Daily Bible CEV January 06 Scroll

Women Who Helped Jesus

Luke 8 Soon after this, Jesus was going through towns and villages, telling the good news about God's kingdom. His twelve apostles were with him, ²and so were some women who had been healed of evil spirits and all sorts of diseases. One of the women was Mary Magdalene, who once had seven demons in her. ³Joanna, Susanna, and many others had also used what they owned to help Jesus and his disciples. Joanna's husband Chuza was one of Herod's officials.

A Story about a Farmer
(Matthew 13.1-9; Mark 4.1-9)

⁴When a large crowd from several towns had gathered around Jesus, he told them this story:

⁵A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was doing it, some of the seeds fell along the road and were stepped on or eaten by birds. ⁶Other seeds fell on rocky ground and started growing. But the plants did not have enough water and soon dried up. ⁷Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. ⁸The rest of the seeds fell on good ground where they grew and produced a hundred times as many seeds.

When Jesus had finished speaking, he said, "If you have ears, pay attention!"

Why Jesus Used Stories
(Matthew 13.10-17; Mark 4.10-12)

⁹Jesus' disciples asked him what the story meant. ¹⁰So he answered:

I have explained the secrets about God's kingdom to you, but for others I can only use stories. These people look, but they don't see, and they hear, but they don't understand.

Jesus Explains the Story about a Farmer
(Matthew 13.18-23; Mark 4.13-20)

¹¹This is what the story means: The seed is God's message, ¹²and the seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But the devil comes and snatches the message out of their hearts, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it. But they don't have deep roots, and they believe only for a little while. As soon as life gets hard, they give up.

¹⁴The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they are so eager for riches and pleasures that they never produce anything. ¹⁵Those seeds that fell on good ground are the people who listen to the message and keep it in good and honest hearts. They last and produce a harvest.

Light
(Mark 4.21-25)

¹⁶No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl or under a bed. A lamp is always put on a lampstand, so that people who come into a house will see the light. ¹⁷There is nothing hidden that will not be found. There is no secret that will not be well known. ¹⁸Pay attention to how you listen! Everyone who has something will be given more, but people who have nothing will lose what little they think they have.

Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Matthew 12.46-50; Mark 3.31-35)

¹⁹Jesus' mother and brothers went to see him, but because of the crowd they could not get near him. ²⁰Someone told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you."

²¹Jesus answered, "My mother and my brothers are those people who hear and obey God's message."

A Storm
(Matthew 8.23-27; Mark 4.35-41)

²²One day, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat, and he said, "Let's cross the lake." They started out, ²³and while they were sailing across, he went to sleep.

Suddenly a windstorm struck the lake, and the boat started sinking. They were in danger. ²⁴So they went to Jesus and woke him up, "Master, Master! We are about to drown!"

Jesus got up and ordered the wind and waves to stop. They obeyed, and everything was calm. ²⁵Then Jesus asked the disciples, "Don't you have any faith?"

But they were frightened and amazed. They said to each other, "Who is this? He can give orders to the wind and the waves, and they obey him!"

The LORD Chooses Abram

Genesis 12 The LORD said to Abram:

Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. ²I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. ³I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.

^4-5Abram was seventy-five years old when the LORD told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had gotten while in Haran.

When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, ⁷but the LORD appeared to Abram and promised, "I will give this land to your family forever." Abram then built an altar there for the LORD.

⁸Abram traveled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshiped the LORD. ⁹Later, Abram started out toward the Southern Desert.

Abram in Egypt

^10-11The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in the land. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while. But just before they got there, he said, "Sarai, you are really beautiful! ¹²When the Egyptians see how lovely you are, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you. ¹³Please save my life by saying that you are my sister."

¹⁴As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was. ¹⁵The king's officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house. ¹⁶The king was good to Abram because of Sarai, and Abram was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

¹⁷Because of Sarai, the LORD struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases. ¹⁸Finally, the king sent for Abram and said to him, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you make me believe she was your sister? Now I've married her. Take her and go! She's your wife."

²⁰So the king told his men to let Abram and Sarai take their possessions and leave.

Psalm 6
[A psalm by David for the music leader. Use stringed instruments. ]
A Prayer in Time of Trouble

¹Don't punish me, LORD, or even correct me

when you are angry!

²Have pity on me and heal my feeble body.

My bones tremble with fear,

and I am in deep distress.

How long will it be?

⁴Turn and come to my rescue.

Show your wonderful love and save me, LORD.

⁵If I die, I cannot praise you or even remember you.

⁶My groaning has worn me out.

At night my bed and pillow are soaked with tears.

⁷Sorrow has made my eyes dim, and my sight has failed

because of my enemies.

⁸You, LORD, heard my crying, and those hateful people

had better leave me alone.

⁹You have answered my prayer and my plea for mercy.

¹⁰My enemies will be ashamed and terrified,

as they quickly run away in complete disgrace.

These daily Bible readings from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. BibleCard® images copyright iCreative. All rights reserved.