Daily Bible GNT February 13 Scroll

Christ's Sacrifice Takes Away Sins

Hebrews 9²³Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices. ²⁴For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God. ²⁵The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times, ²⁶for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God. ²⁸In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 10 The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? ²If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. ³As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. ⁴For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

⁵For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God:

"You do not want sacrifices and offerings,

but you have prepared a body for me.

⁶You are not pleased with animals burned whole on the altar

or with sacrifices to take away sins.

⁷Then I said, 'Here I am,

to do your will, O God,

just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.'"
⁸First he said, "You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings or with animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins." He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. ⁹Then he said, "Here I am, O God, to do your will." So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. ¹⁰Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.

¹¹Every Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times; but these sacrifices can never take away sins. ¹²Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is effective forever, and then he sat down at the right side of God. ¹³There he now waits until God puts his enemies as a footstool under his feet. ¹⁴With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect forever those who are purified from sin.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says,

¹⁶"This is the covenant that I will make with them

in the days to come, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts

and write them on their minds."
¹⁷And then he says, "I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer." ¹⁸So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.

Death of the Animals

Exodus 9 The LORD said to Moses, "Go to the king and tell him that the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says, 'Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ²If you again refuse to let them go, ³I will punish you by sending a terrible disease on all your animals--your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats. ⁴I will make a distinction between the animals of the Israelites and those of the Egyptians, and no animal that belongs to the Israelites will die. ⁵I, the LORD, have set tomorrow as the time when I will do this.'"

⁶The next day the LORD did as he had said, and all the animals of the Egyptians died, but not one of the animals of the Israelites died. ⁷The king asked what had happened and was told that none of the animals of the Israelites had died. But he was stubborn and would not let the people go.

Boils

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take a few handfuls of ashes from a furnace; Moses is to throw them into the air in front of the king. ⁹They will spread out like fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and everywhere they will produce boils that become open sores on the people and the animals." ¹⁰So they got some ashes and stood before the king; Moses threw them into the air, and they produced boils that became open sores on the people and the animals. ¹¹The magicians were not able to appear before Moses, because they were covered with boils, like all the other Egyptians. ¹²But the LORD made the king stubborn and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Hail

¹³The LORD then said to Moses, "Early tomorrow morning meet with the king and tell him that the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says, 'Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ¹⁴This time I will punish not only your officials and your people, but I will punish you as well, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the world. ¹⁵If I had raised my hand to strike you and your people with disease, you would have been completely destroyed. ¹⁶But to show you my power I have let you live so that my fame might spread over the whole world. ¹⁷Yet you are still arrogant and refuse to let my people go. ¹⁸This time tomorrow I will cause a heavy hailstorm, such as Egypt has never known in all its history. ¹⁹Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.'" ²⁰Some of the king's officials were afraid because of what the LORD had said, and they brought their slaves and animals indoors for shelter. ²¹Others, however, paid no attention to the LORD's warning and left their slaves and animals out in the open.

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and hail will fall over the whole land of Egypt--on the people, the animals, and all the plants in the fields." ²³So Moses raised his stick toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the ground. The LORD sent ²⁴a heavy hailstorm, with lightning flashing back and forth. It was the worst storm that Egypt had ever known in all its history. ²⁵All over Egypt the hail struck down everything in the open, including all the people and all the animals. It beat down all the plants in the fields and broke all the trees. ²⁶The region of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was the only place where there was no hail.

²⁷The king sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and my people and I are in the wrong. ²⁸Pray to the LORD! We have had enough of this thunder and hail! I promise to let you go; you don't have to stay here any longer."

²⁹Moses said to him, "As soon as I go out of the city, I will lift up my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the LORD. ³⁰But I know that you and your officials do not yet fear the LORD God."

³¹The flax and the barley were ruined, because the barley was ripe, and the flax was budding. ³²But none of the wheat was ruined, because it ripens later.

³³Moses left the king, went out of the city, and lifted up his hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder, the hail, and the rain all stopped. ³⁴When the king saw what had happened, he sinned again. He and his officials remained as stubborn as ever ³⁵and, just as the LORD had foretold through Moses, the king would not let the Israelites go.

Locusts

Exodus 10 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go and see the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, in order that I may perform these miracles among them ²and in order that you may be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I made fools of the Egyptians when I performed the miracles. All of you will know that I am the LORD."

³So Moses and Aaron went to the king and said to him, "The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says, 'How much longer will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ⁴If you keep on refusing, then I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. ⁵There will be so many that they will completely cover the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy, even the trees that are left. ⁶They will fill your palaces and the houses of all your officials and all your people. They will be worse than anything your ancestors ever saw.'" Then Moses turned and left.

⁷The king's officials said to him, "How long is this man going to give us trouble? Let the Israelite men go, so that they can worship the LORD their God. Don't you realize that Egypt is ruined?"

⁸So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king, and he said to them, "You may go and worship the LORD your God. But exactly who will go?"

⁹Moses answered, "We will all go, including our children and our old people. We will take our sons and daughters, our sheep and goats, and our cattle, because we must hold a festival to honor the LORD."

¹⁰The king said, "I swear by the LORD that I will never let you take your women and children! It is clear that you are plotting to revolt. ¹¹No! Only the men may go and worship the LORD if that is what you want." With that, Moses and Aaron were driven out of the king's presence.

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, "Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring the locusts. They will come and eat everything that grows, everything that has survived the hail." ¹³So Moses raised his stick, and the LORD caused a wind from the east to blow on the land all that day and all that night. By morning it had brought the locusts. ¹⁴They came in swarms and settled over the whole country. It was the largest swarm of locusts that had ever been seen or that ever would be seen again. ¹⁵They covered the ground until it was black with them; they ate everything that the hail had left, including all the fruit on the trees. Not a green thing was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

¹⁶Then the king hurriedly called Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. ¹⁷Now forgive my sin this one time and pray to the LORD your God to take away this fatal punishment from me." ¹⁸Moses left the king and prayed to the LORD. ¹⁹And the LORD changed the east wind into a very strong west wind, which picked up the locusts and blew them into the Gulf of Suez. Not one locust was left in all of Egypt. ²⁰But the LORD made the king stubborn, and he did not let the Israelites go.

Darkness

²¹The LORD then said to Moses, "Raise your hand toward the sky, and a darkness thick enough to be felt will cover the land of Egypt." ²²Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and there was total darkness throughout Egypt for three days. ²³The Egyptians could not see each other, and no one left his house during that time. But the Israelites had light where they were living.

²⁴The king called Moses and said, "You may go and worship the LORD; even your women and children may go with you. But your sheep, goats, and cattle must stay here."

²⁵Moses answered, "Then you would have to provide us with animals for sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the LORD our God. ²⁶No, we will take our animals with us; not one will be left behind. We ourselves must select the animals with which to worship the LORD our God. And until we get there, we will not know what animals to sacrifice to him."

²⁷The LORD made the king stubborn, and he would not let them go. ²⁸He said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Don't let me ever see you again! On the day I do, you will die!"

²⁹"You are right," Moses answered. "You will never see me again."

Advice to the Young

Proverbs 3 My child, don't forget what I teach you. Always remember what I tell you to do. ²My teaching will give you a long and prosperous life. ³Never let go of loyalty and faithfulness. Tie them around your neck; write them on your heart. ⁴If you do this, both God and people will be pleased with you.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. ⁶Remember the LORD in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. ⁷Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the LORD and refuse to do wrong. ⁸If you do, it will be like good medicine, healing your wounds and easing your pains. ⁹Honor the LORD by making him an offering from the best of all that your land produces. ¹⁰If you do, your barns will be filled with grain, and you will have too much wine to store it all.

¹¹My child, when the LORD corrects you, pay close attention and take it as a warning. ¹²The LORD corrects those he loves, as parents correct a child of whom they are proud. ¹³Happy is anyone who becomes wise--who comes to have understanding. ¹⁴There is more profit in it than there is in silver; it is worth more to you than gold. ¹⁵Wisdom is more valuable than jewels; nothing you could want can compare with it. ¹⁶Wisdom offers you long life, as well as wealth and honor. ¹⁷Wisdom can make your life pleasant and lead you safely through it. ¹⁸Those who become wise are happy; wisdom will give them life.

¹⁹The LORD created the earth by his wisdom;

by his knowledge he set the sky in place.

²⁰His wisdom caused the rivers to flow

and the clouds to give rain to the earth.

²¹My child, hold on to your wisdom and insight. Never let them get away from you. ²²They will provide you with life--a pleasant and happy life. ²³You can go safely on your way and never even stumble. ²⁴You will not be afraid when you go to bed, and you will sleep soundly through the night. ²⁵You will not have to worry about sudden disasters, such as come on the wicked like a storm. ²⁶The LORD will keep you safe. He will not let you fall into a trap.

²⁷Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. ²⁸Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now. ²⁹Don't plan anything that will hurt your neighbors; they live beside you, trusting you. ³⁰Don't argue with others for no reason when they have never done you any harm. ³¹Don't be jealous of violent people or decide to act as they do, ³²because the LORD hates people who do evil, but he takes righteous people into his confidence. ³³The LORD puts a curse on the homes of the wicked, but blesses the homes of the righteous. ³⁴He has no use for conceited people, but shows favor to those who are humble. ³⁵Wise people will gain an honorable reputation, but stupid people will only add to their own disgrace.

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.