Daily Bible GNT March 25 Scroll

The Parable of the Two Sons

Matthew 21 ²⁸"Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the older one and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' ²⁹'I don't want to,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. 'Yes, sir,' he answered, but he did not go. ³¹Which one of the two did what his father wanted?"

"The older one," they answered.

So Jesus said to them, "I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right path to take, and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard
(Mark 12.1-12; Luke 20.9-19)

³³"Listen to another parable," Jesus said. "There was once a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip. ³⁴When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent his slaves to the tenants to receive his share of the harvest. ³⁵The tenants grabbed his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again the man sent other slaves, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷Last of all he sent his son to them. 'Surely they will respect my son,' he said. ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and we will get his property!' ³⁹So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰"Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" Jesus asked.

⁴¹"He will certainly kill those evil men," they answered, "and rent the vineyard out to other tenants, who will give him his share of the harvest at the right time."

⁴²Jesus said to them, "Haven't you ever read what the Scriptures say?

'The stone which the builders rejected as worthless

turned out to be the most important of all.

This was done by the Lord;

what a wonderful sight it is!'

⁴³"And so I tell you," added Jesus, "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits."

⁴⁵The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables and knew that he was talking about them, ⁴⁶so they tried to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.

Ashes of the Red Cow

Numbers 19 The LORD commanded Moses and Aaron ²to give the Israelites the following regulations. Bring to Moses and Aaron a red cow which has no defects and which has never been worked, ³and they will give it to Eleazar the priest. It is to be taken outside the camp and killed in his presence. ⁴Then Eleazar is to take some of its blood and with his finger sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the Tent. ⁵The whole animal, including skin, meat, blood, and intestines, is to be burned in the presence of the priest. ⁶Then he is to take some cedar wood, a sprig of hyssop, and a red cord and throw them into the fire. ⁷After that, he is to wash his clothes and pour water over himself, and then he may enter the camp; but he remains ritually unclean until evening. ⁸The one who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and pour water over himself, but he also remains unclean until evening. ⁹Then someone who is ritually clean is to collect the ashes of the cow and put them in a ritually clean place outside the camp, where they are to be kept for the Israelite community to use in preparing the water for removing ritual uncleanness. This ritual is performed to remove sin. ¹⁰The one who collected the ashes must wash his clothes, but he remains unclean until evening. This regulation is valid for all time to come, both for the Israelites and for the foreigners living among them.

Contact with a Corpse

¹¹Those who touch a corpse are ritually unclean for seven days. ¹²They must purify themselves with the water for purification on the third day and on the seventh day, and then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on both the third and the seventh day, they will not be clean. ¹³Those who touch a corpse and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the LORD's Tent, and they will no longer be considered God's people.

¹⁴In the case of a person who dies in a tent, anyone who is in the tent at the time of death or who enters it becomes ritually unclean for seven days. ¹⁵Every jar and pot in the tent that has no lid on it also becomes unclean. ¹⁶If any touch a person who has been killed or has died a natural death outdoors or if any touch a human bone or a grave, they become unclean for seven days.

¹⁷To remove the uncleanness, some ashes from the red cow which was burned to remove sin shall be taken and put in a pot, and fresh water added. ¹⁸In the first case, someone who is ritually clean is to take a sprig of hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, everything in it, and the people who were there. In the second case, someone who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on those who had touched the human bone or the dead body or the grave. ¹⁹On the third day and on the seventh the person who is ritually clean is to sprinkle the water on the unclean persons. On the seventh day he is to purify those, who, after washing their clothes and pouring water over themselves, become ritually clean at sunset.

²⁰Those who have become ritually unclean and do not purify themselves remain unclean, because the water for purification has not been thrown over them. They defile the LORD's Tent and will no longer be considered God's people. ²¹You are to observe this rule for all time to come. The person who sprinkles the water for purification must also wash his clothes; anyone who touches the water remains ritually unclean until evening. ²²Whatever an unclean person touches is unclean, and anyone else who touches it remains unclean until evening.

Events at Kadesh
(Exodus 17.1-7)

Numbers 20 In the first month the whole community of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin and camped at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

²There was no water where they camped, so the people gathered around Moses and Aaron ³and complained: "It would have been better if we had died in front of the LORD's Tent along with the other Israelites. ⁴Why have you brought us out into this wilderness? Just so that we can die here with our animals? ⁵Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this miserable place where nothing will grow? There's no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates. There is not even any water to drink!" ⁶Moses and Aaron moved away from the people and stood at the entrance of the Tent. They bowed down with their faces to the ground, and the dazzling light of the LORD's presence appeared to them.

⁷The LORD said to Moses, ⁸"Take the stick that is in front of the Covenant Box, and then you and Aaron assemble the whole community. There in front of them all speak to that rock over there, and water will gush out of it. In this way you will bring water out of the rock for the people, for them and their animals to drink." ⁹Moses went and got the stick, as the LORD had commanded.

¹⁰He and Aaron assembled the whole community in front of the rock, and Moses said, "Listen, you rebels! Do we have to get water out of this rock for you?" ¹¹Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.

¹²But the LORD reprimanded Moses and Aaron. He said, "Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them."

¹³This happened at Meribah, where the people of Israel complained against the LORD and where he showed them that he is holy.

The King of Edom Refuses to Let Israel Pass

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. They said, "This message is from your kinsmen, the tribes of Israel. You know the hardships we have suffered, ¹⁵how our ancestors went to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated our ancestors and us, ¹⁶and we cried to the LORD for help. He heard our cry and sent an angel, who led us out of Egypt. Now we are at Kadesh, a town at the border of your territory. ¹⁷Please permit us to pass through your land. We and our cattle will not leave the road or go into your fields or vineyards, and we will not drink from your wells. We will stay on the main road until we are out of your territory."

¹⁸But the Edomites answered, "We refuse to let you pass through our country! If you try, we will march out and attack you."

¹⁹The people of Israel said, "We will stay on the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it--all we want is to pass through."

²⁰The Edomites repeated, "We refuse!" and they marched out with a powerful army to attack the people of Israel. ²¹Because the Edomites would not let the Israelites pass through their territory, the Israelites turned and went another way.

The Death of Aaron

²²The whole community of Israel left Kadesh and arrived at Mount Hor, ²³on the border of Edom. There the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁴"Aaron is not going to enter the land which I promised to give to Israel; he is going to die, because the two of you rebelled against my command at Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor, ²⁶and there remove Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. Aaron is going to die there." ²⁷Moses did what the LORD had commanded. They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community, ²⁸and Moses removed Aaron's priestly robes and put them on Eleazar. There on the top of the mountain Aaron died, and Moses and Eleazar came back down. ²⁹The whole community learned that Aaron had died, and they all mourned for him for thirty days.

Advice to Young People

Ecclesiastes 11 ⁹Young people, enjoy your youth. Be happy while you are still young. Do what you want to do, and follow your heart's desire. But remember that God is going to judge you for whatever you do.

¹⁰Don't let anything worry you or cause you pain. You aren't going to be young very long.
Ecclesiastes 12 So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, "I don't enjoy life." ²That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. ³Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. ⁴Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep. ⁵You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone.

We are going to our final resting place, and then there will be mourning in the streets. ⁶The silver chain will snap, and the golden lamp will fall and break; the rope at the well will break, and the water jar will be shattered. ⁷Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us.

⁸Useless, useless, said the Philosopher. It is all useless.

The Summing Up

⁹But because the Philosopher was wise, he kept on teaching the people what he knew. He studied proverbs and honestly tested their truth. ¹⁰The Philosopher tried to find comforting words, but the words he wrote were honest. ¹¹The sayings of the wise are like the sharp sticks that shepherds use to guide sheep, and collected proverbs are as lasting as firmly driven nails. They have been given by God, the one Shepherd of us all.

¹²My child, there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out.

¹³After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. ¹⁴God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

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.