Daily Bible GNT December 11 Scroll

Children and Parents

Ephesians 6 Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. ²"Respect your father and mother" is the first commandment that has a promise added: ³"so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land."

⁴Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction.

Slaves and Masters

⁵Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling; and do it with a sincere heart, as though you were serving Christ. ⁶Do this not only when they are watching you, because you want to gain their approval; but with all your heart do what God wants, as slaves of Christ. ⁷Do your work as slaves cheerfully, as though you served the Lord, and not merely human beings. ⁸Remember that the Lord will reward each of us, whether slave or free, for the good work we do.

⁹Masters, behave in the same way toward your slaves and stop using threats. Remember that you and your slaves belong to the same Master in heaven, who judges everyone by the same standard.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. ¹¹Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. ¹²For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. ¹³So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.

¹⁴So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, ¹⁵and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. ¹⁶At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. ¹⁷And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. ¹⁸Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people. ¹⁹And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel's secret. ²⁰For the sake of this gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the gospel as I should.

Final Greetings

²¹Tychicus, our dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord's work, will give you all the news about me, so that you may know how I am getting along. ²²That is why I am sending him to you--to tell you how all of us are getting along and to encourage you.

²³May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give to all Christians peace and love with faith. ²⁴May God's grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.

The Parable of the Eagles and the Vine

Ezekiel 17 The LORD spoke to me. ²"Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites a parable ³to let them know what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them: There was a giant eagle with beautiful feathers and huge wings, spread wide. He flew to the Lebanon Mountains and broke off the top of a cedar tree, ⁴which he carried to a land of commerce and placed in a city of merchants. ⁵Then he took a young plant from the land of Israel and planted it in a fertile field, where there was always water to make it grow. ⁶The plant sprouted and became a low, wide-spreading grapevine. The branches grew upward toward the eagle, and the roots grew deep. The vine was covered with branches and leaves.

⁷"There was another giant eagle with huge wings and thick plumage. And now the vine sent its roots toward him and turned its leaves toward him, in the hope that he would give it more water than there was in the garden where it was growing. ⁸But the vine had already been planted in a fertile, well-watered field so that it could grow leaves and bear grapes and be a magnificent vine.

⁹"So I, the Sovereign LORD, ask: Will this vine live and grow? Won't the first eagle pull it up by its roots, pull off the grapes, and break off the branches and let them wither? It will not take much strength or a mighty nation to pull it up. ¹⁰Yes, it is planted, but will it live and grow? Won't it wither when the east wind strikes it? Won't it wither there where it is growing?"

The Parable Is Explained

¹¹The LORD said to me, ¹²"Ask these rebels if they know what the parable means. Tell them that the king of Babylonia came to Jerusalem and took the king and his officials back with him to Babylonia. ¹³He took one of the king's family, made a treaty with him, and made him swear to be loyal. He took important men as hostages ¹⁴to keep the nation from rising again and to make sure that the treaty would be kept. ¹⁵But the king of Judah rebelled and sent agents to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can he get away with that? He cannot break the treaty and go unpunished!

¹⁶"As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign LORD, "this king will die in Babylonia because he broke his oath and the treaty he had made with the king of Babylonia, who put him on the throne. ¹⁷Even the powerful army of the king of Egypt will not be able to help him fight when the Babylonians build earthworks and dig trenches in order to kill many people. ¹⁸He broke his oath and the treaty he had made. He did all these things, and now he will not escape."

¹⁹The Sovereign LORD says, "As surely as I am the living God, I will punish him for breaking the treaty which he swore in my name to keep. ²⁰I will spread out a hunter's net and catch him in it. I will take him to Babylonia and punish him there, because he was unfaithful to me. ²¹His best soldiers will be killed in battle, and the survivors will be scattered in every direction. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken."

God's Promise of Hope

²²This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

"I will take the top of a tall cedar

and break off a tender sprout;

I will plant it on a high mountain,

²³

on Israel's highest mountain.

It will grow branches and bear seed

and become a magnificent cedar.

Birds of every kind will live there

and find shelter in its shade.

²⁴All the trees in the land will know

that I am the LORD.

I cut down the tall trees

and make small trees grow tall.

I wither up the green trees

and make the dry trees become green.
I, the LORD, have spoken. I will do what I have said I would do."

Isaiah 46 "This is the end for Babylon's gods!

Bel and Nebo once were worshiped,

but now they are loaded on donkeys,

a burden for the backs of tired animals.

The idols cannot save themselves;

they are captured and carried away.

This is the end for Babylon's gods!

³"Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,

all who are left of my people.

I have cared for you from the time you were born.

⁴I am your God and will take care of you

until you are old and your hair is gray.

I made you and will care for you;

I will give you help and rescue you.

⁵"To whom will you compare me?" says the LORD.

"Is there anyone else like me?

⁶People open their purses and pour out gold;

they weigh out silver on the scales.

They hire a goldsmith to make a god;

then they bow down and worship it.

⁷They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;

they put it in place, and there it stands,

unable to move from where it is.

If any pray to it, it cannot answer

or save them from disaster.

⁸"Remember this, you sinners;

consider what I have done.

⁹Remember what happened long ago;

acknowledge that I alone am God

and that there is no one else like me.

¹⁰From the beginning I predicted the outcome;

long ago I foretold what would happen.

I said that my plans would never fail,

that I would do everything I intended to do.

¹¹I am calling a man to come from the east;

he will swoop down like a hawk

and accomplish what I have planned.

I have spoken, and it will be done.

¹²"Listen to me, you stubborn people

who think that victory is far away.

¹³I am bringing the day of victory near--

it is not far away at all.

My triumph will not be delayed.

I will save Jerusalem

and bring honor to Israel there."

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.