New Women's Devotional Bible: New International Version (NIV), Burgundy Bonded Leather by Zondervan (Editor)

• Read a Sample Chapter

Read a Sample Chapter

AUTHOR:
Moses
AUDIENCE:
The people of
Israel.
DATE:
Between 1446 and
1406 B.C.
SETTING:
The area called
the Middle East
today.
KEY VERSE:
In the beginning,
God . . .”
Genesis 1:1
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to
be an apostle and set apart for the gospel
of God— 2the gospel he promised beforehand
through his prophets in the Holy
Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his
earthly lifea was a descendant of David, 4and
who through the Spirit of holiness was
appointed the Son of God in powera by his
resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our
Lord. 5Through him we received grace and
apostleship to call all the Gentiles to faith and
obedience for his name’s sake. 6And you also
are among those Gentiles who are called to
belong to Jesus Christ.
7To all in Rome who are loved by God and
called to be his holy people:
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome
8First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for all of you, because your faith is
being reported all over the world. 9God,
whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the
gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly
I remember you 10in my prayers at all
times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will
the way may be opened for me to come.
Perhaps the most assuring words in all the Bible are the
very first. In the beginning, God. The story of Genesis, in fact, is
the story of beginnings. It breathes life into humanity and gives
rise to relationship between God and hispeople. A familiar read
to many as the book where God creates, perhaps more meaningful
is that, here, God walks. With us. Before us. Among us.
From beginning to end, he walks in and among his people.
Like a beautiful tune airily drifting in one’s mind
throughout the day, God is there. He strolls among his first creation,
talks with Noah and roams with Abraham. He welcomes
Isaac, Jacob and Joseph into the world and presides at their
deaths. He is the God who is present. Ever-constant.
Ever there. As you read through the melody of stories, let the
deeper significance of the opening note resonate within you: “In
the beginning, God.”
11I long to see you so that I may impart to
you some spiritual gift to make you strong—
12that is, that you and I may
be mutually encouraged by
each other’s faith. 13I do not
want you to be unaware,
brothers and sisters, that I
planned many times to come
to you (but have been prevented
from doing so until
now) in order that I might
have a harvest among you,
just as I have had among the
other Gentiles.
14I am obligated both to
Greeks and non-Greeks, both
to the wise and the foolish.
15That is why I am so eager to
preach the gospel also to you
who are in Rome.
16I am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the power of God that
brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in
the gospel the righteousness of God is
revealed—a righteousness that is by faith
from first to last,a just as it is written: “The
righteous will live by faith.”a
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18The wrath of God is being revealed from
heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of human beings who suppress
the truth by their wickedness, 19since what
may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them. 20For
since the creation of the world God’s invisible
qualities—his eternal power and divine
nature—have been clearly seen, being understood
from what has been made, so that people
are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to
him, but their thinking became futile and
their foolish hearts were darkened.
22Although they claimed to be wise, they
became fools 23and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images made to look
like mortal human beings and birds and animals
and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful
desires of their hearts to sexual impurity
for the degrading of their
bodies with one another.
25They exchanged the truth
about God for a lie, and worshiped
and served created
things rather than the
Creator—who is forever
praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave
them over to shameful lusts.
Even their women exchanged
natural sexual relations for
unnatural ones. 27In the
same way the men also abandoned
natural relations with
women and were inflamed
with lust for one another.
Men committed shameful
acts with other men, and
received in themselves the due penalty for
their error.
28Furthermore, just as they did not think it
worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God,
so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so
that they do what ought not to be done.
29They have become filled with every kind of
wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They
are full of envy,murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips, 30slanderers, Godhaters,
insolent, arrogant and boastful; they
invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their
parents; 31they have no understanding, no
fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32Although they
know God’s righteous decree that those who
do such things deserve death, they not only
continue to do these very things but also
approve of those who practice them.
God’s Righteous Judgement
2You, therefore, have no excuse, you who
pass judgment on someone else, for at
whatever point you judge another, you are
condemning yourself, because you who pass
judgment do the same things. 2Now we know
that God’s judgment against those who do
such things is based on truth. 3So when you,
a mere human, pass judgment on them and
yet do the same things, do you think you will
2 THESSALONIANS 1:11
Numbers 18:20
God is our
inheritance
“The Lord said to Aaron,
“You will have no inheritance
in their land,
nor will you have any
share among them; I am
your share and your
inheritance among the
Israelites.”
escape God’s judgment? 4Or do you show
contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance
and patience, not realizing that
God’s kindness is intended to lead you
to repentance?
5But because of your stubbornness and
your unrepentant heart, you are storing up
wrath against yourself for the day of God’s
wrath, when his righteous judgment will be
revealed. 6God “will repay everyone according
to what they have done.”a 7To those who
by persistence in doing good seek glory,
honor and immortality, he will give eternal
life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and
who reject the truth and follow evil, there will
be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble
and distress for every human being who does
evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
10but glory, honor and peace for everyone
who does good: first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
12All who sin apart from the law will also
perish apart from the law, and all who sin
under the law will be judged by the law. 13For
it is not those who hear the law who are righteous
in God’s sight, but it is those who obey
the law who will be declared righteous.
14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have
the law, do by nature things required by the
law, they are a law for themselves, even
though they do not have the law. 15They show
that the requirements of the law are written
on their hearts, their consciences also bearing
witness, and their thoughts now accusing,
now even defending them.) 16This will take
place on the day when God judges everyone’s
secrets through Jesus Christ, as my
gospel declares.
The Jews and the Law
17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you
rely on the law and boast in God; 18if you
know his will and approve of what is superior
because you are instructed by the law;