God's Love for the World

Finding Courage in the Storm

What Successful Executives Do Differently

A Glimpse of Infinity (Thankfulness in Living Color) - 7 Days of Photography & Prayers

Christmas: Let Heaven and Nature Sing

Stories of the Kingdom: The Parables of Jesus

Glory: Coach

Praying Through Loneliness With Kristen Strong

Beatitudes: First Nations Version

Return to Love Devotional

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="GEN.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">The Fall</div><div class="p"> 1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, &#8220;Did God really say, &#8216;You must not eat from any tree in the garden&#8217;?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2The woman said to the serpent, &#8220;We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, &#8216;You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4&#8220;You will not certainly die,&#8221; the serpent said to the woman. 5&#8220;For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.</div><div class="p"> 8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man, &#8220;Where are you?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10He answered, &#8220;I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11And he said, &#8220;Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12The man said, &#8220;The woman you put here with me&#8212;she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then the Lord God said to the woman, &#8220;What is this you have done?&#8221;</div><div class="p">The woman said, &#8220;The serpent deceived me, and I ate.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14So the Lord God said to the serpent, &#8220;Because you have done this,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Cursed are you above all livestock</div><div class="q2">and all wild animals!</div><div class="q1">You will crawl on your belly</div><div class="q2">and you will eat dust</div><div class="q2">all the days of your life.</div><div class="q1"> 15And I will put enmity</div><div class="q2">between you and the woman,</div><div class="q2">and between your offspring#3:15 Or seed and hers;</div><div class="q1">he will crush#3:15 Or strike your head,</div><div class="q2">and you will strike his heel.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16To the woman he said,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;</div><div class="q2">with painful labor you will give birth to children.</div><div class="q1">Your desire will be for your husband,</div><div class="q2">and he will rule over you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17To Adam he said, &#8220;Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, &#8216;You must not eat from it,&#8217;</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Cursed is the ground because of you;</div><div class="q2">through painful toil you will eat food from it</div><div class="q2">all the days of your life.</div><div class="q1"> 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,</div><div class="q2">and you will eat the plants of the field.</div><div class="q1"> 19By the sweat of your brow</div><div class="q2">you will eat your food</div><div class="q1">until you return to the ground,</div><div class="q2">since from it you were taken;</div><div class="q1">for dust you are</div><div class="q2">and to dust you will return.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20Adam#3:20 Or The man named his wife Eve,#3:20 Eve probably means living. because she would become the mother of all the living.</div><div class="p"> 21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22And the Lord God said, &#8220;The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.&#8221; 23So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side#3:24 Or placed in front of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="GEN.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">Cain and Abel</div><div class="p"> 1Adam#4:1 Or The man made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.#4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired. She said, &#8220;With the help of the Lord I have brought forth#4:1 Or have acquired a man.&#8221; 2Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.</div><div class="p">Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4And Abel also brought an offering&#8212;fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.</div><div class="p"> 6Then the Lord said to Cain, &#8220;Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, &#8220;Let&#8217;s go out to the field.&#8221;#4:8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have &#8220;Let&#8217;s go out to the field.&#8221; While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.</div><div class="p"> 9Then the Lord said to Cain, &#8220;Where is your brother Abel?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; he replied. &#8220;Am I my brother&#8217;s keeper?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The Lord said, &#8220;What have you done? Listen! Your brother&#8217;s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother&#8217;s blood from your hand. 12When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Cain said to the Lord, &#8220;My punishment is more than I can bear. 14Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15But the Lord said to him, &#8220;Not so#4:15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.&#8221; Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16So Cain went out from the Lord&#8217;s presence and lived in the land of Nod,#4:16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14). east of Eden.</div><div class="p"> 17Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 18To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.</div><div class="p"> 19Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21His brother&#8217;s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. 22Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of#4:22 Or who instructed all who work in bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain&#8217;s sister was Naamah.</div><div class="p"> 23Lamech said to his wives,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Adah and Zillah, listen to me;</div><div class="q2">wives of Lamech, hear my words.</div><div class="q1">I have killed a man for wounding me,</div><div class="q2">a young man for injuring me.</div><div class="q1"> 24If Cain is avenged seven times,</div><div class="q2">then Lamech seventy-seven times.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,#4:25 Seth probably means granted. saying, &#8220;God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.&#8221; 26Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.</div><div class="p">At that time people began to call on#4:26 Or to proclaim the name of the Lord.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="GEN.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">The Call of Abram</div><div class="p"> 1The Lord had said to Abram, &#8220;Go from your country, your people and your father&#8217;s household to the land I will show you.</div><div class="q1"> 2&#8220;I will make you into a great nation,</div><div class="q2">and I will bless you;</div><div class="q1">I will make your name great,</div><div class="q2">and you will be a blessing.#12:2 Or be seen as blessed</div><div class="q1"> 3I will bless those who bless you,</div><div class="q2">and whoever curses you I will curse;</div><div class="q1">and all peoples on earth</div><div class="q2">will be blessed through you.&#8221;#12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)</div><div class="p"> 4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.</div><div class="p"> 6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, &#8220;To your offspring#12:7 Or seed I will give this land.&#8221; So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.</div><div class="p"> 8From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 9Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.</div><div class="s1">Abram in Egypt</div><div class="p"> 10Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, &#8220;I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, &#8216;This is his wife.&#8217; Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15And when Pharaoh&#8217;s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.</div><div class="p"> 17But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram&#8217;s wife Sarai. 18So Pharaoh summoned Abram. &#8220;What have you done to me?&#8221; he said. &#8220;Why didn&#8217;t you tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, &#8216;She is my sister,&#8217; so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!&#8221; 20Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch22" data-usfm="GEN.22">
 <div class="label">22</div><div class="s1">Abraham Tested</div><div class="p"> 1Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, &#8220;Abraham!&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Here I am,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 2Then God said, &#8220;Take your son, your only son, whom you love&#8212;Isaac&#8212;and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5He said to his servants, &#8220;Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, &#8220;Father?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes, my son?&#8221; Abraham replied.</div><div class="p">&#8220;The fire and wood are here,&#8221; Isaac said, &#8220;but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Abraham answered, &#8220;God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.&#8221; And the two of them went on together.</div><div class="p"> 9When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, &#8220;Abraham! Abraham!&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Here I am,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;Do not lay a hand on the boy,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram#22:13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, &#8220;On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16and said, &#8220;I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and through your offspring#22:18 Or seed all nations on earth will be blessed,#22:18 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) because you have obeyed me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.</div><div class="s1">Nahor&#8217;s Sons</div><div class="p"> 20Some time later Abraham was told, &#8220;Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.&#8221; 23Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham&#8217;s brother Nahor. 24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch45" data-usfm="GEN.45">
 <div class="label">45</div><div class="s1">Joseph Makes Himself Known</div><div class="p"> 1Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, &#8220;Have everyone leave my presence!&#8221; So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh&#8217;s household heard about it.</div><div class="p"> 3Joseph said to his brothers, &#8220;I am Joseph! Is my father still living?&#8221; But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.</div><div class="p"> 4Then Joseph said to his brothers, &#8220;Come close to me.&#8221; When they had done so, he said, &#8220;I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.#45:7 Or save you as a great band of survivors</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9Now hurry back to my father and say to him, &#8216;This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don&#8217;t delay. 10You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me&#8212;you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.</div><div class="p"> 16When the news reached Pharaoh&#8217;s palace that Joseph&#8217;s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. 17Pharaoh said to Joseph, &#8220;Tell your brothers, &#8216;Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 19&#8220;You are also directed to tell them, &#8216;Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. 20Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. 22To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels#45:22 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms of silver and five sets of clothes. 23And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. 24Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, &#8220;Don&#8217;t quarrel on the way!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26They told him, &#8220;Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.&#8221; Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. 27But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28And Israel said, &#8220;I&#8217;m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch50" data-usfm="GEN.50">
 <div class="label">50</div><div class="p"> 1Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, 3taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.</div><div class="p"> 4When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh&#8217;s court, &#8220;If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5&#8216;My father made me swear an oath and said, &#8220;I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.&#8221; Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Pharaoh said, &#8220;Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh&#8217;s officials accompanied him&#8212;the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt&#8212; 8besides all the members of Joseph&#8217;s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father&#8217;s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. 9Chariots and horsemen#50:9 Or charioteers also went up with him. It was a very large company.</div><div class="p"> 10When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. 11When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, &#8220;The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.&#8221; That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.#50:11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.</div><div class="p"> 12So Jacob&#8217;s sons did as he had commanded them: 13They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 14After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.</div><div class="s1">Joseph Reassures His Brothers</div><div class="p"> 15When Joseph&#8217;s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, &#8220;What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?&#8221; 16So they sent word to Joseph, saying, &#8220;Your father left these instructions before he died: 17&#8216;This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.&#8217; Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.&#8221; When their message came to him, Joseph wept.</div><div class="p"> 18His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. &#8220;We are your slaves,&#8221; they said.</div><div class="p"> 19But Joseph said to them, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21So then, don&#8217;t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.&#8221; And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.</div><div class="s1">The Death of Joseph</div><div class="p"> 22Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father&#8217;s family. He lived a hundred and ten years 23and saw the third generation of Ephraim&#8217;s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph&#8217;s knees.#50:23 That is, were counted as his</div><div class="p"> 24Then Joseph said to his brothers, &#8220;I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.&#8221; 25And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, &#8220;God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.</div>
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