Day 149 · Part 9: Exile
Susanna
In the Story
In context
Susanna is in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, as chapter 13 of Daniel in the Greek; most Protestant Bibles leave it out or print it apart as the Apocrypha. It is set among the exiles in Babylon. Susanna, the wife of a rich man named Joakim, “feared the Lord,” and “Her parents were also righteous, and taught their daughter according to the law of Moses” (Daniel (Greek) 13:1–4).
It is a hard reading, and parents may want to read it first. Two elders who serve as judges threaten to accuse Susanna falsely unless she gives in to them; she cries out instead, saying it is better to fall into their hands “than to sin in the sight of the Lord,” and on their word she is condemned to die (13:19–41).
As she is led away, God stirs up a young man named Daniel, who calls the people back. He questions the two elders apart, and their stories don’t agree: one says a mastick tree, the other an evergreen oak (13:45–59). The law of Moses asked for two or three witnesses and said a false witness should receive what he meant for another (Deuteronomy 19:15–19), and so it is done; the assembly “blessed God, who saves those who hope in him” (13:60–62).
Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
Psalms 27:12–14 · Susanna was condemned by false witnesses and trusted in the Lord; the psalm prays against “false witnesses” and ends, “Wait for Yahweh.”
For families
Susanna’s parents “taught their daughter according to the law of Moses” (Daniel (Greek) 13:3). When she was accused, she came “with her father and mother, her children, and all her kindred,” and when she was cleared, her parents and her husband praised God for her (13:30, 63).
Susanna’s whole family stood with her on a hard day. Who would you want beside you on a hard day?
In the Bible
World English Bible, as published by eBible.org (public domain).
Daniel (Greek) 13
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A hymn for today
I Need Thee Every Hour · words by Annie S. Hawks
- I need Thee ev'ry hour,Most gracious Lord;No tender voice like ThineCan peace afford.RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
- I need Thee ev'ry hour,Stay Thou nearby;Temptations lose their pow'rWhen Thou art nigh.RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
- I need Thee ev'ry hour,In joy or pain;Come quickly and abide,Or life is vain.RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
- I need Thee ev'ry hour;Teach me Thy will;And Thy rich promisesIn me fulfill.RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
- I need Thee ev'ry hour,Most Holy One;O make me Thine indeed,Thou blessèd Son.RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.