Contemplative Bible Reading

Hosea 6:6 (New Living Translation) 6 I want you to show love,not offer sacrifices.I want you to know memore than I want burnt offerings. God is speaking to the people through the prophet Hosea. The people are “going through the motions” or “checking off the boxes” or some cliche that means, “Hey God, look, we […]

[Read more →]

Ezekiel 33:30-31 (New Living Translation) 30 “Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, ‘Come on, let’s go hear the prophet tell us what the Lord is saying!’ 31 So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before […]

[Read more →]

Isaiah 1:8 (New Living Translation) 8 Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandonedlike a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,like a helpless city under siege. God is talking to the people through the prophet Isaiah. This is bad news—this is very bad news. Because of generations of rebellion, the people […]

[Read more →]

1 Chronicles 26:13 (New Living Translation) 13 They were assigned by families for guard duty at the various gates, without regard to age or training, for it was all decided by means of sacred lots. This writing is about how people were assigned guard duty at the various gates of the city. Without regard to […]

[Read more →]

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New Living Translation) 9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Nowadays, I read of “the end of history” and “being on the right side of history.” The Old Testament old book of Ecclesiastes, however, provides a different history of history. Under the […]

[Read more →]

Proverbs 29:25 (New Living Translation) 25 Fearing people is a dangerous trap,but trusting the Lord means safety. This is a wise saying written a few thousand years ago. Lots of “wise sayings” were written a few thousand years ago. This one is from God and concerns mankind and God. Let’s pay more attention to this […]

[Read more →]

Psalm 103:14 (New Living Translation) 14 For he knows how weak we are;he remembers we are only dust. Whoa. This isn’t a very flattery description of us folks. The writer is describing the LORD God. God knows us since he created us. We are weak and only dust. Well, I sweep dust and dirt out […]

[Read more →]

Judges 6:13 (New Living Translation) 13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over […]

[Read more →]

Joshua 23:7-8 (New Living Translation) 7 Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. 8 Rather, cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until […]

[Read more →]

Judges 10:13-14 (New Living Translation) 13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!” Sometimes life is tough. Sometimes we stray from the people who truly love […]

[Read more →]