Deuteronomy 7

• 1. "When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are all more powerful than you.
• 2. When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy.
• 3. Do not intermarry with them, and don't let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters.
• 4. They will lead your young people away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will destroy you.
• 5. Instead, you must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols.
• 6. For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
• 7. "The LORD did not choose you and lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!
• 8. It was simply because the LORD loves you, and because he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such amazing power from your slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt.
• 9. Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and constantly loves those who love him and obey his commands.
• 10. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who hate him.
• 11. Therefore, obey all these commands, laws, and regulations I am giving you today.
• 12. "If you listen to these regulations and obey them faithfully, the LORD your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he solemnly promised your ancestors.
• 13. He will love you and bless you and make you into a great nation. He will give you many children and give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large crops of grain, grapes, and olives, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.
• 14. You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young.
• 15. And the LORD will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will bring them all on your enemies!
• 16. "You must destroy all the nations the LORD your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy and do not worship their gods. If you do, they will trap you.
• 17. Perhaps you will think to yourselves, `How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?'
• 18. But don't be afraid of them! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt.
• 19. Remember the great terrors the LORD your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the amazing power he used when he brought you out of Egypt. The LORD your God will use this same power against the people you fear.
• 20. And then the LORD your God will send hornets to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!
• 21. "No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the LORD your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God.
• 22. The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, for if you did, the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.
• 23. But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed.
• 24. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.
• 25. "You must burn their idols in fire, and do not desire the silver or gold with which they are made. Do not take it or it will become a snare to you, for it is detestable to the LORD your God.
• 26. Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be set apart for destruction just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

Psalms 90

• 1. Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
• 2. Before the mountains were created, before you made the earth and the world, you are God, without beginning or end.
• 3. You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust!"
• 4. For you, a thousand years are as yesterday! They are like a few hours!
• 5. You sweep people away like dreams that disappear or like grass that springs up in the morning.
• 6. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.
• 7. We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury.
• 8. You spread out our sins before you--our secret sins--and you see them all.
• 9. We live our lives beneath your wrath. We end our lives with a groan.
• 10. Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone.
• 11. Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
• 12. Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.
• 13. O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!
• 14. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
• 15. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
• 16. Let us see your miracles again; let our children see your glory at work.
• 17. And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!

Isaiah 35

• 1. Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert will blossom with flowers.
• 2. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel's pastures and the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God.
• 3. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.
• 4. Say to those who are afraid, "Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you."
• 5. And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf.
• 6. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will shout and sing! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the desert.
• 7. The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.
• 8. And a main road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-hearted people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God's ways; fools will never walk there.
• 9. Lions will not lurk along its course, and there will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will follow it.
• 10. Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return to Jerusalem, singing songs of everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be overcome with joy and gladness.

New Living Translation: 154 of 365 days.