Letter to God's Elect - a Study in 1 Peter 1 - Navaz DCruz

The Path of Perseverance

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Prayer Confessions of a Christian Mom in Diaspora

The Love That Brings Us Back

Help and Hope in a Divided World

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The Power of Redeemed Identity

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="JDG.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites</div><div class="p"> 1After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, &#8220;Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2The Lord answered, &#8220;Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, &#8220;Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.&#8221; So the Simeonites went with them.</div><div class="p"> 4When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. 5It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.</div><div class="p"> 7Then Adoni-Bezek said, &#8220;Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.&#8221; They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.</div><div class="p"> 8The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.</div><div class="p"> 9After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. 10They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. 11From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).</div><div class="p"> 12And Caleb said, &#8220;I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.&#8221; 13Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb&#8217;s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.</div><div class="p"> 14One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him#1:14 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate Othniel, he urged her to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, &#8220;What can I do for you?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15She replied, &#8220;Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.&#8221; So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.</div><div class="p"> 16The descendants of Moses&#8217; father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms#1:16 That is, Jericho with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.</div><div class="p"> 17Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed#1:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.#1:17 Hormah means destruction. 18Judah also took#1:18 Hebrew; Septuagint Judah did not take Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron&#8212;each city with its territory.</div><div class="p"> 19The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron. 20As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. 21The Benjamites, however, did not drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.</div><div class="p"> 22Now the tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), 24the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, &#8220;Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.&#8221; 25So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. 26He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.</div><div class="p"> 27But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. 28When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. 29Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. 30Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. 31Nor did Asher drive out those living in Akko or Sidon or Ahlab or Akzib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. 32The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. 33Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. 34The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. 35And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. 36The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="JDG.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">The Angel of the Lord at Bokim</div><div class="p"> 1The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, &#8220;I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, &#8216;I will never break my covenant with you, 2and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.&#8217; Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3And I have also said, &#8216;I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 5and they called that place Bokim.#2:5 Bokim means weepers. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.</div><div class="s1">Disobedience and Defeat</div><div class="p"> 6After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 7The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.</div><div class="p"> 8Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres#2:9 Also known as Timnath Serah (see Joshua 19:50 and 24:30) in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.</div><div class="p"> 10After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord&#8217;s anger 13because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.</div><div class="p"> 16Then the Lord raised up judges,#2:16 Or leaders; similarly in verses 17-19 who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 17Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord&#8217;s commands. 18Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 19But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.</div><div class="p"> 20Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, &#8220;Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 21I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.&#8221; 23The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch19" data-usfm="JDG.19">
 <div class="label">19</div><div class="s1">A Levite and His Concubine</div><div class="p"> 1In those days Israel had no king.</div><div class="p">Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents&#8217; home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents&#8217; home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4His father-in-law, the woman&#8217;s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.</div><div class="p"> 5On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman&#8217;s father said to his son-in-law, &#8220;Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.&#8221; 6So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman&#8217;s father said, &#8220;Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.&#8221; 7And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman&#8217;s father said, &#8220;Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!&#8221; So the two of them ate together.</div><div class="p"> 9Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman&#8217;s father, said, &#8220;Now look, it&#8217;s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.&#8221; 10But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.</div><div class="p"> 11When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, &#8220;Come, let&#8217;s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12His master replied, &#8220;No. We won&#8217;t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.&#8221; 13He added, &#8220;Come, let&#8217;s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.&#8221; 14So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 15There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night.</div><div class="p"> 16That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, &#8220;Where are you going? Where did you come from?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18He answered, &#8220;We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord.#19:18 Hebrew, Vulgate, Syriac and Targum; Septuagint going home No one has taken me in for the night. 19We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants&#8212;me, the woman and the young man with us. We don&#8217;t need anything.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20&#8220;You are welcome at my house,&#8221; the old man said. &#8220;Let me supply whatever you need. Only don&#8217;t spend the night in the square.&#8221; 21So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.</div><div class="p"> 22While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, &#8220;Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23The owner of the house went outside and said to them, &#8220;No, my friends, don&#8217;t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don&#8217;t do this outrageous thing. 24Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don&#8217;t do such an outrageous thing.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.</div><div class="p"> 27When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28He said to her, &#8220;Get up; let&#8217;s go.&#8221; But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.</div><div class="p"> 29When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, &#8220;Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="JDG.20">
 <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1">The Israelites Punish the Benjamites</div><div class="p"> 1Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the Lord in Mizpah. 2The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God&#8217;s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. 3(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, &#8220;Tell us how this awful thing happened.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, &#8220;I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. 5During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. 6I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel&#8217;s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. 7Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8All the men rose up together as one, saying, &#8220;None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9But now this is what we&#8217;ll do to Gibeah: We&#8217;ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. 10We&#8217;ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah#20:10 One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts Geba, a variant of Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.&#8221; 11So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.</div><div class="p"> 12The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, &#8220;What about this awful crime that was committed among you? 13Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.</div><div class="p"> 17Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.</div><div class="p"> 18The Israelites went up to Bethel#20:18 Or to the house of God; also in verse 26 and inquired of God. They said, &#8220;Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?&#8221;</div><div class="p">The Lord replied, &#8220;Judah shall go first.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. 22But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23The Israelites went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and they inquired of the Lord. They said, &#8220;Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?&#8221;</div><div class="p">The Lord answered, &#8220;Go up against them.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.</div><div class="p"> 26Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the Lord. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. 27And the Israelites inquired of the Lord. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, 28with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, &#8220;Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?&#8221;</div><div class="p">The Lord responded, &#8220;Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 30They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads&#8212;the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32While the Benjamites were saying, &#8220;We are defeating them as before,&#8221; the Israelites were saying, &#8220;Let&#8217;s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west#20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. of Gibeah.#20:33 Hebrew Geba, a variant of Gibeah 34Then ten thousand of Israel&#8217;s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. 35The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.</div><div class="p">Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. 37Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. 38The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39and then the Israelites would counterattack.</div><div class="p">The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, &#8220;We are defeating them as in the first battle.&#8221; 40But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke. 41Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. 42So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily#20:43 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. 45As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.</div><div class="p"> 46On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="JDG.21">
 <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1">Wives for the Benjamites</div><div class="p"> 1The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: &#8220;Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2The people went to Bethel,#21:2 Or to the house of God where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3&#8220;Lord, God of Israel,&#8221; they cried, &#8220;why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.</div><div class="p"> 5Then the Israelites asked, &#8220;Who from all the tribes of Israel has failed to assemble before the Lord?&#8221; For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.</div><div class="p"> 6Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. &#8220;Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,&#8221; they said. 7&#8220;How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?&#8221; 8Then they asked, &#8220;Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?&#8221; They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the camp for the assembly. 9For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.</div><div class="p"> 10So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11&#8220;This is what you are to do,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Kill every male and every woman who is not a virgin.&#8221; 12They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.</div><div class="p"> 13Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon. 14So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.</div><div class="p"> 15The people grieved for Benjamin, because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16And the elders of the assembly said, &#8220;With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,&#8221; they said, &#8220;so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out. 18We can&#8217;t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: &#8216;Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.&#8217; 19But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, &#8220;Go and hide in the vineyards 21and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, &#8216;Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.</div><div class="p"> 24At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.</div><div class="p"> 25In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.</div>
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