Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Samuel 25:24 (New Living Translation) She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say. In the verse, she is Abigail—a woman married to a wicked and ill-tempered man named Nabal. He is David—one day to be king, but now […]

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1 Samuel 19:17 (New Living Translation) “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal. “I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.” Michal is King Saul’s daughter. She is also David’s wife. She knew her father meant to kill her […]

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1 Samuel 25:8 (New Living Translation) …So would you be kind to us, since we have come at a time of celebration? Please share any provisions you might have on hand with us and with your friend David. Ten of David’s men visited Nabal. David’s men had shown kindness to the shepherd of Nabal in […]

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Habakkuk 1:16 (New Living Translation) Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. “These nets are the gods who have made us rich!” they will claim. The prophet is pleading to God for mercy. Invaders will come and do as they wish with God’s people. No small fact, but God’s […]

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Exodus 1:8-10 (New Living Translation) 8 Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. 10 We must make a plan to keep them from […]

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I will post this in a different format than usual to emphasize the differences in translations and meaning. The fear of the Lord is a phrase commonly used in the Bible and just as commonly misused by us when reading and explaining. One concept that is repeated in scriptures is the beginning of wisdom. In […]

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Jonah 1:15-16 (New Living Translation) 15 Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! 16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Jonah, allowing the Lord to work through him, was […]

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Jeremiah 6:15 (New Living Translation) Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! blush: verb, develop a pink tinge in the face from embarrassment or shame. The prophet is relaying the words of God to the people. The people have been performing disgusting acts. Their reaction? Nothing. […]

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1 Peter 2:11 (American Standard Version) Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; It is easy to focus on the second part of the above verse—abstain from those things that are tugging at us from the flesh. Some of those things war against our […]

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Jeremiah 9:15-16 (New Living Translation) 15 So now, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard of, and even there I […]

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