Daily Bible GNT January 11 Scroll

Jesus Rejoices
(Matthew 11.25-27; 13.16, 17)

Luke 10 ²¹At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, "Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.

²²"My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

²³Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, "How fortunate you are to see the things you see! ²⁴I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not."

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to receive eternal life?"

²⁶Jesus answered him, "What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?"

²⁷The man answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'"

²⁸"You are right," Jesus replied; "do this and you will live."

²⁹But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

³⁰Jesus answered, "There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead. ³¹It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side. ³²In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity. ³⁴He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Take care of him,' he told the innkeeper, 'and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.'"

³⁶And Jesus concluded, "In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?"

³⁷The teacher of the Law answered, "The one who was kind to him."

Jesus replied, "You go, then, and do the same."

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

³⁸As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself ? Tell her to come and help me!"

⁴¹The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, ⁴²but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her."

A Son Is Promised to Abraham

Genesis 18 The LORD appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day, ²he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground, ³he said, "Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you. ⁴Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree. ⁵I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honored me by coming to my home, so let me serve you."

They replied, "Thank you; we accept."

⁶Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread." ⁷Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready. ⁸He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.

⁹Then they asked him, "Where is your wife Sarah?"

"She is there in the tent," he answered.

¹⁰One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son."

Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. ¹²So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too."

¹³Then the LORD asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Can I really have a child when I am so old?' ¹⁴Is anything too hard for the LORD? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

¹⁵Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. "I didn't laugh," she said.

"Yes, you did," he replied. "You laughed."

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶Then the men left and went to a place where they could look down at Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way. ¹⁷And the LORD said to himself, "I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do. ¹⁸His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations. ¹⁹I have chosen him in order that he may command his sons and his descendants to obey me and to do what is right and just. If they do, I will do everything for him that I have promised."

²⁰Then the LORD said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great. ²¹I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true."

²²Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham. ²³Abraham approached the LORD and asked, "Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? ²⁴If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty? ²⁵Surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That's impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."

²⁶The LORD answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake."

²⁷Abraham spoke again: "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no right to say anything. ²⁸But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?"

The LORD answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find forty-five innocent people."

²⁹Abraham spoke again: "Perhaps there will be only forty."

He replied, "I will not destroy it if there are forty."

³⁰Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?"

He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty."

³¹Abraham said, "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?"

He said, "I will not destroy the city if I find twenty."

³²Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?"

He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." ³³After he had finished speaking with Abraham, the LORD went away, and Abraham returned home.

Confidence in the LORD

Psalm 11 I trust in the LORD for safety.

How foolish of you to say to me,

"Fly away like a bird to the mountains,

because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows

to shoot from the shadows at good people.

³There is nothing a good person can do

when everything falls apart."

⁴The LORD is in his holy temple;

he has his throne in heaven.

He watches people everywhere

and knows what they are doing.

⁵He examines the good and the wicked alike;

the lawless he hates with all his heart.

⁶He sends down flaming coals and burning sulfur on the wicked;

he punishes them with scorching winds.

⁷The LORD is righteous and loves good deeds;

those who do them will live in his presence.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.