Bible Readings for April 5, 2017

Today our passages are Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; and Proverbs 12:18. The readings are from 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.

 

 

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Deuteronomy 28:1-68 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 28

The LORD Will Bless You if You Obey

Moses said to Israel:

 ^1-2Today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the LORD your God. Always obey them, and the LORD will make Israel the most famous and important nation on earth, and he will bless you in many ways.     ³The LORD will make your businesses and your farms successful.
    ⁴You will have many children. You will harvest large crops, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats will produce many young.
    ⁵You will have plenty of bread ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[]} to eat. ⁶The LORD will make you successful in your daily work.
    ⁷The LORD will help you defeat your enemies and make them scatter in all directions.
    ⁸The LORD your God is giving you the land, and he will make sure you are successful in everything you do. Your harvests will be so large that your storehouses will be full.
    ⁹If you follow and obey the LORD, he will make you his own special people, just as he promised. ¹⁰Then everyone on earth will know that you belong to the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.
    ¹¹The LORD will give you a lot of children and make sure that your animals give birth to many young. The LORD promised your ancestors that this land would be yours, and he will make it produce large crops for you.
    ¹²The LORD will open the storehouses of the skies where he keeps the rain, and he will send rain on your land at just the right times. He will make you successful in everything you do. You will have plenty of money to lend to other nations, but you won't need to borrow any yourself.
    ¹³Obey the laws and teachings that I'm giving you today, and the LORD your God will make Israel a leader among the nations, and not a follower. Israel will be wealthy and powerful, not poor and weak. ¹⁴But you must not reject any of his laws and teachings or worship other gods.
   Moses said:
   

The LORD Will Put Curses on You if You Disobey

(Leviticus 26.14-46)

 ¹⁵Israel, today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the LORD your God. And if you don't obey them all, he will put many curses on you.     ¹⁶Your businesses and farms will fail.
    ¹⁷You won't have enough bread to eat.
    ¹⁸You'll have only a few children, your crops will be small, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats won't produce many young.
    ¹⁹The LORD will make you fail in everything you do.
    ²⁰No matter what you try to accomplish, the LORD will confuse you, and you will feel his anger. You won't last long, and you may even meet with disaster, all because you rejected the LORD.
    ^21-23The LORD will send terrible diseases to attack you, and you will never be well again. You will suffer with burning fever and swelling and pain until you die somewhere in the land that you captured.
   The LORD will make the sky overhead seem like a bronze roof that keeps out the rain, and the ground under your feet will become as hard as iron. Your crops will be scorched by the hot east wind or ruined by mildew. ²⁴He will send dust and sandstorms instead of rain, and you will be wiped out.
    ²⁵The LORD will let you be defeated by your enemies, and you will scatter in all directions. You will be a horrible sight for the other nations to see, ²⁶and no one will disturb the birds and wild animals while they eat your dead bodies.
    ²⁷The LORD will make you suffer with diseases that will cause oozing sores or crusty itchy patches on your skin or boils like the ones that are common in Egypt. And there will be no cure for you! ²⁸You will become insane and go blind. The LORD will make you so confused, ²⁹that even in bright sunshine you will have to feel your way around like a blind person, who cannot tell day from night. For the rest of your life, people will beat and rob you, and no one will be able to stop them.
    ³⁰A man will be engaged to a woman, but before they can get married, she will be raped by enemy soldiers. Some of you will build houses, but never get to live in them. If you plant a vineyard, you won't be around long enough to enjoy the first harvest. ³¹Your cattle will be killed while you watch, but you won't get to eat any of the meat. Your donkeys and sheep will be stolen from you, and no one will be around to force your enemies to give them back. ³²Your sons and daughters will be dragged off to a foreign country, while you stand there helpless. And even if you watch for them until you go blind, you will never see them again.
    ³³You will work hard on your farms, but everything you harvest will be eaten by foreigners, who will mistreat you and abuse you for the rest of your life.
    ³⁴What you see will be so horrible that you will go insane, ³⁵and the LORD will punish you from head to toe with boils that never heal.
    ³⁶The LORD will let you and your king be taken captive to a country that you and your ancestors have never even heard of, and there you will have to worship idols ^[b<="">] made of wood and stone. ³⁷People of nearby countries will shudder when they see your terrible troubles, but they will still make fun of you. ³⁸You will plant a lot of seed, but gather a small harvest, because locusts ^[c<="">] will eat your crops. ³⁹You will plant vineyards and work hard at taking care of them, but you won't gather any grapes, much less get any wine, and the vines themselves will be eaten by worms. ⁴⁰Even if your olive trees grow everywhere in your country, the olives will fall off before they are ready, and there won't be enough olive oil for combing your hair. ^{[d<="">] 41}Even your infant sons and daughters will be taken as prisoners of war.
    ⁴²Locusts ^[e<="">] will eat your crops and strip your trees of leaves and fruit. ⁴³Foreigners in your towns will become wealthy and powerful, while you become poor and powerless. ⁴⁴You will be so short of money that you will have to borrow from those foreigners. They will be the leaders in the community, and you will be the followers.
   

More Curses for Disobedience

Moses said:

 ⁴⁵Israel, if you don't obey the laws and teachings that the LORD your God is giving you, he will send these curses to chase, attack, and destroy you. ⁴⁶Then everyone will look at you and your descendants and realize that the LORD has placed you under a curse.     ⁴⁷If the LORD makes you wealthy, but you don't joyfully worship and honor him, ⁴⁸he will send enemies to attack you and make you their slaves. Then you will live in poverty with nothing to eat, drink, or wear, and your owners will work you to death.
    ⁴⁹Foreigners who speak a strange language will be sent to attack you without warning, just like an eagle swooping down. ⁵⁰They won't show any mercy, and they will have no respect for old people or pity for children. ⁵¹They will take your cattle, sheep, goats, grain, wine, and olive oil, then leave you to starve.
    ⁵²All over the land that the LORD your God gave you, the enemy army will surround your towns. You may feel safe inside your town walls, but the enemy will tear them down, ⁵³while you wait in horror. Finally, you will get so hungry that you will eat the sons and daughters that the LORD gave you. ^54-55Because of hunger, a man who had been gentle and kind will eat his own children and refuse to share the meal with his brother or wife or with his other children. ^56-57A woman may have grown up in such luxury that she never had to put a foot on the ground. But times will be so bad that she will secretly eat both her newborn baby and the afterbirth, without sharing any with her husband or her other children.
   

Disobedience Brings Destruction

Moses said to Israel:

 ⁵⁸You must obey everything in The Book of God's Law. Because if you don't respect the LORD, ⁵⁹he will punish you and your descendants with incurable diseases, ⁶⁰like those you were so afraid of in Egypt. ⁶¹Remember! If the LORD decides to destroy your nation, he can use any disease or disaster, not just the ones written in The Book of God's Law.     ⁶²There are as many of you now as the stars in the sky, but if you disobey the LORD your God, only a few of you will be left. ⁶³The LORD is happy to make you successful and to help your nation grow while you conquer the land. But if you disobey him, he will be just as happy to pull you up by your roots.
    ⁶⁴Those of you that survive will be scattered to every nation on earth, and you will have to worship stone and wood idols ^[f<="">] that never helped you or your ancestors. ⁶⁵You will be restless--always longing for home, but never able to return. ⁶⁶You will live in constant fear of death. ⁶⁷Each morning you will wake up to such terrible sights that you will say, " I wish it were night!" But at night you will be terrified and say, " I wish it were day!" ⁶⁸I told you never to go back to Egypt. But now the LORD himself will load you on ships and send you back. Then you will even try to sell yourselves as slaves, but no one will be interested.
   

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 28:5 bread: The main food of the Israelites.
2. Deuteronomy 28:36 have to worship idols: It was sometimes thought that only the gods of a country could be worshiped within the borders of that country.
3. Deuteronomy 28:38 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
4. Deuteronomy 28:40 olive oil. . . hair: Olive oil was used for combing the hair.
5. Deuteronomy 28:42 Locusts: See the note at 28.38.
6. Deuteronomy 28:64 have to worship. . . idols: See the note at 28.36.

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Luke 11:14-36 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus and the Ruler of Demons

(Matthew 12.22-30; Mark 3.20-27)

 ¹⁴Jesus forced a demon out of a man who could not talk. And after the demon had gone out, the man started speaking, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵But some people said, "He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!"     ¹⁶Others wanted to put Jesus to the test. So they asked him to show them a sign from God. ¹⁷Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said:
   A kingdom where people fight each other will end up in ruin. And a family that fights will break up. ¹⁸If Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I force out demons by the power of Beelzebul. ¹⁹If I use his power to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? They are the ones who will judge you. ²⁰But if I use God's power to force out demons, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you.
    ²¹When a strong man arms himself and guards his home, everything he owns is safe. ²²But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will carry off the weapons in which the strong man trusted. Then he will divide with others what he has taken. ²³If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don't gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.
   

Return of an Evil Spirit

(Matthew 12.43-45)

 ²⁴When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when it doesn't find a place, it says, "I will go back to the home I left." ²⁵When it gets there and finds the place clean and fixed up, ²⁶it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse than itself. They all come and make their home there, and that person ends up in worse shape than before.    

Being Really Blessed

 ²⁷While Jesus was still talking, a woman in the crowd spoke up, "The woman who gave birth to you and nursed you is blessed!"     ²⁸Jesus replied, "That's true, but the people who are really blessed are the ones who hear and obey God's message!" ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[]}

A Sign from God

(Matthew 12.38-42; Mark 8.12)

 ²⁹As crowds were gathering around Jesus, he said:    You people of today are evil! You keep looking for a sign from God. But what happened to Jonah ^[b<="">] is the only sign you will be given. ³⁰Just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, the Son of Man will be a sign to the people of today. ³¹When the judgment comes, the Queen of the South ^[c<="">] will stand there with you and condemn you. She traveled a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom, and yet here is something far greater than Solomon. ³²The people of Nineveh will also stand there with you and condemn you. They turned to God when Jonah preached, and yet here is something far greater than Jonah.

Light

(Matthew 5.15; 6.22,23)

 ³³No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a clay pot. A lamp is put on a lampstand, so that everyone who comes into the house can see the light. ³⁴Your eyes are the lamp for your body. When your eyes are good, you have all the light you need. But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. ³⁵So be sure that your light isn't darkness. ³⁶If you have light, and nothing is dark, then light will be everywhere, as when a lamp shines brightly on you.    

Footnotes:

1. Luke 11:28 " That's true, but the people who are really blessed. . . message" : Or " `That's not true, the people who are blessed. . . message.' "
2. Luke 11:29 what happened to Jonah: Jonah was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and nights (see Matthew 12.40).
3. Luke 11:31 Queen of the South: Sheba, probably a country in southern Arabia.

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Psalm 77:1-20 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 77

(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.)

In Times of Trouble God Is with His People

 ¹I pray to you, Lord God,    and I beg you to listen.
    ²In days filled with trouble,
   I search for you.
   And at night I tirelessly
   lift my hands in prayer,
   refusing comfort.
    ³When I think of you,
   I feel restless and weak.
    ⁴Because of you, Lord God,
   I can't sleep.
   I am restless
   and can't even talk.
    ⁵I think of times gone by,
   of those years long ago.
    ⁶Each night my mind
   is flooded with questions: ^{a<="" value="[a]" >[] 7}"Have you rejected me forever?
   Won't you be kind again?
    ⁸Is this the end of your love
   and your promises?
    ⁹Have you forgotten
   how to have pity?
   Do you refuse to show mercy
   because of your anger?"
    ¹⁰Then I said, "God Most High,
   what hurts me most
   is that you no longer help us
   with your mighty arm."
    ¹¹Our LORD, I will remember
   the things you have done,
   your miracles of long ago.
    ¹²I will think about each one
   of your mighty deeds.
    ¹³Everything you do is right,
   and no other god
   compares with you.
    ¹⁴You alone work miracles,
   and you have let nations
   see your mighty power.
    ¹⁵With your own arm you rescued
   your people,
   the descendants
   of Jacob and Joseph.
    ¹⁶The ocean looked at you, God,
   and it trembled deep down
   with fear.
    ¹⁷Water flowed from the clouds.
   Thunder was heard above
   as your arrows of lightning
   flashed about.
    ¹⁸Your thunder roared
   like chariot wheels.
   The world was made bright
   by lightning,
   and all the earth trembled.
    ¹⁹You walked through the water
   of the mighty sea,
   but your footprints
   were never seen.
    ²⁰You guided your people
   like a flock of sheep,
   and you chose Moses and Aaron
   to be their leaders.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 77:6 my mind. . . questions: One ancient translation; Hebrew " I remember my music."

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Proverbs 12:18 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁸Sharp words cut like a sword,
   but words of wisdom heal.

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Verse of the Day

“We are ruled by Christ's love for us. We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died. And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States, Booker T. Washington wrote, “My whole life has largely been one of surprises. I believe that any man's life will be filled with constant, unexpected encouragements of this kind if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day of his life — that is, tries to make each day reach as nearly as possible the high-water mark of pure, unselfish, useful living.”

Bible Readings for June 20, 2014

Today our passages are 1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; and Proverbs 17:17-18. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you missed a day, you can find all the readings at our blog, The Bible in a Year.

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1 Kings 22:1-53 (The Message)

1 Kings 22

 ^1-3 They enjoyed three years of peace—no fighting between Aram and Israel. In the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah had a meeting with the king of Israel. Israel's king remarked to his aides, "Do you realize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, and we're sitting around on our hands instead of taking it back from the king of Aram?"  ^4-5 He turned to Jehoshaphat and said, "Will you join me in fighting for Ramoth Gilead?"
    Jehoshaphat said, "You bet. I'm with you all the way—my troops are your troops, my horses are your horses." He then continued, "But before you do anything, ask God for guidance."
 ⁶ The king of Israel got the prophets together—all four hundred of them —and put the question to them: "Should I attack Ramoth Gilead? Or should I hold back?"
    "Go for it," they said. "God will hand it over to the king."
 ⁷ But Jehoshaphat dragged his heels: "Is there still another prophet of God around here we can consult?"
 ⁸ The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, "As a matter of fact, there is still one such man. But I hate him. He never preaches anything good to me, only doom, doom, doom—Micaiah son of Imlah."
    "The king shouldn't talk about a prophet like that," said Jehoshaphat.
 ⁹ So the king of Israel ordered one of his men, "On the double! Get Micaiah son of Imlah."
 ^10-12 Meanwhile, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat were seated on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes, resplendent in front of the Samaria city gates. All the prophets were staging a prophecy-performance for their benefit. Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had even made a set of iron horns, and brandishing them called out, "God's word! With these horns you'll gore Aram until there's nothing left of him!" All the prophets chimed in, "Yes! Go for Ramoth Gilead! An easy victory! God's gift to the king!"
 ¹³ The messenger who went to get Micaiah said, "The prophets have all said Yes to the king. Make it unanimous—vote Yes!"
 ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, "As surely as God lives, what God says, I'll say."
 ¹⁵ With Micaiah before him, the king asked him, "So Micaiah—do we attack Ramoth Gilead, or do we hold back?"
    "Go ahead," he said. "An easy victory. God's gift to the king."
 ¹⁶ "Not so fast," said the king. "How many times have I made you promise under oath to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth?"
 ¹⁷ "All right," said Micaiah, "since you insist.
    I saw all of Israel scattered over the hills,
      sheep with no shepherd.
   Then God spoke: 'These poor people
      have no one to tell them what to do.
   Let them go home and do
      the best they can for themselves.'"
 ¹⁸ Then the king of Israel turned to Jehoshaphat, "See! What did I tell you? He never has a good word for me from God, only doom."
 ^19-23 Micaiah kept on: "I'm not done yet; listen to God's word:
    I saw God enthroned,
      and all the angel armies of heaven
   Standing at attention
      ranged on his right and his left.
   And God said, 'How can we seduce Ahab
      into attacking Ramoth Gilead?'
   Some said this,
      and some said that.
   Then a bold angel stepped out,
      stood before God, and said,
   'I'll seduce him.'
      'And how will you do it?' said God.
   'Easy,' said the angel,
      'I'll get all the prophets to lie.'
   'That should do it,' said God.
      'On your way—seduce him!'
"And that's what has happened. God filled the mouths of your puppet prophets with seductive lies. God has pronounced your doom."
 ²⁴ Just then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came up and punched Micaiah in the nose, saying, "Since when did the Spirit of God leave me and take up with you?"
 ²⁵ Micaiah said, "You'll know soon enough; you'll know it when you're frantically and futilely looking for a place to hide."
 ^26-27 The king of Israel had heard enough: "Get Micaiah out of here! Turn him over to Amon the city magistrate and to Joash the king's son with this message, 'King's orders: Lock him up in jail; keep him on bread and water until I'm back in one piece.'"
 ²⁸ Micaiah said, "If you ever get back in one piece, I'm no prophet of God."
    He added,"When it happens, O people, remember where you heard it!"
 ^29-30 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Wear my kingly robe; I'm going into battle disguised." So the king of Israel entered the battle in disguise.
 ³¹ Meanwhile, the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders (there were thirty-two of them): "Don't bother with anyone, whether small or great; go after the king of Israel and him only."
 ^32-33 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they said, "There he is! The king of Israel!" and took after him. Jehoshaphat yelled out, and the chariot commanders realized they had the wrong man—it wasn't the king of Israel after all. They let him go.
 ³⁴ Just then someone, without aiming, shot an arrow randomly into the crowd and hit the king of Israel in the chink of his armor. The king told his charioteer, "Turn back! Get me out of here—I'm wounded."
 ^35-37 All day the fighting continued, hot and heavy. Propped up in his chariot, the king watched from the sidelines. He died that evening. Blood from his wound pooled in the chariot. As the sun went down, shouts reverberated through the ranks, "Abandon camp! Head for home! The king is dead!"
 ^37-38 The king was brought to Samaria and there they buried him. They washed down the chariot at the pool of Samaria where the town whores bathed, and the dogs lapped up the blood, just as God's word had said.
 ^39-40 The rest of Ahab's life—everything he did, the ivory palace he built, the towns he founded, and the defense system he built up—is all written up in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. He was buried in the family cemetery and his son Ahaziah was the next king.

Jehoshaphat of Judah

^41-44 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. He continued the kind of life characteristic of his father Asa—no detours, no dead ends—pleasing God with his life. But he failed to get rid of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines. People continued to pray and worship at these idolatrous shrines. And he kept on good terms with the king of Israel.  ^45-46 The rest of Jehoshaphat's life, his achievements and his battles, is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Also, he got rid of the sacred prostitutes left over from the days of his father Asa.
 ⁴⁷ Edom was kingless during his reign; a deputy was in charge.
 ^48-49 Jehoshaphat built ocean-going ships to sail to Ophir for gold. But they never made it; they shipwrecked at Ezion Geber. During that time Ahaziah son of Ahab proposed a joint shipping venture, but Jehoshaphat wouldn't go in with him.
 ⁵⁰ Then Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the family cemetery in the City of David his ancestor. Jehoram his son was the next king.

Ahaziah of Israel

^51-53 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He ruled Israel for two years. As far as God was concerned, he lived an evil life, reproducing the bad life of his father and mother, repeating the pattern set down by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin. Worshiping at the Baal shrines, he made God, the God of Israel, angry, oh, so angry. If anything, he was worse than his father.

 

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Acts 13:16-41 (The Message)

 ^16-20Paul stood up, paused and took a deep breath, then said, "Fellow Israelites and friends of God, listen. God took a special interest in our ancestors, pulled our people who were beaten down in Egyptian exile to their feet, and led them out of there in grand style. He took good care of them for nearly forty years in that godforsaken wilderness and then, having wiped out seven enemies who stood in the way, gave them the land of Canaan for their very own—a span in all of about 450 years.
 ^20-22"Up to the time of Samuel the prophet, God provided judges to lead them. But then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, out of the tribe of Benjamin. After Saul had ruled forty years, God removed him from office and put King David in his place, with this commendation: 'I've searched the land and found this David, son of Jesse. He's a man whose heart beats to my heart, a man who will do what I tell him.'
 ^23-25"From out of David's descendants God produced a Savior for Israel, Jesus, exactly as he promised—but only after John had thoroughly alerted the people to his arrival by preparing them for a total life-change. As John was finishing up his work, he said, 'Did you think I was the One? No, I'm not the One. But the One you've been waiting for all these years is just around the corner, about to appear. And I'm about to disappear.'
 ^26-29"Dear brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, and friends of God, this message of salvation has been precisely targeted to you. The citizens and rulers in Jerusalem didn't recognize who he was and condemned him to death. They couldn't find a good reason, but demanded that Pilate execute him anyway. They did just what the prophets said they would do, but had no idea they were following to the letter the script of the prophets, even though those same prophets are read every Sabbath in their meeting places.
 ^29-31"After they had done everything the prophets said they would do, they took him down from the cross and buried him. And then God raised him from death. There is no disputing that—he appeared over and over again many times and places to those who had known him well in the Galilean years, and these same people continue to give witness that he is alive.
 ^32-35"And we're here today bringing you good news: the Message that what God promised the fathers has come true for the children—for us! He raised Jesus, exactly as described in the second Psalm:

   My Son! My very own Son!
   Today I celebrate you!
"When he raised him from the dead, he did it for good—no going back to that rot and decay for him. That's why Isaiah said, 'I'll give to all of you David's guaranteed blessings.' So also the psalmist's prayer: 'You'll never let your Holy One see death's rot and decay.'
 ^36-39"David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now. But the One God raised up—no dust and ashes for him! I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.
 ^40-41"Don't take this lightly. You don't want the prophet's sermon to describe you:

   Watch out, cynics;
   Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces.
   I'm doing something right before your eyes
   That you won't believe, though it's staring you in the face."

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Psalm 138:1-8 (The Message)

Psalm 138

A David Psalm

 ^1-3 Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!" Angels listen as I sing my thanks.
   I kneel in worship facing your holy temple
      and say it again: "Thank you!"
   Thank you for your love,
      thank you for your faithfulness;
   Most holy is your name,
      most holy is your Word.
   The moment I called out, you stepped in;
      you made my life large with strength.

 ^4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,
      all earth's kings will say "Thank you."
   They'll sing of what you've done:
      "How great the glory of God!"
   And here's why: God, high above, sees far below;
      no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

 ^7-8 When I walk into the thick of trouble,
      keep me alive in the angry turmoil.
   With one hand
      strike my foes,
   With your other hand
      save me.
   Finish what you started in me, God.
      Your love is eternal—don't quit on me now.

 

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Proverbs 17:17-18 (The Message)

One Who Knows Much Says Little

 ¹⁷ Friends love through all kinds of weather,
   and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

 ¹⁸ It's stupid to try to get something for nothing,
   or run up huge bills you can never pay.

 

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Verse of the Day

 

“What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself?” - Mark 8:36

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States, Booker T. Washington wrote, “Excellence is to do a common things in an uncommon way.”

Bible Readings for April 5, 2013

Today our passages are Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; and Proverbs 12:18. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Deuteronomy 28:1-68 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 28

The LORD Will Bless You if You Obey

Moses said to Israel:

 ^1-2Today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the LORD your God. Always obey them, and the LORD will make Israel the most famous and important nation on earth, and he will bless you in many ways.     ³The LORD will make your businesses and your farms successful.     ⁴You will have many children. You will harvest large crops, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats will produce many young.     ⁵You will have plenty of bread ^a] to eat. ⁶The LORD will make you successful in your daily work.     ⁷The LORD will help you defeat your enemies and make them scatter in all directions.     ⁸The LORD your God is giving you the land, and he will make sure you are successful in everything you do. Your harvests will be so large that your storehouses will be full.     ⁹If you follow and obey the LORD, he will make you his own special people, just as he promised. ¹⁰Then everyone on earth will know that you belong to the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.     ¹¹The LORD will give you a lot of children and make sure that your animals give birth to many young. The LORD promised your ancestors that this land would be yours, and he will make it produce large crops for you.     ¹²The LORD will open the storehouses of the skies where he keeps the rain, and he will send rain on your land at just the right times. He will make you successful in everything you do. You will have plenty of money to lend to other nations, but you won't need to borrow any yourself.     ¹³Obey the laws and teachings that I'm giving you today, and the LORD your God will make Israel a leader among the nations, and not a follower. Israel will be wealthy and powerful, not poor and weak. ¹⁴But you must not reject any of his laws and teachings or worship other gods.    Moses said:    

The LORD Will Put Curses on You if You Disobey

(Leviticus 26.14-46)

 ¹⁵Israel, today I am giving you the laws and teachings of the LORD your God. And if you don't obey them all, he will put many curses on you.     ¹⁶Your businesses and farms will fail.     ¹⁷You won't have enough bread to eat.     ¹⁸You'll have only a few children, your crops will be small, and your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats won't produce many young.     ¹⁹The LORD will make you fail in everything you do.     ²⁰No matter what you try to accomplish, the LORD will confuse you, and you will feel his anger. You won't last long, and you may even meet with disaster, all because you rejected the LORD.     ^21-23The LORD will send terrible diseases to attack you, and you will never be well again. You will suffer with burning fever and swelling and pain until you die somewhere in the land that you captured.    The LORD will make the sky overhead seem like a bronze roof that keeps out the rain, and the ground under your feet will become as hard as iron. Your crops will be scorched by the hot east wind or ruined by mildew. ²⁴He will send dust and sandstorms instead of rain, and you will be wiped out.     ²⁵The LORD will let you be defeated by your enemies, and you will scatter in all directions. You will be a horrible sight for the other nations to see, ²⁶and no one will disturb the birds and wild animals while they eat your dead bodies.     ²⁷The LORD will make you suffer with diseases that will cause oozing sores or crusty itchy patches on your skin or boils like the ones that are common in Egypt. And there will be no cure for you! ²⁸You will become insane and go blind. The LORD will make you so confused, ²⁹that even in bright sunshine you will have to feel your way around like a blind person, who cannot tell day from night. For the rest of your life, people will beat and rob you, and no one will be able to stop them.     ³⁰A man will be engaged to a woman, but before they can get married, she will be raped by enemy soldiers. Some of you will build houses, but never get to live in them. If you plant a vineyard, you won't be around long enough to enjoy the first harvest. ³¹Your cattle will be killed while you watch, but you won't get to eat any of the meat. Your donkeys and sheep will be stolen from you, and no one will be around to force your enemies to give them back. ³²Your sons and daughters will be dragged off to a foreign country, while you stand there helpless. And even if you watch for them until you go blind, you will never see them again.     ³³You will work hard on your farms, but everything you harvest will be eaten by foreigners, who will mistreat you and abuse you for the rest of your life.     ³⁴What you see will be so horrible that you will go insane, ³⁵and the LORD will punish you from head to toe with boils that never heal.     ³⁶The LORD will let you and your king be taken captive to a country that you and your ancestors have never even heard of, and there you will have to worship idols ^b] made of wood and stone. ³⁷People of nearby countries will shudder when they see your terrible troubles, but they will still make fun of you. ³⁸You will plant a lot of seed, but gather a small harvest, because locusts ^c] will eat your crops. ³⁹You will plant vineyards and work hard at taking care of them, but you won't gather any grapes, much less get any wine, and the vines themselves will be eaten by worms. ⁴⁰Even if your olive trees grow everywhere in your country, the olives will fall off before they are ready, and there won't be enough olive oil for combing your hair. ^d] ⁴¹Even your infant sons and daughters will be taken as prisoners of war.     ⁴²Locusts ^e] will eat your crops and strip your trees of leaves and fruit. ⁴³Foreigners in your towns will become wealthy and powerful, while you become poor and powerless. ⁴⁴You will be so short of money that you will have to borrow from those foreigners. They will be the leaders in the community, and you will be the followers.    

More Curses for Disobedience

Moses said:

 ⁴⁵Israel, if you don't obey the laws and teachings that the LORD your God is giving you, he will send these curses to chase, attack, and destroy you. ⁴⁶Then everyone will look at you and your descendants and realize that the LORD has placed you under a curse.     ⁴⁷If the LORD makes you wealthy, but you don't joyfully worship and honor him, ⁴⁸he will send enemies to attack you and make you their slaves. Then you will live in poverty with nothing to eat, drink, or wear, and your owners will work you to death.     ⁴⁹Foreigners who speak a strange language will be sent to attack you without warning, just like an eagle swooping down. ⁵⁰They won't show any mercy, and they will have no respect for old people or pity for children. ⁵¹They will take your cattle, sheep, goats, grain, wine, and olive oil, then leave you to starve.     ⁵²All over the land that the LORD your God gave you, the enemy army will surround your towns. You may feel safe inside your town walls, but the enemy will tear them down, ⁵³while you wait in horror. Finally, you will get so hungry that you will eat the sons and daughters that the LORD gave you. ^54-55Because of hunger, a man who had been gentle and kind will eat his own children and refuse to share the meal with his brother or wife or with his other children. ^56-57A woman may have grown up in such luxury that she never had to put a foot on the ground. But times will be so bad that she will secretly eat both her newborn baby and the afterbirth, without sharing any with her husband or her other children.    

Disobedience Brings Destruction

Moses said to Israel:

 ⁵⁸You must obey everything in The Book of God's Law. Because if you don't respect the LORD, ⁵⁹he will punish you and your descendants with incurable diseases, ⁶⁰like those you were so afraid of in Egypt. ⁶¹Remember! If the LORD decides to destroy your nation, he can use any disease or disaster, not just the ones written in The Book of God's Law.     ⁶²There are as many of you now as the stars in the sky, but if you disobey the LORD your God, only a few of you will be left. ⁶³The LORD is happy to make you successful and to help your nation grow while you conquer the land. But if you disobey him, he will be just as happy to pull you up by your roots.     ⁶⁴Those of you that survive will be scattered to every nation on earth, and you will have to worship stone and wood idols ^f] that never helped you or your ancestors. ⁶⁵You will be restless--always longing for home, but never able to return. ⁶⁶You will live in constant fear of death. ⁶⁷Each morning you will wake up to such terrible sights that you will say, " I wish it were night!" But at night you will be terrified and say, " I wish it were day!" ⁶⁸I told you never to go back to Egypt. But now the LORD himself will load you on ships and send you back. Then you will even try to sell yourselves as slaves, but no one will be interested.    

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 28:5 bread: The main food of the Israelites.
2. Deuteronomy 28:36 have to worship idols: It was sometimes thought that only the gods of a country could be worshiped within the borders of that country.
3. Deuteronomy 28:38 locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
4. Deuteronomy 28:40 olive oil. . . hair: Olive oil was used for combing the hair.
5. Deuteronomy 28:42 Locusts: See the note at 28.38.
6. Deuteronomy 28:64 have to worship. . . idols: See the note at 28.36.

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Luke 11:14-36 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus and the Ruler of Demons

(Matthew 12.22-30; Mark 3.20-27)

 ¹⁴Jesus forced a demon out of a man who could not talk. And after the demon had gone out, the man started speaking, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵But some people said, "He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!"     ¹⁶Others wanted to put Jesus to the test. So they asked him to show them a sign from God. ¹⁷Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said:    A kingdom where people fight each other will end up in ruin. And a family that fights will break up. ¹⁸If Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I force out demons by the power of Beelzebul. ¹⁹If I use his power to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? They are the ones who will judge you. ²⁰But if I use God's power to force out demons, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you.     ²¹When a strong man arms himself and guards his home, everything he owns is safe. ²²But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will carry off the weapons in which the strong man trusted. Then he will divide with others what he has taken. ²³If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don't gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.    

Return of an Evil Spirit

(Matthew 12.43-45)

 ²⁴When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when it doesn't find a place, it says, "I will go back to the home I left." ²⁵When it gets there and finds the place clean and fixed up, ²⁶it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse than itself. They all come and make their home there, and that person ends up in worse shape than before.    

Being Really Blessed

 ²⁷While Jesus was still talking, a woman in the crowd spoke up, "The woman who gave birth to you and nursed you is blessed!"     ²⁸Jesus replied, "That's true, but the people who are really blessed are the ones who hear and obey God's message!" ^a]

A Sign from God

(Matthew 12.38-42; Mark 8.12)

 ²⁹As crowds were gathering around Jesus, he said:    You people of today are evil! You keep looking for a sign from God. But what happened to Jonah ^b] is the only sign you will be given. ³⁰Just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, the Son of Man will be a sign to the people of today. ³¹When the judgment comes, the Queen of the South ^c] will stand there with you and condemn you. She traveled a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom, and yet here is something far greater than Solomon. ³²The people of Nineveh will also stand there with you and condemn you. They turned to God when Jonah preached, and yet here is something far greater than Jonah.

Light

(Matthew 5.15; 6.22,23)

 ³³No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a clay pot. A lamp is put on a lampstand, so that everyone who comes into the house can see the light. ³⁴Your eyes are the lamp for your body. When your eyes are good, you have all the light you need. But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. ³⁵So be sure that your light isn't darkness. ³⁶If you have light, and nothing is dark, then light will be everywhere, as when a lamp shines brightly on you.    

Footnotes:

1. Luke 11:28 " That's true, but the people who are really blessed. . . message" : Or " `That's not true, the people who are blessed. . . message.' "
2. Luke 11:29 what happened to Jonah: Jonah was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and nights (see Matthew 12.40).
3. Luke 11:31 Queen of the South: Sheba, probably a country in southern Arabia.

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Psalm 77:1-20 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 77

(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.)

In Times of Trouble God Is with His People

 ¹I pray to you, Lord God,    and I beg you to listen.     ²In days filled with trouble,    I search for you.    And at night I tirelessly    lift my hands in prayer,    refusing comfort.     ³When I think of you,    I feel restless and weak.     ⁴Because of you, Lord God,    I can't sleep.    I am restless    and can't even talk.     ⁵I think of times gone by,    of those years long ago.     ⁶Each night my mind    is flooded with questions: ^a] ⁷"Have you rejected me forever?    Won't you be kind again?     ⁸Is this the end of your love    and your promises?     ⁹Have you forgotten    how to have pity?    Do you refuse to show mercy    because of your anger?"     ¹⁰Then I said, "God Most High,    what hurts me most    is that you no longer help us    with your mighty arm."     ¹¹Our LORD, I will remember    the things you have done,    your miracles of long ago.     ¹²I will think about each one    of your mighty deeds.     ¹³Everything you do is right,    and no other god    compares with you.     ¹⁴You alone work miracles,    and you have let nations    see your mighty power.     ¹⁵With your own arm you rescued    your people,    the descendants    of Jacob and Joseph.     ¹⁶The ocean looked at you, God,    and it trembled deep down    with fear.     ¹⁷Water flowed from the clouds.    Thunder was heard above    as your arrows of lightning    flashed about.     ¹⁸Your thunder roared    like chariot wheels.    The world was made bright    by lightning,    and all the earth trembled.     ¹⁹You walked through the water    of the mighty sea,    but your footprints    were never seen.     ²⁰You guided your people    like a flock of sheep,    and you chose Moses and Aaron    to be their leaders.    

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 77:6 my mind. . . questions: One ancient translation; Hebrew " I remember my music."

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Proverbs 12:18 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁸Sharp words cut like a sword,    but words of wisdom heal.

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Verse of the Day

“We are ruled by Christ's love for us. We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died. And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

 

 

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Thought for the Day

 

African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to Republican presidents Booker T. Washington wrote, “In any country, regardless of what its laws say, wherever people act upon the idea that the disadvantage of one man is the good of another, there slavery exists. Wherever, in any country the whole people feel that the happiness of all is dependent upon the happiness of the weakest, there freedom exists.”