Daily Bible GNT May 26 Scroll

The Power of the Gospel

Romans 1 ¹⁶I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles. ¹⁷For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the scripture says, "The person who is put right with God through faith shall live."

Human Guilt

¹⁸God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. ¹⁹God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it plain. ²⁰Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all! ²¹They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. ²²They say they are wise, but they are fools; ²³instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles.

²⁴And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. ²⁵They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen.

²⁶Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions. Even the women pervert the natural use of their sex by unnatural acts. ²⁷In the same way the men give up natural sexual relations with women and burn with passion for each other. Men do shameful things with each other, and as a result they bring upon themselves the punishment they deserve for their wrongdoing.

²⁸Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do. ²⁹They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice. They gossip ³⁰and speak evil of one another; they are hateful to God, insolent, proud, and boastful; they think of more ways to do evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹they have no conscience; they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or pity for others. ³²They know that God's law says that people who live in this way deserve death. Yet, not only do they continue to do these very things, but they even approve of others who do them.

Saul Meets Samuel

1 Samuel 9 There was a wealthy and influential man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin; he was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, and belonged to the family of Becorath, a part of the clan of Aphiah. ²He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Saul was a foot taller than anyone else in Israel and more handsome as well.

³Some donkeys belonging to Kish had wandered off, so he said to Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." ⁴They went through the hill country of Ephraim and the region of Shalishah, but did not find them; so they went on through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then they went through the territory of Benjamin, but still did not find them. ⁵When they came into the region of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, "Let's go back home, or my father might stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."

⁶The servant answered, "Wait! In this town there is a holy man who is highly respected because everything he says comes true. Let's go to him, and maybe he can tell us where we can find the donkeys."

⁷"If we go to him, what can we give him?" Saul asked. "There is no food left in our packs, and we don't have a thing to give him, do we?"

⁸The servant answered, "I have a small silver coin. I can give him that, and then he will tell us where we can find them."

^9-11Saul replied, "A good idea! Let's go." So they went to the town where the holy man lived. As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women who were coming out to draw water. They asked these women, "Is the seer in town?"

(At that time a prophet was called a seer, and so whenever someone wanted to ask God a question, he would say, "Let's go to the seer.")

^12-13"Yes, he is," the young women answered. "In fact, he is just ahead of you. If you hurry, you will catch up with him. As soon as you go into town, you will find him. He arrived in town today because the people are going to offer a sacrifice on the altar on the hill. The people who are invited won't start eating until he gets there, because he has to bless the sacrifice first. If you go now, you will find him before he goes up the hill to eat." ¹⁴So Saul and his servant went on to the town, and as they were going in, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way to the place of worship.

¹⁵Now on the previous day the LORD had told Samuel, ¹⁶"Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the tribe of Benjamin; anoint him as ruler of my people Israel, and he will rescue them from the Philistines. I have seen the suffering of my people and have heard their cries for help."

¹⁷When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I told you about. He will rule my people." ¹⁸Then Saul went over to Samuel, who was near the gate, and asked, "Tell me, where does the seer live?"

¹⁹Samuel answered, "I am the seer. Go on ahead of me to the place of worship. Both of you are to eat with me today. Tomorrow morning I will answer all your questions and send you on your way. ²⁰As for the donkeys that were lost three days ago, don't worry about them; they have already been found. But who is it that the people of Israel want so much? It is you--you and your father's family."

²¹Saul answered, "I belong to the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important one in the tribe. Why, then, do you talk like this to me?"

²²Then Samuel led Saul and his servant into the large room and gave them a place at the head of the table where the guests, about thirty in all, were seated. ²³Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, which I told you to set aside." ²⁴So the cook brought the choice piece of the leg and placed it before Saul. Samuel said, "Look, here is the piece that was kept for you. Eat it. I saved it for you to eat at this time with the people I invited."

So Saul ate with Samuel that day. ²⁵When they went down from the place of worship to the town, they fixed up a bed for Saul on the roof, ²⁶and he slept there.

Samuel Anoints Saul as Ruler

At dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get up, and I will send you on your way." Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out to the street together. ²⁷When they arrived at the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us." The servant left, and Samuel continued, "Stay here a minute, and I will tell you what God has said."
1 Samuel 10 Then Samuel took a jar of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head, kissed him, and said, "The LORD anoints you as ruler of his people Israel. You will rule his people and protect them from all their enemies. And this is the proof to you that the LORD has chosen you to be the ruler of his people: ²When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah in the territory of Benjamin. They will tell you that the donkeys you were looking for have been found, so that your father isn't worried any more about them but about you, and he keeps asking, 'What shall I do about my son?' ³You will go on from there until you come to the sacred tree at Tabor, where you will meet three men on their way to offer a sacrifice to God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. ⁴They will greet you and offer you two of the loaves, which you are to accept. ⁵Then you will go to the Hill of God in Gibeah, where there is a Philistine camp. At the entrance to the town you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the altar on the hill, playing harps, drums, flutes, and lyres. They will be dancing and shouting. ⁶Suddenly the spirit of the LORD will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person. ⁷When these things happen, do whatever God leads you to do. ⁸You will go ahead of me to Gilgal, where I will meet you and offer burnt sacrifices and fellowship sacrifices. Wait there seven days until I come and tell you what to do."

⁹When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God gave Saul a new nature. And everything Samuel had told him happened that day. ¹⁰When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting. ¹¹People who had known him before saw him doing this and asked one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become a prophet?" ¹²A man who lived there asked, "How about these other prophets--who do you think their fathers are?" This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?" ¹³When Saul finished his ecstatic dancing and shouting, he went to the altar on the hill.

¹⁴Saul's uncle saw him and the servant, and he asked them, "Where have you been?"

"Looking for the donkeys," Saul answered. "When we couldn't find them, we went to see Samuel."

¹⁵"And what did he tell you?" Saul's uncle asked.

¹⁶"He told us that the animals had been found," Saul answered--but he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.

The Prayer of Someone Betrayed by a Friend

Psalm 55 Hear my prayer, O God;

don't turn away from my plea!

²Listen to me and answer me;

I am worn out by my worries.

³I am terrified by the threats of my enemies,

crushed by the oppression of the wicked.

They bring trouble on me;

they are angry with me and hate me.

⁴I am terrified,

and the terrors of death crush me.

⁵I am gripped by fear and trembling;

I am overcome with horror.

⁶I wish I had wings like a dove.

I would fly away and find rest.

⁷I would fly far away

and make my home in the desert.

⁸I would hurry and find myself a shelter

from the raging wind and the storm.

⁹Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord!

I see violence and riots in the city,

¹⁰

surrounding it day and night,

filling it with crime and trouble.

¹¹There is destruction everywhere;

the streets are full of oppression and fraud.

¹²If it were an enemy making fun of me,

I could endure it;

if it were an opponent boasting over me,

I could hide myself from him.

¹³But it is you, my companion,

my colleague and close friend.

¹⁴We had intimate talks with each other

and worshiped together in the Temple.

¹⁵May my enemies die before their time;

may they go down alive into the world of the dead!

Evil is in their homes and in their hearts.

¹⁶But I call to the LORD God for help,

and he will save me.

¹⁷Morning, noon, and night

my complaints and groans go up to him,

and he will hear my voice.

¹⁸He will bring me safely back

from the battles that I fight

against so many enemies.

¹⁹God, who has ruled from eternity,

will hear me and defeat them;

for they refuse to change,

and they do not fear him.

²⁰My former companion attacked his friends;

he broke his promises.

²¹His words were smoother than cream,

but there was hatred in his heart;

his words were as soothing as oil,

but they cut like sharp swords.

²²Leave your troubles with the LORD,

and he will defend you;

he never lets honest people be defeated.

²³But you, O God, will bring those murderers and liars to their graves

before half their life is over.

As for me, I will trust in you.

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.