Bible Readings for January 3, 2017

Today our passages are Genesis 5:1–7:24; Matthew 3:7–4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; and Proverbs 1:10-19. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Genesis 5-7:24 (Contemporary English Version)

Genesis 5

Descendants of Adam

 ^1-2God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings. This is a list of the descendants of Adam, the first man:     ^3-4When Adam was one hundred thirty, he had a son who was just like him, and he named him Seth. Adam had more children ⁵and died at the age of nine hundred thirty.
    ⁶When Seth was one hundred five, he had a son named Enosh. ⁷Seth had more children ⁸and died at the age of nine hundred twelve.
    ⁹When Enosh was ninety, he had a son named Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh had more children ¹¹and died at the age of nine hundred five.
    ¹²When Kenan was seventy, he had a son named Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan had more children ¹⁴and died at the age of nine hundred ten.
    ¹⁵When Mahalalel was sixty-five, he had a son named Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel had more children ¹⁷and died at the age of eight hundred ninety-five.
    ¹⁸When Jared was one hundred sixty-two, he had a son named Enoch. ¹⁹Jared had more children ²⁰and died at the age of nine hundred sixty-two.
    ²¹When Enoch was sixty-five, he had a son named Methuselah, ²²and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God, ^23-24and God took him away at the age of three hundred sixty-five.
    ²⁵When Methuselah was one hundred eighty-seven, he had a son named Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah had more children ²⁷and died at the age of nine hundred sixty-nine.
    ²⁸When Lamech was one hundred eighty-two, he had a son. ²⁹Lamech said, "I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[]} as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the LORD has put under a curse." ³⁰Lamech had more children ³¹and died at the age of seven hundred seventy-seven. ³²After Noah was five hundred years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
   

Genesis 6

The LORD Will Send a Flood

 ^1-2More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings ^[b<="">] came down and married the ones they wanted. ³Then the LORD said, "I won't let my life-giving breath remain in anyone forever. ^[c<="">] No one will live for more than one hundred twenty years." ^{[d<="">] 4}The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later.     ⁵The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. ⁶He was very sorry that he had made them, ⁷and he said, "I'll destroy every living creature on earth! I'll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I'm sorry I ever made them."
    ⁸But the LORD was pleased with Noah, ⁹and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God. ¹⁰He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
    ^11-12God knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent. ¹³So he told Noah:
   Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. ¹⁴Get some good lumber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. ¹⁵Make it four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. ¹⁶Build a roof ^[e<="">] on the boat and leave a space of about eighteen inches between the roof and the sides. ^[f<="">] Make the boat three stories high and put a door on one side. ¹⁷I'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. ¹⁸But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat. ^{[g<="">] 19-20}Bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don't want them to be destroyed. ²¹Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.
    ²²Noah did everything the LORD told him to do.
   

Genesis 7

The Flood

 ¹The LORD told Noah:    Take your whole family with you into the boat, because you are the only one on this earth who pleases me. ²Take seven pairs of every kind of animal that can be used for sacrifice ^[h<="">] and one pair of all others. ³Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird with you. Do this so there will always be animals and birds on the earth. ⁴Seven days from now I will send rain that will last for forty days and nights, and I will destroy all other living creatures I have made. ^5-7Noah was six hundred years old when he went into the boat to escape the flood, and he did everything the LORD had told him to do. His wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law all went inside with him. ^8-9He obeyed God and took a male and a female of each kind of animal and bird into the boat with him. ¹⁰Seven days later a flood began to cover the earth.
    ^11-12Noah was six hundred years old when the water under the earth started gushing out everywhere. The sky opened like windows, and rain poured down for forty days and nights. All this began on the seventeenth day of the second month of the year. ¹³On that day Noah and his wife went into the boat with their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. ¹⁴They took along every kind of animal, tame and wild, including the birds. ¹⁵Noah took a male and a female of every living creature with him, ¹⁶just as God had told him to do. And when they were all in the boat, God closed the door.
    ^17-18For forty days the rain poured down without stopping. And the water became deeper and deeper, until the boat started floating high above the ground. ^19-20Finally, the mighty flood was so deep that even the highest mountain peaks were almost twenty-five feet below the surface of the water. ²¹Not a bird, animal, reptile, or human was left alive anywhere on earth. ^22-23The LORD destroyed everything that breathed. Nothing was left alive except Noah and the others in the boat. ²⁴A hundred fifty days later, the water started going down.
   

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 5:29 Noah. . . comfort: In Hebrew "Noah" sounds like "comfort."
2. Genesis 6:1 supernatural beings: Or "angels."
3. Genesis 6:3 I won't. . . forever: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4. Genesis 6:3 No one. . . years: Or "In fact, they will all be destroyed in about one hundred years" (that is, at the time of the flood).
5. Genesis 6:16 roof: Or "window."
6. Genesis 6:16 leave. . . sides: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
7. Genesis 6:18 boat: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 18.
8. Genesis 7:2 animal. . . for sacrifice: Hebrew "clean animals." Animals that could be used for sacrifice were called "clean," and animals that could not be used were called "unclean."

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Matthew 3:7-4:11 (Contemporary English Version)

⁷Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them:
   You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? ⁸Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. ⁹And don't start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham's family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. ¹⁰An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.
    ¹¹I baptize you with water so that you will give up your sins. ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[]} But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. ^[b<="">] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. ^[c<="">] He will store the wheat in a barn and burn the husks in a fire that never goes out.

The Baptism of Jesus

(Mark 1.9-11; Luke 3.21,22)

 ¹³Jesus left Galilee and went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John kept objecting and said, "I ought to be baptized by you. Why have you come to me?"     ¹⁵Jesus answered, "For now this is how it should be, because we must do all that God wants us to do." Then John agreed.
    ¹⁶So Jesus was baptized. And as soon as he came out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove. ¹⁷Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him."
   

Matthew 4

Jesus and the Devil

(Mark 1.12,13; Luke 4.1-13)

 ¹The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. ²After Jesus had gone without eating ^[d<="">] for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. ³Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread." ⁴Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say:    `No one can live only on food.
   People need every word
   that God has spoken.' "
    <sup>5</sup>Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. <sup>6</sup>The devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:
   `God will give his angels
   orders about you.
   They will catch you
   in their arms,
   and you won't hurt
   your feet on the stones.' "
    ⁷Jesus answered, "The Scriptures also say, `Don't try to test the Lord your God!' "
    <sup>8</sup>Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. <sup>9</sup>The devil said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me."
    <sup>10</sup>Jesus answered, "Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:
   `Worship the Lord your God
   and serve only him.' "
    ¹¹Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.
   

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 3:11 so that you will give up your sins: Or "because you have given up your sins."
2. Matthew 3:11 carry his sandals: This was one of the duties of a slave.
3. Matthew 3:12 His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks: After Jewish farmers had trampled out the grain, they used a large fork to pitch the grain and the husks into the air. Wind would blow away the light husks, and the grain would fall back to the ground, where it could be gathered up.
4. Matthew 4:2 without eating: The Jewish people sometimes went without eating (also called "fasting") to show their love for God or to show sorrow for their sins.

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Psalm 3:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 3

(Written by David when he was running from his son Absalom.)

An Early Morning Prayer

 ¹I have a lot of enemies, LORD.    Many fight against ²me and say,
   "God won't rescue you!"
    ³But you are my shield,
   and you give me victory
   and great honor.
    ⁴I pray to you, and you answer
   from your sacred hill.
    ⁵I sleep and wake up refreshed
   because you, LORD,
   protect me.
    ⁶Ten thousand enemies attack
   from every side,
   but I am not afraid.
    ⁷Come and save me, LORD God!
   Break my enemies' jaws
   and shatter their teeth,
    ⁸because you protect
   and bless your people.

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Proverbs 1:10-19 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁰Don't be tempted by sinners
   or listen ¹¹when they say,
   "Come on! Let's gang up
   and kill somebody,
   just for the fun of it!
    ¹²They're well and healthy now,
   but we'll finish them off
   once and for all.
    ¹³We'll take their valuables
   and fill our homes
   with stolen goods.
    ¹⁴If you join our gang,
   you'll get your share."
    ¹⁵Don't follow anyone like that
   or do what they do.
    ¹⁶They are in a big hurry
   to commit some crime,
   perhaps even murder.
    ¹⁷They are like a bird
   that sees the bait,
   but ignores the trap. ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[] 18}They gang up to murder someone,
   but they are the victims.
    ¹⁹The wealth you get from crime
   robs you of your life.
   

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 1:17 They are. . . trap: Or " Be like a bird that won't go for the bait, if it sees the trap."

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Verse of the Day

 

“[God's Kindness and the New Life]God has shown us how kind he is by coming to save all people. He taught us to give up our wicked ways and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world.” - Titus 2:11-12

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, Isaac Asimov wrote, “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”