Daily Bible CEV February 08 Scroll

Jesus Is the Great High Priest

Hebrews 4 ¹⁴We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him. ¹⁵Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! ¹⁶So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.
Hebrews 5 Every high priest is appointed to help others by offering gifts and sacrifices to God because of their sins. ²A high priest has weaknesses of his own, and he feels sorry for foolish and sinful people. ³That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins and for the sins of others. ⁴But no one can have the honor of being a high priest simply by wanting to be one. Only God can choose a priest, and God is the one who chose Aaron.

⁵That is how it was with Christ. He became a high priest, but not just because he wanted the honor of being one. It was God who told him,

"You are my Son, because today

I have become your Father!"
⁶In another place, God says,

"You are a priest forever

just like Melchizedek."

⁷God had the power to save Jesus from death. And while Jesus was on earth, he begged God with loud crying and tears to save him. He truly worshiped God, and God listened to his prayers. ⁸Jesus is God's own Son, but still he had to suffer before he could learn what it really means to obey God. ⁹Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save forever all who obey him. ¹⁰This is because God chose him to be a high priest like Melchizedek.

Warning against Turning Away

¹¹Much more could be said about this subject. But it is hard to explain, and all of you are slow to understand. ¹²By now you should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food. ¹³People who live on milk are like babies who don't really know what is right. ¹⁴Solid food is for mature people who have been trained to know right from wrong.
Hebrews 6 We must try to become mature and start thinking about more than just the basic things we were taught about Christ. We shouldn't need to keep talking about why we ought to turn from deeds that bring death and why we ought to have faith in God. ²And we shouldn't need to keep teaching about baptisms or about the laying on of hands or about people being raised from death and the future judgment. ³Let's grow up, if God is willing.

^4-6But what about people who turn away after they have already seen the light and have received the gift from heaven and have shared in the Holy Spirit? What about those who turn away after they have received the good message of God and the powers of the future world? There is no way to bring them back. What they are doing is the same as nailing the Son of God to a cross and insulting him in public!

⁷A field is useful to farmers, if there is enough rain to make good crops grow. In fact, God will bless that field. ⁸But land that produces only thornbushes is worthless. It is likely to fall under God's curse, and in the end it will be set on fire.

⁹My friends, we are talking this way. But we are sure that you are doing those really good things that people do when they are being saved. ¹⁰God is always fair. He will remember how you helped his people in the past and how you are still helping them. You belong to God, and he won't forget the love you have shown his people. ¹¹We wish that each of you would always be eager to show how strong and lasting your hope really is. ¹²Then you would never be lazy. You would be following the example of those who had faith and were patient until God kept his promise to them.

Jacob Blesses His Sons

Genesis 49 ^*1Jacob called his sons together and said:

My sons, I am Jacob, your father Israel.

Come, gather around, as I tell your future.

³Reuben, you are my oldest, born at the peak of my powers;

you were an honored leader.

⁴Uncontrollable as a flood, you slept with my wife

and disgraced my bed.

And so you no longer deserve the place of honor.

⁵Simeon and Levi, you are brothers, each a gruesome sword.

⁶

I never want to take part in your plans or deeds.

You slaughtered people in your anger,

and you crippled cattle for no reason.

⁷Now I place a curse on you because of your fierce anger.

Your descendants will be scattered

among the tribes of Israel.

⁸Judah, you will be praised by your brothers;

they will bow down to you, as you defeat your enemies.

⁹My son, you are a lion ready to eat your victim!

You are terribly fierce; no one will bother you.

¹⁰You will have power and rule until nations obey you

and come bringing gifts.

¹¹You will tie your donkey to a choice grapevine

and wash your clothes in wine from those grapes.

¹²Your eyes are darker than wine,

your teeth whiter than milk.

¹³Zebulun, you will settle along the seashore

and provide safe harbors as far north as Sidon.

¹⁴Issachar, you are a strong donkey resting in the meadows.

¹⁵You found them so pleasant that you worked too hard

and became a slave.

¹⁶Dan, you are the tribe that will bring justice to Israel.

¹⁷You are a snake that bites the heel of a horse,

making its rider fall.

¹⁸Our LORD, I am waiting for you to save us.

¹⁹Gad, you will be attacked,

then attack your attackers.

²⁰Asher, you will eat food

fancy enough for a king.

²¹Naphtali, you are a wild deer

with lovely fawns.

²²Joseph, you are a fruitful vine growing near a stream

and climbing a wall.

²³Enemies attacked with arrows, refusing to show mercy.

²⁴But you stood your ground, swiftly shooting back

with the help of Jacob's God, the All-Powerful One--

his name is the Shepherd, Israel's mighty rock.

²⁵Your help came from the God your father worshiped,

from God All-Powerful.

God will bless you with rain and streams from the earth;

he will bless you with many descendants.

²⁶My son, the blessings I give are better than the promise

of ancient mountains or eternal hills.

Joseph, I pray these blessings will come to you,

because you are the leader of your brothers.

²⁷Benjamin, you are a fierce wolf,

destroying your enemies morning and evening.

²⁸These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is how Jacob gave each of them their proper blessings.

Jacob's Death

^29-31Jacob told his sons:

Soon I will die, and I want you to bury me in Machpelah Cave. Abraham bought this cave as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, and it is near the town of Mamre in Canaan. Abraham and Sarah are buried there, and so are Isaac and Rebekah. I buried Leah there too. ³²Both the cave and the land that goes with it were bought from the Hittites.

³³When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed and died.
Genesis 50 ¹Joseph started crying, then leaned over to hug and kiss his father.

²Joseph gave orders for Jacob's body to be embalmed, ³and it took the usual forty days.

The Egyptians mourned seventy days for Jacob. ⁴When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the Egyptian leaders, "If you consider me your friend, please speak to the king for me. ⁵Just before my father died, he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave in Canaan. If the king will give me permission to go, I will come back here."

⁶The king answered, "Go to Canaan and keep your promise to your father."

^7-9When Joseph left Goshen with his brothers, his relatives, and his father's relatives to bury Jacob, many of the king's highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along. The Israelites left behind only their children, their cattle, and their sheep and goats.

¹⁰After crossing the Jordan River and reaching Atad's threshing place, Joseph had everyone mourn and weep seven days for his father. ¹¹The Canaanites saw this and said, "The Egyptians are in great sorrow." Then they named the place "Egypt in Sorrow."

¹²So Jacob's sons did just as their father had instructed. ¹³They took him to Canaan and buried him in Machpelah Cave, the burial place Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴After the funeral, Joseph, his brothers, and everyone else returned to Egypt.

Joseph's Promise to His Brothers

¹⁵After Jacob died, Joseph's brothers said to each other, "What if Joseph still hates us and wants to get even with us for all the cruel things we did to him?"

¹⁶So they sent this message to Joseph:

Before our father died, ¹⁷he told us, "You did some cruel and terrible things to Joseph, but you must ask him to forgive you."

Now we ask you to please forgive the terrible things we did. After all, we serve the same God that your father worshiped.

When Joseph heard this, he started crying.

¹⁸Right then, Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to the ground in front of him and said, "We are your slaves."

¹⁹But Joseph told them, "Don't be afraid! I have no right to change what God has decided. ²⁰You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing. ²¹Don't be afraid! I will take care of you and your children." After Joseph said this, his brothers felt much better.

Joseph's Death

²²Joseph lived in Egypt with his brothers until he died at the age of one hundred ten. ²³Joseph lived long enough to see Ephraim's children and grandchildren. He also lived to see the children of Manasseh's son Machir, and he welcomed them into his family. ²⁴Before Joseph died, he told his brothers, "I won't live much longer. But God will take care of you and lead you out of Egypt to the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵Now promise me that you will take my body with you when God leads you to that land."

²⁶So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of one hundred ten; his body was embalmed and put in a coffin.

Psalm 39
[A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.]
A Prayer for Forgiveness

¹I told myself, "I'll be careful not to sin by what I say,

and I'll muzzle my mouth when evil people are near."

²I kept completely silent, but it did no good,

and I hurt even worse.

³I felt a fire burning inside, and the more I thought,

the more it burned, until at last I said:

⁴"Please, LORD, show me my future.

Will I soon be gone?

⁵You made my life short, so brief that the time

means nothing to you.

"Human life is but a breath,

⁶

and it disappears like a shadow.

Our struggles are senseless;

we store up more and more,

without ever knowing who will get it all.

⁷"What am I waiting for? I depend on you, Lord!

⁸

Save me from my sins. Don't let fools sneer at me.

⁹You treated me like this,

and I kept silent, not saying a word.

¹⁰"Won't you stop punishing me? You have worn me down.

¹¹

You punish us severely because of our sins.

Like a moth, you destroy what we treasure most.

We are as frail as a breath.

¹²"Listen, LORD, to my prayer!

My eyes are flooded with tears, as I pray to you.

I am merely a stranger visiting in your home

as my ancestors did.

¹³Stop being angry with me and let me smile again

before I am dead and gone."

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