Daily Bible GNT January 31 Scroll

Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
(Matthew 26.36-46; Mark 14.32-42)

Luke 22 ³⁹Jesus left the city and went, as he usually did, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples went with him. ⁴⁰When he arrived at the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

⁴¹Then he went off from them about the distance of a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed. ⁴²"Father," he said, "if you will, take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my will, however, but your will be done." ⁴³An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

⁴⁵Rising from his prayer, he went back to the disciples and found them asleep, worn out by their grief. ⁴⁶He said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation."

The Arrest of Jesus
(Matthew 26.47-56; Mark 14.43-50; John 18.3-11)

⁴⁷Jesus was still speaking when a crowd arrived, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. He came up to Jesus to kiss him. ⁴⁸But Jesus said, "Judas, is it with a kiss that you betray the Son of Man?"

⁴⁹When the disciples who were with Jesus saw what was going to happen, they asked, "Shall we use our swords, Lord?" ⁵⁰And one of them struck the High Priest's slave and cut off his right ear.

⁵¹But Jesus said, "Enough of this!" He touched the man's ear and healed him.

⁵²Then Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers of the Temple guard and the elders who had come there to get him, "Did you have to come with swords and clubs, as though I were an outlaw? ⁵³I was with you in the Temple every day, and you did not try to arrest me. But this is your hour to act, when the power of darkness rules."

Peter Denies Jesus
(Matthew 26.57, 58, 69-75; Mark 14.53, 54, 66-72; John 18.12-18, 25-27)

⁵⁴They arrested Jesus and took him away into the house of the High Priest; and Peter followed at a distance. ⁵⁵A fire had been lit in the center of the courtyard, and Peter joined those who were sitting around it. ⁵⁶When one of the servant women saw him sitting there at the fire, she looked straight at him and said, "This man too was with Jesus!"

⁵⁷But Peter denied it, "Woman, I don't even know him!"

⁵⁸After a little while a man noticed Peter and said, "You are one of them, too!"

But Peter answered, "Man, I am not!"

⁵⁹And about an hour later another man insisted strongly, "There isn't any doubt that this man was with Jesus, because he also is a Galilean!"

⁶⁰But Peter answered, "Man, I don't know what you are talking about!"

At once, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹The Lord turned around and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered that the Lord had said to him, "Before the rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me." ⁶²Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus Is Mocked and Beaten
(Matthew 26.67, 68; Mark 14.65)

⁶³The men who were guarding Jesus made fun of him and beat him. ⁶⁴They blindfolded him and asked him, "Who hit you? Guess!" ⁶⁵And they said many other insulting things to him.

Jesus before the Council
(Matthew 26.59-66; Mark 14.55-64; John 18.19-24)

⁶⁶When day came, the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law met together, and Jesus was brought before the Council. ⁶⁷"Tell us," they said, "are you the Messiah?"

He answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me; ⁶⁸and if I ask you a question, you will not answer. ⁶⁹But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right side of Almighty God."

⁷⁰They all said, "Are you, then, the Son of God?"

He answered them, "You say that I am."

⁷¹And they said, "We don't need any witnesses! We ourselves have heard what he said!"

Joseph Interprets the Prisoners' Dreams

Genesis 40 Some time later the king of Egypt's wine steward and his chief baker offended the king. ²He was angry with these two officials ³and put them in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same place where Joseph was being kept. ⁴They spent a long time in prison, and the captain assigned Joseph as their servant.

⁵One night there in prison the wine steward and the chief baker each had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings. ⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷He asked them, "Why do you look so worried today?"

⁸They answered, "Each of us had a dream, and there is no one here to explain what the dreams mean."

"It is God who gives the ability to interpret dreams," Joseph said. "Tell me your dreams."

⁹So the wine steward said, "In my dream there was a grapevine in front of me ¹⁰with three branches on it. As soon as the leaves came out, the blossoms appeared, and the grapes ripened. ¹¹I was holding the king's cup; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to him."

¹²Joseph said, "This is what it means: the three branches are three days. ¹³In three days the king will release you, pardon you, and restore you to your position. You will give him his cup as you did before when you were his wine steward. ¹⁴But please remember me when everything is going well for you, and please be kind enough to mention me to the king and help me get out of this prison. ¹⁵After all, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here in Egypt I didn't do anything to deserve being put in prison."

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the wine steward's dream was favorable, he said to Joseph, "I had a dream too; I was carrying three breadbaskets on my head. ¹⁷In the top basket there were all kinds of baked goods for the king, and the birds were eating them."

¹⁸Joseph answered, "This is what it means: the three baskets are three days. ¹⁹In three days the king will release you--and have your head cut off! Then he will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh."

²⁰On his birthday three days later the king gave a banquet for all his officials; he released his wine steward and his chief baker and brought them before his officials. ²¹He restored the wine steward to his former position, ²²but he executed the chief baker. It all happened just as Joseph had said. ²³But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought--he forgot all about him.

A Prayer of Trust in God

Psalm 31 I come to you, LORD, for protection;

never let me be defeated.

You are a righteous God;

save me, I pray!

²Hear me! Save me now!

Be my refuge to protect me;

my defense to save me.

³You are my refuge and defense;

guide me and lead me as you have promised.

⁴Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me;

shelter me from danger.

⁵I place myself in your care.

You will save me, LORD;

you are a faithful God.

⁶You hate those who worship false gods,

but I trust in you.

⁷I will be glad and rejoice

because of your constant love.

You see my suffering;

you know my trouble.

⁸You have not let my enemies capture me;

you have given me freedom to go where I wish.

⁹Be merciful to me, LORD,

for I am in trouble;

my eyes are tired from so much crying;

I am completely worn out.

¹⁰I am exhausted by sorrow,

and weeping has shortened my life.

I am weak from all my troubles;

even my bones are wasting away.

¹¹All my enemies, and especially my neighbors,

treat me with contempt.

Those who know me are afraid of me;

when they see me in the street, they run away.

¹²Everyone has forgotten me, as though I were dead;

I am like something thrown away.

¹³I hear many enemies whispering;

terror is all around me.

They are making plans against me,

plotting to kill me.

¹⁴But my trust is in you, O LORD;

you are my God.

¹⁵I am always in your care;

save me from my enemies,

from those who persecute me.

¹⁶Look on your servant with kindness;

save me in your constant love.

¹⁷I call to you, LORD;

don't let me be disgraced.

May the wicked be disgraced;

may they go silently down to the world of the dead.

¹⁸Silence those liars--

all the proud and arrogant

who speak with contempt about the righteous.

¹⁹How wonderful are the good things

you keep for those who honor you!

Everyone knows how good you are,

how securely you protect those who trust you.

²⁰You hide them in the safety of your presence

from the plots of others;

in a safe shelter you hide them

from the insults of their enemies.

²¹Praise the LORD!

How wonderfully he showed his love for me

when I was surrounded and attacked!

²²I was afraid and thought

that he had driven me out of his presence.

But he heard my cry,

when I called to him for help.

²³Love the LORD, all his faithful people.

The LORD protects the faithful,

but punishes the proud as they deserve.

²⁴Be strong, be courageous,

all you that hope in 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.