Bible Readings for March 28, 2015

Today our passages are Deuteronomy 9:1–10:22; Luke 8:4-21; Psalm 69:19-36; and Proverbs 12:2-3. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

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Deuteronomy 9-10:22 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 9

Why the LORD Will Help Israel

Moses said:

 ¹Israel, listen to me! You will soon cross the Jordan River and go into the land to force out the nations that live there. They are more powerful than you are, and the walls around their cities reach to the sky. ²Some of these nations are descendants of the Anakim. ^[a] You know how tall and strong they are, and you've heard that no one can defeat them in battle. ³But the LORD your God has promised to go ahead of you, like a raging fire burning everything in its path. So when you attack your enemies, it will be easy for you to destroy them and take their land. ^4-6After the LORD helps you wipe out these nations and conquer their land, don't think he did it because you are such good people. You aren't good--you are stubborn! No, the LORD is going to help you, because the nations that live there are evil, and because he wants to keep the promise he made to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.    Moses said to Israel:
   

When Israel Made an Idol

(Exodus 32)

 ⁷Don't ever forget how you kept rebelling and making the LORD angry the whole time you were in the desert. You rebelled from the day you left Egypt until the day you arrived here.     ⁸At Mount Sinai ^[b] you made the LORD so angry that he was going to destroy you. ^9-11It happened during those forty days and nights that I was on the mountain, without anything to eat or drink. He had told me to come up there so he could give me the agreement he made with us. And this agreement was actually the same Ten Commandments ^[c] he had announced to you when he spoke from the fire on the mountain. The LORD had written them on two flat stones with his own hand. But after giving me the two stones, ¹²he said: Moses, hurry down the mountain to those people you led out of Egypt. They have already disobeyed me and committed the terrible sin of making an idol.
    ¹³I've been watching the Israelites, and I've seen how stubborn and rebellious they are. ¹⁴So don't try to stop me! I am going to wipe them out, and no one on earth will remember they ever lived. Then I will let your descendants become an even bigger and more powerful nation than Israel.
   

Moses said:

 ¹⁵Fire was raging on the mountaintop as I went back down, carrying the two stones with the commandments on them. ¹⁶I saw how quickly you had sinned and disobeyed the LORD your God. There you were, worshiping the metal idol you had made in the shape of a calf. ¹⁷So I threw down the two stones and smashed them before your very eyes.     ^18-20I bowed down at the place of worship and prayed to the LORD, without eating or drinking for forty days and nights. You had committed a terrible sin by making that idol, and the LORD hated what you had done. He was angry enough to destroy all of you and Aaron as well. So I prayed for you and Aaron as I had done before, and this time the LORD answered my prayers. ^{[d] 21}It was a sin for you to make that idol, so I threw it into the fire to melt it down. Then I took the lump of gold, ground it into powder, and threw the powder into the stream flowing down the mountain.
    ²²You also made the LORD angry when you were staying at Taberah, ^[e] at Massah, ^[f] and at Kibroth-Hattaavah. ^{[g] 23}Then at Kadesh-Barnea the LORD said, " I am giving you the land, so go ahead and take it!" But since you didn't trust the LORD, you rebelled and disobeyed his command. ^{[h] 24}In fact, you've rebelled against the LORD for as long as he has ^[i] known you. ²⁵After you had made the idol in the shape of a calf, the LORD said he was going to destroy you. So I bowed down in front of the sacred tent for forty days and nights, ²⁶and I prayed:
   Our LORD, please don't wipe out your people. You used your great power to rescue them from Egypt and to make them your very own. ²⁷Israel's ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obeyed you faithfully. Think about them, and not about Israel's stubbornness, evil, and sin. ²⁸If you destroy your people, the Egyptians will say, " The LORD promised to give Israel land, but he wasn't powerful enough to keep his promise. In fact, he hated them so much that he took them into the desert and killed them." ²⁹But you, our LORD, chose the people of Israel to be your own, and with your mighty power you rescued them from Egypt.
   Moses said to the people:
   

Deuteronomy 10

The Second Set of Commandments

(Exodus 34.1-10)

 ¹The LORD told me to chisel out two flat stones, just like the ones he had given me earlier. He also commanded me to make a wooden chest, then come up the mountain and meet with him. ²He told me that he would write the same words on the new stones that he had written on the ones I broke, and that I could put these stones in this sacred chest.     ³So I made a chest out of acacia wood, and I chiseled two flat stones like the ones I broke. Then I carried the stones up the mountain, ⁴where the LORD wrote the Ten Commandments on them, just as he had done the first time. The commandments were exactly what he had announced from the fire, when you were gathered at the mountain.
   After the LORD returned the stones to me, ⁵I took them down the mountainside and put them in the chest, just as he had commanded. And they are still there.
   Moses said to Israel:
   

Aaron Died

(Numbers 20.22-29)

 ⁶Later we set up camp at the wells belonging to the descendants of Jaakan. ^[j] Then we moved on and camped at Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became the priest. ⁷Next, we camped at Gudgodah and then at Jotbathah, where there are flowing streams.

The Levites Were Appointed To Carry the Chest

Moses said to Israel:

 ⁸After I put the two stones in the sacred chest, ^[k] the LORD chose the tribe of Levi, not only to carry the chest, but also to serve as his priests at the place of worship and to bless the other tribes in his name. And they still do these things. ⁹The LORD promised that he would always provide for the tribe of Levi, and that's why he won't give them any land, when he divides it among the other tribes. Moses said to Israel:    

The LORD Answered the Prayers of Moses

(Exodus 34.9,10,27-29)

 ¹⁰When I had taken the second set of stones up the mountain, I spent forty days and nights there, just as I had done before. Once again, the LORD answered my prayer and did not destroy you. ¹¹Instead, he told me, " Moses, get ready to lead the people into the land that I promised their ancestors." ^[l]

What the LORD Wants

Moses said:

 ¹²People of Israel, what does the LORD your God want from you? The LORD wants you to respect and follow him, to love and serve him with all your heart and soul, ¹³and to obey his laws and teachings that I am giving you today. Do this, and all will go well for you.     ¹⁴Everything belongs to the LORD your God, not only the earth and everything on it, but also the sky and the highest heavens. ¹⁵Yet the LORD loved your ancestors and wanted them to belong to him. So he chose them and their descendants rather than any other nation, and today you are still his people.
    ¹⁶Remember your agreement with the LORD and stop being so stubborn. ¹⁷The LORD your God is more powerful than all other gods and lords, and his tremendous power is to be feared. His decisions are always fair, and you cannot bribe him to change his mind. ¹⁸The LORD defends the rights of orphans and widows. He cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing. ¹⁹And you should also care for them, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
    ²⁰Respect the LORD your God, serve only him, and make promises in his name alone. ²¹Offer your praises to him, because you have seen him work such terrifying miracles for you.
    ²²When your ancestors went to live in Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But the LORD has blessed you, and now there are more of you than there are stars in the sky.
   

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 9:2 Anakim: See the note at 2.10,11.
2. Deuteronomy 9:8 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5.
3. Deuteronomy 9:9 Ten Commandments: Hebrew " commandments."
4. Deuteronomy 9:18 as I had done before. . . prayers: This may refer to Moses' praying for Israel before he came down from the mountain (see Exodus 32.11-14).
5. Deuteronomy 9:22 Taberah: See Numbers 11.1-3.
6. Deuteronomy 9:22 Massah: See the note at 6.16.
7. Deuteronomy 9:22 Kibroth-Hattaavah: See Numbers 11.31-34.
8. Deuteronomy 9:23 Kadesh-Barnea. . . you rebelled and disobeyed his command: See Numbers 13,14.
9. Deuteronomy 9:24 he has: The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text " I have."
10. Deuteronomy 10:6 the wells. . . Jaakan: Or " Beeroth Bene-Jaakan."
11. Deuteronomy 10:8 After. . . chest: Or " After Israel reached Jotbathah."
12. Deuteronomy 10:11 lead. . . ancestors: The LORD would later tell Moses that he would not be allowed to enter the land (see 1.37; 3.23-28; Numbers 20.10-12).

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Luke 8:4-21 (Contemporary English Version)

A Story about a Farmer

(Matthew 13.1-9; Mark 4.1-9)

 ⁴When a large crowd from several towns had gathered around Jesus, he told them this story:     ⁵A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was doing it, some of the seeds fell along the road and were stepped on or eaten by birds. ⁶Other seeds fell on rocky ground and started growing. But the plants did not have enough water and soon dried up. ⁷Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. ⁸The rest of the seeds fell on good ground where they grew and produced a hundred times as many seeds.
   When Jesus had finished speaking, he said, "If you have ears, pay attention!"
   

Why Jesus Used Stories

(Matthew 13.10-17; Mark 4.10-12)

 ⁹Jesus' disciples asked him what the story meant. ¹⁰So he answered:    I have explained the secrets about God's kingdom to you, but for others I can only use stories. These people look, but they don't see, and they hear, but they don't understand.
   

Jesus Explains the Story about a Farmer

(Matthew 13.18-23; Mark 4.13-20)

 ¹¹This is what the story means: The seed is God's message, ¹²and the seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But the devil comes and snatches the message out of their hearts, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it. But they don't have deep roots, and they believe only for a little while. As soon as life gets hard, they give up.     ¹⁴The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they are so eager for riches and pleasures that they never produce anything. ¹⁵Those seeds that fell on good ground are the people who listen to the message and keep it in good and honest hearts. They last and produce a harvest.
   

Light

(Mark 4.21-25)

 ¹⁶No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl or under a bed. A lamp is always put on a lampstand, so that people who come into a house will see the light. ¹⁷There is nothing hidden that will not be found. There is no secret that will not be well known. ¹⁸Pay attention to how you listen! Everyone who has something will be given more, but people who have nothing will lose what little they think they have.    

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

(Matthew 12.46-50; Mark 3.31-35)

 ¹⁹Jesus' mother and brothers went to see him, but because of the crowd they could not get near him. ²⁰Someone told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you."     ²¹Jesus answered, "My mother and my brothers are those people who hear and obey God's message."

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Psalm 69:19-36 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁹You know how I am insulted,
   mocked, and disgraced;
   you know every one
   of my enemies.
    ²⁰I am crushed by insults,
   and I feel sick.
   I had hoped for mercy and pity,
   but there was none.
    ²¹Enemies poisoned my food,
   and when I was thirsty,
   they gave me vinegar.
    ²²Make their table a trap
   for them and their friends.
    ²³Blind them with darkness
   and make them tremble.
    ²⁴Show them how angry you are!
   Be furious and catch them.
    ²⁵Destroy their camp
   and don't let anyone live
   in their tents.
    ²⁶They cause trouble for people
   you have already punished;
   their gossip hurts those
   you have wounded.
    ²⁷Make them guiltier than ever
   and don't forgive them.
    ²⁸Wipe their names from the book
   of the living;
   remove them from the list
   of the innocent.
    ²⁹I am mistreated and in pain.
   Protect me, God,
   and keep me safe!
    ³⁰I will praise the LORD God
   with a song
   and a thankful heart.
    ³¹This will please the LORD
   better than offering an ox
   or a full-grown bull.
    ³²When those in need see this,
   they will be happy,
   and the LORD's worshipers
   will be encouraged.
    ³³The LORD will listen
   when the homeless cry out,
   and he will never forget
   his people in prison.
    ³⁴Heaven and earth
   will praise our God,
   and so will the oceans
   and everything in them.
    ³⁵God will rescue Jerusalem,
   and he will rebuild
   the towns of Judah.
   His people will live there
   on their own land,
    ³⁶and when the time comes,
   their children will inherit
   the land.
   Then everyone who loves God
   will also settle there.

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Proverbs 12:2-3 (Contemporary English Version)

²The LORD likes everyone
   who lives right,
   but he punishes everyone
   who makes evil plans.
    ³Sin cannot offer security!
   But if you live right,
   you will be as secure
   as a tree with deep roots.

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Verse of the Day

“There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God. Jesus was truly human, and he gave himself to rescue all of us. God showed us this at the right time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

Prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, author during the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer, Teresa of Ávila wrote, “It is love alone that gives worth to all things.”