Bible Readings for March 30, 2015

Today our passages are Deuteronomy 13:1–15:23; Luke 8:40–9:6; Psalm 71:1-24; and Proverbs 12:5-7. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

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Deuteronomy 13-15:23 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 13

Don't Worship Other Gods

Moses said to Israel:

 ^1-2Someday a prophet ^[a] may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, " Let's start worshiping some new gods--some gods that we know nothing about." ³If the prophet says this, don't listen! The LORD your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴You must be completely faithful to the LORD. Worship and obey only the LORD and do this with fear and trembling, ⁵because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt. If a prophet tells you to disobey the LORD your God and to stop worshiping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death.     ^6-10Someone else may say to you, " Let's worship other gods." That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity.
   The gods worshiped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god. ¹¹And when the rest of Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again.
    ¹²After the LORD your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumor about one of the towns. ¹³You may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshiping other gods, even though these gods had never done anything for them. ¹⁴You must carefully find out if the rumor is true. Then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country, ¹⁵you must take your swords and kill every one of them, and their livestock too. ^16-17Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the marketplace, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the LORD your God. Then he won't be angry anymore, and he will have mercy on you and make you successful, just as he promised your ancestors. ¹⁸That's why you must do what the LORD your God says is right. I am giving you his laws and teachings today, and you must obey them.
   

Deuteronomy 14

Don't Mourn like Other Nations

Moses said:

 ¹People of Israel, you are the LORD's children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead. ^{[b] 2}Out of all the nations on this earth, the LORD your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the LORD, so don't behave like those who worship other gods.

Animals That Can Be Eaten

(Leviticus 11.1-47)

 ³Don't eat any disgusting animals.     ^4-5You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. ⁶It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. ^{[c] 7}But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. ⁸And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig!
    ⁹You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, ¹⁰and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean.
    ¹¹You can eat any clean bird. ^12-18But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes. ^[d] You must not eat bats. ¹⁹Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. ²⁰However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects. ^{[e] 21}You belong to the LORD your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town.
   Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
   

Give the LORD Ten Percent of Your Harvest

Moses said:

 ²²People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. ²³Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the LORD your God.     ²⁴But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the LORD gives you a big harvest, ²⁵then sell this part and take the money there instead. ²⁶When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. ²⁷And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you.
    ²⁸Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. ²⁹The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the LORD your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do.
   Moses said:
   

Deuteronomy 15

Loans

(Leviticus 25.1-7)

 ^1-2Every seven years you must announce, " The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back." Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you can no longer ask for payment. ^{[f] 3}This law applies only to loans you have made to other Israelites. Foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them. ^4-6No one in Israel should ever be poor. The LORD your God is giving you this land, and he has promised to make you very successful, if you obey his laws and teachings that I'm giving you today. You will lend money to many nations, but you won't have to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they won't rule you.     ⁷After the LORD your God gives land to each of you, there may be poor Israelites in the town where you live. If there are, then don't be mean and selfish with your money. ⁸Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. ⁹Be careful! Don't say to yourself, " Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won't be able to get my money back." It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don't help them, they may ask the LORD to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty. ¹⁰You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the LORD will make you successful in everything you do.
    ¹¹There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That's why I am commanding you to be generous with them.
   Moses said to Israel:
   

Setting Slaves Free

(Exodus 21.1-11)

 ¹²If any of you buy Israelites as slaves, you must set them free after six years. ¹³And don't just tell them they are free to leave-- ¹⁴give them sheep and goats and a good supply of grain and wine. The more the LORD has given you, the more you should give them. ¹⁵I am commanding you to obey the LORD as a reminder that you were slaves in Egypt before he set you free. ¹⁶But one of your slaves may say, " I love you and your family, and I would be better off staying with you, so please don't make me leave." ¹⁷Take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one earlobe and into the door. Such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women.     ¹⁸Don't complain when you have to set a slave free. After all, you got six years of service at half the cost of hiring someone to do the work. ^[g] Moses said to Israel:
   

First-Born Animals

(Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18)

 ¹⁹If the first-born animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male, it must be given to the LORD. Don't put first-born cattle to work or cut wool from first-born sheep. ²⁰Instead, each year you must take the first-born of these animals to the place where the LORD your God chooses to be worshiped. You and your family will sacrifice them to the LORD and then eat them as part of a sacred meal.     ²¹But if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. ²²You can butcher it where you live, and eat it just like the meat of a deer or gazelle that you kill while hunting. Even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some. ²³But you must never eat the blood of an animal--let it drain out on the ground.
   Moses said:
   

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 13:1 a prophet: Hebrew adds " or a dreamer of dreams," another name for a prophet.
2. Deuteronomy 14:1 when you mourn. . . forehead: Or " you must not worship Baal, cutting yourselves and shaving your forehead."
3. Deuteronomy 14:6 chew the cud: Some animals that eat grass and leaves have more than one stomach, and they chew their food a second time, after it has been partly digested in the first stomach. This partly digested food is called " cud."
4. Deuteronomy 14:12 eagles. . . hoopoes: Some of the birds in this list are difficult to identify.
5. Deuteronomy 14:20 certain kinds of winged insects: These were locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers; see Leviticus 11.21,22.
6. Deuteronomy 15:1 The LORD says. . . no longer ask for payment: Or "The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back this year. Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you cannot ask for payment until the next year."
7. Deuteronomy 15:18 six years. . . work: Or " six years of service, and it cost you no more than if you had hired someone to do the work" ; or " six years of service, for what you would have had to pay a worker for two years."

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Luke 8:40-9:6 (Contemporary English Version)

A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman

(Matthew 9.18-26; Mark 5.21-43)

 ⁴⁰Everyone had been waiting for Jesus, and when he came back, a crowd was there to welcome him. ⁴¹Just then the man in charge of the Jewish meeting place came and knelt down in front of Jesus. His name was Jairus, and he begged Jesus to come to his home ⁴²because his twelve-year-old child was dying. She was his only daughter.    While Jesus was on his way, people were crowding all around him. ⁴³In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors, ^[a] but none of them could make her well. ⁴⁴As soon as she came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes, her bleeding stopped.
    ⁴⁵"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.
   While everyone was denying it, Peter said, "Master, people are crowding all around and pushing you from every side." ^{[b] 46}But Jesus answered, "Someone touched me, because I felt power going out from me." ⁴⁷The woman knew that she could not hide, so she came trembling and knelt down in front of Jesus. She told everyone why she had touched him and that she had been healed right away.
    ⁴⁸Jesus said to the woman, "You are now well because of your faith. May God give you peace!"
    ⁴⁹While Jesus was speaking, someone came from Jairus' home and said, "Your daughter has died! Why bother the teacher anymore?"
    ⁵⁰When Jesus heard this, he told Jairus, "Don't worry! Have faith, and your daughter will get well."
    ⁵¹Jesus went into the house, but he did not let anyone else go with him, except Peter, John, James, and the girl's father and mother. ⁵²Everyone was crying and weeping for the girl. But Jesus said, "The child isn't dead. She is just asleep." ⁵³The people laughed at him because they knew she was dead.
    ⁵⁴Jesus took hold of the girl's hand and said, "Child, get up!" ⁵⁵She came back to life and got right up. Jesus told them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶Her parents were surprised, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
   

Luke 9

Instructions for the Twelve Apostles

(Matthew 10.5-15; Mark 6.7-13)

 ¹Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them complete power over all demons and diseases. ²Then he sent them to tell about God's kingdom and to heal the sick. ³He told them, "Don't take anything with you! Don't take a walking stick or a traveling bag or food or money or even a change of clothes. ⁴When you are welcomed into a home, stay there until you leave that town. ⁵If people won't welcome you, leave the town and shake the dust from your feet ^[c] as a warning to them." ⁶The apostles left and went from village to village, telling the good news and healing people everywhere.    

Footnotes:

1. Luke 8:43 She had spent everything she had on doctors: Some manuscripts do not have these words.
2. Luke 8:45 from every side: Some manuscripts add " and you ask, `Who touched me?' "
3. Luke 9:5 shake the dust from your feet: This was a way of showing rejection.

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Psalm 71:1-24 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 71

A Prayer for God's Protection

 ¹I run to you, LORD,    for protection.
   Don't disappoint me.
    ²You do what is right,
   so come to my rescue.
   Listen to my prayer
   and keep me safe.
    ³Be my mighty rock, ^[a] the place
   where I can always run
   for protection.
   Save me by your command!
   You are my mighty rock
   and my fortress.
    ⁴Come and save me, LORD God,
   from vicious and cruel
   and brutal enemies!
    ⁵I depend on you,
   and I have trusted you
   since I was young.
    ⁶I have relied on you ^[b] from the day I was born.
   You brought me safely
   through birth,
   and I always praise you.
    ⁷Many people think of me
   as something evil.
   But you are my mighty protector,
    ⁸and I praise and honor you
   all day long.
    ⁹Don't throw me aside
   when I am old;
   don't desert me
   when my strength is gone.
    ¹⁰My enemies are plotting
   because they want me dead.
    ¹¹They say, "Now we'll catch you!
   God has deserted you,
   and no one can save you."
    ¹²Come closer, God!
   Please hurry and help.
    ¹³Embarrass and destroy
   all who want me dead;
   disgrace and confuse
   all who want to hurt me.
    ¹⁴I will never give up hope
   or stop praising you.
    ¹⁵All day long I will tell
   the wonderful things you do
   to save your people.
   But you have done much more
   than I could possibly know.
    ¹⁶I will praise you, LORD God,
   for your mighty deeds
   and your power to save.
    ¹⁷You have taught me
   since I was a child,
   and I never stop telling about
   your marvelous deeds.
    ¹⁸Don't leave me when I am old
   and my hair turns gray.
   Let me tell future generations
   about your mighty power.
    ¹⁹Your deeds of kindness
   are known in the heavens.
   No one is like you!
    ²⁰You made me suffer a lot,
   but you will bring me
   back from this deep pit
   and give me new life.
    ²¹You will make me truly great
   and take my sorrow away.
    ²²I will praise you, God,
   the Holy One of Israel.
   You are faithful.
   I will play the harp
   and sing your praises.
    ²³You have rescued me!
   I will celebrate and shout,
   singing praises to you
   with all my heart.
    ²⁴All day long I will announce
   your power to save.
   I will tell how you disgraced
   and disappointed
   those who wanted to hurt me.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 71:3 mighty rock: See the note at 18.2.
2. Psalm 71:6 I. . . you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Proverbs 12:5-7 (Contemporary English Version)

⁵Good people have kind thoughts,
   but you should never trust
   the advice of someone evil.
    ⁶Bad advice is a deadly trap,
   but good advice
   is like a shield.
    ⁷Once the wicked are defeated,
   they are gone forever,
   but no one who obeys God
   will ever be thrown down.

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Verse of the Day

“He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, "He is a nobody!" He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought his suffering was punishment from God.” - Isaiah 53:3-4

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

Dutch major Post-Impressionist artist, Vincent van Gogh wrote, “The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”