One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 108
January 28
fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The
Egyptians will not be able to drink any water
from the Nile.’”
19 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron,
‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the
waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds,
and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to
blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will
turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden
bowls and stone pots.’”
20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord
commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his
officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and
struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the
whole river turned to blood! 21 The fish in
the river died, and the water became so foul
that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There
was blood everywhere throughout the land
of Egypt. 22 But again the magicians of Egypt
used their magic, and they, too, turned water
into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard.
He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just
as the Lord had predicted. 23 Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing
out of his mind. 24 Then all the Egyptians dug
along the riverbank to find drinking water, for
they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile.
25 Seven days passed from the time the Lord
struck the Nile.
6:2 Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH
that is sometimes rendered “Jehovah”; in this translation it is
usually rendered “the Lord” (note the use of small capitals).
6:3 El-Shaddai, which means “God Almighty,” is the name for
God used in Gen 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3. 6:12 Hebrew I
have uncircumcised lips; also in 6:30. 7:9 Hebrew tannin, which
elsewhere refers to a sea monster. Greek version translates it
“dragon.”
7:14 Hebrew heavy.
MATTHEW 18:21–19:12
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how
often should I forgive someone* who sins
against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” J
esus replied, “but
seventy times seven!*
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can
be compared to a king who decided to bring
his accounts up to date with servants who had
borrowed money from him. 24 In the process,
one of his debtors was brought in who owed
him millions of dollars.* 25 He couldn’t pay, so
his master ordered that he be sold—along
with his wife, his children, and everything he
owned—to pay the debt.
26 “But the man fell down before his master
and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me,
and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was
filled with pity for him, and he released him
and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went
to a fellow servant who owed him a few
88
thousand dollars.* He grabbed him by the
throat and demanded instant payment.
29 “His fellow servant fell down before him
and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient
with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But
his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could
be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw
this, they were very upset. They went to the
king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he
had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you
pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy
on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on
you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to
prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to
you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and
sisters* from your heart.”
19:1 When Jesus had finished saying these things,
he left Galilee and went down to the region of
Judea east of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds
followed him there, and he healed their sick.
3 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him
with this question: “Should a man be allowed
to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” J
esus
replied. “They record that from the beginning
‘God made them male and female.’*” 5 And he
said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and
the two are united into one.’* 6 Since they are
no longer two but one, let no one split apart
what God has joined together.”
7 “Then why did M
oses say in the law that a
man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?”* they asked.
8
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce
only as a concession to your hard hearts, but
it was not what God had originally intended.
9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife
and marries someone else commits adultery—
unless his wife has been unfaithful.*”
10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is
the case, it is better not to marry!”
11 “Not everyone can accept this statement,”
Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps.
12 Some are born as eunuchs, some have been
made eunuchs by others, and some choose
not to marry* for the sake of the Kingdom of
Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
18:21 Greek my brother.
18:22 Or seventy-seven times.
18:24 Greek 10,000 talents [375 tons or 340 metric tons of silver].
18:28 Greek 100 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s
19:4 Gen 1:27; 5:2.
full day’s wage. 18:35 Greek your brother.
