NLT One Year Bible - Flipbook - Page 62
J A N U A R Y
1 6
Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.
27Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons
arrived. Finding the men slaughtered,
they plundered the town because their
sister had been defiled there. 28They
seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their
hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields. 29 They looted all their
wealth and plundered their houses. They
also took all their little children and
wives and led them away as captives.
30 Afterward Jacob said to Simeon
and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve
made me stink among all the people
of this land—among all the Canaanites
and Perizzites. We are so few that they
will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be
wiped out!”
31“But why should we let him treat
our sister like a prostitute?” they retorted angrily.
32:28 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and
“deceiver.” Israel means “God fights.” 32:31 Hebrew
Penuel, a variant spelling of Peniel. 33:19 Hebrew
100 kesitahs; the value or weight of the kesitah is no longer
known. 33:20 El-Elohe-Israel means “God, the God of
Israel.” 34:7 Hebrew a disgraceful thing in Israel.
MATTHEW 11:7-30
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus
began talking about him to the crowds.
“What kind of man did you go into the
wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed,
swayed by every breath of wind? 8Or
were you expecting to see a man
dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. 9 Were you looking for a prophet?
Yes, and he is more than a prophet.
10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,
‘Look, I am sending my messenger
ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way
before you.’*
11“I tell you the truth, of all who have
ever lived, none is greater than John the
Baptist. Yet even the least person in the
Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!
58
12And from the time John the Baptist be-
gan preaching until now, the Kingdom
of Heaven has been forcefully advancing,* and violent people are attacking it.
13For before John came, all the prophets
and the law of Moses looked forward to
this present time. 14And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the
one the prophets said would come.*
15Anyone with ears to hear should listen
and understand!
16“To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in
the public square. They complain to
their friends,
17
‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t mourn.’
18For
John didn’t spend his time eating
and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man,*
on the other hand, feasts and drinks,
and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and
other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to
be right by its results.”
20Then Jesus began to denounce the
towns where he had done so many of his
miracles, because they hadn’t repented
of their sins and turned to God. 21“What
sorrow awaits yo u, Ko razin and
Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in
you had been done in wicked Tyre and
Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing
themselves in burlap and throwing
ashes on their heads to show their remorse. 22I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will
be better off on judgment day than you.
23 “And you people of Capernaum,
will you be honored in heaven? No, you
will go down to the place of the dead.*
For if the miracles I did for you had
been done in wicked Sodom, it would
still be here today. 24I tell you, even
Sodom will be better off on judgment
day than you.”
25 At that time Jesus prayed this
prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and
