Daily Bible CEV November 12 Scroll

PHILEMON

¹From Paul, who is in jail for serving Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, who is like a brother because of our faith.

Philemon, you work with us and are very dear to us. This letter is to you ²and to the church that meets in your home. It is also to our dear friend Apphia and to Archippus, who serves the Lord as we do.

³I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

Philemon's Love and Faith

⁴Philemon, each time I mention you in my prayers, I thank God. ⁵I hear about your faith in our Lord Jesus and about your love for all of God's people. ⁶As you share your faith with others, I pray that they may come to know all the blessings Christ has given us. ⁷My friend, your love has made me happy and has greatly encouraged me. It has also cheered the hearts of God's people.

Paul Speaks to Philemon about Onesimus

⁸Christ gives me the courage to tell you what to do. ⁹But I would rather ask you to do it simply because of love. Yes, as someone in jail for Christ, ¹⁰I beg you to help Onesimus! He is like a son to me because I led him to Christ here in jail. ¹¹Before this, he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.

¹²Sending Onesimus back to you makes me very sad. ¹³I would like to keep him here with me, where he could take your place in helping me while I am here in prison for preaching the good news. ¹⁴But I won't do anything unless you agree to it first. I want your act of kindness to come from your heart, and not be something you feel forced to do.

¹⁵Perhaps Onesimus was taken from you for a little while so that you could have him back for good, ¹⁶but not as a slave. Onesimus is much more than a slave. To me he is a dear friend, but to you he is even more, both as a person and as a follower of the Lord.

¹⁷If you consider me a friend because of Christ, then welcome Onesimus as you would welcome me. ¹⁸If he has cheated you or owes you anything, charge it to my account. ¹⁹With my own hand I write: I, PAUL, WILL PAY YOU BACK. But don't forget that you owe me your life. ²⁰My dear friend and follower of Christ our Lord, please cheer me up by doing this for me.

²¹I am sure you will do all I have asked, and even more. ²²Please get a room ready for me. I hope your prayers will be answered, and I can visit you.

²³Epaphras is also here in jail for being a follower of Christ Jesus. He sends his greetings, ²⁴and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, who work together with me.

²⁵I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you!

Jeremiah and the Clay Jar

Jeremiah 19 The LORD said:

Jeremiah, go to the pottery shop and buy a clay jar. Then take along some of the city officials and leading priests ²and go to Hinnom Valley, just outside Potsherd Gate. Tell the people that I have said:

³I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and you kings of Judah and you people of Jerusalem had better pay attention. I am going to bring so much trouble on this valley that everyone who hears about it will be shocked. ^4-5The people of Judah stopped worshiping me and made this valley into a place of worship for Baal and other gods that have never helped them or their ancestors or their kings. And they have committed murder here, burning their young, innocent children as sacrifices to Baal. I have never even thought of telling you to do that. ⁶So watch out! Someday this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley!

⁷You people of Judah and Jerusalem may have big plans, but here in this valley I'll ruin those plans. I'll let your enemies kill you, and I'll tell the birds and wild animals to eat your dead bodies. ⁸I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, and every passerby will be shocked and horrified and will make insulting remarks. ⁹And while your enemies are trying to break through your city walls to kill you, the food supply will run out. You will become so hungry that you will eat the flesh of your friends and even of your own children.

¹⁰Jeremiah, as soon as you have said this, smash the jar while the people are watching. ¹¹Then tell them that I have also said:

I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I warn you that I will shatter Judah and Jerusalem just like this jar that is broken beyond repair. You will bury your dead here in Topheth, but so many of you will die that there won't be enough room.

^12-13I will make Jerusalem as unclean as Topheth, by filling the city with your dead bodies. I will do this because you and your kings have gone up to the roofs of your houses and burned incense to the stars in the sky, as though they were gods. And you have given sacrifices of wine to foreign gods.

Jeremiah Speaks in the Temple Courtyard

¹⁴I went to Topheth, where I told the people what the LORD had said. Then I went to the temple courtyard and shouted to the people, ¹⁵"Listen, everyone! Some time ago, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, warned you that he would bring disaster on Jerusalem and all nearby villages. But you were stubborn and refused to listen. Now the LORD is going to bring the disaster he promised."

Pashhur Arrests Jeremiah

Jeremiah 20 Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the chief of temple security. He heard what I had said, ²and so he hit me. Then he had me arrested and put in chains at the Benjamin Gate in the LORD's temple. ³The next day, when Pashhur let me go free, I told him that the LORD had said:

No longer will I call you Pashhur. Instead, I will call you Afraid-of-Everything. ⁴You will be afraid, and you will bring fear to your friends as well. You will see enemies kill them in battle. Then I will have the king of Babylonia take everyone in Judah prisoner, killing some and dragging the rest away to Babylonia. ⁵He will clean out the royal treasury and take everything else of value from Jerusalem.

⁶Pashhur, you are guilty of telling lies and claiming they were messages from me. That's why I will have the Babylonians take you, your family, and your friends as prisoners to Babylonia, where you will all die and be buried.

Jeremiah Complains to the LORD

⁷You tricked me, LORD, and I was really fooled.

You are stronger than I am, and you have defeated me.

People never stop sneering and insulting me.

⁸You have let me announce only destruction and death.

Your message has brought me nothing but insults

and trouble.

⁹Sometimes I tell myself not to think about you, LORD,

or even mention your name.

But your message burns in my heart and bones,

and I cannot keep silent.

¹⁰I heard the crowds whisper, "Everyone is afraid.

Now's our chance to accuse Jeremiah!"

All of my so-called friends

are just waiting for me to make a mistake.

They say, "Maybe Jeremiah can be tricked.

Then we can overpower him and get even at last."

¹¹But you, LORD, are a mighty soldier, standing at my side.

Those troublemakers will fall down and fail--

terribly embarrassed, forever ashamed.

¹²LORD All-Powerful, you test those who do right,

and you know every heart and mind.

I have told you my complaints,

so let me watch you take revenge on my enemies.

¹³I sing praises to you, LORD.

You rescue the oppressed from the wicked.

¹⁴Put a curse on the day I was born!

Don't bless my mother.

¹⁵Put a curse on the man who told my father,

"Good news! You have a son."

¹⁶May that man be like the towns you destroyed without pity.

Let him hear shouts of alarm in the morning

and battle cries at noon.

¹⁷He deserves to die for not killing me before I was born.

Then my mother's body would have been my grave.

¹⁸Why did I have to be born?

Was it just to suffer and die in shame?

Psalm 128
[A song for worship.]
The LORD Rewards His Faithful People

¹The LORD will bless you

if you respect him and obey his laws.

²Your fields will produce,

and you will be happy and all will go well.

³Your wife will be as fruitful as a grapevine,

and just as an olive tree is rich with olives,

your home will be rich with healthy children.

⁴That is how the LORD will bless everyone

who respects him.

⁵I pray that the LORD will bless you from Zion

and let Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.

⁶May you live long enough to see your grandchildren.

Let's pray for peace in Israel!

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.