The Bible in a Year: Bible Readings for January 31, 2019

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. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

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:

Exodus 12:29the king: See the note at 1.11.
Exodus 12:31the king: See the note at 1.11.
Exodus 13:3Abib: Or Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.
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.
Exodus 13:15The king: See the note at 1.11.

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 ^[b] needs them.' Right away he will let you have the donkeys." ⁴So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ⁵"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." ¹⁴Blind and lame people came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵But 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. ¹⁶The 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:

Matthew 20:30Son of David: See the note at 9.27.
Matthew 21:3The Lord: Or "The master of the donkeys."
Matthew 21:8spread clothes. . . put down branches: This was one way that the Jewish people welcomed a famous person.
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.
Matthew 21:9Son of David: See the note at 9.27.

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.

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.

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.

Thought for the Day

Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova wrote, “No one can arrive from being talented alone, work transforms talent into genius.”

A Joke for Today

Three engineers and three accountants are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three accountants each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.

"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks an accountant.

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

They all board the train. The accountants take their respective seats but all three engineers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please."

The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

The accountants saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the accountants decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money, and all that). When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all.

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" says one perplexed accountant.