Daily Bible CEV January 20 Scroll

One Sheep
(Matthew 18.12-14)

Luke 15 Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. ²So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, "This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them."

³Then Jesus told them this story:

⁴If any of you has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the ninety-nine in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? ⁵And when you find it, you will be so glad that you will put it on your shoulder ⁶and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, "Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep."

⁷Jesus said, "In the same way there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over ninety-nine good people who don't need to."

One Coin

⁸Jesus told the people another story:

What will a woman do if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them? Won't she light a lamp, sweep the floor, and look carefully until she finds it? ⁹Then she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, "Let's celebrate! I've found the coin I lost."

¹⁰Jesus said, "In the same way God's angels are happy when even one person turns to him."

Two Sons

¹¹Jesus also told them another story:

Once a man had two sons. ¹²The younger son said to his father, "Give me my share of the property." So the father divided his property between his two sons.

¹³Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living. ¹⁴He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.

¹⁵He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs. ¹⁶He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.

¹⁷Finally, he came to his senses and said, "My father's workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸I will go to my father and say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers.' "

²⁰The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.

²¹The son said, "Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son."

²²But his father said to the servants, "Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate. ²⁴This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found." And they began to celebrate.

²⁵The older son had been out in the field. But when he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants over and asked, "What's going on here?"

²⁷The servant answered, "Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father ordered us to kill the best calf." ²⁸The older brother got so angry that he would not even go into the house.

His father came out and begged him to go in. ²⁹But he said to his father, "For years I have worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never even given me a little goat, so that I could give a dinner for my friends. ³⁰This other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast."

³¹His father replied, "My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we should be glad and celebrate! Your brother was dead, but he is now alive. He was lost and has now been found."

Isaac Blesses Jacob

Genesis 27 After Isaac had become old and almost blind, he called in his first-born son Esau, who asked him, "Father, what can I do for you?"

²Isaac replied, "I am old and might die at any time. ³So take your bow and arrows, then go out in the fields, and kill a wild animal. ⁴Cook some of that tasty food that I love so much and bring it to me. I want to eat it once more and give you my blessing before I die."

⁵Rebekah had been listening, and as soon as Esau left to go hunting, ⁶she said to Jacob, "I heard your father tell Esau ⁷to kill a wild animal and cook some tasty food for your father before he dies. Your father said this because he wants to bless your brother with the LORD as his witness. ⁸Now, my son, listen carefully to what I want you to do. ⁹Go and kill two of your best young goats and bring them to me. I'll cook the tasty food that your father loves so much. ¹⁰Then you can take it to him, so he can eat it and give you his blessing before he dies."

¹¹"My brother Esau is a hairy man," Jacob reminded her. "And I am not. ¹²If my father touches me and realizes I am trying to trick him, he will put a curse on me instead of giving me a blessing."

¹³Rebekah insisted, "Let his curse fall on me! Just do what I say and bring me the meat." ¹⁴So Jacob brought the meat to his mother, and she cooked the tasty food that his father liked. ¹⁵Then she took Esau's best clothes and put them on Jacob. ¹⁶She also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goatskins ¹⁷and gave him some bread and the tasty food she had cooked.

¹⁸Jacob went to his father and said, "Father, here I am."

"Which one of my sons are you?" his father asked.

¹⁹Jacob replied, "I am Esau, your first-born, and I have done what you told me. Please sit up and eat the meat I have brought. Then you can give me your blessing."

²⁰Isaac asked, "My son, how did you find an animal so quickly?"

"The LORD your God was kind to me," Jacob answered.

²¹"My son," Isaac said, "come closer, where I can touch you and find out if you really are Esau." ²²Jacob went closer. His father touched him and said, "You sound like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy like Esau's." ²³And so Isaac blessed Jacob, thinking he was Esau.

²⁴Isaac asked, "Are you really my son Esau?"

"Yes, I am," Jacob answered.

²⁵So Isaac told him, "Serve me the wild meat, and I can give you my blessing."

Jacob gave him some meat, and he ate it. He also gave him some wine, and he drank it. ²⁶Then Isaac said, "Son, come over here and kiss me." ²⁷While Jacob was kissing him, Isaac caught the smell of his clothes and said:

"The smell of my son

is like a field the LORD has blessed.

²⁸God will bless you, my son, with dew from heaven

and with fertile fields, rich with grain and grapes.

²⁹Nations will be your servants and bow down to you.

You will rule over your brothers,

and they will kneel at your feet.

Anyone who curses you will be cursed;

anyone who blesses you will be blessed."

³⁰Right after Isaac had given Jacob his blessing and Jacob had gone, Esau came back from hunting. ³¹He cooked the tasty food, brought it to his father, and said, "Father, please sit up and eat the meat I have brought you, so you can give me your blessing."

³²"Who are you?" Isaac asked.

"I am Esau, your first-born son."

³³Isaac started trembling and said, "Then who brought me some wild meat right before you came in? I ate it and gave him a blessing that cannot be taken back."

³⁴Esau cried loudly and begged, "Father, give me a blessing too!"

³⁵Isaac answered, "Your brother tricked me and stole your blessing."

³⁶Esau replied, "My brother deserves the name Jacob, because he has already cheated me twice. The first time he cheated me out of my rights as the first-born son, and now he has cheated me out of my blessing." Then Esau asked his father, "Don't you still have any blessing left for me?"

³⁷"My son," Isaac answered, "I have made Jacob the ruler over you and your brothers, and all of you will be his servants. I have also promised him all the grain and grapes that he needs. There's nothing left that I can do for you."

³⁸"Father," Esau asked, "don't you have more than one blessing? You can surely give me a blessing too!" Then Esau started crying again.

³⁹So his father said:

"Your home will be far from that fertile land,

where dew comes down from the heavens.

⁴⁰You will live by the power of your sword

and be your brother's slave.

But when you decide to be free, you will break loose."

⁴¹Esau hated his brother Jacob because he had stolen the blessing that was supposed to be his. So he said to himself, "Just as soon as my father dies, I'll kill Jacob."

⁴²When Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do, she sent for Jacob and told him, "Son, your brother Esau is just waiting for the time when he can kill you. ⁴³Now listen carefully and do what I say. Go to the home of my brother Laban in Haran ⁴⁴and stay with him for a while. When Esau stops being angry ⁴⁵and forgets what you have done to him, I'll send for you to come home. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?"

Psalm 20
[A psalm by David for the music leader.]
A Prayer for Victory

¹I pray that the LORD will listen

when you are in trouble,

and that the God of Jacob will keep you safe.

²May the LORD send help from his temple

and come to your rescue from Mount Zion.

³May he remember your gifts

and be pleased with what you bring.

⁴May God do what you want most

and let all go well for you.

⁵Then you will win victories, and we will celebrate,

while raising our banners in the name of our God.

May the LORD answer all of your prayers!

⁶I am certain, LORD, that you will help your chosen king.

You will answer my prayers

from your holy place in heaven,

and you will save me with your mighty arm.

⁷Some people trust the power of chariots or horses,

but we trust you, LORD God.

⁸Others will stumble and fall,

but we will be strong and stand firm.

⁹Give the king victory, LORD, and answer our prayers.

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