Daily Bible GNT May 08 Scroll

In Corinth

Acts 18 After this, Paul left Athens and went on to Corinth. ²There he met a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, for Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³and stayed and worked with them, because he earned his living by making tents, just as they did. ⁴He held discussions in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul gave his whole time to preaching the message, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶When they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes and saying to them, "If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it! I am not responsible. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." ⁷So he left them and went to live in the house of a Gentile named Titius Justus, who worshiped God; his house was next to the synagogue. ⁸Crispus, who was the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his family; and many other people in Corinth heard the message, believed, and were baptized.

⁹One night Paul had a vision in which the Lord said to him, "Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking and do not give up, ¹⁰for I am with you. No one will be able to harm you, for many in this city are my people." ¹¹So Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching the people the word of God.

¹²When Gallio was made the Roman governor of Achaia, Jews there got together, seized Paul, and took him into court. ¹³"This man," they said, "is trying to persuade people to worship God in a way that is against the law!"

¹⁴Paul was about to speak when Gallio said to the Jews, "If this were a matter of some evil crime or wrong that has been committed, it would be reasonable for me to be patient with you Jews. ¹⁵But since it is an argument about words and names and your own law, you yourselves must settle it. I will not be the judge of such things!" ¹⁶And he drove them out of the court. ¹⁷They all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But that did not bother Gallio a bit.

The Return to Antioch

¹⁸Paul stayed on with the believers in Corinth for many days, then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. Before sailing from Cenchreae he had his head shaved because of a vow he had taken. ¹⁹They arrived in Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He went into the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews. ²⁰The people asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. ²¹Instead, he told them as he left, "If it is the will of God, I will come back to you." And so he sailed from Ephesus.

²²When he arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went to Antioch. ²³After spending some time there, he left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers.

Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth

²⁴At that time a Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he proclaimed and taught correctly the facts about Jesus. However, he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained to him more correctly the Way of God. ²⁷Apollos then decided to go to Achaia, so the believers in Ephesus helped him by writing to the believers in Achaia, urging them to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who through God's grace had become believers. ²⁸For with his strong arguments he defeated the Jews in public debates by proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

Abimelech

Judges 9 Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem, where all his mother's relatives lived, and told them ²to ask the men of Shechem, "Which would you prefer? To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood." ³His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him, and the men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because he was their relative. ⁴They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant, and with this money he hired a bunch of worthless scoundrels to join him. ⁵He went to his father's house at Ophrah, and there on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. But Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, hid and was not killed. ⁶Then all the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.

⁷When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you! ⁸Once upon a time the trees went out to choose a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' ⁹The olive tree answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and human beings.' ¹⁰Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come and be our king.' ¹¹But the fig tree answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my good sweet fruit.' ¹²So the trees then said to the grapevine, 'You come and be our king.' ¹³But the vine answered, 'In order to govern you, I would have to stop producing my wine, that makes gods and human beings happy.' ¹⁴So then all the trees said to the thorn bush, 'You come and be our king.' ¹⁵The thorn bush answered, 'If you really want to make me your king, then come and take shelter in my shade. If you don't, fire will blaze out of my thorny branches and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.'

¹⁶"Now then," Jotham continued, "were you really honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Did you respect Gideon's memory and treat his family properly, as his actions deserved? ¹⁷Remember that my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the Midianites. ¹⁸But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his sons--seventy men on a single stone--and just because Abimelech, his son by his servant woman, is your relative, you have made him king of Shechem. ¹⁹Now then, if what you did today to Gideon and his family was sincere and honest, then be happy with Abimelech and let him be happy with you. ²⁰But if not, may fire blaze out from Abimelech and burn up the men of Shechem and Bethmillo. May fire blaze out from the men of Shechem and Bethmillo and burn Abimelech up." ²¹Then because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech, Jotham ran away and went to live at Beer.

²²Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. ²³Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against Abimelech. ²⁴This happened so that Abimelech and the men of Shechem, who encouraged him to murder Gideon's seventy sons, would pay for their crime. ²⁵The men of Shechem put men in ambush against Abimelech on the mountaintops, and they robbed everyone who passed their way. Abimelech was told about this.

²⁶Then Gaal son of Ebed came to Shechem with his brothers, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. ²⁷They all went out into their vineyards and picked the grapes, made wine from them, and held a festival. They went into the temple of their god, where they ate and drank and made fun of Abimelech. ²⁸Gaal said, "What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan! ²⁹I wish I were leading this people! I would get rid of Abimelech! I would tell him, 'Reinforce your army, come on out and fight!'"

³⁰Zebul, the ruler of the city, became angry when he heard what Gaal had said. ³¹He sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah to say, "Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and they are not going to let you into the city. ³²Now then, you and your men should move by night and hide in the fields. ³³Get up tomorrow morning at sunrise and make a sudden attack on the city. Then when Gaal and his men come out against you, hit them with all you've got!"

³⁴So Abimelech and all his men made their move at night and hid outside Shechem in four groups. ³⁵When Abimelech and his men saw Gaal come out and stand at the city gate, they got up from their hiding places. ³⁶Gaal saw them and said to Zebul, "Look! There are men coming down from the mountaintops!"

"Those are not men," Zebul answered. "They are just shadows on the mountains."

³⁷Gaal said again, "Look! There are men coming down the crest of the mountain and one group is coming along the road from the oak tree of the fortunetellers!"

³⁸Then Zebul said to him, "Where is all your big talk now? You were the one who asked why we should serve this man Abimelech. These are the men you were making fun of. Go on out now and fight them." ³⁹Gaal led the men of Shechem out and fought Abimelech. ⁴⁰Abimelech started after Gaal, and Gaal ran. Many were wounded, even at the city gate. ⁴¹Abimelech lived in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem, so that they could no longer live there.

⁴²The next day Abimelech found out that the people of Shechem were planning to go out into the fields, ⁴³so he took his men, divided them into three groups, and hid in the fields, waiting. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he came out of hiding to kill them. ⁴⁴While Abimelech and his group hurried forward to guard the city gate, the other two companies attacked the people in the fields and killed them all. ⁴⁵The fighting continued all day long. Abimelech captured the city, killed its people, tore it down, and covered the ground with salt.

⁴⁶When all the leading men in the fort at Shechem heard about this, they sought safety in the stronghold of the temple of Baal-of-the-Covenant. ⁴⁷Abimelech was told that they had gathered there, ⁴⁸so he went up to Mount Zalmon with his men. There he took an ax, cut a limb off a tree, and put it on his shoulder. He told his men to hurry and do the same thing. ⁴⁹So everyone cut off a tree limb; then they followed Abimelech and piled the wood up against the stronghold. They set it on fire, with the people inside, and all the people of the fort died--about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰Then Abimelech went to Thebez, surrounded that city, and captured it. ⁵¹There was a strong tower there, and every man and woman in the city, including the leaders, ran to it. They locked themselves in and went up to the roof. ⁵²When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he went up to the door to set the tower on fire. ⁵³But a woman threw a millstone down on his head and fractured his skull. ⁵⁴Then he quickly called the young man who was carrying his weapons and told him, "Draw your sword and kill me. I don't want it said that a woman killed me." So the young man ran him through, and he died. ⁵⁵When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

⁵⁶And so it was that God paid Abimelech back for the crime that he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷God also made the men of Shechem suffer for their wickedness, just as Jotham, Gideon's son, said they would when he cursed them.

The LORD Answers Job

Job 38 Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job.

The LORD

²Who are you to question my wisdom

with your ignorant, empty words?

³Now stand up straight

and answer the questions I ask you.

⁴Were you there when I made the world?

If you know so much, tell me about it.

⁵Who decided how large it would be?

Who stretched the measuring line over it?

Do you know all the answers?

⁶What holds up the pillars that support the earth?

Who laid the cornerstone of the world?

⁷In the dawn of that day the stars sang together,

and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

⁸Who closed the gates to hold back the sea

when it burst from the womb of the earth?

⁹It was I who covered the sea with clouds

and wrapped it in darkness.

¹⁰I marked a boundary for the sea

and kept it behind bolted gates.

¹¹I told it, "So far and no farther!

Here your powerful waves must stop."

¹²Job, have you ever in all your life

commanded a day to dawn?

¹³Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth

and shake the wicked from their hiding places?

¹⁴Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out

like the folds of a garment,

clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.

¹⁵The light of day is too bright for the wicked

and restrains them from doing violence.

¹⁶Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea?

Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?

¹⁷Has anyone ever shown you the gates

that guard the dark world of the dead?

¹⁸Have you any idea how big the world is?

Answer me if you know.

¹⁹Do you know where the light comes from

or what the source of darkness is?

²⁰Can you show them how far to go,

or send them back again?

²¹I am sure you can, because you're so old

and were there when the world was made!

²²Have you ever visited the storerooms,

where I keep the snow and the hail?

²³I keep them ready for times of trouble,

for days of battle and war.

²⁴Have you been to the place where the sun comes up,

or the place from which the east wind blows?

²⁵Who dug a channel for the pouring rain

and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?

²⁶Who makes rain fall where no one lives?

²⁷Who waters the dry and thirsty land,

so that grass springs up?

²⁸Does either the rain or the dew have a father?

²⁹Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,

³⁰

which turn the waters to stone

and freeze the face of the sea?

³¹Can you tie the Pleiades together

or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?

³²Can you guide the stars season by season

and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?

³³Do you know the laws that govern the skies,

and can you make them apply to the earth?

³⁴Can you shout orders to the clouds

and make them drench you with rain?

³⁵And if you command the lightning to flash,

will it come to you and say, "At your service"?

³⁶Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood,

or who tells the rooster that rain will fall?

³⁷Who is wise enough to count the clouds

and tilt them over to pour out the rain,

³⁸

rain that hardens the dust into lumps?

³⁹Do you find food for lions to eat,

and satisfy hungry young lions

⁴⁰

when they hide in their caves,

or lie in wait in their dens?

⁴¹Who is it that feeds the ravens

when they wander about hungry,

when their young cry to me for food?

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.