+ DAILY PRAYER +
Judges 20:18-48 Then the ?Israelites? got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, “Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants of Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go first.” 19 And the ?Israelites? got up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah…
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 75
1 To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy.
A Psalm of Asaph. A Song. We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.
2 “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity.
3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
5 do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.’”
6 For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
7 but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine,
well mixed, and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
9 But I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
Reading for Wednesday October 18th Judges 20:18-48
18 Then the ?Israelites? got up and went up to Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, “Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants of Benjamin?” And Yahweh said, “Judah will go first.” 19 And the ?Israelites? got up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah. 20 Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them for battle at Gibeah. 21 The descendants of Benjamin went out from Gibeah, and they struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground. 22 But the troops, the men of Israel, ?encouraged themselves?, and again they arranged their battle lines in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day. 23 The ?Israelites? went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants of Benjamin, our relatives?” And Yahweh said, “Go up against them.”
24 And the ?Israelites? drew near to the descendants of Benjamin on the second day. 25 And Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and they struck down the ?Israelites? again, eighteen thousand men to the ground; all of these were ?sword-wielding?. 26 And all the ?Israelites? and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh. 27 And the ?Israelites? inquired of Yahweh (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, was standing ?before it? to minister in those days), saying, “Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants of Benjamin our relatives, or should we stop?” And Yahweh said, “Go up tomorrow; I will give them into your hand.”
29 So Israel stationed an ambush all around Gibeah. 30 And the ?Israelites? went up against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, and they took up positions against Gibeah as before. 31 The descendants of Benjamin went out to meet the troops, and they lured them away from the city and began to inflict casualties on the troops as before, on the main road, one of which goes up to Bethel, the other to Gibeah; and in the field there were about thirty men of Israel. 32 And the descendants of Benjamin thought, “They are being defeated before us ?as previously?,” and the ?Israelites? said, “Let us flee and lure them away from the city to the main roads.” 33 And all the men of Israel got up from their places and took up positions in Baal Tamar; and the ambush of Israel charged from their places, from the vicinity of Gibeah. 34 Then ten thousand well-trained men from all Israel came out against Gibeah, and the battle became fierce; they did not know that disaster was about to ?close in? on them. 35 And Yahweh defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and the ?Israelites? destroyed on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them ?sword-wielding?.
36 The descendants of Benjamin saw that they were defeated, and the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they trusted the ambush that they had set against Gibeah. 37 And the ambush came quickly and advanced against Gibeah, and it ?put the whole city to the sword?. 38 Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city. 39 And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to inflict casualties on about thirty men of Israel because they thought, “They will be completely defeated before us as in the first battle.” 40 And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up ?in smoke?! 41 And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was ?closing in? on them. 42 And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and those who came from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. 43 They surrounded Benjamin; they pursued them without rest and trod them down opposite Gibeah to the east. 44 And eighteen thousand men from Benjamin fell, all of them ?able men?. 45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, but they cut down on the main roads five thousand men; and they pursued after them up to Gidom, and they struck down two thousand men. 46 So all of Benjamin who fell on that day were twenty-five thousand ?sword-wielding men?; all of these were ?able men?. 47 But six hundred turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon for four months. 48 And the men of Israel returned to the descendants of Benjamin, and they put them to ?the edge of the sword?, both the inhabitants of the city and the animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty God, our Father, Your blessed Son called Luke the physician to be an evangelist and physician of the soul. Grant that the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments may put to flight the diseases of our souls that with willing hearts we may ever love and serve You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, 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.
