Daily Bible CEV February 20 Scroll

The Wise Men

Matthew 2 When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem ²and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

³When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"

⁵They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,

⁶'Bethlehem in the land of Judea,

you are very important among the towns of Judea.

From your town will come a leader,

who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.' "

⁷Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too."

⁹The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

¹¹When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him. ¹²Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him."

¹⁴That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, ¹⁵where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "I called my son out of Egypt."

The Killing of the Children

¹⁶When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,

¹⁸"In Ramah a voice was heard

crying and weeping loudly.

Rachel was mourning for her children,

and she refused to be comforted,

because they were dead."

The Return from Egypt

¹⁹After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. ²⁰The angel said, "Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead."

²¹Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. ²²But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, ²³and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "He will be called a Nazarene."

Property Laws

The LORD said:
Exodus 22 If you steal an ox and slaughter or sell it, you must replace it with five oxen; if you steal a sheep and slaughter it or sell it, you must replace it with four sheep. ^2-4But if you cannot afford to replace the animals, you must be sold as a slave to pay for what you have stolen. If you steal an ox, donkey, or sheep, and are caught with it still alive, you must pay the owner double.

If you happen to kill a burglar who breaks into your home after dark, you are not guilty. But if you kill someone who breaks in during the day, you are guilty of murder.

⁵If you allow any of your animals to stray from your property and graze in someone else's field or vineyard, you must repay the damage from the best part of your own harvest of grapes and grain.

⁶If you carelessly let a fire spread from your property to someone else's, you must pay the owner for any crops or fields destroyed by the fire.

⁷Suppose a neighbor asks you to keep some silver or other valuables, and they are stolen from your house. If the thief is caught, the thief must repay double. ⁸But if the thief isn't caught, some judges will decide if you are the guilty one.

⁹Suppose two people claim to own the same ox or donkey or sheep or piece of clothing. Then the judges must decide the case, and the guilty person will pay the owner double.

¹⁰Suppose a neighbor who is going to be away asks you to keep a donkey or an ox or a sheep or some other animal, and it dies or gets injured or is stolen while no one is looking. ¹¹If you swear with me as your witness that you did not harm the animal, you do not have to replace it. Your word is enough. ¹²But if the animal was stolen while in your care, you must replace it. ¹³If the animal was attacked and killed by a wild animal, and you can show the remains of the dead animal to its owner, you do not have to replace it.

¹⁴Suppose you borrow an animal from a neighbor, and it gets injured or dies while the neighbor isn't around. Then you must replace it. ¹⁵But if something happens to the animal while the owner is present, you do not have to replace it. If you had leased the animal, the money you paid the owner will cover any harm done to it.

Laws for Everyday Life

The LORD said:

¹⁶Suppose a young woman has never been married and isn't engaged. If a man talks her into having sex, he must pay the bride price and marry her. ¹⁷But if her father refuses to let her marry the man, the bride price must still be paid.

¹⁸Death is the punishment for witchcraft.

¹⁹Death is the punishment for having sex with an animal.

²⁰Death is the punishment for offering sacrifices to any god except me.

²¹Do not mistreat or abuse foreigners who live among you. Remember, you were foreigners in Egypt.

²²Do not mistreat widows or orphans. ²³If you do, they will beg for my help, and I will come to their rescue. ²⁴In fact, I will get so angry that I will kill your men and make widows of their wives and orphans of their children.

²⁵Don't charge interest when you lend money to any of my people who are in need. ²⁶Before sunset you must return any coat taken as security for a loan, ²⁷because that is the only cover the poor have when they sleep at night. I am a merciful God, and when they call out to me, I will come to help them.

²⁸Don't speak evil of me or of the ruler of your people.

²⁹Don't fail to give me the offerings of grain and wine that belong to me.

Dedicate to me your first-born sons ³⁰and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Let the animals stay with their mothers for seven days, then on the eighth day give them to me, your God.

³¹You are my chosen people, so don't eat the meat of any of your livestock that was killed by a wild animal. Instead, feed the meat to dogs.

Equal Justice for All

The LORD said:
Exodus 23 Don't spread harmful rumors or help a criminal by giving false evidence.

²Always tell the truth in court, even if everyone else is dishonest and stands in the way of justice. ³And don't favor the poor, simply because they are poor.

⁴If you find an ox or a donkey that has wandered off, take it back where it belongs, even if the owner is your enemy.

⁵If a donkey is overloaded and falls down, you must do what you can to help, even if it belongs to someone who doesn't like you.

⁶Make sure that the poor are given equal justice in court. ⁷Don't bring false charges against anyone or sentence an innocent person to death. I won't forgive you if you do.

⁸Don't accept bribes. Judges are blinded and justice is twisted by bribes.

⁹Don't mistreat foreigners. You were foreigners in Egypt, and you know what it is like.

Laws for the Sabbath

The LORD said:

¹⁰Plant and harvest your crops for six years, ¹¹but let the land rest during the seventh year. The poor are to eat what they want from your fields, vineyards, and olive trees during that year, and when they have all they want from your fields, leave the rest for wild animals.

¹²Work the first six days of the week, but rest and relax on the seventh day. This law is not only for you, but for your oxen, donkeys, and slaves, as well as for any foreigners among you.

¹³Make certain that you obey everything I have said. Don't pray to other gods or even mention their names.

Three Annual Festivals
(Exodus 34.18-26; Deuteronomy 16.1-17)

The LORD said:

¹⁴Celebrate three festivals each year in my honor.

¹⁵Celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread by eating bread made without yeast, just as I have commanded. Do this at the proper time during the month of Abib, because it is the month when you left Egypt. And make certain that everyone brings the proper offerings.

¹⁶Celebrate the Harvest Festival each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters each autumn when you pick your fruit.

¹⁷Your men must come to these three festivals each year to worship me.

¹⁸Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. And make sure that the fat of the animal is burned that same day.

¹⁹Each year bring the best part of your first harvest to the place of worship.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

A Promise and a Warning

The LORD said:

²⁰I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you. ²¹Carefully obey everything the angel says, because I am giving him complete authority, and he won't tolerate rebellion. ²²If you faithfully obey him, I will be a fierce enemy of your enemies. ²³My angel will lead you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. ²⁴Don't worship their gods or follow their customs. Instead, destroy their idols and shatter their stone images.

²⁵Worship only me, the LORD your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. ²⁶Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.

²⁷I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you. ²⁸I will make the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites panic as you approach. ²⁹But I won't do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. ³⁰Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.

³¹I will see that your borders reach from the Red Sea to the Euphrates River and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will let you defeat the people who live there, and you will force them out of the land. ³²But you must not make any agreements with them or with their gods. ³³Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshiping their gods.

Solomon's Wise Sayings

Proverbs 10 Here are some proverbs of Solomon:

Children with good sense make their parents happy,

but foolish children make them sad.

²What you gain by doing evil won't help you at all,

but being good can save you from death.

³If you obey the LORD, you won't go hungry;

if you are wicked,

God won't let you have what you want.

⁴Laziness leads to poverty; hard work makes you rich.

⁵At harvest season it's smart to work hard,

but stupid to sleep.

⁶Everyone praises good people,

but evil hides behind the words of the wicked.

⁷Good people are remembered long after they are gone,

but the wicked are soon forgotten.

⁸If you have good sense, you will listen and obey;

if all you do is talk, you will destroy yourself.

⁹You will be safe, if you always do right,

but you will get caught, if you are dishonest.

¹⁰Deceit causes trouble,

and foolish talk will bring you to ruin.

¹¹The words of good people are a source of life,

but evil hides behind the words of the wicked.

¹²Hatred stirs up trouble;

love overlooks the wrongs that others do.

¹³If you have good sense, it will show when you speak.

But if you are stupid, you will be beaten with a stick.

¹⁴If you have good sense, you will learn all you can,

but foolish talk will soon destroy you.

¹⁵Great wealth can be a fortress,

but poverty is no protection at all.

¹⁶If you live right, the reward is a good life;

if you are evil, all you have is sin.

¹⁷Accept correction, and you will find life;

reject correction, and you will miss the road.

¹⁸You can hide your hatred by telling lies,

but you are a fool to spread lies.

¹⁹You will say the wrong thing if you talk too much--

so be sensible and watch what you say.

²⁰The words of a good person are like pure silver,

but the thoughts of an evil person are almost worthless.

²¹Many are helped by useful instruction,

but fools are killed by their own stupidity.

²²When the LORD blesses you with riches,

you have nothing to regret.

²³Fools enjoy doing wrong,

but anyone with good sense enjoys acting wisely.

²⁴What evil people dread most will happen to them,

but good people will get what they want most.

²⁵Those crooks will disappear when a storm strikes,

but God will keep safe all who obey him.

²⁶Having a lazy person on the job

is like a mouth full of vinegar or smoke in your eyes.

²⁷If you respect the LORD, you will live longer;

if you keep doing wrong, your life will be cut short.

²⁸If you obey the Lord, you will be happy,

but there is no future for the wicked.

²⁹The LORD protects everyone who lives right,

but he destroys anyone who does wrong.

³⁰Good people will stand firm,

but the wicked will lose their land.

³¹Honest people speak sensibly,

but deceitful liars will be silenced.

³²If you obey the Lord,

you will always know the right thing to say.

But no one will trust you if you tell lies.

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.