Daily Bible GNT May 30 Scroll

Right with God

Romans 5 Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory! ³We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, ⁴endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope. ⁵This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.

⁶For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. ⁷It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. ⁸But God has shown us how much he loves us--it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! ⁹By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! ¹⁰We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! ¹¹But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends.

Adam and Christ

¹²Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned. ¹³There was sin in the world before the Law was given; but where there is no law, no account is kept of sins. ¹⁴But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, death ruled over all human beings, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God's command.

Adam was a figure of the one who was to come. ¹⁵But the two are not the same, because God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of that one man. But God's grace is much greater, and so is his free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶And there is a difference between God's gift and the sin of one man. After the one sin, came the judgment of "Guilty"; but after so many sins, comes the undeserved gift of "Not guilty!" ¹⁷It is true that through the sin of one man death began to rule because of that one man. But how much greater is the result of what was done by the one man, Jesus Christ! All who receive God's abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.

¹⁸So then, as the one sin condemned all people, in the same way the one righteous act sets all people free and gives them life. ¹⁹And just as all people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way they will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man.

²⁰Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God's grace increased much more. ²¹So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God's grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jonathan's Daring Deed

1 Samuel 14 One day Jonathan said to the young man who carried his weapons, "Let's go across to the Philistine camp." But Jonathan did not tell his father Saul, ²who was camping under a pomegranate tree in Migron, not far from Gibeah; he had about six hundred men with him. ³(The priest carrying the ephod was Ahijah, the son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub, who was the son of Phinehas and grandson of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh.) The men did not know that Jonathan had left.

⁴In Michmash Pass, which Jonathan had to go through to get over to the Philistine camp, there were two large jagged rocks, one on each side of the pass: one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. ⁵One was on the north side of the pass, facing Michmash, and the other was on the south side, facing Geba.

⁶Jonathan said to the young man, "Let's cross over to the camp of those heathen Philistines. Maybe the LORD will help us; if he does, nothing can keep him from giving us the victory, no matter how few of us there are."

⁷The young man answered, "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you."

⁸"All right," Jonathan said. "We will go across and let the Philistines see us. ⁹If they tell us to wait for them to come to us, then we will stay where we are. ¹⁰But if they tell us to go to them, then we will, because that will be the sign that the LORD has given us victory over them."

¹¹So they let the Philistines see them, and the Philistines said, "Look! Some Hebrews are coming out of the holes they have been hiding in!" ¹²Then they called out to Jonathan and the young man, "Come on up here! We have something to tell you!"

Jonathan said to the young man, "Follow me. The LORD has given Israel victory over them." ¹³Jonathan climbed up out of the pass on his hands and knees, and the young man followed him. Jonathan attacked the Philistines and knocked them down, and the young man killed them. ¹⁴In that first slaughter Jonathan and the young man killed about twenty men in an area of about half an acre. ¹⁵All the Philistines in the countryside were terrified; the raiders and the soldiers in the camp trembled with fear; the earth shook, and there was great panic.

The Defeat of the Philistines

¹⁶Saul's men on watch at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin saw the Philistines running in confusion. ¹⁷So Saul said to his men, "Count the soldiers and find out who is missing." They did so and found that Jonathan and the young man who carried his weapons were missing. ¹⁸"Bring the ephod here," Saul said to Ahijah the priest. (On that day Ahijah was carrying it in front of the people of Israel.) ¹⁹As Saul was speaking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp kept getting worse, so Saul said to him, "There's no time to consult the LORD!" ²⁰Then he and his men marched into battle against the Philistines, who were fighting each other in complete confusion. ²¹Some Hebrews, who had been on the Philistine side and had gone with them to the camp, changed sides again and joined Saul and Jonathan. ²²Others, who had been hiding in the hills of Ephraim, heard that the Philistines were running away, so they also joined in and attacked the Philistines, ²³fighting all the way beyond Bethaven. The LORD saved Israel that day.

Events after the Battle

²⁴The Israelites were weak with hunger that day, because Saul, with a solemn oath, had given the order: "A curse be on anyone who eats any food today before I take revenge on my enemies." So nobody had eaten anything all day. ²⁵They all came into a wooded area and found honey everywhere. ²⁶The woods were full of honey, but no one ate any of it because they were all afraid of Saul's curse. ²⁷But Jonathan had not heard his father threaten the people with a curse; so he reached out with the stick he was carrying, dipped it in a honeycomb, and ate some honey. At once he felt much better. ²⁸But one of the men told him, "We are all weak from hunger, but your father threatened us and said, 'A curse be on anyone who eats any food today.'"

²⁹Jonathan answered, "What a terrible thing my father has done to our people! See how much better I feel because I ate some honey! ³⁰How much better it would have been today if our people had eaten the food they took when they defeated the enemy. Just think how many more Philistines they would have killed!"

³¹That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines, fighting all the way from Michmash to Aijalon. By this time the Israelites were very weak from hunger, ³²and so they rushed over to what they had captured from the enemy, took sheep and cattle, slaughtered them on the spot, and ate the meat with the blood still in it. ³³Saul was told, "Look, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood in it."

"You are traitors!" Saul cried out. "Roll a big stone over here to me." ³⁴Then he gave another order: "Go among the people and tell them all to bring their cattle and sheep here. They are to slaughter them and eat them here; they must not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood in it." So that night they all brought their cattle and slaughtered them there. ³⁵Saul built an altar to the LORD, the first one that he built.

³⁶Saul said to his men, "Let's go down and attack the Philistines in the night, plunder them until dawn, and kill them all."

"Do whatever you think best," they answered.

But the priest said, "Let's consult God first."

³⁷So Saul asked God, "Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give us victory?" But God did not answer that day. ³⁸Then Saul said to the leaders of the people, "Come here and find out what sin was committed today. ³⁹I promise by the living LORD, who gives Israel victory, that the guilty one will be put to death, even if he is my son Jonathan." But no one said anything. ⁴⁰Then Saul said to them, "All of you stand over there, and Jonathan and I will stand over here."

"Do whatever you think best," they answered.

⁴¹Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, "LORD, why have you not answered me today? LORD, God of Israel, answer me by the sacred stones. If the guilt is Jonathan's or mine, answer by the Urim; but if it belongs to your people Israel, answer by the Thummim." The answer indicated Jonathan and Saul; and the people were cleared. ⁴²Then Saul said, "Decide between my son Jonathan and me." And Jonathan was indicated. ⁴³Then Saul asked Jonathan, "What have you done?"

Jonathan answered, "I ate a little honey with the stick I was holding. Here I am--I am ready to die."

⁴⁴Saul said to him, "May God strike me dead if you are not put to death!"

⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, "Will Jonathan, who won this great victory for Israel, be put to death? No! We promise by the living LORD that he will not lose even a hair from his head. What he did today was done with God's help." So the people saved Jonathan from being put to death.

⁴⁶After that, Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they went back to their own territory.

Saul's Reign and Family

⁴⁷After Saul became king of Israel, he fought all his enemies everywhere: the people of Moab, of Ammon, and of Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he fought he was victorious. ⁴⁸He fought heroically and defeated even the people of Amalek. He saved the Israelites from all attacks.

⁴⁹Saul's sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. His older daughter was named Merab, and the younger one Michal. ⁵⁰His wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; his army commander was his cousin Abner, the son of his uncle Ner. ⁵¹Saul's father Kish and Abner's father Ner were sons of Abiel.

⁵²As long as he lived, Saul had to fight fiercely against the Philistines. So whenever he found a man who was strong or brave, he would enlist him in his army.

A Prayer for Safety

Psalm 59 Save me from my enemies, my God;

protect me from those who attack me!

²Save me from those evil people;

rescue me from those murderers!

³Look! They are waiting to kill me;

cruel people are gathering against me.

It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done,

⁴

nor because of any fault of mine, O LORD,

that they hurry to their places.

⁵Rise, LORD God Almighty, and come to my aid;

see for yourself, God of Israel!

Wake up and punish the heathen;

show no mercy to evil traitors!

⁶They come back in the evening,

snarling like dogs as they go about the city.

⁷Listen to their insults and threats.

Their tongues are like swords in their mouths,

yet they think that no one hears them.

⁸But you laugh at them, LORD;

you mock all the heathen.

⁹I have confidence in your strength;

you are my refuge, O God.

¹⁰My God loves me and will come to me;

he will let me see my enemies defeated.

¹¹Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget.

Scatter them by your strength and defeat them,

O Lord, our protector.

¹²Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful;

may they be caught in their pride!

Because they curse and lie,

¹³

destroy them in your anger;

destroy them completely.

Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel,

that his rule extends over all the earth.

¹⁴My enemies come back in the evening,

snarling like dogs as they go about the city,

¹⁵

like dogs roaming about for food

and growling if they do not find enough.

¹⁶But I will sing about your strength;

every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love.

You have been a refuge for me,

a shelter in my time of trouble.

¹⁷I will praise you, my defender.

My refuge is God,

the God who loves me.

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.