Daily Bible CEV March 03 Scroll

A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman
(Mark 5.21-43; Luke 8.40-56)

(Mark 3.13-19; Luke 6.12-16)

Matthew 9 ¹⁸While Jesus was still speaking, an official came and knelt in front of him. The man said, "My daughter has just now died! Please come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again."

¹⁹Jesus and his disciples got up and went with the man.

²⁰A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes. ²¹She had said to herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will get well."

²²Jesus turned. He saw the woman and said, "Don't worry! You are now well because of your faith." At that moment she was healed.

²³When Jesus went into the home of the official and saw the musicians and the crowd of mourners, ²⁴he said, "Get out of here! The little girl isn't dead. She is just asleep." Everyone started laughing at Jesus. ²⁵But after the crowd had been sent out of the house, Jesus went to the girl's bedside. He took her by the hand and helped her up.

²⁶News about this spread all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷As Jesus was walking along, two blind men began following him and shouting, "Son of David, have pity on us!"

²⁸After Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came up to him. He asked them, "Do you believe I can make you well?"

"Yes, Lord," they answered.

²⁹Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, you will be healed." ³⁰They were able to see, and Jesus strictly warned them not to tell anyone about him. ³¹But they left and talked about him to everyone in that part of the country.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Talk

³²As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, some people brought to him a man who could not talk because a demon was in him. ³³After Jesus had forced the demon out, the man started talking. The crowds were so amazed that they began saying, "Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!"

³⁴But the Pharisees said, "The leader of the demons gives him the power to force out demons."

Jesus Has Pity on People

³⁵Jesus went to every town and village. He taught in their meeting places and preached the good news about God's kingdom. Jesus also healed every kind of disease and sickness. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them. They were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷He said to his disciples, "A large crop is in the fields, but there are only a few workers. ³⁸Ask the Lord in charge of the harvest to send out workers to bring it in."

The LORD said:
Leviticus 5 If you refuse to testify in court about something you saw or know has happened, you have sinned and can be punished.
²You are guilty and unfit to worship me, if you accidentally touch the dead body of any kind of unclean animal.
³You are guilty if you find out that you have accidentally touched any waste that comes from a human body.
⁴You are guilty the moment you realize that you have made a hasty promise to do something good or bad.
⁵As soon as you discover that you have committed any of these sins, you must confess what you have done. ⁶Then you must bring a female sheep or goat to me as the price for your sin. A priest will sacrifice the animal, and you will be forgiven.
⁷If you are poor and cannot afford to bring an animal, you may bring two doves or two pigeons. One of these will be a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, and the other will be a sacrifice to please me.
⁸Give both birds to the priest, who will offer one as a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness. He will wring its neck without tearing off its head, ⁹splatter some of its blood on one side of the bronze altar, and drain out the rest at the foot of the altar. ¹⁰Then he will follow the proper rules for offering the other bird as a sacrifice to please me.
You will be forgiven when the priest offers these sacrifices as the price for your sin.
¹¹If you are so poor that you cannot afford doves or pigeons, you may bring two pounds of your finest flour. This is a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, so don't sprinkle olive oil or sweet-smelling incense on it. ¹²Give the flour to a priest, who will scoop up a handful and send it up in smoke together with the other offerings. This is a reminder that all of the flour belongs to me. ¹³By offering this sacrifice, the priest pays the price for any of these sins you may have committed. The priest gets the rest of the flour, just as he does with grain sacrifices.

Sacrifices To Make Things Right
(Leviticus 7.1-10)

^14-15The LORD told Moses what the people must do to make things right when they find out they have cheated the LORD without meaning to:

If this happens, you must either sacrifice a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay the price of a ram with the official money used by the priests. ¹⁶In addition, you must pay what you owe plus a fine of twenty percent. Then the priest will offer the ram as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.

^17-19If you break any of my commands without meaning to, you are still guilty, and you can be punished. When you realize what you have done, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.

Other Sins That Need Sacrifices or Payments
(Numbers 5.5-10)

Leviticus 6 ^1-3The LORD told Moses what the people must do when they commit other sins against the LORD:

You have sinned if you rob or cheat someone, if you keep back money or valuables left in your care, or if you find something and claim not to have it.

⁴When this happens, you must return what doesn't belong to you ⁵and pay the owner a fine of twenty percent. ^6-7In addition, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven for what you did wrong.

Daily Sacrifices
(Exodus 29.38-43; Numbers 28.1-8)

^8-9The LORD told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons how to offer the daily sacrifices that are sent up in smoke to please the LORD:

You must put the animal for the sacrifice on the altar in the evening and let it stay there all night. But make sure the fire keeps burning. ¹⁰The next morning you will dress in your priestly clothes, including your linen underwear. Then clean away the ashes left by the sacrifices and pile them beside the altar. ¹¹Change into your everyday clothes, take the ashes outside the camp, and pile them in the special place.

¹²The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me.

¹³The altar fire must always be kept burning--it must never go out.

Sacrifices To Give Thanks to the LORD

The LORD said:

¹⁴When someone offers a sacrifice to give thanks to me, the priests from Aaron's family must bring it to the front of the bronze altar, ¹⁵where one of them will scoop up a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense on it. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, he will lay all of this on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ^16-17The rest of it is to be baked without yeast and eaten by the priests in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent. This bread is very holy, just like the sacrifices for sin or for making things right, and I have given this part to the priests from what is offered to me on the altar.

¹⁸Only the men in Aaron's family are allowed to eat this bread, and they must go through a ceremony to be made holy before touching it. This law will never change.

When Priests Are Ordained

¹⁹The LORD spoke to Moses ²⁰and told him what sacrifices the priests must offer on the morning and evening of the day they are ordained:

It is the same as the regular morning and evening sacrifices--a pound of flour ²¹mixed with olive oil and cooked in a shallow pan. The bread must then be crumbled into small pieces and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ^22-23Each of Aaron's descendants who is ordained as a priest must perform this ceremony and make sure that the bread is completely burned on the altar. None of it may be eaten!

Sacrifices for Sin
(Leviticus 4.1, 2)

²⁴The LORD told Moses ²⁵how the priests from Aaron's family were to offer the sacrifice for sin:

This sacrifice is very sacred, and the animal must be killed in my presence at the north side of the bronze altar. ²⁶The priest who offers this sacrifice must eat it in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent, ²⁷and anyone or anything that touches the meat will be holy. If any of the animal's blood is splattered on the clothes of the priest, they must be washed in a holy place. ²⁸If the meat was cooked in a clay pot, the pot must be destroyed, but if it was cooked in a bronze pot, the pot must be scrubbed and rinsed with water.

²⁹This sacrifice is very holy, and only the priests may have any part of it. ³⁰None of the meat may be eaten from the sacrifices for sin that require blood to be brought into the sacred tent. These sacrifices must be completely burned.

The LORD Is In Charge

Proverbs 21 The LORD controls rulers,

just as he determines the course of rivers.

²We may think we are doing the right thing,

but the LORD always knows what is in our hearts.

³Doing what is right and fair

pleases the LORD more than an offering.

⁴Evil people are proud and arrogant,

but sin is the only crop they produce.

⁵If you plan and work hard, you will have plenty;

if you get in a hurry, you will end up poor.

⁶Cheating to get rich is a foolish dream

and no less than suicide.

⁷You destroy yourself by being cruel and violent

and refusing to live right.

⁸All crooks are liars,

but anyone who is innocent will do right.

⁹It's better to stay outside on the roof of your house

than to live inside with a nagging wife.

¹⁰Evil people want to do wrong, even to their friends.

¹¹An ignorant fool learns by seeing others punished;

a sensible person learns by being instructed.

¹²God is always fair! He knows what the wicked do

and will punish them.

¹³If you won't help the poor, don't expect to be heard

when you cry out for help.

¹⁴A secret bribe will save you from someone's fierce anger.

¹⁵When justice is done, good citizens are glad

and crooks are terrified.

¹⁶If you stop using good sense,

you will find yourself in the grave.

¹⁷Heavy drinkers and others who live only for pleasure

will lose all they have.

¹⁸God's people will escape,

but all who are wicked will pay the price.

¹⁹It's better out in the desert

than at home with a nagging, complaining wife.

²⁰Be sensible and store up precious treasures--

don't waste them like a fool.

²¹If you try to be kind and good,

you will be blessed with life and goodness and honor.

²²One wise person can defeat a city full of soldiers

and capture their fortress.

²³Watching what you say can save you a lot of trouble.

²⁴If you are proud and conceited,

everyone will say, "You're a snob!"

²⁵If you want too much and are too lazy to work,

it could be fatal.

²⁶But people who obey God are always generous.

²⁷The Lord despises the offerings of wicked people

with evil motives.

²⁸If you tell lies in court, you are done for;

only a reliable witness can do the job.

²⁹Wicked people bluff their way,

but God's people think before they take a step.

³⁰No matter how much you know or what plans you make,

you can't defeat the LORD.

³¹Even if your army has horses ready for battle,

the LORD will always win.

These daily Bible readings from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. BibleCard® images copyright iCreative. All rights reserved.