Daily Bible CEV March 05 Scroll

The One To Fear
(Luke 12.2-7)

Matthew 10 ²⁶Don't be afraid of anyone! Everything that is hidden will be found out, and every secret will be known. ²⁷Whatever I say to you in the dark, you must tell in the light. And you must announce from the housetops whatever I have whispered to you. ²⁸Don't be afraid of people. They can kill you, but they cannot harm your soul. Instead, you should fear God who can destroy both your body and your soul in hell. ²⁹Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. ³⁰Even the hairs on your head are counted. ³¹So don't be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.

Telling Others about Christ
(Luke 12.8, 9)

³²If you tell others that you belong to me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you are my followers. ³³But if you reject me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you don't belong to me.

Not Peace, but Trouble
(Luke 12.51-53; 14.26, 27)

³⁴Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came to bring trouble, not peace. ³⁵I came to turn sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law. ³⁶Your worst enemies will be in your own family.

³⁷If you love your father or mother or even your sons and daughters more than me, you are not fit to be my disciples. ³⁸And unless you are willing to take up your cross and come with me, you are not fit to be my disciples. ³⁹If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will surely find it.

Rewards
(Mark 9.41)

⁴⁰Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me. And anyone who welcomes me also welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Anyone who welcomes a prophet, just because that person is a prophet, will be given the same reward as a prophet. Anyone who welcomes a good person, just because that person is good, will be given the same reward as a good person. ⁴²And anyone who gives one of my most humble followers a cup of cool water, just because that person is my follower, will surely be rewarded.

The First Sacrifices Offered by Aaron and His Sons

Leviticus 9 Eight days later Moses called together Aaron, his sons, and Israel's leaders. ²Then he said to Aaron:

Find a young bull and a ram that have nothing wrong with them. Offer the bull to the LORD as a sacrifice for sin and the ram as a sacrifice to please him.

³Tell the people of Israel that they must offer sacrifices as well. They must offer a goat as a sacrifice for sin, and a bull and a ram as a sacrifice to please the LORD. The bull and the ram must be a year old and have nothing wrong with them. ⁴Then the people must offer a bull and a ram as a sacrifice to ask the LORD's blessing and also a grain sacrifice mixed with oil. Do this, because the LORD will appear to you today.

⁵After the animals and the grain had been brought to the front of the sacred tent, and the people were standing there in the presence of the LORD, ⁶Moses said:

The LORD has ordered you to do this, so that he may appear to you in all of his glory. ⁷Aaron, step up to the altar and offer the sacrifice to please the LORD, then offer the sacrifices for the forgiveness of your sins and for the sins of the people, just as the LORD has commanded.

⁸Aaron stepped up to the altar and killed the bull that was to be the sacrifice for his sins. ⁹His sons brought him the blood. He dipped a finger in it, smeared some on the four corners of the bronze altar, and poured out the rest at its foot. ¹⁰But he sent up in smoke the fat, the kidneys, and the lower part of the liver, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ¹¹Then Aaron burned the skin and the flesh outside the camp.

¹²After Aaron had killed the ram that was sacrificed to please the LORD, Aaron's sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against all four sides of the altar. ¹³They brought him each piece of the animal, including the head, and he burned them all on the altar. ¹⁴He washed the insides and the hind legs and also sent them up in smoke.

¹⁵Next, Aaron sacrificed the goat for the sins of the people, as he had done with the sacrifice for his own sins. ¹⁶And so, he burned this sacrifice on the altar in the proper way. ¹⁷He also presented the grain sacrifice and burned a handful of the flour on the altar as part of the morning sacrifice.

¹⁸At last, he killed the bull and the ram as a sacrifice to ask the LORD's blessing on the people. Aaron's sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against the four sides of the altar. ¹⁹His sons placed all the fat, as well as the kidneys and the lower part of the liver ²⁰on top of the choice ribs. ²¹Then Aaron burned the fat on the altar and lifted up the ribs and the right hind leg to show that these were dedicated to the LORD. This was done just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

²²Aaron held out his hand and gave the people his blessing, before coming down from the bronze altar where he had offered the sacrifices. ²³He and Moses went into the sacred tent, and when they came out, they gave the people their blessing. Then the LORD appeared to the people in all of his glory. ²⁴The LORD sent fiery flames that burned up everything on the altar, and when everyone saw this, they shouted and fell to their knees to worship the LORD.

Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus 10 Nadab and Abihu were two of Aaron's sons, but they disobeyed the LORD by burning incense to him on a fire pan, when they were not supposed to. ²Suddenly the LORD sent fiery flames and burned them to death. ³Then Moses told Aaron that this was exactly what the LORD had meant when he said:

"I demand respect from my priests,

and I will be praised by everyone!"

Aaron was speechless.

⁴Moses sent for Mishael and Elzaphan, the two sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel. Then he told them, "Take these two dead relatives of yours outside the camp far from the entrance to the sacred tent." ⁵So they dragged the dead men away by their clothes.

⁶Then Moses told Aaron and his other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar:

Don't show your sorrow by messing up your hair and tearing your priestly clothes, or the LORD will get angry. He will kill the three of you and punish everyone else. It's all right for your relatives, the people of Israel, to mourn for those he destroyed by fire. ⁷But you are the LORD's chosen priests, and you must not leave the sacred tent, or you will die.

Aaron and his two sons obeyed Moses.

⁸The LORD said to Aaron:

⁹When you or your sons enter the sacred tent, you must never drink beer or wine. If you do, you will die right there! This law will never change. ¹⁰You must learn the difference between what is holy and what isn't holy and between the clean and the unclean. ¹¹You must also teach the people of Israel everything that I commanded Moses to say to them.

¹²Moses told Aaron and his two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar:

The grain sacrifice that was offered to give thanks to the LORD is very holy. So make bread without yeast from the part that wasn't sent up in smoke and eat it beside the altar. ¹³The LORD has said that this belongs to you and your sons, and that it must be eaten in a holy place. ^14-15But the choice ribs and the hind leg that were lifted up may be eaten by your entire family, as long as you do so in an acceptable place. These parts are yours from the sacrifices that the people offer to ask the LORD's blessing. This is what the LORD has commanded, and it will never change.

¹⁶When Moses asked around and learned that the ram for the sin sacrifice had already been burned on the altar, he became angry with Eleazar and Ithamar and said, ¹⁷"Why didn't you eat the meat from this sacrifice in an acceptable place? It is very holy, and the LORD has given you this sacrifice to remove Israel's sin and guilt. ¹⁸Whenever an animal's blood isn't brought into the sacred tent, I commanded you to eat its meat in an acceptable place, but you burned it instead."

¹⁹Their father Aaron replied, "Today two of my sons offered the sacrifice for sin and the sacrifice to please the LORD, and look what has happened to me! Would the LORD have approved if I had eaten the sacrifice for sin?"

²⁰Moses was satisfied with Aaron's reply.

--6--

Proverbs 23 When you are invited to eat with a king,

use your best manners.

²Don't go and stuff yourself!

That would be just the same as cutting your throat.

³Don't be greedy for all of that fancy food!

It may not be so tasty.

--7--

⁴Give up trying so hard to get rich.

⁵Your money flies away before you know it,

just like an eagle suddenly taking off.

--8--

⁶Don't accept an invitation to eat a selfish person's food,

no matter how good it is.

⁷People like that take note of how much you eat.

They say, "Take all you want!" But they don't mean it.

⁸Each bite will come back up,

and all your kind words will be wasted.

--9--

⁹Don't talk to fools-- they will just make fun.

--10--

¹⁰Don't move a boundary marker

or take the land that belongs to orphans.

¹¹God All-Powerful is there to defend them against you.

--11--

¹²Listen to instruction and do your best to learn.

--12--

¹³Don't fail to correct your children.

You won't kill them by being firm,

¹⁴

and it may even save their lives.

--13--

¹⁵My children, if you show good sense, I will be happy,

¹⁶

and if you are truthful, I will really be glad.

--14--

¹⁷Don't be jealous of sinners, but always honor the LORD.

¹⁸

Then you will truly have hope for the future.

--15--

¹⁹Listen to me, my children!

Be wise and have enough sense to follow the right path.

²⁰Don't be a heavy drinker or stuff yourself with food.

²¹It will make you feel drowsy,

and you will end up poor with only rags to wear.

--16--

²²Pay attention to your father,

and don't neglect your mother when she grows old.

²³Invest in truth and wisdom, discipline and good sense,

and don't part with them.

²⁴Make your father truly happy by living right

and showing sound judgment.

²⁵Make your parents proud, especially your mother.

--17--

²⁶My son, pay close attention,

and gladly follow my example.

²⁷Bad women and unfaithful wives are like a deep pit--

²⁸they are waiting to attack you

like a gang of robbers with victim after victim.

--18--

²⁹Who is always in trouble? Who argues and fights?

Who has cuts and bruises? Whose eyes are red?

³⁰Everyone who stays up late, having just one more drink.

³¹Don't even look at that colorful stuff

bubbling up in the glass!

It goes down so easily,

³²

but later it bites like a poisonous snake.

³³You will see weird things,

and your mind will play tricks on you.

³⁴You will feel tossed about

like someone trying to sleep on a ship in a storm.

³⁵You will be bruised all over,

without even remembering how it all happened.

And you will lie awake asking,

"When will morning come, so I can drink some more?"

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.