Quotes and Readings of the Day

Joshua 11:1-23

The United Kings of Northern Canaan Defeated


When King Jabin of Hazor heard of this, he sent to King Jobab of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. They came out, with all their troops, a great army, in number like the sand on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. All these kings joined their forces, and came and camped together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will hand over all of them, slain, to Israel; you shall hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.’ So Joshua came suddenly upon them with all his fighting force, by the waters of Merom, and fell upon them. And the Lord handed them over to Israel, who attacked them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastwards as far as the valley of Mizpeh. They struck them down, until they had left no one remaining. And Joshua did to them as the Lord commanded him; he hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire.

Joshua turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and struck its king down with the sword. Before that time Hazor was the head of all those kingdoms. And they put to the sword all who were in it, utterly destroying them; there was no one left who breathed, and he burned Hazor with fire. And all the towns of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took, and struck them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. But Israel burned none of the towns that stood on mounds except Hazor, which Joshua did burn. All the spoil of these towns, and the livestock, the Israelites took for their booty; but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.
Summary of Joshua’s Conquests

So Joshua took all that land: the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland, from Mount Halak, which rises towards Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. He took all their kings, struck them down, and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a town that made peace with the Israelites, except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all were taken in battle. For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts so that they would come against Israel in battle, in order that they might be utterly destroyed, and might receive no mercy, but be exterminated, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

At that time Joshua came and wiped out the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their towns. None of the Anakim was left in the land of the Israelites; some remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod. So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

From the New Revised Standard Version. Reprinted with permission from HarperBibles.

TAGS: Bible, Bible Reading, Christianity, Joshua

Numbers 5:1-5:26

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Instruct the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse. Remove male and female alike; put them outside the camp so that they do not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell.

The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as the Lord had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any wrong toward a fellow man, thus breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess the wrong that he has done. He shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one-fifth to it, giving it to him whom he has wronged. If the man has no kinsman to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to the Lord for the priest--in addition to the ram of expiation with which expiation is made on his behalf. So, too, any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offer shall be the priest's. And each shall retain his sacred donations: each priest shall keep what is given to him.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:

If any man's wife has gone astray and broken faith with him in that a man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her--but a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has defiled herself; or if a fit of jealousy comes over one and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself--the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.

The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord. The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water. After he has made the woman stand before the Lord, the priest shall bare the woman's head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest's hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell. The priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, "If no man has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while married to your husband, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and have defiled yourself, if a man other than your husband has had carnal relations with you"-- here the priest shall administer the curse of adjuration to the woman, as the priest goes on to say to the woman--"may the Lord make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, as the Lord causes your thigh to sag and your belly to distend; may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag." And the woman shall say, "Amen, amen!"

The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness. He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell, so that the spell-inducing water may enter into her to bring on bitterness. Then the priest shall take from the woman's hand the meal offering of jealousy, elevate the meal offering before the Lord, and present it on the altar. The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering a token part of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. Last, he shall make the woman drink the water.

From Parshat Naso. From THE TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.

TAGS: Torah, Torah Reading, Judaism, Numbers

…working with the angels is also working with the force that created the angels. From the very beginning, I felt I wanted to live a life that would honor God.

-K. Martin-Kuri

From "Angels All Around Us." Compiled by Karen Maguire. Reprinted by arrangement with Andrews McMeel Publishing.

TAGS: Angel Quote, Angels, K Martin Kuri

Half the spiritual life consists in remembering what we are up against and where we are going.

-Ayya Khema, "When the Iron Eagle Flies"

Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001. Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations," edited by Josh Bartok, with permission of Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm St., Somerville MA 02144 U.S.A, www.wisdompubs.org.

TAGS: Buddhism, Buddhist Quote, Spiritual, Spiritual Life, Life

Were it not for Scientology, I would either be completely insane or dead by now.

-Lisa Marie Presley

TAGS: Scientology, Entertainment Quote, Celebrities, Music, Spiritual, Celebrity Spirituality, Entertainment

The Bible was the only book Jesus every quoted, and then never as a basis for discussion but to decide the point at issue.

-Leon Morris

TAGS: Evangelical, Evangelical Quote, Christianity

Your refrigerator will use more energy while trying to cool uncovered liquids. Make sure everything is covered!

TAGS: Eco Tips

To make the world a friendly place, one must show it a friendly face.

-James Whitcomb Riley

TAGS: Inspiration Quote, Friendly, Place, Friendly Face, World, Face, Example, Attitude, Happiness, James Whitcomb Riley

We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism...To your knees, man! and to your Bible! Decide at once! Don't hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God, quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and cowardly excuses. Enlist!

-C.T. Studd

TAGS: Evangelical, Evangelical Quote, Christianity

Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.

-Dale Carnegie

TAGS: Emotional Health Quote, Health Quote

When you live without discrimination, Desire arises. When desire persists, Feelings of preference arise, Of liking and disliking. They are the root and branches of the world.

Ashtavakra Gita 16:7

From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom, 1990. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston. www.shambhala.com.

TAGS: Ashtavakra Gita, Hindu Quote, Hinduism

Forgetfulness of self is remembrance of God.

-Bayazid Al-Bistami

TAGS: Glow, Holistic Living Quote, Spirituality, Holistic Living

I found out that if you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt.

-Scotty Bowman

TAGS: Sports Quote, Inspirational Quote, Inspiration Quote, Games, Hockey, Coach, Motivation, Motivational Quote

While praying, listen to the words very carefully. When your heart is attentive, your entire being enters your prayer without your having to force it.

-Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

TAGS: Judaism, Jewish Quote

Listen, open a window to God and begin to delight yourself by gazing upon Him through the opening. The business of love is to make that window in the heart, for the breast is illumined by the beauty of the Beloved. Gaze incessantly on the face of the Beloved! Listen, this is in your power, my friend!

-Rumi

Rumi, Mathnawi [VI, 3095-3097]

From "Jewels of Remembrance," by Rumi, selected and translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski, © 1996. By arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston, www.shambhala.com

TAGS: Rumi, Islam Quote, Islam, Spirituality

Existence is of little interest save on days when the dust of realities is mingled with magic sand, when some trivial incident becomes a springboard for romance.

-Marcel Proust

TAGS: Relationship Quotes, Relationships, Romance