Daily Bible CEV March 09 Scroll

Jesus and the Ruler of the Demons
(Mark 3.20-30; Luke 11.14-23; 12.10)

Matthew 12 ²²Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. ²³The crowds were so amazed that they asked, "Could Jesus be the Son of David?"

²⁴When the Pharisees heard this, they said, "He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!"

²⁵Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them:

Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. ²⁶So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? ²⁷If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. ²⁸But when I force out demons by the power of God's Spirit, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you. ²⁹How can anyone break into a strong man's house and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.

³⁰If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don't gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. ^31-32I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.

A Tree and Its Fruit
(Luke 6.43-45)

³³A good tree produces only good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. ³⁴You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. ³⁵Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. ³⁶I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.

A Sign from Heaven
(Mark 8.11, 12; Luke 11.29-32)

³⁸Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses said, "Teacher, we want you to show us a sign from heaven."

³⁹But Jesus replied:

You want a sign because you are evil and won't believe! But the only sign you will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰He was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and nights, just as the Son of Man will be deep in the earth for three days and nights. ⁴¹On the day of judgment the people of Nineveh will stand there with you and condemn you. They turned to God when Jonah preached, and yet here is something far greater than Jonah. ⁴²The Queen of the South will also stand there with you and condemn you. She traveled a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom, and yet here is something much greater than Solomon.

Return of an Evil Spirit
(Luke 11.24-26)

⁴³When an evil spirit leaves a person, it travels through the desert, looking for a place to rest. But when the demon doesn't find a place, ⁴⁴it says, "I will go back to the home I left." When it gets there and finds the place empty, clean, and fixed up, ⁴⁵it goes off and finds seven other evil spirits even worse than itself. They all come and make their home there, and the person ends up in worse shape than before. That's how it will be with you evil people of today.

Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Mark 3.31-35; Luke 8.19-21)

⁴⁶While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside because they wanted to talk with him. ⁴⁷Someone told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to talk with you."

⁴⁸Jesus answered, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" ⁴⁹Then he pointed to his disciples and said, "These are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother or sister or mother."

Sexual Uncleanness

Leviticus 15 The LORD told Moses and Aaron ²to say to the community of Israel:

Any man with an infected penis is unclean, ³whether it is stopped up or keeps dripping. ⁴Anything that he rests on or sits on is also unclean, ^5-7and if you touch either these or him, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening.

⁸If you are spit on by the man, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening. ^9-10Any saddle or seat on which the man sits is unclean. And if you touch or carry either of these, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening. ¹¹If the man touches you without first washing his hands, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening. ¹²Any clay pot that he touches must be destroyed, and any wooden bowl that he touches must be washed.

¹³Seven days after the man gets well, he will be considered clean, if he washes his clothes and takes a bath in spring water. ¹⁴On the eighth day he must bring either two doves or two pigeons to the front of my sacred tent and give them to a priest. ¹⁵The priest will offer one of the birds as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me, then I will consider the man completely clean.

¹⁶Any man who has a flow of semen must take a bath, but he still remains unclean until evening. ¹⁷If the semen touches anything made of cloth or leather, these must be washed, but they still remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸After having sex, both the man and the woman must take a bath, but they still remain unclean until evening.

¹⁹When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean for seven days, and if you touch her, you must take a bath, but you remain unclean until evening. ^20-23Anything that she rests on or sits on is also unclean, and if you touch either of these, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening. ²⁴Any man who has sex with her during this time becomes unclean for seven days, and anything he rests on is also unclean.

²⁵Any woman who has a flow of blood outside her regular monthly period is unclean until it stops, just as she is during her monthly period. ²⁶Anything that she rests on or sits on during this time is also unclean, just as it would be during her period. ²⁷If you touch either of these, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening.

²⁸Seven days after the woman gets well, she will be considered clean. ²⁹On the eighth day, she must bring either two doves or two pigeons to the front of my sacred tent and give them to a priest. ³⁰He will offer one of the birds as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me; then I will consider the woman completely clean.

³¹When any of you are unclean, you must stay away from the rest of the community of Israel. Otherwise, my sacred tent will become unclean, and the whole nation will die.

^32-33These are the things you men must do if you become unclean because of an infected penis or if you have a flow of semen. And these are the things you women must do when you become unclean either because of your monthly period or an unusual flow of blood. This is also what you men must do if you have sex with a woman who is unclean.

The Great Day of Forgiveness

Leviticus 16 ^1-2Two of Aaron's sons had already lost their lives for disobeying the LORD, so the LORD told Moses to say to Aaron:

I, the LORD, appear in a cloud over the place of mercy on the sacred chest, which is behind the inside curtain of the sacred tent. And I warn you not to go there except at the proper time. Otherwise, you will die!

³Before entering this most holy place, you must offer a bull as a sacrifice for your sins and a ram as a sacrifice to please me. ⁴You will take a bath and put on the sacred linen clothes, including the underwear, the robe, the sash, and the turban. ⁵Then the community of Israel will bring you a ram and two goats, both of them males. The goats are to be used as sacrifices for sin, and the ram is to be used as a sacrifice to please me.

⁶Aaron, you must offer the bull as a sacrifice of forgiveness for your own sins and for the sins of your family. ⁷Then you will lead the two goats into my presence at the front of the sacred tent, ⁸where I will show you which goat will be sacrificed to me and which one will be sent into the desert to the demon Azazel. ⁹After you offer the first goat as a sacrifice for sin, ¹⁰the other one must be presented to me alive, before you send it into the desert to take away the sins of the people.

¹¹You must offer the bull as a sacrifice to ask forgiveness for your own sins and for the sins of your family. ¹²Then you will take a fire pan of live coals from the bronze altar, together with two handfuls of finely ground incense, into the most holy place. ¹³There you will present them to me by placing the incense on the coals, so that the place of mercy will be covered with a cloud of smoke. Do this, or you will die right there! ¹⁴Next, use a finger to sprinkle some of the blood on the place of mercy, which is on the lid of the sacred chest; then sprinkle blood seven times in front of the chest.

¹⁵Aaron, you must next sacrifice the goat for the sins of the people, and you must sprinkle its blood inside the most holy place, just as you did with the blood of the bull. ¹⁶By doing this, you will take away the sins that make both the most holy place and the people of Israel unclean. Do the same for the sacred tent, which is here among the people. ¹⁷Only you are allowed in the sacred tent from the time you enter until the time you come out. ¹⁸After leaving the tent, you will purify the bronze altar by smearing each of its four corners with some of the blood from the bull and from the goat. ¹⁹Use a finger to sprinkle the altar seven times with the blood, and it will be completely clean from the sins of the people.

²⁰After you have purified the most holy place, the sacred tent, and the bronze altar, you must bring the live goat to the front of the tent. ²¹There you will lay your hands on its head, while confessing every sin the people have committed, and you will appoint someone to lead the goat into the desert, so that it can take away their sins. ²²Finally, this goat that carries the heavy burden of Israel's sins must be released deep in the desert.

^23-24Aaron, after this you must go inside the sacred tent, take a bath, put on your regular priestly clothes, and leave there the clothes you put on before entering the most holy place. Then you will come out and offer sacrifices to please me and sacrifices for your sins and for the sins of the people. ²⁵The fat from these sacrifices for sin must be sent up in smoke on the bronze altar.

²⁶The one who led the goat into the desert and sent it off to the demon Azazel must take a bath and wash his clothes before coming back into camp. ²⁷The remains of the bull and the goat whose blood was taken into the most holy place must be taken outside the camp and burned. ²⁸And whoever does this must take a bath and change clothes before coming back into camp.

The LORD told Moses to say to the people:
²⁹On the tenth day of the seventh month of each year, you must go without eating to show sorrow for your sins, and no one, including foreigners who live among you, is allowed to work. ³⁰This is the day on which the sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins will be made in my presence, ³¹and from now on, it must be celebrated each year. Go without eating and make this a day of complete rest just like the Sabbath. ³²The high priest must offer the sacrifices for cleansing from sin, while wearing the sacred linen clothes. ³³He will offer these sacrifices for the most holy place, the sacred tent, the bronze altar, all the priests, and for the whole community. ³⁴You must celebrate this day each year--it is the Great Day of Forgiveness for all the sins of the people of Israel.
Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded.

Don't Brag about Tomorrow

Proverbs 27 Don't brag about tomorrow!

Each day brings its own surprises.

²Don't brag about yourself-- let others praise you.

³Stones and sand are heavy,

but trouble caused by a fool is a much heavier load.

⁴An angry person is dangerous,

but a jealous person is even worse.

⁵A truly good friend will openly correct you.

⁶You can trust a friend who corrects you,

but kisses from an enemy are nothing but lies.

⁷If you have had enough to eat, honey doesn't taste good,

but if you are really hungry, you will eat anything.

⁸When you are far from home,

you feel like a bird without a nest.

⁹The sweet smell of incense can make you feel good,

but true friendship is better still.

¹⁰Don't desert an old friend of your family

or visit your relatives when you are in trouble.

A friend nearby is better than relatives far away.

¹¹My child, show good sense! Then I will be happy

and able to answer anyone who criticizes me.

¹²Be cautious and hide when you see danger--

don't be stupid and walk right into trouble.

¹³Don't loan money to a stranger

unless you are given something to guarantee payment.

¹⁴A loud greeting early in the morning is the same as a curse.

¹⁵The steady dripping of rain and the nagging of a wife

are one and the same.

¹⁶It's easier to catch the wind or hold olive oil in your hand

than to stop a nagging wife.

¹⁷Just as iron sharpens iron,

friends sharpen the minds of each other.

¹⁸Take care of a tree, and you will eat its fruit;

look after your master, and you will be praised.

¹⁹You see your face in a mirror

and your thoughts in the minds of others.

²⁰Death and the grave are never satisfied,

and neither are we.

²¹Gold and silver are tested in a red-hot furnace,

but we are tested by praise.

²²No matter how hard you beat a fool,

you can't pound out the foolishness.

²³You should take good care of your sheep and goats,

²⁴

because wealth and honor don't last forever.

²⁵After the hay is cut and the new growth appears

and the harvest is over,

²⁶

you can sell lambs and goats to buy clothes and land.

²⁷From the milk of the goats, you can make enough cheese

to feed your family and all your servants.

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.