Daily Bible CEV March 18 Scroll

Who Is the Greatest?
(Mark 9.33-37; Luke 9.46-48)

Matthew 18 About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ²Jesus called a child over and had the child stand near him. ³Then he said:

I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And when you welcome one of these children because of me, you welcome me.

Temptations To Sin
(Mark 9.42-48; Luke 17.1, 2)

⁶It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the deepest part of the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks! ⁷The world is in for trouble because of the way it causes people to sin. There will always be something to cause people to sin, but anyone who does this will be in for trouble.

⁸If your hand or foot causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! You would be better off to go into life crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out. ⁹If your eye causes you to sin, poke it out and get rid of it. You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.

The Lost Sheep
(Luke 15.3-7)

^10-11Don't be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you that their angels are always with my Father in heaven. ¹²Let me ask you this. What would you do if you had a hundred sheep and one of them wandered off? Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go look for the one that had wandered away? ¹³I am sure that finding it would make you happier than having the ninety-nine that never wandered off. ¹⁴That's how it is with your Father in heaven. He doesn't want any of these little ones to be lost.

When Someone Sins
(Luke 17.3)

¹⁵If one of my followers sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. ¹⁶But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. ¹⁷If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.

People Are Sent Outside the Camp

Numbers 5 The LORD told Moses ^2-3to say to the people of Israel, "Put out of the camp everyone who has leprosy or a bodily discharge or who has touched a dead body. Now that I live among my people, their camp must be kept clean."

⁴The Israelites obeyed the LORD's instructions.

The Penalty for Committing a Crime
(Leviticus 6.1-7)

⁵The LORD told Moses ⁶to say to the community of Israel:

If any of you commit a crime against someone, you have sinned against me. ⁷You must confess your guilt and pay the victim in full for whatever damage has been done, plus a fine of twenty percent. ⁸If the victim has no relative who can accept this money, it belongs to me and will be paid to the priest. In addition to that payment, you must take a ram for the priest to sacrifice so your sin will be forgiven.

^9-10When you make a donation to the sacred tent, that money belongs only to the priest, and each priest will keep what is given to him.

A Suspicious Husband

¹¹The LORD told Moses ^12-14to say to the people of Israel:

Suppose a man becomes jealous and suspects that his wife has been unfaithful, but he has no proof. ¹⁵He must take his wife to the priest, together with two pounds of ground barley as an offering to find out if she is guilty. No olive oil or incense is to be put on that offering.

¹⁶The priest is to have the woman stand at my altar, ¹⁷where he will pour sacred water into a clay jar and stir in some dust from the floor of the sacred tent. ^18-22Next, he will remove her veil, then hand her the barley offering, and say, "If you have been faithful to your husband, this water won't harm you. But if you have been unfaithful, it will bring down the LORD's curse--you will never be able to give birth to a child, and everyone will curse your name."

Then the woman will answer, "If I am guilty, let it happen just as you say."

²³The priest will write these curses on special paper and wash them off into the bitter water, ²⁴so that when the woman drinks this water, the curses will enter her body. ²⁵He will take the barley offering from her and lift it up in dedication to me, the LORD. Then he will place it on my altar ²⁶and burn part of it as a sacrifice. After that, the woman must drink the bitter water.

²⁷If the woman has been unfaithful, the water will immediately make her unable to have children, and she will be a curse among her people. ²⁸But if she is innocent, her body will not be harmed, and she will still be able to have children.

^29-30This is the ceremony that must take place at my altar when a husband suspects that his wife has been unfaithful. The priest must have the woman stand in my presence and carefully follow these instructions. ³¹If the husband is wrong, he will not be punished; but if his wife is guilty, she will be punished.

Rules for Nazirites

Numbers 6 The LORD told Moses ²to say to the people of Israel:

If any of you want to dedicate yourself to me by vowing to become a Nazirite, ³you must no longer drink any wine or beer or use any kind of vinegar. Don't drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins--⁴not even the seeds or skins.

⁵Even the hair of a Nazirite is sacred to me, and as long as you are a Nazirite, you must never cut your hair.

⁶During the time that you are a Nazirite, you must never go close to a dead body, ^7-8not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. That would make you unclean. Your hair is the sign that you are dedicated to me, so remain holy.

⁹If someone suddenly dies near you, your hair is no longer sacred, and you must shave it seven days later during the ceremony to make you clean. ¹⁰Then on the next day, bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the sacred tent. ¹¹He will offer one of the birds as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me. You will then be forgiven for being too near a dead body, and your hair will again become sacred. ¹²But the dead body made you unacceptable, so you must make another vow to become a Nazirite and be dedicated once more. Finally, a year-old ram must be offered as the sacrifice to make things right.

¹³When you have completed your promised time of being a Nazirite, go to the sacred tent ¹⁴and offer three animals that have nothing wrong with them: a year-old ram as a sacrifice to please me, a year-old female lamb as a sacrifice for sin, and a full-grown ram as a sacrifice to ask my blessing. ¹⁵Wine offerings and grain sacrifices must also be brought with these animals. Finally, you are to bring a basket of bread made with your finest flour and olive oil, but without yeast. Also bring some thin wafers brushed with oil.

¹⁶The priest will take these gifts to my altar and offer them, so that I will be pleased and will forgive you. ¹⁷Then he will sacrifice the ram and offer the wine, grain, and bread.

¹⁸After that, you will stand at the entrance to the sacred tent, shave your head, and put the hair in the fire where the priest has offered the sacrifice to ask my blessing.

¹⁹Once the meat from the ram's shoulder has been boiled, the priest will take it, along with one loaf of bread and one wafer brushed with oil, and give them to you. ²⁰You will hand them back to the priest, who will lift them up in dedication to me. Then he can eat the meat from the ram's shoulder, its choice ribs, and its hind leg, because this is his share of the sacrifice. After this, you will no longer be a Nazirite and will be free to drink wine.

²¹These are the requirements for Nazirites. However, if you can afford to offer more, you must do so.

The Blessing for the People

²²The LORD told Moses, ²³"When Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel, they must say:

²⁴I pray that the LORD will bless and protect you,

²⁵

and that he will show you mercy and kindness.

²⁶May the LORD be good to you and give you peace."

²⁷Then the LORD said, "If Aaron and his sons ask me to bless the Israelites, I will give them my blessing."

Be Careful How You Worship

Ecclesiastes 5 Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Some fools go there to offer sacrifices, even though they haven't sinned. But it's best just to listen when you go to worship. ²Don't talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don't talk too much. ³If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.

⁴God doesn't like fools. So don't be slow to keep your promises to God. ⁵It's better not to make a promise at all than to make one and not keep it. ⁶Don't let your mouth get you in trouble! And don't say to the worship leader, "I didn't mean what I said." God can destroy everything you have worked for, so don't say something that makes God angry.

⁷Respect and obey God! Daydreaming leads to a lot of senseless talk.

⁸Don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused, and injustice takes the place of justice. After all, the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do. ⁹And since the king is the highest official, he benefits most from the taxes paid on the land.

¹⁰If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have. This doesn't make sense either. ¹¹The more you have, the more everyone expects from you. Your money won't do you any good--others will just spend it for you. ¹²If you have to work hard for a living, you can rest well at night, even if you don't have much to eat. But if you are rich, you can't even sleep.

¹³I have seen something terribly unfair. People get rich, but it does them no good. ¹⁴Suddenly they lose everything in a bad business deal, then have nothing to leave for their children. ¹⁵They came into this world naked, and when they die, they will be just as naked. They can't take anything with them, and they won't have anything to show for all their work. ¹⁶That's terribly unfair. They leave the world just as they came into it. They gained nothing from running after the wind. ¹⁷Besides all this, they are always gloomy at mealtime, and they are troubled, sick, and bitter.

¹⁸What is the best thing to do in the short life that God has given us? I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard. This is what God intends for us to do. ¹⁹Suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own. Then go ahead and enjoy working hard--this is God's gift to you. ²⁰God will keep you so happy that you won't have time to worry about each day.

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.