Daily Bible CEV February 02 Scroll

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross
(Matthew 27.31-44; Mark 15.21-32; John 19.17-27)

Luke 23 ²⁶As Jesus was being led away, some soldiers grabbed hold of a man from Cyrene named Simon. He was coming in from the fields, but they put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷A large crowd was following Jesus, and in the crowd a lot of women were crying and weeping for him. ²⁸Jesus turned to the women and said:

Women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me! Cry for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹Someday people will say, "Women who never had children are really fortunate!" ³⁰At that time everyone will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" They will say to the hills, "Hide us!" ³¹If this can happen when the wood is green, what do you think will happen when it is dry?

³²Two criminals were led out to be put to death with Jesus. ³³When the soldiers came to the place called "The Skull," they nailed Jesus to a cross. They also nailed the two criminals to crosses, one on each side of Jesus.

^34-35Jesus said, "Father, forgive these people! They don't know what they're doing."

While the crowd stood there watching Jesus, the soldiers gambled for his clothes. The leaders insulted him by saying, "He saved others. Now he should save himself, if he really is God's chosen Messiah!"

³⁶The soldiers made fun of Jesus and brought him some wine. ³⁷They said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!"

³⁸Above him was a sign that said, "This is the King of the Jews."

³⁹One of the criminals hanging there also insulted Jesus by saying, "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and save us!"

⁴⁰But the other criminal told the first one off, "Don't you fear God? Aren't you getting the same punishment as this man? ⁴¹We got what was coming to us, but he didn't do anything wrong." ⁴²Then he said to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into power!"

⁴³Jesus replied, "I promise that today you will be with me in paradise."

The Death of Jesus
(Matthew 27.45-56; Mark 15.33-41; John 19.28-30)

⁴⁴Around noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until the middle of the afternoon. ⁴⁵The sun stopped shining, and the curtain in the temple split down the middle. ⁴⁶Jesus shouted, "Father, I put myself in your hands!" Then he died.

⁴⁷When the Roman officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, "Jesus must really have been a good man!"

⁴⁸A crowd had gathered to see the terrible sight. Then after they had seen it, they felt brokenhearted and went home. ⁴⁹All of Jesus' close friends and the women who had come with him from Galilee stood at a distance and watched.

Jesus Is Buried
(Matthew 27.57-61; Mark 15.42-47; John 19.38-42)

^50-51There was a man named Joseph, who was from Arimathea in Judea. Joseph was a good and honest man, and he was eager for God's kingdom to come. He was also a member of the council, but he did not agree with what they had decided.

⁵²Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. ⁵³He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in fine cloth. Then he put it in a tomb that had been cut out of solid rock and had never been used. ⁵⁴It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and watched how Jesus' body was placed in the tomb. ⁵⁶Then they went to prepare some sweet-smelling spices for his burial. But on the Sabbath they rested, as the Law of Moses commands.

Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt To Buy Grain

Genesis 42 When Jacob found out there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why are you just sitting here, staring at one another? ²I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Now go down and buy some, so we won't starve to death."

³Ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph's younger brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something might happen to him. ⁵So Jacob's sons joined others from Canaan who were going to Egypt because of the terrible famine.

⁶Since Joseph was governor of Egypt and in charge of selling grain, his brothers came to him and bowed with their faces to the ground. ^7-8They did not recognize Joseph, but right away he knew who they were, though he pretended not to know. Instead, he spoke harshly and asked, "Where do you come from?"

"From the land of Canaan," they answered. "We've come here to buy grain."

⁹Joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them and said, "You're spies! You've come here to find out where our country is weak."

¹⁰"No sir," they replied. "We're your servants, and we have only come to buy grain. ¹¹We're honest men, and we come from the same family--we're not spies."

¹²"That isn't so!" Joseph insisted. "You've come here to find out where our country is weak."

¹³But they explained, "Sir, we come from a family of twelve brothers. The youngest is still with our father in Canaan, and one of our brothers is dead."

¹⁴Joseph replied:

It's just like I said. You're spies, ¹⁵and I'm going to find out who you really are. I swear by the life of the king that you won't leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶Choose one of you to go after your brother, while the rest of you stay here in jail. That will show whether you are telling the truth. But if you are lying, I swear by the life of the king that you are spies!

¹⁷Joseph kept them all under guard for three days, ¹⁸before saying to them:

Since I respect God, I'll give you a chance to save your lives. ¹⁹If you are honest men, one of you must stay here in jail, and the rest of you can take the grain back to your starving families. ²⁰But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then I'll know that you are telling the truth, and you won't be put to death.

Joseph's brothers agreed ²¹and said to one another, "We're being punished because of Joseph. We saw the trouble he was in, but we refused to help him when he begged us. That's why these terrible things are happening."

²²Reuben spoke up, "Didn't I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn't listen, and now we have to pay the price for killing him."

²³They did not know that Joseph could understand them, since he was speaking through an interpreter. ²⁴Joseph turned away from them and cried, but soon he turned back and spoke to them again. Then he had Simeon tied up and taken away while they watched.

Joseph's Brothers Return to Canaan

²⁵Joseph gave orders for his brothers' grain sacks to be filled with grain and for their money to be put in their sacks. He also gave orders for them to be given food for their journey home. After this was done, ²⁶they each loaded the grain on their donkeys and left.

²⁷When they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey, and right away he saw his moneybag. ²⁸"Here's my money!" he told his brothers. "Right here in my sack."

They were trembling with fear as they stared at one another and asked themselves, "What has God done to us?"

²⁹When they returned to the land of Canaan, they told their father Jacob everything that had happened to them:

³⁰The governor of Egypt was rude and treated us like spies. ³¹But we told him, "We're honest men, not spies. ³²We come from a family of twelve brothers. The youngest is still with our father in Canaan, and the other is dead."

³³Then the governor of Egypt told us, "I'll find out if you really are honest. Leave one of your brothers here with me, while you take the grain to your starving families. ³⁴But bring your youngest brother to me, so I can be certain that you are honest men and not spies. After that, I'll let your other brother go free, and you can stay here and trade."

³⁵When the brothers started emptying their sacks of grain, they found their moneybags in them. They were frightened, and so was their father Jacob, ³⁶who said, "You have already taken my sons Joseph and Simeon from me. And now you want to take away Benjamin! Everything is against me."

³⁷Reuben spoke up, "Father, if I don't bring Benjamin back, you can kill both of my sons. Trust me with him, and I will bring him back."

³⁸But Jacob said, "I won't let my son Benjamin go down to Egypt with the rest of you. His brother is already dead, and he is the only son I have left. I am an old man, and if anything happens to him on the way, I'll die from sorrow, and all of you will be to blame."

Psalm 33
Sing Praises to the LORD

¹You are the LORD's people. Obey him and celebrate!

He deserves your praise.

²Praise the LORD with harps!

Use harps with ten strings to make music for him.

Sing a new song. Shout! Play beautiful music.

⁴The LORD is truthful; he can be trusted.

⁵He loves justice and fairness,

and he is kind to everyone everywhere on earth.

⁶The LORD made the heavens

and everything in them by his word.

⁷He scooped up the ocean and stored the water.

⁸Everyone in this world should worship

and honor the LORD!

⁹As soon as he spoke the world was created;

at his command, the earth was formed.

¹⁰The LORD destroys the plans

and spoils the schemes of the nations.

¹¹But what the LORD has planned will stand forever.

His thoughts never change.

¹²The LORD blesses each nation that worships only him.

He blesses his chosen ones.

¹³The LORD looks at the world

¹⁴

from his throne in heaven, and he watches us all.

¹⁵The LORD gave us each a mind,

and nothing we do can be hidden from him.

¹⁶Mighty armies alone cannot win wars for a king;

great strength by itself cannot keep a soldier safe.

¹⁷In war the strength of a horse cannot be trusted

to take you to safety.

¹⁸But the LORD watches over all

who honor him and trust his kindness.

¹⁹He protects them from death and starvation.

²⁰We depend on you, LORD, to help and protect us.

²¹You make our hearts glad

because we trust you, the only God.

²²Be kind and bless us! We depend on you.

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.