NIV Real-Life Devotional For Women Sampler

real life
niv
Bible
devotional
for women
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NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women

Copyright 2012 by Zondervan
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Table of Contents
Alphabetical Order of the Books of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
About the NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
The Old Testament
Book . . . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviation . . . . . . . . Page
Ge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Lev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Nu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Dt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Jos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Jdg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Ru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
1Sa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
2Sa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
1Ki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
2Ki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
1Ch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
2Ch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Ezr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
Ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
Est . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
Ps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Pr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . Ecc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

Song of Songs . . . . . . . SS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Isa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776
Jeremiah . . . . . . . . . . . . Jer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862
Lamentations . . . . . . . La . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Da . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996
Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hos . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014
Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1028
Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . Ob . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1044
Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jnh . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047
Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051
Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . Hab . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063
Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . Zep . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067
Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hag . . . . . . . . . . . . 1072
Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . Zec . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075
Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088
Genesis . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . .
Numbers . . . . . . . . . . .
Deuteronomy . . . . . . .
Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . .
2Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . .
1Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1Chronicles . . . . . . . .
2Chronicles . . . . . . . .
Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . .
Esther . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . .
The New Testament
Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1Cor int hia ns . . . . . . .
2Cor int hia ns . . . . . . .
Galatians . . . . . . . . . . .
Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . .
Philippians . . . . . . . . .
Colossians . . . . . . . . . .
1Thessalon ians . . . . .
2Thessalon ians . . . . .
Mt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
Mk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143
Lk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172
Jn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1220
Ac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1262
Ro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1305
1Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1330
2Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1353
Gal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1370
Eph . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1379
Php . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1389
Col . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1397
1Th . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1405
2Th . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411

1Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . 1Ti . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1414
2Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . 2Ti . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1421
Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Titus . . . . . . . . . . . 1426
Philemon . . . . . . . . . . . Phm . . . . . . . . . . . . 1430
Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . Heb . . . . . . . . . . . . 1431
James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1448
1Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Pe . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1456
2Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Pe . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1464
1John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Jn . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468
2John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Jn . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1475
3John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Jn . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1476
Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . 1477
Revelation . . . . . . . . . . Rev . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1479
Table of Weights and Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Index of Devotions by Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Topical Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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1507
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Alphabetical Order of the

Books of the Bible
The books of the New Testament are indicated by italics.
Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1262
Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
1 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
1 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
2 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
2 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Lamentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1397
Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
1 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1330
Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1172
2 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1353
Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088
Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996
Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143
Deuteronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051
Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1379
Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
Esther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1044
Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507
1 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1456
Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1370
2 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1464
Genesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Philemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1430
Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063
Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1389
Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1072
Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1431
Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014
Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1479
Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776
Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1305
James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1448
Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Jeremiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862
1 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
2 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1028
Song of Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1220
1 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1405
1 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1468
2 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411
2 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1475
1 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1414
3 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1476
2 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1421
Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047
Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1426
Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075
Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1477
Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067
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Foreword
The dried grape jelly on my always-sticky farm table wont budge no matter how hard I
scrape. Five kids, three dogs, a husband, and a mouse that refuses to leave, will keep a kitchenf loors, countertops, refrigerator, and yes, tablepermanently gooey.
Looking around the room, the morning sun highlights more than the dark purple blob.
I see the drips of orange juice I may or may not have thrown across the room in a less-thanlovely moment two months ago. And the toast crumbs my youngest daughter (who is growing up way too quickly) forgot to wipe up yesterday.
And I think about you and your kitchen.
Does each stain remind you of the joys, frustrations, good times and rough ones that get
woven into life? For me, theyre visuals of imperfect moments needing the grace of a perfect
God. One who is beside me daily, and not only gives me strength to sweep the floor (again),
but gives me strength for the day.
Its because of his grace that Proverbs 31 Ministries Encouragement for Today devotions were birthed. Each woman on our team has stared at her own mess needing a message
of hope from a friend.
From that place of being a friend who understands, our team writes.
Throughout the pages of this Bible we share our moments of trials (such as hurling orange juice ten feet, ahem) that have been redeemed by Gods triumphant grace.
Each of our lives is filled with trials. Perhaps you are walking a road of suffering or discontent. Maybe you are struggling in your role as a wife or a mother, or finding it hard to offer
forgiveness to someone who has hurt you deeply.
The Bible is filled with stories of real people with real problems just like ours. The
names and places and situations may be different, but the emotions attached to their stories
are the same.
No matter where you are in your faith, the NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women
will take you by the hand to encourage and inspire you in your daily walk with God. Through
his words of forgiveness, redemption and grace, you will come to know the God of the universe who loves you and desires a personal relationship with you.
And through our devotions, you will connect with real women. Through tears and
laughter, toast crumbs and spilled juice, we can move through our brokenness and closer to
the heart of God and each other.
We sure would love to come into your home, have a cup of coffee and process life together through the truths of Gods Word.
Oh, and please dont worry about wiping up the jelly ... we understand sticky tables.
Lysa TerKeurst
President, Proverbs 31 Ministries
September 2012
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About the NIV Real-Life
Devotional Bible
for Women
Lysa TerKeurst and a team of writers from Proverbs 31 Ministries have written 366 devotions
to help you, the busy, active woman, find practical and spiritual insight from Gods Word.
And the editors at Zondervan have designed this Bible to offer an easy and convenient way
to do just that.
The NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women is arranged in 366 readings that follow a
daily format. Turn to page 2 to find your first reading, Day 1. Each reading has a go to line
at the bottom so that you can quickly and easily find the
next reading. That doesnt mean, however, that skipping a day will leave you behind. The readings are not
day 1
dated, which means Day 50, or Day 100, or Day 300 can
slow it down
be read whenever you can get to it.
Youll find each of these devotional articles located near the Scripture verse or passage on which they
are based. To get the most from Gods Word, read a longer passage each day alongside your daily devotional.
Doing so will enrich your understanding of the devotion, offer context and background to the passage, and
give you even deeper insight into Gods Word.
Another way to use your NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women is to find a topic of interest to
you. A Topical Index is located on page 1515. Or, if
you want to follow the journey of a particular author,
weve provided an Index of Devotions by Author on
page 1507. However you choose to use your NIV RealLife Devotional Bible for Women, youll find a wealth
of wisdom and wit on a variety of topics of special interest to you, the woman who wants to follow your Lord faithfully and live your life with
wisdom, clarity and authenticity.
More important than any of the special features of this Bible is the text itself, the New
International Versiont he worlds most popular modern-English Bible. We offer this NIV
Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women to you with the hope and prayer that the power of
Gods Word will penetrate your heart and transform your life.
by T. Suzanne eller
Everyone knows morning comes first, and then evening. Right? So

I was surprised to read in Genesis 1:5 that the order was, in fact,
reversed: And there was evening, and there was morning. God
started with evening, a time of rest, and a day followed, in which he
continued to create.
and there was
We live in a culture where we work all day, and then eventually
evening, and there we might take time to rest. To order our days the way God does
was morning the with rest as a priority is a challenge.
I learned to prioritize Gods way when, at age 32, I was diagnosed
first day.
with cancer. I told the doctor I didnt have time for cancer, but canGenesis 1:5
cer didnt consult my schedule.
My life changed while going through treatment as I put aside
activities that previously had seemed vital. Out of that difficult time
came a new list of priorities. At the top of the list: to balance my life.
I learned to climb between the sheets and put aside my worries to rest my body and mind. To slow down when life became
crazy and assess what is important. I began to see evening as the
first part of my day.
This concept changed my life, physically and spiritually. Recently I had two speaking events sandwiched together. As the dates
approached, time with my heavenly Father became evening. In
preparation for my events, I listened to the heart of my Father instead of going over my notes. Out of that rest sprang fruitful ministry during the day.
Learning to live with evening, or rest, as a top priority is an ongoing process. Many times I ask God to help me reprioritize, make
time for physical rest and put evening back where it belongs.
god called the
light day, and
the darkness he
called night.
More Verses
to explore:
Exodus 20:11
Psalm 91:1
Mark 6:30 31
Turn To page 5 for your nexT devoTion.
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Preface
The goal of the New International Version (NIV) is to enable English-speaking people from
around the world to read and hear Gods eternal Word in their own language. Our work as
translators is motivated by our conviction that the Bible is Gods Word in written form. We
believe that the Bible contains the divine answer to the deepest needs of humanity, sheds
unique light on our path in a dark world and sets forth the way to our eternal well-being. Out
of these deep convictions, we have sought to recreate as far as possible the experience of the
original audienceblending transparency to the original text with accessibility for the millions of English speakers around the world. We have prioritized accuracy, clarity and literary
quality with the goal of creating a translation suitable for public and private reading, evangelism, teaching, preaching, memorizing and liturgical use. We have also sought to preserve
a measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English.
The complete NIV Bible was first published in 1978. It was a completely new translation
made by over a hundred scholars working directly from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic
and Greek texts. The translators came from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, giving the translation an international scope. They were from many
denominations and churchesi ncluding Anglican, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Brethren,
Christ ian Reformed, Church of Christ, Evangelical Covenant, Evangelical Free, Lutheran,
Mennonite, Methodist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, Wesleyan and others. This breadth of denominational and theological perspective helped to safeguard the translation from sectarian bias. For these reasons, and by the grace of God, the NIV has gained a wide readership in
all parts of the English-speaking world.
The work of translating the Bible is never finished. As good as they are, English translations must be regularly updated so that they will continue to communicate accurately the
meaning of Gods Word. Updates are needed in order to reflect the latest developments in
our understanding of the biblical world and its languages and to keep pace with changes
in English usage. Recognizing, then, that the NIV would retain its ability to communicate
Gods Word accurately only if it were regularly updated, the original translators established
The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). The committee is a self-perpetuating group
of biblical scholars charged with keeping abreast of advances in biblical scholarship and
changes in English and issuing periodic updates to the NIV. CBT is an independent, selfgoverning body and has sole responsibility for the NIV text. The committee mirrors the
original group of translators in its diverse international and denominational makeup and in
its unifying commitment to the Bible as Gods inspired Word.
In obedience to its mandate, the committee has issued periodic updates to the NIV.
An initial revision was released in 1984. A more thorough revision process was completed
in 2005, resulting in the separately published Todays New International Version (TNIV).
The updated NIV you now have in your hands builds on both the original NIV and the TNIV
and represents the latest effort of the committee to articulate Gods unchanging Word in the
way the original authors might have said it had they been speaking in English to the global
English-speaking audience today.
The first concern of the translators has continued to be the accuracy of the translation and its faithfulness to the intended meaning of the biblical writers. This has moved
the translators to go beyond a formal word-for-word rendering of the original texts. Because
thought patterns and syntax differ from language to language, accurate communication of
the meaning of the biblical authors demands constant regard for varied contextual uses of
words and idioms and for frequent modifications in sentence structures.
9/21/12 1:33 PM
xii
preface
As an aid to the reader, sectional headings have been inserted. They are not to be regarded as part of the biblical text and are not intended for oral reading. It is the committees
hope that these headings may prove more helpful to the reader than the traditional chapter
divisions, which were introduced long after the Bible was written.
For the Old Testament the standard Hebrew text, the Masoretic Text as published in
the latest edition of Biblia Hebraica, has been used throughout. The Masoretic Text tradition
contains marginal notations that offer variant readings. These have sometimes been followed instead of the text itself. Because such instances involve variants within the Masoretic
tradition, they have not been indicated in the textual notes. In a few cases, words in the basic
consonantal text have been divided differently than in the Masoretic Text. Such cases are
usually indicated in the textual footnotes. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain biblical texts that
represent an earlier stage of the transmission of the Hebrew text. They have been consulted,
as have been the Samaritan Pentateuch and the ancient scribal traditions concerning deliberate textual changes. The translators also consulted the more important early versions
the Greek Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac
Peshitta, the Aramaic Targums and, for the Psalms, the Juxta Hebraica of Jerome. Readings
from these versions, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the scribal traditions were occasionally followed where the Masoretic Text seemed doubtful and where accepted principles of textual
criticism showed that one or more of these textual witnesses appeared to provide the correct
reading. In rare cases, the committee has emended the Hebrew text where it appears to have
become corrupted at an even earlier stage of its transmission. These departures from the
Masoretic Text are also indicated in the textual footnotes. Sometimes the vowel indicators
(which are later additions to the basic consonantal text) found in the Masoretic Text did not,
in the judgment of the committee, represent the correct vowels for the original text. Accordingly, some words have been read with a different set of vowels. These instances are usually
not indicated in the footnotes.
The Greek text used in translating the New Testament is an eclectic one, based on the
latest editions of the Nestle-Aland/United Bible Societies Greek New Testament. The committee has made its choices among the variant readings in accordance with widely accepted
principles of New Testament textual criticism. Footnotes call attention to places where uncertainty remains.
The New Testament authors, writing in Greek, often quote the Old Testament from its
ancient Greek version, the Septuagint. This is one reason why some of the Old Testament
quotations in the NIV New Testament are not identical to the corresponding passages in the
NIV Old Testament. Such quotations in the New Testament are indicated with the footnote
(see Septuagint).
Other footnotes in this version are of several kinds, most of which need no explanation.
Those giving alternative translations begin with Or and generally introduce the alternative with the last word preceding it in the text, except when it is a single-word alternative.
When poetry is quoted in a footnote, a slash mark indicates a line division.
It should be noted that references to diseases, minerals, flora and fauna, architectural
details, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments and other articles cannot always be identified with precision. Also, linear measurements and measures of capacity can only be approximated (see the Table of Weights and Measures). Although Selah, used mainly in the
Psalms, is probably a musical term, its meaning is uncertain. Since it may interrupt reading
and distract the reader, this word has not been kept in the English text, but every occurrence
has been signaled by a footnote.
One of the main reasons the task of Bible translation is never finished is the change in
our own language, English. Although a basic core of the language remains relatively stable,
many diverse and complex linguistic factors continue to bring about subtle shifts in the
meanings and/or connotations of even old, well-established words and phrases. One of the
9/21/12 1:33 PM
Preface
xiii
shifts that creates particular challenges to writers and translators alike is the manner in
which gender is presented. The original NIV (1978) was published in a time when a man
would naturally be understood, in many contexts, to be referring to a person, whether male
or female. But most English speakers today tend to hear a distinctly male connotation in this
word. In recognition of this change in English, this edition of the NIV, along with almost
all other recent English translations, substitutes other expressions when the original text
intends to refer generically to men and women equally. Thus, for instance, the NIV (1984)
rendering of 1Cor int hia ns 8:3, But the man who loves God is known by God becomes in
this edition But whoever loves God is known by God. On the other hand, man and mankind, as ways of denoting the human race, are still widely used. This edition of the NIV
therefore continues to use these words, along with other expressions, in this way.
A related shift in English creates a greater challenge for modern translations: the move
away from using the third-person masculine singular pronounshe/him/histo refer
to men and women equally. This usage does persist at a low level in some forms of English,
and this revision therefore occasionally uses these pronouns in a generic sense. But the tendency, recognized in day-to-day usage and confirmed by extensive research, is away from
the generic use of he, him and his. In recognition of this shift in language and in an
effort to translate into the common English that people are actually using, this revision
of the NIV generally uses other constructions when the biblical text is plainly addressed to
men and women equally. The reader will frequently encounter a they, them or their
to express a generic singular idea. Thus, for instance, Mark 8:36 reads: What good is it for
someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? This generic use of the indefinite
or singular they/them/their has a venerable place in English idiom and has quickly become established as standard English, spoken and written, all over the world. Where an individual emphasis is deemed to be present, anyone or everyone or some other equivalent
is generally used as the antecedent of such pronouns.
Sometimes the chapter and/or verse numbering in English translations of the Old Testament differs from that found in published Hebrew texts. This is particularly the case in the
Psalms, where the traditional titles are often included in the Hebrew verse numbering. Such
differences are indicated in the footnotes at the bottom of the page. In the New Testament,
verse numbers that marked off portions of the traditional English text not supported by the
best Greek manuscripts now appear in brackets, with a footnote indicating the text that has
been omitted (see, for example, Matthew 17:[21]).
Mark 16:920 and John 7:538:11, although long accorded virtually equal status with
the rest of the Gospels in which they stand, have a very questionablea nd confused
standing in the textual history of the New Testament, as noted in the bracketed annotations
with which they are set off. A different typeface has been chosen for these passages to indicate even more clearly their uncertain status.
Basic formatting of the text, such as lining the poetry, paragraphing (both prose and
poetry), setting up of (administrative-like) lists, indenting letters and lengthy prayers within narratives and the insertion of sectional headings, has been the work of the committee.
However, the choice between single-column and double-column formats has been left to
the publishers. Also the issuing of red-letter editions is a publishers choiceone the committee does not endorse.
The committee has again been reminded that every human effort is flawedincluding
this revision of the NIV. We trust, however, that many will find in it an improved representation of the Word of God, through which they hear his call to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ
and to serv ice in his kingdom. We offer this version of the Bible to him in whose name and
for whose glory it has been made.
The Committee on Bible Translation
September 2010
9/21/12 1:33 PM
Matthew
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
genea log y a
This is the
of Jesus the Mes
sia h b the son of Dav id, the son of Abra
ham:
2 Abraham was the fat her of Isaac,
Isaac the fat her of Jacob,
Jac ob the father of Jud ah and his
brothers,
3 Judah the fat her of Perez and Zerah,

whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the fat her of Hezron,
Hezron the fat her of Ram,
4 Ram the fat her of Amm inadab,

Amm inadab the fat her of Nahshon,
Nahshon the fat her of Salmon,
5 Sal
mon the father of Boaz, w hose

mother was Rahab,
Boaz the fa
t her of Obed,
w hose
mother was Ruth,
Obed the fat her of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the fat her of King Dav id.

Dav id was the fat her of Solomon, whose
mother had been Uria hs wife,
7 Solomon the fat her of Rehoboa m,

Rehoboa m the fat her of Abijah,
Abijah the fat her of Asa,
8 Asa the fat her of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the fat her of Jehoram,
Jehoram the fat her of Uzzia h,
9 Uzz ia h the fat her of Jot ham,

Jot ham the fat her of Ahaz,
Ahaz the fat her of Hezek ia h,
10 Hezek ia h the fat her of Manasseh,

Manasseh the fat her of Amon,
Amon the fat her of Josia h,
11 and Jos ia h the fat her of Jecon ia h c

and his brothers at the time of the
exi le to Babylon.
12 After the exi le to Babylon:
Jecon ia h was the fat her of Shea lt iel,
Shea lt iel the fat her of Zer ubbabel,
13 Zer ubbabel the fat her of Abihud,

Abihud the fat her of Elia k im,
Elia k im the fat her of Azor,
14 Azor the fat her of Zadok,

Zadok the fat her of Akim,
Akim the fat her of Elihud,
15 Elihud the fat her of Elea z ar,

Elea zar the fat her of Matt han,
Matt han the fat her of Jacob,
16 and Jac ob the fat her of Jos eph, the

husband of Mary, and Mary was
the mother of Jesus who is called
the Messia h.
17Thus t here were four t een generat ions
in all from Abraham to Dav id, fourteen from
Dav id to the exi le to Babylon, and fourteen
from the exi le to the Messia h.
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18This is how the b
irth of J esus the Messia h
came about d: His mother Mary was pledged

to be married to Joseph, but before they
came together, she was f ound to be pregnant
through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph
her husband was faithf ul to the law, and yete
did not want to expose her to public disg race,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an an
gel of the Lord appeared to him in a d
ream
and said, Joseph son of Dav id, do not be
a fraid to take Mary home as your wife, be
cause what is conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit. 21She will give b
irth to a son, and
you are to give him the name J esus,f because
he will save his people from t heir sins.
22All this took p
lace to fulfill what the
Lord had said t hrough the prophet: 23The
virg in will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuelg (which
means God withus).
24When Joseph woke up, he did what the
a1Oris an account of the origin b1OrJesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean
Anointed One; also in verse 18. c11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse12 d18OrThe origin of Jesus
the Messiah was like this e19Orwas a righteous man and f21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua,
which means the Lord saves. g23Isaiah7:14
0310439361_int_05_matt_acts_niv_real_life_cs5_FINAL.indd 1095
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1096
Matthew 1:25
angel of the Lord had commanded him and

took Mary home as his wife. 25But he did not
consummate their marr iage unt il she gave
birth to a son. And he gave him the name
Jesus.
The Magi Visit the Messiah
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in

Judea, during the time of King Herod,
Magia from the east came to Jer usalem 2and
asked, Where is the one who has been born
king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose
and have come to worship him.
3When King Herod heard this he was dis
turbed, and all Jer usalem with him. 4When
he had called together all the peoples chief
priests and teachers of the law, he a sked
them w
here the Messia h was to be born. 5In
Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is
what the prophet has written:
6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers
of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.b
7Then Herod c alled the Magi sec retly and
f ound out from them the exact time the star
had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem
and said, Go and search carefully for the
child. As soon as you find him, report to me,
so that I too may go and worship him.
9After they had heard the king, they went
on their way, and the star they had seen
when it rose went a head of them until it
stopped over the place w
here the c hild was.
10When they saw the star, they were over
joyed. 11On coming to the h
ouse, they saw
the c hild with his mother Mary, and they
bowed down and worshiped him. Then they
opened t heir treasures and presented him
with g ifts of gold, franki ncense and myrrh.
12And havi ng been w
arned in a d ream not
to go back to Herod, they ret urned to t heir
count ry by another route.
The Escape to Egypt

13When
they had gone, an angel of the

Lord appeared to Joseph in a d
ream. Get
up, he said, take the child and his moth
er and escape to Egypt. Stay t here unt il I tell
Matthew 3:4
1096
you, for Herod is goi ng to s earch for the child

to kill him.
14So he got up, took the
c hild and his
mother duri ng the n ight and left for E
gypt,
15where he stayed unt il the d
eath of Herod.
And so was fulf illed what the Lord had said
t hrough the prophet: Out of E
gypt I called
my son.c
16When Herod rea li zed that he had been
outw itted by the Magi, he was fur ious, and
he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethle
hem and its vicinit y who were two years old
and under, in accordance with the time he
had learned from the Magi. 17Then what was
said t hrough the prophet Jerem ia h was ful
filled:
18 A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.d
The Return to Nazareth

19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord
appeared in a d
ream to Jos eph in E
gypt
20and said, Get up, take the c
hild and his
mother and go to the land of Israel, for t hose
who were trying to take the c hilds life are
dead.
21So he got up, took the
c hild and his
mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But
when he heard that Archelau s was reign
ing in Judea in p
lace of his fat her Herod, he
was a fraid to go t here. Havi ng been warned
in a d ream, he withd rew to the dist rict of
Gal i lee, 23and he went and lived in a town
called Naza reth. So was fulf illed what was
said t hrough the prophets, that he would be
called a Naza rene.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In those days John the Baptist came,

preaching in the wilderness of Judea
2and say
i ng, Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven has come near. 3This is he who was
spoken of t hrough the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.e
4Johns clothes were made of camels hair,
and he had a leather belt a round his waist.
a1Traditionally wise men b6Micah5:2,4 c15Hosea11:1 d18Jer.31:15 e3Isaiah40:3
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 227
meaningful gifts
by LeAnn Rice
Every year after Thanksgiving, people start to think about Christmas gift lists. May I be honest? There are aspects of Christmas gift
giving I dont enjoy.
Im not fond of the Im just checking you off my list mentality
that can make giving seem commercial and insincere. And I dont
care for the pressure I sometimes feel to spend more than I can afford at the holidays. But I love to give meaningful gifts.
I especially find joy in giving gifts that reflect the reason we celebrate Christmas. The tradition of gift giving is a reminder of our
greatest gift, Jesus Christ.
It seems people are more open to this good news at Christmastime, so I look for ways to share Gods love through meaningful
gifts. Sometimes Ill drop off a grocery gift card and a pretty basket
of homemade goodies on the doorstep of a family in need. Ill include a gift tag that reads, Merry Christmas! Love, Jesus.
I also carry candy canes to give to those I meet, such as cashiers
or wait staff. I usually tie a ribbon around them with a card that
includes the Christmas story from the Bible.
Gifts can also be meaningful when they reflect Gods love for the
recipient. Thoughtful gifts communicate a message to the special
people in our lives: God sees you, loves you and knows what you
delight in.
One holiday season a friend battling a lingering illness didnt
have energy to dive into holiday festivities. Since I love to cook and
beautify, I unpacked her Christmas boxes and decorated her house
while chicken soup simmered in the slow cooker. It lifted her spirits
and mine!
At any time of the year, gifts dont have to be expensive or complicated to send the message of Gods love and ours. Lets take time
to pray, asking God for creativity and thoughtfulness so that we give
not only gifts that are meaningful but gifts that reflect his good
news that will cause great joy for all the people (Luke 2:10).
They saw the child

with his mother
Mary, and they
bowed down and
worshiped him.
Then they opened
their treasures
and presented
him with gifts of
gold, frankincense
and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
More Verses
to Explore:
Isaiah 9:6
Luke 6:38
2Corinthians 9:6 11
Turn to page 1099 for your next devotion.
1097
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1098
Matthew 3:5
His food was loc usts and wild honey. 5Peo

ple went out to him from Jer usalem and all
Judea and the w hole reg ion of the Jordan.
6Confessing t heir sins, they were bapt ized
by him in the Jordan River.
7But when he saw many of the Phari sees
and Sadducees comi ng to where he was bap
tizi ng, he said to them: You b
rood of vipers!
Who w arned you to flee from the coming
w rath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with re
pent ance. 9And do not think you can say
to yourselves, We have Abraham as our fa
ther. I tell you that out of t hese stones God
can raise up child ren for Abraham. 10The ax
is already at the root of the t rees, and every
tree that does not produce good f ruit will be
cut down and t hrown into the fire.
11I bap
t ize you witha water for repen
tance. But after me comes one who is more
powerful than I, w hose sandals I am not
wort hy to carr y. He will bapt ize you witha
the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His win now
ing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his
thresh i ng f loor, gather i ng his w heat into
the barn and burni ng up the c haff with un
quenchable fire.
The Baptism of Jesus

13Then Jesus came from Gali lee to the Jor
dan to be bapt ized by John. 14But John t ried
to deter him, sayi ng, I need to be bapt ized
by you, and do you come tome?
15Jesus re
plied, Let it be so now; it is
proper for us to do this to fulfill all righ
teousness. Then John consented.
16As soon as Jesus was bapt ized, he went
up out of the water. At that moment heaven
was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
des cending like a dove and alighting on
him. 17And a voice from heaven said, This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased.
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the

wilder ness to be tempted b by the devi l.
2After fasti ng fort y days and fort y n
ights, he
was hung ry. 3The tempter came to him and
said, If you are the Son of God, tell t hese
stones to become bread.
4Jesus ans wered, It is written: Man shall
a11Orin b1
Matthew 4:19
1098
not live on b
read a lone, but on every word
that comes from the m
outh of God.c
5Then the devi l took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of
the temple. 6If you are the Son of God, he
said, throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will command his angels
concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot
against a stone.d
7Jesus ans wered him, It is also written:
Do not put the Lord your God to the test.e
8Again, the devi l took him to a very high
mountain and s howed him all the kingdoms
of the world and t heir splendor. 9All this I
will give you, he said, if you will bow down
and worshipme.
10Jesus said to him, Away from me, Sat an!
For it is written: Worship the Lord your God,
and serve him only.f
11Then the dev
i l left him, and angels
came and attended him.
Jesus Begins to Preach

12When Jesus heard that John had been
put in pris
on, he with
d rew to Gal
i
lee.
13Leavi ng Naza reth, he went and l ived in Ca
pernau m, w
hich was by the lake in the area
of Zebu lun and Naphta l i 14to fulf ill what
was said t hrough the prophet Isaiah:
15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow
of death
a light has dawned.g
17From that time on Jesus be
g an to
reach, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
p
has come near.
Jesus Calls His First Disciples

18As J esus was walki ng beside the Sea of
Gali lee, he saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter and his brother And rew. They were
casti ng a net into the lake, for they were fish
ermen. 19Come, follow me, Jesus said, and
TheGreek for tempted can also mean tested. c4Deut.8:3 d6Psalm91:11,12
e7Deut.6:16 f10Deut.6:13 g16Isaiah9:1,2
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 228
helping siblings serve together
by Glynnis Whitwer
Is it a coincidence that the first four disciples Jesus called to follow him were two sets of brothers? Based on Gods intentionality
throughout Scripture, its highly unlikely.
It wasnt an accidental choice to pick fishermen, and it wasnt an
accident they were brothers. Yes, Jesus knew just what he was doing when he called the sibling sets of Simon Peter and Andrew (see
Matthew 4:1819) and then James and John (see Matthew 4:21) to
join him.
The New Testament tells of how these brothers, plus a small
group of others, changed their world for Jesus Christ. What an
amazing picture of siblings serving side by side.
Today its rare to see siblings serving alongside each other. Parents often focus on allowing each child to explore his or her individual gifts and talents through service, which is a good thing. Then
as brothers and sisters grow up, their lives take them away from each
other. But what might happen if we initiated opportunities for our
children to serve together? What if we served God alongside our own
brothers or sisters?
Based on Jesus example of calling brothers, we should seriously
consider how to cultivate opportunities for our families to serve
hand in hand. Its never too late to take on an outreach or serv ice
project as a family. Even the smallest children can do something.
And most teenagers actually like getting involved in social outreach,
especially if it involves someone in great need.
Lets look for ways for brothers and sisters to serve together. Its
a great way to be obedient to God by serving others, and perhaps
it will be the start of a world-changing mission, just like it was for
those first sets of brothers who walked with Jesus.
As Jesus was
walking beside the
Sea of Galilee, he
saw two brothers,
Simon called Peter
and his brother
Andrew. They
were casting a
net into the lake,
for they were
fishermen. Come,
follow me, Jesus
said, and I will
send you out to
fish for people.
Matthew 4:1819
More Verses
to Explore:
Exodus 4:1316
Luke 5:111
John 1:3542
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Matthew 4:20
I will send you out to fish for people. 20At

once they left t heir nets and followed him.
21Going on from t here, he saw two oth
er brothers, James son of Zebedee and his
brother John. They were in a boat with t heir
fat her Zebedee, prepar i ng t heir nets. Jesus
called them, 22and immed iately they left the
boat and t heir fat her and followed him.
Jesus Heals the Sick

23Jesus went throughout Gali lee, teachi ng
in t heir synagogues, proclaim i ng the good
news of the kingdom, and heali ng every dis
ease and sickness a mong the people. 24News
about him spread all over Syria, and people
brought to him all who were ill with various
diseases, t hose sufferi ng severe pain, the de
mon-possessed, t hose hav i ng seiz ures, and
the para lyzed; and he healed them. 25Large
crowds from Gali lee, the Decapol is, a Jer usa
lem, Judea and the reg ion across the Jordan
followed him.
Introduction to the Sermon onthe

Mount
Now when Jesus saw the c rowds, he

went up on a mountainside and sat
down. His disc iples came to him, 2and he
began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:22
1100
11Blessed are you when peo

ple insult
you, persec ute you and falsely say all k inds
of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice
and be glad, because g reat is your reward in
heaven, for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light

13You are the salt of the e
arth. But if the
salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anyt hing,
except to be t hrown out and trampled un
derfoot.
14You are the l ight of the world. A town
built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neit her do
people l ight a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it g ives
l ight to everyone in the house. 16In the same
way, let your l ight s hine before others, that
they may see your good d
eeds and glor if y
your Fat her in heaven.
The Fulfillment of the Law

17Do not t hink that I have come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to

abolish them but to fulf ill them. 18For truly
I tell you, unt il heaven and earth disappear,
not the smallest letter, not the least s troke
of a pen, will by any m
eans disappear from
the Law unt il every t hing is accomplished.
19Therefore anyone who sets a side one of
the least of these commands and teaches
others accordi ngly will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever pract ices
and teaches t hese commands will be called
g reat in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell
you that unless your righteousness surpass
es that of the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law, you will certainly not enter the king
dom of heaven.
Murder
21You have heard that it was said to the
people long ago, You shall not murder,b and
anyone who murders will be subject to judg
ment. 22But I tell you that anyone who is an
gry with a brother or sisterc,d will be subject
to judgment. A gain, anyone who says to a
brother or sister, Raca,e is answerable to the
court. And anyone who says, You fool! will
be in danger of the fire of hell.
a25
That is, the Ten Cities b21Exodus20:13 c22 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos)
refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verse23. d22 Some manuscripts
brother or sister without cause e22 AnAramaic term of contempt
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1101
Matthew 5:23
23Therefore, if you are offeri ng your gift

at the altar and t here remember that your
brother or sister has somet hing against you,
24leave your gift t here in f ront of the alt ar.
First go and be reconc iled to them; then
come and offer your gift.
25Sett le matters quickly with your adver
sary who is taki ng you to court. Do it w
hile
you are s till together on the way, or your ad
versary may hand you over to the j udge, and
the judge may hand you over to the off icer,
and you may be t hrown into prison. 26Truly
I tell you, you will not get out unt il you have
paid the last penny.
Adultery
27You have heard that it was said, You
shall not com m it adultery. a 28But I tell you
that anyone who looks at a woma n lustf ul
ly has already comm itted adultery with her
in his h
eart. 29If your r ight eye causes you to
stumble, gouge it out and t hrow it away. It is
better for you to lose one part of your body
than for your w
hole body to be t hrown into
hell. 30And if your r ight hand causes you to
stumble, cut it off and t hrow it away. It is bet
ter for you to lose one part of your body than
for your w
hole body to go into hell.
Divorce
31It
has been said, Anyone who divorc

es his wife must give her a cert ificate of di
vorce.b 32But I tell you that anyone who
divorces his wife, except for sex ua l im mo
ralit y, makes her the vict im of adultery, and
anyone who marries a div orced woma n
com m its adultery.
Oaths
33Again,
you have h
eard that it was said
to the people long ago, Do not break your
oath, but fulf ill to the Lord the vows you have
made. 34But I tell you, do not swear an oath
at all: eit her by heaven, for it is Gods t hrone;
35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jer usalem, for it is the city of the G
reat King.
36And do not s wear by your head, for you
cannot make even one hair w
hite or black.
37All you need to say is simply Yes or No;
anyt hing beyond this comes from the evil
one.c
Matthew 6:6
1101
Eye for Eye

38You have heard that it was said, Eye for
eye, and t ooth for tooth.d 39But I tell you, do
not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you
on the r ight c heek, turn to them the other
cheek also. 40And if anyone wants to sue you
and take your shirt, hand over your coat as
well. 41If anyone forces you to go one mile, go
with them two m
iles. 42Give to the one who
asks you, and do not turn away from the one
who wants to borrow from you.
Love for Enemies

43You have heard that it was said, Love
your neighbor e and hate your enemy. 44But
I tell you, love your enem ies and pray for
t hose who persecute you, 45that you may be
child ren of your Fat her in heaven. He causes
his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and
sends rain on the righteous and the unr igh
teous. 46If you love t hose who love you, what
reward will you get? Are not even the tax col
lectors doi ng that? 47And if you g reet only
your own people, what are you doi ng more
than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Fa
ther is perfect.
Giving to the Needy
Be careful not to practice your righ

teousness in f ront of others to be seen
by them. If you do, you will have no reward
from your Fat her in heaven.
2So when you give to the needy, do not
announce it with trump ets, as the hyp
oc rites do in the synagogues and on the
streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell
you, they have received t heir reward in full.
3But when you give to the n
eedy, do not let
your left hand know what your r ight hand is
doi ng, 4so that your givi ng may be in secret.
Then your Fat her, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.
Prayer
5And when you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites, for they love to pray standi ng in
the synagogues and on the street corners to
be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received t heir reward in full. 6But when you
pray, go into your room, close the door and
a27Exodus20:14 b31Deut.24:1 c37Orfrom evil d38
Exodus21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21
e43Lev.19:18
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1102
Matthew 6:7
pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then

your Fat her, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not
keep on babbling like pagans, for they t hink
they will be heard bec ause of their many
words. 8Do not be like them, for your Fat her
k nows what you need before you ask him.
9This, then, is how you s
hould pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,a
but deliver us from the evil one.b
14For if you forg ive other people when they
sin against you, your heavenly Fat her will
also forg ive you. 15But if you do not forg ive
others t heir sins, your Fat her will not forg ive
your sins.
Fasting
16When you fast, do not look somber as
the hypoc rites do, for they disfigu re their
faces to show others they are fasti ng. Truly
I tell you, they have received t heir rew ard
in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your
head and wash your face, 18so that it will not
be obv ious to others that you are fasti ng, but
only to your Fat her, who is unseen; and your
Fat her, who sees what is done in secret, will
reward you.
Treasures in Heaven
19Do not s
tore up for yourselves treasures
on earth, w
here moths and verm in destroy,
and where t hieves break in and steal. 20But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
w here moths and verm in do not destroy,
and where t hieves do not break in and steal.
21For
w here your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
22The eye is the lamp of the body. If your
eyes are healthy,c your w hole body will be
full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy,d
your whole body will be full of darkness. If
Matthew 7:5
1102
then the light within you is darkness, how

g reat is that darkness!
24No one can s erve two masters. Eit her
you will hate the one and love the other, or
you will be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve both God and
money.
Do Not Worry
25Therefore I tell you, do not worr y about
your life, what you will eat or d rink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more than food, and the body more than
clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they
do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?
27Can any one of you by worr yi ng add a sin
gle hour to your lifee?
28And why do you worr y about c lothes?
See how the flowers of the f ield grow. They
do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that
not even Solomon in all his splendor was
d ressed like one of t hese. 30If that is how God
clothes the g rass of the f ield, which is here
today and tomorrow is t hrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe youyou of
litt le faith? 31So do not worr y, sayi ng, What
shall we eat? or What s hall we d
rink? or
What shall we wear? 32For the pagans run
after all t hese t hings, and your heavenly Fa
ther k nows that you need them. 33But seek
f irst his kingdom and his righteousness, and
all t hese t hings will be given to you as well.
34Therefore do not wor r y about tomor row,
for tomorrow will worr y about itself. Each
day has enough trouble of its own.
Judging Others
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

2For in the same way you judge others,
you will be judged, and with the measure
you use, it will be measured to you.
3Why do you look at the s
peck of sawdust
in your brothers eye and pay no attent ion
to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you
say to your brother, Let me take the s peck
out of your eye, when all the time t here is a
plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, f irst
take the plank out of your own eye, and then
a13 TheGreek for temptation can also mean testing. b13Orfrom evil; some late manuscripts one, / for
yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. c22 TheGreek for healthy here implies
generous. d23 TheGreek for unhealthy here implies stingy. e27Orsingle cubit to your height
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1103
Matthew 7:6
you will see clearly to remove the s peck from

your brothers eye.
6Do not give dogs what is sac red; do not
t hrow your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may
trample them under t heir feet, and turn and
tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock

7Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and

you will find; k nock and the door will be
opened to you. 8For everyone who asks re
ceives; the one who seeks finds; and to the
one who k nocks, the door will be opened.
9Which of you, if your son asks for b
read,
will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a
fish, will give him a s nake? 11If you, then,
t hough you are evil, know how to give good
g ifts to your child ren, how much more will
your Father in heaven give good g ifts to
t hose who ask him! 12So in everyt hing, do to
others what you w
ould have them do to you,
for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates

13En
ter
through the narrow gate. For

wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter
t hrough it. 14But small is the gate and nar
row the road that leads to life, and only a few
findit.
True and False Prophets

15Watch out for
f alse prophe ts. They
come to you in sheeps clothi ng, but inward
ly they are ferocious wolves. 16By t heir f ruit
you will recogn ize them. Do people pick
g rapes from thornbushes, or figs from this
tles? 17Likew ise, every good tree bears good
f ruit, but a bad tree b
ears bad f ruit. 18A good
tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree
cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that
does not bear good fruit is cut down and
t hrown into the fire. 20Thus, by t heir fruit
you will recogn ize them.
True and False Disciples

21Not
everyone who says to me, Lord,

Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Fat her
who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on
that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophes y in
your name and in your name d rive out de
a2
Matthew 8:9
1103
mons and in your name perform many mira

cles? 23Then I will tell them plainly, I never
knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
The Wise and Foolish Builders

24Therefore everyone who hears t hese
ords of mine and puts them into pract ice
w
is like a wise man who built his h
ouse on the
rock. 25The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the w inds blew and beat against
that h
ouse; yet it did not fall, because it had
its foundat ion on the rock. 26But everyone
who h
ears these words of mine and does
not put them into pract ice is like a foolish
man who built his h
ouse on sand. 27The rain
came down, the s treams rose, and the w
inds
blew and beat against that house, and it fell
with a g reat crash.
28When
Jesus had finished saying t hese

t hings, the c rowds were a mazed at his teach
ing, 29because he taught as one who had au
thorit y, and not as t heir teachers of the law.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
When Jesus came down from the moun

tainside, large crowds followed him. 2A
man with lepros y a came and k nelt before
him and said, Lord, if you are willi ng, you
can make me clean.
3Jesus r
eached out his hand and t ouched
the man. I am willi ng, he said. Be clean!
Immed iately he was cleansed of his lepros y.
4Then J esus said to him, See that you d
ont
tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the
priest and offer the gift Moses commanded,
as a test imony to them.
The Faith of the Centurion

5When
Jesus had entered Caper n au m,

a centur ion came to him, asking for help.
6Lord, he said, my serv ant lies at home
para lyzed, suf feri ng terr ibly.
7Jesus said to him, Shall I come and heal
him?
8The cent ur ion replied, Lord, I do not de
serve to have you come under my roof. But
just say the word, and my serv ant will be
healed. 9For I myself am a man under au
thorit y, with sold iers under me. I tell this
one, Go, and he goes; and that one, Come,
and he comes. I say to my servant, Do this,
and he doesit.
TheGreek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 229
building faith
by Melissa Taylor
Ask and it will

be given to you;
seek and you will
find; knock and
the door will be
opened to you.
For everyone who
asks receives; the
one who seeks
finds; and to the
one who knocks,
the door will be
opened.
Matthew 7:78
More Verses
to Explore:
Mark 10:27
A letter arrived by e-mail from a friend. It read:

Hi friends, I want to share a quick story about my daughter
Kara. In our home school, we always start with prayer time.
Well, Kara had been mailing it in lately with her prayers.
She would just reword whatever her brother Nick prayed. I
told her that it is okay to agree with someone elses prayer,
but it is really important to tell God what is on your own
heart too. So she prayed a very sweet prayer and at the end
she said, Jesus, could you please make it snow? We havent
had any snow for years.
That day was a little colder than normal, but the sun was
shining. Around 3:00 in the afternoon, I looked outside and
saw snowflakes falling! I called to Kara and told her to look
outside. ITS SNOWING, I screamed! For 10 minutes we
enjoyed watching a few precious flakes fall. That was a very
tangible faith builder for all three of us. Her prayers have become much more fervent. To Christ be the glory!
When I hear stories like this, I tend to think, Yeah, Im sure you
thought you saw snow ... but I bet it was really big drops of rain.
Snow was impossible on that particular sunny, 45-degree day. However, I know it did indeed snow, because I saw it with my own eyes!
I had just picked my kids up from school and noticed what appeared to be snow falling. We got out of the car and stood in amazement. It wasnt sticking to the ground, but it was snow.
After reading the letter about Karas prayer for snow, I wondered,
could it be that the snow falling from the sky yesterday was a direct
answer to a childs prayer? No way. Its just a coincidence, I said
aloud to myself. Then I thought about the God we serve. With our
God, anything is possible, even snow on a mild, sunny day in the
South.
Not only did God increase the faith of Kara and her family, but
through her story, mine increased as well. God cares about what we
care about. Nothing is too big or too small to take to him. If its on
our heart, then he wants us to take it to him.
Hebrews 11:6
1Peter 5:7
1104
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1105
Matthew 8:10
Matthew 9:8
10When J esus h
eard this, he was a mazed
and said to those following him, Truly I
tell you, I have not found anyone in Isra
el with such g reat faith. 11I say to you that
many will come from the east and the west,
and will take t heir places at the feast with
Abraham, I saac and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom
will be t hrown outside, into the darkness,
where t here will be weepi ng and gnashi ng
of teeth.
13Then Jesus said to the cent ur ion, Go!
Let it be done just as you bel ieved it would.
And his servant was h
ealed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many

14When Jesus came into Peters house, he
saw Peters mother-in-law lyi ng in bed with
a fever. 15He touched her hand and the fever
left her, and she got up and began to wait on
him.
16When even ing came, many who were
demon-possessed were b
rought to him,
and he d rove out the spirits with a word and
healed all the sick. 17This was to fulf ill what
was spoken t hrough the prophet Isaiah:
He took up our infirmities

and bore our diseases.a
The Cost of Following Jesus

18When
Jesus saw the crowd a round him,

he gave orders to cross to the other side of the
lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him
and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherev
er yougo.
20Jesus re
plied, Foxe s have dens and
birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no
place to lay his head.
21Another disc iple said to him, Lord, f irst
let me go and bury my fat her.
22But Jesus told him, Follow me, and let
the dead bury t heir own dead.
Jesus Calms the Storm

23Then
he got into the boat and his dis

ciples fol lowed him. 24Sudden l y a fu r ious
storm came up on the lake, so that the waves
swept over the boat. But J esus was sleepi ng.
25The disc iples went and woke him, sayi ng,
Lord, save us! W
ere goi ng to drown!
26He replied, You of litt le f aith, why are
you so a fraid? Then he got up and rebuked
a17Isaiah53:4 (see Septuagint) b28
1105
the w inds and the w aves, and it was com

pletely calm.
27The men were a
mazed and
a sked,
What kind of man is this? Even the w inds
and the w
aves obey him!
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed

Men
28When he arr ived at the other side in the
reg ion of the Gada renes, b two demon-pos
sessed men coming from the tombs met him.
They were so violent that no one could pass
that way. 29What do you want with us, Son
of God? they shouted. Have you come here
to tort ure us before the appointed time?
30Some dist ance from them a large herd
of pigs was feeding. 31The demons begged
Jesus, If you d
rive us out, send us into the
herd of pigs.
32He said to them, Go! So they came out
and went into the pigs, and the whole herd
r ushed down the steep bank into the lake
and died in the water. 33Those tendi ng the
pigs ran off, went into the town and reported
all this, includi ng what had happened to the
demon-possessed men. 34Then the w hole
town went out to meet Jesus. And when they
saw him, they pleaded with him to leave
t heir reg ion.
Jesus Forgives and Heals

a Paralyzed Man
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over

and came to his own town. 2Some men
brought to him a para lyzed man, lyi ng on a
mat. When Jesus saw t heir faith, he said to
the man, Take heart, son; your sins are for
given.
3At this, some of the teachers of the law
said to themselves, This fellow is blas
phemi ng!
4Know i ng t heir t houghts, Jesus said,
Why do you entertain evil t houghts in your
hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, Your sins
are forg iven, or to say, Get up and walk?
6But I want you to know that the Son of Man
has aut horit y on earth to forg ive sins. So he
said to the para lyzed man, Get up, take your
mat and go home. 7Then the man got up
and went home. 8When the crowd saw this,
they were f illed with awe; and they p
raised
God, who had given such aut horit y to man.
Some manuscripts Gergesenes; other manuscripts Gerasenes
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 230
first let me...
by Luann Prater
Another disciple
said to him, Lord,
first let me go and
bury my father.
Matthew 8:21
Have you ever said: Once I get _____ done, then my life will calm
down? You are not alone. Its an easy habit to develop, but a hard
one to break!
The man J esus called to follow him here in Matthew 8 said basically the same thing to Jesus: Uh, master, hold that thought. Love
what youre doing here, want to be a part of it, really I do. Just need
to step over here and handle this task first. You understand, right?
Understand though, that if the mans father had already died, he
would have been off burying him already. But it seems he wanted
to wait until after his fathers death, which might have been years
away!
The three telling words in this passage are First let me ... When
I am at my busiest, I am also the most self-absorbed. Its then that
the most important things get pushed aside or dont make the list
at all.
Hi, my name is Luann, and Im addicted to activity. Though Im
embarrassed to admit this, Ive got to be real with you. God makes
a simple request in my life and yours: Follow me. But all too often
those three words, First let me ... slip past my lips.
Maybe J esus is saying to us:
Follow me, and let the kids wait a minute.
Follow me, and let the phone ring.
Follow me, and reschedule the appointment.
Follow me, and put everything else on your to-do list after me.
Its easy to get carried away with our busyness and neglect God.
But God is asking that we put him first. Its a habit thats worth developing. Instead of an excuse, perhaps we should be saying, First
let me spend time with you, J esus.
More Verses
to Explore:
Matthew 6:33
Luke 9:5762
Luke 14:1524
1106
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1107
Matthew 9:9
The Calling of Matthew

9As
Jesus went on from there, he saw a

man n
amed Matt hew sitt ing at the tax col
lectors booth. Follow me, he told him, and
Matt hew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was havi ng dinner at Mat
thews house, many tax collectors and sin
ners came and ate with him and his disc i
ples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they
asked his disciples, Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sinners?
12On hear
i ng this, Jesus said, It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
13But go and learn what this means: I desire
merc y, not sacr if ice. a For I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners.
Jesus Questioned About Fasting

14Then Johns disc iples came and a sked
him, How is it that we and the Pharisees fast
often, but your disciples do not fast?
15Jesus ans wered, How can the g uests
of the brideg room mourn w
hile he is with
them? The time will come when the bride
groom will be taken from them; then they
will fast.
16No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth
on an old garment, for the patch will pull
away from the garment, making the tear
worse. 17Neit her do people pour new wine
into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will
burst; the wine will run out and the wine
skins will be ruined. No, they pour new
wine into new wineskins, and both are pre
served.
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals

aSick Woman
18While
he was sayi ng this, a synagogue

leader came and k nelt before him and said,
My daughter has just died. But come and
put your hand on her, and she will live.
19Jesus got up and went with him, and so did
his disciples.
20Just then a woma n who had been sub
ject to bleedi ng for t welve y ears came up be
hind him and touched the edge of his c loak.
21She said to her
self, If I only touch his
cloak, I will be healed.
22Jesus t urned and saw her. Take heart,
daughter, he said, your faith has healed
you. And the woma n was healed at that mo
ment.
Matthew 10:2
1107
23When Jesus ent ered the synag ogue

leaders house and saw the noisy crowd and
people play i ng pipes, 24he said, Go away.
The girl is not dead but a sleep. But they
laughed at him. 25After the crowd had been
put outside, he went in and took the girl by
the hand, and she got up. 26News of this
spread t hrough all that reg ion.
Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute

27As Jesus went on from t here, two blind
men followed him, calli ng out, Have merc y
on us, Son of Dav id!
28When he had gone indoors, the blind
men came to him, and he a sked them, Do
you bel ieve that I am able to do this?
Yes, Lord, they replied.
29Then he touched their eyes and said,
According to your f aith let it be done to you;
30and t heir sight was restored. Jesus w arned
them sternly, See that no one k nows about
this. 31But they went out and spread the
news about him all over that reg ion.
32While they were goi ng out, a man who
was demon-possessed and c ould not talk
was brought to Jesus. 33And when the de
mon was driven out, the man who had been
mute spoke. The c rowd was a mazed and
said, Nothi ng like this has ever been seen
in Israel.
34But the Phar
i sees said, It is by the
prince of demons that he drives out demons.
The Workers Are Few

35Jesus
went t hrough all the towns and

vil lages, teach i ng in t heir synagogues, pro
claimi ng the good news of the kingdom and
heali ng every disease and sickness. 36When
he saw the c rowds, he had compassion on
them, because they were harassed and help
less, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then
he said to his disciples, The harvest is plen
tif ul but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord
of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers
into his harvest field.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
10
Jesus c alled his twelve disc iples to

him and gave them aut horit y to d rive
out impure spirits and to heal every disease
and sick ness.
2These are the n
ames of the t welve apos
tles: first, Simon (who is c alled Peter) and
a13Hosea6:6
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1108
Matthew 10:3
his brother And rew; James son of Zebedee,

and his brother John; 3Philip and Bart holo
mew; Thomas and Matt hew the tax collec
tor; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
4Si mon the Zealot and Jud as Isc ar iot, who
bet rayed him.
5These t welve Jesus sent out with the fol
lowi ng instruct ions: Do not go a mong the
Gentiles or enter any town of the Samar
it ans. 6Go rather to the lost sheep of Isra
el. 7As you go, proclaim this message: The
kingdom of heaven has come near. 8Heal
the sick, r aise the dead, cleanse t hose who
have lepros y, a d rive out demons. Freely you
have received; freely give.
9Do not get any gold or silver or copper to
take with you in your b
elts10no bag for the
journey or ext ra s hirt or sandals or a staff,
for the worker is worth his keep. 11Whatev
er town or village you enter, search there for
some wort hy person and stay at their h
ouse
unt il you leave. 12As you enter the home, give
it your greeti ng. 13If the home is deservi ng,
let your p
eace rest on it; if it is not, let your
peace ret urn to you. 14If anyone will not wel
come you or listen to your w
ords, leave that
home or town and s hake the dust off your
feet. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more bear
able for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of
judgment than for that town.
16I am sendi ng you out like sheep a mong
wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as s nakes
and as innoc ent as doves. 17Be on your
g uard; you will be handed over to the local
councils and be f logged in the synagogues.
18On my account you will be b
rought before
governors and k ings as witnesses to them
and to the Gent iles. 19But when they arrest
you, do not worr y about what to say or how to
say it. At that time you will be given what to
say, 20for it will not be you speaki ng, but the
Spirit of your Fat her speaki ng t hrough you.
21Brother will bet ray brother to death,
and a father his child; child ren will rebel
against t heir parents and have them put to
death. 22You will be hated by everyone be
cause of me, but the one who stands firm to
the end will be saved. 23When you are per
secuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I
tell you, you will not finish going t hrough the
towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24The student is not a
bove t he teacher,
a8
Matthew 10:42
1108
nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough

for students to be like t heir teachers, and ser
vants like t heir masters. If the head of the
house has been called Beelzebul, how much
more the members of his household!
26So do not be a fraid of them, for there
is nothing concealed that will not be dis
closed, or hidden that will not be made
k nown. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak
in the daylight; what is whispered in your
ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28Do not be
a fraid of t hose who kill the body but can
not kill the soul. Rather, be a fraid of the One
who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet
not one of them will fall to the g round out
side your Fat hers care.b 30And even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So
dont be a fraid; you are worth more than
many sparrows.
32Whoever ack nowledges me before oth
ers, I will also ack nowledge before my Fa
ther in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me
before others, I will disown before my Fat her
in heaven.
34Do not sup
pose that I have come to
bring p
eace to the earth. I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come
to turn
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her motherin-law
36 a mans enemies will be the members
of his own household.c
37Anyone who loves t heir fat her or moth
er more than me is not wort hy of me; anyone
who loves their son or daughter more than
me is not wort hy of me. 38Whoever does not
take up t heir cross and follow me is not wor
thy of me. 39Whoever f inds t heir life will lose
it, and whoever loses t heir life for my sake
will findit.
40Anyone who welc omes you welc omes
me, and anyone who welc omes me wel
comes the one who sent me. 41Whoever wel
comes a prophet as a prophet will receive a
prophets reward, and whoever welcomes a
righteous person as a righteous person will
receive a righteous persons reward. 42And if
TheGreek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
b29Orwill; or knowledge c36Micah7:6
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1109
Matthew 11:1
anyone g ives even a cup of cold water to one

of t hese litt le ones who is my disciple, truly
I tell you, that person will certainly not lose
their reward.
Jesus and John the Baptist
11
Af ter Jesus had fin ished instruct i ng

his t welve disciples, he went on from
t here to teach and preach in the towns of
Gali lee. a
2When John, who was in pris
on, heard
about the deeds of the Messia h, he sent his
disciples 3to ask him, Are you the one who is
to come, or should we expect someone else?
4Jesus re
plied, Go back and report to
John what you hear and see: 5The blind re
ceive sight, the lame walk, t hose who have
lepros y b are c leansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are r aised, and the good news is pro
claimed to the poor. 6Blessed is anyone who
does not stumble on account ofme.
7As Johns disc iples were leav i ng, Jesus
began to speak to the c rowd about John:
What did you go out into the wilderness
to see? A reed s wayed by the wind? 8If not,
what did you go out to see? A man d ressed in
fine c lothes? No, t hose who wear fine c lothes
are in k ings palaces. 9Then what did you go
out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and
more than a prophet. 10This is the one about
whom it is written:
I will send my messenger ahead
of you,
who will prepare your way
before you.c
11Truly I tell you, a mong t hose born of wom
en t here has not risen anyone greater than
John the Baptist; yet whoe ver is least in
the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12From the days of John the Bap
t ist until
now, the kingdom of heaven has been sub
jected to violence, d and violent people have
been raiding it. 13For all the Prophets and the
Law prophesied unt il John. 14And if you are
willi ng to accept it, he is the Elijah who was
to come. 15Whoever has ears, let them hear.
16To what can I compare this generat ion?
They are like child ren sitt ing in the market
places and calli ng out to others:
17 We played the pipe for you,

and you did not dance;
Matthew 12:2
1109
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.
18For John came neit her eating nor drink
ing, and they say, He has a demon. 19The
Son of Man came eati ng and drinki ng, and
they say, Here is a glutton and a drunka rd, a
f riend of tax collectors and sinners. But wis
dom is p
roved r ight by her deeds.
Woe on Unrepentant Towns

20Then
Jesus began to denounce the
towns in w hich most of his mirac les had
been performed, bec ause they did not re
pent. 21Woe to you, Choraz in! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were per
formed in you had been performed in Tyre
and Sidon, they would have repented long
ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you,
it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgment than for you. 23And
you, Capernau m, will you be lifted to the
heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.e
For if the miracles that were performed in
you had been performed in Sodom, it would
have remained to this day. 24But I tell you
that it will be more bearable for Sodom on
the day of judgment than for you.
The Father Revealed in the Son

25At
that time Jesus said, I praise you,

Fat her, Lord of heaven and earth, bec ause
you have hidden t hese t hings from the wise
and learned, and revealed them to litt le chil
dren. 26Yes, Fat her, for this is what you were
pleased todo.
27All t hings have been comm itted to me
by my Fat her. No one k nows the Son except
the Father, and no one k nows the Father
except the Son and t hose to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him.
28Come to me, all you who are wear y and
burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I
am gent le and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your s ouls. 30For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light.
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
12
At that time Jesus went t hrough the

grainfields on the Sabbath. His dis
ciples were hung ry and began to pick some
heads of g rain and eat them. 2When the
a1Greek in their towns b5
TheGreek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases
affecting the skin. c10Mal.3:1 d12Orbeen forcefully advancing e23 That is, the realm of the dead
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 231
more than cookies
by Zoe Elmore
When our youngest son was in high school, his band practiced in
our basement every week for three years. I spent those afternoons
baking cookies and pouring gallons of milk for hungry teens. Our
of cold water to
home became the gathering place, and I took the opportunity to give
one of these little
cookies, love and the spiritual food of Gods Word.
ones who is my
As I served up snacks, the teens would often pour out their hurtdisciple, truly I tell ing hearts. The Lord provided opportunities to pray with them, and
we saw him do amazing things in their lives.
you, that person
One afternoon my son mentioned that the newest member of
will certainly not
the band would be arriving for rehearsal. When the doorbell rang,
lose their reward.
I peeked out and saw tattoos and body piercings. The young man
Matthew 10:42
politely introduced himself, shook my hand and thanked me for
hosting them.
After rehearsal, the new band member made an interesting request: Mrs. Elmore, could I have a hug before I leave today?
Of course, I answered and granted his request.
That was wonderful, he said. He breathed deeply and then
quietly whispered, My mom abandoned us several years ago, and I
havent been hugged by a mom in such a long time.
From that day forward I was available for hugs, and my husband,
Tom, and I became a safe place for this young man to share his heart.
We had opportunities to pray with him and share the gospel. While
we never heard him profess a personal relationship with Christ, we
fed more than his physical hunger as we prayed with him and offered him spiritual food from Gods Word.
Are there young people in your life who need a mom? Making
cookies and pouring milk is an easy way to start a conversation.
And if anyone
gives even a cup
More Verses
to Explore:
Matthew 25:3740
Acts 10:4
Romans 12:13
1110
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1111
Matthew 12:3
Pharisees saw this, they said to him, Look!

Your disciples are doing what is unlawf ul on
the Sabbath.
3He an
s wered, Havent you read what
Dav id did when he and his companions were
ouse of God, and
hung ry? 4He entered the h
he and his companions ate the consecrated
breadwhich was not lawf ul for them to do,
but only for the p
riests. 5Or havent you read
in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in
the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are
innocent? 6I tell you that somet hing greater
than the temple is here. 7If you had k nown
what t hese words mean, I desire merc y, not
ould not have condemned
sacr i f ice, a you w
the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of
the Sabbath.
9Going on from that p
lace, he went into
t heir synagogue, 10and a man with a shriv
eled hand was t here. Looki ng for a reason to
bring charges against Jesus, they asked him,
Is it lawf ul to heal on the Sabbath?
11He said to them, If any of you has a
sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,
will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
12How much more valuable is a person than
a s heep! Therefore it is lawf ul to do good on
the Sabbath.
13Then he said to the man, Stretch out
your hand. So he s tretched it out and it was
completely restored, just as sound as the
other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plot
ted how they m ight kill J esus.
Gods Chosen Servant

15Aware of this, J esus withd rew from that
lace. A large c rowd followed him, and he
p
healed all who were ill. 16He warned them
not to tell others a bout him. 17This was to
fulf ill what was spoken t hrough the proph
et Isaiah:
18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the
nations.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the
streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not
snuff out,
Matthew 12:37
1111
till he has brought justice through to

victory.
21 In his name the nations will put
their hope.b
Jesus and Beelzebul

22Then
they brought him a demon-pos

sessed man who was b
lind and mute, and
Jesus h
ealed him, so that he could both talk
and see. 23All the people were astonished
and said, Could this be the Son of Dav id?
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they
said, It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of
demons, that this fellow d rives out demons.
25Jesus knew t heir t houghts and said to
them, Every kingdom div ided against it self
will be rui ned, and every city or household
div ided against it self will not stand. 26If Sa
tan d rives out Sat an, he is div ided against
himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
27And if I d rive out demons by Bee lz ebul,
by whom do your people d rive them out?
So then, they will be your judge s. 28But if
it is by the Spirit of God that I d rive out de
mons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you.
29Or
a gain, how can anyone enter a
strong mans house and carr y off his posses
sions unless he f irst ties up the strong man?
Then he can plunder his house.
30Whoe ver is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scat
ters. 31And so I tell you, every kind of sin
and slander can be forg iven, but blasphe
my against the Spirit will not be forg iven.
32Anyone who s peaks a word a
gainst the
Son of Man will be forg iven, but anyone
who s peaks a gainst the Holy Spirit will not
be forg iven, eit her in this age or in the age
to come.
33Make a tree good and its f ruit will be
good, or make a tree bad and its f ruit will be
bad, for a tree is recogn ized by its f ruit. 34You
brood of vipers, how can you who are evil
say anyt hing good? For the mouth speaks
rings
what the heart is full of. 35A good man b
good t hings out of the good stored up in him,
and an evil man brings evil t hings out of the
evil s tored up in him. 36But I tell you that
everyone will have to give account on the
day of judgment for every empt y word they
have spoken. 37For by your words you will
a7Hosea6:6 b21Isaiah42:1-4
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 232
role reversal
by Wendy Pope
Whoever is not
with me is against
me, and whoever
does not gather
with me scatters.
Matthew 12:30
I have a control issue. I often take lifes situations in my hands and

try to manipulate the outcome. God taught me a profound truth in
Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest: When I dont work
with God, Im working against God.
Are we playing the part of an amateur providence, trying
to play Gods role in the lives of others? Are we so noisy in our
instruction of other p eople that God cannot get near them?
These words pierced my heart as I identified myself as an amateur providence in my husbands life.
When the vow I do did not instantly morph my husband into
the spiritual leader I thought he should be, I played the role of Holy
Spirit. Manipulating situations, quoting the Bible and using the silent treatment became an art. But my methods didnt help my husband at all. I was working against God. My role as Holy Spirit in
my husbands life was so noisy, he could not hear God whispering
to him.
In my attempt to control my husband, I was blind to the man God
wanted him to be. I failed to notice the benevolence of his heart
the way he was drawn to taking care of widows and how he quietly
helped those in need.
Confessing my sin, I asked the Lord to forgive me, and I invited
him to change my own heart. Discovering that the lead role is best
played by God has brought peace to my life and marriage.
Are you working with God or against him in the lives of those
you love? Have you cast yourself in a role you werent meant to play?
Retire that role today. The view from the front row is much more
awesome than the one from center stage!
More Verses
to Explore:
Mark 9:23
Philippians 4:1213
James 4:8
1112
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1113
Matthew 12:38
be acquitted, and by your words you will be

condemned.
The Sign of Jonah

38Then some of the Phari sees and teach
ers of the law said to him, Teacher, we want
to see a sign from you.
39He ans wered, A wicke d and adulter
ous generat ion asks for a sign! But none will
be given it except the sign of the prophet Jo
nah. 40For as Jonah was t hree days and t hree
n ights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son
of Man will be t hree days and t hree n ights in
the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh
will stand up at the judgment with this gen
erat ion and condemn it; for they repented at
the preachi ng of Jonah, and now somet hing
greater than Jonah is here. 42The Queen of
the South will rise at the judgment with this
generation and condemn it; for she came
from the ends of the earth to listen to Solo
mons wisdom, and now somet hing greater
than Solomon is here.
43When an impure spirit c
omes out of a
person, it goes t hrough arid places seeki ng
rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, I will
ret urn to the h
ouse I left. When it arr ives,
it f inds the house unocc upied, s wept clean
and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes
with it seven other spirits more wicked than
itself, and they go in and live t here. And the
final cond it ion of that person is worse than
the f irst. That is how it will be with this wick
ed generat ion.
Jesus Mother and Brothers

46While
Jesus was still talking to the

c rowd, his mother and brothers stood out
side, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone
told him, Your mother and brothers are
standi ng outside, wanti ng to s peak to you.
48He replied to him, Who is my mother,
and who are my brothers? 49Pointi ng to his
disciples, he said, Here are my mother and
my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of
my Fat her in heaven is my brother and sister
and mother.
The Parable of the Sower
13
That same day Jesus went out of the

house and sat by the lake. 2Such
Matthew 13:17
1113
large c rowds gathered a round him that he

got into a boat and sat in it, while all the peo
ple stood on the shore. 3Then he told them
many t hings in parables, sayi ng: A farmer
went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scatter
ing the seed, some fell a long the path, and
the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on
rocky places, w here it did not have much
soil. It s prang up quickly, bec ause the soil
was shal low. 6But when the sun came up,
the plants were scorched, and they withered
bec ause they had no root. 7Other seed fell
a mong t horns, w
hich grew up and choked
the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil,
where it produced a cropa hund red, six
ty or thirt y t imes what was sown. 9Whoever
has ears, let them hear.
10The disc iples came to him and a sked,
Why do you speak to the people in para
bles?
11He replied, Bec ause the knowle dge of
the sec rets of the kingdom of heaven has
been given to you, but not to them. 12Who
ever has will be given more, and they will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from
them. 13This is why I speak to them in par
ables:
Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or
understand.
14In them is fulf illed the prophec y of Isaiah:
You will be ever hearing but never

understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never
perceiving.
15 For this peoples heart has become
calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.a
16But blessed are your eyes bec ause they see,
and your ears because they hear. 17For truly
I tell you, many prophets and righteous peo
ple longed to see what you see but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear but did not
hearit.
a15Isaiah6:9,10 (see Septuagint)
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1114
Matthew 13:18
18Lis
t en then to what the parable of
the sower means: 19When anyone hears
the message about the kingdom and does
not understand it, the evil one c omes and
snatches away what was sown in t heir heart.
This is the seed sown a long the path. 20The
seed falli ng on rocky g round refers to some
one who hears the word and at once receives
it with joy. 21But s ince they have no root, they
last only a s hort time. When trouble or per
sec ut ion comes bec ause of the word, they
quickly fall away. 22The seed falli ng a mong
the t horns refers to someone who hears the
word, but the worr ies of this life and the de
ceitf ulness of wealth choke the word, mak
ing it un f ruit f ul. 23But the seed falling on
good soil refers to someone who hears the
word and understands it. This is the one who
produces a crop, yieldi ng a hund red, sixt y or
thirt y t imes what was sown.
The Parable of the Weeds

24Jesus told them another parable: The
kingdom of heaven is like a man who s owed
good seed in his f ield. 25But while everyone
was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
weeds a mong the w heat, and went away.
26When the w
heat sproute d and formed
heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27The owners serv ants came to him and
said, Sir, d idnt you sow good seed in your
f ield? W here then did the weeds come from?
28An enemy did this, he replied.
The servants asked him, Do you want us
to go and pull themup?
29No, he ans wered, bec ause w hile you
are pulling the w
eeds, you may uproot the
wheat with them. 30Let both grow together
unt il the harvest. At that time I will tell the
harvesters: First collect the w
eeds and tie
them in bund les to be burned; then gather
the wheat and b
ring it into my barn.
The Parables of the Mustard Seed

andtheYeast
31He told them an
other parable: The
kingdom of heaven is like a must ard seed,
which a man took and planted in his f ield.
32Though it is the smalle st of all s
eeds, yet
when it g rows, it is the largest of garden
plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds
come and p
erch in its branches.
Matthew 13:48
1114
33He told them still another parable: The

kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woma n
took and m ixed into about sixt y p
oundsa of
f lour unt il it w
orked all t hrough the dough.
34Jesus spoke all t hese t hings to the c rowd
in parables; he did not say anyt hing to them
without usi ng a parable. 35So was fulf illed
what was spoken t hrough the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter things hidden since the
creation of the world.b
The Parable of the Weeds Explained

36Then he left the c rowd and went into the
ouse. His disciples came to him and said,
h
Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the
field.
37He ans wered, The one who sowed the
good seed is the Son of Man. 38The f ield is
the world, and the good seed stands for the
people of the kingdom. The weeds are the
people of the evil one, 39and the enemy who
sows them is the devi l. The harvest is the end
of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40As the weeds are pulled up and burned
in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
41The Son of Man will send out his angels,
and they will weed out of his kingdom ev
eryt hing that causes sin and all who do evil.
42They will
t hrow them into the blazing
furnace, w here t here will be weeping and
gnashi ng of teeth. 43Then the righteous will
shine like the sun in the kingdom of t heir Fa
ther. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure

andthePearl
44The kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a f ield. When a man found it, he
hid it a gain, and then in his joy went and sold
all he had and b
ought that field.
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant looki ng for fine pearls. 46When he
found one of g reat value, he went away and
sold everyt hing he had and b
oughtit.
The Parable of the Net

47Once
again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a net that was let down into the lake
and caught all k inds of fish. 48When it was
full, the fishermen p
ulled it up on the shore.
Then they sat down and collected the good
a33Orabout 27kilograms b35Psalm78:2
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 233
and the winner is...
by Melissa Taylor
After years of teaching, my husband and I decided I would devote

myself to our home and children. Until then, I never realized how
much my identity was found in work. I felt lost.
There has to be more to life than this, I thought, and I soon filled
my schedule with church activities. I felt important again. A few
years and another child later, I was struggling to keep up the Miss
Perfect-Worthy-and-Valuable front.
One Sunday in church, an award was given to a woman who devoted her life to serving God and her church. The presenter listed
one activity after another. Finally it hit me she was talking about me.
My husband was beaming and friends were telling me, You are the
winner! So why did I feel like sliding under the pew?
I didnt want to be that woman. Where were the words that mentioned I was a devoted wife who cared for her family? What about
that I was a woman after Gods heart or that I sought Gods priorities? Those things werent mentioned because they werent true.
My husband had been abandoned while I was serving others.
Church volunteers watched my children. As for being a woman after
Gods own heart? I was doing Gods work, but I hadnt involved him.
That day a new woman came home.
The next week I cleared my plate of anything that was out of balance. I had to discover my identity as a child of God and believe that
was enough. I had to believeand live out the realitythat Gods
kingdom is more valuable than all that I could ever have or achieve.
Have you ever felt like you needed a fancy title or worldly rewards
to feel important? If so, I challenge you to discover the truth. Ask
God to reveal his purpose for your life. Get your priorities balanced
Gods way and hear him say, And the winner is ... you!
The kingdom
of heaven is like
treasure hidden
in a field. When
a man found it,
he hid it again,
and then in his
joy went and sold
all he had and
bought that field.
Matthew 13:44
More Verses
to Explore:
Proverbs 3:6
Proverbs 16:3
Philippians 3:79
1115
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1116
Matthew 13:49
fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.

is how it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will come and sepa rate the wick
ed from the righteous 50and throw them
into the blazi ng furnace, where t here will be
weepi ng and gnashi ng of teeth.
51Have you understood all t hese t hings?
Jesus asked.
Yes, they replied.
52He said to them, Therefore every teach
er of the law who has become a disciple in
the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a
house who brings out of his storeroom new
treasures as well as old.
49This
A Prophet Without Honor

53When
Jesus had finished these para

bles, he moved on from t here. 54Comi ng to
his hometown, he began teaching the people
in t heir synagogue, and they were a mazed.
Where did this man get this wisdom and
t hese mi r acu lous powe rs? they a sked.
55Isnt this the car
penters son? Isnt his
mothers name Mary, and a rent his brothers
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56Arent all
his sisters with us? W here then did this man
get all t hese t hings? 57And they took offense
at him.
But J esus said to them, A prophet is not
without honor except in his own town and in
his own h
ome.
58And he did not do many miracles t here
because of t heir lack of faith.
John the Baptist Beheaded
14
At that time Herod the tet rarch heard

the reports about Jesus, 2and he said
to his attendants, This is John the Bapt ist;
he has risen from the dead! That is why mi
racu lous powers are at work in him.
3Now Herod had arrested John and bound
him and put him in prison because of Hero
dias, his brother Philips wife, 4for John had
been sayi ng to him: It is not lawf ul for you to
have her. 5Herod wanted to kill John, but he
was a fraid of the people, because they con
sidered John a prophet.
6On Herods birthday the daughter of He
rod ia s danced for the guests and p
leased
Hero d so much 7that he promised with
an oath to give her whate ver she a sked.
8Prompted by her mother, she said, Give me
here on a platter the head of John the Bap
tist. 9The king was dist ressed, but because
Matthew 14:27
1116
of his oaths and his dinner g uests, he or

dered that her request be granted 10and had
John beheaded in the prison. 11His head was
brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who carr ied it to her mother. 12Johns disci
ples came and took his body and buried it.
Then they went and told J esus.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13When Jesus heard what had happened,
he withd rew by boat privately to a solit ary
place. Heari ng of this, the crowds followed
him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus
landed and saw a large crowd, he had com
passion on them and healed t heir sick.
15As even ing approached, the disc iples
came to him and said, This is a remote
place, and its already gett ing late. Send the
crowds away, so they can go to the villages
and buy themselves some food.
16Jesus replied, They do not need to go
away. You give them somet hing to eat.
17We have here only five loaves of bread
and two fish, they answered.
18Bring them here to me, he said. 19And
he directed the people to sit down on the
g rass. Taki ng the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he gave t hanks
and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to
the disc iples, and the disc iples gave them
to the people. 20They all ate and were satis
fied, and the disciples picked up t welve bas
ketf uls of broken pieces that were left over.
21The numb er of t hose who ate was about
five thousand men, besides women and chil
dren.
Jesus Walks on the Water

22Im med iatel y Jesus made the disc iples
get into the boat and go on a head of him
to the other side, w
hile he dism issed the
c rowd. 23After he had dism issed them, he
went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. Later that night, he was t here a lone,
24and the boat was already a cons iderable
dist ance from land, buffeted by the w aves
because the wind was againstit.
25Shortly before dawn J esus went out to
them, walki ng on the lake. 26When the disci
ples saw him walki ng on the lake, they were
terr if ied. Its a g host, they said, and cried
out in fear.
27But Jesus im med iatel y said to them:
Take courage! It is I. D
ont be afraid.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1117
Matthew 14:28
Matthew 15:30
1117
28Lord, if its you, Peter replied, tell me

to come to you on the water.
29Come, he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat,
walked on the water and came toward J esus.
30But when he saw the wind, he was a
fraid
and, beg inn ing to sink, c ried out, Lord,
saveme!
31Immed iately Jesus reached out his hand
and caught him. You of litt le faith, he said,
why did you doubt?
32And when they c limbed into the boat,
the wind died down. 33Then t hose who were
in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly
you are the Son of God.
34When they had c rossed over, they land
ed at Gen nesa ret. 35And when the men of
that place recogn ized J esus, they sent word
to all the sur
r ound
i ng coun
t ry. Peo
ple
brought all t heir sick to him 36and begged
him to let the sick just touch the edge of his
cloak, and all who t ouched it were healed.
what comes out of their mouth, that is what

def iles them.
12Then the dis
c iples came to him and
asked, Do you know that the Pharisees were
offended when they h
eard this?
13He replied, Every plant that my heav
enly Fat her has not planted will be pulled
up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind
lind lead the blind, both will
g uides. d If the b
fall into a pit.
15Peter said, Explain the parable tous.
16Are you s
till so dull? Jesus asked them.
17Dont you see that what
e ver enters the
mouth goes into the stomach and then out
of the body? 18But the t hings that come out
of a persons mouth come from the heart,
and t hese def ile them. 19For out of the heart
come evil t houghts murder, adultery, sex
ua l im moral it y, t heft, false test i mony, slan
der. 20These are what defile a person; but
eati ng with unwashed hands does not def ile
them.
That Which Defiles
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
Then some Pharisees and teachers of

the law came to Jesus from Jer usalem
and a sked, 2Why do your disc iples break
the trad it ion of the elders? They dont wash
t heir hands before they eat!
3Jesus replied, And why do you break the
command of God for the sake of your trad i
tion? 4For God said, Honor your fat her and
mother a and Anyone who curses t heir fa
ther or mother is to be put to death.b 5But
you say that if anyone declares that what
m ight have been used to help t heir fat her or
mother is devoted to God, 6they are not to
honor t heir fat her or mother with it. Thus
you nullif y the word of God for the sake of
your trad it ion. 7You hypocrites! Isa iah was
r ight when he prophesied about you:
21Leaving that p
lace, Jesus withd rew to
the reg ion of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite
woma n from that vicinit y came to him, cry
ing out, Lord, Son of Dav id, have merc y on
me! My daughter is demon-possessed and
suf feri ng terr ibly.
23Jesus did not ans wer a word. So his dis
ciples came to him and u rged him, Send her
away, for she k eeps cryi ng out afterus.
24He ans wered, I was sent only to the lost
sheep of Israel.
25The woma n came and k nelt before him.
Lord, help me! she said.
26He replied, It is not r ight to take the
child rens bread and toss it to the dogs.
27Yes it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs
eat the crumbs that fall from t heir masters
table.
28Then Jesus said to her, Wom
a n, you
have g reat faith! Your request is granted.
And her daughter was healed at that mo
ment.
15
8 These people honor me with their

lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human
rules.c
10Jesus
c alled the crowd to him and said,

Listen and understand. 11What goes into
someones m
outh does not def ile them, but
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

29Jesus left t here and went a long the Sea
of Gali lee. Then he went up on a mountain
side and sat down. 30Great crowds came to
a4Exodus20:12; Deut. 5:16 b4Exodus21:17; Lev. 20:9 c9Isaiah29:13 d14
Some manuscripts
blind guides of the blind
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1118
Matthew 15:31
him, bringi ng the lame, the b

lind, the crip
pled, the mute and many others, and laid
them at his feet; and he h
ealed them. 31The
people were a mazed when they saw the
mute speaki ng, the crippled made well, the
lame walki ng and the b
lind seei ng. And they
praised the God of Israel.
32Jesus
c alled his disc iples to him and
said, I have compassion for t hese people;
they have already been with me t hree days
and have nothing to eat. I do not want to
send them away hung ry, or they may col
lapse on the way.
33His disc iples an s wered, Where c ould
we get enough bread in this remote place to
feed such a crowd?
34How many loaves do you have? Jesus
asked.
Seven, they replied, and a few small
fish.
35He told the c
rowd to sit down on the
g round. 36Then he took the seven loaves and
the fish, and when he had given t hanks, he
broke them and gave them to the disciples,
and they in turn to the people. 37They all
ate and were satisf ied. Afterward the disci
ples picked up seven basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over. 38The number of
t hose who ate was four thousand men, be
sides women and child ren. 39After Jesus had
sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and
went to the vicinit y of Magadan.
The Demand for a Sign
16
The Phar isees and Sadducees came

to Jesus and tested him by asking
him to show them a sign from heaven.
2He replied, When even ing c omes, you
say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is
red, 3and in the morni ng, Today it will be
stormy, for the sky is red and overcast. You
know how to interpret the appeara nce of the
sky, but you cannot interpret the s igns of the
t imes. a 4A wicked and adulterous generat ion
looks for a sign, but none will be given it ex
cept the sign of Jonah. J esus then left them
and went away.
The Yeast of the Pharisees

and Sadducees
5When they went across the lake, the dis
ciples forgot to take b
read. 6Be caref ul,
Matthew 16:21
1118
J esus said to them. Be on your g uard a gainst

the y east of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
7They disc ussed this a
mong themselves
and said, It is because we d idnt bring any
bread.
8Aware of t heir disc uss ion, Jesus a sked,
You of little faith, why are you talking
a mong yourselves about hav i ng no bread?
9Do you still not understand? D
ont you re
member the five l oaves for the five thousand,
and how many basketf uls you gathered? 10Or
the seven loaves for the four thousand, and
how many basketf uls you gathered? 11How
is it you dont understand that I was not talk
ing to you about b
read? But be on your g uard
against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sad
ducees. 12Then they understood that he was
not telli ng them to g uard a gainst the yeast
used in bread, but against the teachi ng of the
Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Declares That Jesus Is

the Messiah
13When Jesus came to the reg ion of Caesa
rea Phil ippi, he asked his disciples, Who do
people say the Son of Manis?
14They replied, Some say John the Bap
tist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jere
mia h or one of the prophets.
15But what about you? he a sked. Who
do you say Iam?
16Si
mon Peter ans wered, You are the
Messia h, the Son of the livi ng God.
17Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by f lesh and blood, but by my Fat her in heav
en. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,b and
on this rock I will b
uild my c hurch, and the
gates of Hades c will not overcome it. 19I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
whatever you bind on e arth will bed bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will bed loosed in heaven. 20Then he or
dered his disciples not to tell anyone that he
was the Messia h.
Jesus Predicts His Death

21From that time on Jesus beg an to ex
plain to his disciples that he must go to Jer u
salem and suffer many t hings at the h
ands of
the elders, the chief priests and the teachers
a2,3
Some early manuscripts do not have When evening comes... of the times. b18 The Greek word for
Peter means rock. c18 That is, the realm of the dead d19Orwill have been
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1119
Matthew 16:22
of the law, and that he must be k illed and on

the t hird day be raised to life.
22Peter took him a side and beg an to re
buke him. Never, Lord! he said. This shall
never happen to you!
23Jesus t urned and said to Peter, Get be
hind me, Satan! You are a stumbling b
lock to
me; you do not have in mind the concerns of
God, but merely human concerns.
24Then Jesus said to his disc iples, Who
ever w
ants to be my disc iple must deny
themselves and take up t heir cross and fol
low me. 25For whoever w ants to save t heir
lifea will lose it, but whoever loses t heir life
for me will find it. 26What good will it be for
someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit
their soul? Or what can anyone give in ex
change for their soul? 27For the Son of Man
is goi ng to come in his Fat hers glor y with his
angels, and then he will reward each person
accordi ng to what they have done.
28Truly I tell you, some who are standi ng
here will not taste death before they see the
Son of Man comi ng in his kingdom.
The Transfiguration
17
After six days Jesus took with him

Peter, James and John the brother of
James, and led them up a high mountain by
themselves. 2There he was transf igu red be
fore them. His face shone like the sun, and
his c lothes bec ame as w hite as the light.
3Just then t here appeared before them Mo
ses and Elijah, talki ng with J esus.
4Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for
us to be here. If you wish, I will put up t hree
sheltersone for you, one for Moses and
one for Elijah.
5While he was s
till speaking, a bright
cloud covered them, and a voice from the
cloud said, This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well p
leased. Listen to him!
6When the disc iples h
eard this, they fell
facedown to the g round, terr if ied. 7But Jesus
came and touched them. Get up, he said.
Dont be a fraid. 8When they looked up,
they saw no one except J esus.
9As they were coming down the moun
tain, Jesus instructed them, Dont tell any
one what you have seen, unt il the Son of Man
has been raised from the dead.
Matthew 17:25
1119
10The disc iples a sked him, Why then do

the teachers of the law say that Elijah must
come first?
11Jesus replied, To be sure, Elijah comes
and will restore all t hings. 12But I tell you,
Elijah has already come, and they did not
recogn ize him, but have done to him ev
eryt hing they w ished. In the same way the
Son of Man is goi ng to suffer at t heir hands.
13Then the disc iples understood that he was
talki ng to them a bout John the Bapt ist.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

14When they came to the c rowd, a man
approached Jesus and k nelt before him.
15Lord, have mer
c y on my son, he said.
He has seizures and is sufferi ng greatly. He
often falls into the fire or into the water. 16I
brought him to your disciples, but they c ould
not heal him.
17You unb el iev i ng and per v erse gener
at ion, Jesus replied, how long s hall I stay
with you? How long shall I put up with you?
Bring the boy here to me. 18Jesus rebuked
the demon, and it came out of the boy, and
he was healed at that moment.
19Then the disc iples came to Jesus in pri
vate and a sked, Why couldnt we d rive it
out?
20He re
plied, Bec ause you have so lit
tle faith. Truly I tell you, if you have f aith as
small as a mustard seed, you can say to this
mountain, Move from here to t here, and it
will move. Nothing will be impossible for
you. [21]b

a Second Time
22When they came to
gether in Galilee,
he said to them, The Son of Man is goi ng to
be del ivered into the hands of men. 23They
will kill him, and on the t hird day he will be
raised to life. And the disciples were f illed
with grief.
The Temple Tax

24After
Jesus and his disciples arr ived in

Capernau m, the collectors of the two-drach
ma temple tax came to Peter and a sked,
Doesnt your teacher pay the temple tax?
25Yes, he does, he replied.
a25
TheGreek word means either life or soul; also in verse26. b21 Some manuscripts include here
words similar to Mark9:29.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 234
mean mom, kind mom
by Lysa TerKeurst
Do you ever struggle with your mean mom trying to come out?
Or your mean woman? Or your mean wife? How is it I can be
singing along to the sweetest tune and then suddenly veer off into a
Whoever wants
dissonant, bad attitude?
to be my disciple
I wish there was one simple fix-it plan that said if we followed
must deny
three steps, all tendencies toward emotional eruptions would vanthemselves and
ish. But thats not reality. If all we needed to follow was a plan, wed
take up their cross have no need to follow J esus.
Jesus said we have to deny ourselves, take up our cross and foland follow me.
low him.
Matthew 16:24
I must deny myself...
I need to use self-control when my emotions beg to erupt. I must
deny myself the momentary satisfaction of the quick comeback, the
rude response and full-scale yelling. Deny myself. Its hard. But it is
the way with Jesus.
Then I must take up my cross...
My cross. I must take my issues to his cross and see my sin for
what it is: sin. And I must be disgusted enough by my sin to truly
want to change.
Take up my cross. Its hard. But it is the way with Jesus.
Finally, I must follow him...
I must close my mouth, pause long enough to let him interrupt
my emotional eruption and let his Spirit redirect me. Yes, my children need to be corrected, but only a calm mama can think of rational, reasonable consequences.
Its amazing how quickly my mean mom vanishes when I deny
myself, admit my sin and choose to let Jesus interrupt me. Then I
can follow J esus into a sweet song once again.
Then Jesus said
to his disciples,
More Verses
to Explore:
Matthew 10:38
Matthew 16:2426
1Peter 2:2122
1120
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1121
Matthew 17:26
Matthew 18:25
1121
When Peter came into the h

ouse, Jesus
was the f irst to speak. What do you t hink,
Simon? he asked. From whom do the k ings
of the earth collect duty and taxesfrom
t heir own child ren or from others?
26From others, Peter ans wered.
Then the children are exempt, Jesus said
to him. 27But so that we may not cause of
fense, go to the lake and t hrow out your line.
Take the f irst fish you catch; open its mouth
and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take
it and give it to them for my tax and yours.
heaven always see the face of my Fat her in

heaven. [11]a
12What do you t hink? If a man owns a
hund red sheep, and one of them wanders
away, will he not leave the ninet y-nine on
the h
ills and go to look for the one that wan
dered off? 13And if he f inds it, truly I tell you,
he is happier about that one s heep than
about the ninet y-nine that did not wander
off. 14In the same way your Fat her in heav
en is not willi ng that any of t hese litt le ones
should perish.
The Greatest in the Kingdom

ofHeaven
Dealing With Sin in the Church
18
At that time the disc iples came to

Jesus and asked, Who, then, is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2He c
alled a litt le child to him, and placed
the child a mong them. 3And he said: Truly I
tell you, unless you change and become like
litt le child ren, you will never enter the king
dom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever t akes
the lowly posit ion of this c hild is the great
est in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever
welcomes one such child in my name wel
comes me.
Causing to Stumble
6If any
one cause s one of these little
onesthose who bel ieve in meto stum
ble, it would be better for them to have a
large millstone hung a round t heir neck and
to be d rowned in the depths of the sea. 7Woe
to the world because of the t hings that cause
people to stumble! Such t hings must come,
but woe to the person t hrough whom they
come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you
to stumble, cut it off and t hrow it away. It is
better for you to enter life maimed or crip
pled than to have two hands or two feet and
be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your
eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and
t hrow it away. It is better for you to enter life
with one eye than to have two eyes and be
t hrown into the fire of hell.
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep

10See that you do not despise one of t hese
litt le ones. For I tell you that t heir angels in
15If your brother or sisterb sins,c go and

oint out their fault, just bet ween the two of
p
you. If they listen to you, you have won them
over. 16But if they will not listen, take one or
two others a long, so that every matter may
be established by the testimony of two or
t hree witnesses. d 17If they still refuse to lis
ten, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to
listen even to the c hurch, t reat them as you
would a pagan or a tax collector.
18Trul y I tell you, whate ver you bind on
earth will bee bound in heaven, and what
ever you loose on earth will bee loosed in
heaven.
19Again, truly I tell you that if two of you
on earth a gree about anyt hing they ask for, it
will be done for them by my Fat her in heav
en. 20For w here two or t hree gather in my
name, t here am I with them.
The Parable of the Unmerciful

Servant
21Then
Peter came to Jesus and a sked,

Lord, how many times shall I forg ive my
brother or sister who sins against me? Up to
seven times?
22Jesus ans wered, I tell you, not seven
t imes, but sevent y-seven times. f
23Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is
like a king who wanted to sett le accounts
with his servants. 24As he began the sett le
ment, a man who owed him ten thousand
bags of goldg was brought to him. 25Since he
was not able to pay, the master ordered that
he and his wife and his child ren and all that
he had be sold to repay the debt.
a11
Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke19:10. b15 The Greek word for brother or sister
(adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35. c15Some
manuscripts sins against you d16Deut.19:15 e18Orwill have been f22Orseventy times seven
g24Greekten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20years of a day laborers wages.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 235
just a little heart cleaning
by T. Suzanne Eller
The broom swept briskly over the mahogany floors. I worked with
so much energy it probably looked like I was a clean freak. In reality,
asked, Lord, how I was trying to sweep away the lingering pain from harsh words a
friend had spoken the day before.
many times shall I
Thoughts about those words filled my mind that morning. Putforgive my brother ting on some music, I took out the broom and asked God for his
or sister who sins
grace, because mine didnt seem to be big enough at that moment.
Forgiveness is a bridge I thought I had crossed, and yet I was
against me? Up
there
again. After working through an abusive, dysfunctional childto seven times?
hood and forgiving those involved, I knew the freedom that comes
Jesus answered,
through forgiving others. So why was the small stuff tripping me
I tell you, not
up? Apparently my heart still needed healing.
seven times, but
God sees my heart. He knows I have forgivenand I will conseventy-seven
tinue to become a forgiver as I meet lifes challenges. To do that, I
have to give myself a little grace and also invite him into the process.
times.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, What lies behind us and what lies
Matthew 18:2122
before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. As I
talked with my Savior, he settled in and made himself at home in the
situation. My house got cleaned, and so did my heart.
What happens when we are willing to forgive? It moves us one
step away from the hurts of the past or the small stuff that tries to
hold us down. It draws us close to a life lived in deep-seated faith
marked by grace.
Then Peter came
to Jesus and
More Verses
to Explore:
Luke 6:3738
1Corinthians 13:4 5
Ephesians 4:2
1122
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1123
Matthew 18:26
26At this the serv ant fell on his k nees be

fore him. Be pat ient with me, he b
egged,
and I will pay back everyt hing. 27The ser
vants master took pity on him, canceled the
debt and let himgo.
28But when that ser
v ant went out, he
found one of his fellow servants who owed
him a hund red silver c oins.a He g rabbed
him and began to choke him. Pay back what
you owe me! he demanded.
29His fellow serv ant fell to his k nees and
begged him, Be pat ient with me, and I will
pay it back.
30But he re
f used. Instead, he went off
and had the man thrown into prison un
til he could pay the debt. 31When the other
servants saw what had happened, they were
outraged and went and told t heir master ev
eryt hing that had happened.
32Then the master c
alled the servant in.
You wicked servant, he said, I canceled all
that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33Shouldnt you have had merc y on your fel
low servant just as I had on you? 34In anger
his master handed him over to the jailers to
be tort ured, unt il he should pay back all he
owed.
35This is how my heavenly Fat her will
treat each of you unless you forg ive your
brother or sister from your heart.
Divorce
19
When
Jesus had fin
i shed say
i ng
t hese t hings, he left Gali lee and went
into the reg ion of Judea to the other side of
the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and
he h
ealed them there.
3Some Pharisees came to him to test him.
They asked, Is it lawf ul for a man to divorce
his wife for any and every reason?
4Havent you read, he replied, that at
the beg inn ing the Creator made them male
and female, b 5and said, For this reason a
man will leave his fat her and mother and be
united to his wife, and the two will become
one f lesh c? 6So they are no longer two, but
one f lesh. Therefore what God has joined to
gether, let no one sepa rate.
7Why then, they a
sked, did Moses com
mand that a man give his wife a cert ificate of
divorce and send her away?
Matthew 19:22
1123
8Jesus replied, Mos es perm itted you to

divorce your w
ives because your hearts were
hard. But it was not this way from the beg in
ning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for sexua l immoralit y, and mar
ries another woma n comm its adultery.
10The disc iples said to him, If this is the
situat ion bet ween a husband and wife, it is
better not to marr y.
11Jesus replied, Not everyone can accept
this word, but only t hose to whom it has been
given. 12For there are eunuchs who were
born that way, and there are eunuchs who
have been made eunuchs by othersa nd
there are those who choose to live like eu
nuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heav
en. The one who can accept this should ac
ceptit.
The Little Children and Jesus

13Then people brought litt le child ren to
Jesus for him to place his hands on them
and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked
them.
14Jesus said, Let the litt le child ren come
to me, and do not hinder them, for the king
dom of heaven belongs to such as these.
15When he had placed his h
ands on them, he
went on from there.
The Rich and the Kingdom of God

16Just then a man came up to J esus and
a sked, Teacher, what good t hing must I do
to get eternal life?
17Why do you ask me
about what is
good? J esus replied. There is only One who
is good. If you want to enter life, keep the
com mand ments.
18Which ones? he inquired.
Jesus replied, You shall not murder,
you s hall not comm it adultery, you s hall
not steal, you shall not give false test imony,
19honor your fat her and mother,d and love
your neighbor as yourself.e
20All t hese I have kept, the young man
said. What do I s till lack?
21Jesus ans wered, If you want to be per
fect, go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, followme.
22When the
young man heard this, he
went away sad, because he had g reat wealth.
a28Greeka hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see 20:2).
b4Gen.1:27 c5Gen.2:24 d19Exodus20:12-16; Deut.5:16-20 e19Lev.19:18
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 236
i dont love my husband anymore
by Lysa TerKeurst
My friends words saddened me. She said she was tired of her husband and was leaving him for the man of her dreams. I was shocked.
I had been in their wedding and heard their lifetime promises
that at the
to each other. We had celebrated their anniversaries, births and the
beginning the
joys of life together.
Creator made
While their relationship wasnt perfect, they did love each other.
them male and
But something had broken in their relationship and neither knew
how to fix it. It led to a stale quietness that seeped into their home
female, and said,
and made each feel lonely and isolated.
For this reason a
He had grown distant. She had grown frustrated. Life was busy,
man will leave his
finances stressful and they stopped making time for each other.
father and mother
Then she met an attentive, financially secure man who seemed to
and be united to
be the answer to all of her unmet longings.
his wife, and the
She traded her old life for the thrill of something new ... the lure
of something she perceived would be better.
two will become
Just two years later I ran into her and was stunned by her conone flesh? So
fession. With tears in her eyes, she admitted that fairy tales dont
they are no longer
exist. Every relationship feels exhilarating at the beginning but then
two, but one flesh. takes hard work to thrive. When I asked her to tell me about her new
Therefore what
husband, she said, Well, hes hairy.
What?
God has joined
What did she just say? My mind was spinning. Of all the descriptogether, let no
tions and romantic terms I expected her to use, hairy was not
one separate.
on the list. How revealing that the once irresistible man she traded
Matthew 19:46
everything for had been reduced to one word: hairy!
Im convinced that in marriage the grass isnt greener on the
other side. The grass is greener where you water and fertilize it.
Havent you
read, he replied,
More Verses
to Explore:
Exodus 20:17
Proverbs 5:28
Proverbs 20:16
1124
0310439361_int_05_matt_acts_niv_real_life.indd 1124
11/5/12 12:41 PM
1125
Matthew 19:23
23Then Jesus said to his disc iples, Truly I

tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to
enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell
you, it is easier for a camel to go t hrough the
eye of a need le than for someone who is rich
to enter the kingdom of God.
25When the dis
c iples h
eard this, they
were greatly astonished and a sked, Who
then can be saved?
26Jesus looked at them and said, With
man this is impossible, but with God all
t hings are possible.
27Peter ans wered him, We have left ev
eryt hing to follow you! What then will t here
be forus?
28Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, at the
renewa l of all t hings, when the Son of Man
sits on his glor ious throne, you who have
followed me will also sit on t welve t hrones,
judgi ng the t welve t ribes of Israel. 29And ev
eryone who has left houses or brothers or sis
ters or fat her or mother or wifea or child ren
or f ields for my sake will receive a hund red
t imes as much and will inherit eternal life.
30But many who are first will be last, and
many who are last will be first.
The Parable of the Workers

intheVineyard
20
For the kingdom of heaven is like a

landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his viney ard.
2He agreed to pay them a denariu sb for the
day and sent them into his vineyard.
3About nine in the morni ng he went out
and saw others standi ng in the marketplace
doi ng noth i ng. 4He told them, You also go
and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you
whatever is r ight. 5So they went.
He went out again about noon and about
three in the afternoon and did the same
t hing. 6About five in the afternoon he went
out and f ound s till others standi ng a round.
He asked them, Why have you been stand
ing here all day long doi ng nothi ng?
7Bec ause no one has h ired us, they an
swered.
He said to them, You also go and work in
my vineyard.
8When even ing came, the owner of the
vineyard said to his foreman, Call the work
ers and pay them their wage s, beg inn ing
a29
Matthew 20:23
1125
with the last ones h ired and goi ng on to the

first.
9The workers who were h ired about five
in the afternoon came and each received a
denar ius. 10So when t hose came who were
h ired first, they expected to receive more.
But each one of them also received a denar
ius. 11When they received it, they began to
grumble against the landowner. 12These
who were h ired last worked only one hour,
they said, and you have made them equal
to us who have borne the burden of the work
and the heat of the day.
13But he ans wered one of them, I am not
bei ng unfair to you, friend. Didnt you agree
to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and
go. I want to give the one who was h
ired last
the same as I gave you. 15Dont I have the
r ight to do what I want with my own money?
Or are you env ious because I am generous?
16So the last will be f irst, and the f irst will
be last.

a Third Time
17Now
Jesus was going up to Jer usalem.

On the way, he took the T
welve a side and
said to them, 18We are goi ng up to Jer usa
lem, and the Son of Man will be delivered
over to the chief priests and the teachers of
the law. They will condemn him to death
19and will hand him over to the Gent iles to
be mocked and f logged and cruc ified. On
the t hird day he will be raised to life!
A Mothers Request
20Then
the mother of Zebe dees sons

came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling
down, asked a favor of him.
21What is it you want? he asked.
She said, Grant that one of t hese two sons
of mine may sit at your r ight and the other at
your left in your kingdom.
22You d
ont know what you are aski ng,
Jesus said to them. Can you d
rink the cup I
am goi ng to drink?
We can, they answered.
23Jesus said to them, You will in
deed
d rink from my cup, but to sit at my r ight or
left is not for me to g rant. T hese places be
long to t hose for whom they have been pre
pared by my Fat her.
Some manuscripts do not have or wife. b2 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 237
praying for the impossible
by Lysa TerKeurst
I sat beside my youngest sister and listened as she boldly rejected my

views of God. Shes always been a free spirit, much too unconventional for traditional religion.
were greatly
Good thing Im not into religion, I gently replied.
astonished and
She twisted her face and took exception, But you are religious.
asked, Who then
I laid my head against the back of the lounge chair, closed my
can be saved?
eyes to the sun now washing over me and simply replied, Nope.
When she asked me to clarify, I explained that I follow God, not
Jesus looked at
a
list
of rules. I am passionate about getting into the BibleGods
them and said,
teachingsand I let my feelings and experiences be evaluated in
With man this is
light of Gods Word.
impossible, but
I took my sisters hand and told her Id be praying for God to
with God all things mess with her in ways too bold for her to deny.
are possible.
Fast-forward five years. My sister walked into her professors office
and saw one of my books. And it messed with her.
Matthew 19:2526
She went home, poked around my blog and listened to my testimony. Gods Word messed with her so much that she let the possibility that God exists slip into her heart.
A few days later she had Jeremiah 29:11 tattooed on the back of
her neck. And she called, wanting to talk to me about life, tattoos
and God.
Then one day, I stood in the middle of the Atlanta airport praying for this precious girl. She called. She asked. Thats the miracle
of our J esus. He is the God of the impossible.
Lets dare to ask God for the impossible a little more often.
When the disciples
heard this, they
More Verses
to Explore:
Genesis 18:14
Numbers 11:23
1Timothy 2:14
1126
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1127
Matthew 20:24
24When the ten

heard a bout this, they
were in
d ig
n ant with the two broth
e rs.
25Jesus c alled them together and said, You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord
it over them, and t heir high offic ials exer
cise aut horit y over them. 26Not so with you.
Instead, whoe ver w ants to bec ome g reat
a mong you must be your servant, 27and who
ever w
ants to be f irst must be your slave
28just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.
Two Blind Men Receive Sight

29As J esus and his disc iples were leavi ng
Jer icho, a large crowd fol lowed him. 30Two
blind men were sitt ing by the roadside, and
when they heard that Jesus was going by,
they shouted, Lord, Son of Dav id, have mer
cy onus!
31The c rowd rebuked them and told them
to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder,
Lord, Son of Dav id, have merc y onus!
32Jesus s
topped and called them. What
do you want me to do for you? he asked.
33Lord, they an
s wered, we want our
sight.
34Jesus had com
passion on them and
touched t heir eyes. Im med iatel y they re
ceived t heir sight and followed him.
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
21
As they approached Jer usa lem and

came to Bethphage on the Mount of
Olives, Jesus sent two disc iples, 2sayi ng to
them, Go to the village a head of you, and at
once you will find a donkey tied t here, with
her colt by her. Unt ie them and b
ring them to
me. 3If anyone says anyt hing to you, say that
the Lord needs them, and he will send them
r ight away.
4This took place to fulf ill what was spoken
t hrough the prophet:
5 Say to Daughter Zion,

See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of
a donkey.a
6The disc iples went and did as Jesus had
instructed them. 7They brought the don
key and the colt and placed t heir cloaks on
Matthew 21:20
1127
them for J esus to sit on. 8A very l arge crowd

s pread t heir cloaks on the road, while others
cut branches from the t rees and spread them
on the road. 9The c rowds that went a head of
him and t hose that followed shouted,
Hosannab to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord!c
Hosannab in the highest heaven!
10When Jesus ent ered Jer u s a l em, the
hole city was stirred and a sked, Who is
w
this?
11The c
rowds ans wered, This is Jesus,
the prophet from Naza reth in Gali lee.
Jesus at the Temple

12Jesus
entered the temple c ourts and

rove out all who were buying and selling
d
t here. He overt urned the tables of the mon
ey changers and the benches of t hose selli ng
doves. 13It is written, he said to them, My
house will be called a house of prayer,d but
you are maki ng it a den of robbers.e
14The b
lind and the lame came to him at
the temple, and he healed them. 15But when
the chief priests and the teachers of the law
saw the wonderful things he did and the
child ren shouti ng in the temple courts, Ho
sanna to the Son of Dav id, they were ind ig
nant.
16Do you hear what t hese child ren are
sayi ng? they asked him.
Yes, replied Jesus, have you never read,
From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your
praisef?
17And he left them and went out of the city
to Betha ny, w
here he spent the night.
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

18Early in the morni ng, as Jesus was on his
way back to the city, he was hung ry. 19See
ing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but
found nothi ng on it except leaves. Then he
said to it, May you never bear f ruit a gain!
Immed iately the tree withered.
20When the disc iples saw this, they were
a mazed. How did the fig tree wither so
quickly? they asked.
a5Zech.9:9 b9
AHebrew expression meaning Save! which became an exclamation of praise; also

in verse15 c9Psalm118:25,26 d13Isaiah56:7 e13Jer.7:11 f16 Psalm8:2 (see Septuagint)
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1128
Matthew 21:21
21Jesus re
plied, Truly I tell you, if you
have faith and do not doubt, not only can you
do what was done to the fig tree, but also you
can say to this mountain, Go, t hrow yourself
into the sea, and it will be done. 22If you be
lieve, you will receive whatever you ask for
in prayer.
The Authority of Jesus Questioned

23Jesus
entered the temple courts, and,

hile he was teaching, the chief priests and
w
the elders of the people came to him. By what
aut horit y are you doing t hese t hings? they
asked. And who gave you this aut horit y?
24Jesus replied, I will also ask you one
quest ion. If you ans wer me, I will tell you
by what aut horit y I am doi ng t hese t hings.
25Johns bapt ismwhere did it come from?
Was it from heaven, or of human orig in?
They discussed it a mong themselves and
said, If we say, From heaven, he will ask,
Then why d idnt you bel ieve him? 26But if
we say, Of human orig inwe are a fraid of
the people, for they all hold that John was a
prophet.
27So they answered J esus, We d
ont know.
Then he said, Neit her will I tell you by
what aut horit y I am doi ng t hese things.
The Parable of the Two Sons

28What do you t hink? T here was a man
who had two sons. He went to the f irst and
said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard.
29I will not, he ans wered, but later he
changed his mind and went.
30Then the fat her went to the other son
and said the same thing. He ans wered, I
will, sir, but he did notgo.
31Which of the two did what his fat her
wanted?
The f irst, they answered.
Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, the
tax collectors and the prost it utes are enter
ing the kingdom of God a head of you. 32For
John came to you to show you the way of
righteousness, and you did not bel ieve him,
but the tax collectors and the prost it utes did.
And even after you saw this, you did not re
pent and bel ieve him.
The Parable of the Tenants

33Listen
to another parable: T here was a

landowner who planted a vineyard. He put
a42Psalm118:22,23 b44
Matthew 22:3
1128
a wall a round it, dug a winepress in it and

built a watchtower. Then he rented the vine
yard to some farmers and moved to another
place. 34When the harvest time approached,
he sent his servants to the tena nts to collect
his fruit.
35The tena nts s eized his serv ants; they
beat one, k illed another, and s toned a t hird.
36Then he sent other serv ants to them, more
than the f irst time, and the tena nts treated
them the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his
son to them. They will respect my son, he
said.
38But when the tena nts saw the son, they
said to each other, This is the heir. Come,
lets kill him and take his inheritance. 39So
they took him and t hrew him out of the vine
yard and k illed him.
40Therefore, when the owner of the vine
yard c omes, what will he do to t hose tenants?
41He will
bring those wretches to a
wretched end, they replied, and he will
rent the vineyard to other tena nts, who will
give him his share of the crop at harvest
time.
42Jesus said to them, Have you never read
in the Script ures:
The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyesa?
43Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of
God will be taken away from you and given
to a people who will produce its f ruit. 44Any
one who falls on this s tone will be broken
to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be
crushed.b
45When the
chief p
riests and the Phar
isees heard Jesus parables, they knew he
was talki ng about them. 46They l ooked for a
way to arrest him, but they were a fraid of the
crowd because the people held that he was
a prophet.
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22
Jesus spoke to them again in para

bles, saying: 2The kingdom of heav
en is like a king who prepared a wedd ing
banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to
t hose who had been inv ited to the banquet to
tell them to come, but they ref used to come.
Some manuscripts do not have verse44.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1129
Matthew 22:4
Matthew 22:43
1129
22When they heard this, they were amazed.

So they left him and went away.
4Then he sent some more serv ants and

said, Tell t hose who have been inv ited that
I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and
fattened cattle have been butchered, and
everyt hing is ready. Come to the wedd ing
banquet.
5But they paid no at
tention and went
offone to his field, another to his busi
ness. 6The rest s eized his servants, mist reat
ed them and k illed them. 7The king was en
raged. He sent his army and destroyed t hose
murderers and burned t heir city.
8Then he said to his serv ants, The wed
ding banquet is ready, but those I inv ited
did not deserve to come. 9So go to the s treet
corners and inv ite to the banquet anyone
you find. 10So the serv ants went out into
the streets and gathered all the people they
could find, the bad as well as the good, and
the wedd ing hall was f illed with guests.
11But when the king came in to see the
g uests, he not iced a man t here who was not
weari ng wedd ing clothes. 12He asked, How
did you get in here without wedd ing clothes,
friend? The man was speechless.
13Then the king told the attendants, Tie
him hand and foot, and t hrow him outside,
into the darkness, where t here will be weep
ing and gnashi ng of teeth.
14For many are inv ited, but few are cho
sen.
23That same day the Sadduc ees, who say

t here is no resu rrect ion, came to him with
a quest ion. 24Teacher, they said, Moses
told us that if a man dies without having
child ren, his brother must marr y the widow
and raise up offspring for him. 25Now t here
were seven brothers a mong us. The f irst one
marr ied and died, and since he had no chil
dren, he left his wife to his brother. 26The
same thing happened to the second and
t hird brother, r ight on down to the seventh.
27Fi n al l y, the woma n died. 28Now then, at
the resu rrect ion, w
hose wife will she be of
the seven, since all of them were marr ied to
her?
29Jesus replied, You are in error bec ause
you do not know the Script ures or the pow
er of God. 30At the resu r rect ion people will
neit her marr y nor be given in marr iage; they
will be like the angels in heaven. 31But about
the resu rrect ion of the deadhave you not
read what God said to you, 32I am the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob b? He is not the God of the dead but
of the livi ng.
33When the c rowds heard this, they were
astonished at his teachi ng.
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar
The Greatest Commandment
15Then
the Pharisees went out and laid

plans to trap him in his words. 16They sent
t heir disciples to him a long with the Hero
dia ns. Teacher, they said, we know that
you are a man of integr it y and that you t each
the way of God in accordance with the t ruth.
You a rent s wayed by others, bec ause you
pay no attent ion to who they are. 17Tell us
then, what is your opinion? Is it r ight to pay
the imper ia l tax a to Caesar or not?
18But
Jesus, knowing their evil intent,
said, You hypocrites, why are you tryi ng to
trap me? 19Show me the coin used for pay
ing the tax. They b
rought him a denarius,
20and he a sked them, Whose image is this?
And whose inscript ion?
21Caesars, they replied.
Then he said to them, So give back to Cae
sar what is Caesars, and to God what is Gods.
a17
Marriage at the Resurrection
34Heari ng that Jesus had silenced the Sad

ducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of
them, an expert in the law, tested him with
this quest ion: 36Teacher, which is the great
est commandment in the Law?
37Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God
with all your h
eart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.c 38This is the f irst
and greatest commandment. 39And the sec
ond is like it: Love your neighbor as your
self.d 40All the Law and the Prophets hang
on t hese two commandments.
Whose Son Is the Messiah?

41While the Pharis ees were gathered to
gether, Jesus a sked them, 42What do you
t hink about the Messia h? W
hose son ishe?
The son of Dav id, they replied.
43He said to them, How is it then that
Aspecial tax levied on subject peoples, not on Roman citizens b32Exodus3:6 c37 Deut.6:5
d39Lev.19:18
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1130
Matthew 22:44
Dav id, speaking by the Spirit, c alls him

Lord? For he says,
44 The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.a
45If then Dav id c alls him Lord, how can he
be his son? 46No one could say a word in re
ply, and from that day on no one dared to ask
him any more quest ions.
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
23
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to

his disc iples: 2The teachers of the
law and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat. 3So
you must be caref ul to do everyt hing they
tell you. But do not do what they do, for they
do not pract ice what they preach. 4They tie
up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them
on other peoples shoulders, but they them
selves are not willi ng to lift a finger to move
them.
5Everyt hing they do is done for people to
see: They make t heir phylacter ies b wide and
the tass els on their garments long; 6they
love the place of honor at banquets and the
most impor t ant s eats in the synagogues;
7they love to be greete d with respect in the
marketplace s and to be called Rabbi by
others.
8But you are not to be c alled Rabbi, for
you have one Teacher, and you are all broth
ers. 9And do not call anyone on e arth fa
ther, for you have one Fat her, and he is in
heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instruc
tors, for you have one Instructor, the Mes
sia h. 11The greatest a mong you will be your
ser v ant. 12For t hose who exa lt themselves
will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exa lted.
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law

andthePharisees
13Woe
to you, teachers of the law and

Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door
of the kingdom of heaven in peoples faces.
You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let
t hose enter who are tryi ng to. [14]c
15Woe to you, teach
ers of the law and
Phar isees, you hypoc rites! You travel over
Matthew 23:31
1130
land and sea to win a sing le convert, and

when you have succeeded, you make them
t wice as much a c hild of hell as you are.
16Woe to you, b
lind g uides! You say, If
anyone swears by the temple, it m
eans noth
ing; but anyone who s wears by the gold of
the temple is bound by that oath. 17You
blind fools! W
hich is greater: the gold, or the
temple that m
akes the gold sac red? 18You
also say, If anyone s wears by the altar, it
means nothi ng; but anyone who s wears by
the gift on the altar is b
ound by that oath.
19You blind men! W hich is greater: the gift,
or the altar that m akes the gift sac red?
20Therefore, anyone who s wears by the alt ar
s wears by it and by everyt hing on it. 21And
anyone who swears by the temple swears by
it and by the one who d
wells in it. 22And any
one who s wears by heaven s wears by Gods
t hrone and by the one who sits onit.
23Woe to you, teach
ers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth
of your spicesm int, dill and cumin. But
you have neg lected the more important mat
ters of the lawjust ice, merc y and faithf ul
ness. You should have pract iced the latter,
without neg lect i ng the for mer. 24You blind
g uides! You s train out a gnat but swallow a
camel.
25Woe to you, teach
ers of the law and
Phar is ees, you hypoc rites! You c lean the
outside of the cup and dish, but inside they
are full of g reed and self-indulgence. 26Blind
Pharisee! First c lean the inside of the cup
and dish, and then the outside also will be
clean.
27Woe to you, teach
ers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypo crites! You are like
whitew ashed tombs, w hich look beaut i f ul
on the outside but on the inside are full of the
bones of the dead and everyt hing unclean.
28In the same way, on the outside you appear
to people as righteous but on the inside you
are full of hypocr is y and wickedness.
29Woe to you, teach
ers of the law and
Phar isees, you hypocrites! You build tombs
for the prophets and decorate the g raves
of the righteous. 30And you say, If we had
l ived in the days of our ancestors, we would
not have taken part with them in shedd ing
the blood of the prophets. 31So you test i f y
a44Psalm110:1 b5
c14
That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark12:40 and Luke20:47.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 238
i would have made a great pharisee
by Glynnis Whitwer
Give me a list of rules to follow and Im happy. Theres comfort in

being able to assess my performance according to a set standard. If
Im obeying the rules, I must be doing okay. Right?
The problem with focusing on performance or actions is it redirects my focus from what really matters: the condition of my heart.
Jesus identified this same problem with a religious group called the
Pharisees. They looked good on the outside, but their insides were
dark. Jesus called them hypocrites.
Jesus split open their pretty packaging and revealed the ugliness
of their hearts. Just like he does with me. It seems God continually brings me to the end of my endurance to reveal the truth about
my heart. Whats revealed in those moments of pressure is usually
something that needs addressing, like selfishness, insecurity, jealousy or bitterness. Getting split apart is often painful and embarrassing. Yet its required if I want to become a true follower of Christ.
The reality is that I would have made a great Pharisee. But the
truth is that Id rather be a great disciple of Christ. Id rather be sitting at the feet of Jesus than teaching in the temple. Id rather share
a simple meal of bread with Jesus than a fancy feast elsewhere. If it
requires that the ugliness in my heart gets spilled out, then so be it.
Id much rather hang out with Jesus, who loves me in spite of
the junk. The other option is acting like Ive got it all together and
pretending the junk isnt there, but thats not fooling anyone. So, Ill
welcome Gods holy intrusion in my life, submit my need to rank my
performance and spend more time attending to my heart.
Woe to you,
teachers of the
law and Pharisees,
you hypocrites!
You clean the
outside of the
cup and dish, but
inside they are full
of greed and selfindulgence.
Matthew 23:25
More Verses
to Explore:
Psalm 51:112
Psalm 84:10
Mark 2:17
1131
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1132
Matthew 23:32
a gainst yourselves that you are the descen

dants of t hose who murdered the prophets.
32Go ahead, then, and complete what your
ancestors started!
33You s
nakes! You brood of vipers! How
will you esc ape being condemned to hell?
34Therefore I am sendi ng you prophets and
sages and teachers. Some of them you will
kill and crucif y; others you will flog in your
synagogues and pursue from town to town.
35And so upon you will come all the righ
teous b
lood that has been shed on earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the
blood of Zecha r ia h son of Berek ia h, whom
you murdered bet ween the temple and the
altar. 36Truly I tell you, all this will come on
this generat ion.
37Jer usalem, Jer usalem, you who kill the
prophets and stone t hose sent to you, how
often I have longed to gather your child ren
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under
her w ings, and you were not willi ng. 38Look,
your h
ouse is left to you desolate. 39For I tell
you, you will not see me again unt il you say,
Blessed is he who c omes in the name of the
Lord.a
The Destruction of the Temple

and Signs of the End Times
24
Jesus left the temple and was walk

ing away when his disciples came up
to him to call his attent ion to its buildi ngs.
2Do you see all
t hese things? he a sked.
Truly I tell you, not one s tone here will be
left on another; every one will be thrown
down.
3As J esus was sitt ing on the Mount of Ol
ives, the disc iples came to him priv ately.
Tell us, they said, when will this happen,
and what will be the sign of your comi ng and
of the end of the age?
4Jesus ans wered: Watch out that no one
dec eives you. 5For many will come in my
name, claimi ng, I am the Messia h, and will
deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and
rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not
a larmed. Such t hings must happen, but the
end is still to come. 7Nat ion will rise against
nat ion, and kingdom a gainst kingdom.
T here will be famines and earthquakes in
various places. 8All t hese are the beg inn ing
of birth pains.
Matthew 24:29
1132
9Then you will be hand

e d over to be
persec uted and put to death, and you will
be hated by all nat ions bec ause of me. 10At
that time many will turn away from the
faith and will bet ray and hate each other,
11and many f alse prophets will appear and
dec eive many people. 12Bec ause of the in
crease of wickedness, the love of most will
grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to
the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of
the kingdom will be preached in the w hole
world as a test imony to all nat ions, and then
the end will come.
15So when you see standi ng in the holy
place the abom i nat ion that causes desola
tion,b spoken of t hrough the prophet Dan
iellet the reader understand 16then let
those who are in Judea flee to the moun
tains. 17Let no one on the housetop go down
to take anyt hing out of the house. 18Let no
one in the field go back to get t heir cloak.
19How dreadf ul it will be in t hose days for
preg n ant women and nursi ng mothe rs!
20Pray that your f light will not take place in
winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then t here
will be g reat dist ress, unequaled from the
beg inn ing of the world unt il nowa nd nev
er to be equaled again.
22If t hose days had not been cut s hort,
no one would surv ive, but for the sake of the
elect t hose days will be shortened. 23At that
time if anyone says to you, Look, here is the
Messia h! or, There he is! do not bel ieve it.
24For false messia hs and f alse prophets will
appear and perform g reat signs and wonders
to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I
have told you a head of time.
26So if anyone tells you, There he is, out
in the wilderness, do not go out; or, Here
he is, in the inner r ooms, do not bel ieve it.
27For as lightn ing that comes from the east is
visible even in the west, so will be the com
ing of the Son of Man. 28Wherever t here is a
carcass, t here the vult ures will gather.
29Immed iately after the dist ress of t hose
days
the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give
its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be
shaken.c
a39Psalm118:26 b15Daniel9:27; 11:31; 12:11 c29Isaiah13:10; 34:4
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1133
Matthew 24:30
30Then will appear the sign of the Son of

Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of
the earth a will mourn when they see the Son
of Man comi ng on the clouds of heaven, with
power and g reat glor y. b 31And he will send
his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they
will gather his e lect from the four w
inds,
from one end of the heavens to the other.
32Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:
As soon as its t wigs get tender and its leaves
come out, you know that summer is near.
33Even so, when you see all t hese t hings, you
know that itc is near, r ight at the door. 34Truly
I tell you, this generat ion will certainly not
pass away unt il all t hese t hings have hap
pened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my w
ords will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown

36But a
bout that day or hour no one
k nows, not even the angels in heaven, nor
the Son,d but only the Fat her. 37As it was in
the days of Noah, so it will be at the comi ng
of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before
the f lood, people were eati ng and drinki ng,
marr yi ng and givi ng in marr iage, up to the
day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew
nothi ng a bout what w
ould happen unt il the
flood came and took them all away. That
is how it will be at the comi ng of the Son of
Man. 40Two men will be in the f ield; one will
be taken and the other left. 41Two women
will be grindi ng with a hand mill; one will
be taken and the other left.
42Therefore keep w atch, bec ause you do
not know on what day your Lord will come.
43But unders tand this: If the owner of the
house had k nown at what time of n
ight the
t hief was comi ng, he would have kept watch
and would not have let his house be broken
into. 44So you also must be ready, because
the Son of Man will come at an hour when
you do not expect him.
45Who then is the faithf ul and wise ser
vant, whom the master has put in charge of
the servants in his household to give them
their food at the proper time? 46It will be
good for that serv ant w hose master finds
him doi ng so when he ret urns. 47Truly I tell
you, he will put him in charge of all his pos
sessions. 48But suppose that servant is wick
Matthew 25:16
1133
ed and says to himself, My master is stayi ng

away a long time, 49and he then beg ins to
beat his fellow servants and to eat and d
rink
with drunka rds. 50The master of that ser
vant will come on a day when he does not
expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a
place with the hypocrites, where t here will
be weepi ng and gnashi ng of teeth.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25
At that time the kingdom of heaven

will be like ten virg ins who took t heir
lamps and went out to meet the brideg room.
2Five of them were fool
i sh and five were
wise. 3The foolish ones took t heir lamps but
did not take any oil with them. 4The wise
ones, howe ver, took oil in jars a long with
t heir lamps. 5The brideg room was a long
time in comi ng, and they all became d
rowsy
and fell asleep.
6At midn ight the cry rang out: Heres the
brideg room! Come out to meet him!
7Then all the vir
g ins woke up and
t rimmed t heir lamps. 8The foolish ones said
to the wise, Give us some of your oil; our
lamps are goi ng out.
9No, they re
plied, there may not be
enough for both us and you. Instead, go to
t hose who sell oil and buy some for your
selves.
10But w hile they were on t heir way to buy
the oil, the brideg room arr ived. The virg ins
who were ready went in with him to the wed
ding banquet. And the door was shut.
11Lat
er the others also came. Lord,
Lord, they said, open the door forus!
12But he replied, Trul y I tell you, I dont
know you.
13Therefore keep w
atch, because you do
not know the day or the hour.
The Parable of the BagsofGold

14Again, it will be like a man goi ng on a
journey, who called his servants and ent rust
ed his wealth to them. 15To one he gave five
bags of gold, to another two bags, and to an
other one bag,e each according to his abilit y.
Then he went on his journey. 16The man who
had received five bags of gold went at once
and put his money to work and gained five
a30Orthe tribes of the land b30See Daniel 7:13-14. c33Orhe d36
Some manuscripts do not

have nor the Son. e15Greek five talents... two talents... one talent; also throughout this parable; a
talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborers wage.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1134
Matthew 25:17
bags more. 17So also, the one with two bags

of gold gained two more. 18But the man who
had received one bag went off, dug a hole in
the g round and hid his masters money.
19After a long time the master of t hose
servants ret urned and sett led accounts with
them. 20The man who had received five bags
of gold b
rought the other five. Master, he
said, you entrusted me with five bags of
gold. See, I have g ained five more.
21His master replied, Well done, good
and faithf ul servant! You have been faithf ul
with a few t hings; I will put you in charge of
many t hings. Come and s hare your masters
happi ness!
22The man with two bags of gold also
came. Master, he said, you ent rusted me
with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two
more.
23His master replied, Well done, good
and faithf ul servant! You have been faithf ul
with a few t hings; I will put you in charge of
many t hings. Come and s hare your masters
happi ness!
24Then the man who had rec eived one
bag of gold came. Master, he said, I knew
that you are a hard man, harvesti ng where
you have not sown and gathering w here
you have not scattered seed. 25So I was
a fraid and went out and hid your gold in the
g round. See, here is what belongs to you.
26His master replied, You wicke d, lazy
servant! So you knew that I harvest w
here I
have not sown and gather where I have not
scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have
put my money on deposit with the bankers,
so that when I returned I would have re
ceived it back with interest.
28So take the bag of gold from him and
give it to the one who has ten bags. 29For
whoever has will be given more, and they
will have an abundance. Whoever does not
have, even what they have will be taken from
them. 30And t hrow that worthless serv ant
outside, into the darkness, where t here will
be weepi ng and gnashi ng of teeth.
The Sheep and the Goats

31When the Son of Man comes in his glo
ry, and all the angels with him, he will sit on
his glor ious t hrone. 32All the nat ions will be
gathered before him, and he will sepa rate
the people one from another as a shepherd
sepa rates the sheep from the goats. 33He will
Matthew 26:5
1134
put the sheep on his r ight and the goats on

his left.
34Then the King will say to t hose on his
r ight, Come, you who are b
lessed by my Fa
ther; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you s ince the creat ion of the
world. 35For I was hung ry and you gave me
somet hing to eat, I was t hirsty and you gave
me somet hing to d
rink, I was a stranger and
you inv ited me in, 36I needed c lothes and
you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to
visitme.
37Then the righteous will ans wer him,
Lord, when did we see you hung ry and feed
you, or thirsty and give you something to
d rink? 38When did we see you a stranger and
inv ite you in, or needi ng clothes and clothe
you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison
and go to visit you?
40The King will reply, Truly I tell you,
whatever you did for one of the l east of t hese
brothers and sisters of mine, you did forme.
41Then he will say to t hose on his left,
Depart from me, you who are c ursed, into
the eternal fire prepared for the devi l and his
angels. 42For I was hung ry and you gave me
nothi ng to eat, I was t hirsty and you gave me
nothi ng to d rink, 43I was a stranger and you
did not inv ite me in, I needed clothes and
you did not clothe me, I was sick and in pris
on and you did not look afterme.
44They also will ans wer, Lord, when did
we see you hung ry or t hirsty or a stranger or
needi ng clothes or sick or in prison, and did
not help you?
45He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever
you did not do for one of the least of t hese,
you did not do forme.
46Then they will go away to eternal pun
ishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
The Plot Against Jesus
26
When Jesus had finished saying all

these things, he said to his disc i
ples, 2As you know, the Passover is two days
awaya nd the Son of Man will be handed
over to be crucif ied.
3Then the c hief priests and the elders of
the people assembled in the palace of the
high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and
they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill
him. 5But not duri ng the fest ival, they said,
or t here may be a riot a mong the people.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 239
the little things
by Renee Swope
Being faithful in the little things can be a challenge for me. Sometimes I act a little like the third servant in the parable of the bags of
gold in Matthew 25. His master gave assignments according to each
servants abilities. The first two were given more to oversee. Perhaps
they had more experience or were better at multitasking. In any
case, both gave their time and talents to serve their master, and he
was pleased upon his return.
The third servant, who had been given less responsibility, made
excuses and neglected his assignment. I have to confess that Ive
thought at times, Oh, this little project isnt much. Why worry
about being faithful with it?
Sometimes Ive seen my roles as a wife, daughter, mother and
friend as one-bag-of-gold assignments. Plenty of people have the
same assignments, Ive thought. Without realizing it, I let myself
slip into being selfish, inconsiderate or impatient because it was just
a little thing.
Our Master has given us roles and responsibilities to oversee.
With each assignment comes a choice and a responsibility. With
each assignment comes the possibility of reward and the potential
of regret.
It isnt a matter of how much or how little hes given to us. What
matters is how faithful we are with what weve been given. No matter how big or small our assignments seem, they are all God-given
and matter to him.
His master
replied, Well
done, good and
faithful servant!
You have been
faithful with a
few things; I will
put you in charge
of many things.
Come and share
your masters
happiness!
Matthew 25:21
More Verses
to Explore:
Romans 12:48
Ephesians 2:10
Ephesians 4:16
1135
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1136
Matthew 26:6
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
Matthew 26:39
1136
Jesus was in Betha ny in the home

of Simon the Leper, 7a woma n came to him
with an alabaster jar of very expensive per
fume, which she poured on his head as he
was reclini ng at the table.
8When the disc iples saw this, they were
ind ignant. Why this w aste? they a sked.
9This perfume c ould have been sold at a
high price and the money given to the poor.
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, Why
are you botheri ng this woma n? She has done
a beaut if ul t hing to me. 11The poor you will
alw ays have with you,a but you will not al
ways have me. 12When she poured this per
fume on my body, she did it to prepare me
for buria l. 13Truly I tell you, wherever this
gospel is p
reached throughout the w
orld,
what she has done will also be told, in mem
or y of her.
trays the Son of Man! It would be better for

him if he had not been born.
25Then Judas, the one who would bet ray
him, said, Surely you dont mean me, Rab
bi?
Jesus answered, You have said so.
26While they were eat
i ng, Jesus took
bread, and when he had given thanks, he
broke it and gave it to his disciples, sayi ng,
Take and eat; this is my body.
27Then he took a cup, and when he had
given thanks, he gave it to them, saying,
Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood
of theb covenant, w
hich is poured out for
many for the forg iveness of sins. 29I tell you, I
will not d rink from this f ruit of the vine from
now on unt il that day when I d
rink it new
with you in my Fat hers kingdom.
30When they had sung a hymn, they went
out to the M
ount of Olives.
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
Jesus Predicts Peters Denial
6While
14Then one of the Twelvet he one c alled
Jud as Isc ar iot went to the c hief priests

15and a sked, What are you willi ng to give
me if I deliver him over to you? So they
counted out for him thirt y pieces of silver.
16From then on Judas w atched for an oppor
tun it y to hand him over.
The Last Supper

17On the f irst day of the Fest ival of Unleav
ened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and
asked, Where do you want us to make prep
arat ions for you to eat the Passover?
18He replied, Go into the city to a cer
tain man and tell him, The Teacher says: My
appointed time is near. I am goi ng to cele
brate the Passover with my disciples at your
house. 19So the disciples did as J esus had
directed them and prepared the Passover.
20When even ing came, Jesus was rec lin
ing at the table with the Twelve. 21And while
they were eating, he said, Truly I tell you,
one of you will bet rayme.
22They were very sad and began to say to
him one after the other, Surely you dont
mean me, Lord?
23Jesus replied, The one who has d ipped
his hand into the bowl with me will bet ray
me. 24The Son of Man will go just as it is writ
ten a bout him. But woe to that man who be
a11SeeDeut.15:11. b28
31Then Jesus told them, This very n ight

you will all fall away on account of me, for
it is written:
I will strike the shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be
scattered.c
32But after I have risen, I will go a head of you
into Gal i lee.
33Peter replied, Even if all fall away on
account of you, I never will.
34Trul y I tell you, J esus ans wered, this
very n ight, before the rooster crows, you will
disown me t hree times.
35But Peter declared, Even if I have to die
with you, I will never disown you. And all
the other disciples said the same.
Gethsemane
36Then Jesus went with his disc iples to
a place called Gethsema ne, and he said to
them, Sit here w hile I go over there and
pray. 37He took Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee a long with him, and he began to
be sor row f ul and troubled. 38Then he said
to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sor
row to the point of death. Stay here and keep
watch withme.
39Goi ng a litt le fart her, he fell with his face
to the g round and p
rayed, My Fat her, if it is
Some manuscripts the new c31Zech.13:7
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1137
Matthew 26:40
possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet

not as I will, but as you will.
40Then he ret urned to his disc iples and
found them sleeping. Couldnt you men
keep watch with me for one hour? he asked
Peter. 41Watch and pray so that you will not
fall into temptat ion. The spirit is willi ng, but
the f lesh is weak.
42He went away a second time and p
rayed,
My Fat her, if it is not possible for this cup to
be taken away unless I d rink it, may your will
be done.
43When he came back, he
again found
them sleeping, bec ause their eyes were
heavy. 44So he left them and went away once
more and p
rayed the t hird time, sayi ng the
same thing.
45Then he ret urned to the disc iples and
said to them, Are you still sleepi ng and rest
ing? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of
Man is del ivered into the h
ands of sinners.
46Rise! Let us go! Here c
omes my bet rayer!
Jesus Arrested
47While he was still speaki ng, Judas, one
of the Twelve, arr ived. With him was a l arge
c rowd a rmed with s words and clubs, sent
from the chief p
riests and the elders of the
people. 48Now the bet rayer had arranged a
signal with them: The one I kiss is the man;
ar rest him. 49Goi ng at once to Jesus, Judas
said, Greeti ngs, Rabbi! and k issed him.
50Jesus replied, Do what you came for,
friend.a
Then the men stepped forw ard, seized
Jesus and ar rested him. 51With that, one of
Jesus compan ions reached for his s word,
drew it out and s truck the servant of the high
priest, cutt ing off his ear.
52Put your s word back in its place, Jesus
said to him, for all who draw the sword will
die by the s word. 53Do you t hink I cannot call
on my Fat her, and he will at once put at my
disposa l more than t welve leg ions of angels?
54But how then would the Script ures be ful
filled that say it must happen in this way?
55In that hour
Jesus said to the c rowd,
Am I leading a rebellion, that you have
come out with s words and clubs to capt ure
me? Every day I sat in the temple c ourts
teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56But
this has all taken place that the writi ngs of
Matthew 26:71
1137
the prophets m
ight be fulf illed. Then all the
disciples deserted him and fled.
Jesus Before theSanhedrin

57Those who had arrested Jesus took him
to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teach
ers of the law and the elders had assembled.
58But Peter followed him at a dist ance, r
ight
up to the courtyard of the high p
riest. He en
tered and sat down with the g uards to see
the outcome.
59The chief priests and the w hole Sanhe
drin were looki ng for false evidence against
Jesus so that they could put him to death.
60But they did not find any, t hough many
false witnesses came for ward.
Finally two came forward 61and declared,
This fellow said, I am able to destroy the
temple of God and rebuild it in t hree days.
62Then the high priest stood up and said
to J esus, Are you not goi ng to answer? What
is this test imony that t hese men are bringi ng
against you? 63But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, I charge you
under oath by the livi ng God: Tell us if you
are the Messia h, the Son of God.
64You have said so, J esus replied. But I
say to all of you: From now on you will see
the Son of Man sitt ing at the r ight hand of
the Mighty One and comi ng on the clouds of
heaven.b
65Then the high p
riest tore his c lothes and
said, He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we
need any more witnesses? Look, now you
have heard the blasphemy. 66What do you
think?
He is wort hy of d
eath, they answered.
67Then they spit in his face and
struck
him with their fists. Others s lapped him
68and said, Prophe s y to us, Messia h. Who
hit you?
Peter Disowns Jesus

69Now Peter was sitt ing out in the court
yard, and a servant girl came to him. You
also were with J esus of Gali lee, she said.
70But he den ied it before them all. I dont
know what youre talki ng about, he said.
71Then he went out to the gatew ay, w
here
another servant girl saw him and said to the
people t here, This fellow was with Jesus of
Naza reth.
a50OrWhy have you come, friend? b64SeePsalm110:1; Daniel7:13.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
day 240
at a distance
by Karen Ehman
Id been a follower of Christ for just over a year, having dedicated

my life to him at a youth retreat. It was an exciting time of growth
but also a time of sorrow. I lost friends because I had no desire to
took him to
engage in activities or conversations that wouldnt honor my God.
Caiaphas the high
So I clung to my Bible and rushed home after school each afterpriest, where the
noon eager to read more. I desperately wanted to know how to live
teachers of the
this new Christian life in a way that made J esus proud.
Despite my sincerity, the day came when I felt I had failed God.
law and the elders
A
new
group of kids at school had taken me in, and they challenged
had assembled.
my faith. They asked hard questions about Gods existence and were
But Peter followed
eloquent in arguing that he didnt exist. So the normally chatty me
him at a distance,
often became silent. There were times when I should have said
right up to the
something, but I remained painfully wordless.
courtyard of the
I was distressed over my silence, but one evening I read Matthew 26:58: But Peter followed him at a distance ... That was me!
high priest.
I followed J esus, but often at a distance, not wanting others to label
Matthew 26:5758
me a Jesus Freak. That night I decided to step out of the shadows.
I wanted to be so closely associated with Jesus that the opinion of
others didnt matter.
As I read more of Peters life, I witnessed his three-time denial,
his sorrow, repentance and eventual boldness for Christ. The once
hesitant disciple became a world-changing servant of God.
Just weeks later, our youth group took a personality test that
matched each of us with a Biblical character. My result came back:
I was like Peter! It confirmed my decision to learn to follow Christ
boldly, just as Peter had.
The world is watching, and we all have a choice to pursue Jesus
closely ... or at a distance.
Those who had
arrested Jesus
More Verses
to Explore:
Joshua 24:15
Galatians 1:10
1Peter 3:1416
1138
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1139
Matthew 26:72
72He den ied it a

gain, with an oath: I d
ont
know the man!
73After a litt le w hile, t hose standi ng t here
went up to Peter and said, Surely you are
one of them; your accent g ives you away.
74Then he began to call down curses, and
he swore to them, I d
ont know the man!
Immed iately a rooster crowed. 75Then Pe
ter remembered the word Jesus had spoken:
Before the rooster c rows, you will disown
me t hree t imes. And he went outside and
wept bit terly.
Judas Hangs Himself
27
Early in the morning, all the c hief

priests and the elders of the peo
ple made their plans how to have Jesus ex
ec uted. 2So they bound him, led him away
and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3When Judas, who had bet rayed him, saw
that Jesus was condemned, he was s eized
with remorse and ret urned the thirt y pieces
of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4I
have sinned, he said, for I have bet rayed
innocent blood.
What is that to us? they replied. Thats
your responsibilit y.
5So Judas t hrew the mone y into the tem
ple and left. Then he went away and hanged
himself.
6The chief priests picked up the coins and
said, It is against the law to put this into the
treasury, s ince it is blood money. 7So they
decided to use the money to buy the potters
f ield as a buria l place for foreigners. 8That is
why it has been c alled the F
ield of Blood to
this day. 9Then what was spoken by Jerem i
ah the prophet was fulf illed: They took the
thirt y pieces of silver, the price set on him by
the people of Israel, 10and they used them to
buy the potters f ield, as the Lord command
ed me.a
Jesus Before Pilate

11Meanw hile
Jesus s tood before the gov

ernor, and the governor asked him, Are you
the king of the Jews?
You have said so, J esus replied.
12When he was ac
c used by the chief
priests and the elders, he gave no ans wer.
13Then Pilate a sked him, Dont you hear the
test i mony they are bring i ng against you?
a10
Matthew 27:30
1139
14But Jesus made no reply, not even to a sin

gle chargeto the g reat amazement of the
governor.
15Now it was the governors custom at the
fest ival to release a prisoner chosen by the
crowd. 16At that time they had a well-k nown
prisoner whose name was Jesus b Barabbas.
17So when the c rowd had gathered, Pilate
asked them, Which one do you want me to
release to you: J esus Barabbas, or J esus who
is called the Messia h? 18For he knew it was
out of self-interest that they had hande d
Jesus over to him.
19While Pilate was sitt ing on the judges
seat, his wife sent him this message: Dont
have anyt hing to do with that innocent man,
for I have suffered a g reat deal today in a
d ream because of him.
20But the chief priests and the elders per
suaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to
have Jesus executed.
21Which of the two do you want me to re
lease to you? asked the governor.
Barabbas, they answered.
22What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is
called the Messia h? Pilate asked.
They all answered, Crucif y him!
23Why? What c rime has he comm itted?
asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, Crucif y
him!
24When Pilate saw that he was gett ing no
where, but that instead an uproar was start
ing, he took water and washed his hands in
front of the c rowd. I am innocent of this
mans b
lood, he said. It is your responsi
bilit y!
25All the people ans wered, His b
lood is
on us and on our child ren!
26Then he released Barabbas to them. But
he had Jesus f logged, and handed him over
to be crucif ied.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus

27Then the governors sold iers took Jesus
into the Praetor iu m and gathered the whole
compa ny of sold iers a round him. 28They
stripped him and put a scarlet robe on
him, 29and then twisted together a c rown
of t horns and set it on his head. They put a
staff in his r ight hand. Then they k nelt in
f ront of him and mocked him. Hail, king of
the Jews! they said. 30They spit on him, and
SeeZech. 11:12,13; Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9. b16 Many manuscripts do not have Jesus; also in verse 17.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1140
Matthew 27:31
took the staff and struck him on the head

again and again. 31After they had mocked
him, they took off the robe and put his own
clothes on him. Then they led him away to
crucif y him.
The Crucifixion of Jesus

32As
they were going out, they met a

man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they
forced him to carr y the c ross. 33They came
to a place c alled Golgot ha (which m
eans
the place of the s kull). 34There they of
fered Jesus wine to d rink, m
ixed with gall;
but after tasting it, he ref used to d rink it.
35When they had cruc if ied him, they div id
ed up his clothes by casti ng lots. 36And sit
ting down, they kept w atch over him t here.
37Above his head they p
laced the written
charge against him: this is j esus, the king
of the jews.
38Two reb
els were cruc ified with him,
one on his r ight and one on his left. 39Those
who passed by hurled insults at him, shak
ing t heir heads 40and sayi ng, You who are
going to destroy the temple and build it in
t hree days, save yourself! Come down from
the c ross, if you are the Son of God! 41In
the same way the chief p
riests, the teach
ers of the law and the elders mocked him.
42He s
aved others, they said, but he cant
save himself! Hes the king of Israel! Let him
come down now from the c ross, and we will
bel ieve in him. 43He t rusts in God. Let God
rescue him now if he wants him, for he said,
I am the Son of God. 44In the same way
the rebels who were crucif ied with him also
heaped insults on him.
The Death of Jesus

45From
noon unt il t hree in the afternoon

darkness came over all the land. 46About
t hree in the afternoon Jesus c ried out in a
loud voice, Eli, Eli,a lema sabachthani?
(which means My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?). b
47When some of those stand
i ng there
heard this, they said, Hes calli ng Elijah.
48Immed iatel y one of them ran and got a
sponge. He f illed it with wine vinegar, put
it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to d
rink.
49The rest said, Now leave him a
lone. L
ets
see if Elijah comes to save him.
a46
Matthew 27:66
1140
50And when Jesus had c

ried out again in a
loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51At that moment the curt ain of the tem
ple was torn in two from top to bottom. The
earth shook, the rocks split 52and the tombs
broke open. The bodies of many holy peo
ple who had died were raised to life. 53They
came out of the tombs after Jesus resu r
rect ion and c went into the holy city and ap
peared to many people.
54When the cen
t urion and those with
him who were guardi ng J esus saw the earth
quake and all that had happened, they were
terr if ied, and exclaimed, Surely he was the
Son of God!
55Many women were t here, watchi ng from
a distance. They had followed Jesus from
Gali lee to care for his needs. 56Among them
were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James and Joseph, d and the mother of Zeb
edees sons.
The Burial of Jesus

57As
even ing approached, there came

a rich man from Arim athea, n amed Jo
seph, who had himself become a disciple of
Jesus. 58Going to Pilate, he a sked for J esus
body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to
him. 59Joseph took the body, w rapped it in a
clean linen cloth, 60and placed it in his own
new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He
rolled a big stone in f ront of the ent rance to
the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary were sitt ing t here oppo
site the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb

62The next day, the one after Prepa rat ion
Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went
to Pi late. 63Sir, they said, we remember
that w hile he was still a live that dec eiver
said, After t hree days I will rise again. 64So
give the order for the tomb to be made se
cure unt il the t hird day. Otherw ise, his dis
ciples may come and steal the body and tell
the people that he has been r aised from the
dead. This last decept ion will be worse than
the first.
65Take a g uard, Pilate ans wered. Go,
make the tomb as secure as you know how.
66So they went and made the tomb sec ure by
Some manuscripts Eloi, Eloi b46Psalm22:1 c53Ortombs, and after Jesus resurrection they
d56Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph
9/21/12 2:41 PM
what if Jesus walked into

your church?
day 241
by Glynnis Whitwer
For years I sang in the worship band at church. On my scheduled

weeks, as we approached the starting time, I stood on stage waiting.
Soon the lights dimmed, signaling the band to begin. The swell of
music filled the room, and by the second song, the only lights shining were on us.
The room remained dark, except for the brief moment when a
latecomer opened the back door, ushering in light. From my viewpoint, that light was a brilliant flash blocking out the face of the
person entering. Occasionally I daydreamed that the latecomer was
Jesus.
I pictured him walking down the aisle. He looked around and
walked slowly toward the front, finally reaching the steps below me
and then ascending them. At the top of the stage, he turned to receive the worship being offered him.
Sometimes I desperately long to see J esus walk into my church.
Can you imagine what would happen? P
eople would grab their
friends with diseases and run toward him. Parents would carry their
hurting children to him. Those with addictions, emotional hurts
and illnesses would stretch out their hands just to touch him. Others
would drop to their knees in adoration.
Unfortunately, many times Im simply hoping that Jesus will
show up. As if he might be too busy to stop by my church. Yet by
Jesus very own words, he is already there. Jesus said, For where two
or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:20).
My daydream is a reality. Jesus is in the sanctuary every time
we gather with other believers. We need that truth to soak into our
hearts. The same Jesus who healed the blind man and raised the
dead has come to our churches this week.
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, and
teaching them to
obey everything I
have commanded
you. And surely
I am with you
always, to the very
end of the age.
Matthew 28:1920
More Verses
to Explore:
Matthew 18:20
John 21:29
Acts 18:910
1141
9/21/12 2:41 PM
1142
Matthew 28:1
putt ing a seal on the stone and posti ng the

guard.
Jesus Has Risen
28
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the f irst

day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2There was a violent earthquake, for an
angel of the Lord came down from heaven
and, goi ng to the tomb, rolled back the s tone
and sat on it. 3His appeara nce was like light
ning, and his c lothes were w
hite as snow.
4The g uards were so a
fraid of him that they
shook and became like dead men.
5The angel said to the women, Do not
be a fraid, for I know that you are looki ng for
Jesus, who was crucif ied. 6He is not here; he
has risen, just as he said. Come and see the
place w
here he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell
his disc iples: He has risen from the dead
and is goi ng a head of you into Gali lee. T
here
you will see him. Now I have told you.
8So the wom
en hurr ied away from the
tomb, a fraid yet f illed with joy, and ran to
tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them.
Greetings, he said. They came to him,
clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then
Jesus said to them, Do not be a fraid. Go and
tell my brothers to go to Gali lee; t here they
will seeme.
Matthew 28:20
1142
The Guards Report

11While the wom
en were on their way,
some of the g uards went into the city and
reported to the chief priests everyt hing that
had happened. 12When the c hief priests
had met with the elders and dev ised a plan,
they gave the sold iers a large sum of money,
13telli ng them, You are to say, His disc iples
came during the n ight and stole him away
while we were asleep. 14If this report gets to
the governor, we will satisf y him and keep
you out of trouble. 15So the sold iers took the
money and did as they were instructed. And
this stor y has been widely circulated a mong
the Jews to this very day.
The Great Commission

16Then
the eleven disc iples went to Gal

ilee, to the mount ain where Jesus had told
them to go. 17When they saw him, they
worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then
Jesus came to them and said, All aut hori
ty in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all
nat ions, bapt izi ng them in the name of the
Fat her and of the Son and of the Holy Spir
it, 20and teachi ng them to obey everyt hing I
have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age.
9/21/12 2:41 PM
About the Authors

P31 Devotions Editorial Team
Lysa TerKeurst is a New York Times bestselling author, national speaker, and president
of Proverbs 31 Ministries. You can read her daily blog at www.LysaTerKeurst.com or hear
her encouragement through the Proverbs 31 radio program played on over 1200 outlets.
She loves that the first four letters of Messiah spell mess. All of the messages Lysa
speaks and writes about come from her awareness of what a mess she can be. Most days
you can find her writing from her sticky farm table in North Carolina, where she lives
with her husband, Art, her five priority blessings named Jackson, Mark, Hope, Ashley
and Brooke, three dogs and a mouse that refuses to leave her kitchen.
Renee Swope is Proverbs 31 Ministries Executive Director of Devotions and Radio
as well as Senior Editor of Encouragement for Today devotions. Shes the best-selling,
award-winning author of A Confident Heart, co-host of Proverbs 31 Ministries radio
show and a national conference speaker. Renees passion is to help women live confidently in Christ by showing them how to rely on and live in the security of Gods
promises. Connect with Renee at www.ReneeSwope.com and @reneeswope.
Glynnis Whitwer is on staff with Proverbs 31 Ministries as the Senior Editor of the P31
Woman magazine, and director of the writers track for She Speaks. She is the author of
three books, including I Used to be So Organized, and co-author of a Bible studies series,
Kingdom Living. Her passion is to help women combine peace and productivity, increasing their ability to live a sold-out life for J esus Christ. She blogs at www.GlynnisWhitwer.
com and loves to offer practical tips with a spiritual touch. Glynnis, her husband, Tod,
and their five children (all teenagers and young adults) live in Glendale, Arizona.
Samantha Reed carries a running list of words whose meanings she plans to look up,
especially words in Scripture in the original Greek and Hebrew. She finds knowing their
original definitions brings the Word to life and that its a joy to share these deeper truths
with others. Samantha does this over coffee with friends, as Assistant Editor of Encouragement for Today devotions for Proverbs 31 Ministries, and on her blog, samanthareed.
org.
Other Contributing Writers

Wendy Blight is a wife, mother, author, speaker and Bible teacher. Her passion is to
help women gain confidence so that they can tackle any problem life presents through
Gods Word. Through Bible study, she equips a woman how to (1) identify Scriptures
that address pressing issues in her life, (2) understand how those Scriptures apply, and
(3) personalize and pray those Scriptures to bring restoration and transformation to her
life. Learn more at http://wendyblight.com.
Micca Campbell is a national womens conference speaker with Proverbs 31 Ministries
and the author of An Untroubled Heart. Micca is passionate about reaching the unsaved
with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and helping women fear less and live
0310439361_int_07_rm_niv_real_life_cs5_FINAL.indd 1503
9/21/12 1:33 PM
1504
About the Authors
more abundantly in Christ. From her cowboy boots to her southern roots, shes proud
to be a country girl. Micca and her family reside in Nashville, Tennessee. Visit Micca at
www.miccacampbell.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
Whitney Capps is wife to her CEO, Chad, and mom to four little boys Cooper, Dylan,
Ryder and Tate. Her life is loud, lively and full of demolition. A self-described grace addict and regular gal, Whitney hopes to inspire women to study the God of Scripture and
to shatter the perception that to do so one must be a scholar or a saint. She blogs at www.
whitneycapps.com.
Amy Carrolls joy and passion is helping women find a deep connection to Gods Word
and each other. Shes committed to opening up her whole life, as her mentors have, to
teach the lessons shes learned in her pursuit of applying Gods truth. Amy is an ordinary woman who laughs at corny jokes, cries at Hallmark commercials and is afraid of
bouncing checks and her own double chin. But she has a God-given ability to share his
big truths in small, understandable bites. She loves Scripture and is dedicated to teaching it in all its unvarnished glory. Join Amy at her blog www.amycarroll.org.
Melanie Chitwood is married to Scott, a corporate pilot and business owner, and has
two sons. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where on any given day you will find
her dealing with boys and basketball, serving with the high school ministry Young Life,
and wondering about hormones. Melanie was a speaker and writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries for five years. In her books, What a Husband Needs from His Wife and What a
Wife Needs from Her Husband, Melanie takes an honest and Biblical look at marriage,
uncovering what husbands and wives really need from each other and how they can
meet those needs. Published by Harvest House, her books have sold over 45,000 copies.
Lynn Cowells heartbeat is encouraging women to become wise and raise wiser daughters. Through her books, His Revolutionary Love and Devotions for a Revolutionary Year,
and her Revolutionary Love conferences, she empowers young women to invite Jesus
to fill their love gap and be the source of positive self-worth and confidence. Lynn lives
in North Carolina with her husband, Greg, and their three children. Her favorite day
would include the mountains, a well-worn sweatshirt and anything that combines
chocolate and peanut butter. Connect with Lynn at www.LynnCowell.com.
Leah DiPascal serves as an Executive Assistant at Proverbs 31 Ministries. Leahs greatest joy is to help women discover and apply Biblical truths so they can experience empowering life change. She loves to encourage and equip women, in the midst of their
everyday lives, to become all that God has called them to be. Leah holds the Bachelor of
Theology and the Master of Divinity Degree from Tabernacle Bible College and Seminary in Tampa, Florida. Her greatest ministry is to her husband Keith and their two
sons, Brody and Carson. Leah blogs at www.LeahDiPascal.com.
Karen Ehman is the Director of Speakers for Proverbs 31 Ministries and a six-time author whose passion is to help women live their priorities and love their lives. Her latest book, entitled LET. IT. GO. How to Stop Running the Show & Start Walking in Faith,
reveals how not to be a control freak. She has been the guest on national media outlets
such as Focus on the Family, Moody Mid-day Connection and The 700 Club. Married
to her college sweetheart, Todd, for over 25 years, she is the mother of three sometimes
9/21/12 1:33 PM
About the Authors
1505
ornery but mostly charming children. The Ehmans make their home in rural Michigan.
Connect with her through her encouraging and practical blog at www.karenehman.com.
T. Suzanne Eller (Suzie) comes alongside women to gently lead them in a new direction. Sharing her own story, Suzie unpacks the transformation and healing that takes
place when you encounter a loving Savior. Suzie is an author of several books, an International speaker and Bible study teacher, mother, wife and Gramma. She has been
the host on media outlets such as Focus on the Family, Mid-day Connection, Aspiring
Women and The Harvest Show. Suzie hosts a thriving Facebook community for moms
at www.facebook.com/MomsTogether. She blogs at www.tsuzanneeller.com.
Zoe Elmore is a powerful, passionate and effective Bible teacher who challenges
women to live beyond their circumstances. Captivating and charming with a dash of
energy and sparkle, her inspiring teaching impels women toward a life of intentional
spirituality. She and her husband, Tom, have been married for more than 30 years. They
serve their church and community, have elevated football tailgating to an art form and
believe the best part of working out is when its over. Zoe has six years of training with
Bible Study Fellowship International, where she served as assistant teaching leader.
Learn more about Zoe at www.zoeelmore.com.
Sharon Glasgow and her husband, Dale, live on a farm in Virginia: milking goats, gathering eggs, gardening and homesteading. They have five grown daughters. Sharon is a
vibrant international speaker, compelling audiences to understand their inheritance in
Christ and how that empowers them. She has been on the Proverbs 31 Ministries speaking team for over ten years. You can visit Sharon and her farm, see her favorite speaking
topics or hear what God is speaking to her on her blog at www.sharonglasgow.com.
Holly Good is a wife to Dan and a mom to Hillary and Ethan. She enjoys running, reading and spending time with friends and family. Holly served with Proverbs 31 Ministries
as Lysa TerKeursts Executive Assistant for five years. She was also a writer for Proverbs
31 Encouragement for Today devotions. Holly has led Bible studies, served as a leader in
her church youth group and on several missions trips, domestically and abroad.
Nicki Koziarz is a wife to Kris and mom to three fun girls, Taylor, HopeAnn and Kennedy. She is passionate about reaching those far from God because, by his scandalous
grace, he brought her back to him. Nicki is an aspiring photographer and enjoys the
perspective of life from behind the lens. Visit her website at www.nickikoziarz.com.
Tracie Miles is a national conference speaker with Proverbs 31 Ministries and the
author of Stressed-Less Living: Finding Gods Peace in Your Chaotic World. Through her
genuine transparency, humor and southern sincerity, Tracie speaks Gods truths to empower and motivate women to depend on Christ and discover Gods unshakable joy
in the unpredictable journey of life. Her driving passion is to lead women to a deeper
understanding of Gods unconditional love and help them find peace and purpose
through learning to live intentionally for Christ. Visit Tracie at www.traciewmiles.com.
An avid student of its pages, Rachel Olsen says, The Bible holds the most sublime secretsdivine revelations every woman needs to know. It is simultaneously a love letter,
a mirror, an instruction manual, and a window into our soul and Gods heart. Rachel
9/21/12 1:33 PM
1506
About the Authors
is an author, speaker and life-coach with a passion for fostering focused life-change in
Christ. Shes the co-author of My One Word: Change Your Life with Just One Word. Rachel
blogs at www.RachelOlsen.com.
Wendy Pope is a wife to Scott, mother to Blaire and Griffin, and an author, speaker and
Bible study teacher. Whether in the pulpit or on paper, her passion is Biblical application. Wendy leads women all over the world to life change through her in-depth online
Bible studies. She is witty and down to earth. She is transparent in her teaching in such
a way that every woman feels that Wendy is speaking directly to their heart. To learn
more about or join Wendys online ministry visit www.wendypope.org.
Luann Prater loves quality time with family and husband Dwight. Her favorite title is
Grandma. She is a Proverbs 31 speaker, writer and national radio host of Encouragement Cafe with Luann & Friends. Luann squeezes joy out of each day and then points
others to the source of that joy, J esus. Luann portrays hope from her own stained past
and encourages women to shine Gods brilliant glow of grace to a hurting world. Join
her at www.LuannPrater.com.
LeAnn Rice serves as Executive Director of Operations of Proverbs 31 Ministries. She
has a passion for loving on people in J esus name by living out 1Peter 4:910. Through
her food blog, www.shecooks.org, LeAnn shares recipes, menu ideas and the reality of
Jesus in her grace-filled life. Her prayer is that people visit She Cooks looking for recipes,
but find the hope of Jesus Christ through stories of life around her kitchen table.
Ali Smith is a campus minister at Christ ian Union, Princeton Universitys only Chris
tian leadership development organization. She spends her time teaching Bible studies,
coaching leadership teams, discipling students and speaking to college men and women. Alis passion is to make the Word of God relevant to young adults living in a modern
world. Ali has one book published, entitled Entrusting the Key: From Serial Dating to
Joyful Waiting. Check out Alis blog at www.alismithonline.com.
Melissa Taylor is a leader, speaker and encourager whom women relate to because shes
not afraid to talk about real issues honestly. She leads online Bible studies on her blog
because she wants to provide a venue of study for women who arent in a Bible study
group. Women are hungry for the Word of God and it is Melissas goal to teach them how
to live and apply it. Connect with Melissa and her Online Bible Studies at www.MelissaTaylor.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MelissaTaylorsOnlineBibleStudies, and
on Twitter at @MTBibleStudies.
Van Waltons childhood experiences in the Colombian jungles and Andes Mountains
of South America laid the foundation for her passion to bring Jesus into the hearts of Latina women. Working with a team of translators and partnering with Proverbs 31 Ministries has turned her vision into a reality. Van, the author of From the Pound to the Palace,
teaches in a Christ ian school, writes and facilitates Bible studies in her community and
church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Visit with Van at www.vanwalton.com.
9/21/12 1:33 PM
Topical Index
abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1135
abortion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
acceptance, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785, 1364
acceptance, of others . . . . . . . . . . 1453, 1494
adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1374
adversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1065
affair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
affirmation, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1077
aging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735, 1360
anger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363, 719, 1120, 1384
anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487, 693, 936
asking for Gods help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 960, 1120, 1308
authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1428
balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
blessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1065
blessing, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 202
brokenness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854, 1057
burdens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1221, 1387
burnout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1030
busyness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87, 636, 1153
calling . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 315, 329, 783, 1055
cancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 809, 1084
celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
children of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1374, 1470
children, disciplining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
children, fighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
children, modeling for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021
children, praying for . . . . . . . . . . . . 725, 856
children, spiritual formation . . . . . . . . . 702
children, teaching . . . . . . 136, 199, 702, 749,
1021, 1385, 1422
choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834, 1465
Christian fellowship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1295
Christian life . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755, 1039, 1381
Christian living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1457, 1459
Christlikeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1372, 1392
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097, 1176
church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1323, 1494
commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483, 1336
comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1364, 1395
compassion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
complacency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1039
compromise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1362
confession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167, 1188
confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1441
conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363, 798, 1346, 1384
connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1266
contentment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1395
control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112, 1331
courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 792, 1268
creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821, 993, 1306
creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
daily routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
dark days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349
debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1325
depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394, 1005
devotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1245
devotion, to Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1366
devotion, toward God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1260
dignity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
diligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562, 1091
disappointment . . . . . . . . 71, 596, 759, 1243
discernment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370, 1164
discipleship . . . . . . . 1106, 1131, 1138, 1141,
1144, 1293
discipline, of children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749
discouragement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602, 836
doctrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1424
dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
emotions . . . . . . . . . 727, 733, 949, 991, 1250
emotions, healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354
encouragement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85, 634, 1110
encouragement, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
encouraging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838
envy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 905
expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618, 646, 741
faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 997, 1104, 1150, 1320,
1381, 1451, 1459
faith in J esus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1311
faithfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402, 1124, 1135
faithfulness in marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
faithfulness, toward God . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016
9/21/12 1:33 PM
1516
Topical Index
families, broken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680

family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
fasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236, 590, 606, 824
finances . . . . . . . . . . . . 706, 1089, 1199, 1252,
1325, 1401
focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746, 997
following God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199, 235
food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1316
forgiveness . . . . . . . . . . . 134, 741, 770, 1122,
1185, 1415
forgiveness, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . 265, 628, 844
forgiving others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
fragrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 960
freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1236, 1313
freedom, from guilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628
freedom, spiritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1375
friendship . . . . . . . . . . 85, 291, 318, 335, 686,
723, 757, 780, 1387
friendship, loyalty in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
friendships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1266
frustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1250
future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236, 1012
generosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1377
gentleness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1462
gift giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548, 1097, 1412
giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211, 915, 954, 1419
goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396, 729
God as Father . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
God as husband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
God as our shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
God, access to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
God, as shelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
God, as the Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
God, celebration with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
God, following . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Gods acceptance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Gods blessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453, 510
Gods care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Gods commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Gods discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
Gods faithfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Gods family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1295
Gods forgiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016, 1057
Gods guidance . . . . 79, 81, 874, 1275, 1287
Gods help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 68, 394
Gods joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1070
Gods leading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293, 346
Gods light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1190, 1223
Gods love . . . . . . . . . 554, 612, 785, 844, 856,

924, 1070, 1472
Gods plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87, 122, 897
Gods power . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126, 1150, 1358,
1368, 1435
Gods presence . . . . . 81, 104, 113, 293, 596,
660, 824, 1273, 1306, 1358
Gods promises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 664
Gods protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298, 516
Gods provision . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 706, 1454
Gods vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Gods Word . . . . . . . . 207, 669, 714, 798, 884,
1180, 1406, 1424
gossip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744, 1037,
1418
grace . . . . . . . 6, 761, 1024, 1045, 1248, 1415
grandparents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1422
gratitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93, 475, 1005, 1049
grief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 518, 610, 1408
grudges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1313
healing . . . . . . . . . 62, 348, 556, 562, 610, 842,
880, 1084, 1091, 1229
health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073
heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949, 1122, 1131, 1208
hearts, seeing others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234
heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1241, 1495, 1497
helping others . . . . . . . 411, 954, 1194, 1446
holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1275, 1318
home making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
honesty with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
hope . . . . . . . 568, 759, 880, 1082, 1311, 1408
hormones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1360
hospitality . . . . . . . . . 1080, 1278, 1344, 1446
humility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1208, 1232
hurry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1210
hurt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897
husband . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1338
identifying with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
identity . . . . . . . . . . . . 667, 1115, 1356, 1470
idolatry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1018
idols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
inadequacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
interruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1194
Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1176
Jesus, following . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1223
Jesus, friendship with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1146
Jesus acceptance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1146, 1226
9/21/12 1:33 PM
Topical Index
Jesus human nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1170

J esus presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1141, 1226
joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537, 639
judging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1308, 1453
laughter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639
laziness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268, 1232
life story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .676, 1281
light of the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1236
listening to God . . . 653, 783, 787, 964, 1287
listening to others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518, 599
loneliness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182
love, Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1382
love, for others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1323
love, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
love, in marriage, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1390
love, parental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901
loving God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455, 845, 1482
loving others . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318, 1392, 1473
making a stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1351
marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 301, 541, 704, 712,
770, 774, 1124, 1159, 1333,
1377, 1385, 1403, 1427, 1462
marriage, choices in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
marriage, faithfulness in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
marriage, fidelity in . . . . . . . . . . . . 494, 1236
marriage, renewal in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827
marriage, respect in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1460
marriage, sex in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774, 1338
marriage, submission in . . . . . . . 1112, 1460
material goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1393, 1419
mediocrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1293
memory keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239, 475
mentors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1174, 1427
mercy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055
messenger, being Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
moral choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1351
moral compromise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
moral discernment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710, 1457
multitasking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746
negative thoughts . . . . . . . . 1318, 1333, 1449
obedience . . . . . . . . . 160, 205, 301, 313, 329,
809, 886, 964, 1048, 1073, 1442
obeying God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385, 522
pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
pain, expressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
parenting . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 68, 136, 239, 258,
461, 573, 602, 662, 836, 1060,
1080, 1144, 1342, 1356, 1433
1517
parenting, Gods guidance in . . . . . . . . . 725

parenting, standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
patience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733, 761, 1398
peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667, 695, 804, 1082
persistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646, 1400
plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237, 729, 737, 1048
pleasing God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235, 1041
prayer . . . . . . . . 163, 425, 438, 528, 608, 737,
854, 1030, 1406, 1409, 1412, 1454
prayer, answers to . . . . . . . . . 905, 1104, 1126
prayer, deep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
prayer, faithfulness in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
prayer, for children . . . . . . . . 298, 1204, 1398
prayer, Gods availability in . . . . . . . . . . 656
prayer, Gods timing in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
prayer, honesty in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558, 690
prayer, waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
prayer, waiting in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 25
pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1045
priorities . . . . . . . . 461, 582, 817, 1106, 1393
prodigal son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1204
promises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
purity in heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1188
purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
questioning God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1273
quiet time with God . . . . . . . . 104, 936, 991,
1182, 1214
quilting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1159
reassurance from God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
redemption . . . . 680, 827, 1167, 1170, 1354
refreshment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 847
rejection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664, 1185
relationship with God . . . . . . . . . . . 537, 656
relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163, 1346
remembering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169, 453
repentance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
respect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541,1428
rest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 636, 993, 1153
resurrection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349
revenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
risk-taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
running . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444
running away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924
sacrifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 291, 1245
safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
salvation . . . . . 1248, 1327, 1336, 1382, 1472
Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1164
9/21/12 1:33 PM
1518
Topical Index
Scripture reading . . . . . . . . . . 684, 690, 714,

847, 1449
seasons of life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1263
seeking God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381, 1037
self-doubt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268, 272, 1441
selfishness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915
self-worth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522, 1099, 1375
serving others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1278
sexual abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348, 842
sharing our faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
siblings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 1099, 1473
sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
sleeplessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693
speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744, 1418
speech, discretion in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
speech, gentleness in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727
speech, restraint in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719
speech, uplifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838
spiritual fervor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1482
spiritual gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699, 1344
spiritual growth . . . . . . . . 525, 545, 589, 608,
618, 646, 751, 858,
884, 1024, 1444
spiritual hunger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1221, 1320
strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1372
success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1465
suffering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
suffering, faith in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
surrender to God . . . . . . . . . 205, 712, 1229,
1331, 1497
taking action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1018, 1451
tears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
temptation . . . . . . . . . 16, 49, 202, 787, 1255,

1342, 1366
testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
thankfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
thanksgiving . . . . . . . .510, 1049, 1400, 1403
the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180
time management . . . . 237, 246, 684, 1210,
1252
tithing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1089
trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
trials, faithfulness in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
trust . . . . . . . . . . 160, 270, 272, 361, 792, 886,
1060, 1077, 1195, 1401
validation from God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592
values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582, 845
victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
vocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699, 1041, 1115
waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858, 1263
waiting for God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1243
walking with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
weakness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1368, 1435
wealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1199
wedding supper of the Lamb . . . . . . . . 1495
weight issues . . . . . . . . . 757, 834, 901, 1255,
1316, 1362
wholeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327, 370, 381
wisdom, Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874
witness . . . . . . . 98, 1012, 1110, 1138, 1190,
1236, 1268, 1281, 1327
worry . . . . . . . . . . . 606, 662, 804, 1195, 1433
worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669, 1174
9/21/12 1:33 PM
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real life

NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women

The Old Testament

Book . . . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviation . . . . . . . . Page

Book . . . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviation . . . . . . . . Page

Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . Ecc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753

The New Testament

Book . . . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviation . . . . . . . . Page

Book . . . . . . . . . . . . Abbreviation . . . . . . . . Page

Table of Weights and Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alphabetical Order of the

Song of Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767

About the NIV Real-Life

Everyone knows morning comes first, and then evening. Right? So

light day, and

Turn To page 5 for your nexT devoTion.

13 Zer ubbabel the fat her of Abihud,

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

came about d: His mother Mary was pledged

angel of the Lord had commanded him and

The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in

The Escape to Egypt

they had gone, an angel of the

you, for Herod is goi ng to s earch for the child

The Return to Nazareth

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

In those days John the Baptist came,

and he had a leather belt a round his waist.

a1Traditionally wise men b6Micah5:2,4 c15Hosea11:1 d18Jer.31:15 e3Isaiah40:3

They saw the child

His food was loc usts and wild honey. 5Peo

The Baptism of Jesus

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the

Jesus Begins to Preach

15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

TheGreek for tempted can also mean tested. c4Deut.8:3 d6Psalm91:11,12

e7Deut.6:16 f10Deut.6:13 g16Isaiah9:1,2

I will send you out to fish for people. 20At

Jesus Heals the Sick

Introduction to the Sermon onthe

Now when Jesus saw the c rowds, he

11Blessed are you when peo

Salt and Light

The Fulfillment of the Law

the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to

23Therefore, if you are offeri ng your gift

has been said, Anyone who divorc

Eye for Eye

Love for Enemies

Giving to the Needy

Be careful not to practice your righ

a27Exodus20:14 b31Deut.24:1 c37Orfrom evil d38

Exodus21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21

pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then

then the light within you is darkness, how

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.