Bible Readings for January 25, 2013

Today our passages are Genesis 50:1 – Exodus 2:10; Matthew 16:13–17:9; Psalm 22:1-18; and Proverbs 5:7-14. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Genesis 50 - Exodus 2:10 (Contemporary English Version)

Genesis 50

 ¹Joseph started crying, then leaned over to hug and kiss his father.     ²Joseph gave orders for Jacob's body to be embalmed, ³and it took the usual forty days.
   The Egyptians mourned seventy days for Jacob. ⁴When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the Egyptian leaders, "If you consider me your friend, please speak to the king ^[a] for me. ⁵Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here." ⁶The king answered, "Go to Canaan and keep your promise to your father."
    ^7-9When Joseph left Goshen with his brothers, his relatives, and his father's relatives to bury Jacob, many of the king's highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along. The Israelites left behind only their children, their cattle, and their sheep and goats.
    ¹⁰After crossing the Jordan River and reaching Atad's threshing place, Joseph had everyone mourn and weep seven days for his father. ¹¹The Canaanites saw this and said, "The Egyptians are in great sorrow." Then they named the place "Egypt in Sorrow." ^{[b] 12}So Jacob's sons did just as their father had instructed. ¹³They took him to Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.
    ¹⁴After the funeral, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else returned to Egypt.
   

Joseph's Promise to His Brothers

 ¹⁵After Jacob died, Joseph's brothers said to each other, "What if Joseph still hates us and wants to get even with us for all the cruel things we did to him?"     ¹⁶So they sent this message to Joseph:
   Before our father died, ¹⁷he told us, "You did some cruel and terrible things to Joseph, but you must ask him to forgive you."
   Now we ask you to please forgive the terrible things we did. After all, we serve the same God that your father worshiped.
   When Joseph heard this, he started crying.
    ¹⁸Right then, Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to the ground in front of him and said, "We are your slaves."
    ¹⁹But Joseph told them, "Don't be afraid! I have no right to change what God has decided. ²⁰You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing. ²¹Don't be afraid! I will take care of you and your children." After Joseph said this, his brothers felt much better.
   

Joseph's Death

 ²²Joseph lived in Egypt with his brothers until he died at the age of one hundred ten. ²³Joseph lived long enough to see Ephraim's children and grandchildren. He also lived to see the children of Manasseh's son Machir, and he welcomed them into his family. ²⁴Before Joseph died, he told his brothers, "I won't live much longer. But God will take care of you and lead you out of Egypt to the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵Now promise me that you will take my body with you when God leads you to that land."     ²⁶So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of one hundred ten; his body was embalmed and put in a coffin.
   

Exodus 1

The People of Israel Suffer

 ^1-5When Jacob went to Egypt, his son Joseph was already there. So Jacob took his eleven other sons and their families. They were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Altogether, Jacob had seventy children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren ^[c] who went with him. ⁶After Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else in that generation had died, ⁷the people of Israel became so numerous that the whole region of Goshen was full of them.     ⁸Many years later a new king came to power. He did not know what Joseph had done for Egypt, ⁹and he told the Egyptians:
   There are too many of those Israelites in our country, and they are becoming more powerful than we are. ¹⁰If we don't outsmart them, their families will keep growing larger. And if our country goes to war, they could easily fight on the side of our enemies and escape from Egypt.
    ¹¹The Egyptians put slave bosses in charge of the people of Israel and tried to wear them down with hard work. Those bosses forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses, ^[d] where the king ^[e] could store his supplies. ¹²But even though the Israelites were mistreated, their families grew larger, and they took over more land. Because of this, the Egyptians hated them worse than before ¹³and made them work so hard ¹⁴that their lives were miserable. The Egyptians were cruel to the people of Israel and forced them to make bricks and to mix mortar and to work in the fields. ¹⁵Finally, the king called in Shiphrah and Puah, the two women who helped the Hebrew ^[f] mothers when they gave birth. ¹⁶He told them, " If a Hebrew woman gives birth to a girl, let the child live. If the baby is a boy, kill him!" ¹⁷But the two women were faithful to God and did not kill the boys, even though the king had told them to. ¹⁸The king called them in again and asked, " Why are you letting those baby boys live?"
    ¹⁹They answered, " Hebrew women have their babies much quicker than Egyptian women. By the time we arrive, their babies are already born." ^20-21God was good to the two women because they truly respected him, and he blessed them with children of their own.
   The Hebrews kept increasing ²²until finally, the king gave a command to everyone in the nation, " As soon as a Hebrew boy is born, throw him into the Nile River! But you can let the girls live."
   

Exodus 2

Moses Is Born

 ¹A man from the Levi tribe married a woman from the same tribe, ²and she later had a baby boy. He was a beautiful child, and she kept him inside for three months. ³But when she could no longer keep him hidden, she made a basket out of reeds and covered it with tar. She put him in the basket and placed it in the tall grass along the edge of the Nile River. ⁴The baby's older sister ^[g] stood off at a distance to see what would happen to him. ⁵About that time one of the king's ^[h] daughters came down to take a bath in the river, while her servant women walked along the river bank. She saw the basket in the tall grass and sent one of the young women to pull it out of the water. ⁶When the king's daughter opened the basket, she saw the baby and felt sorry for him because he was crying. She said, " This must be one of the Hebrew babies." ⁷At once the baby's older sister came up and asked, " Do you want me to get a Hebrew woman to take care of the baby for you?"     ⁸" Yes," the king's daughter answered.
   So the girl brought the baby's mother, ⁹and the king's daughter told her, " Take care of this child, and I will pay you."
   The baby's mother carried him home and took care of him. ¹⁰And when he was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him. She named him Moses ^[i] because she said, " I pulled him out of the water."

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 50:4 the king: See the note at 12.15.
2. Genesis 50:11 Egypt in Sorrow: Or "Abel-Mizraim."
3. Exodus 1:1 seventy children. . . great-grandchildren: See Genesis 46.8-27.
4. Exodus 1:11 Pithom and Rameses: This is the only mention of Pithom in the Bible; its exact location is unknown, though it was probably in the northern Delta of Egypt. Rameses is the famous Delta city that was the home of Rameses II; its exact location is also unknown.
5. Exodus 1:11 the king: The Hebrew text has " Pharaoh," a Hebrew word sometimes used for the title of the king of Egypt.
6. Exodus 1:15 Hebrew: An earlier term for " Israelite."
7. Exodus 2:4 older sister: Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron.
8. Exodus 2:5 the king's: See the note at 1.11.
9. Exodus 2:10 Moses: In Hebrew " Moses" sounds like " pull out."

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Matthew 16:13-17:9 (Contemporary English Version)

Who Is Jesus?

(Mark 8.27-30; Luke 9.18-21)

 ¹³When Jesus and his disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, "What do people say about the Son of Man?"     ¹⁴The disciples answered, "Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah ^[a] or Jeremiah or some other prophet." ¹⁵Then Jesus asked them, "But who do you say I am?"
    ¹⁶Simon Peter spoke up, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
    ¹⁷Jesus told him:
   Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn't discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸So I will call you Peter, which means "a rock." On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don't allow.
    ²⁰Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
   

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering and Death

(Mark 8.31--9.1; Luke 9.22-27)

 ²¹From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, "I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation's leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life."     ²²Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, "God would never let this happen to you, Lord!"
    ²³Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Satan, get away from me! You're in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God."
    ²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples:
   If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. ²⁵If you want to save your life, ^[b] you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. ²⁶What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul? ²⁷The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done. ²⁸I promise you that some of those standing here will not die before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.
   

Matthew 17

The True Glory of Jesus

(Mark 9.2-13; Luke 9.28-36)

 ¹Six days later Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. They went up on a very high mountain where they could be alone. ²There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. His face was shining like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.     ³All at once Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus. ⁴So Peter said to him, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
    ⁵While Peter was still speaking, the shadow of a bright cloud passed over them. From the cloud a voice said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!" ⁶When the disciples heard the voice, they were so afraid that they fell flat on the ground. ⁷But Jesus came over and touched them. He said, "Get up and don't be afraid!" ⁸When they opened their eyes, they saw only Jesus.
    ⁹On their way down from the mountain, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had been raised from death.
   

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 16:14 Elijah: Many of the Jewish people expected the prophet Elijah to come and prepare the way for the Messiah.
2. Matthew 16:25 life: In verses 25 and 26 the same Greek word is translated "life," "yourself," and "soul."

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Psalm 22:1-18 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 22

(A psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "A Deer at Dawn." )

Suffering and Praise

 ¹My God, my God, why have you    deserted me?
   Why are you so far away?
   Won't you listen to my groans
   and come to my rescue?
    ²I cry out day and night,
   but you don't answer,
   and I can never rest.
    ³Yet you are the holy God,
   ruling from your throne
   and praised by Israel.
    ⁴Our ancestors trusted you,
   and you rescued them.
    ⁵When they cried out for help,
   you saved them,
   and you did not let them down
   when they depended on you.
    ⁶But I am merely a worm,
   far less than human,
   and I am hated and rejected
   by people everywhere.
    ⁷Everyone who sees me
   makes fun and sneers.
   They shake their heads,
    ⁸and say,
   "Trust the LORD!
   If you are his favorite,
   let him protect you
   and keep you safe."
    ⁹You, LORD, brought me
   safely through birth,
   and you protected me
   when I was a baby
   at my mother's breast.
    ¹⁰From the day I was born,
   I have been in your care,
   and from the time of my birth,
   you have been my God.
    ¹¹Don't stay far off
   when I am in trouble
   with no one to help me.
    ¹²Enemies are all around
   like a herd of wild bulls.
   Powerful bulls from Bashan ^[a] are everywhere.
    ¹³My enemies are like lions
   roaring and attacking
   with jaws open wide.
    ¹⁴I have no more strength
   than a few drops of water.
   All my bones are out of joint;
   my heart is like melted wax.
    ¹⁵My strength has dried up
   like a broken clay pot,
   and my tongue sticks
   to the roof of my mouth.
   You, God, have left me
   to die in the dirt.
    ¹⁶Brutal enemies attack me
   like a pack of dogs,
   tearing at ^[b] my hands and my feet.
    ¹⁷I can count all my bones,
   and my enemies just stare
   and sneer at me.
    ¹⁸They took my clothes
   and gambled for them.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 22:12 Bashan: A land east of the Jordan River, where there were pastures suitable for raising fine cattle.
2. Psalm 22:16 tearing at: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Proverbs 5:7-14 (Contemporary English Version)

⁷My son, listen to me
   and do everything I say.
    ⁸Stay away from a bad woman!
   Don't even go near the door
   of her house.
    ⁹You will lose your self-respect
   and end up in debt
   to some cruel person
   for the rest of your life.
    ¹⁰Strangers will get your money
   and everything else
   you have worked for.
    ¹¹When it's all over,
   your body will waste away,
   as you groan ¹²and shout,
   "I hated advice and correction!
    ¹³I paid no attention
   to my teachers,
    ¹⁴and now I am disgraced
   in front of everyone."

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Verse of the Day

“Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.” - Philippians 4:8

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American rock singer-songwriter and musician Warren Zevon wrote:
    I’m searching for a heart,
    Searching everyone.
    They say love conquers all.
    You can’t start it like a car,
    You can’t stop it with a gun.