Numbers 21

• 1. The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and took some of them as prisoners.
• 2. Then the people of Israel made this vow to the LORD: "If you will help us conquer these people, we will completely destroy all their towns."
• 3. The LORD heard their request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah ever since.
• 4. Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way,
• 5. and they began to murmur against God and Moses. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. "There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!"
• 6. So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among them, and many of them were bitten and died.
• 7. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people.
• 8. Then the LORD told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to the top of a pole. Those who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!"
• 9. So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to the top of a pole. Whenever those who were bitten looked at the bronze snake, they recovered!
• 10. The Israelites traveled next to Oboth and camped there.
• 11. Then they went on to Iye-abarim, in the wilderness on the eastern border of Moab.
• 12. From there they traveled to the valley of Zered Brook and set up camp.
• 13. Then they moved to the far side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness adjacent to the territory of the Amorites. The Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Amorites.
• 14. For this reason The Book of the Wars of the LORD speaks of "the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines; and the Arnon River
• 15. and its ravines, which extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab."
• 16. From there the Israelites traveled to Beer, which is the well where the LORD said to Moses, "Assemble the people, and I will give them water."
• 17. There the Israelites sang this song: "Spring up, O well! Yes, sing about it!
• 18. Sing of this well, which princes dug, which great leaders hollowed out with their scepters and staffs." Then the Israelites left the wilderness and proceeded on through Mattanah,
• 19. Nahaliel, and Bamoth.
• 20. Then they went to the valley in Moab where Pisgah Peak overlooks the wasteland.
• 21. The Israelites now sent ambassadors to King Sihon of the Amorites with this message:
• 22. "Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the king's road until we have crossed your territory. We will not trample your fields or touch your vineyards or drink your well water."
• 23. But King Sihon refused to let them cross his land. Instead, he mobilized his entire army and attacked Israel in the wilderness, engaging them in battle at Jahaz.
• 24. But the Israelites slaughtered them and occupied their land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River. They went only as far as the Ammonite border because the boundary of the Ammonites was fortified.
• 25. So Israel captured all the towns of the Amorites and settled in them, including the city of Heshbon and its surrounding villages.
• 26. Heshbon had been the capital of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had conquered a former Moabite king and seized all his land as far as the Arnon River.
• 27. For this reason the ancient poets wrote this about him: "Come to Heshbon, city of Sihon! May it be restored and rebuilt.
• 28. A fire flamed forth from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It burned the city of Ar in Moab; it destroyed the rulers of the Arnon heights.
• 29. Your destruction is certain, O people of Moab! You are finished, O worshipers of Chemosh! Chemosh has left his sons as refugees, and his daughters as captives of Sihon, the Amorite king.
• 30. We have utterly destroyed them, all the way from Heshbon to Dibon. We have completely wiped them out as far away as Nophah and Medeba. "
• 31. So the people of Israel occupied the territory of the Amorites.
• 32. After Moses sent men to explore the Jazer area, they captured all the towns in the region and drove out the Amorites who lived there.
• 33. Then they turned and marched toward Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and all his people attacked them at Edrei.
• 34. The LORD said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, giving you all his land. You will do the same to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon."
• 35. And Israel was victorious and killed King Og, his sons, and his subjects; not a single survivor remained. Then Israel occupied their land.

Psalms 60

• 1. You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses. You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor.
• 2. You have shaken our land and split it open. Seal the cracks before it completely collapses.
• 3. You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling.
• 4. But you have raised a banner for those who honor you--a rallying point in the face of attack.
• 5. Use your strong right arm to save us, and rescue your beloved people.
• 6. God has promised this by his holiness: "I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth.
• 7. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim will produce my warriors, and Judah will produce my kings.
• 8. Moab will become my lowly servant, and Edom will be my slave. I will shout in triumph over the Philistines."
• 9. But who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom?
• 10. Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies?
• 11. Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless.
• 12. With God's help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.

Psalms 61

• 1. O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer!
• 2. From the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help, for my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
• 3. for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
• 4. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!
• 5. For you have heard my vows, O God. You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name.
• 6. Add many years to the life of the king! May his years span the generations!
• 7. May he reign under God's protection forever. Appoint your unfailing love and faithfulness to watch over him.
• 8. Then I will always sing praises to your name as I fulfill my vows day after day.

Isaiah 10

• 1. Destruction is certain for the unjust judges, for those who issue unfair laws.
• 2. They deprive the poor, the widows, and the orphans of justice. Yes, they rob widows and fatherless children!
• 3. What will you do when I send desolation upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe?
• 4. I will not help you. You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the LORD's anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.
• 5. "Destruction is certain for Assyria, the whip of my anger. Its military power is a club in my hand.
• 6. Assyria will enslave my people, who are a godless nation. It will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.
• 7. But the king of Assyria will not know that it is I who sent him. He will merely think he is attacking my people as part of his plan to conquer the world.
• 8. He will say, `Each of my princes will soon be a king, ruling a conquered land.
• 9. We will destroy Calno just as we did Carchemish. Hamath will fall before us as Arpad did. And we will destroy Samaria just as we did Damascus.
• 10. Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom whose gods were far greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.
• 11. So when we have defeated Samaria and her gods, we will destroy Jerusalem with hers.'"
• 12. After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him--for he is proud and arrogant.
• 13. He boasts, "By my own power and wisdom I have won these wars. By my own strength I have captured many lands, destroyed their kings, and carried off their treasures.
• 14. By my greatness I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs. No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest."
• 15. Can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a whip strike unless a hand is moving it? Can a cane walk by itself?
• 16. Listen now, king of Assyria! Because of all your evil boasting, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will send a plague among your proud troops, and a flaming fire will ignite your glory.
• 17. The LORD, the Light of Israel and the Holy One, will be a flaming fire that will destroy them. In a single night he will burn those thorns and briers, the Assyrians.
• 18. Assyria's vast army is like a glorious forest, yet it will be destroyed. The LORD will completely destroy Assyria's warriors, and they will waste away like sick people in a plague.
• 19. Only a few from all that mighty army will survive--so few that a child could count them!
• 20. Then at last those left in Israel and Judah will trust the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. They will no longer depend on the Assyrians, who would destroy them.
• 21. A remnant of them will return to the Mighty God.
• 22. But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a few of them will return at that time. The LORD has rightly decided to destroy his people.
• 23. Yes, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, has already decided to consume them.
• 24. So this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: "My people in Jerusalem, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you just as the Egyptians did long ago.
• 25. It will not last very long. In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them."
• 26. The LORD Almighty will beat them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the LORD's staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea.
• 27. In that day the LORD will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders.
• 28. Look, the mighty armies of Assyria are coming! They are now at Aiath, now at Migron. They are storing some of their equipment at Micmash.
• 29. They are crossing the pass and are staying overnight at Geba. Fear strikes the city of Ramah. All the people of Gibeah--the city of Saul--are running for their lives.
• 30. Well may you scream in terror, you people of Gallim! Shout out a warning to Laishah, for the mighty army comes. Poor Anathoth, what a fate is yours!
• 31. There go the people of Madmenah, all fleeing. And the citizens of Gebim are preparing to run.
• 32. But the enemy stops at Nob for the rest of that day. He shakes his fist at Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
• 33. But look! The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will chop down the mighty tree! He will destroy all that vast army of Assyria--officers and high officials alike.
• 34. The Mighty One will cut down the enemy as an ax cuts down the forest trees in Lebanon.

New Living Translation: 132 of 365 days.