My other websites: Catholic, Prophets today, For Kids

Read Today’s Bible Verses following here:

Judges 3

These are the nations the LORD allowed to remain, so that through them he might test Israel, all those who had not experienced any of the Canaanite wars—

2to teach warfare to those generations of Israelites who had never experienced it:

3^a the five lords of the Philistines,^* and all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the mountain region of the Lebanon between Baal-hermon and Lebo-hamath.

4These served as a test for Israel, to know whether they would obey the commandments the LORD had enjoined on their ancestors through Moses.

5So the Israelites settled among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.^b

6They took their daughters in marriage, and gave their own daughters to their sons in marriage,^c and served their gods.

II. STORIES OF THE JUDGES

Othniel.

7^d Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; they forgot the LORD, their God, and served the Baals and the Asherahs,^*

8and the anger of the LORD flared up against them. He sold them into the power of Cushan-rishathaim,^* king of Aram Naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.

9But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD,^e he raised up a savior for them, to save them. It was Othniel, son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz.^f

10The spirit of the LORD came upon him,^g and he judged Israel. When he marched out to war, the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim, king of Aram, into his power, and his hold on Cushan-rishathaim was firm.

11So the land was at rest for forty years,^h until Othniel, son of Kenaz, died.

Ehud.

12Again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so he strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel because they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

13Taking the Ammonites and Amalek as allies, he went and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.

14So the Israelites served Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

15But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a savior, Ehud, son of Gera, a Benjaminite who was left-handed.^* The Israelites would send their tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, by him.

16Ehud made himself a two-edged dagger a foot long, and strapped it under his clothes on his right thigh.

17He presented the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab; now Eglon was a very fat man.

18When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the troops who had carried the tribute.

19But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And the king said, “Silence!” Then when all his attendants had left his presence,

20Ehud went in to him where he sat alone in his cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a word from God for you.” So the king rose from his throne.

21Then Ehud with his left hand drew the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into Eglon’s belly.

22The hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not withdraw the dagger from the body.

23Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shutting the doors of the upper room on Eglon and locking them.

24When Ehud had left and the servants had come, they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, and thought, “He must be easing himself in the cool chamber.”

25They waited until they were at a loss when he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened them, and there was their lord lying on the floor, dead.

26During their delay Ehud escaped and, passing the sculptured stones, took refuge in Seirah.

27On his arrival he sounded the horn in the mountain region of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down from the mountains with him as their leader.

28“Follow me,” he said to them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your power.”ⁱ So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, permitting no one to cross.

29On that occasion they slew about ten thousand Moabites, all of them strong warriors. Not one escaped.

30So Moab was brought under the power of Israel^j at that time; and the land had rest for eighty years.^k

Shamgar.

31After him there was Shamgar,^* son of Anath,^l who slew six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.^m He, too, was a savior for Israel.

Judges 4

Deborah and Barak.

1^a The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; Ehud was dead.

2So the LORD sold them into the power of the Canaanite king, Jabin, who reigned in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim.^b

3^c But the Israelites cried out to the LORD; for with his nine hundred iron chariots Jabin harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.

4At that time the prophet Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel.

5She used to sit under Deborah’s palm tree, between Ramah and Bethel in the mountain region of Ephraim, where the Israelites came up to her for judgment.

6She had Barak, son of Abinoam,^d summoned from Kedesh of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands: Go, march against Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun.

7I will draw Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, out to you at the Wadi Kishon,^e together with his chariots and troops, and I will deliver them into your power.”

8But Barak answered her, “If you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go.”

9“I will certainly go with you,” she replied, “but you will not gain glory for the expedition on which you are setting out, for it is into a woman’s power that the LORD is going to sell Sisera.” So Deborah arose and went with Barak and journeyed with him to Kedesh.

10Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and ten thousand men followed him.^f Deborah also went up with him.

11^* Now Heber the Kenite had detached himself from Cain, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law,^g and had pitched his tent by the terebinth of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

12It was reported to Sisera that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor.

13So Sisera called out all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all his forces from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon.

14Deborah then said to Barak, “Up! This is the day on which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your power. The LORD marches before you.” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by his ten thousand men.

15And the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and forces into a panic before Barak.^h Sisera himself dismounted from his chariot and fled on foot,

16but Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-ha-goiim. The entire army of Sisera fell beneath the sword, not even one man surviving.

17Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite.

18Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside with me; do not be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a rug.

19He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink. I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and then covered him.ⁱ

20“Stand at the entrance of the tent,” he said to her. “If anyone comes and asks, ‘Is there someone here?’ say, ‘No!’”

21Jael, wife of Heber, got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand. When Sisera was in a deep sleep from exhaustion, she approached him stealthily and drove the peg through his temple and down into the ground, and he died.^j

22Then when Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg through his temple.

23Thus on that day God humbled the Canaanite king, Jabin, before the Israelites;

24their power weighed ever more heavily on him, until at length they finished off the Canaanite king, Jabin.

Judges 5

Song of Deborah.

1^a On that day Deborah sang this song—and Barak, son of Abinoam:

2^* When uprising broke out in Israel,

when the people rallied for duty—bless the LORD!

3Hear, O kings! Give ear, O princes!

I will sing, I will sing to the LORD,

I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.

4^{* b} LORD, when you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the plains of Edom,

The earth shook, the heavens poured,

the clouds poured rain,

5The mountains streamed,

before the LORD, the One of Sinai,

before the LORD, the God of Israel.

6In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,^c

in the days of Jael, caravans ceased:

Those who traveled the roads

now traveled by roundabout paths.^d

7Gone was freedom beyond the walls,

gone indeed from Israel.

When I, Deborah, arose,

when I arose, a mother in Israel.^*

8New gods were their choice;

then war was at the gates.

No shield was to be found, no spear,

among forty thousand in Israel!

9My heart is with the leaders of Israel,

with the dedicated ones of the people—bless the LORD;

10Those who ride on white donkeys,

seated on saddle rugs,

and those who travel the road,

Sing of them

11to the sounds of musicians at the wells.

There they recount the just deeds of the LORD,

his just deeds bringing freedom to Israel.

12Awake, awake, Deborah!

Awake, awake, strike up a song!

Arise, Barak!

Take captive your captors, son of Abinoam!

13Then down went Israel against the mighty,

the army of the LORD went down for him against the warriors.

14^* From Ephraim, their base in the valley;

behind you, Benjamin, among your troops.

From Machir came down commanders,

from Zebulun wielders of the marshal’s staff.

15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah,

Issachar, faithful to Barak;

in the valley they followed at his heels.

Among the clans of Reuben

great were the searchings of heart!

16Why did you stay beside your hearths

listening to the lowing of the herds?

Among the clans of Reuben

great were the searchings of heart!

17Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;

Why did Dan spend his time in ships?

Asher remained along the shore,

he stayed in his havens.

18Zebulun was a people who defied death,

Naphtali, too, on the open heights!^e

19The kings came and fought;

then they fought, those kings of Canaan,

At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo;

no spoil of silver did they take.

20From the heavens the stars^* fought;

from their courses they fought against Sisera.^f

21The Wadi Kishon swept them away;

the wadi overwhelmed them, the Wadi Kishon.^g

Trample down the strong!^*

22Then the hoofs of the horses hammered,

the galloping, galloping of steeds.

23“Curse Meroz,”^* says the messenger of the LORD,

“curse, curse its inhabitants!

For they did not come when the LORD helped,

the help of the LORD against the warriors.”

24Most blessed of women is Jael,^h

the wife of Heber the Kenite,

blessed among tent-dwelling women!

25He asked for water, she gave him milk,

in a princely bowl she brought him curds.ⁱ

26^j With her hand she reached for the peg,

with her right hand, the workman’s hammer.

She hammered Sisera, crushed his head;

she smashed, pierced his temple.

27At her feet he sank down, fell, lay still;

down at her feet he sank and fell;

where he sank down, there he fell, slain.

28^* From the window she looked down,

the mother of Sisera peered through the lattice:

“Why is his chariot so long in coming?

why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?”

29The wisest of her princesses answers her;

she even replies to herself,

30“They must be dividing the spoil they took:

a slave woman or two for each man,

Spoil of dyed cloth for Sisera,

spoil of ornate dyed cloth,

a pair of ornate dyed cloths for my neck in the spoil.”

31So perish all your enemies, O LORD!^k

But may those who love you be like the sun rising in its might!

And the land was at rest for forty years.^l

1 Corinthians 3

^* Brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people,^* as infants in Christ.

2I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it. Indeed, you are still not able, even now,^a

3for you are still of the flesh. While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,^* are you not of the flesh, and behaving in an ordinary human way?^b

4Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?^c

The Role of God’s Ministers.^*

5What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers^* through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one.

6I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.^d

7Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.

8The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.

9For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.^e

10^* According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,

11for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.

12If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

13the work of each will come to light, for the Day^* will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.^f

14If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage.

15But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,^* but only as through fire.

16Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?^g

17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.^*

18Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.^h

19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written:ⁱ

“He catches the wise in their own ruses,”

20and again:

“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”^j

21^* So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,^k

22Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you,

23and you to Christ, and Christ to God.

Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers

The complete Book of Joshua

THE BOOK OF JUDGES

THE BOOK OF JUDGES

The Hebrew word translated “Judges” in the English title of the book refers not to specialized judicial officers or magistrates but to leaders in general. According to the biblical narrative these judges led Israel from the end of the conquest of Canaan until the beginning of the monarchy. The period of the Judges, therefore, extended from the death of Joshua (Jos 24:29–31; cf. Jgs 1:1) until the installation of Saul as Israel’s first king by the prophet Samuel, who was also the last judge (see 1 Sm 7:15–17).

The Book of Judges begins with two introductory passages. The first (chap. 1) gives a description of the situation in Canaan after the Israelite conquest. It emphasizes the continued existence of the indigenous inhabitants of Canaan in many parts of the land because of Israel’s inability to drive them out completely. The second passage (2:1–3:6) is a thematic introduction to the period of the Judges, describing a cyclical pattern of infidelity, oppression, “crying out,” and deliverance (see note on 2:10–19).

The main part of the book (3:7–16:31) consists of a series of stories about thirteen leaders whose careers are described in greater or lesser detail. The exploits of six of these—Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson—are related at length, and all are shown to have delivered Israel from oppression or danger. They are customarily called “major judges,” whereas the other six—Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon—who appear only in brief notices, are designated “minor judges.” The thirteenth, Abimelech, is included in neither group, since his story is essentially a continuation of that of Gideon and his career is presented as deplorable, a cautionary tale of royal ambition.

The final section of the book consists of two episodes, one about the migration of the tribe of Dan (chaps. 17–18) and the other about an intertribal war directed against the tribe of Benjamin (chaps. 19–21). These stories illustrate the religious and political disorder that prevailed at the time when, as yet, “there was no king in Israel” (see note on 17:6).

The principal contribution of the Deuteronomistic historian to the Book of Judges is the thematic introduction to—and theological evaluation of—the period of the Judges in 2:1–3:6, as well as editorial comments structuring the narrative throughout, e.g., 3:7; 4:1; etc. The historian drew the stories of the judges themselves from older sources, which could have existed in written form but derive ultimately from oral tradition.

Thus the principal divisions of the book in outline are as follows:

1. The Situation in Canaan Following the Israelite Conquest (1:1–3:6)
2. Stories of the Judges (3:7–16:31)
3. Further Stories of the Tribes of Dan and Benjamin (17:1–21:25)

The book of 1 Corinthians

THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

Paul’s first letter to the church of Corinth provides us with a fuller insight into the life of an early Christian community of the first generation than any other book of the New Testament. Through it we can glimpse both the strengths and the weaknesses of this small group in a great city of the ancient world, men and women who had accepted the good news of Christ and were now trying to realize in their lives the implications of their baptism. Paul, who had founded the community and continued to look after it as a father, responds both to questions addressed to him and to situations of which he had been informed. In doing so, he reveals much about himself, his teaching, and the way in which he conducted his work of apostleship. Some things are puzzling because we have the correspondence only in one direction. For the person studying this letter, it seems to raise as many questions as it answers, but without it our knowledge of church life in the middle of the first century would be much poorer.

Paul established a Christian community in Corinth about the year 51, on his second missionary journey. The city, a commercial crossroads, was a melting pot full of devotees of various pagan cults and marked by a measure of moral depravity not unusual in a great seaport. The Acts of the Apostles suggests that moderate success attended Paul’s efforts among the Jews in Corinth at first, but that they soon turned against him (Acts 18:1–8). More fruitful was his year and a half spent among the Gentiles (Acts 18:11), which won to the faith many of the city’s poor and underprivileged (1 Cor 1:26). After his departure the eloquent Apollos, an Alexandrian Jewish Christian, rendered great service to the community, expounding “from the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus” (Acts 18:24–28).

While Paul was in Ephesus on his third journey (1 Cor 16:8; Acts 19:1–20), he received disquieting news about Corinth. The community there was displaying open factionalism, as certain members were identifying themselves exclusively with individual Christian leaders and interpreting Christian teaching as a superior wisdom for the initiated few (1 Cor 1:10–4:21). The community lacked the decisiveness to take appropriate action against one of its members who was living publicly in an incestuous union (1 Cor 5:1–13). Other members engaged in legal conflicts in pagan courts of law (1 Cor 6:1–11); still others may have participated in religious prostitution (1 Cor 6:12–20) or temple sacrifices (1 Cor 10:14–22).

The community’s ills were reflected in its liturgy. In the celebration of the Eucharist certain members discriminated against others, drank too freely at the agape, or fellowship meal, and denied Christian social courtesies to the poor among the membership (1 Cor 11:17–22). Charisms such as ecstatic prayer, attributed freely to the impulse of the holy Spirit, were more highly prized than works of charity (1 Cor 13:1–2, 8), and were used at times in a disorderly way (1 Cor 14:1–40). Women appeared at the assembly without the customary head-covering (1 Cor 11:3–16), and perhaps were quarreling over their right to address the assembly (1 Cor 14:34–35).

Still other problems with which Paul had to deal concerned matters of conscience discussed among the faithful members of the community: the eating of meat that had been sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8:1–13), the use of sex in marriage (1 Cor 7:1–7), and the attitude to be taken by the unmarried toward marriage in view of the possible proximity of Christ’s second coming (1 Cor 7:25–40). There was also a doctrinal matter that called for Paul’s attention, for some members of the community, despite their belief in the resurrection of Christ, were denying the possibility of general bodily resurrection.

To treat this wide spectrum of questions, Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus about the year 56. The majority of the Corinthian Christians may well have been quite faithful. Paul writes on their behalf to guard against the threats posed to the community by the views and conduct of various minorities. He writes with confidence in the authority of his apostolic mission, and he presumes that the Corinthians, despite their deficiencies, will recognize and accept it. On the other hand, he does not hesitate to exercise his authority as his judgment dictates in each situation, even going so far as to promise a direct confrontation with recalcitrants, should the abuses he scores remain uncorrected (1 Cor 4:18–21).

The letter illustrates well the mind and character of Paul. Although he is impelled to insist on his office as founder of the community, he recognizes that he is only one servant of God among many and generously acknowledges the labors of Apollos (1 Cor 3:5–8). He provides us in this letter with many valuable examples of his method of theological reflection and exposition. He always treats the questions at issue on the level of the purity of Christian teaching and conduct. Certain passages of the letter are of the greatest importance for the understanding of early Christian teaching on the Eucharist (1 Cor 10:14–22; 11:17–34) and on the resurrection of the body (1 Cor 15:1–58).

Paul’s authorship of 1 Corinthians, apart from a few verses that some regard as later interpolations, has never been seriously questioned. Some scholars have proposed, however, that the letter as we have it contains portions of more than one original Pauline letter. We know that Paul wrote at least two other letters to Corinth (see 1 Cor 5:9; 2 Cor 2:3–4) in addition to the two that we now have; this theory holds that the additional letters are actually contained within the two canonical ones. Most commentators, however, find 1 Corinthians quite understandable as a single coherent work.

The principal divisions of the First Letter to the Corinthians are the following:

1. Address (1:1–9)
2. Disorders in the Corinthian Community (1:10–6:20)
   1. Divisions in the Church (1:10–4:21)
   2. Moral Disorders (5:1–6:20)
3. Answers to the Corinthians’ Questions (7:1–11:1)
   1. Marriage and Virginity (7:1–40)
   2. Offerings to Idols (8:1–11:1)
4. Problems in Liturgical Assemblies (11:2–14:40)
   1. Women’s Headdresses (11:3–16)
   2. The Lord’s Supper (11:17–34)
   3. Spiritual Gifts (12:1–14:40)
5. The Resurrection (15:1–58)
   1. The Resurrection of Christ (15:1–11)
   2. The Resurrection of the Dead (15:12–34)
   3. The Manner of the Resurrection (15:35–58)
6. Conclusion (16:1–24)