Daily Bible CEV March 25 Scroll

A Story about Two Sons

Matthew 21 ²⁸Jesus said:

I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, "Go work in the vineyard today!" ²⁹His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. ³¹Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

"The older one," the chief priests and leaders answered.

Then Jesus told them:

You can be sure that tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! ³²When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.

Renters of a Vineyard
(Mark 12.1-12; Luke 20.9-19)

³³Jesus told the chief priests and leaders to listen to this story:

A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

³⁴When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. ³⁶He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.

³⁷Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. ³⁸But when they saw the man's son, they said, "Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves." ³⁹So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰Jesus asked, "When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?"

⁴¹The chief priests and leaders answered, "He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time."

⁴²Jesus replied, "You surely know that the Scriptures say,

'The stone that the builders tossed aside

is now the most important stone of all.

This is something the Lord has done,

and it is amazing to us.'
⁴³I tell you that God's kingdom will be taken from you and given to people who will do what he demands. ⁴⁴Anyone who stumbles over this stone will be crushed, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces."

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. ⁴⁶So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to, because the people thought he was a prophet.

The Ceremony To Wash Away Sin

Numbers 19 ^1-2The LORD gave Moses and Aaron the following law:

The people of Israel must bring Moses a reddish-brown cow that has nothing wrong with it and that has never been used for plowing. ³Moses will give it to Eleazar the priest, then it will be led outside the camp and killed while Eleazar watches. ⁴He will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the sacred tent. ⁵Then the whole cow, including its skin, meat, blood, and insides must be burned. ⁶A priest is to throw a stick of cedar wood, a hyssop branch, and a piece of red yarn into the fire.

⁷After the ceremony, the priest is to take a bath and wash his clothes. Only then can he go back into the camp, but he remains unclean and unfit for worship until evening. ⁸The man who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and take a bath, but he is also unclean until evening.

⁹A man who isn't unclean must collect the ashes of the burnt cow and store them outside the camp in a clean place. The people of Israel can mix these ashes with the water used in the ceremony to wash away sin. ¹⁰The man who collects the ashes must wash his clothes, but will remain unclean until evening. This law must always be obeyed by the people of Israel and the foreigners living among them.

What Must Be Done after Touching a Dead Body

The LORD said:

¹¹If you touch a dead body, you will be unclean for seven days. ¹²But if you wash with the water mixed with the cow's ashes on the third day and again on the seventh day, you will be clean and acceptable for worship. You must wash yourself on those days; if you don't, you will remain unclean. ¹³Suppose you touch a dead body, but refuse to be made clean by washing with the water mixed with ashes. You will be guilty of making my sacred tent unclean and will no longer belong to the people of Israel.

¹⁴If someone dies in a tent while you are there, you will be unclean for seven days. And anyone who later enters the tent will also be unclean. ¹⁵Any open jar in the tent is unclean.

¹⁶If you touch the body of someone who was killed or who died of old age, or if you touch a human bone or a grave, you will be unclean for seven days.

^17-18Before you can be made clean, someone who is clean must take some of the ashes from the burnt cow and stir them into a pot of spring water. That same person must dip a hyssop branch in the water and ashes, then sprinkle it on the tent and everything in it, including everyone who was inside. If you have touched a human bone, a grave, or a dead body, you must be sprinkled with that water. ¹⁹If this is done on the third day and on the seventh day, you will be clean. Then after you take a bath and wash your clothes, you can worship that evening.

²⁰If you are unclean and refuse to be made clean by washing with the water mixed with ashes, you will be guilty of making my sacred tent unclean, and you will no longer belong to the people of Israel. ²¹These laws will never change.

The man who sprinkled the water and the ashes on you when you were unclean must also wash his clothes. And whoever touches this water is unclean until evening. ²²When you are unclean, everything you touch becomes unclean, and anyone who touches you will be unclean until evening.

Water from a Rock
(Exodus 17.1-7)

Numbers 20 The people of Israel arrived at the Zin Desert during the first month and set up camp near the town of Kadesh. It was there that Miriam died and was buried.

²The Israelites had no water, so they went to Moses and Aaron ³and complained, "Moses, we'd be better off if we had died along with the others in front of the LORD's sacred tent. ⁴You brought us into this desert, and now we and our livestock are going to die! ⁵Egypt was better than this horrible place. At least there we had grain and figs and grapevines and pomegranates. But now we don't even have any water."

⁶Moses and Aaron went to the entrance to the sacred tent, where they bowed down. The LORD appeared to them in all of his glory ^7-8and said, "Moses, get your walking stick. Then you and Aaron call the people together and command that rock to give you water. That's how you will provide water for the people of Israel and their livestock."

⁹Moses obeyed and took his stick from the sacred tent. ¹⁰After he and Aaron had gathered the people around the rock, he said, "Look, you rebellious people, and you will see water flow from this rock!" ¹¹He raised his stick in the air and struck the rock two times. At once, water gushed from the rock, and the people and their livestock had water to drink.

¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me. And so, you will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised."

¹³The Israelites had complained against the LORD, and he had shown them his holy power by giving them water to drink. So they named the place Meribah, which means "Complaining."

Israel Isn't Allowed To Go through Edom

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Israel's camp near Kadesh with this message for the king of Edom:

We are Israelites, your own relatives, and we're sure you have heard the terrible things that have happened to us. ¹⁵Our ancestors settled in Egypt and lived there a long time. But later the Egyptians were cruel to us, ¹⁶and when we begged our LORD for help, he answered our prayer and brought us out of that land.

Now we are camped at the border of your territory, near the town of Kadesh. ¹⁷Please let us go through your country. We won't go near your fields and vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. We will stay on the main road until we leave your territory.

¹⁸But the Edomite king answered, "No, I won't let you go through our country! And if you try, we will attack you."

¹⁹Moses sent back this message: "We promise to stay on the main road, and if any of us or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. We just want to pass through."

²⁰But the Edomite king insisted, "You can't go through our land!"

Then Edom sent out its strongest troops ²¹to keep Israel from passing through its territory. So the Israelites had to go in another direction.

Aaron Dies

²²After the Israelites had left Kadesh and had gone as far as Mount Hor ²³on the Edomite border, the LORD said, ²⁴"Aaron, this is where you will die. You and Moses disobeyed me at Meribah, and so you will not enter the land I promised the Israelites. ²⁵Moses, go with Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of the mountain. ²⁶Then take Aaron's priestly robe from him and place it on Eleazar. Aaron will die there."

²⁷Moses obeyed, and everyone watched as he and Aaron and Eleazar walked to the top of Mount Hor. ²⁸Moses then took the priestly robe from Aaron and placed it on Eleazar. Aaron died there.

When Moses and Eleazar came down, ²⁹the people knew that Aaron had died, and they mourned his death for thirty days.

Ecclesiastes 11 ⁹Be cheerful and enjoy life while you are young! Do what you want and find pleasure in what you see. But don't forget that God will judge you for everything you do.

¹⁰Rid yourself of all worry and pain, because the wonderful moments of youth quickly disappear.
Ecclesiastes 12 Keep your Creator in mind while you are young! In years to come, you will be burdened down with troubles and say, "I don't enjoy life anymore."

²Someday the light of the sun and the moon and the stars

will all seem dim to you.

Rain clouds will remain over your head.

³Your body will grow feeble, your teeth will decay,

and your eyesight fail.

⁴The noisy grinding of grain

will be shut out by your deaf ears,

but even the song of a bird will keep you awake.

⁵You will be afraid to climb up a hill or walk down a road.

Your hair will turn as white as almond blossoms.

You will feel lifeless and drag along

like an old grasshopper.

We each go to our eternal home, and the streets are filled

with those who mourn.

⁶The silver cord snaps, the golden bowl breaks;

the water pitcher is smashed,

and the pulley at the well is shattered.

⁷So our bodies return to the earth,

and the life-giving breath returns to God.

⁸Nothing makes sense. I have seen it all--

nothing makes sense.

Respect and Obey God

⁹I was a wise teacher with much understanding, and I collected a number of proverbs that I had carefully studied. ¹⁰Then I tried to explain these things in the best and most accurate way.

¹¹Words of wisdom are like the stick a farmer uses to make animals move. These sayings come from God, our only shepherd, and they are like nails that fasten things together. ¹²My child, I warn you to stay away from any teachings except these.

There is no end to books,

and too much study will wear you out.

¹³Everything you were taught can be put into a few words:

Respect and obey God!

This is what life is all about.

¹⁴God will judge everything we do,

even what is done in secret, whether good or bad.

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.