Daily Bible GNT January 05 Scroll

The Messengers from John the Baptist
(Matthew 11.2-19)

Luke 7¹⁸When John's disciples told him about all these things, he called two of them ¹⁹and sent them to the Lord to ask him, "Are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?"

²⁰When they came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to ask if you are the one he said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?"

²¹At that very time Jesus healed many people from their sicknesses, diseases, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many blind people. ²²He answered John's messengers, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. ²³How happy are those who have no doubts about me!"

²⁴After John's messengers had left, Jesus began to speak about him to the crowds: "When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind? ²⁵What did you go out to see? A man dressed up in fancy clothes? People who dress like that and live in luxury are found in palaces! ²⁶Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet. ²⁷For John is the one of whom the scripture says: 'God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.' ²⁸I tell you," Jesus added, "John is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John."

²⁹All the people heard him; they and especially the tax collectors were the ones who had obeyed God's righteous demands and had been baptized by John. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected God's purpose for themselves and refused to be baptized by John.

³¹Jesus continued, "Now to what can I compare the people of this day? What are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group shouts to the other, 'We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn't dance! We sang funeral songs, but you wouldn't cry!' ³³John the Baptist came, and he fasted and drank no wine, and you said, 'He has a demon in him!' ³⁴The Son of Man came, and he ate and drank, and you said, 'Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!' ³⁵God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it."

Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee

³⁶A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. ³⁷In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house, so she brought an alabaster jar full of perfume ³⁸and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them. ³⁹When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, "If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!"

⁴⁰Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."

"Yes, Teacher," he said, "tell me."

⁴¹"There were two men who owed money to a moneylender," Jesus began. "One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. ⁴²Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?"

⁴³"I suppose," answered Simon, "that it would be the one who was forgiven more."

"You are right," said Jesus. ⁴⁴Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came. ⁴⁶You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume. ⁴⁷I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love."

⁴⁸Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."

⁴⁹The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?"

⁵⁰But Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The Tower of Babylon

Genesis 11 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. ²As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. ³They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. ⁴They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth."

⁵Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, ⁶and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! ⁷Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." ⁸So the LORD scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹The city was called Babylon, because there the LORD mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.

The Descendants of Shem
(1 Chronicles 1.24-27)

¹⁰These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad. ¹¹After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children.

¹²When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah; ¹³after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.

¹⁴When Shelah was 30 years old, he had a son, Eber; ¹⁵after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.

¹⁶When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg; ¹⁷after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children.

¹⁸When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu; ¹⁹after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children.

²⁰When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug; ²¹after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children.

²²When Serug was 30 years old, he had a son, Nahor; ²³after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children.

²⁴When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah; ²⁵after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children.

²⁶After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Descendants of Terah

²⁷These are the descendants of Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot, ²⁸and Haran died in his hometown of Ur in Babylonia, while his father was still living. ²⁹Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. ³⁰Sarai was not able to have children.

³¹Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there. ³²Terah died there at the age of 205.

A Prayer for Protection

Psalm 5 Listen to my words, O LORD,

and hear my sighs.

²Listen to my cry for help,

my God and king!

I pray to you, O LORD;

you hear my voice in the morning;

at sunrise I offer my prayer

and wait for your answer.

⁴You are not a God who is pleased with wrongdoing;

you allow no evil in your presence.

⁵You cannot stand the sight of the proud;

you hate all wicked people.

⁶You destroy all liars

and despise violent, deceitful people.

⁷But because of your great love

I can come into your house;

I can worship in your holy Temple

and bow down to you in reverence.

⁸LORD, I have so many enemies!

Lead me to do your will;

make your way plain for me to follow.

⁹What my enemies say can never be trusted;

they only want to destroy.

Their words are flattering and smooth,

but full of deadly deceit.

¹⁰Condemn and punish them, O God;

may their own plots cause their ruin.

Drive them out of your presence

because of their many sins

and their rebellion against you.

¹¹But all who find safety in you will rejoice;

they can always sing for joy.

Protect those who love you;

because of you they are truly happy.

¹²You bless those who obey you, LORD;

your love protects them like a shield.

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.