Daily Bible GNT March 13 Scroll

Jesus Walks on the Water
(Mark 6.45-52; John 6.15-21)

Matthew 14²²Then Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people away. ²³After sending the people away, he went up a hill by himself to pray. When evening came, Jesus was there alone; ²⁴and by this time the boat was far out in the lake, tossed about by the waves, because the wind was blowing against it.

²⁵Between three and six o'clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. ²⁶When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and screamed with fear.

²⁷Jesus spoke to them at once. "Courage!" he said. "It is I. Don't be afraid!"

²⁸Then Peter spoke up. "Lord, if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you."

²⁹"Come!" answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. ³⁰But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. "Save me, Lord!" he cried.

³¹At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, "What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?"

³²They both got into the boat, and the wind died down. ³³Then the disciples in the boat worshiped Jesus. "Truly you are the Son of God!" they exclaimed.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
(Mark 6.53-56)

³⁴They crossed the lake and came to land at Gennesaret, ³⁵where the people recognized Jesus. So they sent for the sick people in all the surrounding country and brought them to Jesus. ³⁶They begged him to let the sick at least touch the edge of his cloak; and all who touched it were made well.

The Holiness of the Offerings

Leviticus 22 The LORD commanded Moses ²to tell Aaron and his sons, "You must not bring disgrace on my holy name, so treat with respect the sacred offerings that the people of Israel dedicate to me. I am the LORD. ³If any of your descendants, while he is ritually unclean, comes near the sacred offerings which the people of Israel have dedicated to me, he can never again serve at the altar. This applies for all time to come. I am the LORD.

⁴"None of the descendants of Aaron who has a dreaded skin disease or a discharge may eat any of the sacred offerings until he is ritually clean. Any priest is unclean if he touches anything which is unclean through contact with a corpse or if he has an emission of semen ⁵or if he has touched an unclean animal or person. ⁶Any priest who becomes unclean remains unclean until evening, and even then he may not eat any of the sacred offerings until he has taken a bath. ⁷After the sun sets he is clean, and then he may eat the sacred offerings, which are his food. ⁸He shall not eat the meat of any animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals; it will make him unclean. I am the LORD.

⁹"All priests shall observe the regulations that I have given. Otherwise, they will become guilty and die, because they have disobeyed the sacred regulations. I am the LORD and I make them holy.

¹⁰"Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of the sacred offerings; no one else may eat them--not even someone staying with a priest or hired by him. ¹¹But a priest's slaves, bought with his own money or born in his home, may eat the food the priest receives. ¹²A priest's daughter who marries someone who is not a priest may not eat any of the sacred offerings. ¹³But a widowed or divorced daughter who has no children and who has returned to live in her father's house as a dependent may eat the food her father receives as a priest. Only a member of a priestly family may eat any of it.

¹⁴"If any people who are not members of a priestly family eat any of the sacred offerings without intending to, they must repay the priest its full value plus an additional 20 percent. ¹⁵The priests shall not profane the sacred offerings ¹⁶by letting any unauthorized people eat them; this would bring guilt and punishment on such people. I am the LORD and I make the offerings holy."

¹⁷The LORD commanded Moses ¹⁸to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. When any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel presents a burnt offering, whether as fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must not have any defects. ¹⁹To be accepted, it must be a male without any defects. ²⁰If you offer any animal that has any defects, the LORD will not accept it. ²¹When anyone presents a fellowship offering to the LORD, whether as fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must be without any defects if it is to be accepted. ²²Do not offer to the LORD any animal that is blind or crippled or mutilated, or that has a running sore or a skin eruption or scabs. Do not offer any such animals on the altar as a food offering. ²³As a freewill offering you may offer an animal that is stunted or not perfectly formed, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow. ²⁴Do not offer to the LORD any animal whose testicles have been crushed, cut, bruised, or torn off. This is not permitted in your land.

²⁵Do not offer as a food offering any animal obtained from a foreigner. Such animals are considered defective and are not acceptable.

^26-27When a calf or a lamb or a kid is born, it must not be taken from its mother for seven days, but after that it is acceptable as a food offering. ²⁸Do not sacrifice a cow and its calf or a sheep and its lamb or a goat and its kid on the same day. ²⁹When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, follow the rules so that you will be accepted; ³⁰eat it the same day and leave none of it until the next morning.

³¹The LORD said, "Obey my commands; I am the LORD. ³²Do not bring disgrace on my holy name; all the people of Israel must acknowledge me to be holy. I am the LORD and I make you holy; ³³and I brought you out of Egypt to become your God. I am the LORD."

The Religious Festivals

Leviticus 23 The LORD gave Moses ²the following regulations for the religious festivals, when the people of Israel are to gather for worship. ³You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the LORD, no matter where you live. ⁴Proclaim the following festivals at the appointed times.

Passover and Unleavened Bread
(Numbers 28.16-25)

⁵The Passover, celebrated to honor the LORD, begins at sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month. ⁶On the fifteenth day the Festival of Unleavened Bread begins, and for seven days you must not eat any bread made with yeast. ⁷On the first of these days you shall gather for worship and do none of your daily work. ⁸Offer your food offerings to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day you shall again gather for worship, but you shall do none of your daily work.

^9-10When you come into the land that the LORD is giving you and you harvest your grain, take the first sheaf to the priest. ¹¹He shall present it as a special offering to the LORD, so that you may be accepted. The priest shall present it the day after the Sabbath. ¹²On the day you present the offering of grain, also sacrifice as a burnt offering a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects. ¹³With it you shall present four pounds of flour mixed with olive oil as a food offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the LORD. You shall also present with it an offering of one quart of wine. ¹⁴Do not eat any of the new grain, whether raw, roasted, or baked into bread, until you have brought this offering to God. This regulation is to be observed by all your descendants for all time to come.

The Harvest Festival
(Numbers 28.26-31)

¹⁵Count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath on which you bring your sheaf of grain to present to the LORD. ¹⁶On the fiftieth day, the day after the seventh Sabbath, present to the LORD another new offering of grain. ¹⁷Each family is to bring two loaves of bread and present them to the LORD as a special gift. Each loaf shall be made of four pounds of flour baked with yeast and shall be presented to the LORD as an offering of the first grain to be harvested. ¹⁸And with the bread the community is to present seven one-year-old lambs, one bull, and two rams, none of which may have any defects. They shall be offered as a burnt offering to the LORD, along with a grain offering and a wine offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the LORD. ¹⁹Also offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering. ²⁰The priest shall present the bread with the two lambs as a special gift to the LORD for the priests. These offerings are holy. ²¹On that day do none of your daily work, but gather for worship. Your descendants are to observe this regulation for all time to come, no matter where they live.

²²When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left; leave them for poor people and foreigners. The LORD is your God.

The New Year Festival
(Numbers 29.1-6)

^23-24On the first day of the seventh month observe a special day of rest, and come together for worship when the trumpets sound. ²⁵Present a food offering to the LORD and do none of your daily work.

The Day of Atonement
(Numbers 29.7-11)

^26-27The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when the annual ritual is to be performed to take away the sins of the people. On that day do not eat anything at all; come together for worship, and present a food offering to the LORD. ²⁸Do no work on that day, because it is the day for performing the ritual to take away sin. ²⁹Any who eat anything on that day will no longer be considered God's people. ³⁰And if any do any work on that day, the LORD himself will put them to death. ³¹This regulation applies to all your descendants, no matter where they live. ³²From sunset on the ninth day of the month to sunset on the tenth observe this day as a special day of rest, during which nothing may be eaten.

The Festival of Shelters
(Numbers 29.12-40)

^33-34The Festival of Shelters begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continues for seven days. ³⁵On the first of these days come together for worship and do none of your daily work. ³⁶Each day for seven days you shall present a food offering. On the eighth day come together again for worship and present a food offering. It is a day for worship, and you shall do no work.

( ³⁷ These are the religious festivals on which you honor the LORD by gathering together for worship and presenting food offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and wine offerings, as required day by day. ³⁸These festivals are in addition to the regular Sabbaths, and these offerings are in addition to your regular gifts, your offerings as fulfillment of vows, and your freewill offerings that you give to the LORD.)

³⁹When you have harvested your fields, celebrate this festival for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The first day shall be a special day of rest. ⁴⁰On that day take some of the best fruit from your trees, take palm branches and limbs from leafy trees, and begin a religious festival to honor the LORD your God. ⁴¹Celebrate it for seven days. This regulation is to be kept by your descendants for all time to come. ⁴²All the people of Israel shall live in shelters for seven days, ⁴³so that your descendants may know that the LORD made the people of Israel live in simple shelters when he led them out of Egypt. He is the LORD your God.

⁴⁴So in this way Moses gave the people of Israel the regulations for observing the religious festivals to honor the LORD.

Advice to a King

Proverbs 31 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him:

²"You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you? ³Don't spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings. ⁴Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. ⁵When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need. ⁶Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. ⁷Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.

⁸"Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless. ⁹Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy."

The Capable Wife

¹⁰How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels!

¹¹Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor.

¹²As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm.

¹³She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth.

¹⁴She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do.

¹⁵She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do.

¹⁶She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She is a hard worker, strong and industrious.

¹⁸She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night.

¹⁹She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth.

²⁰She is generous to the poor and needy.

²¹She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing.

²²She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen.

²³Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens.

²⁴She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants.

²⁵She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future.

²⁶She speaks with a gentle wisdom.

²⁷She is always busy and looks after her family's needs.

²⁸Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her.

²⁹He says, "Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all."

³⁰Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the LORD should be praised.

³¹Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

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.