Daily Bible GNT January 26 Scroll

The Triumphant Approach to Jerusalem
(Matthew 21.1-11; Mark 11.1-11; John 12.12-19)

Luke 19²⁸After Jesus said this, he went on in front of them toward Jerusalem. ²⁹As he came near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead ³⁰with these instructions: "Go to the village there ahead of you; as you go in, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If someone asks you why you are untying it, tell him that the Master needs it."

³²They went on their way and found everything just as Jesus had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying it?"

³⁴"The Master needs it," they answered, ³⁵and they took the colt to Jesus. Then they threw their cloaks over the animal and helped Jesus get on. ³⁶As he rode on, people spread their cloaks on the road.

³⁷When he came near Jerusalem, at the place where the road went down the Mount of Olives, the large crowd of his disciples began to thank God and praise him in loud voices for all the great things that they had seen: ³⁸"God bless the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!"

³⁹Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," they said, "command your disciples to be quiet!"

⁴⁰Jesus answered, "I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting."

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹He came closer to the city, and when he saw it, he wept over it, ⁴²saying, "If you only knew today what is needed for peace! But now you cannot see it! ⁴³The time will come when your enemies will surround you with barricades, blockade you, and close in on you from every side. ⁴⁴They will completely destroy you and the people within your walls; not a single stone will they leave in its place, because you did not recognize the time when God came to save you!"

Jesus Goes to the Temple
(Matthew 21.12-17; Mark 11.15-19; John 2.13-22)

⁴⁵Then Jesus went into the Temple and began to drive out the merchants, ⁴⁶saying to them, "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, 'My Temple will be a house of prayer.' But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!"

⁴⁷Every day Jesus taught in the Temple. The chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the leaders of the people wanted to kill him, ⁴⁸but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people kept listening to him, not wanting to miss a single word.

The Rape of Dinah

Genesis 34 One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the Canaanite women. ²When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of that region, saw her, he took her and raped her. ³But he found the young woman so attractive that he fell in love with her and tried to win her affection. ⁴He told his father, "I want you to get Dinah for me as my wife."

⁵Jacob learned that his daughter had been disgraced, but because his sons were out in the fields with his livestock, he did nothing until they came back. ⁶Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob, ⁷just as Jacob's sons were coming in from the fields. When they heard about it, they were shocked and furious that Shechem had done such a thing and had insulted the people of Israel by raping Jacob's daughter. ⁸Hamor said to him, "My son Shechem has fallen in love with your daughter; please let him marry her. ⁹Let us make an agreement that there will be intermarriage between our people and yours. ¹⁰Then you may stay here in our country with us; you may live anywhere you wish, trade freely, and own property."

¹¹Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Do me this favor, and I will give you whatever you want. ¹²Tell me what presents you want, and set the payment for the bride as high as you wish; I will give you whatever you ask, if you will only let me marry her."

¹³Because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah, Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor in a deceitful way. ¹⁴They said to him, "We cannot let our sister marry a man who is not circumcised; that would be a disgrace for us. ¹⁵We can agree only on the condition that you become like us by circumcising all your males. ¹⁶Then we will agree to intermarriage. We will settle among you and become one people with you. ¹⁷But if you will not accept our terms and be circumcised, we will take her and leave."

¹⁸These terms seemed fair to Hamor and his son Shechem, ¹⁹and the young man lost no time in doing what was suggested, because he was in love with Jacob's daughter. He was the most important member of his family.

²⁰Hamor and his son Shechem went to the meeting place at the city gate and spoke to the people of the town: ²¹"These men are friendly; let them live in the land with us and travel freely. The land is large enough for them also. Let us marry their daughters and give them ours in marriage. ²²But these men will agree to live among us and be one people with us only on the condition that we circumcise all our males, as they are circumcised. ²³Won't all their livestock and everything else they own be ours? So let us agree that they can live among us." ²⁴All the citizens of the city agreed with what Hamor and Shechem proposed, and all the males were circumcised.

²⁵Three days later, when the men were still sore from their circumcision, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took their swords, went into the city without arousing suspicion, and killed all the men, ²⁶including Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. ²⁷After the slaughter Jacob's other sons looted the town to take revenge for their sister's disgrace. ²⁸They took the flocks, the cattle, the donkeys, and everything else in the city and in the fields. ²⁹They took everything of value, captured all the women and children, and carried off everything in the houses.

³⁰Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have gotten me into trouble; now the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and everybody else in the land will hate me. I do not have many men; if they all band together against me and attack me, our whole family will be destroyed."

³¹But they answered, "We cannot let our sister be treated like a common whore."

The Prayer of a Good Person

Psalm 26 Declare me innocent, O LORD,

because I do what is right

and trust you completely.

²Examine me and test me, LORD;

judge my desires and thoughts.

³Your constant love is my guide;

your faithfulness always leads me.

⁴I do not keep company with worthless people;

I have nothing to do with hypocrites.

⁵I hate the company of the evil

and avoid the wicked.

⁶LORD, I wash my hands to show that I am innocent

and march in worship around your altar.

⁷I sing a hymn of thanksgiving

and tell of all your wonderful deeds.

⁸I love the house where you live, O LORD,

the place where your glory dwells.

⁹Do not destroy me with the sinners;

spare me from the fate of murderers--

¹⁰

those who do evil all the time

and are always ready to take bribes.

¹¹As for me, I do what is right;

be merciful to me and save me!

¹²I am safe from all dangers;

in the assembly of his people I praise the LORD.

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.