Daily Bible CEV January 11 Scroll

Jesus Thanks His Father
(Matthew 11.25-27; 13.16, 17)

Luke 10 ²¹At that same time, Jesus felt the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, and he said:

My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that is what pleased you.

²²My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.

²³Jesus then turned to his disciples and said to them in private, "You are really blessed to see what you see! ²⁴Many prophets and kings were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear."

The Good Samaritan

²⁵An expert in the Law of Moses stood up and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to have eternal life?"

²⁶Jesus answered, "What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?"

²⁷The man replied, "The Scriptures say, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.' They also say, 'Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.' "

²⁸Jesus said, "You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life."

²⁹But the man wanted to show that he knew what he was talking about. So he asked Jesus, "Who are my neighbors?"

³⁰Jesus replied:

As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead.

³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. ³²Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side.

³³A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him ³⁴and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. ³⁵The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, "Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return."

³⁶Then Jesus asked, "Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?"

³⁷The teacher answered, "The one who showed pity."

Jesus said, "Go and do the same!"

Martha and Mary

³⁸The Lord and his disciples were traveling along and came to a village. When they got there, a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat down in front of the Lord and was listening to what he said. ⁴⁰Martha was worried about all that had to be done. Finally, she went to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it bother you that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!"

⁴¹The Lord answered, "Martha, Martha! You are worried and upset about so many things, ⁴²but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her."

The LORD Promises Abraham a Son

Genesis 18 One hot summer afternoon Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, when the LORD appeared to him. ²Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, ³and said, "Please come to my home where I can serve you. ⁴I'll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under the tree. ⁵Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honored to serve you."

"Thank you very much," they answered. "We accept your offer."

⁶Abraham quickly went to his tent and said to Sarah, "Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread." ⁷After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ⁸He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.

While they were eating, he stood near them under the trees, ⁹and they asked, "Where is your wife Sarah?"

"She is right there in the tent," Abraham answered.

¹⁰One of the guests was the LORD, and he said, "I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son."

Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. ¹²So she laughed and said to herself, "Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?"

¹³The LORD asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? ¹⁴I am the LORD! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son."

¹⁵Sarah was so frightened that she lied and said, "I didn't laugh."

"Yes, you did!" he answered.

Abraham Prays for Sodom

¹⁶When the three men got ready to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked part of the way with them.

¹⁷The LORD said to himself, "I should tell Abraham what I am going to do, ¹⁸since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all other nations on earth. ¹⁹I have chosen him to teach his family to obey me forever and to do what is right and fair. Then I will give Abraham many descendants, just as I promised."

²⁰The LORD said, "Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. ²¹Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren't, I want to know about it."

²²The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the LORD stayed with Abraham, ²³who asked, "LORD, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? ²⁴Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? ²⁵You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right."

²⁶The LORD replied, "If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed."

²⁷Abraham answered, "I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, LORD, for daring to speak to you like this. ²⁸But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?"

"If I find forty-five good people," the LORD replied, "I won't destroy the city."

²⁹"Suppose there are just forty good people?" Abraham asked.

"Even for them," the LORD replied, "I won't destroy the city."

³⁰Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, LORD, if I ask you what you will do if there are only thirty good people in the city."

"If I find thirty," the LORD replied, "I still won't destroy it."

³¹Then Abraham said, "I don't have any right to ask you, LORD, but what would you do if you find only twenty?"

"Because of them, I won't destroy the city," was the LORD's answer.

³²Finally, Abraham said, "Please don't get angry, LORD, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there."

"For the sake of ten good people," the LORD told him, "I still won't destroy the city."

³³After speaking with Abraham, the LORD left, and Abraham went back home.

Psalm 11
[A psalm by David for the music leader.]
Trusting the LORD

¹The LORD is my fortress!

Don't say to me,

"Escape like a bird to the mountains!"

²You tell me, "Watch out! Those evil people

have put their arrows on their bows,

and they are standing in the shadows,

aiming at good people.

³What can an honest person do

when everything crumbles?"

⁴The LORD is sitting in his sacred temple

on his throne in heaven.

He knows everything we do because he sees us all.

⁵The LORD tests honest people, but despises those

who are cruel and love violence.

⁶He will send fiery coals and flaming sulfur

down on the wicked,

and they will drink nothing but a scorching wind.

⁷The LORD always does right and wants justice done.

Everyone who does right will see his face.

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