Daily Bible GNT June 14 Scroll

A Man with an Evil Spirit
(Luke 4.31-37)

Mark 1 ²¹Jesus and his disciples came to the town of Capernaum, and on the next Sabbath Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. ²²The people who heard him were amazed at the way he taught, for he wasn't like the teachers of the Law; instead, he taught with authority.

²³Just then a man with an evil spirit came into the synagogue and screamed, ²⁴"What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are--you are God's holy messenger!"

²⁵Jesus ordered the spirit, "Be quiet, and come out of the man!"

²⁶The evil spirit shook the man hard, gave a loud scream, and came out of him. ²⁷The people were all so amazed that they started saying to one another, "What is this? Is it some kind of new teaching? This man has authority to give orders to the evil spirits, and they obey him!"

²⁸And so the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the province of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many People
(Matthew 8.14-17; Luke 4.38-41)

²⁹Jesus and his disciples, including James and John, left the synagogue and went straight to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and as soon as Jesus arrived, he was told about her. ³¹He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to wait on them.

³²After the sun had set and evening had come, people brought to Jesus all the sick and those who had demons. ³³All the people of the town gathered in front of the house. ³⁴Jesus healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases and drove out many demons. He would not let the demons say anything, because they knew who he was.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee
(Luke 4.42-44)

³⁵Very early the next morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and left the house. He went out of town to a lonely place, where he prayed. ³⁶But Simon and his companions went out searching for him, ³⁷and when they found him, they said, "Everyone is looking for you."

³⁸But Jesus answered, "We must go on to the other villages around here. I have to preach in them also, because that is why I came."

³⁹So he traveled all over Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and driving out demons.

Jesus Heals a Man
(Matthew 8.1-4; Luke 5.12-16)

⁴⁰A man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Jesus, knelt down, and begged him for help. "If you want to," he said, "you can make me clean."

⁴¹Jesus was filled with pity, and reached out and touched him. "I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" ⁴²At once the disease left the man, and he was clean. ⁴³Then Jesus spoke sternly to him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴after saying to him, "Listen, don't tell anyone about this. But go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered."

⁴⁵But the man went away and began to spread the news everywhere. Indeed, he talked so much that Jesus could not go into a town publicly. Instead, he stayed out in lonely places, and people came to him from everywhere.

David's Sons

2 Samuel 3 ²The following six sons, in order of their birth, were born to David at Hebron: Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam, from Jezreel; ³Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel; Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; ⁴Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital; ⁵Ithream, whose mother was Eglah. All of these sons were born in Hebron.

Abner Joins David

⁶As the fighting continued between David's forces and the forces loyal to Saul's family, Abner became more and more powerful among Saul's followers.

⁷One day Ishbosheth son of Saul accused Abner of sleeping with Saul's concubine Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. ⁸This made Abner furious. "Do you think that I would betray Saul? Do you really think I'm serving Judah?" he exclaimed. "From the very first I have been loyal to the cause of your father Saul, his brothers, and his friends, and I have kept you from being defeated by David; yet today you find fault with me about a woman! ^9-10The LORD promised David that he would take the kingdom away from Saul and his descendants and would make David king of both Israel and Judah, from one end of the country to the other. Now may God strike me dead if I don't make this come true!" ¹¹Ishbosheth was so afraid of Abner that he could not say a word.

¹²Abner sent messengers to David, who at that time was at Hebron, to say, "Who is going to rule this land? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you win all Israel over to your side."

¹³"Good!" David answered. "I will make an agreement with you on one condition: you must bring Saul's daughter Michal to me when you come to see me." ¹⁴And David also sent messengers to Ishbosheth to say, "Give me back my wife Michal. I paid a hundred Philistine foreskins in order to marry her." ¹⁵So Ishbosheth had her taken from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶Paltiel followed her all the way to the town of Bahurim, crying as he went. But when Abner said, "Go back home," he did.

¹⁷Abner went to the leaders of Israel and said to them, "For a long time you have wanted David to be your king. ¹⁸Now here is your chance. Remember that the LORD has said, 'I will use my servant David to rescue my people Israel from the Philistines and from all their other enemies.'" ¹⁹Abner spoke also to the people of the tribe of Benjamin and then went to Hebron to tell David what the people of Benjamin and of Israel had agreed to do.

²⁰When Abner came to David at Hebron with twenty men, David gave a feast for them. ²¹Abner told David, "I will go now and win all Israel over to Your Majesty. They will accept you as king, and then you will get what you have wanted and will rule over the whole land." David gave Abner a guarantee of safety and sent him on his way.

Abner Is Murdered

²²Later on Joab and David's other officials returned from a raid, bringing a large amount of loot with them. Abner, however, was no longer there at Hebron with David, because David had sent him away with a guarantee of safety. ²³When Joab and his men arrived, he was told that Abner had come to King David and had been sent away with a guarantee of safety. ²⁴So Joab went to the king and said to him, "What have you done? Abner came to you--why did you let him go like that? ²⁵He came here to deceive you and to find out everything you do and everywhere you go. Surely you know that!"

²⁶After leaving David, Joab sent messengers to get Abner, and they brought him back from Sirah Well; but David knew nothing about it. ²⁷When Abner arrived in Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate, as though he wanted to speak privately with him, and there he stabbed him in the stomach. And so Abner was murdered because he had killed Joab's brother Asahel. ²⁸When David heard the news, he said, "The LORD knows that my subjects and I are completely innocent of the murder of Abner. ²⁹May the punishment for it fall on Joab and all his family! In every generation may there be some man in his family who has gonorrhea or a dreaded skin disease or is fit only to do a woman's work or is killed in battle or doesn't have enough to eat!" ³⁰So Joab and his brother Abishai took revenge on Abner for killing their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

Abner Is Buried

³¹Then David ordered Joab and his men to tear their clothes, wear sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. And at the funeral King David himself walked behind the coffin. ³²Abner was buried at Hebron, and the king wept aloud at the grave, and so did all the people. ³³David sang this lament for Abner:

"Why did Abner have to die like a fool?

³⁴His hands were not tied,

And his feet were not bound;

He died like someone killed by criminals!"
And the people wept for him again.

³⁵All day long the people tried to get David to eat something, but he made a solemn promise, "May God strike me dead if I eat anything before the day is over!" ³⁶They took note of this and were pleased. Indeed, everything the king did pleased the people. ³⁷All of David's people and all the people in Israel understood that the king had no part in the murder of Abner. ³⁸The king said to his officials, "Don't you realize that this day a great leader in Israel has died? ³⁹Even though I am the king chosen by God, I feel weak today. These sons of Zeruiah are too violent for me. May the LORD punish these criminals as they deserve!"

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

Daniel 2 In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had a dream. It worried him so much that he couldn't sleep, ²so he sent for his fortunetellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards to come and explain the dream to him. When they came and stood before the king, ³he said to them, "I'm worried about a dream I've had. I want to know what it means."

⁴They answered the king in Aramaic, "May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us your dream, and we will explain it to you."

⁵The king said to them, "I have made up my mind that you must tell me the dream and then tell me what it means. If you can't, I'll have you torn limb from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins. ⁶But if you can tell me both the dream and its meaning, I will reward you with gifts and great honor. Now then, tell me what the dream was and what it means."

⁷They answered the king again, "If Your Majesty will only tell us what the dream was, we will explain it."

⁸At that, the king exclaimed, "Just as I thought! You are trying to gain time, because you see that I have made up my mind ⁹to give all of you the same punishment if you don't tell me the dream. You have agreed among yourselves to go on telling me lies because you hope that in time things will change. Tell me what the dream was, and then I will know that you can also tell me what it means."

¹⁰The advisers replied, "There is no one on the face of the earth who can tell Your Majesty what you want to know. No king, not even the greatest and most powerful, has ever made such a demand of his fortunetellers, magicians, and wizards. ¹¹What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult that no one can do it for you except the gods, and they do not live among human beings."

¹²At that, the king flew into a rage and ordered the execution of all the royal advisers in Babylon. ¹³So the order was issued for all of them to be killed, including Daniel and his friends.

God Shows Daniel What the Dream Means

¹⁴Then Daniel went to Arioch, commander of the king's bodyguard, who had been ordered to carry out the execution. Choosing his words carefully, ¹⁵he asked Arioch why the king had issued such a harsh order. So Arioch told Daniel what had happened.

¹⁶Daniel went at once and obtained royal permission for more time, so that he could tell the king what the dream meant. ¹⁷Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ¹⁸He told them to pray to the God of heaven for mercy and to ask him to explain the mystery to them so that they would not be killed along with the other advisers in Babylon. ¹⁹Then that same night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he praised the God of heaven:

²⁰"God is wise and powerful!

Praise him forever and ever.

²¹He controls the times and the seasons;

he makes and unmakes kings;

it is he who gives wisdom and understanding.

²²He reveals things that are deep and secret;

he knows what is hidden in darkness,

and he himself is surrounded by light.

²³I praise you and honor you, God of my ancestors.

You have given me wisdom and strength;

you have answered my prayer

and shown us what to tell the king."

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.