Wealth gained hastily dwindles away, but he who gathers little by little makes it grow. Proverbs 13:11

Joshua 16-18

Joshua 16

The Territory of Ephraim

¹ The land allotted to the tribe of Joseph extended from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. ² It went out from Bethel to Luz and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth; ³ and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the border of Beth Horon the lower and on to Gezer; and ended at the sea.

⁴ The tribe of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. ⁵ This was the border of the tribe of Ephraim according to their families. The border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth Addar, to Beth Horon the upper. ⁶ The border went out westward at Michmethath on the north. The border turned around eastward to Taanath Shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah. ⁷ It went down from Janoah to Ataroth, to Naarah, reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan. ⁸ From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim according to their families; ⁹ together with the cities which were set apart for the tribe of Ephraim in the middle of the inheritance of the tribe of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. ¹⁰ They did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwell in the territory of Ephraim to this day and have become servants to do forced labor.

Joshua 17

The Territory of Manasseh

¹ This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. ² So this was for the rest of the tribe of Manasseh according to their families: for the descendants of Abiezer, for the tribe of Helek, for the tribe of Asriel, for the tribe of Shechem, for the tribe of Hepher, and for the tribe of Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph according to their families.

³ But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but had daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ They came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the princes, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. ⁵ Ten parts fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷ The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem. The border went along to the right hand, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. ⁸ The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the descendants of Ephraim. ⁹ The border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook. These cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and ended at the sea. ¹⁰ Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was his border. They reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east. ¹¹ The towns within Issachar and Asher were given to Manasseh: Beth Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns. ¹² Yet the descendants of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

¹³ When the Israelites had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor and did not utterly drive them out.

¹⁴ The tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me just one lot and one part for an inheritance, since we are a numerous people, because the Lord has blessed us so far?”

¹⁵ Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

¹⁶ The tribe of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. All the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth Shean and its towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷ Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, that is, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one lot only, ¹⁸ but the hill country shall be yours. Although it is a forest, you shall cut it down and its farthest extent shall be yours, for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong.”

Joshua 18

The Tabernacle at Shiloh

¹ The whole congregation of the Israelites assembled together at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them.

The Remainder Divided

² Seven tribes remained among the Israelites, which had not yet divided their inheritance. ³ Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴ Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; then they shall come to me. ⁵ They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Joseph shall live in their borders on the north. ⁶ You shall survey the land into seven parts and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷ However, the Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸ The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me. I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.”

⁹ The men went and passed through the land and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. There Joshua divided the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

Benjamin’s Territory

¹¹ The lot of the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin came up according to their families. The border of their lot went out between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph.

¹² Their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan. The border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward. It ended at the wilderness of Beth Aven. ¹³ The border passed along from there to Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Bethel), southward. The border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies on the south of Beth Horon the lower. ¹⁴ The border extended, and turned around on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lies before Beth Horon southward; and ended at Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west quarter.

¹⁵ The south quarter was from the farthest part of Kiriath Jearim. The border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ The border went down to the farthest part of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward. It went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En Rogel. ¹⁷ It extended northward, went out at En Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ It passed along to the side opposite the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah. ¹⁹ The border passed along to the side of Beth Hoglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. ²⁰ The Jordan was its border on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin, by the borders around it, according to their families.

²¹ Now the cities of the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²² Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages. ²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zelah, Eleph, the Jebusite (also called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin according to their families.

Luke 19:1-28

Jesus and Zacchaeus

¹ Jesus entered and was passing through Jericho. ² There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, because he was short. ⁴ He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. ⁷ When they saw it, they all grumbled, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”

⁸ Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Minas

¹¹ As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God would be revealed immediately. ¹² He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ He called ten servants of his and gave them ten mina coins and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵ When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business. ¹⁶ The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’

¹⁷ He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸ The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’

¹⁹ So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ ²⁰ Another came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, ²¹ for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you did not lay down and reap that which you did not sow.’

²² He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I did not lay down and reaping that which I did not sow. ²³ Then why did you not deposit my money in the bank and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ ²⁴ He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.’

²⁵ “They said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas!’ ²⁶ ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given, but from him who does not have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. ²⁷ But bring those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them here and kill them before me.’ ” ²⁸ Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Psalm 87

Mourning Turned to Joy

A Psalm by the sons of Korah; a Song.

¹ His foundation is in the holy mountains.
² The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
³ Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God.

Selah.

⁴ I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me.
Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia:
“This one was born there.”
⁵ Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;”
the Most High himself will establish her.
⁶ The Lord will count, when he writes up the peoples,
“This one was born there.”

Selah.

⁷ Those who sing as well as those who dance say,
“All my springs are in you.”

Proverbs 13:11

¹¹ Wealth gained hastily dwindles away,
but he who gathers little by little makes it grow.

«       »