NL-Day188 2 Kings 3-4; Psalm 124; John 11:1-26
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Release Date: 07/06/2025
Daily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Most people find out about the DBRP through the YouVersion Bible reading app on their smart device. If you are one who has found out about these podcasts through some other means (such as via Apple Podcasts), then I want to make you aware that the Bible app created by YouVersion is wonderful. You can subscribe to the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan within the app, then reading along with these daily podcasts is very easy. Just start your episode using your podcast player, then go to your day in the YouVersion Reading Plan. Please be aware that you can turn on the YouVersion app’s audio for...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
How can you get more out of your Bible reading this year? My top advice is to SLOW DOWN! The readings in this plan take around 20 minutes if read aloud. If you read silently, you might finish in only 10 minutes. But if you skim through like that, you won’t retain very much! I suggest these two ways to slow down: 1. Read out loud to yourself. Read expressively. When you find that your first attempt didn’t quite have the right intonation, go back and read the sentence again. Take time to think about— and pray about, what you have just read. 2. Read along while listening to the Daily Bible...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
It is possible to listen to these podcasts on YouTube or Facebook, but these ways are not optimal. The pages linked in the banner of give various ways to conveniently listen to these podcasts using any kind of smart device, including smart speakers. Use the Listen menu item of the to find this information. You will note that I read most Bible names phonetically— rather than the using normal English pronunciation. This means that the letter A will have a consistent sound ‘ah’ and the letter I will be pronounced ‘ee’. This happens to match Indonesian pronunciations and that of...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
Hey there! Welcome to this day number 1 in the NLT series for the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan. These podcasts are hosted at . Today in this episode number 1 we read Genesis 1-2, Job 1, and the first half of Mark 1. It’s great that you're starting TODAY on a life-transforming journey through the Bible! The Digging Deeper Daily plan will help you be successful in your commitment to read the whole Bible in a year. The unique order of the readings— together with the brief devotional notes, will help you see the various threads that unify the message of the Old and the New Testaments. I...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
As I finish this podcast series, I am really thankful for this year-long experience. If you are one of the faithful ones who have listened through a year’s worth of daily podcasts— and no matter whether this has taken longer than a year, I say Way to go! I sincerely hope these podcasts have been a blessing for you— as they have been for me. I hope that nothing that I have said has caused you to stumble or decreased your desire to study God’s Word. I started this project in the hope that my four grandchildren would— in some future year, listen to this series of recordings. Now we...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
MALACHI 3: In chapters 1-2 yesterday, we heard how skeptical and sassy the Israelites had become. This came out in the way Malachi has the people of Israel talk back to God. The first is like this: Mal. 1:2 NLT “I have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? Topics for such exchanges included offering sacrifices that don’t show appropriate honor to God, breaking covenants of marriage through divorce, and not honoring God as the God of justice. Two more sassy exchanges happen in today’s reading. ISAIAH 66: I highlight verse 17 from chapter 65, as it foreshadows what...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
MALACHI 1-2: We heard a very difficult conclusion to Zechariah yesterday. Chapter 14 started out with horrendous news for Jerusalem. But the Lord himself steps in: Zec. 14:3 NLT Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart … We will see the following from Zech 14 very soon in Revelation: Zec. 14:5c NLT “Then the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones with him. 6 On that day the sources of light will no longer shine, 7 yet...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ZECHARIAH 14: Unfortunately, we have not yet seen the fulfillment of this prophecy from the end of Zechariah 12: Zec. 12:10 NLT “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. (The podcast notes for the previous episode contain a translation note on this verse.) However, this part has been fulfilled from the beginning of chapter 13: Zec. 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ZECHARIAH 12-13:Several times I have noted Zechariah and other prophets who use the figure of shepherding a flock— picturing God’s people. In chapter 11, there were puzzling verses where Zechariah evidently performed an outward demonstration involving two staffs. Other prophets did such demonstrations. In this one, evidently Zechariah stood in for the Messiah. The two staffs were named Favor and Union. Our Messiah, Jesus, came to restore us to God’s favor and give us unity as God’s people— no matter from what race. The 30 pieces of silver is spoken of with irony: “this magnificent...
info_outlineDaily Bible Reading Phil Fields
ZECHARIAH 10-11: As we have seen before, the Lord loves names and delights to give new names. In Zec. 8 He said, Zec. 8:3 NLT Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain. In Zec. 9 we read the verse Matthew quotes in chapter 21 about Jesus coming riding on the foal of a donkey. The verse is also alluded to in John 12:15. And we heard this verse about the New Jerusalem: Zec. 9:16 NLT On that day the LORD their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land...
info_outline2KINGS 3-4:
Yesterday we heard of the final amazing prophecies of Elijah, and then how he took leave of the prophets and particularly, his successor Elisha. Elisha quickly showed that he was Elijah's successor.
PSALM 124:
I keep being amazed how people (and particularly those in America) don’t seem to learn anything from the amazing things that are happening in our times. The last verse of this psalm expresses the lesson that I think we should have learned by now.
JOHN 11a:
Reminding us of what we heard in John 10: Our Shepherd calls us by name. He knows us thoroughly, just like He and the Father know each other. We hear his voice and recognize him. He goes before us and leads us into a rich and satisfying life. He is our great and good Shepherd because He was willing to sacrifice his life for us.
NLT/GNT Translation comparison:
2Kings 3:27 NLT So he took his oldest son, who would have been the next king, and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. As a result, the anger against Israel was great, so they withdrew and returned to their own land.//GNT So he took his oldest son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they drew back from the city and returned to their own country.
[The Hebrew for the first phrase of the last sentence can be interpreted in several ways. The NLT makes better sense to me. There would have been anger and indignation on Moab’s side, and revulsion on Israel’s side.]
NLT Translation notes:
John 11:5 So although Jesus loved Martha, [and loved] Mary, and [loved] Lazarus,
26 Everyone who [0//lives in me and] believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
[Woah! I am surprised that, apparently, the NLT translators didn’t think that just believing was enough! I don’t see any textual variant that would lead to this addition in the translation.]
31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep [there]. So they followed her [0/there].
38 Jesus was still [upset//angry] as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.
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.