Numbers 25, Psalm 68, Isaiah 15, 1 Peter 3

Numbers 25,

1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women,
 
2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods.
 
3 So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them.
 
4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."
 
5 So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor."
 
6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
 
7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand
 
8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them-through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;
 
9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
 
10 The LORD said to Moses,
 
11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.
 
12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him.
 
13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
 
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.
 
15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.
 
16 The LORD said to Moses,
 
17 "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them,
 
18 because they treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the affair of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of Peor."

Psalm 68,

1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.
 
2 As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.
 
3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
 
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds-his name is the LORD-and rejoice before him.
 
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
 
6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
 
7 When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the wasteland, Selah
 
8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
 
9 You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.
 
10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.
 
11 The Lord announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:
 
12 "Kings and armies flee in haste; in the camps men divide the plunder.
 
13 Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold."
 
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.
 
15 The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains; rugged are the mountains of Bashan.
 
16 Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the LORD himself will dwell forever?
 
17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.
 
18 When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious-that you, O LORD God, might dwell there.
 
19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah
 
20 Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.
 
21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.
 
22 The Lord says, "I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
 
23 that you may plunge your feet in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share."
 
24 Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
 
25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines.
 
26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.
 
27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah's princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
 
28 Summon your power, O God; show us your strength, O God, as you have done before.
 
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.
 
30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
 
31 Envoys will come from Egypt; Cush will submit herself to God.
 
32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, Selah
 
33 to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice.
 
34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies.
 
35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Isaiah 15,

1 An oracle concerning Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!
 
2 Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off.
 
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping.
 
4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.
 
5 My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.
 
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left.
 
7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
 
8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.
 
9 Dimon's waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon -a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.

1 Peter 3

1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
 
2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
 
3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
 
4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
 
5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands,
 
6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear
 
7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
 
8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
 
9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
 
10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
 
11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
 
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
 
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?
 
14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."
 
15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
 
16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
 
17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
 
18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
 
19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison
 
20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
 
21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
 
22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.