April 17, 2026 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS

 

Numbers 13:26-14:7

²⁶ And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

³⁰ But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” ³¹ Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” ³² So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. ³³ And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. ² And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. ⁶ And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

Psalm 10

Why Do You Hide Yourself?

10 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

² In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
³ For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses^[a] and renounces the Lord.
⁴ In the pride of his face^[b] the wicked does not seek him;^[c]
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
⁵ His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
⁶ He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
⁷ His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
⁸ He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
⁹     he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

¹² Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.
¹³ Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
¹⁴ But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.

¹⁶ The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.
¹⁷ O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 10:3 Or and he blesses the one greedy for gain
2. Psalm 10:4 Or of his anger
3. Psalm 10:4 Or the wicked says, “He will not call to account”

ESV® - The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Source for Bible text - www.biblegateway.com