Daily Bible GNT March 24 Scroll

The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem
(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-40; John 12.12-19)

Matthew 21 As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of the disciples on ahead ²with these instructions: "Go to the village there ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied up with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³And if anyone says anything, tell him, 'The Master needs them'; and then he will let them go at once."

⁴This happened in order to make come true what the prophet had said:

⁵"Tell the city of Zion,

Look, your king is coming to you!

He is humble and rides on a donkey

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

⁶So the disciples went and did what Jesus had told them to do: ⁷they brought the donkey and the colt, threw their cloaks over them, and Jesus got on. ⁸A large crowd of people spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds walking in front of Jesus and those walking behind began to shout, "Praise to David's Son! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise be to God!"

¹⁰When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was thrown into an uproar. "Who is he?" the people asked.

¹¹"This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee," the crowds answered.

Jesus Goes to the Temple
(Mark 11.15-19; Luke 19.45-48; John 2.13-22)

¹²Jesus went into the Temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, ¹³and said to them, "It is written in the Scriptures that God said, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer.' But you are making it a hideout for thieves!"

¹⁴The blind and the crippled came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵The chief priests and the teachers of the Law became angry when they saw the wonderful things he was doing and the children shouting in the Temple, "Praise to David's Son!" ¹⁶So they asked Jesus, "Do you hear what they are saying?"

"Indeed I do," answered Jesus. "Haven't you ever read this scripture? 'You have trained children and babies to offer perfect praise.'"

¹⁷Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
(Mark 11.12-14, 20-24)

¹⁸On his way back to the city early next morning, Jesus was hungry. ¹⁹He saw a fig tree by the side of the road and went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. So he said to the tree, "You will never again bear fruit!" At once the fig tree dried up.

²⁰The disciples saw this and were astounded. "How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?" they asked.

²¹Jesus answered, "I assure you that if you believe and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I have done to this fig tree. And not only this, but you will even be able to say to this hill, 'Get up and throw yourself in the sea,' and it will. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

The Question about Jesus' Authority
(Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8)

²³Jesus came back to the Temple; and as he taught, the chief priests and the elders came to him and asked, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?"

²⁴Jesus answered them, "I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. ²⁵Where did John's right to baptize come from: was it from God or from human beings?"

They started to argue among themselves, "What shall we say? If we answer, 'From God,' he will say to us, 'Why, then, did you not believe John?' ²⁶But if we say, 'From human beings,' we are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that John was a prophet." ²⁷So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."

And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.

Aaron's Walking Stick

Numbers 17 The LORD said to Moses, ²"Tell the people of Israel to give you twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man's name on his stick ³and then write Aaron's name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one stick for each tribal leader. ⁴Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet you. ⁵Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these Israelites against you."

⁶So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe, twelve in all, and Aaron's stick was put with them. ⁷Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the LORD's Covenant Box.

⁸The next day, when Moses went into the Tent, he saw that Aaron's stick, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds! ⁹Moses took all the sticks and showed them to the Israelites. They saw what had happened, and each leader took his own stick back. ¹⁰The LORD said to Moses, "Put Aaron's stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops." ¹¹Moses did as the LORD commanded.

¹²The people of Israel said to Moses, "Then that's the end of us! ¹³If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!"

Duties of Priests and Levites

Numbers 18 The LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood. ²Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent. ³They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death. ⁴They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you. ⁵You and your sons alone must fulfill the responsibilities for the Holy Place and the altar, so that my anger will not again break out against the people of Israel. ⁶I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you. They are dedicated to me, so that they can carry out their duties in the Tent. ⁷But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death."

The Share of the Priests

⁸The LORD said to Aaron, "Remember that I am giving you all the special contributions made to me that are not burned as sacrifices. I am giving them to you and to your descendants as the part assigned to you forever. ⁹Of the most sacred offerings not burned on the altar, the following belong to you: the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings. Everything that is presented to me as a sacred offering belongs to you and your sons. ¹⁰You must eat these things in a holy place, and only males may eat them; consider them holy.

¹¹"In addition, any other special contributions that the Israelites present to me shall be yours. I am giving them to you, your sons, and your daughters for all time to come. Every member of your family who is ritually clean may eat them.

¹²"I am giving you all the best of the first produce which the Israelites give me each year: olive oil, wine, and grain. ¹³It all belongs to you. Every member of your family who is ritually clean may eat it.

¹⁴"Everything in Israel that has been unconditionally dedicated to me belongs to you.

¹⁵"Every first-born child or animal that the Israelites present to me belongs to you. But you must accept payment to buy back every first-born child, and must also accept payment for every first-born animal that is ritually unclean. ¹⁶Children shall be bought back at the age of one month for the fixed price of five pieces of silver, according to the official standard. ¹⁷But the first-born of cows, sheep, and goats are not to be bought back; they belong completely to me and are to be sacrificed. Throw their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an odor pleasing to me. ¹⁸The meat from them belongs to you, like the breast and the right hind leg of the special offering.

¹⁹"I am giving to you, to your sons, and to your daughters, for all time to come, all the special contributions which the Israelites present to me. This is an unbreakable covenant that I have made with you and your descendants."

²⁰The LORD said to Aaron, "You will not receive any property that can be inherited, and no part of the land of Israel will be assigned to you. I, the LORD, am all you need."

The Share of the Levites

²¹The LORD said, "I have given to the Levites every tithe that the people of Israel present to me. This is in payment for their service in taking care of the Tent of my presence. ²²The other Israelites must no longer approach the Tent and in this way bring on themselves the penalty of death. ²³From now on only the Levites will take care of the Tent and bear the full responsibility for it. This is a permanent rule that applies also to your descendants. The Levites shall have no permanent property in Israel, ²⁴because I have given to them as their possession the tithe which the Israelites present to me as a special contribution. That is why I told them that they would have no permanent property in Israel."

The Levites' Tithe

²⁵The LORD commanded Moses ²⁶to say to the Levites: "When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that the LORD gives you as your possession, you must present a tenth of it as a special contribution to the LORD. ²⁷This special contribution will be considered as the equivalent of the offering which the farmer makes of new grain and new wine. ²⁸In this way you also will present the special contribution that belongs to the LORD from all the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. You are to give this special contribution for the LORD to Aaron the priest. ²⁹Give it from the best that you receive. ³⁰When you have presented the best part, you may keep the rest, just as the farmer keeps what is left after he makes his offering. ³¹You and your families may eat the rest anywhere, because it is your wages for your service in the Tent. ³²You will not become guilty when you eat it, as long as you have presented the best of it to the LORD. But be sure not to profane the sacred gifts of the Israelites by eating any of the gifts before the best part is offered; if you do, you will be put to death."

What a Wise Person Does

Ecclesiastes 11 Invest your money in foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit. ²Put your investments in several places--many places even--because you never know what kind of bad luck you are going to have in this world.

³No matter which direction a tree falls, it will lie where it fell. When the clouds are full, it rains. ⁴If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything. ⁵God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman. ⁶Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.

⁷It is good to be able to enjoy the pleasant light of day. ⁸Be grateful for every year you live. No matter how long you live, remember that you will be dead much longer. There is nothing at all to look forward to.

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.