Daily Bible GNT January 07 Scroll

Jesus Heals a Man with Demons
(Matthew 8.28-34; Mark 5.1-20)

Luke 8 ²⁶Jesus and his disciples sailed on over to the territory of Gerasa, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, "Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don't punish me!" ²⁹He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. Many times it had seized him, and even though he was kept a prisoner, his hands and feet tied with chains, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon out into the desert.

³⁰Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

"My name is 'Mob,'" he answered--because many demons had gone into him. ³¹The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss.

³²There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he let them. ³³They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms. ³⁵People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid. ³⁶Those who had seen it told the people how the man had been cured. ³⁷Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus, "Let me go with you."

But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹"Go back home and tell what God has done for you."

The man went through the town, telling what Jesus had done for him.

Jairus' Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak
(Matthew 9.18-26; Mark 5.21-43)

⁴⁰When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the people welcomed him, because they had all been waiting for him. ⁴¹Then a man named Jairus arrived; he was an official in the local synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus' feet and begged him to go to his home, ⁴²because his only daughter, who was twelve years old, was dying.

As Jesus went along, the people were crowding him from every side. ⁴³Among them was a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years; she had spent all she had on doctors, but no one had been able to cure her. ⁴⁴She came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once. ⁴⁵Jesus asked, "Who touched me?"

Everyone denied it, and Peter said, "Master, the people are all around you and crowding in on you."

⁴⁶But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I knew it when power went out of me." ⁴⁷The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus' feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once. ⁴⁸Jesus said to her, "My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

⁴⁹While Jesus was saying this, a messenger came from the official's house. "Your daughter has died," he told Jairus; "don't bother the Teacher any longer."

⁵⁰But Jesus heard it and said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; only believe, and she will be well."

⁵¹When he arrived at the house, he would not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child's father and mother. ⁵²Everyone there was crying and mourning for the child. Jesus said, "Don't cry; the child is not dead--she is only sleeping!"

⁵³They all made fun of him, because they knew that she was dead. ⁵⁴But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, "Get up, child!" ⁵⁵Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶Her parents were astounded, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Abram and Lot Separate

Genesis 13 Abram went north out of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned, and Lot went with him. ²Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold. ³Then he left there and moved from place to place, going toward Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before ⁴and had built an altar. There he worshiped the LORD.

⁵Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants. ⁶And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals. ⁷So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram's animals and those who took care of Lot's animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still living in the land.)

⁸Then Abram said to Lot, "We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling. ⁹So let's separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I'll go the other."

¹⁰Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the LORD or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away toward the east. That is how the two men parted. ¹²Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom, ¹³whose people were wicked and sinned against the LORD.

Abram Moves to Hebron

¹⁴After Lot had left, the LORD said to Abram, "From where you are, look carefully in all directions. ¹⁵I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. ¹⁶I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! ¹⁷Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you." ¹⁸So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

Abram Rescues Lot

Genesis 14 Four kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim, ²went to war against five other kings: Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (or Zoar). ³These five kings had formed an alliance and joined forces in Siddim Valley, which is now the Dead Sea. ⁴They had been under the control of Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him. ⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came with their armies and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim, ⁶and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as Elparan on the edge of the desert. ⁷Then they turned around and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

⁸Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela drew up their armies for battle in Siddim Valley and fought ⁹against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar, five kings against four. ¹⁰The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from the battle, they fell into the pits; but the other three kings escaped to the mountains. ¹¹The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away. ¹²Lot, Abram's nephew, was living in Sodom, so they took him and all his possessions.

¹³But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew, who was living near the sacred trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's allies. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. ¹⁵There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, ¹⁶and got back all the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

¹⁷When Abram came back from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in Shaveh Valley (also called King's Valley). ¹⁸And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram, ¹⁹blessed him, and said, "May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram! ²⁰May the Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!" And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered.

²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Keep the loot, but give me back all my people."

²²Abram answered, "I solemnly swear before the LORD, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth, ²³that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say, 'I am the one who made Abram rich.' ²⁴I will take nothing for myself. I will accept only what my men have used. But let my allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, take their share."

A Prayer for Justice

Psalm 7 O LORD, my God, I come to you for protection;

rescue me and save me from all who pursue me,

²or else like a lion they will carry me off

where no one can save me,

and there they will tear me to pieces.

^3-4O LORD, my God, if I have wronged anyone,

if I have betrayed a friend

or without cause done violence to my enemy--

if I have done any of these things--

⁵then let my enemies pursue me and catch me,

let them cut me down and kill me

and leave me lifeless on the ground!

⁶Rise in your anger, O LORD!

Stand up against the fury of my enemies;

rouse yourself and help me!

Justice is what you demand,

⁷

so bring together all the peoples around you,

and rule over them from above.

⁸You are the judge of all people.

Judge in my favor, O LORD;

you know that I am innocent.

⁹You are a righteous God

and judge our thoughts and desires.

Stop the wickedness of evildoers

and reward those who are good.

¹⁰God is my protector;

he saves those who obey him.

¹¹God is a righteous judge

and always condemns the wicked.

¹²If they do not change their ways,

God will sharpen his sword.

He bends his bow and makes it ready;

¹³

he takes up his deadly weapons

and aims his burning arrows.

¹⁴See how wicked people think up evil;

they plan trouble and practice deception.

¹⁵But in the traps they set for others,

they themselves get caught.

¹⁶So they are punished by their own evil

and are hurt by their own violence.

¹⁷I thank the LORD for his justice;

I sing praises to the LORD, the Most High.

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.