Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 1:8 (New Living Translation) 8 Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandonedlike a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard,like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest,like a helpless city under siege. God is talking to the people through the prophet Isaiah. This is bad news—this is very bad news. Because of generations of rebellion, the people […]

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1 Chronicles 26:13 (New Living Translation) 13 They were assigned by families for guard duty at the various gates, without regard to age or training, for it was all decided by means of sacred lots. This writing is about how people were assigned guard duty at the various gates of the city. Without regard to […]

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Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New Living Translation) 9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Nowadays, I read of “the end of history” and “being on the right side of history.” The Old Testament old book of Ecclesiastes, however, provides a different history of history. Under the […]

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Galatians 2:21 (New Living Translation) 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Paul is writing to a group of Christians gathered in Galatia. A long time ago in a place far, […]

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Proverbs 29:25 (New Living Translation) 25 Fearing people is a dangerous trap,but trusting the Lord means safety. This is a wise saying written a few thousand years ago. Lots of “wise sayings” were written a few thousand years ago. This one is from God and concerns mankind and God. Let’s pay more attention to this […]

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Galatians 2:9 (New Living Translation) 9 In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. Paul is […]

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Psalm 103:14 (New Living Translation) 14 For he knows how weak we are;he remembers we are only dust. Whoa. This isn’t a very flattery description of us folks. The writer is describing the LORD God. God knows us since he created us. We are weak and only dust. Well, I sweep dust and dirt out […]

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Judges 6:13 (New Living Translation) 13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over […]

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Joshua 23:7-8 (New Living Translation) 7 Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. 8 Rather, cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until […]

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