Daily Bible CEV June 11 Scroll

Paul's Work as a Missionary

Romans 15 ¹⁴My friends, I am sure that you are very good and that you have all the knowledge you need to teach each other. ¹⁵But I have spoken to you plainly and have tried to remind you of some things. God was so kind to me! ¹⁶He chose me to be a servant of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles and to do the work of a priest in the service of his good news. God did this so that the Holy Spirit could make the Gentiles into a holy offering, pleasing to him.

¹⁷Because of Christ Jesus, I can take pride in my service for God. ¹⁸In fact, all I will talk about is how Christ let me speak and work, so that the Gentiles would obey him. ¹⁹Indeed, I will tell how Christ worked miracles and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have preached the good news about him all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum. ²⁰But I have always tried to preach where people have never heard about Christ. I am like a builder who doesn't build on anyone else's foundation. ²¹It is just as the Scriptures say,

"All who haven't been told about him will see him,

and those who haven't heard about him will understand."

Paul's Plan To Visit Rome

²²My work has always kept me from coming to see you. ²³Now there is nothing left for me to do in this part of the world, and for years I have wanted to visit you. ²⁴So I plan to stop off on my way to Spain. Then after a short, but refreshing, visit with you, I hope you will quickly send me on.

^25-26I am now on my way to Jerusalem to deliver the money that the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia collected for God's needy people. ²⁷This is something they really wanted to do. But sharing their money with the Jews was also like paying back a debt, because the Jews had already shared their spiritual blessings with the Gentiles. ²⁸After I have safely delivered this money, I will visit you and then go on to Spain. ²⁹And when I do arrive in Rome, I know it will be with the full blessings of Christ.

³⁰My friends, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that comes from the Holy Spirit, I beg you to pray sincerely with me and for me. ³¹Pray that God will protect me from the unbelievers in Judea, and that his people in Jerusalem will be pleased with what I am doing. ³²Ask God to let me come to you and have a pleasant and refreshing visit. ³³I pray that God, who gives peace, will be with all of you. Amen.

The Philistines Send David Back

1 Samuel 29 The Philistines had brought their whole army to Aphek, while Israel's army was camping near Jezreel Spring. ^2-3The Philistine rulers and their troops were marching past the Philistine army commanders in groups of a hundred and a thousand. When David and his men marched by at the end with Achish, the commanders said, "What are these worthless Israelites doing here?"

"They are David's men," Achish answered. "David used to be one of Saul's officers, but he left Saul and joined my army a long time ago. I've never had even one complaint about him."

⁴The Philistine army commanders were angry and shouted:

Send David back to the town you gave him. We won't have him going into the battle with us. He could turn and fight against us! Saul would take David back as an officer if David brought him the heads of our soldiers. ⁵The Israelites even dance and sing,

"Saul has killed a thousand enemies;

David has killed ten thousand enemies!"

⁶Achish called David over and said:

I swear by the living LORD that you've been honest with me, and I want you to fight by my side. I don't think you've done anything wrong from the day you joined me until this very moment. But the other Philistine rulers don't want you to come along. ⁷Go on back home and try not to upset them.

⁸"But what have I done?" David asked. "Do you know of anything I've ever done that would keep me from fighting the enemies of my king?"

⁹Achish said:

I believe that you're as good as an angel of God, but our army commanders have decided that you can't fight in this battle. ¹⁰You and your troops will have to go back to the town I gave you. Get up and leave tomorrow morning as soon as it's light. I am pleased with you, so don't let any of this bother you.

¹¹David and his men got up early in the morning and headed back toward Philistia, while the Philistines left for Jezreel.

David Rescues His Soldiers' Families

1 Samuel 30 It took David and his men three days to reach Ziklag. But while they had been away, the Amalekites had been raiding in the desert around there. They had attacked Ziklag, burned it to the ground, ²and had taken away the women and children. ³When David and his men came to Ziklag, they saw the burned-out ruins and learned that their families had been taken captive. ⁴They started crying and kept it up until they were too weak to cry any more. ⁵David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken captive with everyone else.

⁶David was desperate. His soldiers were so upset over what had happened to their sons and daughters that they were thinking about stoning David to death. But he felt the LORD God giving him strength, ⁷and he said to the priest, "Abiathar, let's ask God what to do."

Abiathar brought everything he needed to get answers from God, and he went over to David. ⁸Then David asked the LORD, "Should I go after the people who raided our town? Can I catch up with them?"

"Go after them," the LORD answered. "You will catch up with them, and you will rescue your families."

^9-10David led his six hundred men to Besor Gorge, but two hundred of them were too tired to go across. So they stayed behind, while David and the other four hundred men crossed the gorge.

¹¹Some of David's men found an Egyptian out in a field and took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some bread, and he ate it. Then they gave him a drink of water, ¹²some dried figs, and two handfuls of raisins. This was the first time in three days he had tasted food or water. Now he felt much better.

¹³"Who is your master?" David asked. "And where do you come from?"

"I'm from Egypt," the young man answered. "I'm the servant of an Amalekite, but he left me here three days ago because I was sick. ¹⁴We had attacked some towns in the desert where the Cherethites live, in the area that belongs to Judah, and in the desert where the Caleb clan lives. And we burned down Ziklag."

¹⁵"Will you take me to those Amalekites?" David asked.

"Yes, I will, if you promise with God as a witness that you won't kill me or hand me over to my master."

¹⁶He led David to the Amalekites. They were eating and drinking everywhere, celebrating because of what they had taken from Philistia and Judah. ¹⁷David attacked just before sunrise the next day and fought until sunset. Four hundred Amalekites rode away on camels, but they were the only ones who escaped.

¹⁸David rescued his two wives and everyone else the Amalekites had taken from Ziklag. ¹⁹No one was missing--young or old, sons or daughters. David brought back everything that had been stolen, ²⁰including their livestock.

David also took the sheep and cattle that the Amalekites had with them, but he kept these separate from the others. Everyone agreed that these would be David's reward.

²¹On the way back, David went to the two hundred men he had left at Besor Gorge, because they had been too tired to keep up with him. They came toward David and the people who were with him. When David was close enough, he greeted the two hundred men and asked how they were doing.

²²Some of David's men were good-for-nothings, and they said, "Those men didn't go with us to the battle, so they don't get any of the things we took back from the Amalekites. Let them take their wives and children and go!"

²³But David said:

My friends, don't be so greedy with what the LORD has given us! The LORD protected us and gave us victory over the people who attacked. ²⁴Who would pay attention to you, anyway? Soldiers who stay behind to guard the camp get as much as those who go into battle.

²⁵David made this a law for Israel, and it has been the same ever since.

²⁶David went back to Ziklag with everything they had taken from the Amalekites. He sent some of these things as gifts to his friends who were leaders of Judah, and he told them, "We took these things from the LORD's enemies. Please accept them as a gift."

^27-31This is a list of the towns where David sent gifts: Bethel, Ramoth in the Southern Desert, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, the towns belonging to the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, Hormah, Bor-Ashan, Athach, and Hebron. He also sent gifts to the other towns where he and his men had traveled.

Saul and His Sons Die

1 Samuel 31 Meanwhile, the Philistines were fighting Israel at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed. ²The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.

⁴Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, "Kill me with your sword! I don't want those worthless Philistines to torture me and make fun." But the soldier was afraid to kill him.

Saul then took out his own sword; he stuck the blade into his stomach, and fell on it. ⁵When the soldier knew that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.

⁶Saul was dead, his three sons were dead, and the soldier who carried his weapons was dead. They and all his soldiers died on that same day. ⁷The Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and the other side of the Jordan learned that Saul and his sons were dead. They saw that the Israelite army had run away. So they ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites had left behind.

⁸The day after the battle, when the Philistines returned to the battlefield to take the weapons of the dead Israelite soldiers, they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. ^9-10The Philistines cut off Saul's head and pulled off his armor. Then they put his armor in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the city wall of Beth-Shan. They also sent messengers everywhere in Philistia to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

¹¹The people who lived in Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul's body. ¹²So one night, some brave men from Jabesh went to Beth-Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons, then brought them back to Jabesh and burned them. ¹³They buried the bones under a small tree in Jabesh, and for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.

Psalm 71
A Prayer for God's Protection

¹I run to you, LORD, for protection.

Don't disappoint me.

²You do what is right, so come to my rescue.

Listen to my prayer and keep me safe.

³Be my mighty rock,

the place where I can always run for protection.

Save me by your command!

You are my mighty rock and my fortress.

⁴Come and save me, LORD God,

from vicious and cruel and brutal enemies!

⁵I depend on you,

and I have trusted you since I was young.

⁶I have relied on you from the day I was born.

You brought me safely through birth,

and I always praise you.

⁷Many people think of me as something evil.

But you are my mighty protector,

⁸

and I praise and honor you all day long.

⁹Don't throw me aside when I am old;

don't desert me when my strength is gone.

¹⁰My enemies are plotting because they want me dead.

¹¹They say, "Now we'll catch you!

God has deserted you, and no one can save you."

¹²Come closer, God! Please hurry and help.

¹³Embarrass and destroy all who want me dead;

disgrace and confuse all who want to hurt me.

¹⁴I will never give up hope or stop praising you.

¹⁵All day long I will tell the wonderful things you do

to save your people.

But you have done much more

than I could possibly know.

¹⁶I will praise you, LORD God,

for your mighty deeds and your power to save.

¹⁷You have taught me since I was a child,

and I never stop telling about your marvelous deeds.

¹⁸Don't leave me when I am old and my hair turns gray.

Let me tell future generations about your mighty power.

¹⁹Your deeds of kindness are known in the heavens.

No one is like you!

²⁰You made me suffer a lot,

but you will bring me back from this deep pit

and give me new life.

²¹You will make me truly great and take my sorrow away.

²²I will praise you, God, the Holy One of Israel.

You are faithful.

I will play the harp and sing your praises.

²³You have rescued me! I will celebrate and shout,

singing praises to you with all my heart.

²⁴All day long I will announce your power to save.

I will tell how you disgraced and disappointed

those who wanted to hurt me.

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.