Bible Readings for January 31, 2013

Today our passages are Exodus 12:14–13:16; Matthew 20:29–21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; and Proverbs 6:12-15. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Exodus 12:14-13:16 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁴Remember this day and celebrate it each year as a festival in my honor. ¹⁵For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. And on the first of these seven days, you must remove all yeast from your homes. If you eat anything made with yeast during this festival, you will no longer be part of Israel. ¹⁶Meet together for worship on the first and seventh days of the festival. The only work you are allowed to do on either of these two days is that of preparing the bread. ¹⁷Celebrate this Festival of Thin Bread as a way of remembering the day that I brought your families and tribes out of Egypt. And do this each year. ¹⁸Begin on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month by eating bread made without yeast. Then continue this celebration until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹During these seven days no yeast is allowed in anyone's home, whether they are native Israelites or not. If you are caught eating anything made with yeast, you will no longer be part of Israel. ²⁰Stay away from yeast, no matter where you live. No one is allowed to eat anything made with yeast! ²¹Moses called the leaders of Israel together and said: Each family is to pick out a sheep and kill it for Passover. ²²Make a brush from a few small branches of a hyssop plant and dip the brush in the bowl that has the blood of the animal in it. Then brush some of the blood above the door and on the posts at each side of the door of your house. After this, everyone is to stay inside. ²³During that night the LORD will go through the country of Egypt and kill the first-born son in every Egyptian family. He will see where you have put the blood, and he will not come into your house. His angel that brings death will pass over and not kill your first-born sons. ^24-25After you have entered the country promised to you by the LORD, you and your children must continue to celebrate Passover each year. ²⁶Your children will ask you, " What are we celebrating?" ²⁷And you will answer, " The Passover animal is killed to honor the LORD. We do these things because on that night long ago the LORD passed over the homes of our people in Egypt. He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians, but he saved our children from death." After Moses finished speaking, the people of Israel knelt down and worshiped the LORD. ²⁸Then they left and did what Moses and Aaron had told them to do.

Death for the First-Born Sons

²⁹At midnight the LORD killed the first-born son of every Egyptian family, from the son of the king ^[a] to the son of every prisoner in jail. He also killed the first-born male of every animal that belonged to the Egyptians. ³⁰That night the king, his officials, and everyone else in Egypt got up and started crying bitterly. In every Egyptian home, someone was dead.

The People of Israel Escape from Egypt

³¹During the night the king ^[b] sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, " Get your people out of my country and leave us alone! Go and worship the LORD, as you have asked. ³²Take your sheep, goats, and cattle, and get out. But ask your God to be kind to me." ³³The Egyptians did everything they could to get the Israelites to leave their country fast. They said, " Please hurry and leave. If you don't, we will all be dead." ³⁴So the Israelites quickly made some bread dough and put it in pans. But they did not mix any yeast in the dough to make it rise. They wrapped cloth around the pans and carried them on their shoulders. ³⁵The Israelites had already done what Moses had told them to do. They had gone to their Egyptian neighbors and asked for gold and silver and for clothes. ³⁶The LORD had made the Egyptians friendly toward the people of Israel, and they gave them whatever they asked for. In this way they carried away the wealth of the Egyptians when they left Egypt. ³⁷The Israelites walked from the city of Rameses to the city of Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand of them, not counting women and children. ³⁸Many other people went with them as well, and there were also a lot of sheep, goats, and cattle. ³⁹They left Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to prepare any food except the bread dough made without yeast. So they baked it and made thin bread. ^40-41The LORD's people left Egypt exactly four hundred thirty years after they had arrived. ⁴²On that night the LORD kept watch for them, and on this same night each year Israel will always keep watch in honor of the LORD.

Instructions for Passover

⁴³The LORD gave Moses and Aaron the following instructions for celebrating Passover: No one except Israelites may eat the Passover meal. ⁴⁴Your slaves may eat the meal if they have been circumcised, ⁴⁵but no foreigners who work for you are allowed to have any. ⁴⁶The entire meal must be eaten inside, and no one may leave the house during the celebration. No bones of the Passover lamb may be broken. ⁴⁷And all Israelites must take part in the meal. ⁴⁸If anyone who isn't an Israelite wants to celebrate Passover with you, every man and boy in that family must first be circumcised. Then they may join in the meal, just like native Israelites. No uncircumcised man or boy may eat the Passover meal! ⁴⁹This law applies both to native Israelites and to those foreigners who live among you. ⁵⁰The Israelites obeyed everything the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron to tell them. ⁵¹And on that same day the LORD brought Israel's families and tribes out of Egypt.

Exodus 13

Dedication of the First-Born

¹The LORD said to Moses, ²" Dedicate to me the first-born son of every family and the first-born males of your flocks and herds. These belong to me."

The Festival of Thin Bread

^3-4Moses said to the people: Remember this day in the month of Abib. ^[c] It is the day when the LORD's mighty power rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Do not eat anything made with yeast. ⁵The LORD promised your ancestors that he would bring you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. It is a land rich with milk and honey. Each year during the month of Abib, celebrate these events in the following way: ⁶For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day you are to celebrate a festival in honor of the LORD. ⁷During those seven days, you must not eat anything made with yeast or even have yeast anywhere near your homes. ⁸Then on the seventh day you must explain to your children that you do this because the LORD brought you out of Egypt. ⁹This celebration will be like wearing a sign on your hand or on your forehead, because then you will pass on to others the teaching of the LORD, whose mighty power brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰Celebrate this festival each year at the same time. ¹¹The LORD will give you the land of the Canaanites, just as he promised you and your ancestors. ¹²From then on, you must give him every first-born son from your families and every first-born male from your animals, because these belong to him. ¹³You can save the life of a first-born donkey ^[d] by sacrificing a lamb; if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must save every first-born son. ¹⁴In the future your children will ask what this ceremony means. Explain it to them by saying, " The LORD used his mighty power to rescue us from slavery in Egypt. ¹⁵The king ^[e] stubbornly refused to set us free, so the LORD killed the first-born male of every animal and the first-born son of every Egyptian family. This is why we sacrifice to the LORD every first-born male of every animal and save every first-born son." ¹⁶This ceremony will serve the same purpose as a sign on your hand or on your forehead to tell how the LORD's mighty power rescued us from Egypt.

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 12:29the king: See the note at 1.11.
2. Exodus 12:31the king: See the note at 1.11.
3. Exodus 13:3Abib: Or Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.
4. Exodus 13:13donkey: This was the only " unclean" animal that had to be saved; the first-born of all " clean" animals (sheep, goats, cattle) had to be sacrificed. Donkeys were important because they were the basic means of transportation.
5. Exodus 13:15The king: See the note at 1.11.

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Matthew 20:29-21:22 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

(Mark 10.46-52; Luke 18.35-43)

²⁹Jesus was followed by a large crowd as he and his disciples were leaving Jericho. ³⁰Two blind men were sitting beside the road. And when they heard that Jesus was coming their way, they shouted, "Lord and Son of David, ^[a] have pity on us!" ³¹The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, "Lord and Son of David, have pity on us!" ³²When Jesus heard them, he stopped and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" ³³They answered, "Lord, we want to see!" ³⁴Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Right away they could see, and they became his followers.

Matthew 21

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)

¹When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead. ²He told them, "Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. ³If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, `The Lord <sup>[b]</sup> needs them.' Right away he will let you have the donkeys." <sup>4</sup>So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, <sup>5</sup>"Announce to the people of Jerusalem: `Your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey. He comes on the colt of a donkey.' " ⁶The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. ⁷They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on. ⁸Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches ^[c] which they had cut from trees. ⁹Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting, "Hooray ^[d] for the Son of David! ^[e] God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hooray for God in heaven above!" ¹⁰When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, "Who can this be?" ¹¹The crowd answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

Jesus in the Temple

(Mark 11.15-19; Luke 19.45-48; John 2.13-22)

¹²Jesus went into the temple and chased out everyone who was selling or buying. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of the ones who were selling doves. ¹³He told them, "The Scriptures say, `My house should be called a place of worship.' But you have turned it into a place where robbers hide." <sup>14</sup>Blind and lame people came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. <sup>15</sup>But the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were angry when they saw his miracles and heard the children shouting praises to the Son of David. <sup>16</sup>The men said to Jesus, "Don't you hear what those children are saying?" "Yes, I do!" Jesus answered. "Don't you know that the Scriptures say, `Children and infants will sing praises'?" ¹⁷Then Jesus left the city and went out to the village of Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Puts a Curse on a Fig Tree

(Mark 11.12-14,20-24)

¹⁸When Jesus got up the next morning, he was hungry. He started out for the city, ¹⁹and along the way he saw a fig tree. But when he came to it, he found only leaves and no figs. So he told the tree, "You will never again grow any fruit!" Right then the fig tree dried up. ²⁰The disciples were shocked when they saw how quickly the tree had dried up. ²¹But Jesus said to them, "If you have faith and don't doubt, I promise that you can do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do even more. You can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. ²²If you have faith when you pray, you will be given whatever you ask for."

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 20:30Son of David: See the note at 9.27.
2. Matthew 21:3The Lord: Or "The master of the donkeys."
3. Matthew 21:8spread clothes. . . put down branches: This was one way that the Jewish people welcomed a famous person.
4. Matthew 21:9Hooray: This translates a word that can mean "please save us." But it is most often used as a shout of praise to God.
5. Matthew 21:9Son of David: See the note at 9.27.

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Psalm 25:16-22 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁶I am lonely and troubled. Show that you care and have pity on me. ¹⁷My awful worries keep growing. Rescue me from sadness. ¹⁸See my troubles and misery and forgive my sins. ¹⁹Look at all my enemies! See how much they hate me. ²⁰I come to you for shelter. Protect me, keep me safe, and don't disappoint me. ²¹I obey you with all my heart, and I trust you, knowing that you will save me. ²²Our God, please save Israel from all of its troubles.

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Proverbs 6:12-15 (Contemporary English Version)

¹²Worthless liars go around ¹³winking and giving signals to deceive others. ¹⁴They are always thinking up something cruel and evil, and they stir up trouble. ¹⁵But they will be struck by sudden disaster and left without a hope.

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Verse of the Day

“You willingly forgive, and your love is always there for those who pray to you.” - Psalm 86:5

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

American comedian and actor Milton Berle said, “You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think.”

Bible Readings for January 30, 2013

Today our passages are Exodus 10:1–12:13; Matthew 20:1-28; Psalm 25:1-15; and Proverbs 6:6-11. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Exodus 10-12:13 (Contemporary English Version)

Exodus 10

Locusts

¹The LORD said to Moses: Go back to the king. ^[a] I have made him and his officials stubborn, so that I could work these miracles. ²I did this because I want you to tell your children and your grandchildren about my miracles and about my harsh treatment of the Egyptians. Then all of you will know that I am the LORD. ³Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him that the LORD God of the Hebrews had said: How long will you stubbornly refuse to obey? Release my people so they can worship me. ⁴Do this by tomorrow, or I will cover your country with so many locusts ^[b]5that you won't be able to see the ground. Most of your crops were ruined by the hailstones, but these locusts will destroy what little is left, including the trees. ⁶Your palace, the homes of your officials, and all other houses in Egypt will overflow with more locusts than have ever been seen in this country. After Moses left the palace, ⁷the king's officials asked, " Your Majesty, how much longer is this man going to be a troublemaker? Why don't you let the people leave, so they can worship the LORD their God? Don't you know that Egypt is a disaster?" ⁸The king had Moses and Aaron brought back, and he said, " All right, you may go and worship the LORD your God. But first tell me who will be going." ⁹" Everyone, young and old," Moses answered. " We will even take our sheep, goats, and cattle, because we want to hold a celebration in honor of the LORD." ¹⁰The king replied, " The LORD had better watch over you on the day I let you leave with your families! You're up to no good. ¹¹Do you want to worship the LORD? All right, take only the men and go." Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace. ¹²The LORD told Moses, " Stretch your arm toward Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail." ¹³Moses held out his walking stick, and the LORD sent an east wind that blew across Egypt the rest of the day and all that night. By morning, locusts ¹⁴were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many. ¹⁵The ground was black with locusts, and they ate everything left on the trees and in the fields. Nothing green remained in Egypt--not a tree or a plant. ¹⁶At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, " I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. ¹⁷Forgive me one more time and ask the LORD to stop these insects from killing every living plant." ¹⁸Moses left the palace and prayed. ¹⁹Then the LORD sent a strong west wind ^[c] that swept the locusts into the Red Sea. ^[d] Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt, ²⁰but the LORD made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.

Darkness

²¹The LORD said to Moses, " Stretch your arm toward the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch." ²²Moses stretched his arm toward the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days. ²³During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived. ²⁴The king ^[e] sent for Moses and told him, " Go worship the LORD! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle." ²⁵" No!" Moses replied. " You must let us offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, ²⁶and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here." ²⁷This time the LORD made the king so stubborn ²⁸that he said to Moses, " Get out and stay out! If you ever come back, you're dead!" ²⁹" Have it your way," Moses answered. " You won't see me again."

Exodus 11

Moses Warns the Egyptians That the LORD Will Kill Their First-Born Sons

¹The LORD said to Moses: I am going to punish the king ^[f] of Egypt and his people one more time. Then the king will gladly let you leave his land, so that I will stop punishing the Egyptians. He will even chase you out. ²Now go and tell my people to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold and silver jewelry. ³So the LORD made the Egyptians greatly respect the Israelites, and everyone, including the king and his officials, considered Moses an important leader. ⁴Moses went to the king and said: I have come to let you know what the LORD is going to do. About midnight he will go through the land of Egypt, ⁵and wherever he goes, the first-born son in every family will die. Your own son will die, and so will the son of the lowest slave woman. Even the first-born males of cattle will die. ⁶Everywhere in Egypt there will be loud crying. Nothing like this has ever happened before or will ever happen again. ⁷But there won't be any need for the Israelites to cry. Things will be so quiet that not even a dog will be heard barking. Then you Egyptians will know that the LORD is good to the Israelites, even while he punishes you. ⁸Your leaders will come and bow down, begging me to take my people and leave your country. Then we will leave. Moses was very angry; he turned and left the king. ⁹What the LORD had earlier said to Moses came true. He had said, " The king of Egypt won't listen. Then I will perform even more miracles." ¹⁰So the king of Egypt saw Moses and Aaron work miracles, but the LORD made him stubbornly refuse to let the Israelites leave his country.

Exodus 12

The Passover

¹Some time later the LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²This month is to be the first month of the year for you. ³Tell the people of Israel that on the tenth day of this month the head of each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for his family to eat. ^4-5If any family is too small to eat the whole animal, they must share it with their next-door neighbors. Choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male that has nothing wrong with it. And it must be large enough for everyone to have some of the meat. ⁶Each family must take care of its animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, when the animals are to be killed. ⁷Some of the blood must be put on the two doorposts and above the door of each house where the animals are to be eaten. ⁸That night the animals are to be roasted and eaten, together with bitter herbs and thin bread made without yeast. ⁹Don't eat the meat raw or boiled. The entire animal, including its head, legs, and insides, must be roasted. ¹⁰Eat what you want that night, and the next morning burn whatever is left. ¹¹When you eat the meal, be dressed and ready to travel. Have your sandals on, carry your walking stick in your hand, and eat quickly. This is the Passover Festival in honor of me, your LORD. ¹²That same night I will pass through Egypt and kill the first-born son in every family and the first-born male of all animals. I am the LORD, and I will punish the gods of Egypt. ¹³The blood on the houses will show me where you live, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Then you won't be bothered by the terrible disasters I will bring on Egypt.

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 10:1the king: See the note at 1.11.
2. Exodus 10:4locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to crops.
3. Exodus 10:19west wind: The Hebrew text has " wind from the sea," referring to the Mediterranean Sea (see verse 13).
4. Exodus 10:19Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Suez, since the term is extended to include the northwestern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 13.18).
5. Exodus 10:24The king: See the note at 1.11.
6. Exodus 11:1This month: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.

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Matthew 20:1-28 (Contemporary English Version)

Matthew 20

Workers in a Vineyard

¹As Jesus was telling what the kingdom of heaven would be like, he said: Early one morning a man went out to hire some workers for his vineyard. ²After he had agreed to pay them the usual amount for a day's work, he sent them off to his vineyard. ³About nine that morning, the man saw some other people standing in the market with nothing to do. ⁴He said he would pay them what was fair, if they would work in his vineyard. ⁵So they went. At noon and again about three in the afternoon he returned to the market. And each time he made the same agreement with others who were loafing around with nothing to do. ⁶Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?" ⁷"Because no one has hired us," they answered. Then he told them to go work in his vineyard. ⁸That evening the owner of the vineyard told the man in charge of the workers to call them in and give them their money. He also told the man to begin with the ones who were hired last. ⁹When the workers arrived, the ones who had been hired at five in the afternoon were given a full day's pay. ¹⁰The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same, ¹¹they began complaining to the owner of the vineyard. ¹²They said, "The ones who were hired last worked for only one hour. But you paid them the same that you did us. And we worked in the hot sun all day long!" ¹³The owner answered one of them, "Friend, I didn't cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. ¹⁴Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? ¹⁵Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Why should you be jealous, if I want to be generous?" ¹⁶Jesus then said, "So it is. Everyone who is now first will be last, and everyone who is last will be first."

Jesus Again Tells about His Death

(Mark 10.32-34; Luke 18.31-34)

¹⁷As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took his twelve disciples aside and told them in private: ¹⁸We are now on our way to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death, ¹⁹and then they will hand him over to foreigners ^[a] who will make fun of him. They will beat him and nail him to a cross. But on the third day he will rise from death.

A Mother's Request

(Mark 10.35-45)

²⁰The mother of James and John ^[b] came to Jesus with her two sons. She knelt down and started begging him to do something for her. ²¹Jesus asked her what she wanted, and she said, "When you come into your kingdom, please let one of my sons sit at your right side and the other at your left." ^[c]22Jesus answered, "Not one of you knows what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup ^[d] that I must soon drink from?" James and John said, "Yes, we are!" ²³Jesus replied, "You certainly will drink from my cup! But it isn't for me to say who will sit at my right side and at my left. That is for my Father to say." ²⁴When the ten other disciples heard this, they were angry with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called the disciples together and said: You know that foreign rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over everyone they rule. ²⁶But don't act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. ²⁷And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. ²⁸The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue ^[e] many people.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 20:19foreigners: The Romans, who ruled Judea at this time.
2. Matthew 20:20mother of James and John: The Greek text has "mother of the sons of Zebedee" (see 26.37).
3. Matthew 20:21right side. . . left: The most powerful people in a kingdom sat at the right and left side of the king.
4. Matthew 20:22drink from the cup: In the Scriptures a cup is sometimes used as a symbol of suffering. To "drink from the cup" is to suffer.
5. Matthew 20:28rescue: The Greek word often, though not always, means the payment of a price to free a slave or a prisoner.

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Psalm 25:1-15 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 25

(By David.)

A Prayer for Guidance and Help

¹I offer you my heart, LORD God, ²and I trust you. Don't make me ashamed or let enemies defeat me. ³Don't disappoint any of your worshipers, but disappoint all deceitful liars. ⁴Show me your paths and teach me to follow; ⁵guide me by your truth and instruct me. You keep me safe, and I always trust you. ⁶Please, LORD, remember, you have always been patient and kind. ⁷Forget each wrong I did when I was young. Show how truly kind you are and remember me. ⁸You are honest and merciful, and you teach sinners how to follow your path. ⁹You lead humble people to do what is right and to stay on your path. ¹⁰In everything you do, you are kind and faithful to everyone who keeps our agreement with you. ¹¹Be true to your name, LORD, by forgiving each one of my terrible sins. ¹²You will show the right path to all who worship you. ¹³They will have plenty, and then their children will receive the land. ¹⁴Our LORD, you are the friend of your worshipers, and you make an agreement with all of us. ¹⁵I always look to you, because you rescue me from every trap.

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Proverbs 6:6-11 (Contemporary English Version)

⁶You lazy people can learn by watching an anthill. ⁷Ants don't have leaders, ⁸but they store up food during harvest season. ⁹How long will you lie there doing nothing at all? When are you going to get up and stop sleeping? ¹⁰Sleep a little. Doze a little. Fold your hands and twiddle your thumbs. ¹¹Suddenly, everything is gone, as though it had been taken by an armed robber.

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Verse of the Day

“Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other.” - Ephesians 4:2

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein wrote, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

Bible Readings for January 29, 2013

Today our passages are Exodus 7:25–9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; and Proverbs 6:1-5. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

 

Exodus 7:25-9:35 (Contemporary English Version)

Frogs

 ²⁵Seven days after the LORD had struck the Nile,    

Exodus 8

 ¹he said to Moses:    Go to the palace and tell the king of Egypt that I order him to let my people go, so they can worship me. ²If he refuses, I will cover his entire country with frogs. ³Warn the king that the Nile will be full of frogs, and from there they will spread into the royal palace, including the king's bedroom and even his bed. Frogs will enter the homes of his officials and will find their way into ovens and into the bowls of bread dough. ⁴Frogs will be crawling on everyone--the king, his officials, and every citizen of Egypt.
    ⁵Moses, now command Aaron to hold his stick over the water. Then frogs will come from all rivers, canals, and ponds in Egypt, and they will cover the land.
    ⁶Aaron obeyed, and suddenly frogs were everywhere in Egypt. ⁷But the magicians used their secret powers to do the same thing.
    ⁸The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, " If you ask the LORD to take these frogs away from me and my people, I will let your people go and offer sacrifices to him."
    ⁹" All right," Moses answered. " You choose the time when I am to pray for the frogs to stop bothering you, your officials, and your people, and for them to leave your houses and be found only in the river."
    ¹⁰" Do it tomorrow!" the king replied.
   " As you wish," Moses agreed. " Then everyone will discover that there is no god like the LORD, ¹¹and frogs will no longer be found anywhere, except in the Nile."
    ¹²After Moses and Aaron left the palace, Moses begged the LORD to do something about the frogs he had sent as punishment for the king. ¹³The LORD listened to Moses, and frogs died everywhere--in houses, yards, and fields. ¹⁴The dead frogs were placed in piles, and the whole country began to stink. ¹⁵But when the king saw that things were now better, he again did just as the LORD had said and stubbornly refused to listen to Moses and Aaron.
   

Gnats

 ¹⁶The LORD said to Moses, " Command Aaron to strike the ground with his walking stick, and everywhere in Egypt the dust will turn into gnats." ¹⁷They obeyed, and when Aaron struck the ground with the stick, gnats started swarming on people and animals. In fact, every speck of dust in Egypt turned into a gnat. ¹⁸When the magicians tried to use their secret powers to do this, ^[a] they failed, and gnats stayed on people and animals. ¹⁹The magicians told the king, ^[b] " God has done this." But, as the LORD had said, the king was too stubborn to listen.    

Flies

 ²⁰The LORD said to Moses:    Early tomorrow morning, while the king is on his way to the river, go and say to him, " The LORD commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him. ²¹If you don't, he will send swarms of flies to attack you, your officials, and every citizen of your country. Houses will be full of flies, and the ground will crawl with them.
    ^22-23" The LORD's people in Goshen won't be bothered by flies, but your people in the rest of the country will be tormented by them. That's how you will know that the LORD is here in Egypt. This miracle will happen tomorrow."
    ²⁴The LORD kept his promise--the palace and the homes of the royal officials swarmed with flies, and the rest of the country was infested with them as well. ²⁵Then the king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, " Go sacrifice to your God, but stay here in Egypt."
    ²⁶" That's impossible!" Moses replied. " Any sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would disgust the Egyptians, and they would stone us to death. ²⁷No indeed! The LORD has ordered us to walk three days into the desert before offering sacrifices to him, and that's what we have to do."
    ²⁸Then the king told him, " I'll let you go into the desert to offer sacrifices, if you don't go very far. But in the meantime, pray for me."
    ²⁹" Your Majesty," Moses replied, " I'll pray for you as soon as I leave, and by tomorrow the flies will stop bothering you, your officials, and the citizens of your country. Only make sure that you're telling the truth this time and that you really intend to let our people offer sacrifices to the LORD."
    ³⁰After leaving the palace, Moses prayed, ³¹and the LORD answered his prayer. Not a fly was left to pester the king, his officials, or anyone else in Egypt. ³²But the king turned stubborn again and would not let the people go.
   

Exodus 9

Dead Animals

 ¹The LORD sent Moses with this message for the king of Egypt:    The LORD God of the Hebrews commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him. ²If you keep refusing, ³he will bring a terrible disease on your horses and donkeys, your camels and cattle, and your sheep and goats. ⁴But the LORD will protect the animals that belong to the people of Israel, and none of theirs will die. ⁵Tomorrow is the day the LORD has set to do this.
    ⁶It happened the next day--all of the animals belonging to the Egyptians died, but the Israelites did not lose even one. ⁷When the king found out, he was still too stubborn to let the people go.
   

Sores

 ⁸The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:    Take a few handfuls of ashes from a stove and have Moses throw them into the air. Be sure the king is watching. ⁹The ashes will blow across the land of Egypt, causing sores to break out on people and animals.
    ¹⁰So they took a few handfuls of ashes and went to the king. ^[c] Moses threw them into the air, and sores immediately broke out on the Egyptians and their animals. ¹¹The magicians were suffering so much from the sores, that they could not even come to Moses. ¹²Everything happened just as the LORD had told Moses--he made the king too stubborn to listen to Moses and Aaron.

Hailstones

 ¹³The LORD told Moses to get up early the next morning and say to the king:    The LORD God of the Hebrews commands you to let his people go, so they can worship him! ¹⁴If you don't, he will send his worst plagues to strike you, your officials, and everyone else in your country. Then you will find out that no one can oppose the LORD. ¹⁵In fact, he could already have sent a terrible disease and wiped you from the face of the earth. ¹⁶But he has kept you alive, just to show you his power and to bring honor to himself everywhere in the world.
    ¹⁷You are still determined not to let the LORD's people go. ¹⁸All right. At this time tomorrow, he will bring on Egypt the worst hailstorm in its history. ¹⁹You had better give orders for every person and every animal in Egypt to take shelter. If they don't, they will die.
    ²⁰Some of the king's officials were frightened by what the LORD had said, and they hurried off to make sure their slaves and animals were safe. ²¹But others paid no attention to his threats and left their slaves and animals out in the open.
    ²²Then the LORD told Moses, " Stretch your arm toward the sky, so that hailstones will fall on people, animals, and crops in the land of Egypt." ^23-24Moses pointed his walking stick toward the sky, and hailstones started falling everywhere. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed back and forth, striking the ground. This was the worst storm in the history of Egypt. ²⁵People, animals, and crops were pounded by the hailstones, and bark was stripped from trees. ²⁶Only Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was safe from the storm.
    ²⁷The king sent for Moses and Aaron and told them, " Now I have really sinned! My people and I are guilty, and the LORD is right. ²⁸We can't stand any more of this thunder and hail. Please ask the LORD to make it stop. Your people can go--you don't have to stay in Egypt any longer."
    ²⁹Moses answered, " As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my arms in prayer. When the thunder and hail stop, you will know that the earth belongs to the LORD. ³⁰But I am certain that neither you nor your officials really fear the LORD God."
    ³¹Meanwhile, the flax and barley crops had been destroyed by the storm because they were ready to ripen. ³²But the wheat crops ripen later, and they were not damaged.
    ³³After Moses left the royal palace and the city, he lifted his arms in prayer to the LORD, and the thunder, hail, and drenching rain stopped. ³⁴When the king realized that the storm was over, he disobeyed once more. He and his officials were so stubborn ³⁵that he refused to let the Israelites go. This was exactly what the LORD had said would happen.
   

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 8:18 to do this: Or " to get rid of the gnats."
2. Exodus 8:19 the king: See the note at 1.11.
3. Exodus 9:10 wheat crops: The Hebrew text mentions two kinds of wheat

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Matthew 19:13-30 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Blesses Little Children

(Mark 10.13-16; Luke 18.15-17)

 ¹³Some people brought their children to Jesus, so that he could place his hands on them and pray for them. His disciples told the people to stop bothering him. ¹⁴But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and don't try to stop them! People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom." ^{[a] 15}After Jesus had placed his hands on the children, he left.

A Rich Young Man

(Mark 10.17-31; Luke 18.18-30)

 ¹⁶A man came to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?"     ¹⁷Jesus said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments."
    ¹⁸"Which ones?" the man asked.
   Jesus answered, "Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. ¹⁹Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself." ²⁰The young man said, "I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?"
    ²¹Jesus replied, "If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower." ²²When the young man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.
    ²³Jesus said to his disciples, "It's terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! ²⁴In fact, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God's kingdom."
    ²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly surprised and asked, "How can anyone ever be saved?"
    ²⁶Jesus looked straight at them and said, "There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything."
    ²⁷Peter replied, "Remember, we have left everything to be your followers! What will we get?"
    ²⁸Jesus answered:
   Yes, all of you have become my followers. And so in the future world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, I promise that you will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given a hundred times as much. They will also have eternal life. ³⁰But many who are now first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
   

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 19:14 People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom: Or "God's kingdom belongs to people who are like these children."

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Psalm 24:1-10 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 24

(A psalm by David.)

Who Can Enter the LORD's Temple?

 ¹The earth and everything on it    belong to the LORD.
   The world and its people
   belong to him.
    ²The LORD placed it all
   on the oceans and rivers.
    ³Who may climb the LORD's hill ^[a] or stand in his holy temple?
    ⁴Only those who do right
   for the right reasons,
   and don't worship idols
   or tell lies under oath.
    ⁵The LORD God, who saves them,
   will bless and reward them,
    ⁶because they worship and serve
   the God of Jacob. ^{[b] 7}Open the ancient gates,
   so that the glorious king
   may come in.
    ⁸Who is this glorious king?
   He is our LORD, a strong
   and mighty warrior.
    ⁹Open the ancient gates,
   so that the glorious king
   may come in.
    ¹⁰Who is this glorious king?
   He is our LORD,
   the All-Powerful!
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 24:3 the LORD's hill: The hill in Jerusalem where the temple was built.
2. Psalm 24:6 worship. . . Jacob: Two ancient translations; Hebrew " worship God and serve the descendants of Jacob."

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Proverbs 6:1-5 (Contemporary English Version)

Proverbs 6

Don't Be Foolish

 ¹My child, suppose you agree    to pay the debt of someone,
   who cannot repay a loan.
    ²Then you are trapped
   by your own words,
    ³and you are now in the power
   of someone else.
   Here is what you should do:
   Go and beg for permission
   to call off the agreement.
    ⁴Do this before you fall asleep
   or even get sleepy.
    ⁵Save yourself, just as a deer
   or a bird
   tries to escape
   from a hunter.

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Verse of the Day

“After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, "If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!” - Mark 9:35

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

British poet and critic Edith Sitwell wrote, “Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.”

Bible Readings for January 28, 2013

Today our passages are Exodus 5:22–7:24; Matthew 18:23–19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; and Proverbs 5:22-23. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

Exodus 5:22-7:24 (Contemporary English Version)

The LORD's Promise to Moses

²²Moses left them and prayed, " Our LORD, why have you brought so much trouble on your people? Is that why you sent me here? ²³Ever since you told me to speak to the king, ^a] he has caused nothing but trouble for these people. And you haven't done a thing to help."

Exodus 6

¹The LORD God told Moses: Soon you will see what I will do to the king. Because of my mighty power, he will let my people go, and he will even chase them out of his country. ²My name is the LORD. ^b]³But when I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I came as God All-Powerful and did not use my name. ⁴I made an agreement and promised them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. ⁵Now I have seen how the people of Israel are suffering because of the Egyptians, and I will keep my promise. ⁶Here is my message for Israel: " I am the LORD! And with my mighty power I will punish the Egyptians and free you from slavery. ⁷I will accept you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I was the one who rescued you from the Egyptians. ⁸I will bring you into the land that I solemnly promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it will be yours. I am the LORD!" ⁹When Moses told this to the Israelites, they were too discouraged and mistreated to believe him. ¹⁰Then the LORD told Moses ¹¹to demand that the king of Egypt let the Israelites leave. ¹²But Moses replied, " I'm not a powerful speaker. If the Israelites won't listen to me, why should the king of Egypt?" ¹³But the LORD sent Aaron and Moses with a message for the Israelites and for the king; he also ordered Aaron and Moses to free the people from Egypt.

Family Record of Aaron and Moses

¹⁴The following men were the heads of their ancestral clans: The sons of Reuben, Jacob's ^c] oldest son, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁵The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹⁶Levi lived to be one hundred thirty-seven; his sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷Gershon's sons were Libni and Shimei. ¹⁸Kohath lived to be one hundred thirty-three; his sons were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ¹⁹Merari's sons were Mahli and Mushi. All of the above were from the Levi tribe. ²⁰Amram lived to be one hundred thirty-seven. He married his father's sister Jochebed, and they had two sons, Aaron and Moses. ²¹Izhar's sons were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. ²²Uzziel's sons were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon; they had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²⁴Korah's sons were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. ²⁵Aaron's son Eleazar married one of Putiel's daughters, and their son was Phinehas. This ends the list of those who were the heads of clans in the Levi tribe. ²⁶The LORD had commanded Aaron and Moses to lead every family and tribe of Israel out of Egypt, ²⁷and so they ordered the king of Egypt to set the people of Israel free.

The LORD Commands Moses and Aaron To Speak to the King

²⁸When the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹he said, " I am the LORD. Tell the king ^d] of Egypt everything I say to you." ³⁰But Moses answered, " You know I am a very poor speaker, and the king will never listen to me."

Exodus 7

¹The LORD said: I am going to let your brother Aaron speak for you. He will tell your message to the king, just as a prophet speaks my message to the people. ²Tell Aaron everything I say to you, and he will order the king to let my people leave his country. ^3-4But I will make the king so stubborn that he won't listen to you. He won't listen even when I do many terrible things to him and his nation. Then I will bring a final punishment on Egypt, and the king will let Israel's families and tribes go. ⁵When this happens, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD. ⁶Moses and Aaron obeyed the LORD ⁷and spoke to the king. At the time, Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three.

A Stick Turns into a Snake

^8-9The LORD said, " Moses, when the king asks you and Aaron to perform a miracle, command Aaron to throw his walking stick down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake." ¹⁰Moses and Aaron went to the king and his officials and did exactly as the LORD had commanded--Aaron threw the stick down, and it turned into a snake. ¹¹Then the king called in the wise men and the magicians, who used their secret powers to do the same thing-- ¹²they threw down sticks that turned into snakes. But Aaron's snake swallowed theirs. ¹³The king behaved just as the LORD had said and stubbornly refused to listen.

The Nile River Turns into Blood

¹⁴The LORD said to Moses: The Egyptian king stubbornly refuses to change his mind and let the people go. ¹⁵Tomorrow morning take the stick that turned into a snake, then wait beside the Nile River for the king. ¹⁶Tell him, " The LORD God of the Hebrews sent me to order you to release his people, so they can worship him in the desert. But until now, you have paid no attention. ¹⁷" The LORD is going to do something to show you that he really is the LORD. I will strike the Nile with this stick, and the water will turn into blood. ¹⁸The fish will die, the river will stink, and none of you Egyptians will be able to drink the water." ¹⁹Moses, then command Aaron to hold his stick over the water. And when he does, every drop of water in Egypt will turn into blood, including rivers, canals, ponds, and even the water in buckets and jars. ²⁰Moses and Aaron obeyed the LORD. Aaron held out his stick, then struck the Nile, as the king and his officials watched. The river turned into blood, ²¹the fish died, and the water smelled so bad that none of the Egyptians could drink it. Blood was everywhere in Egypt. ²²But the Egyptian magicians used their secret powers to do the same thing. The king did just as the LORD had said--he stubbornly refused to listen. ²³Then he went back to his palace and never gave it a second thought. ²⁴The Egyptians had to dig holes along the banks of the Nile for drinking water, because water from the river was unfit to drink.

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 5:23the king: See the note at 1.11.
2. Exodus 6:2My name is the LORD: See the note at 3.14,15.
3. Exodus 6:14Jacob: The Hebrew text has " Israel," Jacob's name after God renamed him.
4. Exodus 6:29the king: See the note at 1.11.

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Matthew 18:23-19:12 (Contemporary English Version)

²³This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like: One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. ²⁴As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him fifty million silver coins. ²⁵But he didn't have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt. ²⁶The official got down on his knees and began begging, "Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!" ²⁷The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money. ²⁸As the official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him a hundred silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, "Pay me what you owe!" ²⁹The man got down on his knees and began begging, "Have pity on me, and I will pay you back." ³⁰But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed. ³¹When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. ³²The king called the first official back in and said, "You're an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. ³³Don't you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?" ³⁴The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. ³⁵That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of my followers with all your heart.

Matthew 19

Teaching about Divorce

(Mark 10.1-12)

¹When Jesus finished teaching, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is east of the Jordan River. ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed their sick people. ³Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. They came up to him and asked, "Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" ⁴Jesus answered, "Don't you know that in the beginning the Creator made a man and a woman? ⁵That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. ⁶Then they are no longer two people, but one. And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together." ⁷The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Why did Moses say that a man could write out divorce papers and send his wife away?" ⁸Jesus replied, "You are so heartless! That's why Moses allowed you to divorce your wife. But from the beginning God did not intend it to be that way. ⁹I say that if your wife has not committed some terrible sexual sin, ^a] you must not divorce her to marry someone else. If you do, you are unfaithful." ¹⁰The disciples said, "If that's how it is between a man and a woman, it's better not to get married." ¹¹Jesus told them, "Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching. ¹²Some people are unable to marry because of birth defects or because of what someone has done to their bodies. Others stay single for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can accept this teaching should do so."

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 19:9some terrible sexual sin: See the note at 5.32.

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Psalm 23:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 23

(A psalm by David.)

The Good Shepherd

¹You, LORD, are my shepherd. I will never be in need. ²You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water, ³and you refresh my life. You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths. ⁴I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won't be afraid. You are with me, and your shepherd's rod ^a] makes me feel safe. ⁵You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch. You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows. ⁶Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, LORD.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 23:4shepherd's rod: The Hebrew text mentions two objects carried by the shepherd: a club to defend against wild animals and a long pole to guide and control the sheep.

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Proverbs 5:22-23 (Contemporary English Version)

²²Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. ²³They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control.

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Verse of the Day

“God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth.” - John 4:24

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow wrote, “When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.”