Daily Bible CEV May 06 Scroll

Trouble in Thessalonica

Acts 17 After Paul and his friends had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went on to Thessalonica. A Jewish meeting place was in that city. ²So as usual, Paul went there to worship, and on three Sabbaths he spoke to the people. He used the Scriptures ³to show them that the Messiah had to suffer, but that he would rise from death. Paul also told them that Jesus is the Messiah he was preaching about. ⁴Some of them believed what Paul had said, and they became followers with Paul and Silas. Some Gentiles and many important women also believed the message.

⁵The Jewish leaders were jealous and got some worthless bums who hung around the marketplace to start a riot in the city. They wanted to drag Paul and Silas out to the mob, and so they went straight to Jason's home. ⁶But when they did not find them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the Lord's followers. They took them to the city authorities and shouted, "Paul and Silas have been upsetting things everywhere. Now they have come here, ⁷and Jason has welcomed them into his home. All of them break the laws of the Roman Emperor by claiming that someone named Jesus is king."

⁸The officials and the people were upset when they heard this. ⁹So they made Jason and the other followers pay bail before letting them go.

People in Berea Welcome the Message

¹⁰That same night the Lord's followers sent Paul and Silas on to Berea, and after they arrived, they went to the Jewish meeting place. ¹¹The people in Berea were much nicer than those in Thessalonica, and they gladly accepted the message. Day after day they studied the Scriptures to see if these things were true. ¹²Many of them put their faith in the Lord, including some important Greek women and several men.

¹³When the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica heard that Paul had been preaching God's message in Berea, they went there and caused trouble by turning the crowds against Paul.

¹⁴Right away the followers sent Paul down to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. ¹⁵Some men went with Paul as far as Athens, and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Midian Steals Everything from Israel

Judges 6 There was peace in Israel for about forty years. ¹Then once again the Israelites started disobeying the LORD, so he let the nation of Midian control Israel for seven years. ²The Midianites were so cruel that many Israelites ran to the mountains and hid in caves.

³Every time the Israelites would plant crops, the Midianites invaded Israel together with the Amalekites and other eastern nations. ^4-5They rode in on their camels, set up their tents, and then let their livestock eat the crops as far as the town of Gaza. The Midianites stole food, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. Like a swarm of locusts, they could not be counted, and they ruined the land wherever they went.

^6-7The Midianites took almost everything that belonged to the Israelites, and the Israelites begged the LORD for help. ^8-9Then the LORD sent a prophet to them with this message:

I am the LORD God of Israel, so listen to what I say. You were slaves in Egypt, but I set you free and led you out of Egypt into this land. And when nations here made life miserable for you, I rescued you and helped you get rid of them and take their land. ¹⁰I am your God, and I told you not to worship Amorite gods, even though you are living in the land of the Amorites. But you refused to listen.

The LORD Chooses Gideon

¹¹One day an angel from the LORD went to the town of Ophrah and sat down under the big tree that belonged to Joash, a member of the Abiezer clan. Joash's son Gideon was nearby, threshing grain in a shallow pit, where he could not be seen by the Midianites.

¹²The angel appeared and spoke to Gideon, "The LORD is helping you, and you are a strong warrior."

¹³Gideon answered, "Please don't take this wrong, but if the LORD is helping us, then why have all of these awful things happened? We've heard how the LORD performed miracles and rescued our ancestors from Egypt. But those things happened long ago. Now the LORD has abandoned us to the Midianites."

¹⁴Then the LORD himself said, "Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites."

¹⁵Gideon replied, "But how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest one in Manasseh, and everyone else in my family is more important than I am."

¹⁶"Gideon," the LORD answered, "you can rescue Israel because I am going to help you! Defeating the Midianites will be as easy as beating up one man."

¹⁷Gideon said, "It's hard to believe that I'm actually talking to the LORD. Please do something so I'll know that you really are the LORD. ¹⁸And wait here until I bring you an offering."

"All right, I'll wait," the LORD answered.

¹⁹Gideon went home and killed a young goat, then started boiling the meat. Next, he opened a big sack of flour and made it into thin bread. When the meat was done, he put it in a basket and poured the broth into a clay cooking pot. He took the meat, the broth, and the bread and placed them under the big tree.

²⁰God's angel said, "Gideon, put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them." Gideon did as he was told. ²¹The angel was holding a walking stick, and he touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick. Flames jumped from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread.

When Gideon looked, the angel was gone. ²²Gideon realized that he had seen one of the LORD's angels. "Oh!" he moaned. "Now I'm going to die."

²³"Calm down!" the LORD told Gideon. "There's nothing to be afraid of. You're not going to die."

²⁴Gideon built an altar for worshiping the LORD and called it "The LORD Calms Our Fears." It still stands there in Ophrah, a town in the territory of the Abiezer clan.

Gideon Tears Down Baal's Altar

²⁵That night the LORD spoke to Gideon again:

Get your father's second-best bull, the one that's seven years old. Use it to pull down the altar where your father worships Baal and cut down the sacred pole next to the altar. ²⁶Then build an altar for worshiping me on the highest part of the hill where your town is built. Use layers of stones for my altar, not just a pile of rocks. Cut up the wood from the pole, make a fire, kill the bull, and burn it as a sacrifice to me.

²⁷Gideon chose ten of his servants to help him, and they did everything God had said. But since Gideon was afraid of his family and the other people in town, he did it all at night.

²⁸When the people of the town got up the next morning, they saw that Baal's altar had been knocked over, and the sacred pole next to it had been cut down. Then they noticed the new altar covered with the remains of the sacrificed bull.

²⁹"Who could have done such a thing?" they asked. And they kept on asking, until finally someone told them, "Gideon the son of Joash did it."

³⁰The men of the town went to Joash and said, "Your son Gideon knocked over Baal's altar and cut down the sacred pole next to it. Hand him over, so we can kill him!"

³¹The crowd pushed closer and closer, but Joash replied, "Are you trying to take revenge for Baal? Are you trying to rescue Baal? If you are, you will be the ones who are put to death, and it will happen before another day dawns. If Baal really is a god, let him take his own revenge on someone who tears down his altar."

³²That same day, Joash changed Gideon's name to Jerubbaal, explaining, "He tore down Baal's altar, so let Baal take revenge himself."

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

³³All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations got together and crossed the Jordan River. Then they invaded the land of Israel and set up camp in Jezreel Valley.

³⁴The LORD's Spirit took control of Gideon, and Gideon blew a signal on a trumpet to tell the men in the Abiezer clan to follow him. ³⁵He also sent messengers to the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, telling the men of these tribes to come and join his army. Then they set out toward the enemy camp.

^36-37Gideon prayed to God, "I know that you promised to help me rescue Israel, but I need proof. Tonight I'll put some wool on the stone floor of that threshing-place over there. If you really will help me rescue Israel, then tomorrow morning let there be dew on the wool, but let the stone floor be dry."

³⁸And that's just what happened. Early the next morning, Gideon got up and checked the wool. He squeezed out enough water to fill a bowl. ³⁹But Gideon prayed to God again. "Don't be angry at me," Gideon said. "Let me try this just one more time, so I'll really be sure you'll help me. Only this time, let the wool be dry and the stone floor be wet with dew."

⁴⁰That night, God made the stone floor wet with dew, but he kept the wool dry.

Elihu Continues

Be Patient a While Longer

Job 36 Elihu said:

²Be patient a while longer;

I have something else to say in God's defense.

³God always does right--

and this knowledge comes straight from God.

⁴You can rest assured that what I say is true.

⁵Although God is mighty, he cares about everyone

and makes fair decisions.

⁶The wicked are cut down,

and those who are wronged receive justice.

⁷God watches over good people and places them

in positions of power and honor forever.

⁸But when people are prisoners of suffering and pain,

^*9God points out their sin and their pride,

¹⁰

then he warns them to turn back to him.

¹¹And if they obey, they will be successful

and happy from then on.

¹²But if they foolishly refuse, they will be rewarded

with a violent death.

Godless People Are Too Angry

¹³Godless people are too angry

to ask God for help when he punishes them.

¹⁴

So they die young in shameful disgrace.

¹⁵Hard times and trouble

are God's way of getting our attention!

¹⁶And at this very moment,

God deeply desires to lead you from trouble

and to spread your table with your favorite food.

¹⁷Now that the judgment for your sins has fallen upon you,

¹⁸don't let your anger and the pain you endured

make you sneer at God.

¹⁹Your reputation and riches cannot protect you from distress,

²⁰

nor can you find safety in the dark world below.

²¹Be on guard! Don't turn to evil as a way of escape.

²²God's power is unlimited. He needs no teachers

²³

to guide or correct him.

Others Have Praised God

²⁴Others have praised God for what he has done,

so join with them.

²⁵From down here on earth, everyone has looked up

and seen ²⁶how great God is--

God is more than we imagine;

no one can count the years he has lived.

^*27God gathers moisture into the clouds

²⁸

and supplies us with rain.

²⁹Who can understand how God scatters the clouds

and speaks from his home in the thunderstorm?

³⁰And when God sends lightning,

it can be seen at the bottom of the sea.

³¹By producing such rainstorms, God rules the world

and provides us with food.

³²Each flash of lightning is one of his arrows

striking its target,

³³and the thunder tells of his anger against sin.

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.