Daily Bible CEV December 31 Scroll

Jesus Chooses His First Disciples
(Matthew 4.18-22; Mark 1.16-20)

Luke 5 Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, teaching the people as they crowded around him to hear God's message. ²Near the shore he saw two boats left there by some fishermen who had gone to wash their nets. ³Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to row it out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down in the boat to teach the crowd.

⁴When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, "Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish."

⁵"Master," Simon answered, "we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down." ⁶They did it and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart. ⁷Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, "Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner." ⁹Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught. ¹⁰His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too.

Jesus told Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish." ¹¹The men pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.

Jesus Heals a Man
(Matthew 8.1-4; Mark 1.40-45)

¹²Jesus came to a town where there was a man who had leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he knelt down to the ground in front of Jesus and begged, "Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to."

¹³Jesus put his hand on him and said, "I want to! Now you are well." At once the man's leprosy disappeared. ¹⁴Jesus told him, "Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest. Offer a gift to the priest, just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed."

¹⁵News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases. ¹⁶But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.

Jesus Heals a Crippled Man
(Matthew 9.1-8; Mark 2.1-12)

¹⁷One day some Pharisees and experts in the Law of Moses sat listening to Jesus teach. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.

God had given Jesus the power to heal the sick, ¹⁸and some people came carrying a crippled man on a mat. They tried to take him inside the house and put him in front of Jesus. ¹⁹But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. So they went up on the roof, where they removed some tiles and let the mat down in the middle of the room.

²⁰When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the crippled man, "My friend, your sins are forgiven."

²¹The Pharisees and the experts began arguing, "Jesus must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins."

²²Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, "Why are you thinking that? ²³Is it easier for me to tell this crippled man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk? ²⁴But now you will see that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth." Jesus then said to the man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk home."

²⁵At once the man stood up in front of everyone. He picked up his mat and went home, giving thanks to God. ²⁶Everyone was amazed and praised God. What they saw surprised them, and they said, "We have seen a great miracle today!"

The Division of Land among Tribes in the North

The LORD said:
Ezekiel 48 ^1-7Each tribe will receive a section of land that runs from the eastern border of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea. The northern border of Israel will run along the towns of Hethlon and Lebo-Hamath, and will end at Hazar-Enon, which is on the border between the kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath. The tribes will receive their share of land in the following order, from north to south: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah.

The Special Section of Land

The LORD said:

⁸South of Judah's territory will be a special section of land. Its length will be eight miles, and its width will run from the eastern border of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea. My temple will be located in this section of land.

⁹An area in the center of this land will belong to me. It will be eight miles long and six miles wide.

¹⁰I, the LORD, will give half of my sacred land to the priests. Their share will be eight miles long and three miles wide, and my temple will be right in the middle. ¹¹Only priests who are descendants of Zadok will receive a share of this sacred land, because they remained faithful to me when the Levites and the rest of the Israelites started sinning. ¹²The land belonging to the priests will be the most sacred area and will lie south of the area that belongs to the Levites.

¹³I will give the other half of my sacred land to the Levites. Their share will also be eight miles long and three miles wide, ¹⁴and they must never sell or trade any of this land--it is the best land and belongs to me.

¹⁵South of my sacred land will be a section eight miles long and two miles wide. It will not be sacred, but will belong to the people of Israel and will include the city of Jerusalem, together with its houses and pastureland. ¹⁶The city will be a square: Each side will be a mile and a half long, ¹⁷and an open area four hundred twenty feet wide will surround the city. ¹⁸The land on the east and west sides of the city limits will be farmland for the people of Jerusalem; both sections will be three miles long and two miles wide. ¹⁹People from the city will farm the land, no matter which tribe they belong to.

²⁰And so the center of this special section of land will be for my sacred land, as well as for the city and its property. The land will be a square, eight miles on each side.

²¹The regions east and west of this square of land will belong to the ruler of Israel. His property will run east to the Jordan River and west to the Mediterranean Sea. In the very center of his property will be my sacred land, as well as the temple, ²²together with the share belonging to the Levites and the city of Jerusalem. The northern border of the ruler's property will be the land that belongs to Judah, and the southern border will be the land that belongs to Benjamin.

The Division of Land among Tribes in the South

The LORD God said:

^23-27South of this special section will be the land that belongs to the rest of Israel's tribes. Each tribe will receive a section of land that runs from the eastern border of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea. The tribes will receive their share of land in the following order, from north to south: Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad.

²⁸Gad's southern border is also the southern border of Israel. It will begin at the town of Tamar, then run southwest to the springs near Meribath-Kadesh. It will continue along the Egyptian Gorge and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

²⁹That's how the land of Israel will be divided among the twelve tribes. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

The Gates of Jerusalem

The LORD said:

^30-34The city of Jerusalem will have twelve gates, three on each of the four sides of the city wall. These gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel. The gates of Reuben, Judah, and Levi will be in the north; Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan will be in the east; Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun will be in the south; Gad, Asher, and Naphtali will be in the west. Each side of the city wall will be a mile and a half long, ³⁵and so the total length of the wall will be six miles. The new name of the city will be "The-LORD-Is-Here!"

True Worship

Isaiah 66 The LORD said: Heaven is my throne;

the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house could you build for me?

In what place will I rest?

²I have made everything; that's how it all came to be.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

The people I treasure most are the humble--

they depend only on me and tremble when I speak.

³You sacrifice oxen to me, and you commit murder;

you sacrifice lambs to me and dogs to other gods;

you offer grain to me and pigs' blood to idols;

you burn incense to me and praise your idols.

You have made your own choice

to do these disgusting things that you enjoy so much.

⁴You refused to answer when I called out;

you paid no attention to my instructions.

Instead, you did what I hated, knowing it was wrong.

Now I will punish you in a way you dread the most.

The LORD Will Help Jerusalem

⁵If you tremble when the LORD speaks,

listen to what he says:

"Some of your own people hate

and reject you because of me.

They make fun and say,

'Let the LORD show his power!

Let us see him make you truly happy.'

But those who say these things

will be terribly ashamed."

⁶Do you hear that noise in the city and those shouts

coming from the temple?

It is the LORD shouting as he punishes his enemies.

⁷Have you ever heard of a woman

who gave birth to a child

before having labor pains?

⁸Who ever heard of such a thing

or imagined it could happen?

Can a nation be born in a day

or come to life in a second?

Jerusalem is like a mother

who gave birth to her children

as soon as she was in labor.

⁹The LORD is the one who makes birth possible.

And he will see that Zion has many more children.

The LORD has spoken.

¹⁰If you love Jerusalem, celebrate and shout!

If you were in sorrow because of the city,

you can now be glad.

¹¹She will nurse and comfort you,

just like your own mother,

until you are satisfied.

You will fully enjoy her wonderful glory.

¹²The LORD has promised:

"I will flood Jerusalem with the wealth of nations

and make the city prosper.

Zion will nurse you at her breast, carry you in her arms,

and hold you in her lap.

¹³I will comfort you there

like a mother comforting her child."

¹⁴When you see this happen, you will celebrate;

your strength will return faster than grass can sprout.

Then everyone will know

that the LORD is present with his servants,

but he is angry with his enemies.

¹⁵The LORD will come down like a whirlwind

with his flaming chariots.

He will be terribly furious

and punish his enemies with fire.

¹⁶The LORD's fiery sword will bring justice

everywhere on this earth and execute many people.

A Threat and a Promise

¹⁷Some of you get yourselves ready and go to a garden to worship a foreign goddess. You eat the meat of pigs, lizards, and mice. But I, the LORD, will destroy you for this.

¹⁸I know everything you do and think! The time has now come to bring together the people of every language and nation and to show them my glory ¹⁹by proving what I can do. I will send the survivors to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, Javan, and to the distant islands. I will send them to announce my wonderful glory to nations that have never heard about me.

²⁰They will bring your relatives from the nations as an offering to me, the LORD. They will come on horses, chariots, wagons, mules, and camels to Jerusalem, my holy mountain. It will be like the people of Israel bringing the right offering to my temple. ²¹I promise that some of them will be priests and others will be helpers in my temple. I, the LORD, have spoken.

²²I also promise that you will always have descendants and will never be forgotten, just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will last forever. ²³On the first day of each month and on each Sabbath, everyone will worship me. I, the LORD, have spoken.

²⁴My people will go out and look at the dead bodies of those who turned against me. The worms there never die, the fire never stops burning, and the sight of those bodies will be disgusting to everyone.

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.