Daily Bible CEV February 26 Scroll

Treasures in Heaven
(Luke 12.33, 34)

Matthew 6 ¹⁹Don't store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. ²⁰Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. ²¹Your heart will always be where your treasure is.

Light
(Luke 11.34-36)

²²Your eyes are like a window for your body. When they are good, you have all the light you need. ²³But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. If the light inside you is dark, you surely are in the dark.

Money
(Luke 16.13)

²⁴You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Worry
(Luke 12.22-31)

²⁵I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth more than birds?

²⁷Can worry make you live longer? ²⁸Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. ²⁹But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn't as well clothed as one of them. ³⁰God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith?

³¹Don't worry and ask yourselves, "Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?" ³²Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. ³³But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.

³⁴Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.

Laws for the Sabbath

Exodus 35 Moses called together the people of Israel and told them that the LORD had said:

²You have six days in which to do your work. But the seventh day must be dedicated to me, your LORD, as a day of rest. Whoever works on the Sabbath will be put to death. ³Don't even build a cooking fire at home on the Sabbath.

Offerings for the Sacred Tent
(Exodus 25.1-9; 35.10-19)

⁴Moses told the people of Israel that the LORD had said:

⁵I would welcome an offering from anyone who wants to give something. You may bring gold, silver, or bronze; ⁶blue, purple, or red wool; fine linen; goat hair; ⁷tanned ram skin or fine leather; acacia wood; ⁸olive oil for the lamp; sweet-smelling spices for the oil of dedication and for the incense; or ⁹onyx stones or other gems for the sacred vest and breastpiece.

¹⁰If you have any skills, you should use them to help make what I have commanded: ¹¹the sacred tent with its covering and hooks, its framework and crossbars, and its post and stands; ¹²the sacred chest with its carrying poles, its place of mercy, and the curtain in front of it; ¹³the table with all that goes on it, including the sacred bread; ¹⁴the lamp with its equipment and oil; ¹⁵the incense altar with its carrying poles and sweet-smelling incense; the ordination oil; the curtain for the entrance to the sacred tent; ¹⁶the altar for sacrifices with its bronze grating, its carrying poles, and its equipment; the large bronze bowl with its stand; ¹⁷the curtains with the posts and stands that go around the courtyard; ¹⁸the pegs and ropes for the tent and the courtyard; ¹⁹and the finely woven priestly clothes for Aaron and his sons.

Gifts for the LORD

²⁰Moses finished speaking, and everyone left. ²¹Then those who wanted to bring gifts to the LORD, brought them to be used for the sacred tent, the worship services, and the priestly clothes. ²²Men and women came willingly and gave all kinds of gold jewelry such as pins, earrings, rings, and necklaces. ²³Everyone brought their blue, purple, and red wool, their fine linen, and their cloth made of goat hair, as well as their ram skins dyed red and their fine leather. ²⁴Anyone who had silver or bronze or acacia wood brought it as a gift to the LORD.

²⁵The women who were good at weaving cloth brought the blue, purple, and red wool and the fine linen they had made. ²⁶And the women who knew how to make cloth from goat hair were glad to do so.

²⁷The leaders brought different kinds of jewels to be sewn on the special clothes and the breastpiece for the high priest. ²⁸They also brought sweet-smelling spices to be mixed with the incense and olive oil that were for the lamps and for ordaining the priests. ²⁹Moses had told the people what the LORD wanted them to do, and many of them decided to bring their gifts.

Bezalel and Oholiab
(Exodus 31.1-11)

³⁰Moses said to the people of Israel:

The LORD has chosen Bezalel of the Judah tribe. ^31-33Not only has the LORD filled him with his Spirit, but he has given him wisdom and made him a skilled craftsman who can create objects of art with gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. ³⁴The LORD is urging him and Oholiab from the tribe of Dan to teach others. ³⁵And he has given them all kinds of artistic skills, including the ability to design and embroider with blue, purple, and red wool and to weave fine linen.

Exodus 36 The LORD has given to Bezalel, Oholiab, and others the skills needed for building a place of worship, and they will follow the LORD's instructions.

²Then Moses brought together these workers who were eager to work, ³and he gave them the money that the people of Israel had donated for building the place of worship. In fact, so much money was being given each morning, ⁴that finally everyone stopped working ⁵and said, "Moses, there is already more money than we need for what the LORD has assigned us to do." ⁶So Moses sent word for the people to stop giving, and they did. ⁷But there was already more than enough to do what needed to be done.

The Curtains and Coverings for the Sacred Tent
(Exodus 26.1-14)

^8-9The skilled workers got together to make the sacred tent and its linen curtains woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Each of the ten panels was fourteen yards long and two yards wide, ¹⁰and they were sewn together to make two curtains with five panels each. ^11-13Then fifty loops of blue cloth were put along one of the wider sides of each curtain, and the two curtains were fastened together at the loops with fifty gold hooks.

^14-15As the material for the tent, goat hair was used to weave eleven sections fifteen yards by two yards each. ¹⁶These eleven sections were joined to make two panels, one with five and the other with six sections. ¹⁷Fifty loops were put along one of the wider sides of each panel, ¹⁸and the two panels were fastened at the loops with fifty bronze hooks. ¹⁹Two other coverings were made--one with fine leather and the other with ram skins dyed red.

The Framework for the Sacred Tent
(Exodus 26.15-30)

²⁰Acacia wood was used to build the framework for the walls of the sacred tent. ²¹Each frame was fifteen feet high and twenty-seven inches wide ^22-26with two wooden pegs near the bottom. Then two silver stands were placed under each frame with sockets for the pegs, so they could be joined together. Twenty of these frames were used along the south side and twenty more along the north. ²⁷Six frames were used for the back wall along the west side ^28-29with two more at the southwest and northwest corners. These corner frames were joined from top to bottom. ³⁰Altogether, along the back wall there were eight frames with two silver stands under each of them.

^31-33Five crossbars were made for each of the wooden frames, with the center crossbar running the full length of the wall. ³⁴The frames and crossbars were covered with gold, and gold rings were attached to the frames to run the crossbars through.

The Inside Curtain for the Sacred Tent
(Exodus 26.31-37)

³⁵They made the inside curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. ³⁶They also made four acacia wood posts and covered them with gold. Then gold rings were fastened to the posts, which were set on silver stands.

³⁷For the entrance to the tent, they used a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with fancy needlework. ³⁸They made five posts, covered them completely with gold, and set them each on a gold-covered bronze stand. Finally, they attached hooks for the curtain.

The LORD Has the Final Word

Proverbs 16 We humans make plans, but the LORD has the final word.

²We may think we know what is right,

but the LORD is the judge of our motives.

³Share your plans with the LORD, and you will succeed.

⁴The LORD has a reason for everything he does,

and he lets evil people live only to be punished.

⁵The LORD doesn't like anyone who is conceited--

you can be sure they will be punished.

⁶If we truly love God, our sins will be forgiven;

if we show him respect, we will keep away from sin.

⁷When we please the LORD,

even our enemies make friends with us.

⁸It's better to be honest and poor

than to be dishonest and rich.

⁹We make our own plans,

but the LORD decides where we will go.

¹⁰Rulers speak with authority and are never wrong.

¹¹

The LORD doesn't like it when we cheat in business.

¹²Justice makes rulers powerful.

They should hate evil ¹³and like honesty and truth.

¹⁴An angry ruler can put you to death. So be wise!

Don't make one angry.

¹⁵When a ruler is happy and pleased with you,

it's like refreshing rain, and you will live.

¹⁶It's much better to be wise and sensible than to be rich.

¹⁷God's people avoid evil ways,

and they protect themselves by watching where they go.

¹⁸Too much pride will destroy you.

¹⁹You are better off to be humble and poor

than to get rich from what you take by force.

²⁰If you know what you're doing, you will prosper.

God blesses everyone who trusts him.

²¹Good judgment proves that you are wise,

and if you speak kindly, you can teach others.

²²Good sense is a fountain that gives life,

but fools are punished by their foolishness.

²³You can persuade others

if you are wise and speak sensibly.

²⁴Kind words are like honey--

they cheer you up and make you feel strong.

²⁵Sometimes what seems right is really a road to death.

²⁶

The hungrier you are, the harder you work.

²⁷Worthless people plan trouble.

Even their words burn like a flaming fire.

²⁸Gossip is no good!

It causes hard feelings and comes between friends.

²⁹Don't trust violent people.

They will mislead you to do the wrong thing.

³⁰When someone winks or grins behind your back,

trouble is on the way.

³¹Gray hair is a glorious crown

worn by those who have lived right.

³²Controlling your temper is better than being a hero

who captures a city.

³³We make our own decisions,

but the LORD alone determines what happens.

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.