Daily Bible GNT March 30 Scroll

Jesus Speaks of the Destruction of the Temple
(Mark 13.1, 2; Luke 21.5, 6)

Matthew 24 Jesus left and was going away from the Temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings. ²"Yes," he said, "you may well look at all these. I tell you this: not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down."

Troubles and Persecutions
(Mark 13.3-13; Luke 21.7-19)

³As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private. "Tell us when all this will be," they asked, "and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age."

⁴Jesus answered, "Watch out, and do not let anyone fool you. ⁵Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people. ⁶You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. ⁷Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. ⁸All these things are like the first pains of childbirth.

⁹"Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. ¹⁰Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹Then many false prophets will appear and fool many people. ¹²Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold. ¹³But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all people; and then the end will come.

The Awful Horror
(Mark 13.14-23; Luke 21.20-24)

¹⁵"You will see 'The Awful Horror' of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place." (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) ¹⁶"Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. ¹⁷Someone who is on the roof of a house must not take the time to go down and get any belongings from the house. ¹⁸Someone who is in the field must not go back to get a cloak. ¹⁹How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! ²⁰Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the winter or on a Sabbath! ²¹For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. ²²But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days.

²³"Then, if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!'--do not believe it. ²⁴For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. ²⁵Listen! I have told you this ahead of time.

²⁶"Or, if people should tell you, 'Look, he is out in the desert!'--don't go there; or if they say, 'Look, he is hiding here!'--don't believe it. ²⁷For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.

²⁸"Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man
(Mark 13.24-27; Luke 21.25-28)

²⁹"Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. ³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

The People of Israel at Peor

Numbers 25 When the Israelites were camped at Acacia Valley, the men began to have sexual intercourse with the Moabite women who were there. ²These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god ³Baal of Peor. So the LORD was angry with them ⁴and said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and, in obedience to me, execute them in broad daylight, and then I will no longer be angry with the people." ⁵Moses said to the officials, "Each of you is to kill every man in your tribe who has become a worshiper of Baal of Peor."

⁶One of the Israelites took a Midianite woman into his tent in the sight of Moses and the whole community, while they were mourning at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence. ⁷When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up and left the assembly. He took a spear, ⁸followed the man and the woman into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them. In this way the epidemic that was destroying Israel was stopped, ⁹but it had already killed twenty-four thousand people.

¹⁰The LORD said to Moses, ¹¹"Because of what Phinehas has done, I am no longer angry with the people of Israel. He refused to tolerate the worship of any god but me, and that is why I did not destroy them in my anger. ¹²So tell him that I am making a covenant with him that is valid for all time to come. ¹³He and his descendants are permanently established as priests, because he did not tolerate any rivals to me and brought about forgiveness for the people's sin."

¹⁴The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the head of a family in the tribe of Simeon. ¹⁵The woman's name was Cozbi. Zur, her father, was chief of a group of Midianite clans.

¹⁶The LORD commanded Moses, ¹⁷"Attack the Midianites and destroy them, ¹⁸because of the evil they did to you when they deceived you at Peor, and because of Cozbi, who was killed at the time of the epidemic at Peor."

The Second Census

Numbers 26 After the epidemic the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, ²"Take a census by families of the whole community of Israel, of all men twenty years old or older who are fit for military service." ^3-4Moses and Eleazar obeyed and called together all the men of that age group. They assembled in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.

These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

⁵The tribe of Reuben (Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob): the clans of Hanoch, Pallu, ⁶Hezron, and Carmi. ⁷These clans numbered 43,730 men. ⁸The descendants of Pallu were Eliab ⁹and his sons Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (These are the Dathan and Abiram who were chosen by the community. They defied Moses and Aaron and joined the followers of Korah when they rebelled against the LORD. ¹⁰The ground opened and swallowed them, and they died with Korah and his followers when fire destroyed 250 men; they became a warning to the people. ¹¹But the sons of Korah were not killed.)

¹²The tribe of Simeon: the clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, ¹³Zerah, and Shaul. ¹⁴These clans numbered 22,200 men.

¹⁵The tribe of Gad: the clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, ¹⁶Ozni, Eri, ¹⁷Arod, and Areli. ¹⁸These clans numbered 40,500 men.

^19-21The tribe of Judah: the clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron, and Hamul. (Two of Judah's sons, Er and Onan, had died in the land of Canaan.) ²²These clans numbered 76,500 men.

²³The tribe of Issachar: the clans of Tola, Puah, ²⁴Jashub, and Shimron. ²⁵These clans numbered 64,300 men.

²⁶The tribe of Zebulun: the clans of Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ²⁷These clans numbered 60,500 men.

²⁸The tribes of Joseph, who was the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹The tribe of Manasseh. Machir son of Manasseh was the father of Gilead, and the following clans traced their ancestry to Gilead: ³⁰the clans of Iezer, Helek, ³¹Asriel, Shechem, ³²Shemida, and Hepher. ³³Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ³⁴These clans numbered 52,700 men.

³⁵The tribe of Ephraim: the clans of Shuthelah, Becher, and Tahan. ³⁶The clan of Eran traced its descent from Shuthelah. ³⁷These clans numbered 32,500 men.

These are the clans descended from Joseph.

³⁸The tribe of Benjamin: the clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, ³⁹Shephupham, and Hupham. ⁴⁰The clans of Ard and Naaman traced their descent from Bela. ⁴¹These clans numbered 45,600 men.

⁴²The tribe of Dan: the clan of Shuham, ⁴³which numbered 64,400 men.

⁴⁴The tribe of Asher: the clans of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah. ⁴⁵The clans of Heber and Malchiel traced their descent from Beriah. ⁴⁶Asher had a daughter named Serah. ⁴⁷These clans numbered 53,400 men.

⁴⁸The tribe of Naphtali: the clans of Jahzeel, Guni, ⁴⁹Jezer, and Shillem. ⁵⁰These clans numbered 45,400 men.

⁵¹The total number of the Israelite men was 601,730.

⁵²The LORD said to Moses, ⁵³"Divide the land among the tribes, according to their size. ^54-56Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe."

⁵⁷The tribe of Levi consisted of the clans of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ⁵⁸Their descendants included the subclans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi, and Korah. Kohath was the father of Amram, ⁵⁹who was married to Levi's daughter Jochebed, who was born in Egypt. She bore Amram two sons, Aaron and Moses, and a daughter, Miriam. ⁶⁰Aaron had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ⁶¹Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire to the LORD. ⁶²The male Levites who were one month old or older numbered 23,000. They were listed separately from the rest of the Israelites, because they were not given any property in Israel.

⁶³All these clans were listed by Moses and Eleazar when they took a census of the Israelites in the plains of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. ⁶⁴There was not even one man left among those whom Moses and Aaron had listed in the first census in the Sinai Desert. ⁶⁵The LORD had said that all of them would die in the wilderness, and except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun they all did.

The Daughters of Zelophehad

Numbers 27 Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. ²They went and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence and said, ³"Our father died in the wilderness without leaving any sons. He was not among the followers of Korah, who rebelled against the LORD; he died because of his own sin. ⁴Just because he had no sons, why should our father's name disappear from Israel? Give us property among our father's relatives."

⁵Moses presented their case to the LORD, ⁶and the LORD said to him, ⁷"What the daughters of Zelophehad request is right; give them property among their father's relatives. Let his inheritance pass on to them. ⁸Tell the people of Israel that whenever a man dies without leaving a son, his daughter is to inherit his property. ⁹If he has no daughter, his brothers are to inherit it. ¹⁰If he has no brothers, his father's brothers are to inherit it. ¹¹If he has no brothers or uncles, then his nearest relative is to inherit it and hold it as his own property. The people of Israel are to observe this as a legal requirement, just as I, the LORD, have commanded you."

Joshua Is Chosen as Successor to Moses
(Deuteronomy 31.1-8)

¹²The LORD said to Moses, "Go up the Abarim Mountains and look out over the land that I am giving to the Israelites. ¹³After you have seen it, you will die, as your brother Aaron did, ¹⁴because both of you rebelled against my command in the wilderness of Zin. When the whole community complained against me at Meribah, you refused to acknowledge my holy power before them." (Meribah is the spring at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵Moses prayed, ¹⁶"LORD God, source of all life, appoint, I pray, a man who can lead the people ¹⁷and can command them in battle, so that your community will not be like sheep without a shepherd."

¹⁸The LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a capable man, and place your hands on his head. ¹⁹Have him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the whole community, and there before them all proclaim him as your successor. ²⁰Give him some of your own authority, so that the whole community of Israel will obey him. ²¹He will depend on Eleazar the priest, who will learn my will by using the Urim and Thummim. In this way Eleazar will direct Joshua and the whole community of Israel in all their affairs." ²²Moses did as the LORD had commanded him. He had Joshua stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole community. ²³As the LORD had commanded, Moses put his hands on Joshua's head and proclaimed him as his successor.

The Fifth Song

The Man Song of Songs 6 ⁴My love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem,

as lovely as the city of Tirzah,

as breathtaking as these great cities.

⁵Turn your eyes away from me;

they are holding me captive.

Your hair dances like a flock of goats

bounding down the hills of Gilead.

⁶Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep

that have just been washed.

Not one of them is missing;

they are all perfectly matched.

⁷Your cheeks glow behind your veil.

⁸Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines,

young women without number!

⁹But I love only one,

and she is as lovely as a dove.

She is her mother's only daughter,

her mother's favorite child.

All women look at her and praise her;

queens and concubines sing her praises.

¹⁰Who is this whose glance is like the dawn?

She is beautiful and bright,

as dazzling as the sun or the moon.

¹¹I have come down among the almond trees

to see the young plants in the valley,

to see the new leaves on the vines

and the blossoms on the pomegranate trees.

¹²I am trembling; you have made me as eager for love

as a chariot driver is for battle.

The Women

¹³Dance, dance, girl of Shulam.

Let us watch you as you dance.

The Woman

Why do you want to watch me

as I dance between the rows of onlookers?

The Man
Song of Songs 7 What a magnificent young woman you are!

How beautiful are your feet in sandals.

The curve of your thighs

is like the work of an artist.

²A bowl is there,

that never runs out of spiced wine.

A sheaf of wheat is there,

surrounded by lilies.

³Your breasts are like twin deer,

like two gazelles.

⁴Your neck is like a tower of ivory.

Your eyes are like the pools in the city of Heshbon,

near the gate of that great city.

Your nose is as lovely as the tower of Lebanon

that stands guard at Damascus.

⁵Your head is held high like Mount Carmel.

Your braided hair shines like the finest satin;

its beauty could hold a king captive.

⁶How pretty you are, how beautiful;

how complete the delights of your love.

⁷You are as graceful as a palm tree,

and your breasts are clusters of dates.

⁸I will climb the palm tree

and pick its fruit.

To me your breasts are like bunches of grapes,

your breath like the fragrance of apples,

⁹

and your mouth like the finest wine.

The Woman

Then let the wine flow straight to my lover,

flowing over his lips and teeth.

¹⁰I belong to my lover, and he desires me.

¹¹Come, darling, let's go out to the countryside

and spend the night in the villages.

¹²We will get up early and look at the vines

to see whether they've started to grow,

whether the blossoms are opening

and the pomegranate trees are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

¹³You can smell the scent of mandrakes,

and all the pleasant fruits are near our door.

Darling, I have kept for you

the old delights and the new.

Song of Songs 8 I wish that you were my brother,

that my mother had nursed you at her breast.

Then, if I met you in the street,

I could kiss you and no one would mind.

²I would take you to my mother's house,

where you could teach me love.

I would give you spiced wine,

my pomegranate wine to drink.

³Your left hand is under my head,

and your right hand caresses me.

⁴Promise me, women of Jerusalem,

that you will not interrupt our love.

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.