Daily Bible CEV April 10 Scroll

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Acts 2 On the day of Pentecost all the Lord's followers were together in one place. ²Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. ³Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. ⁴The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

⁵Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. ⁶And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. ⁷They were excited and amazed, and said:

Don't all these who are speaking come from Galilee? ⁸Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? ⁹Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, ¹¹Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done.

¹²Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, "What does all this mean?"

¹³Others made fun of the Lord's followers and said, "They are drunk."

Don't Worship Other Gods

Moses said to Israel:
Deuteronomy 13 ^1-2Someday a prophet may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, "Let's start worshiping some new gods--some gods that we know nothing about." ³If the prophet says this, don't listen! The LORD your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴You must be completely faithful to the LORD. Worship and obey only the LORD and do this with fear and trembling, ⁵because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt.

If a prophet tells you to disobey the LORD your God and to stop worshiping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death.

^6-10Someone else may say to you, "Let's worship other gods." That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity.

The gods worshiped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god. ¹¹And when the rest of Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again.

¹²After the LORD your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumor about one of the towns. ¹³You may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshiping other gods, even though these gods had never done anything for them. ¹⁴You must carefully find out if the rumor is true. Then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country, ¹⁵you must take your swords and kill every one of them, and their livestock too. ^16-17Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the marketplace, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the LORD your God. Then he won't be angry anymore, and he will have mercy on you and make you successful, just as he promised your ancestors. ¹⁸That's why you must do what the LORD your God says is right. I am giving you his laws and teachings today, and you must obey them.

Don't Mourn like Other Nations

Moses said:
Deuteronomy 14 People of Israel, you are the LORD's children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead. ²Out of all the nations on this earth, the LORD your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the LORD, so don't behave like those who worship other gods.

Animals That Can Be Eaten
(Leviticus 11.1-47)

³Don't eat any disgusting animals.

^4-5You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. ⁶It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud.

⁷But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. ⁸And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig!

⁹You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, ¹⁰and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean.

¹¹You can eat any clean bird. ^12-18But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes. You must not eat bats. ¹⁹Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. ²⁰However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects.

²¹You belong to the LORD your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Give the LORD Ten Percent of Your Harvest

Moses said:

²²People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. ²³Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the LORD your God.

²⁴But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the LORD gives you a big harvest, ²⁵then sell this part and take the money there instead. ²⁶When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. ²⁷And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you.

²⁸Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. ²⁹The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the LORD your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do.

Job Complains to God

I Am Sick of Life!

Job 10 I am sick of life! And from my deep despair,

I complain to you, my God.

²Don't just condemn me! Point out my sin.

³Why do you take such delight

in destroying those you created

and in smiling on sinners?

⁴Do you look at things the way we humans do?

⁵

Is your life as short as ours?

⁶Is that why you are so quick to find fault with me?

⁷You know I am innocent,

but who can defend me against you?

⁸Will you now destroy someone you created?

⁹Remember that you molded me like a piece of clay.

So don't turn me back into dust once again.

¹⁰As cheese is made from milk,

you created my body from a tiny drop.

¹¹Then you tied my bones together with muscles

and covered them with flesh and skin.

¹²You, the source of my life, showered me with kindness

and watched over me.

You Have Not Explained

¹³You have not explained all of your mysteries,

¹⁴

but you catch and punish me each time I sin.

¹⁵Guilty or innocent, I am condemned and ashamed

because of my troubles.

¹⁶No matter how hard I try, you keep hunting me down

like a powerful lion.

¹⁷You never stop accusing me; you become furious and attack

over and over again.

¹⁸Why did you let me be born?

I would rather have died before birth

¹⁹

and been carried to the grave without ever breathing.

²⁰I have only a few days left.

Why don't you leave me alone?

Let me find some relief,

^*21before I travel to the land ²²of darkness and despair,

the place of no return.

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.