DONNIE DAILY DELIGHTS FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 12:
WORD OF WISDOM
The way you live your life will determine whether you live longer or die
slower.
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DAILY DEVOTION
Don't Go It Alone
"Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now
thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and
consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go
with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence
go not with me, carry us not up hence."
Exodus 33:13-15
Moses faced challenges that are far beyond what most of us can imagine. He
was tasked with leading the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised
Land. Despite the miraculous power of God revealed in the plagues that freed
them from bondage and the ongoing miracles of provision and protection they
benefited from, the Israelites were not content. They often complained about
both Moses' leadership and God's provision. Rather than being grateful and
confident, they were covetous and fearful.
These were the people Moses was supposed to lead. And for forty years he
took on that difficult task and the amazing level of responsibility that
came with it. How was he able to endure the load he carried? Moses endured
because he understood the importance of the presence of God. In the powerful
psalm of prayer and praise, the psalmist wrote, "Lord, thou hast been our
dwelling place in all generations" (Psalm 90:1). He was not willing to go it
alone.
Like Moses, we face challenges daily. Though we may not be responsible for
leading vast crowds of people, we face a world we cannot overcome in our own
strength. Too many Christians are trying to accomplish alone what can only
be done in the presence of God. Through His Word and through prayer we enter
into close fellowship and communion with Him, and it is only through the
power that we receive there that we can live a victorious and overcoming
life.
Do not allow anything to rob you of the peace and comfort that come from
living in the presence of God.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
Genesis 34-36Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
The Rape of Dinah
34 One day, Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to see the women
of that place. 2 She was seen by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who
ruled that area. Shechem took Dinah and raped her. 3 But he was so attracted
to her that he fell in love and began expressing his feelings to her. 4 He
told his father, "Please get this girl for me so that I can marry her."
5 Jacob learned that Shechem had done this very bad thing to his daughter.
But all his sons were out in the fields with the cattle. So he did nothing
until they came home. 6 Then Shechem's father, Hamor, came out to talk with
Jacob.
7 In the fields Jacob's sons heard the news about what had happened. They
were very angry because Shechem had brought shame to Israel by raping
Jacob's daughter. They came in from the fields as soon as they heard about
the terrible thing Shechem had done.
8 But Hamor talked to Dinah's brothers and said, "My son Shechem wants Dinah
very much. Please let him marry her. 9 This marriage will show we have a
special agreement. Then our men can marry your women, and your men can marry
our women. 10 You can live in the same land with us. You will be free to own
the land and to trade here."
11 Shechem also talked to Jacob and to Dinah's brothers and said, "Please
accept me. I will do anything you ask me to do. 12 I will give you any
gift[a] you want if you will only allow me to marry Dinah. I will give you
anything you ask, but let me marry her."
13 Jacob's sons decided to lie to Shechem and his father because Shechem had
done such a bad thing to their sister Dinah. 14 The brothers said to them,
"We cannot allow our sister to marry you because you are not yet
circumcised. That would bring us shame. 15 But we will allow you to marry
her if you do this one thing: Every man in your town must be circumcised
like us. 16 Then your men can marry our women, and our men can marry your
women. Then we will become one people. 17 If you refuse to be circumcised,
we will take Dinah away."
18 This agreement made Hamor and Shechem very happy. 19 Shechem was very
happy to do what Dinah's brothers asked.
Shechem was the most honored man in his family. 20 Hamor and Shechem went to
the meeting place of their city. They spoke to the men of the city and said,
21 "These people want to be friends with us. We want to let them live in our
land and be at peace with us. We have enough land for all of us. We are free
to marry their women, and we are happy to give them our women to marry. 22
But there is one thing that all our men must agree to do. They must agree to
be circumcised as they are. 23 If we do this, we will become rich from all
their cattle and other animals. We should make this agreement with them so
that they will stay here with us." 24 All the men who heard this in the
meeting place agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And every man was circumcised
at that time.
25 Three days later the men who were circumcised were still sore. Two of
Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, knew that the men would be weak at this time.
So they went to the city and killed all the men there. 26 Dinah's brothers,
Simeon and Levi, killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah out
of Shechem's house and left. 27 Jacob's sons went to the city and stole
everything that was there because of what Shechem had done to their sister.
28 So the brothers took all their animals, all their donkeys, and everything
else in the city and in the fields. 29 The brothers took everything those
people owned. They even took their wives and children.
30 But Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have caused me a lot of trouble.
All the people in this place will hate me. All the Canaanites and the
Perizzites will turn against me. There are only a few of us. If the people
in this place gather together to fight against us, I will be destroyed. And
all our people will be destroyed with me."
31 But the brothers said, "Should we let these people treat our sister like
a prostitute? They were wrong to do that to our sister!"
Jacob in Bethel
35 God said to Jacob, "Go to the town of Bethel.[b] That is where I appeared
to you when you were running away from your brother Esau. Live there and
make an altar to honor me as El,[c] the God who appeared to you."
2 So Jacob told his family and all the other people with him, "Destroy all
these foreign gods that you have. Make yourselves pure. Put on clean
clothes. 3 We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar
to the God who has always helped me during times of trouble. He has been
with me wherever I have gone."
4 So the people gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and they gave him
all the rings they were wearing in their ears. He buried everything under an
oak tree near the town called Shechem.
5 Then Jacob and his sons left that place. The people in the surrounding
cities wanted to follow and kill them, but God filled them with such great
fear that they did not go after them. 6 So Jacob and his people went to Luz,
which is now called Bethel. It is in the land of Canaan. 7 Jacob built an
altar there. He named the place "El Bethel."[d] Jacob chose this name
because that is the place where God first appeared to him when he was
running from his brother.
8 Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died there. They buried her under the oak tree
at Bethel. They named that place Allon Bacuth.[e]
Jacob's New Name
9 When Jacob came back from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. God
blessed Jacob 10 and said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but I will change
that name. You will no longer be called Jacob. Your new name will be
Israel.[f]" So God named him Israel.
11 God said to him, "I am God All-Powerful,[g] and I give you this blessing:
Have many children and grow into a great nation. Other nations and other
kings will come out of you. 12 I gave Abraham and Isaac some special land.
Now I give the land to you and to all your people who will live after you."
13 Then God left that place. 14-15 Jacob set up a memorial stone there. He
made the rock holy by pouring wine and oil on it. This was a special place
because God spoke to Jacob there, and Jacob named the place Bethel.
Rachel Dies Giving Birth
16 Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel
began giving birth to her baby. 17 She was having a lot of trouble with this
birth. She was in great pain. When her nurse saw this, she said, "Don't be
afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son."
18 Rachel died while giving birth to the son. Before dying, she named the
boy Benoni.[h] But Jacob called him Benjamin.[i]
19 Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob
put a special rock on Rachel's grave to honor her. That special rock is
still there today. 21 Then Israel continued his journey. He camped just
south of Eder tower.[j]
22 Israel stayed there for a short time. While he was there, Reuben slept
with Israel's slave woman Bilhah. Israel heard about this, and he was very
angry.[k]
The Family of Israel (Jacob)
These are the names of Jacob's twelve sons:
23 His firstborn son was Reuben, whose mother was Leah. Jacob's other sons
by Leah were Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
24 His sons by Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
25 His sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid, were Dan and Naphtali.
26 His sons by Zilpah, Leah's maid, were Gad and Asher.
These were Jacob's sons who were born in Paddan Aram.
27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba (Hebron). This is
where Abraham and Isaac had lived. 28 Isaac lived 180 years. 29 Then Isaac
became weak and died and went to be with his people. He had lived a long and
full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Esau's Family
36 This is the history of the family of Esau (Edom). 2 Esau married women
from the land of Canaan. His wives were Adah, the daughter of Elon the
Hittite, Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite, and
3 Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 4 Esau and Adah had
a son named Eliphaz. Basemath had a son named Reuel. 5 Oholibamah had three
sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were Esau's sons who were born in the
land of Canaan.
6-8 Jacob and Esau's families became too big for the land in Canaan to
support them all, so Esau moved away from his brother Jacob. He took his
wives, sons, daughters, all his slaves, cattle and other animals, and
everything else that he had gotten in Canaan and moved to the hill country
of Seir.[l] (Esau is also named Edom.)
9 Esau is the father of the people of Edom. These are the names of Esau's
family living in the hill country of Seir:
10 Esau and Adah's son was Eliphaz. Esau and Basemath's son was Reuel.
11 Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 Eliphaz also had a slave woman named Timna. Timna and Eliphaz had a son
named Amalek.
13 Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
These were Esau's grandsons from his wife Basemath.
14 Esau's third wife was Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. (Anah was the son
of Zibeon.) Esau and Oholibamah's children were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15 These are the family groups that came from Esau:
Esau's first son was Eliphaz. From Eliphaz came Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek.
All these family groups came from Esau's wife Adah.
17 Esau's son Reuel was the father of these families: Nahath, Zerah,
Shammah, and Mizzah.
All these families came from Esau's wife Basemath.
18 Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and
Korah. These three men were the leaders of their families.
19 They were all sons of Esau and leaders of the family groups of Edom.[m]
20 Seir, a Horite man, lived in Edom before Esau. These are the sons of
Seir:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These sons were
all Horite family leaders from Seir in Edom.
22 Lotan was the father of Hori and Heman.[n] (Timna was Lotan's sister.)
23 Shobal was the father of Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 Zibeon had two sons, Aiah and Anah. Anah is the man who found the springs
in the desert while he was caring for his father's donkeys.
25 Anah was the father of Dishon and Oholibamah.
26 Dishon had four sons. They were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.
27 Ezer had three sons. They were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 Dishan had two sons. They were Uz and Aran.
29 These are the names of the leaders of the Horite families: Lotan, Shobal,
Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These men were the leaders of the
families that lived in the country of Seir.
31 At that time there were kings in Edom. Edom had kings a long time before
Israel did.
32 Bela son of Beor was a king who ruled in Edom. He ruled over the city of
Dinhabah.
33 When Bela died, Jobab became king. Jobab was the son of Zerah from
Bozrah.
34 When Jobab died, Husham ruled. Husham was from the land of the Temanites.
35 When Husham died, Hadad ruled that area. Hadad was the son of Bedad. (He
was the man who defeated Midian in the country of Moab.) Hadad was from the
city of Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah ruled that country. Samlah was from Masrekah.
37 When Samlah died, Shaul ruled that area. Shaul was from Rehoboth by the
River.
38 When Shaul died, Baal Hanan ruled that country. Baal Hanan was the son of
Acbor.
39 When Baal Hanan died, Hadad[o] ruled that country. Hadad was from the
city of Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred. (Mezahab
was Matred's father.)
40-43 Esau was the father of these Edomite families:
Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
Magdiel, and Iram. Each of these families lived in an area that was called
by the same name as their family.
Footnotes:
a.Genesis 34:12 gift Or "dowry." Here, the money a man paid for a wife.
b.Genesis 35:1 Bethel A town in Israel. This name means "God's house."
c.Genesis 35:1 El A Hebrew name for God.
d.Genesis 35:7 El Bethel A name that means "the God of Bethel."
e.Genesis 35:8 Allon Bacuth This name means "the oak tree of sadness."
f.Genesis 35:10 Israel This name might mean "he fights for God," "he fights
with God," or "God fights."
g.Genesis 35:11 God All-Powerful Literally, "El Shaddai."
h.Genesis 35:18 Benoni This name means "son of my suffering."
i.Genesis 35:18 Benjamin This name means "right-hand" or "favorite son."
j.Genesis 35:21 Eder tower Or "Migdal Eder."
k.Genesis 35:22 and he was very angry These words are from the ancient Greek
translation. They are not in the standard Hebrew text. See Gen. 49:4.
l.Genesis 36:6 Seir A mountain range in Edom.
m.Genesis 36:19 Esau . Edom Two names for the man Esau and the country Edom.
n.Genesis 36:22 Heman Or "Homam."
o.Genesis 36:39 Hadad Or "Hadar."
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
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Victoria E Gilkerson
