NL-Day053 Leviticus 3-4; Psalm 11; Luke 8:22-56
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Release Date: 02/16/2025
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 25-26:Yesterday we read the commands for the Israelites to be good neighbors and to practice justice. And we heard the requirement for all Israelites to celebrate three festivals, and God gave promises of how He would bring them into the land. Then we read the story of how Moses led the people in accepting the covenant. Note how important the sacrificial blood was in this ceremony. The Israelites promised to obey the covenant. Moses told them to wait for him, then followed God's call to go up to the summit of the mountain, where he stayed for 40 days and nights. PSALMS 1:Job— as I...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 23-24:Yesterday we heard laws regarding treatment of slaves, cases of personal injury, protection of private property, and social responsibility. Job 42:After three chapters of God confronting Job, Job gives his final response, and we hear of God’s blessings to him. Luke 2a:Yesterday in Luke, Mary visited Elizabeth, and we read Mary's song of praise, and later John's father Zechariah prayed his prophetic prayer. NLT Translation notes:Exo. 23:17 At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before [Me,/0] the Sovereign[, the/0] LORD .25 “You must serve only...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 21-22:Yesterday we read about the awesome and fearful way the Lord revealed himself at Mount Sinai to the Israelites. (Remember that for when we come to Hebrews 13.) And God gave the 10 Commandments. JOB 41:God continues to confront and challenge Job, asking questions revealing God's power compared to human weakness. A note about Leviathan in this chapter. Leviathan can be compared to a sea crocodile. The identification of Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a mythical sea monster in ancient literature. LUKE 1b:Yesterday, in a very formal prologue, Luke stated his...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 19-20:Yesterday we heard of God satisfying the thirst of the Israelites by commanding Moses to hit a rock. Israel defeated the Amalekites. And Jethro brought Moses’ wife and sons to him and gave him good advice. Note that in most English translations, God often talks of Himself in what we might term the royal fashion— as ‘The LORD’, and then as ‘He’ (instead of ‘I’, and ‘Me’). (The capital letters L O R D indicate that the Hebrew actually has his name, Yahweh.) In many of the world’s languages, it is ungrammatical to speak of oneself in the third person, so...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 17-18:Yesterday we heard the wonderful victory song of Moses. Then we heard how the people of Israel grumbled against Moses, Aaron, and most importantly, the Lord. Even about something as simple as gathering manna, the people of Israel disobey repeatedly. They are not called stubborn for nothing.JOB 39:God continues for a second chapter in challenging Job. 2PETER 3:Yesterday it struck me that even in Peter's day, there were greedy false teachers. Peter's descriptions of the false teachers are some of the most colorful in the Bible. NLT Translation notes:Job 39:17 For [I/God] haves...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 15-16:Yesterday we heard that because of the Passover plague which killed Egypt's firstborn, God claims the firstborn of Israel for all time to come. Then we heard of Pharaoh's final hardening of his heart, and the parting of the red sea. JOB 38:In the 6 chapters before this, Elihu has said that God uses multiple means of communication with humans. He maintained that God is just, and said that Job— in his despair, had gone too far in saying it doesn't make any difference if one tries to serve God. He said that God is amazing in His power, and God does notice and punish the wicked....
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Day 38: What most people don’t know about Bible translations Hi there, and welcome to this bonus podcast! I will be discussing the two main types of Bible translations I recommend for most people. As a Bible translator since 1983, I feel that most Christians in the USA are not given enough information about why Bible translations differ in wording, and which kinds of Bible translations will be better for different kinds of readers. This is an important topic, so I am surprised at myself: I can’t believe that I haven’t released a dedicated podcast about this topic every year since 2014....
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 13-14:Yesterday we heard of the final plague— including the death of the firstborn and the first Passover. And we heard the rules for the Passover celebrations. Note how Christ is foreshadowed in the Passover lamb, including the detail that not a bone was to be broken. JOB 37:This is the conclusion of Elihu's speech. 2nd PETER 1:Yesterday in James 5, James railed against the rich to encourage the poor. He also told us how to be patient in our suffering. The last section teaches about prayer for the sick and finally about repentance. I add a little footnote here. So often I hear the...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 11-12:Yesterday we heard of the plague against the livestock, the plague of boils, and the plague of hail. We are not told how much time there was in between each plague. It seems there was enough time for many Egyptians to buy more livestock before they were again decimated by the hail. Then we heard about the plague of locusts followed by the plague of darkness. I hope you noticed Who is doing the hardening of hearts and causing the stubbornness. Paul talks about that in Romans 9. JOB 36:This is Elihu's 5th chapter. JAMES 5:In chapter 4, James preached against the way the world had...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
EXODUS 9-10:The two chapters we read yesterday included the story of Aaron's staff becoming a serpent, and the plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, and flies. Note verse that in our reading today: 9:19 Now give orders for your livestock and everything else you have in the open to be put under shelter. Hail will fall on the people and animals left outside unprotected, and they will all die.’ ” Evidently enough time had passed between the plague against the livestock so that the Egyptians were able to buy livestock, and I am sure the people of Israel profited in that! JOB 35:This is Elihu's 4th...
info_outlineLEVITICUS 3-4:
Yesterday we heard about burnt offerings and grain offerings.
Andrew Bonar states about Leviticus:
“There is no book in the whole compass of that inspired Volume which the Holy Spirit has given us, that contains more of the very words of God than Leviticus. It is God that is the direct speaker in almost every page; His gracious words are recorded in the form wherein they were uttered.”
Note this in our reading in Leviticus today: By and large, the sacrificial system was set up to forgive unintentional sins. (Some small exceptions will be noted in tomorrow’s reading in Leviticus.) It is good to draw a distinction— as the book of Hebrews does, between unintentional and intentional sins. Each of us should feel uncomfortable, because each of us can look back and remember sins we committed intentionally. Let us make the firm commitment to never trample upon our Savior’s kindness by sinning intentionally. But we can praise the Lord for this verse spoken by Paul in Acts 13:38-39:
“Therefore let it be known to you, brothers [and sisters//0], that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.” (NET)
PSALM 11:
This is a song of trust in the Lord.
LUKE 8b:
Yesterday we read the parable of the sower, or different kinds of soil. Jesus taught about the importance of hearing and doing what is in God's Word, and that was echoed again when his mother and brothers came to see him.
NLT Translation notes:
Luk. 8:7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up [with the tender young plants and choked them out.//it and choked out the tender plants.] 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, [“You people have ears to hear with, don't you?! Well then, listen and understand!”//Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.]
[Seed is a collective noun, therefore plural!]
9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets a of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled [where God said//0]:
‘When they look, they won’t really see.
When they hear, they won’t understand.’
25 Then he asked them, “[Whatever happened to the idea of your believing in Me?!”//Where is your faith?]
The disciples were terrified and amazed. “[What kind of man is this?!//Who is this man?]” they asked each other.
“When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”
30 Jesus demanded, “What is your name?”
“[Batalion/Legion],” he replied, for he was filled with many demons.
32 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs.
[0/So] Jesus gave them permission.
[The Greek ‘kai’ (and) is frequently left untranslated on purpose. I definitely don't like the addition of a 'So' logical connector here.]
34 When the herdsmen saw [what happened//it], they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.
35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they [all became afraid//were afraid].
48 “[0//Daughter],” he said to her, “[You are now healed because you believe fully in Me.//your faith has made you well.] Go in peace.”
[Jesus does call her 'daughter' in Greek. But people can often get the wrong impression from that. One common wrong implication would be that this woman was younger than Jesus. If the translator changes to something like 'woman', then there are other problems with wrong implications. Other options I have thought of sound unnatural. For naturalness sake, it sounds best and most natural to me to just leave the word out.]
50 But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. [Just keep believing fully in Me//Just have faith], and she will be healed.”
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.