyed cloth,
A spoil of dyed cloth embroidered,
Dyed cloth of double embroidery on the (F1)neck of the plunderer?'
31 "(C1)May all Your enemies perish in this way, LORD;
(C2)But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might."
And the land was at rest for forty years.
Job 35
Chapter 35
Elihu Sharply Rebukes Job
1 Then Elihu continued and said,
2 "Do you think this is in accordance with (C1)justice?
Do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's'?
3 "For you say, '(C1)What advantage will it be to (F1)You?
(C2)What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?'
4 "I will answer you,
And your friends with you.
5 "(C1)Look at the heavens and see;
And look at (C2)the clouds—they are higher than you.
6 "If you have sinned, (C1)what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?
7 "If you are righteous, (C1)what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand?
8 "Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,
And your righteousness is for a son of man.
9 "Because of the (C1)multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help because of the arm (C2)of the mighty.
10 "But (C1)no one says, 'Where is God my Maker,
Who (C2)gives songs in the night,
11 Who (C1)teaches us more than the animals of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'
12 "There (C1)they cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil people.
13 "(C1)God certainly will not listen to (F1)an empty cry,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.
14 "How much less when (C1)you say you do not look at Him,
The (C2)case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
15 "And now, because He has not avenged His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged (F1)wrongdoing well,
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty words;
He multiplies words (C1)without knowledge."
Acts 16:16-40
Chapter 16
16 It happened that as we were going to (C1)the place of prayer, a slave woman who had (C2)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.17 She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, "These men are bond-servants of (C1)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation."18 Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, "I command you (C1)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very (F1)moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of (C1)profit was suddenly gone, they seized (C2)Paul and Silas and (C3)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,21 and they (C1)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are (C2)Romans."
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
22 The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their (F1)robes off them and proceeded to order (F2)them to be (C1)beaten with rods.23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding (C1)the jailer to guard them securely;24 (F1)and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in (C1)the (F2)stocks.25 Now about midnight (C1)Paul and Silas were praying and (C2)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;26 and suddenly (C1)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately (C2)all the doors were opened, and everyone's (C3)chains were unfastened.27 When (C1)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about (C2)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!"29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before (C1)Paul and Silas;30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, (C1)what must I do to be saved?"
The Jailer Converted
31 They said, "(C1)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and (C2)your household."32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.33 And he took them (C1)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.34 And he brought them into his house and set (F1)food before them, and was (F2)overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with (C1)his whole household.35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, "Release those men."36 And (C1)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go (C2)in peace."37 But Paul said to them, "After beating us in public without due process—(C1)men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come (F1)in person and lead us out."38 The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. (C1)And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,39 and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them (C1)to leave the city.40 They left the prison and entered the house of (C1)Lydia, and when they saw (C2)the brothers and sisters, they (F1)encouraged them and departed.
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