Numbers 27, Psalm 70, 71, Isaiah 17, 18, 1 Peter 5

Numbers 27,

1 The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They approached
 
2 the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly, and said,
 
3 "Our father died in the desert. He was not among Korah's followers, who banded together against the LORD, but he died for his own sin and left no sons.
 
4 Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father's relatives."
 
5 So Moses brought their case before the LORD
 
6 and the LORD said to him,
 
7 "What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and turn their father's inheritance over to them.
 
8 "Say to the Israelites, 'If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter.
 
9 If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers.
 
10 If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers.
 
11 If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to be a legal requirement for the Israelites, as the LORD commanded Moses.' "
 
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land I have given the Israelites.
 
13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was,
 
14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes." (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)
 
15 Moses said to the LORD,
 
16 "May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all mankind, appoint a man over this community
 
17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd."
 
18 So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.
 
19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence.
 
20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.
 
21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the LORD. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in."
 
22 Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly.
 
23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses.

Psalm 70, 71,

1 Hasten, O God, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.
 
2 May those who seek my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
 
3 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" turn back because of their shame.
 
4 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be exalted!"
 
5 Yet I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
 
2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me.
 
3 Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
 
4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men.
 
5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.
 
6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you.
 
7 I have become like a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
 
8 My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.
 
9 Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
 
10 For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together.
 
11 They say, "God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him."
 
12 Be not far from me, O God; come quickly, O my God, to help me.
 
13 May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace.
 
14 But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
 
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.
 
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
 
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
 
18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.
 
19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you?
 
20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.
 
21 You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.
 
22 I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
 
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you-I, whom you have redeemed.
 
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long, for those who wanted to harm me have been put to shame and confusion.
 

Isaiah 17, 18,

1 An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.
 
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.
 
3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty.
 
4 "In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.
 
5 It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm-as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
 
6 Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel.
 
7 In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
 
8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made.
 
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.
 
10 You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines,
 
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.
 
12 Oh, the raging of many nations-they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples-they roar like the roaring of great waters!
 
13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale.
 
14 In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.

1 Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush,
 
2 which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water.Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
 
3 All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.
 
4 This is what the LORD says to me: "I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
 
5 For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
 
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.
 
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers-the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.

1 Peter 5

1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed:
 
2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;
 
3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
 
4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
 
5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
 
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
 
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
 
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
 
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
 
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
 
11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
 
12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
 
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.
 
14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.