Daily Bible CEV May 25 Scroll

Romans 1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.

God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news ²that he promised long ago by what his prophets said in the holy Scriptures. ^3-4This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death.

⁵Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle, so that people of all nations would obey and have faith. ⁶You are some of those people chosen by Jesus Christ.

⁷This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people.

I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

A Prayer of Thanks

⁸First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith. ⁹God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.

¹⁰In all my prayers, I ask God to make it possible for me to visit you. ¹¹I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith. ¹²What I am saying is that we can encourage each other by the faith that is ours.

¹³My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places. ^14-15It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.

The People of Israel Want a King

1 Samuel 8 ^1-2Samuel had two sons. The older one was Joel, and the younger one was Abijah. When Samuel was getting old, he let them be leaders at Beersheba. ³But they were not like their father. They were dishonest and accepted bribes to give unfair decisions.

⁴One day the nation's leaders came to Samuel at Ramah ⁵and said, "You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons, but they haven't followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations. Choose one for us!"

⁶Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say they wanted a king, so he prayed about it. ⁷The LORD answered:

Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king. ⁸Ever since the day I rescued my people from Egypt, they have turned from me to worship idols. Now they are turning away from you. ⁹Do everything they ask, but warn them and tell them how a king will treat them.

¹⁰Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the LORD had said:

¹¹If you have a king, this is how he will treat you. He will force your sons to join his army. Some of them will ride in his chariots, some will serve in the cavalry, and others will run ahead of his own chariot. ¹²Some of them will be officers in charge of a thousand soldiers, and others will be in charge of fifty. Still others will have to farm the king's land and harvest his crops, or make weapons and parts for his chariots. ¹³Your daughters will have to make perfume or do his cooking and baking.

¹⁴The king will take your best fields, as well as your vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his own officials. ¹⁵He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and officials.

¹⁶The king will take your slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. ¹⁷He will also take a tenth of your sheep and goats. You will become the king's slaves, ¹⁸and you will finally cry out for the LORD to save you from the king you wanted. But the LORD won't answer your prayers.

^19-20The people would not listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle."

²¹Samuel listened to them and then told the LORD exactly what they had said. ²²"Do what they want," the LORD answered. "Give them a king."

Samuel told the people to go back to their homes.

Psalm 54
[For the music leader. Use with stringed instruments. A special psalm that David wrote when the people of Ziph went to Saul and said, "David is hiding here with us."]
Trusting God in Times of Trouble

¹Save me, God, by your power and prove that I am right.

Listen to my prayer and hear what I say.

³Cruel strangers have attacked and want me dead.

Not one of them cares about you.

⁴You will help me, Lord God, and keep me from falling;

⁵

you will punish my enemies for their evil deeds.

Be my faithful friend and destroy them.

⁶I will bring a gift and offer a sacrifice to you, LORD.

I will praise your name because you are good.

⁷You have rescued me from all of my troubles,

and my own eyes have seen my enemies fall.

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.