Bible Readings for April 6, 2013

Today our passages are Deuteronomy 29:1–30:20; Luke 11:37–12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; and Proverbs 12:19-20. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

Deuteronomy 29-30:20 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 29

The Agreement in Moab

 ¹So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the LORD was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the LORD had made with them at Mount Sinai. ^[a] The LORD Is Your God    

THE THIRD SPEECH: ISRAEL MUST KEEP ITS AGREEMENT WITH THE LORD

 ^2-3Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them:    When you were in Egypt, you saw the LORD perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. ^4-6He has even told you, " For forty years I, the LORD, led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. ^[b] I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the LORD must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.     ⁷When we first camped here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan attacked, but we defeated them. ⁸Then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.    

Keep the Agreement

Moses said:

 ⁹Israel, the LORD has made an agreement with you, and if you keep your part, you will be successful in everything you do. ^10-12Today everyone in our nation is standing here in the LORD's presence, including leaders and officials, parents and children, and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us. We are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the LORD our God.     ^13-15In this agreement, the LORD promised that you would be his people and that he would be your God. He first made this promise to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and today the LORD is making this same promise to you. But it isn't just for you; it is also for your descendants.     ^16-17When we lived in Egypt, you saw the Egyptians worship disgusting idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold. Then as we traveled through other nations, you saw those people worship other disgusting idols. ¹⁸So make sure that everyone in your tribe remains faithful to the LORD and never starts worshiping gods of other nations.    If even one of you worships idols, you will be like the root of a plant that produces bitter, poisonous fruit. ¹⁹You may be an Israelite and know all about the LORD's agreement with us, but he won't bless you if you rebel against him. You may think you can get away with it, but you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you. ^{[c] 20-21}The LORD will be furious, and instead of forgiving you, he will separate you from the other tribes. Then he will destroy you, by piling on you all the curses in The Book of God's Law, and you will be forgotten forever. ²²The LORD will strike your country with diseases and disasters. Your descendants and foreigners from distant countries will see that your land ²³has become a scorching desert of salt and sulfur, where nothing is planted, nothing sprouts, and nothing grows. It will be as lifeless as the land around the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, after the LORD became angry and destroyed them. ^{[d] 24}People from other nations will ask, " Why did the LORD destroy this country? Why was he so furious?"     ²⁵And they will be given this answer:    Our ancestors worshiped the LORD, but after he brought them out of Egypt and made an agreement with them, they rejected the agreement ²⁶and decided to worship gods that had never helped them. The LORD had forbidden Israel to worship these gods, ^27-28and so he became furious and punished the land with all the curses in The Book of God's Law. Then he pulled up Israel by the roots and tossed them into a foreign country, where they still are today.     ²⁹The LORD our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but he has commanded us to obey the laws he gave to us and our descendants.    

Deuteronomy 30

The LORD Will Bring You Back

Moses said to Israel:

 ¹I have told you everything the LORD your God will do for you, and I've also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him. He will scatter you in faraway countries, but when you realize that he is punishing you, ²return to him with all your heart and soul and start obeying the commands I have given to you today. ^3-4Then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness. He may have scattered you to the farthest countries on earth, but he will bring you back ⁵to the land that had belonged to your ancestors and make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were.     ⁶You and your descendants are stubborn, but the LORD will make you willing to obey him and love him with all your heart and soul, and you will enjoy a long life.     ⁷Then the LORD your God will remove the curses from you and put them on those enemies who hate and attack you.     ⁸You will again obey the laws and teachings of the LORD, ⁹and he will bless you with many children, large herds and flocks, and abundant crops. The LORD will be happy to do good things for you, just as he did for your ancestors. ¹⁰But you must decide once and for all to worship him with all your heart and soul and to obey everything in The Book of God's Law.    

Choose Life, Not Death

Moses said to Israel:

 ¹¹You know God's laws, and it isn't impossible to obey them. ¹²His commands aren't in heaven, so you can't excuse yourselves by saying, " How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are in heaven, and no one can go up to get them, then bring them down and explain them to us." ¹³And you can't say, " How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are across the sea, and someone must go across, then bring them back and explain them to us." ¹⁴No, these commands are nearby and you know them by heart. All you have to do is obey!     ¹⁵Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. ^16-18I am commanding you to be loyal to the LORD, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the Jordan River and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful.    On the other hand, you might choose to disobey the LORD and reject him. So I'm warning you that if you bow down and worship other gods, you won't have long to live.     ¹⁹Right now I call the sky and the earth to be witnesses that I am offering you this choice. Will you choose for the LORD to make you prosperous and give you a long life? Or will he put you under a curse and kill you? Choose life! ²⁰Be completely faithful to the LORD your God, love him, and do whatever he tells you. The LORD is the only one who can give life, and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.    Joshua Is Appointed the Leader of Israel    

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 29:1 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5.
2. Deuteronomy 29:4 I gave. . . food: Hebrew " you didn't eat bread or drink any wine or beer."
3. Deuteronomy 29:19 you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you: Hebrew " The mud will be swept away as well as the dust."
4. Deuteronomy 29:23 Sodom. . . destroyed them: See Genesis 18.16-28.

Luke 11:37-12:7 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law of Moses

(Matthew 23.1-36; Mark 12.38-40; Luke 20.45-47)

 ³⁷When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him home for a meal. Jesus went and sat down to eat. ^{[a] 38}The Pharisee was surprised that he did not wash his hands ^[b] before eating. ³⁹So the Lord said to him: You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes, but on the inside you are greedy and evil. ⁴⁰You fools! Didn't God make both the outside and the inside? ^{[c] 41}If you would only give what you have to the poor, everything you do would please God. ⁴²You Pharisees are in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your gardens, such as mint and rue. But you cheat people, and you don't love God. You should be fair and kind to others and still give a tenth to God.     ⁴³You Pharisees are in for trouble! You love the front seats in the meeting places, and you like to be greeted with honor in the market. ⁴⁴But you are in for trouble! You are like unmarked graves ^[d] that people walk on without even knowing it. ⁴⁵A teacher of the Law of Moses spoke up, "Teacher, you said cruel things about us."     ⁴⁶Jesus replied:    You teachers are also in for trouble! You load people down with heavy burdens, but you won't lift a finger to help them carry the loads. ⁴⁷Yes, you are really in for trouble. You build monuments to honor the prophets your own people murdered long ago. ⁴⁸You must think that was the right thing for your people to do, or else you would not have built monuments for the prophets they murdered.     ⁴⁹Because of your evil deeds, the Wisdom of God said, "I will send prophets and apostles to you. But you will murder some and mistreat others." ⁵⁰You people living today will be punished for all the prophets who have been murdered since the beginning of the world. ⁵¹This includes every prophet from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah, ^[e] who was murdered between the altar and the temple. You people will certainly be punished for all of this. ⁵²You teachers of the Law of Moses are really in for trouble! You carry the keys to the door of knowledge about God. But you never go in, and you keep others from going in.     ⁵³Jesus was about to leave, but the teachers and the Pharisees wanted to get even with him. They tried to make him say what he thought about other things, ⁵⁴so that they could catch him saying something wrong.    

Luke 12

Warnings

 ¹As thousands of people crowded around Jesus and were stepping on each other, he told his disciples:    Be sure to guard against the dishonest teaching ^[f] of the Pharisees! It is their way of fooling people. ²Everything that is hidden will be found out, and every secret will be known. ³Whatever you say in the dark will be heard when it is day. Whatever you whisper in a closed room will be shouted from the housetops.

The One To Fear

(Matthew 10.28-31)

 ⁴My friends, don't be afraid of people. They can kill you, but after that, there is nothing else they can do. ⁵God is the one you must fear. Not only can he take your life, but he can throw you into hell. God is certainly the one you should fear!     ⁶Five sparrows are sold for just two pennies, but God doesn't forget a one of them. ⁷Even the hairs on your head are counted. So don't be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.    

Footnotes:

1. Luke 11:37 sat down to eat: See the note at 7.36.
2. Luke 11:38 did not wash his hands: The Jewish people had strict laws about washing their hands before eating, especially if they had been out in public.
3. Luke 11:40 Didn't God make both the outside and the inside: Or " Doesn't the person who washes the outside always wash the inside too?"
4. Luke 11:44 unmarked graves: Tombs were whitewashed to keep anyone from accidentally touching them. A person who touched a dead body or a tomb was considered unclean and could not worship with other Jewish people.
5. Luke 11:51 from the time of Abel. . . Zechariah: Genesis is the first book in the Jewish Scriptures, and it tells that Abel was the first person to be murdered. Second Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Scriptures, and the last murder that it tells about is that of Zechariah.
6. Luke 12:1 dishonest teaching: The Greek text has " yeast," which is used here of a teaching that is not true (see Matthew 16.6,12).

Psalm 78:1-31 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 78

(A special psalm by Asaph.)

What God Has Done for His People

 ¹My friends, I beg you    to listen as I teach.     ²I will give instruction    and explain the mystery    of what happened long ago.     ³These are things we learned    from our ancestors,     ⁴and we will tell them    to the next generation.    We won't keep secret    the glorious deeds    and the mighty miracles    of the LORD.     ⁵God gave his Law    to Jacob's descendants,    the people of Israel.    And he told our ancestors    to teach their children,     ⁶so that each new generation    would know his Law    and tell it to the next.     ⁷Then they would trust God    and obey his teachings,    without forgetting anything    God had done.     ⁸They would be different    from their ancestors,    who were stubborn, rebellious,    and unfaithful to God.     ⁹The warriors from Ephraim    were armed with arrows,    but they ran away    when the battle began.     ¹⁰They broke their agreement    with God,    and they turned their backs    on his teaching.     ¹¹They forgot all he had done,    even the mighty miracles     ¹²he did for their ancestors    near Zoan ^[a] in Egypt. ¹³God made a path in the sea    and piled up the water    as he led them across.     ¹⁴He guided them during the day    with a cloud,    and each night he led them    with a flaming fire.     ¹⁵God made water flow    from rocks    he split open    in the desert,    and his people drank freely,    as though from a lake.     ¹⁶He made streams gush out    like rivers from rocks.     ¹⁷But in the desert,    the people of God Most High    kept sinning and rebelling.     ¹⁸They stubbornly tested God    and demanded from him    what they wanted to eat.     ¹⁹They challenged God by saying,    "Can God provide food    out here in the desert?     ²⁰It's true God struck the rock    and water gushed out    like a river,    but can he give his people    bread and meat?"     ²¹When the LORD heard this,    he was angry and furious    with Jacob's descendants,    the people of Israel.     ²²They had refused to trust him,    and they had doubted    his saving power.     ²³But God gave a command    to the clouds,    and he opened the doors    in the skies.     ²⁴From heaven he sent grain    that they called manna. ^{[b] 25}He gave them more than enough,    and each one of them ate    this special food.     ²⁶God's mighty power    brought a strong wind    from the southeast,     ²⁷and it brought birds    that covered the ground,    like sand on the beach.     ²⁸Then God made the birds fall    in the camp of his people    near their tents.     ²⁹God gave his people    all they wanted,    and each of them ate    until they were full.     ³⁰But before they had swallowed    the last bite,     ³¹God became angry and killed    the strongest    and best    from the families of Israel.    

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 78:12 Zoan: A city in the eastern part of the Nile Delta.
2. Psalm 78:24 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called " manna," which in Hebrew means, " What is this?"

Proverbs 12:19-20 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁹Truth will last forever;    lies are soon found out.     ²⁰An evil mind is deceitful,    but gentle thoughts    bring happiness.

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Verse of the Day

“We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That's why we must give our lives for each other.” - 1 John 3:16

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

French writer Gustave Flaubert wrote, “Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings.”