Daily Bible GNT December 22 Scroll

The Gospel according to
LUKE

Introduction

Luke 1 Dear Theophilus:

Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. ²They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. ³And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. ⁴I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

The Birth of John the Baptist Is Announced

⁵During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. ⁶They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands. ⁷They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.

⁸One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. ⁹According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, ¹⁰while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned. ¹¹An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. ¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. ¹³But the angel said to him, "Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. ¹⁴How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! ¹⁵John will be great in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also."

¹⁹"I am Gabriel," the angel answered. "I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. ²⁰But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true."

²¹In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. ²²When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.

²³When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home. ²⁴Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. ²⁵"Now at last the Lord has helped me," she said. "He has taken away my public disgrace!"

God Appoints Ezekiel as a Lookout
(Ezekiel 3.16-21)

Ezekiel 33 The LORD spoke to me. ²"Mortal man," he said, "tell your people what happens when I bring war to a land. The people of that country choose one of their number to be a lookout. ³When he sees the enemy approaching, he sounds the alarm to warn everyone. ⁴If someone hears it but pays no attention and the enemy comes and kills him, then he is to blame for his own death. ⁵His death is his own fault, because he paid no attention to the warning. If he had paid attention, he could have escaped. ⁶If, however, the lookout sees the enemy coming and does not sound the alarm, the enemy will come and kill those sinners, but I will hold the lookout responsible for their death.

⁷"Now, mortal man, I am making you a lookout for the nation of Israel. You must pass on to them the warnings I give you. ⁸If I announce that an evil person is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, then he will die, still a sinner, and I will hold you responsible for his death. ⁹If you do warn an evil person and he doesn't stop sinning, he will die, still a sinner, but your life will be spared."

Individual Responsibility

¹⁰The LORD spoke to me. "Mortal man," he said, "repeat to the Israelites what they are saying: 'We are burdened with our sins and the wrongs we have done. We are wasting away. How can we live?' ¹¹Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD, am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die?

¹²"Now, mortal man, tell the Israelites that when someone good sins, the good he has done will not save him. If an evil person stops doing evil, he won't be punished, and if a good man starts sinning, his life will not be spared. ¹³I may promise life to someone good, but if he starts thinking that his past goodness is enough and begins to sin, I will not remember any of the good he did. He will die because of his sins. ¹⁴I may warn someone evil that he is going to die, but if he stops sinning and does what is right and good-- ¹⁵for example, if he returns the security he took for a loan or gives back what he stole--if he stops sinning and follows the laws that give life, he will not die, but live. ¹⁶I will forgive the sins he has committed, and he will live because he has done what is right and good.

¹⁷"And your people say that what I do isn't right! No, it's their way that isn't right. ¹⁸When someone righteous stops doing good and starts doing evil, he will die for it. ¹⁹When someone evil quits sinning and does what is right and good, he has saved his life. ²⁰But Israel, you say that what I do isn't right. I am going to judge you by what you do."

The News of Jerusalem's Fall

²¹On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year of our exile, someone who had escaped from Jerusalem came and told me that the city had fallen. ²²The evening before he came, I had felt the powerful presence of the LORD. When the man arrived the next morning, the LORD gave me back the power of speech.

The Sins of the People

²³The LORD spoke to me. ²⁴"Mortal man," he said, "the people who are living in the ruined cities of the land of Israel are saying: 'Abraham was only one man, and he was given the whole land. There are many of us, so now the land is ours.'

²⁵"Tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: You eat meat with the blood still in it. You worship idols. You commit murder. What makes you think that the land belongs to you? ²⁶You rely on your swords. Your actions are disgusting. Everyone commits adultery. What makes you think that the land is yours?

²⁷"Tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, warn them that as surely as I am the living God, the people who live in the ruined cities will be killed. Those living in the country will be eaten by wild animals. Those hiding in the mountains and in caves will die of disease. ²⁸I will make the country a desolate wasteland, and the power they were so proud of will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so wild that no one will be able to travel through them. ²⁹When I punish the people for their sins and make the country a wasteland, then they will know that I am the LORD."

The Results of the Prophet's Message

³⁰The LORD said, "Mortal man, your people are talking about you when they meet by the city walls or in the doorways of their houses. They say to one another, 'Let's go and hear what word has come from the LORD now.' ³¹So my people crowd in to hear what you have to say, but they don't do what you tell them to do. Loving words are on their lips, but they continue their greedy ways. ³²To them you are nothing more than an entertainer singing love songs or playing a harp. They listen to all your words and don't obey a single one of them. ³³But when all your words come true--and they will come true--then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

Israel's Idolatry Is Condemned

Isaiah 57 Good people die, and no one understands or even cares. But when they die, no calamity can hurt them. ²Those who live good lives find peace and rest in death.

³Come here to be judged, you sinners! You are no better than sorcerers, adulterers, and prostitutes. ⁴Who are you making fun of ? Who are you liars jeering at? ⁵You worship the fertility gods by having sex under those sacred trees of yours. You offer your children as sacrifices in the rocky caves near stream beds. ⁶You take smooth stones from there and worship them as gods. You pour out wine as offerings to them and bring them grain offerings. Do you think I am pleased with all this? ⁷You go to the high mountains to offer sacrifices and have sex. ⁸You set up your obscene idols just inside your front doors. You forsake me; you take off your clothes and climb in your large beds with your lovers, whom you pay to sleep with you. And there you satisfy your lust. ⁹You put on your perfumes and ointments and go to worship the god Molech. To find gods to worship, you send messengers far and wide, even to the world of the dead. ¹⁰You wear yourselves out looking for other gods, but you never give up. You think your obscene idols give you strength, and so you never grow weak.

¹¹The LORD says, "Who are these gods that make you afraid, so that you tell me lies and forget me completely? Have you stopped honoring me because I have kept silent for so long? ¹²You think that what you do is right, but I will expose your conduct, and your idols will not be able to help you. ¹³When you cry for help, let those idols of yours save you! A puff of wind will carry them off ! But those who trust in me will live in the land and will worship me in my Temple."

God's Promise of Help and Healing

¹⁴The LORD says, "Let my people return to me. Remove every obstacle from their path! Build the road and make it ready!

¹⁵"I am the high and holy God, who lives forever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope. ¹⁶I gave my people life, and I will not continue to accuse them or be angry with them forever. ¹⁷I was angry with them because of their sin and greed, and so I punished them and abandoned them. But they were stubborn and kept on going their own way.

¹⁸"I have seen how they acted, but I will heal them. I will lead them and help them, and I will comfort those who mourn. ¹⁹I offer peace to all, both near and far! I will heal my people. ²⁰But evil people are like the restless sea, whose waves never stop rolling in, bringing filth and muck. ²¹There is no safety for sinners," says the LORD.

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.