Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 31, 2016

Psalm 81:1Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 81

For the music leader. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.

81 Rejoice out loud to God, our strength!
Shout for joy to Jacob’s God!

Psalm 81:10-16Common English Bible (CEB)

10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from Egypt’s land.
Open your mouth wide—I will fill it up!

11 But my people wouldn’t listen to my voice.
    Israel simply wasn’t agreeable toward me.
12 So I sent them off to follow their willful hearts;
    they followed their own advice.
13 How I wish my people would listen to me!
    How I wish Israel would walk in my ways!
14 Then I would subdue their enemies in a second;
    I would turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would grovel before me,
    and their doom would last forever!
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
    I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 30, 2016

Jeremiah 2:4-13Common English Bible (CEB)

4 Listen to the Lord’s word,
people of Judah,
all you families of the Israelite household.

5 This is what the Lord says:

What wrong did your ancestors find in me
    that made them wander so far?
They pursued what was worthless
    and became worthless.
6 They didn’t ask,
    “Where’s the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
        who led us through the wilderness,
        in a land of deserts and ravines,
        in a land of drought and darkness,
        in a land of no return,
            where no one survives?”
7 I brought you into a land of plenty,
    to enjoy its gifts and goodness,
        but you ruined my land;
        you disgraced my heritage.
8 The priests didn’t ask,
    “Where’s the Lord?”
Those responsible for the Instruction didn’t know me;
    the leaders rebelled against me;
    the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
        going after what has no value.
9 That is why I will take you to court
    and charge even your descendants,
        declares the Lord.
10 Look to the west as far as the shores of Cyprus
    and to the east as far as the land of Kedar.
Ask anyone there:
    Has anything this odd ever taken place?
11     Has a nation switched gods,
        though they aren’t really gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glory
    for what has no value.
12 Be stunned at such a thing, you heavens;
    shudder and quake,
        declares the Lord.
13 My people have committed two crimes:
    They have forsaken me, the spring of living water.
    And they have dug wells, broken wells that can’t hold water.

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Monday, August 29, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 29, 2016

Jeremiah 8:1-11Common English Bible (CEB)

8 At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah and its officers, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be taken from their graves 2 and exposed to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly forces, which they have loved and served and which they have followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won’t be gathered for reburial but will become like refuse lying on the ground. 3 The survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, wherever I have scattered them, declares the Lord of heavenly forces.

Depth of Judah’s wrongdoing

4 Say to them, The Lord proclaims:
When people fall down, don’t they get up?
    When they turn aside, don’t they turn back?
5 Why then does this people, rebellious Jerusalem,
    persistently turn away from me?
They cling to deceit
    and refuse to return.
6 I have listened carefully
    but haven’t heard a word of truth from them.
No one regrets their wrongdoing;
    no one says, “What have I done?”
Everyone turns to their own course,
    like a stallion dashing into the thick of battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows the seasons,
    and the dove, swallow,[a] and crane[b]
        return in due time.
            But my people don’t know the Lord’s ways.
8 How can you say, “We are wise;
    we possess the Lord’s Instruction,”
        when the lying pen of the scribes has surely distorted it?
9 The wise will be shamed and shocked
    when they are caught.
Look, they have rejected the Lord’s word;
    what kind of wisdom is that?
10 Therefore, I will give their wives to others
    and their fields to their captors.
From the least to the greatest,
    all are eager to profit.
From prophet to priest,
    all trade in falsehood.
11 They treat the wound of my people
    as if it were nothing:
“All is well, all is well,” they insist,
    when in fact nothing is well.

Footnotes:

Jeremiah 8:7 Heb uncertain
Jeremiah 8:7 Heb uncertain

1 Corinthians 11Common English Bible (CEB)

11 1 Follow my example, just like I follow Christ’s.

Appropriate dress in worship

2 I praise you because you remember all my instructions, and you hold on to the traditions exactly as I handed them on to you. 3 Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered shames his head.

5 Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head. It is the same thing as having her head shaved. 6 If a woman doesn’t cover her head, then she should have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have short hair or to be shaved, then she should keep her head covered. 7 A man shouldn’t have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is man’s glory. 8 Man didn’t have his origin from woman, but woman from man; 9 and man wasn’t created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man. 10 Because of this a woman should have authority over her head, because of the angels. 11 However, woman isn’t independent from man, and man isn’t independent from woman in the Lord. 12 As woman came from man so also man comes from woman. But everything comes from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it appropriate for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him; 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? This is because her long hair is given to her for a covering. 16 But if someone wants to argue about this, we don’t have such a custom, nor do God’s churches.

The community meal

17 Now I don’t praise you as I give the following instruction because when you meet together, it does more harm than good. 18 First of all, when you meet together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. 19 It’s necessary that there are groups among you, to make it clear who is genuine. 20 So when you get together in one place, it isn’t to eat the Lord’s meal. 21 Each of you goes ahead and eats a private meal. One person goes hungry while another is drunk. 22 Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you look down on God’s churches and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Will I praise you? No, I don’t praise you in this.

23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.

27 This is why those who eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord inappropriately will be guilty of the Lord’s body and blood. 28 Each individual should test himself or herself, and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in that way. 29 Those who eat and drink without correctly understanding the body are eating and drinking their own judgment. 30 Because of this, many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few have died. 31 But if we had judged ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. 32 However, we are disciplined by the Lord when we are judged so that we won’t be judged and condemned along with the whole world.33 For these reasons, my brothers and sisters, when you get together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If some of you are hungry, they should eat at home so that getting together doesn’t lead to judgment. I will give directions about the other things when I come.

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 28, 2016

Matthew 28:16-20Common English Bible (CEB)

Commissioning of the disciples

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and spoke to them, “I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.”

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 27, 2016

Matthew 28:16-20Common English Bible (CEB)

Commissioning of the disciples

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Friday, August 26, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 26, 2016

Luke 13:10-17Common English Bible (CEB)

Healing on a Sabbath

10 Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up straight. 12 When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness.” 13 He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God.

14 The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, “There are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day.”

15 The Lord replied, “Hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink? 16 Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” 17 When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, but all those in the crowd rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing.

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Daily Bible Readings August 25, 2016

Hebrews 12:18-29Common English Bible (CEB)

Priestly service in heavenly Jerusalem

18 You haven’t drawn near to something that can be touched: a burning fire, darkness, shadow, a whirlwind, 19 a blast of a trumpet, and a sound of words that made the ones who heard it beg that there wouldn’t be one more word. 20 They couldn’t stand the command, If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.[a] 21 The sight was so frightening that Moses said, “I’m terrified and shaking!”

22 But you have drawn near to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels in a festival gathering, 23 to the assembly of God’s firstborn children who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better than Abel’s blood.

25 See to it that you don’t resist the one who is speaking. If the people didn’t escape when they refused to listen to the one who warned them on earth, how will we escape if we reject the one who is warning from heaven? 26 His voice shook the earth then, but now he has made a promise: Still once more I will shake not only the earth but heaven also.[b] 27 The words “still once more” reveal the removal of what is shaken—the things that are part of this creation—so that what isn’t shaken will remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s continue to express our gratitude.[c] With this gratitude, let’s serve[d] in a way that is pleasing to God with respect and awe,29 because our God really is a consuming fire.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 12:20 Exod 19:12-13
Hebrews 12:26 Exod 19:18
Hebrews 12:28 Or hold on to grace
Hebrews 12:28 Or offer priestly service

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission