Contemplative Bible Reading

Ephesians 2:9 (New Living Translation) 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Here we have a sentence I hate and love. I mean, I’m a good guy—always have been. I have always done good things. Look at me. (Seriously.) Being saved […]

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Galatians 1:11 (New Living Translation) 11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. This is taken from a letter that Paul wrote to Christians living in Galatia. Paul was a reasonable and reasoning person. The text of the Acts of […]

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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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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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