Daily Bible CEV November 27 Scroll

Galatians 2 Fourteen years later I went to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I also took along Titus. ²But I went there because God had told me to go, and I explained the good news that I had been preaching to the Gentiles. Then I met privately with the ones who seemed to be the most important leaders. I wanted to make sure that my work in the past and my future work would not be for nothing.

³Titus went to Jerusalem with me. He was a Greek, but still he wasn't forced to be circumcised. ⁴We went there because of those who pretended to be followers and had sneaked in among us as spies. They had come to take away the freedom that Christ Jesus had given us, and they were trying to make us their slaves. ⁵But we wanted you to have the true message. That's why we didn't give in to them, not even for a second.

⁶Some of them were supposed to be important leaders, but I didn't care who they were. God doesn't have any favorites! None of these so-called special leaders added anything to my message. ⁷They realized that God had sent me with the good news for Gentiles, and that he had sent Peter with the same message for Jews. ⁸God, who had sent Peter on a mission to the Jews, was now using me to preach to the Gentiles.

⁹James, Peter, and John realized that God had given me the message about his undeserved kindness. And these men are supposed to be the backbone of the church. They even gave Barnabas and me a friendly handshake. This was to show that we would work with Gentiles and that they would work with Jews. ¹⁰They only asked us to remember the poor, and that was something I had always been eager to do.

Paul Corrects Peter at Antioch

¹¹When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. ¹²He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles. ¹³He and the others hid their true feelings so well that even Barnabas was fooled. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone and said:

Peter, you are a Jew, but you live like a Gentile. So how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?

¹⁵We are Jews by birth and are not sinners like Gentiles. ¹⁶But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith.

¹⁷When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too. Does this mean that Christ is the one who makes us sinners? No, it doesn't! ¹⁸But if I tear down something and then build it again, I prove that I was wrong at first. ¹⁹It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so that I could live for God.

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. ²⁰I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. ²¹I don't turn my back on God's undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.

What the LORD Says about Ammon

Jeremiah 49 The LORD has this to say about the nation of Ammon:

The people of Israel have plenty of children

to inherit their lands.

So why have you worshipers of the god Milcom

taken over towns and land belonging to the Gad tribe?

²Someday I will send an army to attack you in Rabbah,

your capital city.

It will be left in ruins,

and the surrounding villages will lie in ashes.

You took some of Israel's land,

but on that day Israel will take yours!

³Cry, people of Heshbon;

your town will become a pile of rubble.

You will turn here and there,

but your path will be blocked.

Put on sackcloth and mourn, you citizens of Rabbah,

because the idol you worship

will be taken to a foreign country,

along with its priests and temple officials.

⁴You rebellious Ammonites trust your wealth

and ask, "Who could attack us?"

But I warn you not to boast

when your strength is fading.

⁵I, the LORD All-Powerful, will send neighboring nations

to strike you with terror.

You will be scattered,

with no one to care for your refugees.

⁶Yet someday, I will bring your people back home.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

What the LORD Says about Edom

^7-8The LORD All-Powerful says about Edom:

Wisdom and common sense have vanished from Teman.

I will send disaster to punish

you descendants of Esau,

so anyone from Dedan had better turn around

and run back home.

⁹People who harvest grapes leave some for the poor.

Thieves who break in at night take only what they want.

¹⁰But I will take everything that belongs to you,

people of Edom,

and I will uncover every place

where you try to hide.

Then you will die, and so will your children,

relatives, and neighbors.

¹¹But I can be trusted to care for your orphans and widows.

¹²Even those nations that don't deserve to be punished will have to drink from the cup of my anger. So how can you possibly hope to escape? ¹³I, the LORD, swear in my own name that your city of Bozrah and all your towns will suffer a horrible fate. They will lie in ruins forever, and people will use the name "Bozrah" as a curse word.

¹⁴I have sent a messenger to command the nations

to prepare for war against you people of Edom.

¹⁵Your nation will be small, yet hated by other nations.

¹⁶Pride tricks you into thinking

that other nations look at you with fear.

You live along the cliffs

and high in the mountains like the eagles,

but I am the LORD, and I will bring you down.

¹⁷People passing by your country will be shocked and horrified

to see a disaster ¹⁸as bad as the destruction

of Sodom and Gomorrah and towns nearby.

The towns of Edom will be empty.

¹⁹I will attack you like a lion from the forest,

attacking sheep in a meadow along the Jordan.

In a moment the flock runs, and the land is empty.

Who will I choose to attack you? I will do it myself!

No one can force me to fight or chase me away.

²⁰Listen to my plans for you, people of Edom.

Your children will be dragged off

and your country destroyed.

²¹The sounds of your destruction will reach the Red Sea

and cause the earth to shake.

²²An enemy will swoop down to attack you,

like an eagle spreading its wings and circling over Bozrah.

Your warriors will be gripped by fear.

What the LORD Says about Damascus

²³The LORD says about Damascus:

The towns of Hamath and Arpad

have heard your bad news.

They have lost hope, and worries roll over them

like ocean waves.

²⁴You people of Damascus have lost your courage,

and in panic you turn to run, gripped by fear and pain.

²⁵I once was pleased with your famous city.

But now I warn you, "Escape while you still can!"

²⁶Soon, even your best soldiers will lie dead in your streets.

I, the LORD All-Powerful, have spoken.

²⁷I will set fire to your city walls

and burn down the fortresses King Benhadad built.

Nebuchadnezzar and the People of the Desert

²⁸Here is what the LORD says about the Kedar tribe and the desert villages that were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia:

Listen, you people of Kedar and the other tribes

of the eastern desert.

I have told Nebuchadnezzar to attack and destroy you.

²⁹His fearsome army will surround you,

taking your tents and possessions,

your sheep and camels.

³⁰Run and hide, you people of the desert

who live in villages!

Nebuchadnezzar has big plans for you.

³¹You have no city walls and no neighbors to help,

yet you think you're safe-- so I told him to attack.

³²Then your camels and large herds will be yours no longer.

People of the Arabian Desert,

disaster will strike you from every side,

and you will be scattered everywhere on earth.

³³Only jackals will live where your villages once stood.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

What the LORD Says about Elam

^34-35Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the LORD told me to say:

People of Elam, I, the LORD All-Powerful,

will kill the archers who make your army strong.

³⁶Enemies will attack from all directions,

and you will be led captive to every nation on earth.

³⁷Their armies will crush and kill you,

and you will face the disaster that my anger brings.

³⁸Your king and his officials will die,

and I will rule in their place.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

³⁹But I promise that someday I will bring your people

back to their land.

Babylon Will Be Captured

Jeremiah 50 ^*1The LORD told me to say:

Announce what will happen and don't leave anything out.

²Raise the signal flags; shout so all nations can hear--

Babylon will be captured!

Marduk, Babylon's god, will be ashamed and terrified,

and his idols broken.

³The attack on the Babylonians will come from the north;

they and their animals will run, leaving the land empty.

Israel and Judah Will Return to Their Land

⁴The LORD said:

People of Israel and Judah,

when these things happen you will weep,

and together you will return to your land

and worship me, the LORD your God.

⁵You will ask the way to Zion

and then come and join with me

in making an agreement you won't break or forget.

⁶My people, you are lost sheep abandoned by their shepherds

in the mountains.

You don't even remember your resting place.

⁷I am your true pastureland,

the one who gave hope to your ancestors.

But you abandoned me, so when your enemies found you,

they felt no guilt as they gobbled you down.

⁸Escape from Babylonia, my people. Get out of that country!

Don't wait for anyone else.

⁹In the north I am bringing great nations together.

They will attack Babylon and capture it.

The arrows they shoot are like the best soldiers,

always finding their target.

¹⁰Babylonia will be conquered,

and its enemies will carry off everything they want.

Babylon Will Be Disgraced

The LORD said:

¹¹People of Babylonia, you were glad to rob my people.

You had a good time, making more noise than horses

and jumping around like calves threshing grain.

¹²The city of Babylon was like a mother to you.

But it will be disgraced

and become nothing but a barren desert.

¹³My anger will destroy Babylon, and no one will live there.

Everyone who passes by will be shocked to see

what has happened.

¹⁴Babylon has rebelled against me.

Archers, take your places.

Shoot all your arrows at Babylon.

¹⁵

Attack from every side!

Babylon surrenders!

The enemy tears down its walls and towers.

I am taking my revenge by doing to Babylon

what it did to other cities.

¹⁶There is no one in Babylonia to plant or harvest crops.

Even foreigners who lived there

have left for their homelands,

afraid of the enemy armies.

¹⁷Israel is a flock of sheep scattered by hungry lions.

The king of Assyria first gobbled Israel down.

Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia,

crunched on Israel's bones.

¹⁸I, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel,

punished the king of Assyria,

and I will also punish the king of Babylonia.

¹⁹But I will bring Israel back to its own land.

The people will be like sheep eating their fill

on Mount Carmel and in Bashan,

in the hill country of Ephraim and in Gilead.

²⁰I will rescue a few people from Israel and Judah.

I will forgive them so completely that their sin and guilt

will disappear, never to be found.

The LORD's Commands to the Enemies of Babylonia

²¹The LORD said:

I have told the enemies of Babylonia,

"Attack the people of Merathaim and Pekod.

Kill them all! Destroy their possessions!"

²²Sounds of war and the noise of destruction can be heard.

²³Babylonia was a hammer pounding every country,

but now it lies broken.

What a shock to the nations of the world!

²⁴Babylonia challenged me, the LORD God All-Powerful,

but that nation doesn't know it is caught in a trap

that I set.

²⁵I've brought out my weapons, and with them

I will put a curse on Babylonia.

²⁶Come from far away, you enemies of Babylon!

Pile up the grain from its storehouses,

and destroy it completely, along with everything else.

²⁷Kill the soldiers of Babylonia,

because the time has come for them to be punished.

²⁸The Babylonian army destroyed my temple,

but soon I will take revenge.

Then refugees from Babylon

will tell about it in Zion.

²⁹Attack Babylon, enemy archers;

set up camp around the city,

and don't let anyone escape.

It challenged me, the holy God, so do to it

what it did to other cities.

Proud Babylon Will Fall

³⁰People of Babylon, I, the LORD, promise

that even your best soldiers

will lie dead in the streets.

³¹Babylon, you should be named, "The Proud One."

But the time has come when I, the LORD All-Powerful,

will punish you.

³²You are proud, but you will stumble and fall,

and no one will help you up.

I will set your villages on fire,

and everything around you will go up in flames.

³³You Babylonians were cruel to Israel and Judah.

You took them captive, and now

you refuse to let them go.

³⁴But I, the LORD All-Powerful, will rescue and protect them.

I will bring peace to their land and trouble to yours.

³⁵I have declared war on you, your officials, and advisors.

³⁶This war will prove that your prophets

are liars and fools.

And it will frighten your warriors.

³⁷Then your chariot horses and the foreigners in your army

will refuse to go into battle,

and the enemy will carry away everything you treasure.

³⁸Your rivers and canals will dry up.

All of this will happen, because your land is full of idols,

and they have made fools of you.

³⁹Never again will people live in your land--

only desert animals, jackals, and unclean birds.

⁴⁰I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns,

and I will destroy Babylon just as completely.

No one will live there again.

Babylonia Is Invaded

The LORD said:

⁴¹Far to the north, a nation and its allies have been awakened.

They are powerful and ready for war.

⁴²Bows and arrows and swords are in their hands.

The soldiers are cruel and show no pity.

The hoofbeats of their horses echo

like ocean waves crashing against the shore.

The army has lined up for battle

and is coming to attack you, people of Babylonia!

⁴³Ever since your king heard about this army,

he has been weak with fear; he twists and turns in pain

like a woman giving birth.

⁴⁴Babylonia, I will attack you like a lion from the forest,

attacking sheep in a meadow along the Jordan.

In a moment the flock runs, and the land is empty.

Who will I choose to attack you? I will do it myself!

No one can force me to fight or chase me away.

⁴⁵Listen to my plans for you, people of Babylonia.

Your children will be dragged off,

and your country destroyed.

⁴⁶The sounds of your destruction

will be heard among the nations,

and the earth will shake.

Psalm 143
[A psalm by David.]
A Prayer in Time of Danger

¹Listen, LORD, as I pray!

You are faithful and honest and will answer my prayer.

²I am your servant. Don't try me in your court,

because no one is innocent by your standards.

³My enemies are chasing me, crushing me in the ground.

I am in total darkness, like someone long dead.

⁴

I have given up all hope, and I feel numb all over.

⁵I remember to think about the many things

you did in years gone by.

⁶Then I lift my hands in prayer, because my soul is a desert,

thirsty for water from you.

⁷Please hurry, LORD, and answer my prayer.

I feel hopeless.

Don't turn away and leave me here to die.

⁸Each morning let me learn more about your love

because I trust you.

I come to you in prayer, asking for your guidance.

⁹Please rescue me from my enemies, LORD!

I come to you for safety.

¹⁰You are my God. Show me what you want me to do,

and let your gentle Spirit lead me in the right path.

¹¹Be true to your name, LORD, and keep my life safe.

Use your saving power to protect me from trouble.

¹²I am your servant.

Show how much you love me by destroying my enemies.

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