Daily Bible GNT January 21 Scroll

The Shrewd Manager

Luke 16 Jesus said to his disciples, "There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master's money, ²so he called him in and said, 'What is this I hear about you? Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' ³The servant said to himself, 'My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.' ⁵So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, 'How much do you owe my master?' ⁶'One hundred barrels of olive oil,' he answered. 'Here is your account,' the manager told him; 'sit down and write fifty.' ⁷Then he asked another one, 'And you--how much do you owe?' 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he answered. 'Here is your account,' the manager told him; 'write eight hundred.' ⁸As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light."

⁹And Jesus went on to say, "And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. ¹⁰Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. ¹¹If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?

¹³"No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Some Sayings of Jesus
(Matthew 11.12, 13; 5.31, 32; Mark 10.11, 12)

¹⁴When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money. ¹⁵Jesus said to them, "You are the ones who make yourselves look right in other people's sight, but God knows your hearts. For the things that are considered of great value by people are worth nothing in God's sight.

¹⁶"The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in. ¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with.

¹⁸"Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹"There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. ²⁰There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door, ²¹hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, ²³and in Hades, where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. ²⁴So he called out, 'Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!' ²⁵But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. ²⁶Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.' ²⁷The rich man said, 'Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house, ²⁸where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.' ²⁹Abraham said, 'Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.' ³⁰The rich man answered, 'That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.' ³¹But Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.'"

Isaac Sends Jacob to Laban

Genesis 27 ⁴⁶Rebecca said to Isaac, "I am sick and tired of Esau's foreign wives. If Jacob also marries one of these Hittites, I might as well die."
Genesis 28 Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and told him, "Don't marry a Canaanite. ²Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the young women there, one of your uncle Laban's daughters. ³May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations! ⁴May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!" ⁵Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Takes Another Wife

⁶Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learned that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman. ⁷He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia. ⁸Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women. ⁹So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob's Dream at Bethel

¹⁰Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran. ¹¹At sunset he came to a holy place and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone. ¹²He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it. ¹³And there was the LORD standing beside him. "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac," he said. "I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying. ¹⁴They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations. ¹⁵Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you."

¹⁶Jacob woke up and said, "The LORD is here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!" ¹⁷He was afraid and said, "What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven."

¹⁸Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God. ¹⁹He named the place Bethel. (The town there was once known as Luz.) ²⁰Then Jacob made a vow to the LORD: "If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing, ²¹and if I return safely to my father's home, then you will be my God. ²²This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshiped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me."

Praise for Victory

Psalm 21 The king is glad, O LORD, because you gave him strength;

he rejoices because you made him victorious.

²You have given him his heart's desire;

you have answered his request.

³You came to him with great blessings

and set a crown of gold on his head.

⁴He asked for life, and you gave it,

a long and lasting life.

⁵His glory is great because of your help;

you have given him fame and majesty.

⁶Your blessings are with him forever,

and your presence fills him with joy.

⁷The king trusts in the LORD Almighty;

and because of the LORD's constant love

he will always be secure.

⁸The king will capture all his enemies;

he will capture everyone who hates him.

⁹He will destroy them like a blazing fire

when he appears.

The LORD will devour them in his anger,

and fire will consume them.

¹⁰None of their descendants will survive;

the king will kill them all.

¹¹They make their plans, and plot against him,

but they will not succeed.

¹²He will shoot his arrows at them

and make them turn and run.

¹³We praise you, LORD, for your great strength!

We will sing and praise your power.

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.