Daily Bible CEV March 26 Scroll

The Great Banquet
(Luke 14.15-24)

Matthew 22 Once again Jesus used stories to teach the people:

²The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a king gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³The king sent some servants to tell the invited guests to come to the banquet, but the guests refused. ⁴He sent other servants to say to the guests, "The banquet is ready! My cattle and prize calves have all been prepared. Everything is ready. Come to the banquet!"

⁵But the guests did not pay any attention. Some of them left for their farms, and some went to their places of business. ⁶Others grabbed the servants, then beat them up and killed them.

⁷This made the king so furious that he sent an army to kill those murderers and burn down their city. ⁸Then he said to the servants, "It is time for the wedding banquet, and the invited guests don't deserve to come. ⁹Go out to the street corners and tell everyone you meet to come to the banquet." ¹⁰They went out on the streets and brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And the banquet room was filled with guests.

¹¹When the king went in to meet the guests, he found that one of them wasn't wearing the right kind of clothes for the wedding. ¹²The king asked, "Friend, why didn't you wear proper clothes for the wedding?" But the guest had no excuse. ¹³So the king gave orders for that person to be tied hand and foot and to be thrown outside into the dark. That's where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. ¹⁴Many are invited, but only a few are chosen.

Paying Taxes
(Mark 12.13-17; Luke 20.20-26)

¹⁵The Pharisees got together and planned how they could trick Jesus into saying something wrong. ¹⁶They sent some of their followers and some of Herod's followers to say to him, "Teacher, we know that you are honest. You teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. ¹⁷Tell us what you think! Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?"

¹⁸Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said, "Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs! ¹⁹Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes." They brought him a silver coin, ²⁰and he asked, "Whose picture and name are on it?"

²¹"The Emperor's," they answered.

Then Jesus told them, "Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God." ²²His answer surprised them so much that they walked away.

Israel Defeats the Canaanites at Hormah

Numbers 21 The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the Southern Desert of Canaan, and when he heard that the Israelites were on their way to the village of Atharim, he attacked and took some of them hostage.

²The Israelites prayed, "Our LORD, if you will help us defeat these Canaanites, we will completely destroy their towns and everything in them, to show that they belong to you."

³The LORD answered their prayer and helped them wipe out the Canaanite army and completely destroy their towns. That's why one of the towns is named Hormah, which means "Destroyed Place."

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

⁴The Israelites had to go around the territory of Edom, so when they left Mount Hor, they headed south toward the Red Sea. But along the way, the people became so impatient ⁵that they complained against God and said to Moses, "Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There's no water out here, and we can't stand this awful food!"

⁶Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them.

⁷Some of the people went to Moses and admitted, "It was wrong of us to insult you and the LORD. Now please ask him to make these snakes go away."

Moses prayed, ⁸and the LORD answered, "Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and won't die."

⁹Moses obeyed the LORD. And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes.

Israel's Journey to Moab

¹⁰As the Israelites continued their journey to Canaan, they camped at Oboth, ¹¹then at Iye-Abarim in the desert east of Moab, ¹²and then in the Zered Gorge. ¹³After that, they crossed the Arnon River gorge and camped in the Moabite desert bordering Amorite territory. The Arnon was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. ¹⁴A song in The Book of the LORD's Battles mentions the town of Waheb with its creeks in the territory of Suphah. It also mentions the Arnon River, ¹⁵with its valleys that lie alongside the Moabite border and extend to the town of Ar.

¹⁶From the Arnon, the Israelites went to the well near the town of Beer, where the LORD had said to Moses, "Call the people together, and I will give them water to drink."

¹⁷That's also the same well the Israelites sang about in this song:

Let's celebrate! The well has given us water.

¹⁸With their royal scepters, our leaders pointed out

where to dig the well.

The Israelites left the desert and camped near the town of Mattanah, ¹⁹then at Nahaliel, and then at Bamoth. ²⁰Finally, they reached Moabite territory, where they camped near Mount Pisgah in a valley overlooking the desert north of the Dead Sea.

Israel Defeats King Sihon the Amorite
(Deuteronomy 2.26-37)

²¹The Israelites sent this message to King Sihon of the Amorites:

²²Please let us pass through your territory. We promise to stay away from your fields and vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. As long as we're in your land, we won't get off the main road.

²³But Sihon refused to let Israel travel through his land. Instead, he called together his entire army and marched into the desert to attack Israel near the town of Jahaz. ²⁴Israel defeated them and took over the Amorite territory from the Arnon River gorge in the south to the Jabbok River gorge in the north. Beyond the Jabbok was the territory of the Ammonites, who were much stronger than Israel.

²⁵The Israelites settled in the Amorite towns, including the capital city of Heshbon with its surrounding villages. ²⁶King Sihon had ruled from Heshbon, after defeating the Moabites and taking over their land north of the Arnon River gorge. ²⁷That's why the Amorites had written this poem about Heshbon:

Come and rebuild Heshbon, King Sihon's capital city!

²⁸His armies marched out like fiery flames,

burning down the town of Ar

and destroying the hills along the Arnon River.

²⁹You Moabites are done for!

Your god Chemosh deserted your people;

they were captured, taken away

by King Sihon the Amorite.

³⁰We completely defeated Moab.

The towns of Heshbon and Dibon,

of Nophah and Medeba are ruined and gone.

³¹After the Israelites had settled in the Amorite territory, ³²Moses sent some men to explore the town of Jazer. Later, the Israelites captured the villages surrounding it and forced out the Amorites who lived there.

Israel Defeats King Og of Bashan
(Deuteronomy 3.1-11)

³³The Israelites headed toward the region of Bashan, where King Og ruled, and he led his entire army to Edrei to meet Israel in battle.

³⁴The LORD said to Moses, "Don't be afraid of Og. I will help you defeat him and his army, just as you did King Sihon who ruled in Heshbon. Og's territory will be yours."

³⁵So the Israelites wiped out Og, his family, and his entire army--there were no survivors. Then Israel took over the land of Bashan.

Love Is Better than Wine

Song of Songs 1 This is Solomon's most beautiful song.

She Speaks:
²Kiss me tenderly! Your love is better than wine,
³and you smell so sweet.
All the young women adore you;
the very mention of your name
is like spreading perfume.
^*4Hurry, my king! Let's hurry. ⁵Take me to your home.

The Young Women Speak:
We are happy for you! And we praise your love
even more than wine.

She Speaks:
Young women of Jerusalem, it is only right
that you should adore him.
My skin is dark and beautiful, like a tent in the desert
or like Solomon's curtains.
⁶Don't stare at me just because the sun
has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
and so I neglected my complexion.

Don't let the other shepherds think badly of me.
⁷I'm not one of those women
who shamelessly follow after shepherds.
My darling, I love you! Where do you feed your sheep
and let them rest at noon?

He Speaks:
⁸My dearest, if you don't know,
just follow the path of the sheep.
Then feed your young goats
near the shepherds' tents.
⁹You move as gracefully as the pony
that leads the chariot of the king.
¹⁰Earrings add to your beauty,
and you wear a necklace of precious stones.
¹¹Let's make you some jewelry of gold,
woven with silver.

She Speaks:
¹²My king, while you were on your couch,
my love was a magic charm.
¹³My darling, you are perfume between my breasts;
¹⁴you are flower blossoms
from the gardens of En-Gedi.

He Speaks:
¹⁵My darling, you are lovely, so very lovely--
your eyes are those of a dove.

She Speaks:
¹⁶My love, you are handsome, truly handsome--
the fresh green grass will be our wedding bed
¹⁷in the shade of cedar and cypress trees.

Love Makes Everything Beautiful

She Speaks:
Song of Songs 2 I am merely a rose from the land of Sharon,

a lily from the valley.

He Speaks:
²My darling, when compared with other young women,
you are a lily among thorns.

She Speaks:
³And you, my love, are an apple tree
among trees of the forest.
Your shade brought me pleasure;
your fruit was sweet.
⁴You led me to your banquet room
and showered me with love.
⁵Refresh and strengthen me with raisins and apples.
I am hungry for love!
⁶Put your left hand under my head
and embrace me with your right arm.

⁷Young women of Jerusalem,
promise me by the power of deer and gazelles
never to awaken love before it is ready.

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.