Daily Bible CEV March 27 Scroll

Life in the Future World
(Mark 12.18-27; Luke 20.27-40)

Matthew 22 ²³The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So that same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus and said:

²⁴Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.

²⁵Once there were seven brothers who lived here. The first one married, but died without having any children. So his wife was left to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brothers and finally to all seven of them. ²⁷At last the woman died. ²⁸When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? She had been married to all seven brothers.

²⁹Jesus answered:

You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. ³⁰When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹And as for people being raised to life, God was speaking to you when he said, ³²"I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living.

³³The crowds were surprised to hear what Jesus was teaching.

The Most Important Commandment
(Mark 12.28-34; Luke 10.25-28)

³⁴After Jesus had made the Sadducees look foolish, the Pharisees heard about it and got together. ³⁵One of them was an expert in the Jewish Law. So he tried to test Jesus by asking, ³⁶"Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?"

³⁷Jesus answered:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. ³⁸This is the first and most important commandment. ³⁹The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, "Love others as much as you love yourself." ⁴⁰All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.

About David's Son
(Mark 12.35-37; Luke 20.41-44)

⁴¹While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them, ⁴²"What do you think about the Messiah? Whose family will he come from?"

They answered, "He will be a son of King David."

⁴³Jesus replied, "How then could the Spirit have David call the Messiah his Lord? David said,

⁴⁴'The Lord said to my Lord:

Sit at my right side

until I make your enemies into a footstool for you.'
⁴⁵If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be a son of King David?" ⁴⁶No one was able to give Jesus an answer, and from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions.

Numbers 22 Israel moved from there to the hills of Moab, where they camped across the Jordan River from the town of Jericho.

King Balak of Moab Hires Balaam To Curse Israel

^2-3When King Balak of Moab and his people heard how many Israelites there were and what they had done to the Amorites, he and the Moabites were terrified and panicked. ⁴They said to the Midianite leaders, "That bunch of Israelites will wipe out everything in sight, like a bull eating grass in a field."

So King Balak ⁵sent a message to Balaam son of Beor who lived among his relatives in the town of Pethor near the Euphrates River. It said:

I need your help. A huge group of people has come here from Egypt and settled near my territory. ⁶They are too powerful for us to defeat, so would you come and place a curse on them? Maybe then we can run them off. I know that anyone you bless will be successful, but anyone you curse will fail.

⁷The leaders of Moab and Midian left and took along money to pay Balaam for his work. When they got to his house, they gave him Balak's message.

⁸"Spend the night here," Balaam replied, "and tomorrow I will tell you the LORD's answer." So the officials stayed at his house.

⁹During the night, God asked Balaam, "Who are these people at your house?"

¹⁰"They are messengers from King Balak of Moab," Balaam answered. "He sent them ¹¹to ask me to go to Moab and place a curse on the people who have come there from Egypt. They have settled everywhere around him, and he wants to run them off."

¹²But God replied, "Don't go with Balak's messengers. I have blessed those people who have come from Egypt, so don't curse them."

¹³The next morning, Balaam said to Balak's officials, "Go on back home. The LORD says I cannot go with you."

¹⁴The officials left and told Balak that Balaam refused to come.

¹⁵Then Balak sent a larger group of officials, who were even more important than the first ones. ¹⁶They went to Balaam and told him that Balak had said, "Balaam, if you come to Moab, ¹⁷I'll pay you very well and do whatever you ask. Just come and place a curse on these people."

¹⁸Balaam answered, "Even if Balak offered me a palace full of silver or gold, I wouldn't do anything to disobey the LORD my God. ¹⁹You are welcome to spend the night here, just as the others did. I will find out if the LORD has something else to say about this."

²⁰That night, God said, "Balaam, I'll let you go to Moab with Balak's messengers, but do only what I say."

²¹So Balaam got up the next morning and saddled his donkey, then left with the Moabite officials.

Balaam and His Donkey Meet an Angel

²²Balaam was riding his donkey to Moab, and two of his servants were with him. But God was angry that Balaam had gone, so one of the LORD's angels stood in the road to stop him. ²³When Balaam's donkey saw the angel standing there with a sword, it walked off the road and into an open field. Balaam had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road.

²⁴Then the angel stood between two vineyards, in a narrow path with a stone wall on each side. ²⁵When the donkey saw the angel, it walked so close to one of the walls that Balaam's foot scraped against the wall. Balaam beat the donkey again.

²⁶The angel moved once more and stood in a spot so narrow that there was no room for the donkey to go around. ²⁷So it just lay down. Balaam lost his temper, then picked up a stick and smacked the donkey.

²⁸When that happened, the LORD told the donkey to speak, and it asked Balaam, "What have I done to you that made you beat me three times?"

²⁹"You made me look stupid!" Balaam answered. "If I had a sword, I'd kill you here and now!"

³⁰"But you're my owner," replied the donkey, "and you've ridden me many times. Have I ever done anything like this before?"

"No," Balaam admitted.

³¹Just then, the LORD let Balaam see the angel standing in the road, holding a sword, and Balaam bowed down.

³²The angel said, "You had no right to treat your donkey like that! I was the one who blocked your way, because I don't think you should go to Moab. ³³If your donkey had not seen me and stopped those three times, I would have killed you and let the donkey live."

³⁴Balaam replied, "I was wrong. I didn't know you were trying to stop me. If you don't think I should go, I'll return home right now."

³⁵"It's all right for you to go," the LORD's angel answered. "But you must say only what I tell you." So Balaam went on with Balak's officials.

King Balak Meets Balaam

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went to meet him at the town of Ir, which is on the northern border of Moab. ³⁷Balak asked, "Why didn't you come when I invited you the first time? Did you think I wasn't going to pay you?"

³⁸"I'm here now," Balaam answered. "But I will say only what God tells me to say."

³⁹They left and went to the town of Kiriath-Huzoth, ⁴⁰where Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep and gave some of the meat to Balaam and the officials who were with him.

Winter Is Past

She Speaks: Song of Songs 2 ⁸I hear the voice of the one I love,

as he comes leaping over mountains and hills

⁹

like a deer or a gazelle.

Now he stands outside our wall,

looking through the window ¹⁰and speaking to me.

He Speaks:
My darling, I love you! Let's go away together.
¹¹Winter is past, the rain has stopped;
¹²flowers cover the earth, it's time to sing.
The cooing of doves is heard in our land.
¹³Fig trees are bearing fruit,
while blossoms on grapevines
fill the air with perfume.
My darling, I love you! Let's go away together.
¹⁴You are my dove hiding among the rocks
on the side of a cliff.
Let me see how lovely you are!
Let me hear the sound of your melodious voice.
¹⁵Our vineyards are in blossom;
we must catch the little foxes
that destroy the vineyards.

She Speaks:
¹⁶My darling, I am yours, and you are mine,
as you feed your sheep among the lilies.
¹⁷Pretend to be a young deer dancing on mountain slopes
until daylight comes and shadows fade away.

Beautiful Dreams

She Speaks:
Song of Songs 3 While in bed at night, I reached for the one I love

with heart and soul.

I looked for him, but he wasn't there.

²So I searched through the town for the one I love.

I looked on every street, but he wasn't there.

³I even asked the guards patrolling the town,

"Have you seen the one I love so much?"

⁴Right after that, I found him. I held him

and would not let go until I had taken him

to the home of my mother.

⁵Young 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.