Daily Bible GNT May 25 Scroll

Romans 1 From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus and an apostle chosen and called by God to preach his Good News.

²The Good News was promised long ago by God through his prophets, as written in the Holy Scriptures. ³It is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: as to his humanity, he was born a descendant of David; ⁴as to his divine holiness, he was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death. ⁵Through him God gave me the privilege of being an apostle for the sake of Christ, in order to lead people of all nations to believe and obey. ⁶This also includes you who are in Rome, whom God has called to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷And so I write to all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his own people:

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the whole world is hearing about your faith. ⁹God is my witness that what I say is true--the God whom I serve with all my heart by preaching the Good News about his Son. God knows that I remember you ¹⁰every time I pray. I ask that God in his good will may at last make it possible for me to visit you now. ¹¹For I want very much to see you, in order to share a spiritual blessing with you to make you strong. ¹²What I mean is that both you and I will be helped at the same time, you by my faith and I by yours.

¹³You must remember, my friends, that many times I have planned to visit you, but something has always kept me from doing so. I want to win converts among you also, as I have among other Gentiles. ¹⁴For I have an obligation to all peoples, to the civilized and to the savage, to the educated and to the ignorant. ¹⁵So then, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who live in Rome.

The People Ask for a King

1 Samuel 8 When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges in Israel. ²The older son was named Joel and the younger one Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³But they did not follow their father's example; they were interested only in making money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide cases honestly.

⁴Then all the leaders of Israel met together, went to Samuel in Ramah, ⁵and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have." ⁶Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the LORD, ⁷and the LORD said, "Listen to everything the people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they have rejected as their king. ⁸Ever since I brought them out of Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshiped other gods; and now they are doing to you what they have always done to me. ⁹So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them."

¹⁰Samuel told the people who were asking him for a king everything that the LORD had said to him. ¹¹"This is how your king will treat you," Samuel explained. "He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots. ¹²He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plow his fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. ¹³Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and work as his cooks and his bakers. ¹⁴He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. ¹⁵He will take a tenth of your grain and of your grapes for his court officers and other officials. ¹⁶He will take your servants and your best cattle and donkeys, and make them work for him. ¹⁷He will take a tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸When that time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you yourselves chose, but the LORD will not listen to your complaints."

¹⁹The people paid no attention to Samuel, but said, "No! We want a king, ²⁰so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles." ²¹Samuel listened to everything they said and then went and told it to the LORD. ²²The LORD answered, "Do what they want and give them a king." Then Samuel told all the men of Israel to go back home.

A Prayer for Protection from Enemies

Psalm 54 Save me by your power, O God;

set me free by your might!

²Hear my prayer, O God;

listen to my words!

³Proud people are coming to attack me;

cruel people are trying to kill me--

those who do not care about God.

⁴But God is my helper.

The Lord is my defender.

⁵May God use their own evil to punish my enemies.

He will destroy them because he is faithful.

⁶I will gladly offer you a sacrifice, O LORD;

I will give you thanks

because you are good.

⁷You have rescued me from all my troubles,

and I have seen my enemies defeated.

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.