Daily Bible GNT January 02 Scroll

The Question about the Sabbath
(Matthew 12.1-8; Mark 2.23-28)

Luke 6 Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples began to pick the heads of wheat, rub them in their hands, and eat the grain. ²Some Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?"

³Jesus answered them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ⁴He went into the house of God, took the bread offered to God, ate it, and gave it also to his men. Yet it is against our Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread."

⁵And Jesus concluded, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand
(Matthew 12.9-14; Mark 3.1-6)

⁶On another Sabbath Jesus went into a synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed. ⁷Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ⁸But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, "Stand up and come here to the front." The man got up and stood there. ⁹Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone's life or destroy it?" ¹⁰He looked around at them all; then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand became well again.

¹¹They were filled with rage and began to discuss among themselves what they could do to Jesus.

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
(Matthew 10.1-4; Mark 3.13-19)

¹²At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. ¹³When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: ¹⁴Simon (whom he named Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ¹⁵Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon (who was called the Patriot), ¹⁶Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.

Jesus Teaches and Heals
(Matthew 4.23-25)

¹⁷When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples. A large crowd of people was there from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the coast cities of Tyre and Sidon; ¹⁸they had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled by evil spirits also came and were healed. ¹⁹All the people tried to touch him, for power was going out from him and healing them all.

Happiness and Sorrow
(Matthew 5.1-12)

²⁰Jesus looked at his disciples and said,

"Happy are you poor;

the Kingdom of God is yours!

²¹"Happy are you who are hungry now;

you will be filled!

"Happy are you who weep now;

you will laugh!

²²"Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! ²³Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.

²⁴"But how terrible for you who are rich now;

you have had your easy life!

²⁵"How terrible for you who are full now;

you will go hungry!

"How terrible for you who laugh now;

you will mourn and weep!

²⁶"How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets.

Human Disobedience

Genesis 3 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the LORD God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?"

²"We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden," the woman answered, ³"except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die."

⁴The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. ⁵God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

⁶The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. ⁷As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.

⁸That evening they heard the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees. ⁹But the LORD God called out to the man, "Where are you?"

¹⁰He answered, "I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked."

¹¹"Who told you that you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?"

¹²The man answered, "The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it."

¹³The LORD God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?"

She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it."

God Pronounces Judgment

¹⁴Then the LORD God said to the snake, "You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. ¹⁵I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel."

¹⁶And he said to the woman, "I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him."

¹⁷And he said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. ¹⁸It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. ¹⁹You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again."

²⁰Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings. ²¹And the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.

Adam and Eve Are Sent Out of the Garden

²²Then the LORD God said, "Now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad. They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live forever." ²³So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed. ²⁴Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.

Cain and Abel

Genesis 4 Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, "By the LORD's help I have gotten a son." So she named him Cain. ²Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer. ³After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the LORD. ⁴Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, ⁵but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger. ⁶Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? ⁷If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it."

⁸Then Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out in the fields." When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him.

⁹The LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"

He answered, "I don't know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?"

¹⁰Then the LORD said, "Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge. ¹¹You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother's blood as if it had opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him. ¹²If you try to grow crops, the soil will not produce anything; you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth."

¹³And Cain said to the LORD, "This punishment is too hard for me to bear. ¹⁴You are driving me off the land and away from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me."

¹⁵But the LORD answered, "No. If anyone kills you, seven lives will be taken in revenge." So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who met him not to kill him. ¹⁶And Cain went away from the LORD's presence and lived in a land called "Wandering," which is east of Eden.

The Descendants of Cain

¹⁷Cain and his wife had a son and named him Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son. ¹⁸Enoch had a son named Irad, who was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael had a son named Methushael, who was the father of Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the ancestor of those who raise livestock and live in tents. ²¹His brother was Jubal, the ancestor of all musicians who play the harp and the flute. ²²Zillah gave birth to Tubal Cain, who made all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives,

"Adah and Zillah, listen to me:

I have killed a young man because he struck me.

²⁴If seven lives are taken to pay for killing Cain,

Seventy-seven will be taken if anyone kills me."

Seth and Enosh

²⁵Adam and his wife had another son. She said, "God has given me a son to replace Abel, whom Cain killed." So she named him Seth. ²⁶Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. It was then that people began using the LORD's holy name in worship.

The Descendants of Adam
(1 Chronicles 1.1-4)

Genesis 5 This is the list of the descendants of Adam. (When God created human beings, he made them like himself. ²He created them male and female, blessed them, and named them "Human Beings.") ³When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him, and he named him Seth. ⁴After that, Adam lived another 800 years. He had other children ⁵and died at the age of 930.

⁶When Seth was 105, he had a son, Enosh, ⁷and then lived another 807 years. He had other children ⁸and died at the age of 912.

⁹When Enosh was 90, he had a son, Kenan, ¹⁰and then lived another 815 years. He had other children ¹¹and died at the age of 905.

¹²When Kenan was 70, he had a son, Mahalalel, ¹³and then lived another 840 years. He had other children ¹⁴and died at the age of 910.

¹⁵When Mahalalel was 65, he had a son, Jared, ¹⁶and then lived another 830 years. He had other children ¹⁷and died at the age of 895.

¹⁸When Jared was 162, he had a son, Enoch, ¹⁹and then lived another 800 years. He had other children ²⁰and died at the age of 962.

²¹When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah. ²²After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children. ²³He lived to be 365 years old. ²⁴He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away.

²⁵When Methuselah was 187, he had a son, Lamech, ²⁶and then lived another 782 years. He had other children ²⁷and died at the age of 969.

²⁸When Lamech was 182, he had a son ²⁹and said, "From the very ground on which the LORD put a curse, this child will bring us relief from all our hard work"; so he named him Noah. ³⁰Lamech lived another 595 years. He had other children ³¹and died at the age of 777.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

God's Chosen King

Psalm 2 Why do the nations plan rebellion?

Why do people make their useless plots?

²Their kings revolt,

their rulers plot together against the LORD

and against the king he chose.

³"Let us free ourselves from their rule," they say;

"let us throw off their control."

⁴From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs

and mocks their feeble plans.

⁵Then he warns them in anger

and terrifies them with his fury.

⁶"On Zion, my sacred hill," he says,

"I have installed my king."

⁷"I will announce," says the king, "what the LORD has declared.

He said to me: 'You are my son;

today I have become your father.

⁸Ask, and I will give you all the nations;

the whole earth will be yours.

⁹You will break them with an iron rod;

you will shatter them in pieces like a clay pot.'"

¹⁰Now listen to this warning, you kings;

learn this lesson, you rulers of the world:

¹¹Serve the LORD with fear;

tremble ¹²and bow down to him;

or else his anger will be quickly aroused,

and you will suddenly die.

Happy are all who go to him for protection.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.