Daily Bible GNT June 18 Scroll

The Parable of the Sower
(Matthew 13.1-9; Luke 8.4-8)

Mark 4 Again Jesus began to teach beside Lake Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it. The boat was out in the water, and the crowd stood on the shore at the water's edge. ²He used parables to teach them many things, saying to them:

³"Listen! Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. ⁴As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. ⁶Then, when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. ⁷Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants, and they didn't bear grain. ⁸But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and bore grain: some had thirty grains, others sixty, and others one hundred."

⁹And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

The Purpose of the Parables
(Matthew 13.10-17; Luke 8.9, 10)

¹⁰When Jesus was alone, some of those who had heard him came to him with the twelve disciples and asked him to explain the parables. ¹¹"You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God," Jesus answered. "But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables, ¹²so that,

'They may look and look,

yet not see;

they may listen and listen,

yet not understand.

For if they did, they would turn to God,

and he would forgive them.'"

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower
(Matthew 13.18-23; Luke 8.11-15)

¹³Then Jesus asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? How, then, will you ever understand any parable? ¹⁴The sower sows God's message. ¹⁵Some people are like the seeds that fall along the path; as soon as they hear the message, Satan comes and takes it away. ¹⁶Other people are like the seeds that fall on rocky ground. As soon as they hear the message, they receive it gladly. ¹⁷But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once. ¹⁸Other people are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the ones who hear the message, ¹⁹but the worries about this life, the love for riches, and all other kinds of desires crowd in and choke the message, and they don't bear fruit. ²⁰But other people are like seeds sown in good soil. They hear the message, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred."

David and Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 9 One day David asked, "Is there anyone left of Saul's family? If there is, I would like to show him kindness for Jonathan's sake."

²There was a servant of Saul's family named Ziba, and he was told to go to David. "Are you Ziba?" the king asked.

"At your service, sir," he answered.

³The king asked him, "Is there anyone left of Saul's family to whom I can show loyalty and kindness, as I promised God I would?"

Ziba answered, "There is still one of Jonathan's sons. He is crippled."

⁴"Where is he?" the king asked.

"At the home of Machir son of Ammiel in Lodebar," Ziba answered. ⁵So King David sent for him.

⁶When Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, arrived, he bowed down before David in respect. David said, "Mephibosheth," and he answered, "At your service, sir."

⁷"Don't be afraid," David replied. "I will be kind to you for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will give you back all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always be welcome at my table."

⁸Mephibosheth bowed again and said, "I am no better than a dead dog, sir! Why should you be so good to me?"

⁹Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said, "I am giving Mephibosheth, your master's grandson, everything that belonged to Saul and his family. ¹⁰You, your sons, and your servants will farm the land for your master Saul's family and bring in the harvest, to provide food for them. But Mephibosheth himself will always be a guest at my table." (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

¹¹Ziba answered, "I will do everything Your Majesty commands."

So Mephibosheth ate at the king's table, just like one of the king's sons. ¹²Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. All the members of Ziba's family became servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem, eating all his meals at the king's table.

David Defeats the Ammonites and the Syrians
(1 Chronicles 19.1-19)

2 Samuel 10 Some time later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king. ²King David said, "I must show loyal friendship to Hanun, as his father Nahash did to me." So David sent messengers to express his sympathy.

When they arrived in Ammon, ³the Ammonite leaders said to the king, "Do you think that it is in your father's honor that David has sent these men to express sympathy to you? Of course not! He has sent them here as spies to explore the city, so that he can conquer us!"

⁴Hanun seized David's messengers, shaved off one side of their beards, cut off their clothes at the hips, and sent them away. ⁵They were too ashamed to return home. When David heard about what had happened, he sent word for them to stay in Jericho and not return until their beards had grown again.

⁶The Ammonites realized that they had made David their enemy, so they hired twenty thousand Syrian soldiers from Bethrehob and Zobah, twelve thousand men from Tob, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men. ⁷David heard of it and sent Joab against them with the whole army. ⁸The Ammonites marched out and took up their position at the entrance to Rabbah, their capital city, while the others, both the Syrians and the men from Tob and Maacah, took up their position in the open countryside.

⁹Joab saw that the enemy troops would attack him in front and from the rear, so he chose the best of Israel's soldiers and put them in position facing the Syrians. ¹⁰He placed the rest of his troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who put them in position facing the Ammonites. ¹¹Joab said to him, "If you see that the Syrians are defeating me, come and help me, and if the Ammonites are defeating you, I will go and help you. ¹²Be strong and courageous! Let's fight hard for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD's will be done!"

¹³Joab and his men advanced to attack, and the Syrians fled. ¹⁴When the Ammonites saw the Syrians running away, they fled from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab turned back from fighting the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.

¹⁵The Syrians realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, and so they called all their troops together. ¹⁶King Hadadezer sent for the Syrians who were on the east side of the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam under the command of Shobach, commander of the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah. ¹⁷When David heard of it, he gathered the Israelite troops, crossed the Jordan River, and marched to Helam, where the Syrians took up their position facing him. The fighting began, ¹⁸and the Israelites drove the Syrian army back. David and his men killed seven hundred Syrian chariot drivers and forty thousand cavalry, and they wounded Shobach, the enemy commander, who died on the battlefield. ¹⁹When the kings who were subject to Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by the Israelites, they made peace with them and became their subjects. And the Syrians were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.

Belshazzar's Banquet

Daniel 5 One night King Belshazzar invited a thousand noblemen to a great banquet, and they drank wine together. ²While they were drinking, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups and bowls which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he, his noblemen, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. ³At once the gold cups and bowls were brought in, and they all drank wine out of them ⁴and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

⁵Suddenly a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall of the palace, where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly. And the king saw the hand as it was writing. ⁶He turned pale and was so frightened that his knees began to shake. ⁷He shouted for someone to bring in the magicians, wizards, and astrologers. When they came in, the king said to them, "Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in robes of royal purple, wear a gold chain of honor around his neck, and be the third in power in the kingdom." ⁸The royal advisers came forward, but none of them could read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹In his distress King Belshazzar grew even paler, and his noblemen had no idea what to do.

¹⁰The queen mother heard the noise made by the king and his noblemen and entered the banquet hall. She said, "May Your Majesty live forever! Please do not be so disturbed and look so pale. ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. When your father was king, this man showed good sense, knowledge, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him chief of the fortunetellers, magicians, wizards, and astrologers. ¹²He has unusual ability and is wise and skillful in interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining mysteries; so send for this man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, and he will tell you what all this means."

Daniel Explains the Writing

¹³Daniel was brought at once into the king's presence, and the king said to him, "Are you Daniel, that Jewish exile whom my father the king brought here from Judah? ¹⁴I have heard that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that you are skillful and have knowledge and wisdom. ¹⁵The advisers and magicians were brought in to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not discover the meaning. ¹⁶Now I have heard that you can find hidden meanings and explain mysteries. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be dressed in robes of royal purple, wear a gold chain of honor around your neck, and be the third in power in the kingdom."

¹⁷Daniel replied, "Keep your gifts for yourself or give them to someone else. I will read for Your Majesty what has been written and tell you what it means.

¹⁸"The Supreme God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great king and gave him dignity and majesty. ¹⁹He was so great that people of all nations, races, and languages were afraid of him and trembled. If he wanted to kill someone, he did; if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did. He honored or disgraced anyone he wanted to. ²⁰But because he became proud, stubborn, and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honor. ²¹He was driven away from human society, and his mind became like that of an animal. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like an ox, and slept in the open air with nothing to protect him from the dew. Finally he admitted that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and can give them to anyone he chooses.

²²"But you, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this. ²³You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone--gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honor the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do. ²⁴That is why God has sent the hand to write these words.

²⁵"This is what was written: 'Number, number, weight, divisions.' ²⁶And this is what it means: number, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ²⁷weight, you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light; ²⁸divisions, your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians."

²⁹Immediately Belshazzar ordered his servants to dress Daniel in a robe of royal purple and to hang a gold chain of honor around his neck. And he made him the third in power in the kingdom. ³⁰That same night Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, was killed; ³¹and Darius the Mede, who was then sixty-two years old, seized the royal power.

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.