Daily Bible GNT December 31 Scroll

Jesus Calls the First Disciples
(Matthew 4.18-22; Mark 1.16-20)

Luke 5 One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God. ²He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. ³Jesus got into one of the boats--it belonged to Simon--and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd.

⁴When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch."

⁵"Master," Simon answered, "we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets." ⁶They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. ⁷So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink. ⁸When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, "Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!"

⁹He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. ¹⁰The same was true of Simon's partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

¹¹They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.

Jesus Heals a Man
(Matthew 8.1-4; Mark 1.40-45)

¹²Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, "Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!"

¹³Jesus reached out and touched him. "I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" At once the disease left the man. ¹⁴Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered."

¹⁵But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. ¹⁶But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
(Matthew 9.1-8; Mark 2.1-12)

¹⁷One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick. ¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a bed, and they tried to carry him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. ¹⁹Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus. ²⁰When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, "Your sins are forgiven, my friend."

²¹The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who speaks such blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!"

²²Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Why do you think such things? ²³Is it easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ²⁴I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go home!"

²⁵At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising God. ²⁶They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, "What marvelous things we have seen today!"

The Division of the Land among the Tribes

Ezekiel 48 ^1-7The northern boundary of the land runs eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Hethlon, to Hamath Pass, to Enon City, to the boundary between the kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath. Each tribe is to receive one section of land extending from the eastern boundary west to the Mediterranean Sea, in the following order from north to south:

Dan

Asher

Naphtali

Manasseh

Ephraim

Reuben

Judah

The Special Section in the Center of the Land

⁸The next section of the land is to be set apart for special use. It is to be 10 miles wide from north to south, and the same length from east to west as the sections given to the tribes. The Temple will be located within this section.

⁹In the center of this section, a special area 10 miles by 8 miles is to be dedicated to the LORD. ¹⁰The priests are to have a portion of this holy area. From east to west their portion is to measure 10 miles, and from north to south, 4 miles. The Temple of the LORD is to be located in the middle of this area. ¹¹This holy area is to be for the priests who are descendants of Zadok. They served me faithfully and did not join the rest of the Israelites in doing wrong, as the other members of the tribe of Levi did. ¹²So they are to have a special area next to the area belonging to the Levites, and it will be the holiest of all. ¹³The Levites also are to have a special area, south of that of the priests. It too is to be 10 miles from east to west, by 4 miles from north to south. ¹⁴The area dedicated to the LORD is the best part of all the land, and none of it may be sold or exchanged or transferred to anyone else. It is holy and belongs to the LORD.

¹⁵The part of the special area that is left, 10 miles by 2 miles, is not holy, but is for the general use of the people. They may live there and use the land. The city is to be in the center of it, ¹⁶and it will be a square, 2,520 yards on each side. ¹⁷All around the city on each side there will be an open space 140 yards across. ¹⁸The land that is left after the city has been built in the area immediately to the south of the holy area--4 miles by 2 miles on the east and 4 miles by 2 miles on the west--is to be used as farmland by the people who live in the city. ¹⁹Anyone who lives in the city, no matter which tribe he comes from, may farm that land.

²⁰And so the total area in the center of the section which was set apart will be a square measuring 10 miles on each side, and it will include the area occupied by the city.

^21-22To the east and to the west of this area which contains the Temple, the priests' land, the Levites' land, and the city, the remaining land belongs to the ruling prince. It reaches east to the eastern boundary and west to the Mediterranean Sea, and is bounded on the north by the section belonging to Judah and on the south by the one belonging to Benjamin.

Land for the Other Tribes

^23-27South of this special section, each of the remaining tribes is to receive one section of land running from the eastern boundary west to the Mediterranean Sea, in the following order from north to south:

Benjamin

Simeon

Issachar

Zebulun

Gad

²⁸On the south side of the portion given to the tribe of Gad, the boundary runs southwest from Tamar to the oasis of Kadesh, and then northwest along the Egyptian border to the Mediterranean Sea.

²⁹The Sovereign LORD said, "That is the way the land is to be divided into sections for the tribes of Israel to possess."

The Gates of Jerusalem

^30-34There are twelve entrances to the city of Jerusalem. Each of the four walls measures 2,520 yards and has three gates in it, each named for one of the tribes. The gates in the north wall are named for Reuben, Judah, and Levi; those in the east wall, for Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; those in the south wall, for Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun; and those in the west wall are named for Gad, Asher, and Naphtali. ³⁵The total length of the wall on all four sides of the city is 10,080 yards. The name of the city from now on will be "The-LORD-Is-Here!"

The LORD Judges the Nations

Isaiah 66 The LORD says, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house, then, could you build for me, what kind of place for me to live in? ²I myself created the whole universe! I am pleased with those who are humble and repentant, who fear me and obey me.

³"The people do as they please. It's all the same to them whether they kill a bull as a sacrifice or sacrifice a human being; whether they sacrifice a lamb or break a dog's neck; whether they present a grain offering or offer pigs' blood; whether they offer incense or pray to an idol. They take pleasure in disgusting ways of worship. ⁴So I will bring disaster upon them--the very things they are afraid of--because no one answered when I called or listened when I spoke. They chose to disobey me and do evil."

⁵Listen to what the LORD says, you that fear him and obey him: "Because you are faithful to me, some of your own people hate you and will have nothing to do with you. They mock you and say, 'Let the LORD show his greatness and save you, so that we may see you rejoice.' But they themselves will be disgraced! ⁶Listen! That loud noise in the city, that sound in the Temple, is the sound of the LORD punishing his enemies!

⁷"My holy city is like a woman who suddenly gives birth to a child without ever going into labor. ⁸Has anyone ever seen or heard of such a thing? Has a nation ever been born in a day? Zion will not have to suffer long, before the nation is born. ⁹Do not think that I will bring my people to the point of birth and not let them be born." The LORD has spoken.

¹⁰Rejoice with Jerusalem; be glad for her,

all you that love this city!

Rejoice with her now,

all you that have mourned for her!

¹¹You will enjoy her prosperity,

like a child at its mother's breast.

¹²The LORD says, "I will bring you lasting prosperity; the wealth of the nations will flow to you like a river that never goes dry. You will be like a child that is nursed by its mother, carried in her arms, and treated with love. ¹³I will comfort you in Jerusalem, as a mother comforts her child. ¹⁴When you see this happen, you will be glad; it will make you strong and healthy. Then you will know that I, the LORD, help those who obey me, and I show my anger against my enemies."

¹⁵The LORD will come with fire. He will ride on the wings of a storm to punish those he is angry with. ¹⁶By fire and sword he will punish all the people of the world whom he finds guilty--and many will be put to death.

¹⁷The LORD says, "The end is near for those who purify themselves for pagan worship, who go in procession to sacred gardens, and who eat pork and mice and other disgusting foods. ¹⁸I know their thoughts and their deeds. I am coming to gather the people of all the nations. When they come together, they will see what my power can do ¹⁹and will know that I am the one who punishes them.

"But I will spare some of them and send them to the nations and the distant lands that have not heard of my fame or seen my greatness and power: to Spain, Libya, and Lydia, with its skilled archers, and to Tubal and Greece. Among these nations they will proclaim my greatness. ²⁰They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers. ²¹I will make some of them priests and Levites.

²²"Just as the new earth and the new heavens will endure by my power, so your descendants and your name will endure. ²³On every New Moon Festival and every Sabbath people of every nation will come to worship me here in Jerusalem," says the LORD. ²⁴"As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. The worms that eat them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never be put out. The sight of them will be disgusting to all people."

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.