Daily Bible GNT February 09 Scroll

God's Sure Promise

Hebrews 6 ¹³When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. ¹⁴He said, "I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants." ¹⁵Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. ¹⁶When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments. ¹⁷To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. ¹⁸There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. ¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. ²⁰On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

The Israelites Are Treated Cruelly in Egypt

Exodus 1 The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him, each with his family, were ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ⁴Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵The total number of these people directly descended from Jacob was seventy. His son Joseph was already in Egypt. ⁶In the course of time Joseph, his brothers, and all the rest of that generation died, ⁷but their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and became so numerous and strong that Egypt was filled with them.

⁸Then, a new king, who knew nothing about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. ⁹He said to his people, "These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. ¹⁰In case of war they might join our enemies in order to fight against us, and might escape from the country. We must find some way to keep them from becoming even more numerous." ¹¹So the Egyptians put slave drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labor. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king. ¹²But the more the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites, the more they increased in number and the farther they spread through the land. The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites ^13-14and made their lives miserable by forcing them into cruel slavery. They made them work on their building projects and in their fields, and they had no pity on them.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. ¹⁶"When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said to them, "kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live." ¹⁷But the midwives were God-fearing and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live. ¹⁸So the king sent for the midwives and asked them, "Why are you doing this? Why are you letting the boys live?"

¹⁹They answered, "The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they give birth easily, and their babies are born before either of us gets there." ^20-21Because the midwives were God-fearing, God was good to them and gave them families of their own. And the Israelites continued to increase and become strong. ²²Finally the king issued a command to all his people: "Take every newborn Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live."

The Birth of Moses

Exodus 2 During this time a man from the tribe of Levi married a woman of his own tribe, ²and she bore him a son. When she saw what a fine baby he was, she hid him for three months. ³But when she could not hide him any longer, she took a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar to make it watertight. She put the baby in it and then placed it in the tall grass at the edge of the river. ⁴The baby's sister stood some distance away to see what would happen to him.

⁵The king's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her servants walked along the bank. Suddenly she noticed the basket in the tall grass and sent a slave woman to get it. ⁶The princess opened it and saw a baby boy. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said.

⁷Then his sister asked her, "Shall I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?"

⁸"Please do," she answered. So the girl went and brought the baby's own mother. ⁹The princess told the woman, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So she took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰Later, when the child was old enough, she took him to the king's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. She said to herself, "I pulled him out of the water, and so I name him Moses."

Moses Escapes to Midian

¹¹When Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his people, the Hebrews, and he saw how they were forced to do hard labor. He even saw an Egyptian kill a Hebrew, one of Moses' own people. ¹²Moses looked all around, and when he saw that no one was watching, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. ¹³The next day he went back and saw two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you beating up a fellow Hebrew?"

¹⁴The man answered, "Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and said to himself, "People have found out what I have done." ^15-16When the king heard about what had happened, he tried to have Moses killed, but Moses fled and went to live in the land of Midian.

One day, when Moses was sitting by a well, seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of Midian, came to draw water and fill the troughs for their father's sheep and goats. ¹⁷But some shepherds drove Jethro's daughters away. Then Moses went to their rescue and watered their animals for them. ¹⁸When they returned to their father, he asked, "Why have you come back so early today?"

¹⁹"An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds," they answered, "and he even drew water for us and watered our animals."

²⁰"Where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave the man out there? Go and invite him to eat with us."

²¹So Moses decided to live there, and Jethro gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage, ²²who bore him a son. Moses said to himself, "I am a foreigner in this land, and so I name him Gershom."

²³Years later the king of Egypt died, but the Israelites were still groaning under their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry went up to God, ²⁴who heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵He saw the slavery of the Israelites and was concerned for them.

A Song of Praise

Psalm 40 I waited patiently for the LORD's help;

then he listened to me and heard my cry.

²He pulled me out of a dangerous pit,

out of the deadly quicksand.

He set me safely on a rock

and made me secure.

³He taught me to sing a new song,

a song of praise to our God.

Many who see this will take warning

and will put their trust in the LORD.

⁴Happy are those who trust the LORD,

who do not turn to idols

or join those who worship false gods.

⁵You have done many things for us, O LORD our God;

there is no one like you!

You have made many wonderful plans for us.

I could never speak of them all--

their number is so great!

⁶You do not want sacrifices and offerings;

you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar

or for sacrifices to take away sins.

Instead, you have given me ears to hear you,

⁷

and so I answered, "Here I am;

your instructions for me are in the book of the Law.

⁸How I love to do your will, my God!

I keep your teaching in my heart."

⁹In the assembly of all your people, LORD,

I told the good news that you save us.

You know that I will never stop telling it.

¹⁰I have not kept the news of salvation to myself;

I have always spoken of your faithfulness and help.

In the assembly of all your people I have not been silent

about your loyalty and constant love.

¹¹LORD, I know you will never stop being merciful to me.

Your love and loyalty will always keep me safe.

A Prayer for Help
(Psalm 70)

¹²I am surrounded by many troubles--

too many to count!

My sins have caught up with me,

and I can no longer see;

they are more than the hairs of my head,

and I have lost my courage.

¹³Save me, LORD! Help me now!

¹⁴May those who try to kill me

be completely defeated and confused.

May those who are happy because of my troubles

be turned back and disgraced.

¹⁵May those who make fun of me

be dismayed by their defeat.

¹⁶May all who come to you

be glad and joyful.

May all who are thankful for your salvation

always say, "How great is the LORD!"

¹⁷I am weak and poor, O Lord,

but you have not forgotten me.

You are my savior and my God--

hurry to my aid!

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.