Contemplative Bible Reading

Numbers 11:1 (New Living Translation) 1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, Life was tough. Times were hard. I guess so, right, otherwise the people would not be complaining about the hardships. Let’s see, in the words preceding this verse God had given the people instructions for living. These instructions were put […]

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Leviticus 17:7 (New Living Translation) 7 The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation. People used to worship goats. Goats? Yes, goats. Goats were common livestock that provided milk and meat and […]

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Job 28:28 (New Living Translation) “And this is what he (God) says to all humanity:‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;to forsake evil is real understanding.’” Job is talking. Job is relaying what he learned from a conversation with God. Real understanding means to forsake evil. “Forsake” is one of those Bible words that […]

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Exodus 31:15 (New Living Translation) 15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. Moses is passing along words from God to the […]

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Numbers 13 (New Living Translation) 30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” This speech by Caleb comes after 12 men had explored the land the people were about to enter. Caleb was one of […]

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Exodus 20:1-2 (New Living Translation) 1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. These verses are the preamble or introduction to the Ten Commandments. God has the attention of the people. Let’s get one […]

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Exodus 12:28 (New Living Translation) 28 So the people of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded through Moses and Aaron. This is the (hi)story of the first Passover. God’s people held captive in Egypt did just as commanded. What is odd is, just a couple week’s earlier, they wanted to throw Moses in […]

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Psalm 94:16-17 (New Living Translation) 16 Who will protect me from the wicked?Who will stand up for me against evildoers?17 Unless the Lord had helped me,I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave. The last year or so in America have seen one travesty after another. The wicked kill the innocent. The […]

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Ezra 6:22 (New Living Translation) 22 Then they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria to be favorable to them, so that he helped them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel. Other translations […]

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2 Chronicles 10:16 (American Standard Version) 16 And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So […]

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