Daily Bible GNT January 09 Scroll

The Transfiguration
(Matthew 17.1-8; Mark 9.2-8)

Luke 9 ²⁸About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. ²⁹While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, ³¹who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. ³²Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. ³³As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (He did not really know what he was saying.)

³⁴While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. ³⁵A voice said from the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen--listen to him!"

³⁶When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Evil Spirit
(Matthew 17.14-18; Mark 9.14-27)

³⁷The next day Jesus and the three disciples went down from the hill, and a large crowd met Jesus. ³⁸A man shouted from the crowd, "Teacher! I beg you, look at my son--my only son! ³⁹A spirit attacks him with a sudden shout and throws him into a fit, so that he foams at the mouth; it keeps on hurting him and will hardly let him go! ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't."

⁴¹Jesus answered, "How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you?" Then he said to the man, "Bring your son here."

⁴²As the boy was coming, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a fit. Jesus gave a command to the evil spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³All the people were amazed at the mighty power of God.

Jesus Speaks Again about His Death
(Matthew 17.22, 23; Mark 9.30-32)

The people were still marveling at everything Jesus was doing, when he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴"Don't forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of human beings." ⁴⁵But the disciples did not know what this meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.

Who Is the Greatest?
(Matthew 18.1-5; Mark 9.33-37)

⁴⁶An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a child, stood him by his side, ⁴⁸and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, also welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all is the greatest."

Whoever Is Not against You Is for You
(Mark 9.38-40)

⁴⁹John spoke up, "Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group."

⁵⁰"Do not try to stop him," Jesus said to him and to the other disciples, "because whoever is not against you is for you."

A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

⁵¹As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem. ⁵²He sent messengers ahead of him, who went into a village in Samaria to get everything ready for him. ⁵³But the people there would not receive him, because it was clear that he was on his way to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"

⁵⁵Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶Then Jesus and his disciples went on to another village.

The Would-Be Followers of Jesus
(Matthew 8.19-22)

⁵⁷As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go."

⁵⁸Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest."

⁵⁹He said to another man, "Follow me."

But that man said, "Sir, first let me go back and bury my father."

⁶⁰Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

⁶¹Someone else said, "I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family."

⁶²Jesus said to him, "Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God."

Hagar and Ishmael

Genesis 16 Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, ²and so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Why don't you sleep with my slave? Perhaps she can have a child for me." Abram agreed with what Sarai said. ³So she gave Hagar to him to be his concubine. (This happened after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years.) ⁴Abram had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she found out that she was pregnant, she became proud and despised Sarai.

⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, "It's your fault that Hagar despises me. I myself gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the LORD judge which of us is right, you or me!"

⁶Abram answered, "Very well, she is your slave and under your control; do whatever you want with her." Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away.

⁷The angel of the LORD met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur ⁸and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?"

She answered, "I am running away from my mistress."

⁹He said, "Go back to her and be her slave." ¹⁰Then he said, "I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them. ¹¹You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your cry of distress. ¹²But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives."

¹³Hagar asked herself, "Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?" So she called the LORD, who had spoken to her, "A God Who Sees." ¹⁴That is why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me."

¹⁵Hagar bore Abram a son, and he named him Ishmael. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old at the time.

Thanksgiving to God for His Justice

Psalm 9 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.

²I will sing with joy because of you.

I will sing praise to you, Almighty God.

³My enemies turn back when you appear;

they fall down and die.

⁴You are fair and honest in your judgments,

and you have judged in my favor.

⁵You have condemned the heathen

and destroyed the wicked;

they will be remembered no more.

⁶Our enemies are finished forever;

you have destroyed their cities,

and they are completely forgotten.

⁷But the LORD is king forever;

he has set up his throne for judgment.

⁸He rules the world with righteousness;

he judges the nations with justice.

⁹The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,

a place of safety in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know you, LORD, will trust you;

you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.

¹¹Sing praise to the LORD, who rules in Zion!

Tell every nation what he has done!

¹²God remembers those who suffer;

he does not forget their cry,

and he punishes those who wrong them.

¹³Be merciful to me, O LORD!

See the sufferings my enemies cause me!

Rescue me from death, O LORD,

¹⁴

that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem

and tell them all the things for which I praise you.

I will rejoice because you saved me.

¹⁵The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in;

they have been caught in their own trap.

¹⁶The LORD has revealed himself by his righteous judgments,

and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

¹⁷Death is the destiny of all the wicked,

of all those who reject God.

¹⁸The needy will not always be neglected;

the hope of the poor will not be crushed forever.

¹⁹Come, LORD! Do not let anyone defy you!

Bring the heathen before you

and pronounce judgment on them.

²⁰Make them afraid, O LORD;

make them know that they are only mortal beings.

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.