Daily Bible CEV March 12 Scroll

The Death of John the Baptist
(Mark 6.14-29; Luke 9.7-9)

Matthew 14 About this time Herod the ruler heard the news about Jesus ²and told his officials, "This is John the Baptist! He has come back from death, and that's why he has the power to work these miracles."

^3-4Herod had earlier arrested John and had him chained and put in prison. He did this because John had told him, "It isn't right for you to take Herodias, the wife of your brother Philip." ⁵Herod wanted to kill John. But the people thought John was a prophet, and Herod was afraid of what they might do.

⁶When Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests. She pleased Herod ⁷so much that he swore to give her whatever she wanted. ⁸But the girl's mother told her to say, "Here on a platter I want the head of John the Baptist!"

⁹The king was sorry for what he had said. But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests. So he ordered a guard ¹⁰to go to the prison and cut off John's head. ¹¹It was taken on a platter to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ¹²John's followers took his body and buried it. Then they told Jesus what had happened.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
(Mark 6.30-44; Luke 9.10-17; John 6.1-14)

¹³After Jesus heard about John, he crossed Lake Galilee to go to some place where he could be alone. But the crowds found out and followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd. He felt sorry for them and healed everyone who was sick.

¹⁵That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, "This place is like a desert, and it is already late. Let the crowds leave, so they can go to the villages and buy some food."

¹⁶Jesus replied, "They don't have to leave. Why don't you give them something to eat?"

¹⁷But they said, "We have only five small loaves of bread and two fish." ¹⁸Jesus asked his disciples to bring the food to him, ¹⁹and he told the crowd to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples, and they gave it to the people.

²⁰After everyone had eaten all they wanted, Jesus' disciples picked up twelve large baskets of leftovers.

²¹There were about five thousand men who ate, not counting the women and children.

Penalties for Disobeying God's Laws

Leviticus 20 The LORD told Moses ²to say to the community of Israel:

Death by stoning is the penalty for any citizens or foreigners in the country who sacrifice their children to the god Molech. ³They have disgraced both the place where I am worshiped and my holy name, and so I will turn against them and no longer let them belong to my people. ⁴Some of you may let them get away with human sacrifice, ⁵but not me. If any of you worship Molech, I will turn against you and your entire family, and I will no longer let you belong to my people.

⁶I will be your enemy if you go to someone who claims to speak with the dead, and I will destroy you from among my people. ⁷Dedicate yourselves to me and be holy because I am the LORD your God. ⁸I have chosen you as my people, and I expect you to obey my laws.

⁹If you curse your father or mother, you will be put to death, and it will be your own fault.

¹⁰If any of you men have sex with another man's wife, both you and the woman will be put to death.

¹¹Having sex with one of your father's wives disgraces him. So both you and the woman will be put to death, just as you deserve. ¹²It isn't natural to have sex with your daughter-in-law, and both of you will be put to death, just as you deserve. ¹³It's disgusting for men to have sex with one another, and those who do will be put to death, just as they deserve. ¹⁴It isn't natural for a man to marry both a mother and her daughter, and so all three of them will be burned to death. ^15-16If any of you have sex with an animal, both you and the animal will be put to death, just as you deserve.

¹⁷If you marry one of your sisters, you will be punished, and the two of you will be disgraced by being openly forced out of the community. ¹⁸If you have sex with a woman during her monthly period, both you and the woman will be cut off from the people of Israel. ¹⁹The sisters of your father and mother are your own relatives, and you will be punished for having sex with any of them. ²⁰If you have sex with your uncle's wife, neither you nor she will ever have any children. ²¹And if you marry your sister-in-law, neither of you will ever have any children.

²²Obey my laws and teachings. Or else the land I am giving you will become sick of you and throw you out. ²³The nations I am chasing out did these disgusting things, and I hated them for it, so don't follow their example. ²⁴I am the LORD your God, and I have promised you their land that is rich with milk and honey. I have chosen you to be different from other people. ²⁵That's why you must make a difference between animals and birds that I have said are clean and unclean --this will keep you from becoming disgusting to me. ²⁶I am the LORD, the holy God. You have been chosen to be my people, and so you must be holy too.

²⁷If you claim to receive messages from the dead, you will be put to death by stoning, just as you deserve.

Instructions for Priests

Leviticus 21 The LORD gave Moses these instructions for Aaron's sons, the priests:

Touching a dead body will make you unclean. So don't go near a dead relative, ²except your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, ³or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her. ⁴Don't make yourself unclean by attending the funeral of someone related to you by marriage. ⁵Don't shave any part of your head or trim your beard or cut yourself to show that you are mourning. ⁶I am the LORD your God, and I have chosen you alone to offer sacrifices of food to me on the altar. That's why you must keep yourselves holy. ⁷Don't marry a divorced woman or a woman who has served as a temple prostitute. You are holy, ⁸because I am holy. And so, you must be treated with proper respect, since you offer food sacrifices to me, the God of holiness.

⁹If any of you priests has a daughter who disgraces you by serving as a temple prostitute, she must be burned to death.

¹⁰If you are the high priest, you must not mess up your hair or tear your clothes in order to mourn for the dead. ¹¹Don't make yourself unclean by going near a dead body, not even that of your own father or mother. ¹²If you leave the sacred place to attend a funeral, both you and the sacred place become unclean, because you are the high priest.

¹³If you are the high priest, you must marry only a virgin ¹⁴from your own tribe. Don't marry a divorced woman or any other woman who has already had sex, including a temple prostitute. ¹⁵In this way, your descendants will be qualified to serve me. Remember--I am the LORD, and I have chosen you.

¹⁶The LORD told Moses ^17-18to say to Aaron:

No descendant of yours can ever serve as my priest if he is blind or lame, if his face is disfigured, if one leg is shorter than the other, ¹⁹if either a foot or a hand is crippled, ²⁰if he is a hunchback or a dwarf, if an eye or his skin is diseased, or if his testicles have been damaged. ²¹These men may not serve as my priests and burn sacrifices to me. ²²They may eat the food offerings presented to me, ²³but they may not enter the sacred place or serve me at the altar. Remember--I am the LORD, the one who makes a priest holy.

²⁴Moses told all of this to Aaron, his sons, and the people of Israel.

The Sayings of Agur

Proverbs 30 These are the sayings

and the message of Agur son of Jakeh.

Someone cries out to God,

"I am completely worn out! How can I last?

²I am far too stupid to be considered human.

³I never was wise,

and I don't understand what God is like."

⁴Has anyone gone up to heaven and come back down?

Has anyone grabbed hold of the wind?

Has anyone wrapped up the sea

or marked out boundaries for the earth?

If you know of any who have done such things,

then tell me their names and their children's names.

⁵Everything God says is true--

and it's a shield for all who come to him for safety.

⁶Don't change what God has said!

He will correct you and show that you are a liar.

⁷There are two things, Lord,

I want you to do for me before I die:

⁸Make me absolutely honest

and don't let me be too poor or too rich.

Give me just what I need.

⁹If I have too much to eat, I might forget about you;

if I don't have enough,

I might steal and disgrace your name.

¹⁰Don't tell a slave owner something bad

about one of the slaves.

That slave will curse you, and you will be in trouble.

¹¹Some people curse their father and even their mother;

¹²others think they are perfect,

but they are stained by sin.

¹³Some people are stuck-up and act like snobs;

¹⁴others are so greedy that they gobble down

the poor and homeless.

¹⁵Greed has twins, each named "Give me!"

There are three or four things that are never satisfied:

¹⁶

The world of the dead and a childless wife,

the thirsty earth and a flaming fire.

¹⁷Don't make fun of your father or disobey your mother--

crows will peck out your eyes,

and buzzards will eat the rest of you.

¹⁸There are three or four things I cannot understand:

¹⁹How eagles fly so high or snakes crawl on rocks,

how ships sail the ocean or people fall in love.

²⁰An unfaithful wife says,

"Sleeping with another man is as natural as eating."

²¹There are three or four things

that make the earth tremble and are unbearable:

²²A slave who becomes king, a fool who eats too much,

²³a hateful woman who finds a husband, and a slave

who takes the place of the woman who owns her.

²⁴On this earth four things are small but very wise:

²⁵Ants, who seem to be feeble,

but store up food all summer long;

²⁶badgers, who seem to be weak, but live among the rocks;

²⁷

locusts, who have no king, but march like an army;

²⁸lizards, which can be caught in your hand,

but sneak into palaces.

²⁹Three or four creatures really strut around:

³⁰Those fearless lions who rule the jungle,

³¹

those proud roosters, those mountain goats,

and those rulers who have no enemies.

³²If you are foolishly bragging or planning something evil,

then stop it now!

³³If you churn milk you get butter;

if you pound on your nose, you get blood--

and if you stay angry, you get in trouble.

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.