Daily Bible GNT January 06 Scroll

Women Who Accompanied Jesus

Luke 8 Some time later Jesus traveled through towns and villages, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve disciples went with him, ²and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (who was called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had been driven out; ³Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer in Herod's court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.

The Parable of the Sower
(Matthew 13.1-9; Mark 4.1-9)

⁴People kept coming to Jesus from one town after another; and when a great crowd gathered, Jesus told this parable:

⁵"Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶Some of it fell on rocky ground, and when the plants sprouted, they dried up because the soil had no moisture. ⁷Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up with the plants and choked them. ⁸And some seeds fell in good soil; the plants grew and bore grain, one hundred grains each."

And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

The Purpose of the Parables
(Matthew 13.10-17; Mark 4.10-12)

⁹His disciples asked Jesus what this parable meant, ¹⁰and he answered, "The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower
(Matthew 13.18-23; Mark 4.13-20)

¹¹"This is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God. ¹²The seeds that fell along the path stand for those who hear; but the Devil comes and takes the message away from their hearts in order to keep them from believing and being saved. ¹³The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who hear the message and receive it gladly. But it does not sink deep into them; they believe only for a while but when the time of testing comes, they fall away. ¹⁴The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear; but the worries and riches and pleasures of this life crowd in and choke them, and their fruit never ripens. ¹⁵The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.

A Lamp under a Bowl
(Mark 4.21-25)

¹⁶"No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people will see the light as they come in.

¹⁷"Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be found and brought to light.

¹⁸"Be careful, then, how you listen; because those who have something will be given more, but whoever has nothing will have taken away from them even the little they think they have."

Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Matthew 12.46-50; Mark 3.31-35)

¹⁹Jesus' mother and brothers came to him, but were unable to join him because of the crowd. ²⁰Someone said to Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you."

²¹Jesus said to them all, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Jesus Calms a Storm
(Matthew 8.23-27; Mark 4.35-41)

²²One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." So they started out. ²³As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger. ²⁴The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, "Master, Master! We are about to die!"

Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and to the stormy water; they quieted down, and there was a great calm. ²⁵Then he said to the disciples, "Where is your faith?"

But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, "Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!"

God's Call to Abram

Genesis 12 The LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's home, and go to a land that I am going to show you. ²I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

³I will bless those who bless you,

But I will curse those who curse you.

And through you I will bless all the nations."

⁴When Abram was seventy-five years old, he started out from Haran, as the LORD had told him to do; and Lot went with him. ⁵Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the wealth and all the slaves they had acquired in Haran, and they started out for the land of Canaan.

When they arrived in Canaan, ⁶Abram traveled through the land until he came to the sacred tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were still living in the land.) ⁷The LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants." Then Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. ⁸After that, he moved on south to the hill country east of the city of Bethel and set up his camp between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There also he built an altar and worshiped the LORD. ⁹Then he moved on from place to place, going toward the southern part of Canaan.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while. ¹¹When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "You are a beautiful woman. ¹²When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live. ¹³Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well." ¹⁴When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful. ¹⁵Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace. ¹⁶Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

¹⁷But because the king had taken Sarai, the LORD sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace. ¹⁸Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!" ²⁰The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.

A Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

Psalm 6 LORD, don't be angry and rebuke me!

Don't punish me in your anger!

²I am worn out, O LORD; have pity on me!

Give me strength; I am completely exhausted

and my whole being is deeply troubled.

How long, O LORD, will you wait to help me?

⁴Come and save me, LORD;

in your mercy rescue me from death.

⁵In the world of the dead you are not remembered;

no one can praise you there.

⁶I am worn out with grief;

every night my bed is damp from my weeping;

my pillow is soaked with tears.

⁷I can hardly see;

my eyes are so swollen

from the weeping caused by my enemies.

⁸Keep away from me, you evil people!

The LORD hears my weeping;

⁹

he listens to my cry for help

and will answer my prayer.

¹⁰My enemies will know the bitter shame of defeat;

in sudden confusion they will be driven away.

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.