Monday, July 31, 2017

DayStarters_001 John 1a


Hi and welcome to the first edition of DayStarters.

Our daughter Hannah (with her husband and our three grand kids) have just recently settled in Jakarta. Hannah requested recordings of just the Gospel of John, with the prayer at the end. Ava is 7 and Joel is 6, and Devin is almost one. Their family has been through a lot of upheaval in the last year, and because of that, it seems best to home-school them this year, rather than subject them to yet another school in a strange city and culture. Hannah wanted something that she could play with a minimum of fuss at the beginning of each school day.

These recordings are simply the last reading and prayer from the GN series (using the Good News Bible) starting at day number 168. Sometimes the prayer will include topics that were from the other readings of the day.

So here we go, Hannah. We’re proud of you and love you!

And to anyone else listening, may the Lord bless you ‘real good’.


Check out this episode!

GN-DBRP_213 JER.23 PSA.149 1CO.6


JEREMIAH 23:
In yesterday's reading, we heard how king Zedekiah sent two men to Jeremiah to ask him for help to pray for a miracle. And God made it ever so clear that no miracle of deliverance would be given. Jeremiah repeatedly tells the king what he needs to do, but Zedekiah just couldn’t bring himself to do it. The area of giving justice was especially prominent in yesterday's readings.

PSALM 149:
We old saints should not despise all of the new songs of the young saints. Yet I totally understand the desire to avoid change.  Here we see that Scripture commands that we sing new songs. And this whole psalm can be taken as a prelude to what we will see in the book of Revelation.

1CORINTHIANS 6:
A few days ago I challenged you to find out what was special about the quote in John 19 about none of Jesus’ bones being broken. In yesterday’s reading in 1Corinthians 5, we heard several metaphors relating to that based on Jesus being our Passover Lamb. And now as we start chapter 6, we have a chapter break at the right place, as Paul starts a new topic.

GNT Translation notes:
Jer. 23:18 [Jeremiah speaks//I said], “None of these prophets has ever known the Lord's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said.
====
1Cor. 6:3 Do you not know that we shall judge the angels? How much more, then, [should we be able to judge] the things of this life!
9 Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God's Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or [both kinds of male homosexuals//homosexual perverts]

NLT Translation notes:
Jer. 23:33 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What [burden/burdensome message] do you have from the Lord?’ [(meaning a message from me,)] Tell them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you away. I, the Lord, affirm it!
[There is a play on words here that is really hard to translate, and NLT doesn’t show that in a way that makes sense to me. So I am basing the reading more on the NET.]
34 I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who [refers to a message from me as a burden//says “The Lord’s message is burdensome].” I will punish both that person and his whole family.’”
35 So I, Jeremiah, tell you, “Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative, ‘How did the Lord answer? Or what did the Lord say?’
36 You must no longer [refer to a message from the Lord as a “burden”.//say that the Lord’s message is burdensome.] [NLT 1996 version: For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.//For what is ‘burdensome’ really pertains to what a person himself says. You are misrepresenting the words of our God, the living God, the Lord who rules over all.]
37 Each of you should merely ask the prophet, ‘What answer did the Lord give you? Or what did the Lord say?’
38 But just suppose you continue to [call the Lord’s message “a burden”.//say, ‘The message of the Lord is burdensome.’] Here is what the Lord says will happen: ‘I sent word to you that you must not [call my message a ‘burden’.//say, “The Lord’s message is burdensome.”] But you [continued to say that anyway.//used the words “The Lord’s message is burdensome” anyway.]
39 So I will carry you far off and throw you away. I will send both you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors out of my sight.
40 I will bring on you lasting shame and lasting disgrace which will never be forgotten!’”
====
1Cor. 6:11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on [0//the name of] the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
[This is a figure of speech called metonymy. ‘The name’ stands for the whole person. First of all, even though it sounds natural to us who have been around Bibles all our lives, it really is not natural English. One never would say, “Call on the name of Obama.” We would simply call Obama, or call to Obama. Secondly, calling on a name sounds as if we are given magic words. It would be idolatry to worship a thing (even a name) rather than the Person himself.]


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_213 JER.23 PSA.149 1CO.6


JEREMIAH 23:
In yesterday's reading, we heard how king Zedekiah sent two men to Jeremiah to ask him for help to pray for a miracle. And God made it ever so clear that no miracle of deliverance would be given. Jeremiah repeatedly tells the king what he needs to do, but Zedekiah just couldn’t bring himself to do it. The area of giving justice was especially prominent in yesterday's readings.

PSALM 149:
We old saints should not despise all of the new songs of the young saints. Yet I totally understand the desire to avoid change.  Here we see that Scripture commands that we sing new songs. And this whole psalm can be taken as a prelude to what we will see in the book of Revelation.

1CORINTHIANS 6:
A few days ago I challenged you to find out what was special about the quote in John 19 about none of Jesus’ bones being broken. In yesterday’s reading in 1Corinthians 5, we heard several metaphors relating to that based on Jesus being our Passover Lamb. And now as we start chapter 6, we have a chapter break at the right place, as Paul starts a new topic.

GNT Translation notes:
Jer. 23:18 [Jeremiah speaks//I said], “None of these prophets has ever known the Lord's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said.
====
1Cor. 6:3 Do you not know that we shall judge the angels? How much more, then, [should we be able to judge] the things of this life!
9 Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God's Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or [both kinds of male homosexuals//homosexual perverts]

NLT Translation notes:
Jer. 23:33 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What [burden/burdensome message] do you have from the Lord?’ [(meaning a message from me,)] Tell them, ‘You are the burden, and I will cast you away. I, the Lord, affirm it!
[There is a play on words here that is really hard to translate, and NLT doesn’t show that in a way that makes sense to me. So I am basing the reading more on the NET.]
34 I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who [refers to a message from me as a burden//says “The Lord’s message is burdensome].” I will punish both that person and his whole family.’”
35 So I, Jeremiah, tell you, “Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative, ‘How did the Lord answer? Or what did the Lord say?’
36 You must no longer [refer to a message from the Lord as a “burden”.//say that the Lord’s message is burdensome.] [NLT 1996 version: For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.//For what is ‘burdensome’ really pertains to what a person himself says. You are misrepresenting the words of our God, the living God, the Lord who rules over all.]
37 Each of you should merely ask the prophet, ‘What answer did the Lord give you? Or what did the Lord say?’
38 But just suppose you continue to [call the Lord’s message “a burden”.//say, ‘The message of the Lord is burdensome.’] Here is what the Lord says will happen: ‘I sent word to you that you must not [call my message a ‘burden’.//say, “The Lord’s message is burdensome.”] But you [continued to say that anyway.//used the words “The Lord’s message is burdensome” anyway.]
39 So I will carry you far off and throw you away. I will send both you and the city I gave to you and to your ancestors out of my sight.
40 I will bring on you lasting shame and lasting disgrace which will never be forgotten!’”
====
1Cor. 6:11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on [0//the name of] the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
[This is a figure of speech called metonymy. ‘The name’ stands for the whole person. First of all, even though it sounds natural to us who have been around Bibles all our lives, it really is not natural English. One never would say, “Call on the name of Obama.” We would simply call Obama, or call to Obama. Secondly, calling on a name sounds as if we are given magic words. It would be idolatry to worship a thing (even a name) rather than the Person himself.]


Check out this episode!

Sunday, July 30, 2017

GN-DBRP_212 JER.21 JER.22 PSA.148 1CO.4.14-21 1CO.5


JEREMIAH 21-22:
These verses from Jeremiah 20 have been often quoted as a reason for memorizing Scripture:

Jer. 20:9 NLT But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD
or speak in his name,
his word burns in my heart like a fire.
It’s like a fire in my bones!
I am worn out trying to hold it in!
I can’t do it!

Remember the priest Pashur who put Jeremiah in stocks. The Passhur that time was the son of Immer. Today it is evidently a different Passhur who visits Jeremiah, the son of Malchiah.

PSALM 148:
The ending psalms just keep getting more and more exuberant in praise 

1CORINTHIANS 4:14—5:
Paul is about to drop a bombshell in chapter 5, and it is good to see the transition from chapter 4. 

GNT Translation notes:
Ps. 148:5 Let them all praise [Him//the name of the Lord]! He commanded, and they were created;
11  Let them all praise [Him//the name of the Lord]! His name is greater than all others; his glory is above earth and heaven.
====
1Cor. 4:17 For this purpose I am sending to you Timothy, who is my own dear and faithful son in the Christian life. He will remind you of the [way of living//principles] which I follow [, and which is appropriate for all of us who are joined in union with Christ Jesus.//in the new life in union with Christ Jesus] [0//which] I teach [these principles] in all the churches everywhere. 

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 5:2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove [that/this] man from your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on [that/this] man
5 Then you must throw [that/this] man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.
6 [Given that situation] Your boasting [0//about this] is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?
[There is no “about this” in the Greek, and this is a place where one would not want to claim this as added implicit information. They were boasting about other things and sweeping this under the rug. And I find it very silly to use ‘person’ instead of ‘man’ a little further on. Gender sensitivity has become a bit too sensitive.]
7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing [that wicked man//this wicked person] from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid [everyone/people] like that.
12 It isn’t [our/my] responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.
[Paul uses a rhetorical question here, “What have I to do with judging outsiders?” It is a good idea to translate this as a statement. I think that Paul’s intent is not just about himself judging, and the change of pronouns in the next sentence seems jarring to me as I read the NLT.]


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_212 JER.21 JER.22 PSA.148 1CO.4.14-21 1CO.5


JEREMIAH 21-22:
These verses from Jeremiah 20 have been often quoted as a reason for memorizing Scripture:

Jer. 20:9 NLT But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD
or speak in his name,
his word burns in my heart like a fire.
It’s like a fire in my bones!
I am worn out trying to hold it in!
I can’t do it!

Remember the priest Pashur who put Jeremiah in stocks. The Passhur that time was the son of Immer. Today it is evidently a different Passhur who visits Jeremiah, the son of Malchiah.

PSALM 148:
The ending psalms just keep getting more and more exuberant in praise 

1CORINTHIANS 4:14—5:
Paul is about to drop a bombshell in chapter 5, and it is good to see the transition from chapter 4. 

GNT Translation notes:
Ps. 148:5 Let them all praise [Him//the name of the Lord]! He commanded, and they were created;
11  Let them all praise [Him//the name of the Lord]! His name is greater than all others; his glory is above earth and heaven.
====
1Cor. 4:17 For this purpose I am sending to you Timothy, who is my own dear and faithful son in the Christian life. He will remind you of the [way of living//principles] which I follow [, and which is appropriate for all of us who are joined in union with Christ Jesus.//in the new life in union with Christ Jesus] [0//which] I teach [these principles] in all the churches everywhere. 

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 5:2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove [that/this] man from your fellowship.
3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on [that/this] man
5 Then you must throw [that/this] man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.
6 [Given that situation] Your boasting [0//about this] is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?
[There is no “about this” in the Greek, and this is a place where one would not want to claim this as added implicit information. They were boasting about other things and sweeping this under the rug. And I find it very silly to use ‘person’ instead of ‘man’ a little further on. Gender sensitivity has become a bit too sensitive.]
7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing [that wicked man//this wicked person] from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid [everyone/people] like that.
12 It isn’t [our/my] responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.
[Paul uses a rhetorical question here, “What have I to do with judging outsiders?” It is a good idea to translate this as a statement. I think that Paul’s intent is not just about himself judging, and the change of pronouns in the next sentence seems jarring to me as I read the NLT.]


Check out this episode!

Saturday, July 29, 2017

GN-DBRP_211 JER.19 JER.20 PSA.147 1CO.3.10-23 1CO.4


JEREMIAH 19-20:
In yesterday’s reading, we again heard some often-quoted verses. These verses come just after verses in chapter 17 where the Lord himself beautifully paraphrased Psalm 1:

Jer. 17:9 GNT “Who can understand the human heart?
There is nothing else so deceitful;
it is too sick to be healed.
10 I, the Lord, search the minds
and test the hearts of people.
I treat each of them according to the way they live,
according to what they do.”

Then in chapter 18, we also heard the famous passage about the Lord being like a potter, which Paul refers to in Romans 9.

PSALM 147:
Again this is quite a contrast with Jeremiah’s feelings which we just read! This is our second Hallelujah psalm. And hallelujah has been translated according to its meaning here as “Praise the LORD.” This psalm has incredible depth.

1CORINTHIANS 3:10—4:
Paul is still ‘going on about’ the same thing. He is going to return to the subject of himself and Apollos in chapter 4— which summarizes the division in the Corinthian church. To give the connection, let’s start reading at chapter 3 verse 10.

GNT Translation notes:
1Cor. 3:16 Surely you know that you are [included as a part of] God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you!
17 God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and [we— all of God’s people//you yourselves] are his temple.
[Translations in English often fail to make clear that ‘you’ in Greek is plural here. The Corinthians as a group are being built into the temple of God— as Paul says in Ephesians 2. It seems a bit more natural or complete in English for Paul to include himself in the body of Christ, so it is possible to use ‘we’ and a modifying phrase, as I have suggested above. There is another verse we will soon read where Paul says that we each individually are a sanctuary/temple of the Holy Spirit.]
21 No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do.  [(Implicit info:) Because of being joined as one with Christ,] Actually everything belongs to you:
22  [So that includes] Paul [and] Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours,
4:1 You should think of us [apostles//0] as Christ's servants, who have been put in charge of God's secret truths.
17 For this purpose I am sending to you Timothy, who is my own dear and faithful son in the Christian life. He will remind you of the [way of living//principles] which I follow [, and which is appropriate for all of us who are joined in union with Christ Jesus.//in the new life in union with Christ Jesus] [0//which] I teach [these principles] in all the churches everywhere.

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 4:7 For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t [just] given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?
10 Our dedication to Christ [paradoxically] makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. [0/Yet] we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_211 JER.19 JER.20 PSA.147 1CO.3.10-23 1CO.4


JEREMIAH 19-20:
In yesterday’s reading, we again heard some often-quoted verses. These verses come just after verses in chapter 17 where the Lord himself beautifully paraphrased Psalm 1:

Jer. 17:9 GNT “Who can understand the human heart?
There is nothing else so deceitful;
it is too sick to be healed.
10 I, the Lord, search the minds
and test the hearts of people.
I treat each of them according to the way they live,
according to what they do.”

Then in chapter 18, we also heard the famous passage about the Lord being like a potter, which Paul refers to in Romans 9.

PSALM 147:
Again this is quite a contrast with Jeremiah’s feelings which we just read! This is our second Hallelujah psalm. And hallelujah has been translated according to its meaning here as “Praise the LORD.” This psalm has incredible depth.

1CORINTHIANS 3:10—4:
Paul is still ‘going on about’ the same thing. He is going to return to the subject of himself and Apollos in chapter 4— which summarizes the division in the Corinthian church. To give the connection, let’s start reading at chapter 3 verse 10.

GNT Translation notes:
1Cor. 3:16 Surely you know that you are [included as a part of] God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you!
17 God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and [we— all of God’s people//you yourselves] are his temple.
[Translations in English often fail to make clear that ‘you’ in Greek is plural here. The Corinthians as a group are being built into the temple of God— as Paul says in Ephesians 2. It seems a bit more natural or complete in English for Paul to include himself in the body of Christ, so it is possible to use ‘we’ and a modifying phrase, as I have suggested above. There is another verse we will soon read where Paul says that we each individually are a sanctuary/temple of the Holy Spirit.]
21 No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do.  [(Implicit info:) Because of being joined as one with Christ,] Actually everything belongs to you:
22  [So that includes] Paul [and] Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours,
4:1 You should think of us [apostles//0] as Christ's servants, who have been put in charge of God's secret truths.
17 For this purpose I am sending to you Timothy, who is my own dear and faithful son in the Christian life. He will remind you of the [way of living//principles] which I follow [, and which is appropriate for all of us who are joined in union with Christ Jesus.//in the new life in union with Christ Jesus] [0//which] I teach [these principles] in all the churches everywhere.

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 4:7 For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t [just] given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?
10 Our dedication to Christ [paradoxically] makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. [0/Yet] we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.


Check out this episode!

Friday, July 28, 2017

JoySightings_040


Three more parables from The Wit and Wisdom of Safed the Sage:

  • The Coffee and the Doughnut;
  • Having Enough;
  • The Bad Boy

The Wit and Wisdom of Safed the Sage may be downloaded at dailybiblereading.xyz on the JoySightings page.


Check out this episode!

GN-DBRP_210 JER.17 JER.18 PSA.146 1CO.3


JEREMIAH 17-18:
One catches so clearly how trapped Jeremiah was in the time of God’s judgment, and how hot God’s anger was against Judah. Jeremiah’s audience would not have appreciated him telling them where the Lord said they could ‘go’! No wonder he so often weeps and cries out in despair. God’s verdict in 15:2, which shows his sovereign choices, is repeated in Revelation:

 Jer. 15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said:
Some are doomed to die by disease—
that's where they will go!
Others are doomed to die in war—
that's where they will go!
Some are doomed to die of starvation—
that's where they will go!
Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners—
that's where they will go!

PSALM 146:
This is the first of five Hallelujah psalms. In the GNT, ‘hallelujah’ is translated, “Praise the Lord.”

1CORINTHIANS 3:
The topic of this chapter is still related to that verse from Jeremiah that Paul quoted about boasting, but only boasting about knowing the Lord. And this chapter builds on what Paul has just said about wisdom, as he moves into discussing how to think about different Christian leaders.

GNT Translation note:
Jer. 17:6 [They are like bushes//He is like a bush] in the desert, which [grow//grows] in the dry wasteland, on salty ground where nothing else grows. Nothing good ever happens to [them//him].
====
1Cor. 3:1 As a matter of fact, my friends, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world, as children in the Christian _faith_.
[I just want to point out that here I don’t feel the need to translate ‘faith’ as ‘way of believing’. Since there is a modifying word, ‘faith’ is no longer fuzzy. The literal is “infants in Christ.”]
16 Surely you know that you are [included as a part of] God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you!
17 God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and [we— all of God’s people//you yourselves] are his temple.
[Translations in English often fail to make clear that ‘you’ in Greek is plural here. The Corinthians as a group are being built into the temple of God— as Paul says in Ephesians 2. It seems a bit more natural or complete in English for Paul to include himself in the body of Christ, so it is possible to use ‘we’ and a modifying phrase, as I have suggested above. There is another verse we will soon read in 2Corinthians where Paul says that we each individually are a sanctuary/temple of the Holy Spirit.]
21 No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do.  [(Implicit info:) Because of being joined as one with Christ,] Actually everything belongs to you:
22  [So that includes] Paul [and] Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours,

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 3:17 God will destroy anyone who destroys [his/this] temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you [(as a group)] are that temple.
22 [(Implicit info) because of your unity with Christ, that includes/whether] Paul [and/or] Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. [Yes, in unity with Christ,] Everything belongs to you,


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_210 JER.17 JER.18 PSA.146 1CO.3


JEREMIAH 17-18:
One catches so clearly how trapped Jeremiah was in the time of God’s judgment, and how hot God’s anger was against Judah. Jeremiah’s audience would not have appreciated him telling them where the Lord said they could ‘go’! No wonder he so often weeps and cries out in despair. God’s verdict in 15:2, which shows his sovereign choices, is repeated in Revelation:

 Jer. 15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing here pleading with me, I would not show these people any mercy. Make them go away; make them get out of my sight. 2 When they ask you where they should go, tell them that I have said:
Some are doomed to die by disease—
that's where they will go!
Others are doomed to die in war—
that's where they will go!
Some are doomed to die of starvation—
that's where they will go!
Others are doomed to be taken away as prisoners—
that's where they will go!

PSALM 146:
This is the first of five Hallelujah psalms. In the GNT, ‘hallelujah’ is translated, “Praise the Lord.”

1CORINTHIANS 3:
The topic of this chapter is still related to that verse from Jeremiah that Paul quoted about boasting, but only boasting about knowing the Lord. And this chapter builds on what Paul has just said about wisdom, as he moves into discussing how to think about different Christian leaders.

GNT Translation note:
Jer. 17:6 [They are like bushes//He is like a bush] in the desert, which [grow//grows] in the dry wasteland, on salty ground where nothing else grows. Nothing good ever happens to [them//him].
====
1Cor. 3:1 As a matter of fact, my friends, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world, as children in the Christian _faith_.
[I just want to point out that here I don’t feel the need to translate ‘faith’ as ‘way of believing’. Since there is a modifying word, ‘faith’ is no longer fuzzy. The literal is “infants in Christ.”]
16 Surely you know that you are [included as a part of] God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you!
17 God will destroy anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and [we— all of God’s people//you yourselves] are his temple.
[Translations in English often fail to make clear that ‘you’ in Greek is plural here. The Corinthians as a group are being built into the temple of God— as Paul says in Ephesians 2. It seems a bit more natural or complete in English for Paul to include himself in the body of Christ, so it is possible to use ‘we’ and a modifying phrase, as I have suggested above. There is another verse we will soon read in 2Corinthians where Paul says that we each individually are a sanctuary/temple of the Holy Spirit.]
21 No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do.  [(Implicit info:) Because of being joined as one with Christ,] Actually everything belongs to you:
22  [So that includes] Paul [and] Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours,

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 3:17 God will destroy anyone who destroys [his/this] temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you [(as a group)] are that temple.
22 [(Implicit info) because of your unity with Christ, that includes/whether] Paul [and/or] Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. [Yes, in unity with Christ,] Everything belongs to you,


Check out this episode!

Thursday, July 27, 2017

GN-DBRP_209 JER.15 JER.16 PSA.145 1CO.1.18-31 1CO.2


JEREMIAH 15-16:
Yesterday the dialog between the Lord and Jeremiah continued. We heard of the drought. And the Lord forbid Jeremiah to pray for the people of Judah.

PSALM 145:
This is an acrostic psalm in Hebrew, and it gives us a great place to start when praising God.

1CORINTHIANS 1:18—2:
Let’s not allow the chapter division here to interrupt what Paul teaches us about God’s wisdom! So let’s start reading in chapter 1 verse 18.

GNT Translation note:
Jer. 15:10 What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother [ever] bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me.
====
Ps. 145:21 I will always praise the Lord; let all [your//his] creatures praise [You//his holy name (metonymy)] forever.
[Again in this psalm in the podcast I will rephrase some verses so that all of this psalm becomes a prayer to God. Third person to first person changes occur in verses 3, 13-14, and 17-21.]
====
1Cor. 1:19 [God says in scripture//The scripture says], “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the understanding of the scholars.”
2:5 Your [believing//faith], then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.

NLT Translation note:
Jer. 15:2And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says:
“‘Those who are destined for death, will die;
those who are destined for war, [will die in//to] war;
those who are destined for famine, [will die in//to] famine;
those who are destined for captivity, [will die in//to] captivity.’
====
1Cor. 2:2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, [and the fact that He//he one who] was crucified.
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who [will quickly pass away//are soon forgotten].


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_209 JER.15 JER.16 PSA.145 1CO.1.18-31 1CO.2


JEREMIAH 15-16:
Yesterday the dialog between the Lord and Jeremiah continued. We heard of the drought. And the Lord forbid Jeremiah to pray for the people of Judah.

PSALM 145:
This is an acrostic psalm in Hebrew, and it gives us a great place to start when praising God.

1CORINTHIANS 1:18—2:
Let’s not allow the chapter division here to interrupt what Paul teaches us about God’s wisdom! So let’s start reading in chapter 1 verse 18.

GNT Translation note:
Jer. 15:10 What an unhappy man I am! Why did my mother [ever] bring me into the world? I have to quarrel and argue with everyone in the land. I have not lent any money or borrowed any; yet everyone curses me.
====
Ps. 145:21 I will always praise the Lord; let all [your//his] creatures praise [You//his holy name (metonymy)] forever.
[Again in this psalm in the podcast I will rephrase some verses so that all of this psalm becomes a prayer to God. Third person to first person changes occur in verses 3, 13-14, and 17-21.]
====
1Cor. 1:19 [God says in scripture//The scripture says], “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the understanding of the scholars.”
2:5 Your [believing//faith], then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.

NLT Translation note:
Jer. 15:2And if they say to you, ‘But where can we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says:
“‘Those who are destined for death, will die;
those who are destined for war, [will die in//to] war;
those who are destined for famine, [will die in//to] famine;
those who are destined for captivity, [will die in//to] captivity.’
====
1Cor. 2:2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, [and the fact that He//he one who] was crucified.
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who [will quickly pass away//are soon forgotten].


Check out this episode!

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

GN-DBRP_208 JER.13 JER.14 PSA.144 1CO.1


JEREMIAH 13-14:
In yesterday’s reading, Jeremiah complained to the Lord,

12:1 “Lord, if I argued my case with you,
you would [be shown//prove] to be right.
Yet I must question you about matters of justice.
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why do dishonest people succeed?

And the Lord replied in an answer that bears reading in context and needs some thinking about,

“Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people,
how can you race against horses?
If you can't even stand up in open country,
how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?

PSALM 144:
This poem is quite a contrast with what we have just heard in Jeremiah. This is the joyful prayer of a king who is leading his people according to the will of God.

1Corinthians 1:
In Paul’s day, Corinth was a metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea with a population of between 150,000 and 300,000 Roman citizens and about 460,000 slaves. There was evidently a healthy criminal population, and the city was a center of banking, so there were incredibly wealthy people there. The city was full of idol shrines of deities from Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and there was cult prostitution.

Some commentators claim that 1 Corinthians contains parts of two letters from Paul, so that 2nd Corinthians might actually be a third or fourth letter. I don’t buy that.

Key topics of the letter include the divisions in the church, the obstacles to sharing the Gospel, God’s wisdom as it appears to Greeks and Jews, partnership among apostles of Christ, vice in the church, various instructions about marriage, the Lord’s supper, food sacrificed to idols, Paul not cashing in on his rights as an apostle, spiritual gifts and the spiritual fruit of love, and the resurrection of Christ.

GNT Translation note:
Ps. 144:15 [O Lord our God,//0] Happy is the nation of whom this is true; happy are the people [who worship You!//whose God is the Lord!]
[As in other Psalms, I read verses 1-2 and 15 as a prayer made directly to God, rather than using the third person in talking to the Lord.]

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 1:12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,d” or [even] “I follow only Christ.”
17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, [so//for fear] that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
22 It is [foolishness/foolish] to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is [foolishness/foolish] to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.
27 Instead, God chose things [and people] the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
30 God has [joined you as one//united you] with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_208 JER.13 JER.14 PSA.144 1CO.1


JEREMIAH 13-14:
In yesterday’s reading, Jeremiah complained to the Lord,

12:1 “Lord, if I argued my case with you,
you would [be shown//prove] to be right.
Yet I must question you about matters of justice.
Why are the wicked so prosperous?
Why do dishonest people succeed?

And the Lord replied in an answer that bears reading in context and needs some thinking about,

“Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people,
how can you race against horses?
If you can't even stand up in open country,
how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?

PSALM 144:
This poem is quite a contrast with what we have just heard in Jeremiah. This is the joyful prayer of a king who is leading his people according to the will of God.

1Corinthians 1:
In Paul’s day, Corinth was a metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea with a population of between 150,000 and 300,000 Roman citizens and about 460,000 slaves. There was evidently a healthy criminal population, and the city was a center of banking, so there were incredibly wealthy people there. The city was full of idol shrines of deities from Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and there was cult prostitution.

Some commentators claim that 1 Corinthians contains parts of two letters from Paul, so that 2nd Corinthians might actually be a third or fourth letter. I don’t buy that.

Key topics of the letter include the divisions in the church, the obstacles to sharing the Gospel, God’s wisdom as it appears to Greeks and Jews, partnership among apostles of Christ, vice in the church, various instructions about marriage, the Lord’s supper, food sacrificed to idols, Paul not cashing in on his rights as an apostle, spiritual gifts and the spiritual fruit of love, and the resurrection of Christ.

GNT Translation note:
Ps. 144:15 [O Lord our God,//0] Happy is the nation of whom this is true; happy are the people [who worship You!//whose God is the Lord!]
[As in other Psalms, I read verses 1-2 and 15 as a prayer made directly to God, rather than using the third person in talking to the Lord.]

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 1:12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,d” or [even] “I follow only Christ.”
17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, [so//for fear] that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
22 It is [foolishness/foolish] to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is [foolishness/foolish] to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.
27 Instead, God chose things [and people] the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
30 God has [joined you as one//united you] with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.


Check out this episode!

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

GN-DBRP_207 JER.11 JER.12 PSA.143 JHN.21


JEREMIAH 11-12:
Yesterday we heard important verses in chapter 9:23-24, verses that Paul quotes more than once:

 “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD …

PSALM 143:
It seems that prayer is very neglected these days. Oh yes, we might hear something vague about praying for victims right after some tragedy strikes. But it seems that every church has trouble keeping a prayer meeting going. I myself have trouble keeping my prayer life going. David shows in this psalm that he has learned secrets of effective prayer. Note how his prayer is very like how Jeremiah felt in the two chapters we just read.

JOHN 21:
This is one of my favorite chapters. John again tells us important information not given in the other gospels. Note that there is a famous exegetical fallacy here. John does use two different words for ‘love’ in the dialog between Jesus and Peter. But this should NOT be taken— as has been so frequently taught, as showing a play on words, or that John was intending different shades of meaning. Instead the use of synonyms is just a feature of John’s style in writing. John does this for poetic variation, like the parallelism in Hebrew poetry. Another example of this in this same passage is the variation of ‘little lambs’ and ‘sheep’.

GNT Translation notes:
Jer. 12:1 “Lord, if I argued my case with you, you would [be shown//prove to] be right. Yet I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed?
====
Ps. 143:9 I [come//go] to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies.

NLT Translation notes:
John 21:7 Then [I—//0] the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.
[Although John has thinly concealed his identity since chapter 1, it becomes clear in this chapter that he wants to make it clear that the eyewitness he has referred to as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ was himself. (John did not want to boast of having been a disciple of Jesus, yet at the same time he wanted to show that this book is an eyewitness account.) Using this literary device is odd enough in English. In some languages of the world, translating this device literally would be so confusing that it is better to rephrase these passages so that John speaks in the first person. Translators who do this will add a footnote explaining why John used the third person instead of the first person. In my opinion, for a podcast like this, it will be much clearer for listeners to use the same technique, and this is my footnote explaining my changes to the NLT text.]


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_207 JER.11 JER.12 PSA.143 JHN.21


JEREMIAH 11-12:
Yesterday we heard important verses in chapter 9:23-24, verses that Paul quotes more than once:

 “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD …

PSALM 143:
It seems that prayer is very neglected these days. Oh yes, we might hear something vague about praying for victims right after some tragedy strikes. But it seems that every church has trouble keeping a prayer meeting going. I myself have trouble keeping my prayer life going. David shows in this psalm that he has learned secrets of effective prayer. Note how his prayer is very like how Jeremiah felt in the two chapters we just read.

JOHN 21:
This is one of my favorite chapters. John again tells us important information not given in the other gospels. Note that there is a famous exegetical fallacy here. John does use two different words for ‘love’ in the dialog between Jesus and Peter. But this should NOT be taken— as has been so frequently taught, as showing a play on words, or that John was intending different shades of meaning. Instead the use of synonyms is just a feature of John’s style in writing. John does this for poetic variation, like the parallelism in Hebrew poetry. Another example of this in this same passage is the variation of ‘little lambs’ and ‘sheep’.

GNT Translation notes:
Jer. 12:1 “Lord, if I argued my case with you, you would [be shown//prove to] be right. Yet I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed?
====
Ps. 143:9 I [come//go] to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies.

NLT Translation notes:
John 21:7 Then [I—//0] the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.
[Although John has thinly concealed his identity since chapter 1, it becomes clear in this chapter that he wants to make it clear that the eyewitness he has referred to as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ was himself. (John did not want to boast of having been a disciple of Jesus, yet at the same time he wanted to show that this book is an eyewitness account.) Using this literary device is odd enough in English. In some languages of the world, translating this device literally would be so confusing that it is better to rephrase these passages so that John speaks in the first person. Translators who do this will add a footnote explaining why John used the third person instead of the first person. In my opinion, for a podcast like this, it will be much clearer for listeners to use the same technique, and this is my footnote explaining my changes to the NLT text.]


Check out this episode!

Monday, July 24, 2017

GN-DBRP_206 JER.9 JER.10 PSA.142 JHN.20


JEREMIAH 9-10:
Being a prophet is not exactly an easy job. In 7:27 God told him,

“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.”

We’ll find that God told the same thing to more than one prophet around this same time.

PSALM 142:
When you are discouraged, here is a psalm to pray!

JOHN 20:
There are so many fulfillments of Scripture that happen in the crucifixion chapters in the Gospels that many times the authors didn’t take the time to highlight each one of them. The Jewish readers would have picked up on them without the need for an explanation. In verse 36, John highlighted one fulfillment, saying, “This was done to make the scripture come true: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’” I hope you remember what that was about! See Ps. 34:20, Ex. 12:46, Num. 9:12. If you don’t know, I hope this teaser will encourage you, because this is a golden gem. And Jesus’ death did not mean that he stopped fulfilling Scriptures.

GNT Translation note:
Jer. 9:22 Dead bodies are scattered everywhere, like piles of manure on the fields, like grain cut and left behind by the reapers, grain that no one gathers. [And] This is what the Lord has told me to say.”
====
John 20:1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary [— the one from the village of] Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance.
2 She went running to [Peter— who was also called Simon//Simon Peter] and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”
[In the podcast recording, I reduced the other double-name instances later in the chapter to just Mary/Peter. The context makes it clear who is being referred to, and doing so is more natural in English.]
13 [One of them asked her,//0] “[0//Woman,] why are you crying?” [0//they asked her.] She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”
15 “[0//Woman,] why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?” She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
31 But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your [believing//faith] in him you may have life.

NLT Translation note:
Jer. 9:10 But [YOU/the] LORD [are/is] the only true God.
[You are//He is] the living God and the everlasting King!
The whole earth trembles at [your/his] anger.
The nations cannot stand up to [your/his] wrath.
====
Ps. 142:1 I cry out to [You, O/the] LORD;
I plead for [your/the LORD’s] mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before [You/him]
and tell [You/him] all my troubles.
====
John 20:1 Early on Sunday morning,a while it was still dark, Mary [— the woman from the village of Magdalene//Magdalene] came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
3 Peter and [I, John,//the other disciple] started out for the tomb.
[This is so strange in many languages that it is translated in the first person. It is clear that John wanted that people know that this is an eye-witness account. This change I am making goes through this paragraph.]
27 Then he said to Thomas, “[Thomas,] Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. [Instead] Believe!”
31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in [Jesus/him] you will have life [through His power//by the power of his name].


Check out this episode!

NL-DBRP_206 JER.9 JER.10 PSA.142 JHN.20


JEREMIAH 9-10:
Being a prophet is not exactly an easy job. In 7:27 God told him,

“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.”

We’ll find that God told the same thing to more than one prophet around this same time.

PSALM 142:
When you are discouraged, here is a psalm to pray!

JOHN 20:
There are so many fulfillments of Scripture that happen in the crucifixion chapters in the Gospels that many times the authors didn’t take the time to highlight each one of them. The Jewish readers would have picked up on them without the need for an explanation. In verse 36, John highlighted one fulfillment, saying, “This was done to make the scripture come true: ‘Not one of his bones will be broken.’” I hope you remember what that was about! See Ps. 34:20, Ex. 12:46, Num. 9:12. If you don’t know, I hope this teaser will encourage you, because this is a golden gem. And Jesus’ death did not mean that he stopped fulfilling Scriptures.

GNT Translation note:
Jer. 9:22 Dead bodies are scattered everywhere, like piles of manure on the fields, like grain cut and left behind by the reapers, grain that no one gathers. [And] This is what the Lord has told me to say.”
====
John 20:1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary [— the one from the village of] Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance.
2 She went running to [Peter— who was also called Simon//Simon Peter] and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”
[In the podcast recording, I reduced the other double-name instances later in the chapter to just Mary/Peter. The context makes it clear who is being referred to, and doing so is more natural in English.]
13 [One of them asked her,//0] “[0//Woman,] why are you crying?” [0//they asked her.] She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”
15 “[0//Woman,] why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?” She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
31 But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your [believing//faith] in him you may have life.

NLT Translation note:
Jer. 9:10 But [YOU/the] LORD [are/is] the only true God.
[You are//He is] the living God and the everlasting King!
The whole earth trembles at [your/his] anger.
The nations cannot stand up to [your/his] wrath.
====
Ps. 142:1 I cry out to [You, O/the] LORD;
I plead for [your/the LORD’s] mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before [You/him]
and tell [You/him] all my troubles.
====
John 20:1 Early on Sunday morning,a while it was still dark, Mary [— the woman from the village of Magdalene//Magdalene] came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
3 Peter and [I, John,//the other disciple] started out for the tomb.
[This is so strange in many languages that it is translated in the first person. It is clear that John wanted that people know that this is an eye-witness account. This change I am making goes through this paragraph.]
27 Then he said to Thomas, “[Thomas,] Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. [Instead] Believe!”
31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in [Jesus/him] you will have life [through His power//by the power of his name].


Check out this episode!

DBRP Categories Explained

You can access the Categores through the Episodes menu at this site, and from the menu button on the upper left in our DBRP listening app.

Blog Posts are text-only posts like this one, and they hold the most important information about the DBRP. The About link in this site's menu will give you a directory of these posts.

The main categories for Bible readings are:

GNT devotional Bible readings and NLT devotional Bible readings

The podcasts of the whole Good News Translation we done in 2016. And the podcasts of the whole New Living Translation were first made in 2014 and some of them were revised and improved in 2015 and 2017.

NET devotional Bible readings is a series that I have just started. These podcasts follow the same Digging Deeper Daily reading plan, but there are two parts to each episode. The first part has a plain number (like 001, 002, etc.) and the second part has a number followed by the letter C. The plain numbered episodes follow my normal pattern of 22 minute podcasts— three readings and a prayer. The podcasts numbered 001C, 002C, etc., contain extended comments on the readings, which I hope will help you to dig deeper.

JoySightings are for fun! This is where I share my love of parables, and especially those of Safed the Sage. I also have recorded the allegorical Tales of the Kingdom and Tales of the Restoration by David and Karen Mains. The two books by the Mains are great for grade school children, and adults enjoy them too! The parables of Safed are delightful, but they contain King James-styled English that can be difficult for children.

News Posts are audio podcasts where I share information about such things as changes in our listening apps, community information of note, and news about our family and our mission work.

Joy of Translating is a series I began with four podcasts on the translation of Mark 1-2. The episodes include my own translation of those chapters, and more in-depth commentary about the challenges of translating the Bible. I'll get back to this project someday!

Devotional Bible readings is the category I first used from 2014 to 2016. I don't recommend you use this category. If you are searching for an episode from that time frame that has not been re-released this year in the GNT or NLT categories, it would be easier to search for the episode you want by number (such as _365, or NL-DBRP_365, etc.). 

 


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About our reading plan

What’s special about the Digging Deeper reading plan?

 It is important to consider what plan to follow in reading the Bible! I find I can't share about this without telling my age and sounding like I am boasting, so here goes: I will soon be 66 and have read the whole Bible yearly for the last 46 years. I know from experience that some reading plans are not fun to follow. That is why I designed this plan to be practical and doable— taking only 20 minutes per day to finish the whole Bible in a year. And these things make the DBRP plan unique and interesting:

  • I like a plan that gives you something from the New Testament every day. I have arranged the New Testament books according to chronological and thematic considerations and with the Gospels spread out during the year. My goal was to help the reader see correspondences between the Old and New Testaments and follow themes in the New Testament. For instance, the Gospel written for the Jewish audience— Matthew, is followed by NT letters directed to the same audience.
  • In the first half of the year, the DBRP plan tells the Old Testament story in its logical and chronological order— which is also the ordering given in the Bible. In the second half of the year, some retelling of history (starting with 1st Chronicles) is mixed in with the major prophets of Jeremiah and Ezekiel— so that correspondences between what was foretold and the fulfillment are more easily seen.
  • Each day there is a reading from Old Testament poetry, and those books are taken in Bible order starting with Job and ending with Isaiah.
  • Cohesion and Seeing Correspondences: The DBRP plan begins the year with the Bible's oldest book (Job), plus the story of the beginning of the world (Genesis), and the earliest written Gospel (Mark). At the end of the year, stunning correspondences can be seen between the minor prophets, Isaiah, and the book of Revelation. If you listen to the podcasts, I give brief introductions to each reading— reminding you of what has gone before and pointing out correspondences that show the amazing unity in God's Word.
  • Convenience: The integration of our Digging Deeper Daily reading plan in the YouVersion Bible reading app makes it easy to keep track of your reading progress using any smart device. Our own DBRP podcast app for Android and Apple devices makes it easy to automate listening to the podcasts. See how to get the DBRP app for your device by scrolling down on the landing page of this site. The Bible app and the listening app make it easy to do what you want— whether that be to just read the plan, just listen to the podcasts, or do both at the same time.shot 08

You can listen to the DBRP using two translations.

I (Phil) read the  Good News Translation (GNT) for the 2016 podcasts. This is one of my favorite translations and it has excellent scholarly backing. The GNT New Testament  translation was first published under the name of Today's English Version in 1966— when I was 16. This translation meant a lot to me in my teenage years and after, and I want to share this with my grand kids. The GNT has been very helpful in my own translation work in Indonesia, and it has influenced every other Bible translation published since 1970. In the podcast readings, I have made minor changes to the GNT based on my Bible translation experience, and these are documented in the episode notes. The GNT series of podcasts have file names like this: DBRP_001.mp3 (for the first episode). There are several GNT in YouVersion. The one I am reading from is the USA version, GNTD.

In the 2014-2015 podcasts I read the New Living Translation (NLT). The NLT translation is my all-time favorite. It conveys the meaning of the original texts in modern, clear, and natural language. In the NLT podcast series, I made minor changes to the NLT based on my Bible translation experience, and these are documented in the episode notes. If you listen to the NLT podcast series, the file names are like this: 2015DBRP_001.mp3 (for the first episode).

Both the GNT and the NLT are meaning based translations, which makes them easy to understand for podcast listeners. For more information about how the GNT and NLT compare to other translations, please see the bottom of the Shovels page.

In 2017, choose episodes that have names starting with GN- for the GNT podcast series. The GNT series have a yellow icon. The NLT series of podcasts have names starting with NL- and the episode icons are dark blue.

 

 

 

 

 


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