Daily Bible Reading

God’s Guiding Word: Hope Introduction Ephesians 1:1–23: Today we begin reading the letter to the Ephesians. The apostle Paul had been in Ephesus, where he preached in the synagogue. He also lectured in the hall of Tyrannus, who was believed to be a teacher or the owner of the lecture hall (see Acts 19:1–10). The […]

God’s Guiding Word: Hope Introduction Jude 1–25: The Letter from Jude was written to warn against false teachers who claimed to be believers. In this brief letter, the writer encourages believers to defend and build on the foundation of their faith. Today’s Key Verse: Jude 20b–21 Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and […]

God’s Guiding Word: Hope Introduction John 21:15–25: Jesus speaks to Simon Peter, and three times he calls upon Peter to care for Jesus’s lambs and sheep (verses 15–17). Scholars have connected the three questions about Peter’s love for Jesus with Peter’s three earlier denials of Jesus (see John 18:17, 25–27 and also Mark 14:66–72 from […]

God’s Guiding Word: Hope Introduction John 21:1–14: Seven of the disciples fish all night but catch nothing. When Jesus appears on the shore of Lake Tiberias and tells them to cast their net again, they catch many fish. Jesus then invites the disciples to share with him the meal that he has prepared. Today’s Key […]

God’s Guiding Word: Hope Introduction John 20:19–31: Late Sunday evening the resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples, who are gathered behind locked doors. Jesus breathes on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He appears to them again and Thomas’s faith is tested. Today’s Key Verse: John 20:19b Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be […]

God’s Guiding Word: Hope Introduction John 20:1–18: When Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’s tomb, she sees that the stone has been rolled away. She runs to tell the disciples, believing that someone took Jesus’s body from the tomb. Then Jesus appears to Mary, telling her that he is going to return to God. Mary then […]

God’s Guiding Word: Prayer Introduction Mark 16:1–20: Mark’s account of Jesus’s resurrection is often referred to as an empty-tomb story because of the way it ends at verse 8, with the empty tomb being the proof of Jesus’s resurrection. Many scholars believe that the longer ending was added in the late second or early third […]

God’s Guiding Word: Prayer Introduction Mark 15:42–47: Joseph of Arimathea approaches Pilate and asks to remove the body of Jesus from the cross. He arranges to have Jesus buried in a tomb. Two women watch and see where Jesus’s body is placed. Today’s Key Verse: Mark 15:43b Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate […]

God’s Guiding Word: Prayer Introduction Mark 15:1–41: Jesus is questioned by Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Jesus is sentenced to death, and he is tortured, mocked, and nailed to a cross. At noon the sky turns dark; and three hours later, Jesus calls out to God and dies. Today’s Key Verse: Mark 15:39 The […]

God’s Guiding Word: Prayer Introduction Mark 14:32–72: Jesus goes to pray in Gethsemane (an area on a lower slope of the Mount of Olives), and the disciples fall asleep. Jesus is arrested and brought before the Council of chief priests, elders, and teachers of the Law, where he is put on trial. Today’s Key Verse: […]