Daily Bible CEV February 03 Scroll

Jesus Is Alive
(Matthew 28.1-10; Mark 16.1-8; John 20.1-10)

Luke 24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices that they had prepared. ²When they found the stone rolled away from the entrance, ³they went in. But they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, ⁴and they did not know what to think.

Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them. ⁵The women were afraid and bowed to the ground. But the men said, "Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive? ⁶Jesus isn't here! He has been raised from death. Remember that while he was still in Galilee, he told you, ⁷'The Son of Man will be handed over to sinners who will nail him to a cross. But three days later he will rise to life.' " ⁸Then they remembered what Jesus had said.

^9-10Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women were the ones who had gone to the tomb. When they returned, they told the eleven apostles and the others what had happened. ¹¹The apostles thought it was all nonsense, and they would not believe.

¹²But Peter ran to the tomb. And when he stooped down and looked in, he saw only the burial clothes. Then he returned, wondering what had happened.

Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin

Genesis 43 The famine in Canaan got worse, ²until finally, Jacob's family had eaten all the grain they had bought in Egypt. So Jacob said to his sons, "Go back and buy some more grain."

^3-5Judah replied, "The governor strictly warned us that we would not be allowed to see him unless we brought our youngest brother with us. If you let us take Benjamin along, we will go and buy grain. But we won't go without him!"

⁶Jacob asked, "Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the governor you had another brother?"

⁷They answered, "He asked a lot of questions about us and our family. He wanted to know if you were still alive and if we had any more brothers. All we could do was answer his questions. How could we know he would tell us to bring along our brother?"

⁸Then Judah said to his father, "Let Benjamin go with me, and we will leave right away, so that none of us will starve to death. ⁹I promise to bring him back safely, and if I don't, you can blame me as long as I live. ¹⁰If we had not wasted all this time, we could already have been there and back twice."

¹¹Their father said:

If Benjamin must go with you, take the governor a gift of some of the best things from our own country, such as perfume, honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds. ¹²Also take along twice the amount of money for the grain, because there must have been some mistake when the money was put back in your sacks. ¹³Take Benjamin with you and leave right away.

¹⁴When you go in to see the governor, I pray that God All-Powerful will be good to you and that the governor will let your other brother and Benjamin come back home with you. If I must lose my children, I suppose I must.

¹⁵The brothers took the gifts, twice the amount of money, and Benjamin. Then they hurried off to Egypt. When they stood in front of Joseph, ¹⁶he saw Benjamin and told the servant in charge of his house, "Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and cook it, so they can eat with me at noon."

¹⁷The servant did as he was told and took the brothers to Joseph's house. ¹⁸But on the way they got worried and started thinking, "We are being taken there because of the money that was put back in our sacks last time. He will arrest us, make us his slaves, and take our donkeys."

¹⁹So when they arrived at Joseph's house, they said to the servant in charge, ²⁰"Sir, we came to Egypt once before to buy grain. ²¹But when we stopped for the night, we each found in our grain sacks the exact amount we had paid. We have brought that money back, ²²together with enough money to buy more grain. We don't know who put the money in our sacks."

²³"It's all right," the servant replied. "Don't worry. The God you and your father worship must have put the money there, because I received your payment in full." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴The servant took them into Joseph's house and gave them water to wash their feet. He also tended their donkeys. ²⁵The brothers got their gifts ready to give to Joseph at noon, since they had heard they were going to eat there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they gave him the gifts they had brought, and they bowed down to him. ²⁷After Joseph had asked how they were, he said, "What about your elderly father? Is he still alive?"

²⁸They answered, "Your servant our father is still alive and well." And again they bowed down to Joseph.

²⁹When Joseph looked around and saw his brother Benjamin, he said, "This must be your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son."

³⁰Right away he rushed off to his room and cried because of his love for Benjamin. ³¹After washing his face and returning, he was able to control himself and said, "Serve the meal!"

³²Joseph was served at a table by himself, and his brothers were served at another. The Egyptians sat at yet another table, because Egyptians felt it was disgusting to eat with Hebrews. ³³To the surprise of Joseph's brothers, they were seated in front of him according to their ages, from the oldest to the youngest. ³⁴They were served food from Joseph's table, and Benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others. So Joseph's brothers drank with him and had a good time.

Psalm 34
[Written by David when he pretended to be crazy in front of Abimelech, so that Abimelech would send him away, and David could leave.]
Honor the LORD

¹I will always praise the LORD.

²With all my heart, I will praise the LORD.

Let all who are helpless, listen and be glad.

³Honor the LORD with me! Celebrate his great name.

⁴I asked the LORD for help,

and he saved me from all my fears.

⁵Keep your eyes on the LORD! You will shine like the sun

and never blush with shame.

⁶I was a nobody, but I prayed,

and the LORD saved me from all my troubles.

⁷If you honor the LORD, his angel will protect you.

⁸Discover for yourself that the LORD is kind.

Come to him for protection, and you will be glad.

⁹Honor the LORD! You are his special people.

No one who honors the LORD will ever be in need.

¹⁰Young lions may go hungry or even starve,

but if you trust the LORD,

you will never miss out on anything good.

¹¹Come, my children, listen

as I teach you to respect the LORD.

¹²Do you want to live and enjoy a long life?

¹³Then don't say cruel things and don't tell lies.

¹⁴

Do good instead of evil and try to live at peace.

¹⁵If you obey the LORD, he will watch over you

and answer your prayers.

¹⁶But God despises evil people,

and he will wipe them all from the earth,

till they are forgotten.

¹⁷When his people pray for help,

he listens and rescues them from their troubles.

¹⁸The LORD is there to rescue all

who are discouraged and have given up hope.

¹⁹The LORD's people may suffer a lot,

but he will always bring them safely through.

²⁰Not one of their bones will ever be broken.

²¹Wicked people are killed by their own evil deeds,

and if you hate God's people you will be punished.

²²The LORD saves the lives of his servants.

Run to him for protection, and you won't be punished.

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