NASB | ESV
 

JUDGES 21

« Judges 20 | Judges 21 | Ruth 1 »

Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin
  21:1 Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” 2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. 3 And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4 And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” 6 And the people of Israel had compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”
    
8 And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly. 9 For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, “Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. 11 This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
    
13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them. 14 And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. 15 And the people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
    
16 Then the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” For the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” 19 So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards 21 and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” 23 And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them. 24 And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.
    
25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.



PROVERBS 27

« Proverbs 26 | Proverbs 27 | Proverbs 28 »

27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
2
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
3
A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4
Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
5
Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
7
One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
8
Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.
9
Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
10
Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
11
Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him who reproaches me.
12
The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
13
Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.
14
Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
15
A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a quarrelsome wife are alike;
16
to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp oil in one’s right hand.
17
Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.
18
Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who guards his master will be honored.
19
As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
20
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.
21
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.
22
Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.

23
Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
24
for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
25
When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
26
the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
27
There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls.



ROMANS 13

« Romans 12 | Romans 13 | Romans 14 »

Submission to the Authorities
  13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
    
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

ESV® Permanent Text Edition (2016). The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers.

Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

random