Contemplative Bible Reading

Habakkuk 2:12-13 (New Living Translation) 12 “What sorrow awaits you who build citieswith money gained through murder and corruption!13 Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promisedthat the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?They work so hard,but all in vain! The prophet relays the proclamation of God to the people. Ashes. Not a pretty […]

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Jeremiah 13:12 (New Living Translation) 12 “So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ The prophet Jeremiah is passing along words from God to the people. God is displeased with how the people are living. They disobey daily. As a punishment, God […]

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Hosea 14:9 (New Living Translation) 9 Let those who are wise understand these things.Let those with discernment listen carefully.The paths of the Lord are true and right,and righteous people live by walking in them.But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. I have always liked the concept of following God and the picture of following […]

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Jeremiah 33:15 (New Living Translation) 15 “In those days and at that timeI will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line.He will do what is just and right throughout the land. The prophet Jeremiah is passing along a few predictions of the future from God. A new King is coming one day. The […]

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Leviticus 25:23 (New Living Translation) 23 “The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me. This is The Law being passed from God to God’s people. Let’s talk about personal property and such. Oh wait, there doesn’t seem […]

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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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