+ DAILY PRAYER +
Reading Num 35:9-34 – Cities of Refuge – Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the ?Israelites? and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 you will select for yourselves cities for your cities of refuge, that a killer who has killed a person unintentionally can flee there….
This Daily Devotion covers the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy also called the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, in a period of one year in a Monday through Friday format, the Psalms and order of devotion follow those presented in The Treasury of Daily Prayer from Concordia Publishing House.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 66:1-8
1 To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
Reading Num 35:9-34
Cities of Refuge
9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the ?Israelites? and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 you will select for yourselves cities for your cities of refuge, that a killer who has killed a person unintentionally can flee there. 12 The cities will be to you a refuge from a redeemer, so that the killer will not die until he stands before the community for judgment. 13 The cities that you are to give will be your six cities of refuge. 14 You will give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they will be cities of refuge. 15 To the ?Israelites?, to the alien, and to the temporary resident in their midst there will be these six cities as a refuge to which anyone who unintentionally kills a person may flee.
16 “ ‘But if he hit him with an object of iron, so that he dies, the killer must surely be put to death. 17 And if he hit him with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and he does die, he is a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. 18 Or if he hit him with a wooden object, by which he will die, and he does die, he is a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. 19 The blood avenger himself will put the killer to death; he must put him to death when meeting him. 20 If he shoves him in hatred, or he throws something at him with intention, and he dies, 21 or if he hits him in hostility with his hand, and he dies, the one that struck him will put to death the killer when meeting him.
22 “ ‘Or if in an instant he shoved him, not in hostility, or threw something at him without intention, 23 or with any stone, without seeing it dropped on him so that he dies, while he was not seeking his injury, 24 then the community will judge between the striker and between the blood avenger according to these ordinances. 25 The community will deliver the killer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the community will restore him to the city of his refuge to which he fled; and he will live there in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. 26 But if the killer surely goes out of the territory of the city of his refuge to which he fled, 27 and the blood avenger finds him outside the territory of the city of his refuge, and the blood avenger kills the killer, ?he will not be guilty of blood? 28 because he must live in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the killer will return to the land of his property. 29 These things will be as a decree of justice for you for your generations in all your dwellings.
30 “ ‘If anyone kills a person, the killer will be put to death ?according to the testimony? of witnesses, but someone cannot die on testimony of one person. 31 Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who is guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death. 32 You will not take a ransom payment for the one that flees to the city of his refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out. 34 You will not defile the land on which you are living because I am living in the midst of it; I am Yahweh; I am living in the midst of the ?Israelites?.’ ”
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Lord God, heavenly Father, through the prophet Elisha, You continued the prophets pattern of teaching Your people the true faith and demonstrating through miracles Your presence in creation to heal it of its brokenness. Grant that Your Church may see in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the final end-times prophet whose teaching and miracles continue in Your Church through the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us according to Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
