+ DAILY PRAYER +
The Punishment of Benjamin All the ?Israelites? went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand sword-bearing infantry…
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 39:4-7, 12-13
4 “O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
12 “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
Reading for Tuesday October 17th Judges 20:1-17
The Punishment of Benjamin
20 All the ?Israelites? went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh at Mizpah. 2 And the leaders of all the people, all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand sword-bearing infantry. 3 (The descendants of Benjamin heard that the ?Israelites? had gone up to Mizpah.) And the ?Israelites? said, “Tell us, how did this evil act occur?” 4 The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered and said, “I came to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night. 5 The lords of Gibeah rose up against me and surrounded the house at night. They intended to kill me, and they raped my concubine, and she died. 6 Then I grabbed my concubine and cut her into pieces, and I sent her throughout all the territory of Israel’s inheritance; for they committed a shameful and disgraceful thing in Israel. 7 Look, all you ?Israelites?! ?Make your decision? and advice here.”
8 All the people got up as one body, saying, “Not one of us will go to his tent, or will any of us return to his house. 9 So then, this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against her by lot. 10 We will take ten men of one hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and one hundred of one thousand, and one thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions to the troops, to repay them when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin for all the disgraceful things they did in Israel.” 11 And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one body united.
12 Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribes of Benjamin, saying, “What is this wickedness that happened among you? 13 So then, hand over the men, ?the perverse lot?, who are in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge this wickedness from Israel.” But the descendants of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives, the ?Israelites?. 14 And the descendants of Benjamin were gathered from the cities to Gibeah to go out for battle against the ?Israelites?. 15 From the cities the descendants of Benjamin were counted on that day twenty-six thousand ?sword-wielding men?, besides the inhabitants of Gibeah, who were counted seven hundred well-trained men. 16 From all these troops were seven hundred well-trained men ?who were left-handed?; each one could sling with a stone at a hair and not miss. 17 And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were counted four hundred thousand ?sword-wielding men?; ?all were warriors?.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty God, we praise Your name for Ignatius of Antioch, pastor and martyr. He offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts so that he might present to You the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept the willing tribute of all that we are and all that we have, and give us a portion in the pure and unspotted offering of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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.
[1] W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Jdg 13:1–25.
