Daily Bible Readings for Friday, 19 January 2007

But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.

If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one. But God finds fault with his people when he says,

"The days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt.
They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them,
and so I paid no attention to them.
Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel
in the days to come, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
None of them will have to teach their friends
or tell their neighbors, 'Know the Lord.'
For they will all follow me,
from the least to the greatest.
I will forgive their sins
and will no longer remember their wrongs."

By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.

- Hebrews 8:6-13

I am listening to what the Lord God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

Love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will embrace. Human loyalty will reach up from the earth, and God's righteousness will look down from heaven. The Lord will make us prosperous, and our land will produce rich harvests. Righteousness will go before the Lord and prepare the path for him.

- Psalms 85:8, 10-13

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles

Then Jesus went up a hill and called to himself the men he wanted. They came to him, and he chose twelve, whom he named apostles. "I have chosen you to be with me," he told them. "I will also send you out to preach, and you will have authority to drive out demons."

These are the twelve he chose: Simon (Jesus gave him the name Peter); James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee (Jesus gave them the name Boanerges, which means "Men of Thunder"); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Patriot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

- Mark 3:13-19

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