Daily Bible GNT March 29 Scroll

Jesus Condemns Their Hypocrisy
(Mark 12.40; Luke 11.39-42, 44, 52; 20.47)

Matthew 23 ¹³"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter!

¹⁵"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!

¹⁶"How terrible for you, blind guides! You teach, 'If someone swears by the Temple, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.' ¹⁷Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy? ¹⁸You also teach, 'If someone swears by the altar, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound.' ¹⁹How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy? ²⁰So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it; ²¹and when he swears by the Temple, he is swearing by it and by God, who lives there; ²²and when someone swears by heaven, he is swearing by God's throne and by him who sits on it.

²³"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others. ²⁴Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!

²⁵"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too!

²⁷"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.

Jesus Predicts Their Punishment
(Luke 11.47-51)

²⁹"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives; ³⁰and you claim that if you had lived during the time of your ancestors, you would not have done what they did and killed the prophets. ³¹So you actually admit that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets! ³²Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started! ³³You snakes and children of snakes! How do you expect to escape from being condemned to hell? ³⁴And so I tell you that I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers; you will kill some of them, crucify others, and whip others in the synagogues and chase them from town to town. ³⁵As a result, the punishment for the murder of all innocent people will fall on you, from the murder of innocent Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. ³⁶I tell you indeed: the punishment for all these murders will fall on the people of this day!

Jesus' Love for Jerusalem
(Luke 13.34, 35)

³⁷"Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! ³⁸And so your Temple will be abandoned and empty. ³⁹From now on, I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, 'God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Balaam's Third Prophecy

Numbers 23 ²⁷Balak said, "Come with me, and I will take you to another place. Perhaps God will be willing to let you curse them for me from there." ²⁸So he took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor overlooking the desert. ²⁹Balaam said to him, "Build seven altars for me here and bring me seven bulls and seven rams." ³⁰Balak did as he was told, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 24 By now Balaam knew that the LORD wanted him to bless the people of Israel, so he did not go to look for omens, as he had done before. He turned toward the desert ²and saw the people of Israel camped tribe by tribe. The spirit of God took control of him, ³and he uttered this prophecy:

"The message of Balaam son of Beor,

The words of the man who can see clearly,

⁴Who can hear what God is saying.

With staring eyes I see in a trance

A vision from Almighty God.

⁵The tents of Israel are beautiful,

⁶Like long rows of palms

Or gardens beside a river,

Like aloes planted by the LORD

Or cedars beside the water.

⁷They will have abundant rainfall

And plant their seed in well-watered fields.

Their king shall be greater than Agag,

And his rule shall be extended far and wide.

⁸God brought them out of Egypt;

He fights for them like a wild ox.

They devour their enemies,

Crush their bones, smash their arrows.

⁹The nation is like a mighty lion;

When it is sleeping, no one dares wake it.

Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed,

And whoever curses Israel will be cursed."

¹⁰Balak clenched his fists in anger and said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, but three times now you have blessed them instead. ¹¹Now get on home! I promised to reward you, but the LORD has kept you from getting the reward."

¹²Balaam answered, "I told the messengers you sent to me that ¹³even if you gave me all the silver and gold in your palace, I could not disobey the command of the LORD by doing anything of myself. I will say only what the LORD tells me to say."

Balaam's Final Prophecies

¹⁴Balaam said to Balak, "Now I am going back to my own people, but before I go, I am warning you what the people of Israel will do to your people in the future." ¹⁵Then he uttered this prophecy:

"The message of Balaam son of Beor,

The words of the man who can see clearly,

¹⁶Who can hear what God is saying

And receive the knowledge that comes from the Most High.

With staring eyes I see in a trance

A vision from Almighty God.

¹⁷I look into the future,

And I see the nation of Israel.

A king, like a bright star, will arise in that nation.

Like a comet he will come from Israel.

He will strike the leaders of Moab

And beat down all the people of Seth.

¹⁸He will conquer his enemies in Edom

And make their land his property,

While Israel continues victorious.

¹⁹The nation of Israel will trample them down

And wipe out the last survivors."

²⁰Then in his vision Balaam saw the Amalekites and uttered this prophecy: "Amalek was the most powerful nation of all, But at the end it will perish forever."

²¹In his vision he saw the Kenites, and uttered this prophecy:

"The place where you live is secure,

Safe as a nest set high on a cliff,

²²But you Kenites will be destroyed

When Assyria takes you captive."

²³Balaam uttered this prophecy:

"Who are these people gathering in the north?

²⁴Invaders will sail from Cyprus;

They will conquer Assyria and Eber,

But they, in turn, will perish forever."

²⁵Then Balaam got ready and went back home, and Balak went on his way.

The Fourth Song

The Woman Song of Songs 5 ²While I slept, my heart was awake.

I dreamed my lover knocked at the door.

The Man

Let me come in, my darling,

my sweetheart, my dove.

My head is wet with dew,

and my hair is damp from the mist.

The Woman

³I have already undressed;

why should I get dressed again?

I have washed my feet;

why should I get them dirty again?

⁴My lover put his hand to the door,

and I was thrilled that he was near.

⁵

I was ready to let him come in.

My hands were covered with myrrh,

my fingers with liquid myrrh,

as I grasped the handle of the door.

⁶I opened the door for my lover,

but he had already gone.

How I wanted to hear his voice!

I looked for him, but couldn't find him;

I called to him, but heard no answer.

⁷The sentries patrolling the city found me;

they struck me and bruised me;

the guards at the city wall tore off my cape.

⁸Promise me, women of Jerusalem,

that if you find my lover,

you will tell him I am weak from passion.

The Women

⁹Most beautiful of women,

is your lover different from everyone else?

What is there so wonderful about him

that we should give you our promise?

The Woman

¹⁰My lover is handsome and strong;

he is one in ten thousand.

¹¹His face is bronzed and smooth;

his hair is wavy,

black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are as beautiful as doves by a flowing brook,

doves washed in milk and standing by the stream.

¹³His cheeks are as lovely as a garden

that is full of herbs and spices.

His lips are like lilies,

wet with liquid myrrh.

¹⁴His hands are well-formed,

and he wears rings set with gems.

His body is like smooth ivory,

with sapphires set in it.

¹⁵His thighs are columns of alabaster

set in sockets of gold.

He is majestic, like the Lebanon Mountains

with their towering cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is sweet to kiss;

everything about him enchants me.

This is what my lover is like,

women of Jerusalem.

The Women
Song of Songs 6 Most beautiful of women,

where has your lover gone?

Tell us which way your lover went,

so that we can help you find him.

The Woman

²My lover has gone to his garden,

where the balsam trees grow.

He is feeding his flock in the garden

and gathering lilies.

³My lover is mine, and I am his;

he feeds his flock among the lilies.

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.