Daily Bible GNT April 05 Scroll

The Arrest of Jesus
(Mark 14.43-50; Luke 22.47-53; John 18.3-12)

Matthew 26 ⁴⁷Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs and sent by the chief priests and the elders. ⁴⁸The traitor had given the crowd a signal: "The man I kiss is the one you want. Arrest him!"

⁴⁹Judas went straight to Jesus and said, "Peace be with you, Teacher," and kissed him.

⁵⁰Jesus answered, "Be quick about it, friend!"

Then they came up, arrested Jesus, and held him tight. ⁵¹One of those who were with Jesus drew his sword and struck at the High Priest's slave, cutting off his ear. ⁵²"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him. "All who take the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³Don't you know that I could call on my Father for help, and at once he would send me more than twelve armies of angels? ⁵⁴But in that case, how could the Scriptures come true which say that this is what must happen?"

⁵⁵Then Jesus spoke to the crowd, "Did you have to come with swords and clubs to capture me, as though I were an outlaw? Every day I sat down and taught in the Temple, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶But all this has happened in order to make come true what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures."

Then all the disciples left him and ran away.

Jesus before the Council
(Mark 14.53-65; Luke 22.54, 55, 63-71; John 18.13, 14, 19-24)

⁵⁷Those who had arrested Jesus took him to the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the teachers of the Law and the elders had gathered together. ⁵⁸Peter followed from a distance, as far as the courtyard of the High Priest's house. He went into the courtyard and sat down with the guards to see how it would all come out. ⁵⁹The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some false evidence against Jesus to put him to death; ⁶⁰but they could not find any, even though many people came forward and told lies about him. Finally two men stepped up ⁶¹and said, "This man said, 'I am able to tear down God's Temple and three days later build it back up.'"

⁶²The High Priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Have you no answer to give to this accusation against you?" ⁶³But Jesus kept quiet. Again the High Priest spoke to him, "In the name of the living God I now put you under oath: tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God."

⁶⁴Jesus answered him, "So you say. But I tell all of you: from this time on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of heaven!"

⁶⁵At this the High Priest tore his clothes and said, "Blasphemy! We don't need any more witnesses! You have just heard his blasphemy! ⁶⁶What do you think?"

They answered, "He is guilty and must die."

⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and beat him; and those who slapped him ⁶⁸said, "Prophesy for us, Messiah! Guess who hit you!"

Peter Denies Jesus
(Mark 14.66-72; Luke 22.56-62; John 18.15-18, 25-27)

⁶⁹Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when one of the High Priest's servant women came to him and said, "You, too, were with Jesus of Galilee."

⁷⁰But he denied it in front of them all. "I don't know what you are talking about," he answered, ⁷¹and went on out to the entrance of the courtyard. Another servant woman saw him and said to the men there, "He was with Jesus of Nazareth."

⁷²Again Peter denied it and answered, "I swear that I don't know that man!"

⁷³After a little while the men standing there came to Peter. "Of course you are one of them," they said. "After all, the way you speak gives you away!"

⁷⁴Then Peter said, "I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know that man!"

Just then a rooster crowed, ⁷⁵and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: "Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me." He went out and wept bitterly.

Israel Conquers King Og
(Numbers 21.31-35)

Deuteronomy 3 "Next, we moved north toward the region of Bashan, and King Og came out with all his men to fight us near the town of Edrei. ²But the LORD said to me, 'Don't be afraid of him. I am going to give him, his men, and all his territory to you. Do the same thing to him that you did to Sihon the Amorite king who ruled in Heshbon.'

³"So the LORD also placed King Og and his people in our power, and we slaughtered them all. ⁴At the same time we captured all his towns--there was not one that we did not take. In all we captured sixty towns--the whole region of Argob, where King Og of Bashan ruled. ⁵All these towns were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars to lock the gates, and there were also many villages without walls. ⁶We destroyed all the towns and put to death all the men, women, and children, just as we did in the towns that belonged to King Sihon of Heshbon. ⁷We took the livestock and plundered the towns.

⁸"At that time we took from those two Amorite kings the land east of the Jordan River, from the Arnon River to Mount Hermon. ( ⁹Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and Senir by the Amorites.) ¹⁰We took all the territory of King Og of Bashan: the cities on the plateau, the regions of Gilead and of Bashan, as far east as the towns of Salecah and Edrei."

( ¹¹ King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin, made of stone, was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

The Tribes That Settled East of the Jordan
(Numbers 32.1-42)

¹²"When we took possession of the land, I assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory north of the town of Aroer near the Arnon River and part of the hill country of Gilead, along with its towns. ¹³To half the tribe of Manasseh I assigned the rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, where Og had ruled, that is, the entire Argob region."

(Bashan was known as the land of the Rephaim. ¹⁴Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, took the entire region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of Geshur and Maacah. He named the villages after himself, and they are still known as the villages of Jair.)

¹⁵"I assigned Gilead to the clan of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁶And to the tribes of Reuben and Gad I assigned the territory from Gilead to the Arnon River. The middle of the river was their southern boundary, and their northern boundary was the Jabbok River, part of which formed the Ammonite border. ¹⁷On the west their territory extended to the Jordan River, from Lake Galilee in the north down to the Dead Sea in the south and to the foot of Mount Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸"At the same time, I gave them the following instructions: 'The LORD our God has given you this land east of the Jordan to occupy. Now arm your fighting men and send them across the Jordan ahead of the other tribes of Israel, to help them occupy their land. ¹⁹Only your wives, children, and livestock--I know you have a lot of livestock--will remain behind in the towns that I have assigned to you. ²⁰Help the other Israelites until they occupy the land that the LORD is giving them west of the Jordan and until the LORD lets them live there in peace, as he has already done here for you. After that, you may return to this land that I have assigned to you.'

²¹"Then I instructed Joshua: 'You have seen all that the LORD your God did to those two kings, Sihon and Og; and he will do the same thing to everyone else whose land you invade. ²²Don't be afraid of them, for the LORD your God will fight for you.'

Moses Is Not Permitted to Enter Canaan

²³"At that time I earnestly prayed, ²⁴'Sovereign LORD, I know that you have shown me only the beginning of the great and wonderful things you are going to do. There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do the mighty things that you have done! ²⁵Let me cross the Jordan River, LORD, and see the fertile land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon Mountains.'

²⁶"But because of you people the LORD was angry with me and would not listen. Instead, he said, 'That's enough! Don't mention this again! ²⁷Go to the peak of Mount Pisgah and look to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. Look carefully at what you see, because you will never go across the Jordan. ²⁸Give Joshua his instructions. Strengthen his determination, because he will lead the people across to occupy the land that you see.'

²⁹"So we remained in the valley opposite the town of Bethpeor."

Moses Urges Israel to Be Obedient

Deuteronomy 4 Then Moses said to the people, "Obey all the laws that I am teaching you, and you will live and occupy the land which the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. ²Do not add anything to what I command you, and do not take anything away. Obey the commands of the LORD your God that I have given you. ³You yourselves saw what the LORD did at Mount Peor. He destroyed everyone who worshiped Baal there, ⁴but those of you who were faithful to the LORD your God are still alive today.

⁵"I have taught you all the laws, as the LORD my God told me to do. Obey them in the land that you are about to invade and occupy. ⁶Obey them faithfully, and this will show the people of other nations how wise you are. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, 'What wisdom and understanding this great nation has!'

⁷"No other nation, no matter how great, has a god who is so near when they need him as the LORD our God is to us. He answers us whenever we call for help. ⁸No other nation, no matter how great, has laws so just as those that I have taught you today. ⁹Be on your guard! Make certain that you do not forget, as long as you live, what you have seen with your own eyes. Tell your children and your grandchildren ¹⁰about the day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God at Mount Sinai, when he said to me, 'Assemble the people. I want them to hear what I have to say, so that they will learn to obey me as long as they live and so that they will teach their children to do the same.'

¹¹"Tell your children how you went and stood at the foot of the mountain which was covered with thick clouds of dark smoke and fire blazing up to the sky. ¹²Tell them how the LORD spoke to you from the fire, how you heard him speaking but did not see him in any form at all. ¹³He told you what you must do to keep the covenant he made with you--you must obey the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets. ¹⁴The LORD told me to teach you all the laws that you are to obey in the land that you are about to invade and occupy.

Warning against Idolatry

¹⁵"When the LORD spoke to you from the fire on Mount Sinai, you did not see any form. For your own good, then, make certain ¹⁶that you do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all--whether man or woman, ¹⁷animal or bird, ¹⁸reptile or fish. ¹⁹Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky--the sun, the moon, and the stars. The LORD your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. ²⁰But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today. ²¹Because of you the LORD your God was angry with me and solemnly declared that I would not cross the Jordan River to enter the fertile land which he is giving you. ²²I will die in this land and never cross the river, but you are about to go across and occupy that fertile land. ²³Be certain that you do not forget the covenant that the LORD your God made with you. Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol, ²⁴because the LORD your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

²⁵"Even when you have been in the land a long time and have children and grandchildren, do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all. This is evil in the LORD's sight, and it will make him angry. ²⁶I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed. ²⁷The LORD will scatter you among other nations, where only a few of you will survive. ²⁸There you will serve gods made by human hands, gods of wood and stone, gods that cannot see or hear, eat or smell. ²⁹There you will look for the LORD your God, and if you search for him with all your heart, you will find him. ³⁰When you are in trouble and all those things happen to you, then you will finally turn to the LORD and obey him. ³¹He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant that he himself made with your ancestors.

³²"Search the past, the time before you were born, all the way back to the time when God created human beings on the earth. Search the entire earth. Has anything as great as this ever happened before? Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? ³³Have any people ever lived after hearing a god speak to them from a fire, as you have? ³⁴Has any god ever dared to go and take a people from another nation and make them his own, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt? Before your very eyes he used his great power and strength; he brought plagues and war, worked miracles and wonders, and caused terrifying things to happen. ³⁵The LORD has shown you this, to prove to you that he alone is God and that there is no other. ³⁶He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you; and here on earth he let you see his holy fire, and he spoke to you from it. ³⁷Because he loved your ancestors, he chose you, and by his great power he himself brought you out of Egypt. ³⁸As you advanced, he drove out nations greater and more powerful than you, so that he might bring you in and give you their land, the land which still belongs to you. ³⁹So remember today and never forget: the LORD is God in heaven and on earth. There is no other god. ⁴⁰Obey all his laws that I have given you today, and all will go well with you and your descendants. You will continue to live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to be yours forever."

The Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

⁴¹Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan River ⁴²to which a man could escape and be safe if he had accidentally killed someone who had not been his enemy. He could escape to one of these cities and not be put to death. ⁴³For the tribe of Reuben there was the city of Bezer, on the desert plateau; for the tribe of Gad there was Ramoth, in the territory of Gilead; and for the tribe of Manasseh there was Golan, in the territory of Bashan.

Introduction to the Giving of God's Law

⁴⁴Moses gave God's laws and teachings to the people of Israel. ^45-46It was after they had come out of Egypt and were in the valley east of the Jordan River, opposite the town of Bethpeor, that he gave them these laws. This was in the territory that had belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites, who had ruled in the town of Heshbon. Moses and the people of Israel defeated him when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷They occupied his land and the land of King Og of Bashan, the other Amorite king who lived east of the Jordan. ⁴⁸This land extended from the town of Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon River, all the way north to Mount Sirion, that is, Mount Hermon. ⁴⁹It also included all the region east of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea and east to the foot of Mount Pisgah.

Job 5 Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.

Is there any angel to whom you can turn?

²To worry yourself to death with resentment

would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

³I have seen fools who looked secure,

but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.

⁴Their children can never find safety;

no one stands up to defend them in court.

⁵Hungry people will eat the fool's crops--

even the grain growing among thorns--

and thirsty people will envy his wealth.

⁶Evil does not grow in the soil,

nor does trouble grow out of the ground.

⁷No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves,

as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.

⁸If I were you, I would turn to God

and present my case to him.

⁹We cannot understand the great things he does,

and to his miracles there is no end.

¹⁰He sends rain on the land

and he waters the fields.

¹¹Yes, it is God who raises the humble

and gives joy to all who mourn.
^12-13He upsets the plans of cunning people,

and traps the wise in their own schemes,

so that nothing they do succeeds;

¹⁴

even at noon they grope in darkness.

¹⁵But God saves the poor from death;

he saves the needy from oppression.

¹⁶He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.

¹⁷Happy is the person whom God corrects!

Do not resent it when he rebukes you.

¹⁸God bandages the wounds he makes;

his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.

¹⁹Time after time he will save you from harm;

²⁰

when famine comes, he will keep you alive,

and in war protect you from death.

²¹God will rescue you from slander;

he will save you when destruction comes.

²²You will laugh at violence and hunger

and not be afraid of wild animals.

²³The fields you plow will be free of rocks;

wild animals will never attack you.

²⁴Then you will live at peace in your tent;

when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.

²⁵You will have as many children

as there are blades of grass in a pasture.

²⁶Like wheat that ripens till harvest time,

you will live to a ripe old age.

²⁷Job, we have learned this by long study.

It is true, so now accept it.

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.