Daily Bible CEV February 17 Scroll

A Large Crowd of Witnesses

Hebrews 12 Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us. ²We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God's throne! ³So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won't get discouraged and give up.

⁴None of you have yet been hurt in your battle against sin. ⁵But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God's children,

"When the Lord punishes you, don't make light of it,

and when he corrects you, don't be discouraged.

⁶The Lord corrects the people he loves

and disciplines those he calls his own."

⁷Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don't all parents correct their children? ⁸God corrects all of his children, and if he doesn't correct you, then you don't really belong to him. ⁹Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn't it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us?

¹⁰Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. ¹¹It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace.

¹²Now stand up straight! Stop your knees from shaking ¹³and walk a straight path. Then lame people will be healed, instead of getting worse.

Warning against Turning from God

¹⁴Try to live at peace with everyone! Live a clean life. If you don't, you will never see the Lord. ¹⁵Make sure that no one misses out on God's wonderful kindness. Don't let anyone become bitter and cause trouble for the rest of you. ¹⁶Watch out for immoral and ungodly people like Esau, who sold his future blessing for only one meal. ¹⁷You know how he later wanted it back. But there was nothing he could do to change things, even though he begged his father and cried.

¹⁸You have not come to a place like Mount Sinai that can be seen and touched. There is no flaming fire or dark cloud or storm ¹⁹or trumpet sound. The people of Israel heard a voice speak. But they begged it to stop, ²⁰because they could not obey its commands. They were even told to kill any animal that touched the mountain. ²¹The sight was so frightening that Moses said he shook with fear.

²²You have now come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the city of the living God, where thousands and thousands of angels have come to celebrate. ²³Here you will find all of God's dearest children, whose names are written in heaven. And you will find God himself, who judges everyone. Here also are the spirits of those good people who have been made perfect. ²⁴And Jesus is here! He is the one who makes God's new agreement with us, and his sprinkled blood says much better things than the blood of Abel.

²⁵Make sure that you obey the one who speaks to you. The people did not escape, when they refused to obey the one who spoke to them at Mount Sinai. Do you think you can possibly escape, if you refuse to obey the one who speaks to you from heaven? ²⁶When God spoke the first time, his voice shook only the earth. This time he has promised to shake the earth once again, and heaven too.

²⁷The words "once again" mean that these created things will someday be shaken and removed. Then what cannot be shaken will last. ²⁸We should be grateful that we were given a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And in this kingdom we please God by worshiping him and by showing him great honor and respect. ²⁹Our God is like a destructive fire!

The LORD Sends Food from Heaven

Exodus 16 On the fifteenth day of the second month after the Israelites had escaped from Egypt, they left Elim and started through the western edge of the Sinai Desert in the direction of Mount Sinai. ²There in the desert they started complaining to Moses and Aaron, ³"We wish the LORD had killed us in Egypt. When we lived there, we could at least sit down and eat all the bread and meat we wanted. But you have brought us out here into this desert, where we are going to starve."

⁴The LORD said to Moses, "I will send bread down from heaven like rain. Each day the people can go out and gather only enough for that day. That's how I will see if they obey me. ⁵But on the sixth day of each week they must gather and cook twice as much."

⁶Moses and Aaron told the people, "This evening you will know that the LORD was the one who rescued you from Egypt. ⁷And in the morning you will see his glorious power, because he has heard your complaints against him. Why should you grumble to us? Who are we?"

⁸Then Moses continued, "You will know it is the LORD when he gives you meat each evening and more than enough bread each morning. He is really the one you are complaining about, not us--we are nobodies--but the LORD has heard your complaints."

⁹Moses turned to Aaron and said, "Bring the people together, because the LORD has heard their complaints."

¹⁰Aaron was speaking to them, when everyone looked out toward the desert and saw the bright glory of the LORD in a cloud. ¹¹The LORD said to Moses, ¹²"I have heard my people complain. Now tell them that each evening they will have meat and each morning they will have more than enough bread. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God."

¹³That evening a lot of quails came and landed everywhere in the camp, and the next morning dew covered the ground. ¹⁴After the dew had gone, the desert was covered with thin flakes that looked like frost. ¹⁵The people had never seen anything like this, and they started asking each other, "What is it?"

Moses answered, "This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. ¹⁶And he orders you to gather about two quarts for each person in your family--that should be more than enough."

¹⁷They did as they were told. Some gathered more and some gathered less, ¹⁸according to their needs, and none was left over.

¹⁹Moses told them not to keep any overnight. ²⁰Some of them disobeyed, but the next morning what they kept was stinking and full of worms, and Moses was angry.

²¹Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and in the heat of the day the rest melted. ²²However, on the sixth day of the week, everyone gathered enough to have four quarts, instead of two. When the leaders reported this to Moses, ²³he told them that the LORD had said, "Tomorrow is the Sabbath, a sacred day of rest in honor of me. So gather all you want to bake or boil, and make sure you save enough for tomorrow."

²⁴The people obeyed, and the next morning the food smelled fine and had no worms. ²⁵"You may eat the food," Moses said. "Today is the Sabbath in honor of the LORD, and there won't be any of this food on the ground today. ²⁶You will find it there for the first six days of the week, but not on the Sabbath."

²⁷A few of the Israelites did go out to look for some, but there was none. ²⁸Then the LORD said, "Moses, how long will you people keep disobeying my laws and teachings? ²⁹Remember that I was the one who gave you the Sabbath. That's why on the sixth day I provide enough bread for two days. Everyone is to stay home and rest on the Sabbath." ³⁰And so they rested on the Sabbath.

³¹The Israelites called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and delicious as wafers made with honey. ³²Moses told the people that the LORD had said, "Store up two quarts of this manna, because I want future generations to see the food I gave you during the time you were in the desert after I rescued you from Egypt."

³³Then Moses told Aaron, "Put some manna in a jar and store it in the place of worship for future generations to see."

³⁴Aaron followed the LORD's instructions and put the manna in front of the sacred chest for safekeeping. ^35-36The Israelites ate manna for forty years, before they came to the border of Canaan that was a settled land.

The LORD Gives Water from a Rock
(Numbers 20.1-13)

Exodus 17 The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the LORD ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for them to drink.

²The people started complaining to Moses, "Give us some water!"

Moses replied, "Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the LORD to the test?"

³But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, "Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?"

⁴Then Moses prayed to the LORD, "What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!"

⁵The LORD answered, "Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick you used to strike the Nile River, ⁶and when you get to the rock at Mount Sinai, I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink." Moses did this while the leaders watched.

⁷The people had complained and tested the LORD by asking, "Is the LORD really with us?" So Moses named that place Massah, which means "testing" and Meribah, which means "complaining."

Israel Defeats the Amalekites

⁸When the Israelites were at Rephidim, they were attacked by the Amalekites. ⁹So Moses told Joshua, "Have some men ready to attack the Amalekites tomorrow. I will stand on a hilltop, holding this walking stick that has the power of God."

¹⁰Joshua led the attack as Moses had commanded, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur stood on the hilltop. ¹¹The Israelites out-fought the Amalekites as long as Moses held up his arms, but they started losing whenever he had to lower them. ¹²Finally, Moses was so tired that Aaron and Hur got a rock for him to sit on. Then they stood beside him and supported his arms in the same position until sunset. ¹³That's how Joshua defeated the Amalekites.

¹⁴Afterwards, the LORD said to Moses, "Write an account of this victory and read it to Joshua. I want the Amalekites to be forgotten forever."

¹⁵Moses built an altar and named it "The LORD Gives Me Victory." ¹⁶Then Moses explained, "This is because I depended on the LORD. But in future generations, the LORD will have to fight the Amalekites again."

Proverbs 7 ⁶From the window of my house,

I once happened to see ⁷some foolish young men.

⁸It was late in the evening, sometime after dark.

⁹One of these young men turned the corner

and was walking by the house of an unfaithful wife.

¹⁰She was dressed fancy like a woman of the street

with only one thing in mind.

¹¹She was one of those women who are loud and restless

and never stay at home,

¹²

who walk street after street, waiting to trap a man.

¹³She grabbed him and kissed him,

and with no sense of shame, she said:

¹⁴"I had to offer a sacrifice,

and there is enough meat left over for a feast.

¹⁵So I came looking for you, and here you are!

¹⁶The sheets on my bed

are bright-colored cloth from Egypt.

¹⁷And I have covered it with perfume

made of myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸"Let's go there and make love all night.

¹⁹

My husband is traveling, and he's far away.

²⁰He took a lot of money along, and he won't be back home

before the middle of the month."

²¹And so, she tricked him

with all of her sweet talk and her flattery.

²²Right away he followed her

like an ox on the way to be slaughtered,

or like a fool on the way to be punished

²³

and killed with arrows.

He was no more than a bird rushing into a trap,

without knowing it would cost him his life.

²⁴My son, pay close attention to what I have said.

²⁵Don't even think about that kind of woman

or let yourself be misled by someone like her.

²⁶Such a woman has caused the downfall

and destruction of a lot of men.

²⁷Her house is a one-way street leading straight down

to the world of the dead.

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.