Daily Bible CEV January 19 Scroll

Being a Disciple
(Matthew 10.37, 38)

Luke 14 ²⁵Large crowds were walking along with Jesus, when he turned and said:

²⁶You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life.

²⁷You cannot be my disciple unless you carry your own cross and come with me.

²⁸Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won't you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? ²⁹Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you. ³⁰They will say, "You started building, but could not finish the job."

³¹What will a king do if he has only ten thousand soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with twenty thousand soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won't he first sit down and decide if he can win? ³²If he thinks he won't be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off. ³³So then, you cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.

Salt and Light
(Matthew 5.13; Mark 9.50)

³⁴Salt is good, but if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made to taste salty again? ³⁵It is no longer good for the soil or even for the manure pile. People simply throw it out. If you have ears, pay attention!

Isaac and Abimelech

Genesis 26 Once during Abraham's lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, ²because the LORD had appeared to Isaac and said:

Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go. ³You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.

⁴I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth, ⁵because Abraham did everything I told him to do.

⁶Isaac moved to Gerar ⁷with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister. ⁸After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. ⁹Abimelech called him in and said, "Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?"

"Because I thought someone would kill me," Isaac answered.

¹⁰"Don't you know what you've done?" Abimelech exclaimed. "If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!" ¹¹Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.

¹²Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The LORD blessed him, ¹³and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich. ¹⁴In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned, ¹⁵and they stopped up the wells that Abraham's servants had dug before his death. ¹⁶Finally, Abimelech said, "Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here."

¹⁷Isaac left and settled in Gerar Valley, ¹⁸where he cleaned out those wells that the Philistines had stopped up. Isaac also gave each of the wells the same name that Abraham had given to them. ¹⁹While his servants were digging in the valley, they found a spring-fed well. ²⁰But the shepherds of Gerar Valley quarreled with Isaac's shepherds and claimed the water belonged to them. So the well was named "Quarrel," because they had quarreled with Isaac.

²¹Isaac's servants dug another well, and the shepherds also quarreled about it. So that well was named "Jealous." ²²Finally, they dug one more well. There was no quarreling this time, and the well was named "Lots of Room," because the LORD had given them room and would make them very successful.

²³Isaac went on to Beersheba, ²⁴where the LORD appeared to him that night and told him, "Don't be afraid! I am the God who was worshiped by your father Abraham, my servant. I will be with you and bless you, and because of Abraham I will give you many descendants." ²⁵Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. Then he set up camp, and his servants started digging a well.

²⁶Meanwhile, Abimelech had left Gerar and was taking his advisor Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol to see Isaac. ²⁷When they arrived, Isaac asked, "Why are you here? Didn't you send me away because you hated me?"

²⁸They answered, "We now know for certain that the LORD is with you, and we have decided there needs to be a peace treaty between you and us. So let's make a solemn agreement ²⁹not to harm each other. Remember, we have never hurt you, and when we sent you away, we let you go in peace. The LORD has truly blessed you."

³⁰Isaac gave a big feast for them, and everyone ate and drank. ³¹Early the next morning Isaac and the others made a solemn agreement, then he let them go in peace.

³²Later that same day Isaac's servants came and said, "We've struck water!" ³³So Isaac named the well Shibah, and the town is still called Beersheba.

Esau's Foreign Wives

³⁴When Esau was forty, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵But these two women brought a lot of grief to his parents Isaac and Rebekah.

Psalm 19
[A psalm by David for the music leader.]
The Wonders of God and the Goodness of His Law

¹The heavens keep telling the wonders of God,

and the skies declare what he has done.

²Each day informs the following day;

each night announces to the next.

³They don't speak a word,

and there is never the sound of a voice.

⁴Yet their message reaches all the earth,

and it travels around the world.

In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun.

⁵It rises like a bridegroom

and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race.

⁶It travels all the way across the sky.

Nothing hides from its heat.

⁷The Law of the LORD is perfect; it gives us new life.

His teachings last forever,

and they give wisdom to ordinary people.

⁸The LORD's instruction is right;

it makes our hearts glad.

His commands shine brightly, and they give us light.

⁹Worshiping the LORD is sacred;

he will always be worshiped.

All of his decisions are correct and fair.

¹⁰They are worth more than the finest gold

and are sweeter than honey from a honeycomb.

¹¹By your teachings, Lord, I am warned;

by obeying them, I am greatly rewarded.

¹²None of us know our faults.

Forgive me when I sin without knowing it.

¹³Don't let me do wrong on purpose, Lord,

or let sin have control over my life.

Then I will be innocent,

and not guilty of some terrible fault.

¹⁴Let my words and my thoughts

be pleasing to you, LORD,

because you are my mighty rock and my protector.

These daily Bible readings from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. BibleCard® images copyright iCreative. All rights reserved.