Daily Bible GNT March 03 Scroll

The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak
(Mark 5.21-43; Luke 8.40-56)

Matthew 9¹⁸While Jesus was saying this, a Jewish official came to him, knelt down before him, and said, "My daughter has just died; but come and place your hands on her, and she will live."

¹⁹So Jesus got up and followed him, and his disciples went along with him.

²⁰A woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹She said to herself, "If only I touch his cloak, I will get well."

²²Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, my daughter! Your faith has made you well." At that very moment the woman became well.

²³Then Jesus went into the official's house. When he saw the musicians for the funeral and the people all stirred up, ²⁴he said, "Get out, everybody! The little girl is not dead--she is only sleeping!" Then they all started making fun of him. ²⁵But as soon as the people had been put out, Jesus went into the girl's room and took hold of her hand, and she got up. ²⁶The news about this spread all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, two blind men started following him. "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" they shouted.

²⁸When Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I can heal you?"

"Yes, sir!" they answered.

²⁹Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Let it happen, then, just as you believe!"-- ³⁰and their sight was restored. Jesus spoke sternly to them, "Don't tell this to anyone!"

³¹But they left and spread the news about Jesus all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Speak

³²As the men were leaving, some people brought to Jesus a man who could not talk because he had a demon. ³³But as soon as the demon was driven out, the man started talking, and everyone was amazed. "We have never seen anything like this in Israel!" they exclaimed.

³⁴But the Pharisees said, "It is the chief of the demons who gives Jesus the power to drive out demons."

Jesus Has Pity for the People

³⁵Jesus went around visiting all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues, preached the Good News about the Kingdom, and healed people with every kind of disease and sickness. ³⁶As he saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷So he said to his disciples, "The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. ³⁸Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest."

Cases Requiring Sin Offerings

Leviticus 5 Sin offerings are required in the following cases.

If you are officially summoned to give evidence in court and do not give information about something you have seen or heard, you must suffer the consequences.

²If you unintentionally touch anything ritually unclean, such as a dead animal, you are unclean and guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

³If you unintentionally touch anything of human origin that is unclean, whatever it may be, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

⁴If you make a careless vow, no matter what it is about, you are guilty as soon as you realize what you have done.

⁵When you are guilty, you must confess the sin, ⁶and as the penalty for your sin you must bring to the LORD a female sheep or goat as an offering. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin.

⁷If you cannot afford a sheep or a goat, you shall bring to the LORD as the payment for your sin two doves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸You shall bring them to the priest, who will first offer the bird for the sin offering. He will break its neck without pulling off its head ⁹and sprinkle some of its blood against the side of the altar. The rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering to take away sin. ¹⁰Then he shall offer the second bird as a burnt offering, according to the regulations. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

¹¹If you cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, you shall bring two pounds of flour as a sin offering. You shall not put any olive oil or any incense on it, because it is a sin offering, not a grain offering. ¹²You shall bring it to the priest, who will take a handful of it as a token that it has all been offered to the LORD, and he will burn it on the altar as a food offering. It is an offering to take away sin. ¹³In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven. The rest of the flour belongs to the priest, just as in the case of a grain offering.

Repayment Offerings

¹⁴The LORD gave the following regulations to Moses. ¹⁵If any of you sin unintentionally by failing to hand over the payments that are sacred to the LORD, you shall bring as your repayment offering to the LORD a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ¹⁶You must make the payments you have failed to hand over and must pay an additional 20 percent. You shall give it to the priest, and the priest shall offer the animal as a sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

¹⁷If any of you sin unintentionally by breaking any of the LORD's commands, you are guilty and must pay the penalty. ¹⁸You must bring to the priest as a repayment offering a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. The priest shall offer the sacrifice for the sin which you committed unintentionally, and you will be forgiven. ¹⁹It is a repayment offering for the sin you committed against the LORD.
Leviticus 6 The LORD gave the following regulations to Moses. ²An offering is to be made if any of you sin against the LORD by refusing to return what another Israelite has left as a deposit or by stealing something from him or by cheating him ³or by lying about something that has been lost and swearing that you did not find it. ^4-5When you sin in any of these ways, you must repay whatever you got by dishonest means. On the day you are found guilty, you must repay the owner in full, plus an additional 20 percent. ⁶You shall bring to the priest as your repayment offering to the LORD a male sheep or goat without any defects. Its value is to be determined according to the official standard. ⁷The priest shall offer the sacrifice for your sin, and you will be forgiven.

Sacrifices Burned Whole

⁸The LORD commanded Moses ⁹to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for burnt offerings. A burnt offering is to be left on the altar all night long, and the fire is to be kept burning. ¹⁰Then the priest, wearing his linen robe and linen shorts, shall remove the greasy ashes left on the altar and put them at the side of the altar. ¹¹Then he shall change his clothes and take the ashes outside the camp to a ritually clean place. ¹²The fire on the altar must be kept burning and never allowed to go out. Every morning the priest shall put firewood on it, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat of the fellowship offering. ¹³The fire must always be kept burning on the altar and never allowed to go out.

Grain Offerings

¹⁴The following are the regulations for grain offerings. An Aaronite priest shall present the grain offering to the LORD in front of the altar. ¹⁵Then he shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and the incense on it, and burn it on the altar as a token that all of it has been offered to the LORD. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the LORD. ^16-17The priests shall eat the rest of it. It shall be made into bread baked without yeast and eaten in a holy place, the courtyard of the Tent of the LORD's presence. The LORD has given it to the priests as their part of the food offerings. It is very holy, like the sin offerings and the repayment offerings. ¹⁸For all time to come any of the male descendants of Aaron may eat it as their continuing share of the food offered to the LORD. Anyone else who touches a food offering will be harmed by the power of its holiness.

¹⁹The LORD gave Moses the following regulations ²⁰for the ordination of an Aaronite priest. On the day he is ordained, he shall present as an offering to the LORD two pounds of flour (the same amount as the daily grain offering), half in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹It is to be mixed with oil and cooked on a griddle and then crumbled and presented as a grain offering, an odor pleasing to the LORD. ²²For all time to come this offering is to be made by every descendant of Aaron who is serving as High Priest. It shall be completely burned as a sacrifice to the LORD. ²³No part of a grain offering that a priest makes may be eaten; all of it must be burned.

Sin Offerings

²⁴The LORD commanded Moses ²⁵to give Aaron and his sons the following regulations for sin offerings. The animal for a sin offering shall be killed on the north side of the altar, where the animals for the burnt offerings are killed. This is a very holy offering. ²⁶The priest who sacrifices the animal shall eat it in a holy place, the courtyard of the Tent of the LORD's presence. ²⁷Anyone or anything that touches the flesh of the animal will be harmed by the power of its holiness. If any article of clothing is spattered with the animal's blood, it must be washed in a holy place. ²⁸Any clay pot in which the meat is boiled must be broken, and if a metal pot is used, it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. ²⁹Any male of the priestly families may eat this offering; it is very holy. ³⁰But if any of the blood is brought into the Tent and used in the ritual to take away sin, the animal must not be eaten; it must be burned.

Proverbs 21 The LORD controls the mind of a king as easily as he directs the course of a stream.

²You may think that everything you do is right, but remember that the LORD judges your motives.

³Do what is right and fair; that pleases the LORD more than bringing him sacrifices.

⁴Wicked people are controlled by their conceit and arrogance, and this is sinful.

⁵Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough.

⁶The riches you get by dishonesty soon disappear, but not before they lead you into the jaws of death.

⁷The wicked are doomed by their own violence; they refuse to do what is right.

⁸Guilty people walk a crooked path; the innocent do what is right.

⁹Better to live on the roof than share the house with a nagging wife.

¹⁰Wicked people are always hungry for evil; they have no mercy on anyone.

¹¹When someone who is conceited gets his punishment, even an unthinking person learns a lesson. One who is wise will learn from what he is taught.

¹²God, the righteous one, knows what goes on in the homes of the wicked, and he will bring the wicked down to ruin.

¹³If you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard.

¹⁴If someone is angry with you, a gift given secretly will calm him down.

¹⁵When justice is done, good people are happy, but evil people are brought to despair.

¹⁶Death is waiting for anyone who wanders away from good sense.

¹⁷Indulging in luxuries, wine, and rich food will never make you wealthy.

¹⁸The wicked bring on themselves the suffering they try to cause good people.

¹⁹Better to live out in the desert than with a nagging, complaining wife.

²⁰Wise people live in wealth and luxury, but stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it.

²¹Be kind and honest and you will live a long life; others will respect you and treat you fairly.

²²A shrewd general can take a city defended by strong men, and destroy the walls they relied on.

²³If you want to stay out of trouble, be careful what you say.

²⁴Show me a conceited person and I will show you someone who is arrogant, proud, and inconsiderate.

²⁵Lazy people who refuse to work are only killing themselves; ²⁶all they do is think about what they would like to have. The righteous, however, can give, and give generously.

²⁷The LORD hates it when wicked people offer him sacrifices, especially if they do it from evil motives.

²⁸The testimony of a liar is not believed, but the word of someone who thinks matters through is accepted.

²⁹Righteous people are sure of themselves; the wicked have to pretend as best they can.

³⁰Human wisdom, brilliance, insight--they are of no help if the LORD is against you.

³¹You can get horses ready for battle, but it is the LORD who gives victory.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.