Daily Bible CEV January 29 Scroll

A Widow's Offering
(Mark 12.41-44)

Luke 21 Jesus looked up and saw some rich people tossing their gifts into the offering box. ²He also saw a poor widow putting in two pennies. ³And he said, "I tell you that this poor woman has put in more than all the others. ⁴Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had."

The Temple Will Be Destroyed
(Matthew 24.1, 2; Mark 13.1, 2)

⁵Some people were talking about the beautiful stones used to build the temple and about the gifts that had been placed in it. Jesus said, ⁶"Do you see these stones? The time is coming when not one of them will be left in place. They will all be knocked down."

Warning about Trouble
(Matthew 24.3-14; Mark 13.3-13)

⁷Some people asked, "Teacher, when will all this happen? How can we know when these things are about to take place?"

⁸Jesus replied:

Don't be fooled by those who will come and claim to be me. They will say, "I am Christ!" and "Now is the time!" But don't follow them. ⁹When you hear about wars and riots, don't be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end.

¹⁰Nations will go to war against one another, and kingdoms will attack each other. ¹¹There will be great earthquakes, and in many places people will starve to death and suffer terrible diseases. All sorts of frightening things will be seen in the sky.

¹²Before all this happens, you will be arrested and punished. You will be tried in your meeting places and put in jail. Because of me you will be placed on trial before kings and governors. ¹³But this will be your chance to tell about your faith.

¹⁴Don't worry about what you will say to defend yourselves. ¹⁵I will give you the wisdom to know what to say. None of your enemies will be able to oppose you or to say that you are wrong. ¹⁶You will be betrayed by your own parents, brothers, family, and friends. Some of you will even be killed. ¹⁷Because of me, you will be hated by everyone. ¹⁸But don't worry! ¹⁹You will be saved by being faithful to me.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed
(Matthew 24.15-21; Mark 13.14-19)

²⁰When you see Jerusalem surrounded by soldiers, you will know that it will soon be destroyed. ²¹If you are living in Judea at that time, run to the mountains. If you are in the city, leave it. And if you are out in the country, don't go back into the city. ²²This time of punishment is what is written about in the Scriptures. ²³It will be an awful time for women who are expecting babies or nursing young children! Everywhere in the land people will suffer horribly and be punished. ²⁴Some of them will be killed by swords. Others will be carried off to foreign countries. Jerusalem will be overrun by foreign nations until their time comes to an end.

When the Son of Man Appears
(Matthew 24.29-31; Mark 13.24-27)

²⁵Strange things will happen to the sun, moon, and stars. The nations on earth will be afraid of the roaring sea and tides, and they won't know what to do. ²⁶People will be so frightened that they will faint because of what is happening to the world. Every power in the sky will be shaken. ²⁷Then the Son of Man will be seen, coming in a cloud with great power and glory. ²⁸When all of this starts happening, stand up straight and be brave. You will soon be set free.

A Lesson from a Fig Tree
(Matthew 24.32-35; Mark 13.28-31)

²⁹Then Jesus told them a story:

When you see a fig tree or any other tree³⁰putting out leaves, you know that summer will soon come. ³¹So, when you see these things happening, you know that God's kingdom will soon be here. ³²You can be sure that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all of this takes place. ³³The sky and the earth won't last forever, but my words will.

A Warning

³⁴Don't spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you ³⁵like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth. ³⁶Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you.

³⁷Jesus taught in the temple each day, and he spent each night on the Mount of Olives. ³⁸Everyone got up early and came to the temple to hear him teach.

Judah and Tamar

Genesis 38 About that time Judah left his brothers in the hill country and went to live near his friend Hirah in the town of Adullam. ²While there he met the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man. Judah married her, ³and they had three sons. He named the first one Er; ⁴she named the next one Onan. ⁵The third one was born when Judah was in Chezib, and she named him Shelah.

⁶Later, Judah chose Tamar as a wife for Er, his oldest son. ⁷But Er was very evil, and the LORD took his life. ⁸So Judah told Onan, "It's your duty to marry Tamar and have a child for your brother."

⁹Onan knew the child would not be his, and when he had sex with Tamar, he made sure that she would not get pregnant. ¹⁰The LORD wasn't pleased with Onan and took his life too.

¹¹Judah did not want the same thing to happen to his son Shelah, and he told Tamar, "Go home to your father and live there as a widow until my son Shelah is grown." So Tamar went to live with her father.

¹²Some years later Judah's wife died, and he mourned for her. He then went with his friend Hirah to the town of Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. ¹³Tamar found out that her father-in-law Judah was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. ¹⁴She also realized that Shelah was now a grown man, but she had not been allowed to marry him. So she decided to dress in something other than her widow's clothes and to cover her face with a veil. After this, she sat outside the town of Enaim on the road to Timnah.

¹⁵When Judah came along, he did not recognize her because of the veil. He thought she was a prostitute ¹⁶and asked her to sleep with him. She asked, "What will you give me if I do?"

¹⁷"One of my young goats," he answered.

"What will you give me to keep until you send the goat?" she asked.

¹⁸"What do you want?" he asked in return.

"The ring on that cord around your neck," was her reply. "I also want the special walking stick you have with you." He gave them to her, they slept together, and she became pregnant.

¹⁹After returning home, Tamar took off the veil and dressed in her widow's clothes again.

²⁰Judah had his friend Hirah take a goat to the woman, so he could get back the ring and walking stick, but she wasn't there. ²¹Hirah asked the people of Enaim, "Where is the prostitute who sat along the road outside your town?"

"There's never been one here," they answered.

²²Hirah went back and told Judah, "I couldn't find the woman, and the people of Enaim said no prostitute had ever been there."

²³"If you couldn't find her, we'll just let her keep the things I gave her," Judah answered. "And we'd better forget about the goat, or else we'll look like fools."

²⁴About three months later someone told Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has behaved like a prostitute, and now she's pregnant!"

"Drag her out of town and burn her to death!" Judah shouted.

²⁵As Tamar was being dragged off, she sent someone to tell her father-in-law, "The man who gave me this ring, this cord, and this walking stick is the one who got me pregnant."

²⁶"Those are mine!" Judah admitted. "She's a better person than I am, because I broke my promise to let her marry my son Shelah." After this, Judah never slept with her again.

^27-28Tamar later gave birth to twins. But before either of them was born, one of them stuck a hand out of her womb. The woman who was helping tied a red thread around the baby's hand and explained, "This one came out first."

²⁹Right away his hand went back in, and the other child was born first. The woman then said, "What an opening you've made for yourself!" So they named the baby Perez. ³⁰When the brother with the red thread came out, they named him Zerah.

Psalm 29
[A psalm by David.]
The Voice of the LORD in a Storm

¹All of you angels in heaven,

honor the glory and power of the LORD!

²Honor the wonderful name of the LORD,

and worship the LORD most holy and glorious.

³The voice of the LORD echoes over the oceans.

The glorious LORD God thunders

above the roar of the raging sea,

⁴

and his voice is mighty and marvelous.

⁵The voice of the LORD destroys the cedar trees;

the LORD shatters cedars on Mount Lebanon.

⁶God makes Mount Lebanon skip like a calf

and Mount Hermon jump like a wild ox.

⁷The voice of the LORD makes lightning flash

⁸

and the desert tremble.

And because of the LORD,

the desert near Kadesh shivers and shakes.

⁹The voice of the LORD makes deer give birth

before their time.

Forests are stripped of leaves,

and the temple is filled with shouts of praise.

¹⁰The LORD rules on his throne,

king of the flood forever.

¹¹Pray that our LORD will make us strong

and give us peace.

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.