Daily Bible GNT May 17 Scroll

Paul's Defense before Felix

Acts 24 ¹⁰The governor then motioned to Paul to speak, and Paul said,

"I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, and so I am happy to defend myself before you. ¹¹As you can find out for yourself, it was no more than twelve days ago that I went to Jerusalem to worship. ¹²The Jews did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor did they find me stirring up the people, either in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. ¹³Nor can they give you proof of the accusations they now bring against me. ¹⁴I do admit this to you: I worship the God of our ancestors by following that Way which they say is false. But I also believe in everything written in the Law of Moses and the books of the prophets. ¹⁵I have the same hope in God that these themselves have, namely, that all people, both the good and the bad, will rise from death. ¹⁶And so I do my best always to have a clear conscience before God and people.

¹⁷"After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went there to take some money to my own people and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸It was while I was doing this that they found me in the Temple after I had completed the ceremony of purification. There was no crowd with me and no disorder. ¹⁹But some Jews from the province of Asia were there; they themselves ought to come before you and make their accusations if they have anything against me. ²⁰Or let these who are here tell what crime they found me guilty of when I stood before the Council-- ²¹except for the one thing I called out when I stood before them: 'I am being tried by you today for believing that the dead will rise to life.'"

²²Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, brought the hearing to a close. "When the commander Lysias arrives," he told them, "I will decide your case." ²³He ordered the officer in charge of Paul to keep him under guard, but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to provide for his needs.

Paul before Felix and Drusilla

²⁴After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he talked about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵But as Paul went on discussing about goodness, self-control, and the coming Day of Judgment, Felix was afraid and said, "You may leave now. I will call you again when I get the chance." ²⁶At the same time he was hoping that Paul would give him some money; and for this reason he would call for him often and talk with him.

²⁷After two years had passed, Porcius Festus succeeded Felix as governor. Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jews so he left Paul in prison.

Wives for the Tribe of Benjamin

Judges 21 When the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, they had made a solemn promise to the LORD: "None of us will allow a Benjaminite to marry a daughter of ours." ²So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned: ³"LORD God of Israel, why has this happened? Why is the tribe of Benjamin about to disappear from Israel?"

⁴Early the next morning the people got up and built an altar there. They offered fellowship sacrifices and burned some sacrifices whole. ⁵They asked, "Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in the LORD's presence at Mizpah?" (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.) ⁶The people of Israel felt sorry for their brothers the Benjaminites and said, "Today Israel has lost one of its tribes. ⁷What shall we do to provide wives for the men of Benjamin who are left? We have made a solemn promise to the LORD that we will not give them any of our daughters."

⁸When they asked if there was some group out of the tribes of Israel that had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there; ⁹at the roll call of the army no one from Jabesh had responded. ¹⁰So the assembly sent twelve thousand of their bravest men with the orders, "Go and kill everyone in Jabesh, including women and children. ¹¹Kill all the males, and also every woman who is not a virgin." ¹²They found four hundred young virgins among the people in Jabesh, so they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³Then the whole assembly sent word to the Benjaminites who were at Rimmon Rock and offered to end the war. ¹⁴The Benjaminites came back, and the other Israelites gave them the young women from Jabesh whom they had not killed. But there were not enough of them.

¹⁵The people felt sorry for the Benjaminites because the LORD had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶So the leaders of the gathering said, "There are no more women in the tribe of Benjamin. What shall we do to provide wives for the men who are left? ¹⁷Israel must not lose one of its twelve tribes. We must find a way for the tribe of Benjamin to survive, ¹⁸but we cannot allow them to marry our daughters, because we have put a curse on anyone who allows a Benjaminite to marry one of our daughters."

¹⁹Then they thought, "The yearly festival of the LORD at Shiloh is coming soon." (Shiloh is north of Bethel, south of Lebonah, and east of the road between Bethel and Shechem.) ²⁰They told the Benjaminites, "Go and hide in the vineyards ²¹and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to dance during the festival, you come out of the vineyards. Each of you take a wife by force from among them and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you. ²²If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them, 'Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. And since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.'"

²³The Benjaminites did this; each of them chose a wife from the young women who were dancing at Shiloh and carried her away. Then they went back to their own territory, rebuilt their towns, and lived there. ²⁴At the same time the rest of the Israelites left, and every man went back to his own tribe and family and to his own property.

²⁵There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

God Is with Us

Psalm 46 God is our shelter and strength,

always ready to help in times of trouble.

²So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken

and mountains fall into the ocean depths;

³even if the seas roar and rage,

and the hills are shaken by the violence.

⁴There is a river that brings joy to the city of God,

to the sacred house of the Most High.

⁵God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed;

at early dawn he will come to its aid.

⁶Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken;

God thunders, and the earth dissolves.

⁷The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.

⁸Come and see what the LORD has done.

See what amazing things he has done on earth.

⁹He stops wars all over the world;

he breaks bows, destroys spears,

and sets shields on fire.

¹⁰"Stop fighting," he says, "and know that I am God,

supreme among the nations,

supreme over the world."

¹¹The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.

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.