Daily Bible GNT February 19 Scroll

The Ancestors of Jesus Christ
(Luke 3.23-38)

Matthew 1 This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.

^2-6aFrom Abraham to King David, the following ancestors are listed: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers; then Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David.

^6b-11From David to the time when the people of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon, the following ancestors are listed: David, Solomon (his mother was the woman who had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.

^12-16From the time after the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus, the following ancestors are listed: Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, who married Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was called the Messiah.

¹⁷So then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from then to the birth of the Messiah.

The Birth of Jesus Christ
(Luke 2.1-7)

¹⁸This was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph was a man who always did what was right, but he did not want to disgrace Mary publicly; so he made plans to break the engagement privately. ²⁰While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived. ²¹She will have a son, and you will name him Jesus--because he will save his people from their sins."

²²Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, ²³"A virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and he will be called Immanuel" (which means, "God is with us").

²⁴So when Joseph woke up, he married Mary, as the angel of the Lord had told him to. ²⁵But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.

The Ten Commandments
(Deuteronomy 5.1-21)

Exodus 20 God spoke, and these were his words: ²"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.

³"Worship no god but me.

⁴"Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. ⁵Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. ⁶But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

⁷"Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the LORD your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.

⁸"Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. ⁹You have six days in which to do your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work--neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. ¹¹In six days I, the LORD, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the LORD, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.

¹²"Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.

¹³"Do not commit murder.

¹⁴"Do not commit adultery.

¹⁵"Do not steal.

¹⁶"Do not accuse anyone falsely.

¹⁷"Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns."

The People's Fear
(Deuteronomy 5.22-33)

¹⁸When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. ¹⁹They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die."

²⁰Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin." ²¹But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.

Laws about Altars

²²The LORD commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: "You have seen how I, the LORD, have spoken to you from heaven. ²³Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to me. ²⁴Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burned and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use. ²⁶Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.

The Treatment of Slaves
(Deuteronomy 15.12-18)

Exodus 21 "Give the Israelites the following laws: ²If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years. In the seventh year he is to be set free without having to pay anything. ³If he was unmarried when he became your slave, he is not to take a wife with him when he leaves; but if he was married when he became your slave, he may take his wife with him. ⁴If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the woman and her children belong to the master, and the man is to leave by himself. ⁵But if the slave declares that he loves his master, his wife, and his children and does not want to be set free, ⁶then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he is to make him stand against the door or the doorpost and put a hole through his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.

⁷"If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to be set free, as male slaves are. ⁸If she is sold to someone who intends to make her his wife, but he doesn't like her, then she is to be sold back to her father; her master cannot sell her to foreigners, because he has treated her unfairly. ⁹If a man buys a female slave to give to his son, he is to treat her like a daughter. ¹⁰If a man takes a second wife, he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothing and the same rights that she had before. ¹¹If he does not fulfill these duties to her, he must set her free and not receive any payment.

Laws about Violent Acts

¹²"Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death. ¹³But if it was an accident and he did not mean to kill him, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you, and there he will be safe. ¹⁴But when someone gets angry and deliberately kills someone else, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety.

¹⁵"Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be put to death.

¹⁶"Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death.

¹⁷"Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

^18-19"If there is a fight and someone hits someone else with a stone or with his fist, but does not kill him, he is not to be punished. If the one who was hit has to stay in bed, but later is able to get up and walk outside with the help of a cane, the one who hit him is to pay for his lost time and take care of him until he gets well.

²⁰"If a slave owner takes a stick and beats his slave, whether male or female, and the slave dies on the spot, the owner is to be punished. ²¹But if the slave does not die for a day or two, the master is not to be punished. The loss of his property is punishment enough.

²²"If some men are fighting and hurt a pregnant woman so that she loses her child, but she is not injured in any other way, the one who hurt her is to be fined whatever amount the woman's husband demands, subject to the approval of the judges. ²³But if the woman herself is injured, the punishment shall be life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

²⁶"If someone hits his male or female slave in the eye and puts it out, he is to free the slave as payment for the eye. ²⁷If he knocks out a tooth, he is to free the slave as payment for the tooth.

The Responsibility of Owners

²⁸"If a bull gores someone to death, it is to be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but its owner is not to be punished. ²⁹But if the bull had been in the habit of attacking people and its owner had been warned, but did not keep it penned up--then if it gores someone to death, it is to be stoned, and its owner is to be put to death also. ³⁰However, if the owner is allowed to pay a fine to save his life, he must pay the full amount required. ³¹If the bull kills a boy or a girl, the same rule applies. ³²If the bull kills a male or female slave, its owner shall pay the owner of the slave thirty pieces of silver, and the bull shall be stoned to death.

³³"If someone takes the cover off a pit or if he digs one and does not cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴he must pay for the animal. He is to pay the money to the owner and may keep the dead animal. ³⁵If someone's bull kills someone else's bull, the two of them shall sell the live bull and divide the money; they shall also divide up the meat from the dead animal. ³⁶But if it was known that the bull had been in the habit of attacking and its owner did not keep it penned up, he must make good the loss by giving the other man a live bull, but he may keep the dead animal.

Wisdom and Stupidity

Proverbs 9 Wisdom has built her house and made seven columns for it. ²She has had an animal killed for a feast, mixed spices in the wine, and set the table. ³She has sent her servant women to call out from the highest place in town: ⁴"Come in, ignorant people!" And to the foolish she says, ⁵"Come, eat my food and drink the wine that I have mixed. ⁶Leave the company of ignorant people, and live. Follow the way of knowledge."

⁷If you correct conceited people, you will only be insulted. If you reprimand evil people, you will only get hurt. ⁸Never correct conceited people; they will hate you for it. But if you correct the wise, they will respect you. ⁹Anything you say to the wise will make them wiser. Whatever you tell the righteous will add to their knowledge.

¹⁰To be wise you must first have reverence for the LORD. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding. ¹¹Wisdom will add years to your life. ¹²You are the one who will profit if you have wisdom, and if you reject it, you are the one who will suffer.

¹³Stupidity is like a loud, ignorant, shameless woman. ¹⁴She sits at the door of her house or on a seat in the highest part of town, ¹⁵and calls out to people passing by, who are minding their own business: ¹⁶"Come in, ignorant people!" To the foolish she says, ¹⁷"Stolen water is sweeter. Stolen bread tastes better." ¹⁸Her victims do not know that the people die who go to her house, that those who have already entered are now deep in the world of the dead.

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.