Daily Bible GNT May 11 Scroll

To Macedonia and Achaia

Acts 20 After the uproar died down, Paul called together the believers and with words of encouragement said good-bye to them. Then he left and went on to Macedonia. ²He went through those regions and encouraged the people with many messages. Then he came to Achaia, ³where he stayed three months. He was getting ready to go to Syria when he discovered that there were Jews plotting against him; so he decided to go back through Macedonia. ⁴Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, went with him; so did Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Tychicus and Trophimus, from the province of Asia; and Timothy. ⁵They went ahead and waited for us in Troas. ⁶We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later we joined them in Troas, where we spent a week.

Paul's Last Visit to Troas

⁷On Saturday evening we gathered together for the fellowship meal. Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day. ⁸Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting. ⁹A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus got sleepier and sleepier, until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. ¹⁰But Paul went down and threw himself on him and hugged him. "Don't worry," he said, "he is still alive!" ¹¹Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. After talking with them for a long time, even until sunrise, Paul left. ¹²They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

From Troas to Miletus

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed off to Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had told us to do this, because he was going there by land. ¹⁴When he met us in Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵We sailed from there and arrived off Chios the next day. A day later we came to Samos, and the following day we reached Miletus. ¹⁶Paul had decided to sail on by Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if at all possible.

The Birth of Samson

Judges 13 The Israelites sinned against the LORD again, and he let the Philistines rule them for forty years.

²At that time there was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah. He was a member of the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children. ³The LORD's angel appeared to her and said, "You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son. ⁴Be sure not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food; ⁵and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines."

⁶Then the woman went and told her husband, "A man of God has come to me, and he looked as frightening as the angel of God. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. ⁷But he did tell me that I would become pregnant and have a son. He told me not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food, because the boy is to be dedicated to God as a nazirite as long as he lives."

⁸Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, "Please, LORD, let the man of God that you sent come back to us and tell us what we must do with the boy when he is born."

⁹God did what Manoah asked, and his angel came back to the woman while she was sitting in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her, ¹⁰so she ran at once and told him, "Look! The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again."

¹¹Manoah got up and followed his wife. He went to the man and asked, "Are you the man who talked to my wife?"

"Yes," he answered.

¹²Then Manoah said, "Now then, when your words come true, what must the boy do? What kind of a life must he lead?"

¹³The LORD's angel answered, "Your wife must be sure to do everything that I have told her. ¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine; she must not drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food. She must do everything that I have told her."

^15-16Not knowing that it was the LORD's angel, Manoah said to him, "Please do not go yet. Let us cook a young goat for you."

But the angel said, "If I do stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare it, burn it as an offering to the LORD."

¹⁷Manoah replied, "Tell us your name, so that we can honor you when your words come true."

¹⁸The angel asked, "Why do you want to know my name? It is a name of wonder."

¹⁹So Manoah took a young goat and some grain, and offered them on the rock altar to the LORD who works wonders. ^20-21While the flames were going up from the altar, Manoah and his wife saw the LORD's angel go up toward heaven in the flames. Manoah realized then that the man had been the LORD's angel, and he and his wife threw themselves face downward on the ground. They never saw the angel again.

²²Manoah said to his wife, "We are sure to die, because we have seen God!"

²³But his wife answered, "If the LORD had wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our offerings; he would not have shown us all this or told us such things at this time."

²⁴The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the LORD blessed him. ²⁵And the LORD's power began to strengthen him while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol in the Camp of Dan.

Job 41 Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook

or tie his tongue down with a rope?

²Can you put a rope through his snout

or put a hook through his jaws?

³Will he beg you to let him go?

Will he plead with you for mercy?

⁴Will he make an agreement with you

and promise to serve you forever?

⁵Will you tie him like a pet bird,

like something to amuse your servant women?

⁶Will fishermen bargain over him?

Will merchants cut him up to sell?

⁷Can you fill his hide with fishing spears

or pierce his head with a harpoon?

⁸Touch him once and you'll never try it again;

you'll never forget the fight!

⁹Anyone who sees Leviathan

loses courage and falls to the ground.

¹⁰When he is aroused, he is fierce;

no one would dare to stand before him.

¹¹Who can attack him and still be safe?

No one in all the world can do it.

¹²Let me tell you about Leviathan's legs

and describe how great and strong he is.

¹³No one can tear off his outer coat

or pierce the armor he wears.

¹⁴Who can make him open his jaws,

ringed with those terrifying teeth?

¹⁵His back is made of rows of shields,

fastened together and hard as stone.

¹⁶Each one is joined so tight to the next,

not even a breath can come between.

¹⁷They all are fastened so firmly together

that nothing can ever pull them apart.

¹⁸Light flashes when he sneezes,

and his eyes glow like the rising sun.

¹⁹Flames blaze from his mouth,

and streams of sparks fly out.

²⁰Smoke comes pouring out of his nose,

like smoke from weeds burning under a pot.

²¹His breath starts fires burning;

flames leap out of his mouth.

²²His neck is so powerful

that all who meet him are terrified.

²³There is not a weak spot in his skin;

it is as hard and unyielding as iron.

²⁴His stony heart is without fear,

as unyielding and hard as a millstone.

²⁵When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened;

they are helpless with fear.

²⁶There is no sword that can wound him;

no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him.

²⁷For him iron is as flimsy as straw,

and bronze as soft as rotten wood.

²⁸There is no arrow that can make him run;

rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw.

²⁹To him a club is a piece of straw,

and he laughs when men throw spears.

³⁰The scales on his belly are like jagged pieces of pottery;

they tear up the muddy ground like a threshing sledge.

³¹He churns up the sea like boiling water

and makes it bubble like a pot of oil.

³²He leaves a shining path behind him

and turns the sea to white foam.

³³There is nothing on earth to compare with him;

he is a creature that has no fear.

³⁴He looks down on even the proudest animals;

he is king of all wild beasts.

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.