Bible Readings for January 1, 2015

Today our passages are Genesis 1:1–2:25; Matthew 1:1–2:12; Psalm 1:1-6; and Proverbs 1:1-6. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

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Genesis 1-2:25 (Contemporary English Version)

Genesis 1

The Story of Creation

 ¹In the beginning God    created the heavens
   and the earth. ^{[a] 2}The earth was barren,
   with no form of life; ^[b] it was under a roaring ocean
   covered with darkness.
   But the Spirit of God ^[c] was moving over the water.
   

The First Day

 ³ God said, "I command light to shine!" And light started shining. ⁴God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness ⁵and named the light "Day" and the darkness "Night." Evening came and then morning--that was the first day. ^[d]

The Second Day

 ⁶ God said, "I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it." ⁷And that's what happened. God made the dome ⁸and named it "Sky." Evening came and then morning--that was the second day.    

The Third Day

 ⁹ God said, "I command the water under the sky to come together in one place, so there will be dry ground." And that's what happened. ¹⁰God named the dry ground "Land," and he named the water "Ocean." God looked at what he had done and saw that it was good.     ¹¹God said, "I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants, including fruit trees and grain." And that's what happened. ¹²The earth produced all kinds of vegetation. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ¹³Evening came and then morning--that was the third day.
   

The Fourth Day

 ¹⁴ God said, "I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. ¹⁵I command them to shine on the earth." And that's what happened. ¹⁶God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other ^[e] to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, ¹⁸to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ¹⁹Evening came and then morning--that was the fourth day.

The Fifth Day

 ²⁰ God said, "I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth." ²¹So God made the giant sea monsters and all the living creatures that swim in the ocean. He also made every kind of bird. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. ²²Then he gave the living creatures his blessing--he told the ocean creatures to live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to live everywhere on earth. ²³Evening came and then morning--that was the fifth day.    

The Sixth Day

 ²⁴ God said, "I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles." And that's what happened. ²⁵God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good.     ²⁶God said, "Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures."
    ²⁷So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. ²⁸God gave them his blessing and said:
   Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.
    ²⁹I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. ³⁰And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes. These will be food for animals, both wild and tame, and for birds.
    ³¹God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning--that 1was the sixth day.
   

Genesis 2

 ¹So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.    

The Seventh Day

 ² By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. ³God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.     ⁴That's how God created the heavens and the earth.
   When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth,

The Garden of Eden

 ⁵no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. ⁶But streams ^[f] came up from the ground and watered the earth. ⁷The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man. ^[g] God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. ⁸The LORD made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there. ⁹The LORD God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life--the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.     ¹⁰From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. ¹¹The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah, ¹²where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. ¹³The second is the Gihon River that winds through Ethiopia. ^{[h] 14}The Tigris River that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the Euphrates River. ¹⁵The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. ¹⁶But the LORD told him, "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ¹⁷except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!"
    ¹⁸The LORD God said, "It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him." ^19-20So the LORD took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names.
   None of these was the right kind of partner for the man. ²¹So the LORD God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, ²²the LORD made a woman out of the rib.
   The LORD God brought her to the man, ²³and the man exclaimed,
   "Here is someone like me!
   She is part of my body,
   my own flesh and bones.
   She came from me, a man.
   So I will name her Woman!" ^{[i] 24}That's why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.
    ²⁵Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.
   

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 1:1 the heavens and the earth: "The heavens and the earth" stood for the universe.
2. Genesis 1:2 In. . . life: Or "When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was barren with no form of life."
3. Genesis 1:2 the Spirit of God: Or "a mighty wind."
4. Genesis 1:5 the first day: A day was measured from evening to evening.
5. Genesis 1:16 the brighter. . . the other: The sun and the moon. But they are not called by their names, because in Old Testament times some people worshiped the sun and the moon as though they were gods.
6. Genesis 2:6 streams: Or "mist."
7. Genesis 2:7 man: In Hebrew "man" comes from the same word as "soil."
8. Genesis 2:13 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has "Cush," which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
9. Genesis 2:23 a man. . . Woman: In Hebrew the words "man" and "woman" are similar.

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Matthew 1-2:12 (Contemporary English Version)

Matthew 1

The Ancestors of Jesus

(Luke 3.23-38)

 ¹Jesus Christ came from the family of King David and also from the family of Abraham. And this is a list of his ancestors. From Abraham to King David, his ancestors were:    Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah's sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar), Hezron;
   Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David.
    From David to the time of the exile in Babylonia, the ancestors of Jesus were:
   David, Solomon (his mother had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram;
   Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.
    ^12-16From the exile to the birth of Jesus, his ancestors were:
   Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim;
   Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
    ¹⁷There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David. There were also fourteen from David to the exile in Babylonia and fourteen more to the birth of the Messiah.
   

The Birth of Jesus

(Luke 2.1-7)

 ¹⁸This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David's family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God's Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph was a good man ^[a] and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding. ²⁰While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. ²¹Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, ^[b] because he will save his people from their sins." ²²So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, ²³"A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel," which means "God is with us."     ²⁴After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord's angel had told him to do. ²⁵But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.
   

Matthew 2

The Wise Men

 ¹When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men ^[c] from the east came to Jerusalem ²and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east ^[d] and have come to worship him." ³When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"     ⁵They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
    ⁶'Bethlehem in the land
   of Judea,
   you are very important
   among the towns of Judea.
   From your town
   will come a leader,
   who will be like a shepherd
   for my people Israel.' "
    ⁷Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too."
    ⁹The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
    ¹¹When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh ^[e] and gave them to him. ¹²Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 1:19 good man: Or "kind man," or "man who always did the right thing."
2. Matthew 1:21 name him Jesus: In Hebrew the name "Jesus" means "the Lord saves."
3. Matthew 2:1 wise men: People famous for studying the stars.
4. Matthew 2:2 his star in the east: Or "his star rise."
5. Matthew 2:11 frankincense, and myrrh: Frankincense was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell. Myrrh was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume.

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Psalm 1:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 1

BOOK I

(Psalms 1-41)

The Way to Happiness

 ¹God blesses those people    who refuse evil advice
   and won't follow sinners
   or join in sneering at God.
    ²Instead, the Law of the LORD
   makes them happy,
   and they think about it
   day and night.
    ³They are like trees
   growing beside a stream,
   trees that produce
   fruit in season
   and always have leaves.
   Those people succeed
   in everything they do.
    ⁴That isn't true of those
   who are evil,
   because they are like straw
   blown by the wind.
    ⁵Sinners won't have an excuse
   on the day of judgment,
   and they won't have a place
   with the people of God.
    ⁶The LORD protects everyone
   who follows him,
   but the wicked follow a road
   that leads to ruin.

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Proverbs 1:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Proverbs 1

How Proverbs Can Be Used

 ¹These are the proverbs    of King Solomon of Israel,
   the son of David.
    ²Proverbs will teach you
   wisdom and self-control
   and how to understand
   sayings with deep meanings.
    ³You will learn what is right
   and honest and fair.
    ⁴From these, an ordinary person
   can learn to be smart,
   and young people can gain
   knowledge and good sense.
    ⁵If you are already wise,
   you will become even wiser.
   And if you are smart,
   you will learn to understand
    ⁶proverbs and sayings,
   as well as words of wisdom
   and all kinds of riddles.

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Verse of the Day

Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

English sculptor and artist, Henry Moore wrote, “I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years’.”

Bible Readings for January 11, 2014

Today our passages are Genesis 24:52–26:16; Matthew 8:18-34; Psalm 10:1-15; and Proverbs 3:7-8. The readings are from the  The Message  by Eugene H. Peterson.

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Genesis 24:52-26:16 (The Message)

 ^52-54 When Abraham's servant heard their decision, he bowed in worship before God. Then he brought out gifts of silver and gold and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and mother. He and his men had supper and spent the night. But first thing in the morning they were up. He said, "Send me back to my master."
 ⁵⁵ Her brother and mother said, "Let the girl stay a while, say another ten days, and then go."
 ⁵⁶ He said, "Oh, don't make me wait! God has worked everything out so well—send me off to my master."
 ⁵⁷ They said, "We'll call the girl; we'll ask her."
   They called Rebekah and asked her, "Do you want to go with this man?"
 ⁵⁸ She said, "I'm ready to go."
 ^59-60 So they sent them off, their sister Rebekah with her nurse, and Abraham's servant with his men. And they blessed Rebekah saying,

      You're our sister—live bountifully!
       And your children, triumphantly!
 ⁶¹ Rebekah and her young maids mounted the camels and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah and set off for home.
 ^62-65 Isaac was living in the Negev. He had just come back from a visit to Beer Lahai Roi. In the evening he went out into the field; while meditating he looked up and saw camels coming. When Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac, she got down from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is that man out in the field coming toward us?"
   "That is my master."
   She took her veil and covered herself.
 ^66-67 After the servant told Isaac the whole story of the trip, Isaac took Rebekah into the tent of his mother Sarah. He married Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her. So Isaac found comfort after his mother's death.

Genesis 25

 ^1-2 Abraham married a second time; his new wife was named Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.  ³ Jokshan had Sheba and Dedan.
   Dedan's descendants were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.
 ⁴ Midian had Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah—all from the line of Keturah.
 ^5-6 But Abraham gave everything he possessed to Isaac. While he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons he had by his concubines, but then sent them away to the country of the east, putting a good distance between them and his son Isaac.
 ^7-11 Abraham lived 175 years. Then he took his final breath. He died happy at a ripe old age, full of years, and was buried with his family. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, next to Mamre. It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried next to his wife Sarah. After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived at Beer Lahai Roi.

The Family Tree of Ishmael

¹² This is the family tree of Ishmael son of Abraham, the son that Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham.  ^13-16 These are the names of Ishmael's sons in the order of their births: Nebaioth, Ishmael's firstborn, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah—all the sons of Ishmael. Their settlements and encampments were named after them. Twelve princes with their twelve tribes.
 ^17-18 Ishmael lived 137 years. When he breathed his last and died he was buried with his family. His children settled down all the way from Havilah near Egypt eastward to Shur in the direction of Assyria. The Ishmaelites didn't get along with any of their kin.

Jacob and Esau

^19-20 This is the family tree of Isaac son of Abraham: Abraham had Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean.  ^21-23 Isaac prayed hard to God for his wife because she was barren. God answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. But the children tumbled and kicked inside her so much that she said, "If this is the way it's going to be, why go on living?" She went to God to find out what was going on. God told her,

   Two nations are in your womb,
      two peoples butting heads while still in your body.
   One people will overpower the other,
      and the older will serve the younger.
 ^24-26 When her time to give birth came, sure enough, there were twins in her womb. The first came out reddish, as if snugly wrapped in a hairy blanket; they named him Esau (Hairy). His brother followed, his fist clutched tight to Esau's heel; they named him Jacob (Heel). Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
 ^27-28 The boys grew up. Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman. Jacob was a quiet man preferring life indoors among the tents. Isaac loved Esau because he loved his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
 ^29-30 One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the field, starved. Esau said to Jacob, "Give me some of that red stew—I'm starved!" That's how he came to be called Edom (Red).
 ³¹ Jacob said, "Make me a trade: my stew for your rights as the firstborn."
 ³² Esau said, "I'm starving! What good is a birthright if I'm dead?"
 ^33-34 Jacob said, "First, swear to me." And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That's how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn.

Genesis 26

 ¹ There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.  ^2-5 God appeared to him and said, "Don't go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I'll be with you and bless you. I'm giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I'll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings."
 ⁶ So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
 ⁷ The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, "She's my sister." He was afraid to say "She's my wife." He was thinking, "These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she's so beautiful."
 ^8-9 One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, "So, she's your wife. Why did you tell us 'She's my sister'?"
   Isaac said, "Because I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her."
 ¹⁰ Abimelech said, "But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us."
 ¹¹ Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: "Anyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies."
 ^12-15 Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.
 ¹⁶ Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: "Leave. You've become far too big for us."

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Matthew 8:18-34 (The Message)

Your Business Is Life, Not Death

 ^18-19When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. "I'll go with you, wherever," he said.

 ²⁰Jesus was curt: "Are you ready to rough it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know."

 ²¹Another follower said, "Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father's funeral to take care of."

 ²²Jesus refused. "First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life."

 ^23-25Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat—and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, "Master, save us! We're going down!"

 ²⁶Jesus reprimanded them. "Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?" Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: "Silence!" The sea became smooth as glass.

 ²⁷The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. "What's going on here? Wind and sea come to heel at his command!"

The Madmen and the Pigs

 ^28-31They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, "What business do you have giving us a hard time? You're the Son of God! You weren't supposed to show up here yet!" Off in the distance a herd of pigs was browsing and rooting. The evil spirits begged Jesus, "If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs."

 ^32-34Jesus said, "Go ahead, but get out of here!" Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.

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Psalm 10:1-15 (The Message)

Psalm 10

    God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you?
   Full of hot air, the wicked
      are hot on the trail of the poor.
   Trip them up, tangle them up
      in their fine-tuned plots.

 ^3-4 The wicked are windbags,
      the swindlers have foul breath.
   The wicked snub God,
      their noses stuck high in the air.
   Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls:
      "Catch us if you can!" "God is dead."

 ^5-6 They care nothing for what you think;
      if you get in their way, they blow you off.
   They live (they think) a charmed life:
      "We can't go wrong. This is our lucky year!"

 ^7-8 They carry a mouthful of hexes,
      their tongues spit venom like adders.
   They hide behind ordinary people,
      then pounce on their victims.

 ⁹ They mark the luckless,
      then wait like a hunter in a blind;
   When the poor wretch wanders too close,
      they stab him in the back.

 ^10-11 The hapless fool is kicked to the ground,
      the unlucky victim is brutally axed.
   He thinks God has dumped him,
      he's sure that God is indifferent to his plight.

 ^12-13 Time to get up, God—get moving.
      The luckless think they're Godforsaken.
   They wonder why the wicked scorn God
      and get away with it,
   Why the wicked are so cocksure
      they'll never come up for audit.

 ¹⁴ But you know all about it—
      the contempt, the abuse.
   I dare to believe that the luckless
      will get lucky someday in you.
   You won't let them down:
      orphans won't be orphans forever.

 ^15-16 Break the wicked right arms,
      break all the evil left arms.
   Search and destroy
      every sign of crime.
   God's grace and order wins;
      godlessness loses.

 

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Proverbs 3:7-8 (The Message)

 ^5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
   don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
   he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
   Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
   your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
   give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
   your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
   don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
   a father's delight is behind all this.

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Verse of the Day

 

“When I was really hurting, I prayed to the LORD. He answered my prayer, and took my worries away. The LORD is on my side, and I am not afraid of what others can do to me.” - Psalm 118:5-6

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

English sculptor and artist, Henry Moore wrote, “I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years’.”