The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday March 24, 2019 (NIV)

2 ^(A)we finally turned and went into the desert, on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba, as the Lord had commanded, and we spent a long time wandering about in the hill country of Edom.

² “Then the Lord told me ³ that we had spent enough time wandering about in those hills and that we should go north. ^4 (B)He told me to give you the following instructions ‘You are about to go through the hill country of Edom, the territory of your distant relatives, the descendants of Esau. They will be afraid of you, ⁵ but you must not start a war with them, because I am not going to give you so much as a square foot of their land. I have given Edom to Esau's descendants. ⁶ You may buy food and water from them.’

⁷ “Remember how the Lord your God has blessed you in everything that you have done. He has taken care of you as you wandered through this vast desert. He has been with you these forty years, and you have had everything you needed.

⁸ “So we moved on and left the road that goes from the towns of Elath and Eziongeber to the Dead Sea, and we turned northeast toward Moab. ^9 (C)The Lord said to me, ‘Don't trouble the people of Moab, the descendants of Lot, or start a war against them. I have given them the city of Ar, and I am not going to give you any of their land.’”

(¹⁰ A mighty race of giants called the Emim used to live in Ar. They were as tall as the Anakim, another race of giants. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they were also known as Rephaim; but the Moabites called them Emim. ¹² The Horites used to live in Edom, but the descendants of Esau chased them out, destroyed their nation, and settled there themselves, just as the Israelites later chased their enemies out of the land that the Lord gave them.)

¹³ “Then we crossed the Zered River as the Lord told us to do. ^14 (D)This was thirty-eight years after we had left Kadesh Barnea. All the fighting men of that generation had died, as the Lord had said they would. ¹⁵ The Lord kept on opposing them until he had destroyed them all.

¹⁶ “After they had all died, ¹⁷ the Lord said to us, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are to pass through the territory of Moab by way of Ar. ^19 (E)You will then be near the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. Don't trouble them or start a war against them, because I am not going to give you any of the land that I have given them.’”

(²⁰ This territory is also known as the land of the Rephaim, the name of the people who used to live there; the Ammonites called them Zamzummim. ²¹ They were as tall as the Anakim. There were many of them, and they were a mighty race. But the Lord destroyed them, so that the Ammonites took over their land and settled there. ²² The Lord had done the same thing for the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in the hill country of Edom. He destroyed the Horites, so that the Edomites took over their land and settled there, where they still live. ²³ The land along the Mediterranean coast had been settled by people from the island of Crete. They had destroyed the Avvim, the original inhabitants, and had taken over all their land as far south as the city of Gaza.)

²⁴ “After we had passed through Moab, the Lord told us, ‘Now, start out and cross the Arnon River. I am placing in your power Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, along with his land. Attack him, and begin occupying his land. ²⁵ From today on I will make people everywhere afraid of you. Everyone will tremble with fear at the mention of your name.’

Israel Defeats King Sihon^(F)

²⁶ “Then I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with the following offer of peace: ²⁷ ‘Let us pass through your country. We will go straight through and not leave the road. ²⁸ We will pay for the food we eat and the water we drink. All we want to do is to pass through your country, ²⁹ until we cross the Jordan River into the land that the Lord our God is giving us. The descendants of Esau, who live in Edom, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, allowed us to pass through their territory.’

³⁰ “But King Sihon would not let us pass through his country. The Lord your God had made him stubborn and rebellious, so that we could defeat him and take his territory, which we still occupy.

³¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have made King Sihon and his land helpless before you; take his land and occupy it.’ ³² Sihon came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Jahaz, ³³ but the Lord our God put him in our power, and we killed him, his sons, and all his men. ³⁴ At the same time we captured and destroyed every town, and put everyone to death, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ We took the livestock and plundered the towns. ³⁶ The Lord our God let us capture all the towns from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and the city in the middle of that valley, all the way to Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us. ³⁷ But we did not go near the territory of the Ammonites or to the banks of the Jabbok River or to the towns of the hill country or to any other place where the Lord our God had commanded us not to go.

Israel Conquers King Og^(G)

3 “Next, we moved north toward the region of Bashan, and King Og came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Edrei. ² But the Lord said to me, ‘Don't be afraid of him. I am going to give him, his men, and all his territory to you. Do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.’

³ “So the Lord also placed King Og and his people in our power, and we slaughtered them all. ⁴ At the same time we captured all his towns—there was not one that we did not take. In all we captured sixty towns—the whole region of Argob, where King Og of Bashan ruled. ⁵ All these towns were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars to lock the gates, and there were also many villages without walls. ⁶ We destroyed all the towns and put to death all the men, women, and children, just as we did in the towns that belonged to King Sihon of Heshbon. ⁷ We took the livestock and plundered the towns.

⁸ “At that time we took from those two Amorite kings the land east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon River to Mount Hermon. (⁹ Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and Senir by the Amorites.) ¹⁰ We took all the territory of King Og of Bashan: the cities on the plateau, the regions of Gilead and of Bashan, as far east as the towns of Salecah and Edrei.”

(¹¹ King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin,^[a] made of stone,^[b] was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

The Tribes That Settled East of the Jordan^(H)

¹² “When we took possession of the land, I assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory north of the town of Aroer near the Arnon River and part of the hill country of Gilead, along with its towns. ¹³ To half the tribe of Manasseh I assigned the rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, where Og had ruled, that is, the entire Argob region.”

(Bashan was known as the land of the Rephaim. ¹⁴ Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, took the entire region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of Geshur and Maacah. He named the villages after himself, and they are still known as the villages of Jair.)

¹⁵ “I assigned Gilead to the clan of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁶ And to the tribes of Reuben and Gad I assigned the territory from Gilead to the Arnon River. The middle of the river was their southern boundary, and their northern boundary was the Jabbok River, part of which formed the Ammonite border. ¹⁷ On the west their territory extended to the Jordan River, from Lake Galilee in the north down to the Dead Sea in the south and to the foot of Mount Pisgah on the east.

^18 (I)“At the same time, I gave them the following instructions: ‘The Lord our God has given you this land east of the Jordan to occupy. Now arm your fighting men and send them across the Jordan ahead of the other tribes of Israel, to help them occupy their land. ¹⁹ Only your wives, children, and livestock—I know you have a lot of livestock—will remain behind in the towns that I have assigned to you. ²⁰ Help the other Israelites until they occupy the land that the Lord is giving them west of the Jordan and until the Lord lets them live there in peace, as he has already done here for you. After that, you may return to this land that I have assigned to you.’

²¹ “Then I instructed Joshua: ‘You have seen all that the Lord your God did to those two kings, Sihon and Og; and he will do the same thing to everyone else whose land you invade. ²² Don't be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will fight for you.’

Moses Is Not Permitted to Enter Canaan

^23 (J)“At that time I earnestly prayed, ²⁴ ‘Sovereign Lord, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! ²⁵ Let me cross the Jordan River, Lord, and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon Mountains.’

²⁶ “But because of you people the Lord was angry with me and would not listen. Instead, he said, ‘That's enough! Don't mention this again! ²⁷ Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan. ²⁸ Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.’

²⁹ “So we remained in the valley opposite the town of Bethpeor.”

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles^(A)

¹² At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. ¹³ When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon (who was called the Patriot), ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.

Jesus Teaches and Heals^(B)

¹⁷ When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples. A large crowd of people was there from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the coast cities of Tyre and Sidon; ¹⁸ they had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled by evil spirits also came and were healed. ¹⁹ All the people tried to touch him, for power was going out from him and healing them all.

Happiness and Sorrow^(C)

²⁰ Jesus looked at his disciples and said,

^22 (D)“Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! ^23 (E)Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.

²⁶ “How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets.

Love for Enemies^(F)

²⁷ “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. ^31 (G)Do for others just what you want them to do for you.

³² “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! ³³ And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! ³⁴ And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount! ^35 (H)No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others^(I)

³⁷ “Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you. ³⁸ Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands—all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”

A Song of Thanksgiving^[a]

²⁷ If your goals are good, you will be respected, but if you are looking for trouble, that is what you will get.