Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 13 May 2018

Happy Friday to all.  A few days ago, we had snow all over.  Today, we're expected to hit 70°.  Possibly have snow again on Monday, just a few days hence.  But for the moment, I've opened a few windows, and have one of those window fans in one, just to air the place out and deal with the smells of two people and 3 cats cooped up in a very small place for the last six months since I tried to seal it up as best I could.  So we will enjoy the day at least.

Wife's ankle is still all swollen and sore from her fall the other night.  I've been putting a cream of lidocaine and Aspercreme on the affected areas a few times per day, which gives some relief.  I do get worried about all this, not least because she has some nasty bruises in addition, one at least with a palpable lump in it, not good when she deals with vasculitis constantly.
We have to take a bit of a drive in a few hours: she found someone selling a window A/C unit, 10.000 BTU for $30.  We scraped the funds together and will have a "meet" at a restaurant about 20 minutes from here, a public place which is safer for buyer and seller.   I can live without A/C, I have a fairly wide temperature tolerance.  She has almost none, "courtesy" of the thyroid gland she no longer has.

And another issue.  Yesterday, the "lid safety switch" on our washing machine finally died.  She found a replacement on-line for about $9, WELL below list price around here, and we expect delivery Tuesday or so. So I "get" to half disassemble the device in order to gain access.  I'd have bypassed the thing entirely (which is about what I've had going the last six months) but it is a safety device, and in any event the disassembly to get at the wires I'd need to tie together is about identical to what it'll take to replace the bad one.  So I'll be playing appliance repairman early part of the week, I guess.

Lots more on the mind, some of it actually more meaningful that the above day-to-day blah-blah, and perhaps more later.

=====================================
=======================================
Today, Joshua 17 and 18
Again, you really need a map, preferably one showing terrain and not just places, to really get into this.  And one showing the divisions for the various tribes is advisable.  Yes, these are places far away, in time and space.  This whole division occurred long ago.  So?  And notice as well that the Lord, through Joshua, assigned certain places to certain people, and no others.  Rather flies in the face of today's "no borders" crowd.  As well as flying in the face of the "BDS" (no, not the weird sexual habits of some), but the "Boycott Divest Sanctions" bunch that infests so many of the liberal institutions of our time, sadly to include some supposedly Christian denominations and colleges.  I know several people who blindly march to the drum of that.  Unfortunately.

Joshua 17

1  There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

2  There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by 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 daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4  And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

5  And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan;

6  Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.

7  And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of En–tappuah.

8  Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim;

9  And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:river

10  Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east.

11  And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth–shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

12  Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

13  Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.

14  And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto?

15  And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

16   And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Beth–shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.

17  And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:

18  But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

Joshua 18

1  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.

2  And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.

3  And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?

4  Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.

5  And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north.

6  Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.

7  But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.

8  And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh.

9  And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.

10  And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.

11  And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.

12  And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth–aven.

13  And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth–el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth–adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth–horon.

14  And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth–horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath–baal, which is Kirjath–jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.

15  And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath–jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:

16  And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to En–rogel,

17  And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En–shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,

18  And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah

19  And the border passed along to the side of Beth–hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south coast.

20  And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families.

21  Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth–hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22  And Beth–arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth–el,

23  And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

24  And Chephar–ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages:

25  Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26  And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

27  And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

28  And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeah, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

==============================================
==============================================

Psalm 75

To the chief Musician, Al–taschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph.

 

1  Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

2  When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.

3  The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

4  I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

5  Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

6For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.south: Heb. desert

7But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

8  For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

9  But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

10  All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

=====================================
=========================================

John 7

1  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judaea, because the Jews sought to kill him.

2  Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.

3  His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.

4  For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.

5  For neither did his brethren believe in him.

6  Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.

7  The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

8  Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.

9  When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.

10  But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

11  Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

12  And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

13  Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

14  Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

15  And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

16  Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

18  He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

19  Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

20  The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

21  Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

22  Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

23  If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

25  Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?

26  But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?

27  Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

28  Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.

29  But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

30  Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

31  And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

32  The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

33  Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.

34 Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.

35  Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

36  What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

40  Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

41  Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

42  Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?

43  So there was a division among the people because of him.

44  And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

45  Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

46  The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

47  Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

48  Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?

49  But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

50  Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)

51  Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

52  They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

53  And every man went unto his own house.