Daily Bible CEV December 21 Scroll

Some Rules for Christian Living

Colossians 3 ¹⁸A wife must put her husband first. This is her duty as a follower of the Lord.

¹⁹A husband must love his wife and not abuse her.

²⁰Children must always obey their parents. This pleases the Lord.

²¹Parents, don't be hard on your children. If you are, they might give up.

²²Slaves, you must always obey your earthly masters. Try to please them at all times, and not just when you think they are watching. Honor the Lord and serve your masters with your whole heart. ²³Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. ²⁴In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know that he will reward you. ²⁵But Christ has no favorites! He will punish evil people, just as they deserve.
Colossians 4 Slave owners, be fair and honest with your slaves. Don't forget that you have a Master in heaven.

²Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful. ³Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this. ⁴Please pray that I will make the message as clear as possible.

⁵When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. ⁶Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.

Final Greetings

⁷Tychicus is the dear friend, who faithfully works and serves the Lord with us, and he will give you the news about me. ⁸I am sending him to cheer you up by telling you how we are getting along. ⁹Onesimus, that dear and faithful follower from your own group, is coming with him. The two of them will tell you everything that has happened here.

¹⁰Aristarchus is in jail with me. He sends greetings to you, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have already been told to welcome Mark, if he visits you. ¹¹Jesus, who is known as Justus, sends his greetings. These three men are the only Jewish followers who have worked with me for the kingdom of God. They have given me much comfort.

¹²Your own Epaphras, who serves Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He always prays hard that you may fully know what the Lord wants you to do and that you may do it completely. ¹³I have seen how much trouble he has gone through for you and for the followers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

¹⁴Our dear doctor Luke sends you his greetings, and so does Demas.

¹⁵Give my greetings to the followers at Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that meets in her home.

¹⁶After this letter has been read to your people, be sure to have it read in the church at Laodicea. And you should read the letter that I have sent to them.

¹⁷Remind Archippus to do the work that the Lord has given him to do.

¹⁸I am signing this letter myself: PAUL.

Don't forget that I am in jail.

I pray that God will be kind to you.

Egypt's King Will Be Chopped Down like a Cedar Tree

Ezekiel 31 Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the first day of the third month. He said:

²Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Egypt and his people that I am saying:

You are more powerful than anyone on earth.

Now listen to this.

³There was once a cedar tree in Lebanon

with large, strong branches reaching to the sky.

⁴This tree had plenty of water to help it grow tall,

and nearby streams watered the other trees

in the forest.

⁵But this tree towered over those other trees,

and its branches grew long and thick.

⁶Birds built nests in its branches,

and animals were born beneath it.

People from all nations lived in the shade

of this strong tree.

⁷It had beautiful, long branches,

and its roots found water deep in the soil.

⁸None of the cedar trees in my garden of Eden

were as beautiful as this tree;

no tree of any kind had such long branches.

⁹I, the LORD, gave this tree its beauty,

and I helped the branches grow strong.

All other trees in Eden wanted to be just like it.

¹⁰King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the LORD God, am saying about that tree:

The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky and became very proud and arrogant. ¹¹So I, the LORD God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness. ¹²Cruel foreigners will chop it down and leave it wherever it falls. Branches and broken limbs will be scattered over the mountains and in the valleys. The people living in the shade of those branches will go somewhere else. ¹³Birds will then nest on the stump of the fallen tree, and wild animals will trample its branches.

¹⁴Never again will any tree dare to grow as tall as this tree, no matter how much water it has. Every tree must die, just as humans die and go down to the world of the dead.

¹⁵On the day this tree dies and goes to the world below, I, the LORD God, will command rivers and streams to mourn its death. Every underground spring of water and every river will stop flowing. The mountains in Lebanon will be covered with darkness as a sign of their sorrow, and all the trees in the forest will wither. ¹⁶This tree will crash to the ground, and I will send it to the world below. Then the nations of the earth will tremble.

The trees from Eden and the choice trees from Lebanon are now in the world of the dead, and they will be comforted when this tree falls. ¹⁷Those people who found protection in its shade will also be sent to the world below, where they will join the dead.

¹⁸King of Egypt, all these things will happen to you and your people! You were like this tree at one time--taller and stronger than anyone on earth. But now you will be chopped down, just as every tree in the garden of Eden must die. You will be sent down to the world of the dead, where you will join the godless and the other victims of violent death. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

A Funeral Song for the King of Egypt

Ezekiel 32 Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the first day of the twelfth month. He said:

²Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the king of Egypt and tell him I am saying:

You act like a lion roaming the earth;

but you are nothing more than a crocodile in a river,

churning up muddy water with your feet.

³King of Egypt, listen to me. I, the LORD God, will catch you in my net and let a crowd of foreigners drag you to shore. ⁴I will throw you into an open field, where birds and animals will come to feed on your body. ⁵I will spread your rotting flesh over the mountains and in the valleys, ⁶and your blood will flow throughout the land and fill up the streams. ⁷I will cover the whole sky and every star with thick clouds, so that the sun and moon will stop shining. ⁸The heavens will become black, leaving your country in total darkness. I, the LORD, have spoken.

⁹Foreign nations you have never heard of will be shocked when I tell them how I destroyed you. ¹⁰They will be horrified, and when I flash my sword in victory on the day of your death, their kings will tremble in the fear of what could happen to them.

¹¹The king of Babylonia is coming to attack you, king of Egypt! ¹²Your soldiers will be killed by the cruelest army in the world, and everything you take pride in will be crushed. ¹³I will slaughter your cattle that graze by the river, and no people or livestock will be left to muddy its water. ¹⁴The water will be clear, and streams will be calm. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

¹⁵Egypt will become a barren wasteland, and no living thing will ever survive there. Then you and your people will know that I am the LORD.

¹⁶This is your warning, and it will be used as a funeral song by foreign women to mourn the death of your people. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

A Sad Ending for Egypt

¹⁷On the fifteenth day of that same month, the LORD said:

¹⁸Ezekiel, son of man, mourn for the Egyptians and condemn them to the world of the dead, where they will be buried alongside the people of other powerful nations. ¹⁹Say to them:

You may be more beautiful

than the people of other nations,

but you will also die

and join the godless in the world below.

²⁰You cannot escape! The enemy's sword is ready to slaughter every one of you. ²¹Brave military leaders killed in battle will gladly welcome you and your allies into the world of the dead.

^22-23The graves of soldiers from Assyria are there. They once terrified people, but they were killed in battle and now lie deep in the world of the dead.

^24-25The graves of soldiers from Elam are there. The very sight of those godless soldiers once terrified their enemies and made them panic. But now they are disgraced and ashamed as they lie in the world of the dead, alongside others who were killed in battle.

²⁶The graves of soldiers from Meshech and Tubal are there. These godless soldiers who terrified people were all killed in battle. ²⁷They were not given a proper burial like the heroes of long ago, who were buried with their swords under their heads and with their shields over their bodies. These were the heroes who made their enemies panic.

²⁸You Egyptians will be cruelly defeated, and you will be buried alongside these other godless soldiers who died in battle.

²⁹The graves of kings and leaders from Edom are there. They were powerful at one time. Now they are buried in the world of the dead with other godless soldiers killed in battle.

³⁰The graves of the rulers of the north are there, as well as those of the Sidonians. Their powerful armies once terrified enemies. Now they lie buried in the world of the dead, where they are disgraced like other soldiers killed in battle.

³¹The LORD God says:

When your king of Egypt sees all of these graves, he and his soldiers will be glad they are not the only ones suffering. ³²I sent him to terrify people all over the earth. But he and his army will be killed and buried alongside other godless soldiers in the world of the dead. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

All Nations Will Be Part of God's People

Isaiah 56 The LORD said: Be honest and fair!

Soon I will come to save you;

my saving power will be seen everywhere on earth.

²I will bless everyone who respects the Sabbath

and refuses to do wrong.

³Foreigners who worship me must not say,

"The LORD won't let us be part of his people."

Men who are unable to become fathers must no longer say,

"We are dried-up trees."

⁴To them, I, the LORD, say:

Respect the Sabbath, obey me completely,

and keep our agreement.

⁵Then I will set up monuments in my temple

with your names written on them.

This will be much better than having children,

because these monuments will stand there forever.

⁶Foreigners will follow me. They will love me

and worship in my name;

they will respect the Sabbath and keep our agreement.

⁷I will bring them to my holy mountain,

where they will celebrate in my house of worship.

Their sacrifices and offerings will always be welcome

on my altar.

Then my house will be known as a house of worship

for all nations.

⁸I, the LORD, promise to bring together my people

who were taken away, and let them join the others.

God Promises To Punish Israel's Leaders

⁹Come from the forest, you wild animals!

Attack and gobble down your victims.

¹⁰You leaders of Israel should be watchdogs,

protecting my people.

But you can't see a thing, and you never warn them.

Dozing and daydreaming are all you ever do.

¹¹You stupid leaders are a pack of hungry and greedy dogs

that never get enough.

You are shepherds who mistreat your own sheep

for selfish gain.

¹²You say to each other, "Let's drink till we're drunk!

Tomorrow we'll do it again.

We'll really enjoy ourselves."

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.