Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Kings 12:15 (New Living Translation) So the king paid no attention to the people… Ooooops. This (hi)story doesn’t start well. And it doesn’t end well either. The king in this verse if Rehoboam. His rival is Jeroboam. The result was the ten northern tribes breaking away from the two southern tribes. The result was centuries […]

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1 John 3:16 (New Living Translation) We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. I find the wording of this and other translation lacking. Notice how the words “gave up his life for us” are […]

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Psalm 59:11 (New Living Translation) Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield. David is praying to God to punish the enemies of Israel. Note that David doesn’t want God to kill them enemies, but instead stagger them […]

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Psalm 51:8 (New English Translation) Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! I love the words used in this translation. We don’t tend to associate forgiveness and joy these days. We more often associate forgiveness with guilt. David truly had a heart for the LORD.

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Acts 8:3 (New Living Translation) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. Saul, later to be the Apostle Paul, was trying to destroy this new group of persons who followed after Jesus of Nazareth. He was […]

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Mark 11:12 (New Living Translation) The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Jesus felt hunger in the earthly body that he occupied. I extend that to He would feel tired, hot, thirsty, and other human physical feelings. Go back to the forty days of fasting in the desert before being tempted […]

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John 11:45-48 (New Living Translation) 45 Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. 46 But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they […]

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Nehemiah 9:36-37 (New Living Translation) 36 “So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land. 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because […]

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