Daily Bible GNT June 04 Scroll

Israel and the Gospel

Romans 9³⁰So we say that the Gentiles, who were not trying to put themselves right with God, were put right with him through faith; ³¹while God's people, who were seeking a law that would put them right with God, did not find it. ³²And why not? Because they did not depend on faith but on what they did. And so they stumbled over the "stumbling stone" ³³that the scripture speaks of:

"Look, I place in Zion a stone

that will make people stumble,

a rock that will make them fall.

But whoever believes in him will not be disappointed."
Romans 10 My friends, how I wish with all my heart that my own people might be saved! How I pray to God for them! ²I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God; but their devotion is not based on true knowledge. ³They have not known the way in which God puts people right with himself, and instead, they have tried to set up their own way; and so they did not submit themselves to God's way of putting people right. ⁴For Christ has brought the Law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.

Salvation Is for All

⁵Moses wrote this about being put right with God by obeying the Law: "Whoever obeys the commands of the Law will live." ⁶But what the scripture says about being put right with God through faith is this: "You are not to ask yourself, Who will go up into heaven?" (that is, to bring Christ down). ⁷"Nor are you to ask, Who will go down into the world below?" (that is, to bring Christ up from death). ⁸What it says is this: "God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart"--that is, the message of faith that we preach. ⁹If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. ¹¹The scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed." ¹²This includes everyone, because there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; God is the same Lord of all and richly blesses all who call to him. ¹³As the scripture says, "Everyone who calls out to the Lord for help will be saved."

¹⁴But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? ¹⁵And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, "How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!" ¹⁶But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, "Lord, who believed our message?" ¹⁷So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.

¹⁸But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did--for as the scripture says:

"The sound of their voice went out to all the world;

their words reached the ends of the earth."
¹⁹Again I ask: Did the people of Israel not understand? Moses himself is the first one to answer:

"I will use a so-called nation

to make my people jealous;

and by means of a nation of fools

I will make my people angry."
²⁰And Isaiah is even bolder when he says,

"I was found by those who were not looking for me;

I appeared to those who were not asking for me."
²¹But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I held out my hands to welcome a disobedient and rebellious people."

David Is Persecuted by Saul

1 Samuel 19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials that he planned to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David, ²and so he told him, "My father is trying to kill you. Please be careful tomorrow morning; hide in some secret place and stay there. ³I will go and stand by my father in the field where you are hiding, and I will speak to him about you. If I find out anything, I will let you know."

⁴Jonathan praised David to Saul and said, "Sir, don't do wrong to your servant David. He has never done you any wrong; on the contrary, everything he has done has been a great help to you. ⁵He risked his life when he killed Goliath, and the LORD won a great victory for Israel. When you saw it, you were glad. Why, then, do you now want to do wrong to an innocent man and kill David for no reason at all?"

⁶Saul was convinced by what Jonathan said and made a vow in the LORD's name that he would not kill David. ⁷So Jonathan called David and told him everything; then he took him to Saul, and David served the king as he had before.

⁸War with the Philistines broke out again. David attacked them and defeated them so thoroughly that they fled.

⁹One day an evil spirit from the LORD took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp. ¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David dodged, and the spear stuck in the wall. David ran away and escaped.

¹¹That same night Saul sent some men to watch David's house and kill him the next morning. Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead." ¹²She let him down from a window, and he ran away and escaped. ¹³Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats' hair at its head, and put a cover over it. ¹⁴When Saul's men came to get David, Michal told them that he was sick. ¹⁵But Saul sent them back to see David for themselves. He ordered them, "Carry him here in his bed, and I will kill him." ¹⁶They went inside and found the household idol in the bed and the goats' hair pillow at its head. ¹⁷Saul asked Michal, "Why have you tricked me like this and let my enemy escape?"

She answered, "He said he would kill me if I didn't help him escape."

¹⁸David escaped and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. ¹⁹Saul was told that David was in Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout. ²¹When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them. ²²Then he himself started out to Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth. ²³As he was going there, the spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth. ²⁴He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, "Has even Saul become a prophet?")

A Prayer for Protection

Psalm 64 I am in trouble, God--listen to my prayer!

I am afraid of my enemies--save my life!

²Protect me from the plots of the wicked,

from mobs of evil people.

³They sharpen their tongues like swords

and aim cruel words like arrows.

⁴They are quick to spread their shameless lies;

they destroy good people with cowardly slander.

⁵They encourage each other in their evil plots;

they talk about where they will place their traps.

"No one can see them," they say.

⁶They make evil plans and say,

"We have planned a perfect crime."

The human heart and mind are a mystery.

⁷But God shoots his arrows at them,

and suddenly they are wounded.

⁸He will destroy them because of those words;

all who see them will shake their heads.

⁹They will all be afraid;

they will think about what God has done

and tell about his deeds.

¹⁰All righteous people will rejoice

because of what the LORD has done.

They will find safety in him;

all good people will praise him.

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.