+ DAILY PRAYER +
Jephthah Makes a Vow And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through to the ?Ammonites?. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, “If indeed you will give the ?Ammonites? into my hand, 31 whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the Ammonites…
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 86:1-10
Psa 86:1 A Prayer of David.
Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Psa 86:2 Preserve my life, for I am godly;
save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
Psa 86:3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
for to you do I cry all the day.
Psa 86:4 Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
Psa 86:5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
Psa 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
Psa 86:7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
Psa 86:8 There is none like you among the gods,
O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
Psa 86:9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship
before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.
Psa 86:10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
Reading for Thursday October 5th Judges 11:29-12:15
Jephthah Makes a Vow
29 And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through to the ?Ammonites?. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh, and he said, “If indeed you will give the ?Ammonites? into my hand, 31 whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from the ?Ammonites? will be Yahweh’s, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.” 32 And Jephthah crossed over to the ?Ammonites? to make war against them; and Yahweh gave them into his hand. 33 And he defeated them with a very great blow, from Aroer as far as Minnith, twenty towns, up to Abel Keramim. And the ?Ammonites? were subdued before the ?Israelites?.
34 Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She was his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her. 35 And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. ?I made an oath? to Yahweh, and I cannot take it back.” 36 She said to him, “My father, ?you made an oath? to Yahweh. Do to me according to what has gone out from your mouth, since Yahweh gave vengeance to you against your enemies, the ?Ammonites?.” 37 And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: grant me two months so that I may go wander on the mountains and lament over my virginity, I and my companions. 38 And he said, “Go.” He sent her away for two months, and she went with her friends, and she lamented over her virginity on the mountains. 39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, and he did to her according to his vow; and ?she did not sleep with a man?. And it became an annual custom in Israel 40 for the daughters of Israel to go and lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for forty days of the year.
Tribal Conflict Between Gilead and Ephraim
12 The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed over to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over and make war against the ?Ammonites?, and why did you not call us to go with you? We will burn down your house over you with fire.” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were engaged in great conflict with the ?Ammonites?; I called you, but you did not deliver me from their hand. 3 I saw that you would not deliver us; ?I risked my own life?, and I crossed over to the ?Ammonites?, and Yahweh gave them into my hand. Why have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” 4 Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead, and he made war with Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 Then Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan from Ephraim, and whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” 6 they said to him, “Please say Shibboleth,” and if he said, “Sibboleth”—because he could not ?pronounce it? correctly—they grabbed him and executed him at the fords of Jordan. At that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
8 After him Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 He had thirty sons. He gave his thirty daughters away in marriage outside his clan and brought in from outside thirty young women for his sons. He judged Israel for seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
13 After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons that rode on seventy male donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon, in the land of Ephraim in the hill country of the Amalekites.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Lord Jesus, Creator and Redeemer, You have power over the demons and over all of creation so that ever the winds and waves obey You. Give us faith to leave everything behind to follow You in the way of suffering as You feed us along the way with Your very body and blood; for You live and reign with the Father 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.
