Daily Bible GNT June 29 Scroll

Jesus Teaches about Divorce
(Matthew 19.1-12; Luke 16.18)

Mark 10 Then Jesus left that place, went to the province of Judea, and crossed the Jordan River. Crowds came flocking to him again, and he taught them, as he always did.

²Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him. "Tell us," they asked, "does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife?"

³Jesus answered with a question, "What law did Moses give you?"

⁴Their answer was, "Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away."

⁵Jesus said to them, "Moses wrote this law for you because you are so hard to teach. ⁶But in the beginning, at the time of creation, 'God made them male and female,' as the scripture says. ⁷'And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, ⁸and the two will become one.' So they are no longer two, but one. ⁹No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together."

¹⁰When they went back into the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. ¹¹He said to them, "A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. ¹²In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery."

Jesus Blesses Little Children
(Matthew 19.13-15; Luke 18.15-17)

¹³Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. ¹⁴When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." ¹⁶Then he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them.

The Rich Man
(Matthew 19.16-30; Luke 18.18-30)

¹⁷As Jesus was starting on his way again, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"

¹⁸"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked him. "No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: 'Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; do not cheat; respect your father and your mother.'"

²⁰"Teacher," the man said, "ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commandments."

²¹Jesus looked straight at him with love and said, "You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me." ²²When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.

²³Jesus looked around at his disciples and said to them, "How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!"

²⁴The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus went on to say, "My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

²⁶At this the disciples were completely amazed and asked one another, "Who, then, can be saved?"

²⁷Jesus looked straight at them and answered, "This is impossible for human beings but not for God; everything is possible for God."

²⁸Then Peter spoke up, "Look, we have left everything and followed you."

²⁹"Yes," Jesus said to them, "and I tell you that those who leave home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and for the gospel, ³⁰will receive much more in this present age. They will receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields--and persecutions as well; and in the age to come they will receive eternal life. ³¹But many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first."

David's Last Words

2 Samuel 23 David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David's last words:

²The spirit of the LORD speaks through me;

his message is on my lips.

³The God of Israel has spoken;

the protector of Israel said to me:

"The king who rules with justice,

who rules in obedience to God,

⁴is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn,

the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain."

⁵And that is how God will bless my descendants,

because he has made an eternal covenant with me,

an agreement that will not be broken,

a promise that will not be changed.

That is all I desire;

that will be my victory,

and God will surely bring it about.

⁶But godless people are like thorns that are thrown away;

no one can touch them barehanded.

⁷You must use an iron tool or a spear;

they will be burned completely.

David's Famous Soldiers
(1 Chronicles 11.10-41)

⁸These are the names of David's famous soldiers: the first was Josheb Basshebeth from Tachemon, who was the leader of "The Three"; he fought with his spear against eight hundred men and killed them all in one battle.

⁹The second of the famous three was Eleazar son of Dodo, of the clan of Ahoh. One day he and David challenged the Philistines who had gathered for battle. The Israelites fell back, ¹⁰but he stood his ground and fought the Philistines until his hand was so cramped that he could not let go of his sword. The LORD won a great victory that day. After it was over, the Israelites returned to where Eleazar was and stripped the armor from the dead.

¹¹The third of the famous three was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. The Philistines had gathered at Lehi, where there was a field of peas. The Israelites fled from the Philistines, ¹²but Shammah stood his ground in the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. The LORD won a great victory that day.

¹³Near the beginning of harvest time three of "The Thirty" went down to Adullam Cave, where David was, while a band of Philistines was camping in Rephaim Valley. ¹⁴At that time David was on a fortified hill, and a group of Philistines had occupied Bethlehem. ¹⁵David grew homesick and said, "How I wish someone would bring me a drink of water from the well by the gate at Bethlehem!" ¹⁶The three famous soldiers forced their way through the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he would not drink it; instead he poured it out as an offering to the LORD ¹⁷and said, "LORD, I could never drink this! It would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives!" So he refused to drink it.

Those were the brave deeds of the three famous soldiers.

¹⁸Joab's brother Abishai (their mother was Zeruiah) was the leader of "The Famous Thirty." He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and became famous among "The Thirty." ¹⁹He was the most famous of "The Thirty" and became their leader, but he was not as famous as "The Three."

²⁰Benaiah son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel was another famous soldier; he did many brave deeds, including killing two great Moabite warriors. He once went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²¹He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man who was armed with a spear. Benaiah attacked him with his club, snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with it. ²²Those were the brave deeds of Benaiah, who was one of "The Thirty." ²³He was outstanding among them, but was not as famous as "The Three." David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

^24-39Other members of "The Thirty" included:

Asahel, Joab's brother

Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem

Shammah and Elika from Harod

Helez from Pelet

Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa

Abiezer from Anathoth

Mebunnai from Hushah

Zalmon from Ahoh

Maharai from Netophah

Heleb son of Baanah from Netophah

Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin

Benaiah from Pirathon

Hiddai from the valleys near Gaash

Abialbon from Arabah

Azmaveth from Bahurim

Eliahba from Shaalbon

The sons of Jashen

Jonathan

Shammah from Harar

Ahiam son of Sharar from Harar

Eliphelet son of Ahasbai from Maacah

Eliam son of Ahithophel from Gilo

Hezro from Carmel

Paarai from Arab

Igal son of Nathan from Zobah

Bani from Gad

Zelek from Ammon

Naharai from Beeroth, Joab's armorbearer

Ira and Gareb from Jattir

Uriah the Hittite.

There were thirty-seven famous soldiers in all.

Hosea and the Unfaithful Woman

Hosea 3 The LORD said to me, "Go again and show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover. You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols."

²So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and seven bushels of barley to buy her. ³I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. ⁴In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination. ⁵But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the LORD their God and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the LORD and will receive his good gifts.

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.