Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 23:4 (King James Version) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. This is one of those well-known sentences from the 23rd Psalm or The Lord is My Shepherd. I go back […]

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1 Chronicles 18:14 (New Living Translation) So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people. This is part of the (hi)story of King David as he began to reign over God’s people. The preceding paragraphs describe how David conquered this and that group of people and took […]

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1 Kings 21:25-26 (New Living Translation) 25 (No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel. 26 His worst outrage was worshiping idols just as the Amorites had done—the people whom the Lord had driven out from the land […]

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2 Chronicles 30:27 (New Living Translation) Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people, and God heard their prayer from his holy dwelling in heaven. God dwells in heaven in a holy place. Perhaps there is something lost in translation in the above sentence. Perhaps this is some poetic structure for which a […]

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1 Peter 1:8 (New Living Translation)The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a call to be productive and useful. Well, sort of. Peter writes about a growth from faith to love through steps that enrich a person’s life […]

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Hebrews 11:40 (New Living Translation) For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. This sentence concludes what has been called the “Faith Hall of Fame.” This section of the letter to the Hebrews mentions people from the Hebrew history who showed great belief in things […]

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Exodus 5:22-23 (New Living Translation) 22 Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done […]

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Hebrews 5:14 (New Living Translation) Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. The writer is instructing the Hebrews about the nature of Jesus in God’s greater plan for mankind. This is a complicated matter. The writer chides some of the […]

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