Embracing Wonder: A 5-Week Advent Devotional From Matthew West

Daily Reading Plan With Christian Mael (December)

Moving Toward Each Other in the Middle of a Divisive World

Giving Thanks in Every Season

Thankful Through the Struggle

Vote With Vision: Praying God’s Will Over Elections

Advent Guide: You Belong

Our Father

El-Roi the God Who Sees Me

5 Spiritual Practices for Healing and Transformation

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="LUK.20">
 <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1">The Authority of Jesus Questioned</div><div class="p"> 1One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2&#8220;Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Who gave you this authority?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3He replied, &#8220;I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4John&#8217;s baptism&#8212;was it from heaven, or of human origin?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5They discussed it among themselves and said, &#8220;If we say, &#8216;From heaven,&#8217; he will ask, &#8216;Why didn&#8217;t you believe him?&#8217; 6But if we say, &#8216;Of human origin,&#8217; all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7So they answered, &#8220;We don&#8217;t know where it was from.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Jesus said, &#8220;Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Tenants</div><div class="p"> 9He went on to tell the people this parable: &#8220;A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.</div><div class="p"> 13 &#8220;Then the owner of the vineyard said, &#8216;What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 14 &#8220;But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. &#8216;This is the heir,&#8217; they said. &#8216;Let&#8217;s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.&#8217; 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.</div><div class="p"> &#8220;What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.&#8221;</div><div class="p">When the people heard this, they said, &#8220;God forbid!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Jesus looked directly at them and asked, &#8220;Then what is the meaning of that which is written:</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The stone the builders rejected</div><div class="q2"> has become the cornerstone&#8217; # 20:17 
 Psalm 118:22
 ?</div><div class="m"> 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.</div><div class="s1">Paying Taxes to Caesar</div><div class="p"> 20Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21So the spies questioned him: &#8220;Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24&#8220;Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Caesar&#8217;s,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p"> 25He said to them, &#8220;Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar&#8217;s, and to God what is God&#8217;s.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.</div><div class="s1">The Resurrection and Marriage</div><div class="p"> 27Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28&#8220;Teacher,&#8221; they said, &#8220;Moses wrote for us that if a man&#8217;s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30The second 31and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32Finally, the woman died too. 33Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34Jesus replied, &#8220;The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God&#8217;s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord &#8216;the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.&#8217;#20:37 Exodus 3:6 38He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39Some of the teachers of the law responded, &#8220;Well said, teacher!&#8221; 40And no one dared to ask him any more questions.</div><div class="s1">Whose Son Is the Messiah?</div><div class="p"> 41Then Jesus said to them, &#8220;Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? 42David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;The Lord said to my Lord:</div><div class="q2"> &#8220;Sit at my right hand</div><div class="q1"> 43 until I make your enemies</div><div class="q2"> a footstool for your feet.&#8221;&#8198;&#8217; # 20:43 
 Psalm 110:1
 </div><div class="m"> 44 David calls him &#8216;Lord.&#8217; How then can he be his son?&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Warning Against the Teachers of the Law</div><div class="p"> 45While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46&#8220;Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47They devour widows&#8217; houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="label">39</div><div class="s1">Joseph and Potiphar&#8217;s Wife</div><div class="p"> 1Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh&#8217;s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.</div><div class="p"> 2The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph&#8217;s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.</div><div class="p">Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7and after a while his master&#8217;s wife took notice of Joseph and said, &#8220;Come to bed with me!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8But he refused. &#8220;With me in charge,&#8221; he told her, &#8220;my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?&#8221; 10And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.</div><div class="p"> 11One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12She caught him by his cloak and said, &#8220;Come to bed with me!&#8221; But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.</div><div class="p"> 13When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14she called her household servants. &#8220;Look,&#8221; she said to them, &#8220;this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17Then she told him this story: &#8220;That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, &#8220;This is how your slave treated me,&#8221; he burned with anger. 20Joseph&#8217;s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king&#8217;s prisoners were confined.</div><div class="p">But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph&#8217;s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch40" data-usfm="GEN.40">
 <div class="label">40</div><div class="s1">The Cupbearer and the Baker</div><div class="p"> 1Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.</div><div class="p">After they had been in custody for some time, 5each of the two men&#8212;the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison&#8212;had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.</div><div class="p"> 6When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7So he asked Pharaoh&#8217;s officials who were in custody with him in his master&#8217;s house, &#8220;Why do you look so sad today?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;We both had dreams,&#8221; they answered, &#8220;but there is no one to interpret them.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then Joseph said to them, &#8220;Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, &#8220;In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11Pharaoh&#8217;s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh&#8217;s cup and put the cup in his hand.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;This is what it means,&#8221; Joseph said to him. &#8220;The three branches are three days. 13Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh&#8217;s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, &#8220;I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.#40:16 Or three wicker baskets 17In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18&#8220;This is what it means,&#8221; Joseph said. &#8220;The three baskets are three days. 19Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20Now the third day was Pharaoh&#8217;s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh&#8217;s hand&#8212; 22but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.</div><div class="p"> 23The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.</div>
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