The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
The Beginning of Sin
3 Now the ·snake [serpent] was the most ·clever [shrewd; cunning; crafty] of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
2 The woman answered the snake [3:1], “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden [C the tree of the knowledge of good and evil]. You must not even touch it [C Eve was adding to the divine command], or you will die.’ ”
4 But the snake [3:1] said to the woman, “You will [L most certainly] not die. 5 [L For] God knows that if you eat ·the fruit from that tree [L from it], [L your eyes will be opened and] you will ·learn about [experience; L know about] good and evil and you will be like God!”
6 The woman saw that the tree was ·beautiful [L pleasing to the eyes], that its fruit was good ·to eat [L for food], and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her [C apparently he was present but silent while the woman spoke to the snake], and he ate it.
7 Then, ·it was as if their eyes [L the eyes of both of them] were opened. They ·realized [knew] they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made ·something to cover [L loincloths for] themselves [Rom. 5:12–21].
8 Then they heard the [L sound of the] Lord God walking in the garden during the cool part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”
10 The man answered, “I heard ·you walking in the garden [L your voice/sound], and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
11 ·God [L He] asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said, “You gave this woman to me and she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “·How could you have done such a thing [What is this you have done]?”
She answered, “The snake ·tricked [deceived; 1 Tim. 2:14] me, so I ate the fruit.”
14 The Lord God said to the ·snake [serpent],
“Because you did this,
a curse will be put on you.
You will be cursed as no other animal, ·tame [beasts; livestock] or ·wild [L of the field], will ever be.
You will ·crawl [go] on your ·stomach [belly],
and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will ·make you and the woman
enemies to each other [T place hostility/enmity between you and the woman].
Your ·descendants [L seed] and her ·descendants [L seed]
will be enemies.
·One of her descendants [L He] will crush your head,
and you will ·bite [strike; T bruise; L crush] his heel [Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9].”
16 Then God said to the woman,
“I will ·cause you to have much trouble [or increase your pain]
·when you are pregnant [in childbearing],
and when you give birth to children,
you will have great pain.
You will greatly desire [C the word implies a desire to control; 4:7] your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
17 Then God said to ·the man [or Adam; 1:27], “You listened to what your wife said, and you ate fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat.
“·So I will put a curse on [Cursed is] the ground,
and you will have to ·work very hard [toil; labor] for your food.
In pain you will eat its food
all the days of your life.
18 The ground will produce thorns and ·weeds [thistles] for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 ·You will sweat and work hard for [L By the sweat of your brow you will eat] your food.
Later you will return to the ground,
because you were taken from it.
You are dust,
and ·when you die, you will return to the dust [T to dust you will return; 1 Cor. 15:21-22, 40–45].”
20 The man named his wife Eve [C the name derives from an early form of the verb “to live”], because she was the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for ·the man [or Adam; 1:27] and his wife and dressed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Humans have become like one of us [C referring to the supernatural heavenly beings, God and the angels]; they know good and evil. We must keep them from [L putting forth their hand and taking and] eating some of the fruit from the tree of life, or they will live forever.” 23 So the Lord God ·forced [expelled] Adam out of the garden of Eden to ·work [till; or care for; 2:5] the ground from which he was taken. 24 After God ·forced [drove] humans out of the garden, he placed ·angels [L cherubim; C particularly powerful spiritual beings] and a sword of fire that flashed around in every direction on its eastern border. ·This kept people from getting […to guard the way] to the tree of life.
The First Family
4 ·Adam [L The man; 1:27] ·had sexual relations with [L knew] his wife Eve, and she ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, “With the Lord’s help, I have ·given birth to [L produced; or acquired; C the verb resembles Cain’s name] a man.” 2 After that, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel [C resembles the word for vapor or breath]. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain ·became a farmer [L was a tiller/worker of the ground].
3 ·Later [In due course; L At the end of the days], Cain brought some ·food [produce; fruit] from the ground as a ·gift [tribute; Lev. 2] to God. 4 Abel brought the ·best parts [fat portions; Lev. 3:16] from some of the firstborn of his flock [Heb. 11:4]. The Lord ·accepted [looked with favor on] Abel and his ·gift [tribute], 5 but he did not ·accept [look with favor on] Cain and his ·gift [tribute]. So Cain became very angry and ·felt rejected [or felt dejected; L his face/countenance fell].
6 The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why ·do you look so unhappy [L has your face/countenance fallen; 4:5]? 7 If you do things ·well [correctly; appropriately], ·I will [L will I not…?] accept you, but if you do not do them ·well [correctly; appropriately], sin is ·ready to attack you [L crouching at the door]. Sin ·wants [desires to control; 3:16] you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.”[a] While they were out in the field, Cain ·attacked [L rose up against] his brother Abel and killed him [Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:51; Heb. 12:24; 1 John 3:11–12; Jude 11].
9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Cain answered, “I don’t know. ·Is it my job to take care of my brother [T Am I my brother’s keeper]?”
10 Then the Lord said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. 11 And now you will be cursed ·in your work with [L and banished from] the ground, ·the same ground where your brother’s blood fell and where your hands killed him [L which has opened its mouth to take the blood of your brother from your hand]. 12 You will ·work [till] the ground, but it will not ·grow good crops [L yield its strength] for you anymore, and you will ·wander around [be a fugitive and a wanderer/homeless wanderer] on the earth.”
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “This punishment is more than I can ·stand [bear]! 14 Today you have forced me ·to stop working [L from] the ground, and now I ·must hide from you [or will be hidden from your face]. I ·must wander around [L will be a fugitive and wanderer/homeless wanderer] on the earth, and anyone who ·meets [finds] me can kill me.”
15 The Lord said to Cain, “No! If anyone kills you, I will ·punish [avenge] that person seven times more.” Then the Lord put a mark [C the nature of the mark is uncertain] on Cain warning anyone who ·met [finds] him not to kill him.
Cain’s Family
16 So Cain went away from the Lord and lived in the land of Nod [C resembles a Hebrew word meaning “wanderer”], east of Eden. 17 He ·had sexual relations with [L knew; 4:1] his wife, and she ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave birth to Enoch. At that time ·Cain [L he] was building a city, which he named after his son Enoch. 18 ·Enoch had a son named [L To Enoch was born; C and so through the rest of the genealogy] Irad, Irad had a son named Mehujael, Mehujael had a son named Methushael, and Methushael had a son named Lamech.
19 Lamech ·married [L took] two ·women [or wives], [L the name of the first was] Adah and [L the name of the second was] Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who ·became the first person to [L was the father of those who] live in tents and raise ·cattle [livestock]. 21 Jabal’s brother was Jubal, the ·first person to [L father of all who] play the ·harp [or lyre] and ·flute [pipe]. 22 Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who made tools out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice!
You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say.
I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for hitting me.
24 If ·Cain’s killer is punished [L Cain is avenged] seven times [4:15],
then ·Lamech’s killer will be punished [L Lamech will be avenged] seventy-seven times.” [C Lamech falsely thought he could get away with murder.]
Adam and Eve Have a New Son
25 Adam ·had sexual relations with [L knew; 4:1] his wife Eve again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth [C related to the Hebrew word for “give” or “appoint”] and said, “God has ·given [appointed for] me another child. He will take the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain.” 26 Seth also had a son, and they named him Enosh. At that time people began to ·pray to [L call on the name of] the Lord.
Jesus’ Parents Take Him to Egypt
13 After they left, an angel of the Lord ·came [appeared] to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and ·escape [flee] to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is ·starting [intending; going] to ·look [search] for the child so he can kill him.”
14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and his mother. 15 And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to ·bring about [fulfill] what the Lord had said through the prophet: “I called my son out of Egypt [Hos. 11:1; C Jesus fulfills the role of Israel by leading a spiritual Exodus].”
Herod Kills the Baby Boys
16 When Herod saw that the ·wise men [astologers; magi] had ·tricked [outwitted; outsmarted] him, he was furious. So he ·gave an order [or sent soldiers] to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area who were two years old or younger. This was ·in keeping with [based on] the time he learned from the ·wise men [astologers; magi]. 17 ·So [Then] what ·God had said [L was spoken; C the passive verb implies God as subject] through the prophet Jeremiah ·came true [was fulfilled]:
18 “A ·voice [cry; sound] was heard in Ramah [C the sending point from which the Jews went into exile to Babylon; Jer. 40:1]
·of painful crying [weeping] and ·deep sadness [great mourning/lamentation]:
Rachel ·crying [weeping] for her children.
She refused to be comforted,
because ·her children are dead [L they are no more; Jer. 31:15].”
Joseph and Mary Return
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord ·spoke [appeared] to Joseph in a dream while he was in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because the people who were ·trying to kill [L seeking the life of] the child are now dead.”
21 So Joseph [L got up,] took the child and his mother and ·went [returned] to Israel. 22 But he heard that Archelaus [C reigned from 4 bc to ad 6] was now ·king [reigning] in Judea ·since his father Herod had died [L in place of his father Herod]. So Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he ·went [withdrew] to the ·area [region; district] of Galilee, 23 to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what ·God had said [was spoken; C the passive verb implies God as subject] through the prophets ·came true [was fulfilled]: “He will be called a Nazarene [C a person from the town of Nazareth; perhaps a reference to Is. 11:1, where the Hebrew word translated “branch” sounds like “Nazarene”].”
The Work of John the Baptist(A)
3 ·About that time [In the course of time; L In those days] John the Baptist began preaching in the ·desert area [wilderness] of Judea. 2 John said, “·Change your hearts and lives [Repent] because the kingdom of heaven ·is near [has drawn near; is at hand].” 3 ·John the Baptist [L For this] is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said:
“This is a voice of one
who ·calls out [shouts; cries out] in the ·desert [wilderness]:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make ·the road straight [a clear path] for him [Is. 40:3].’”
4 John’s clothes were made from camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist [C reminiscent of the prophet Elijah; 2 Kin. 1:8]. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey [C signifies living off the land]. 5 Many people came from Jerusalem and Judea and all the ·area [region] around the Jordan River to hear John. 6 They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River.
The Lord’s Chosen King
2 Why ·are the nations so angry [do the nations rage/or conspire]?
Why ·are the people making useless plans [do the people plot in vain]?
2 The kings of the earth ·prepare to fight [L take their stand],
and their leaders ·make plans [plot] together
against the Lord
and his ·appointed one [anointed; Messiah; C the king, ultimately Jesus; Acts 4:25–28].
3 They say, “Let’s break ·the chains that hold us back [L their chains/bonds]
and throw off ·the ropes that tie us down [L their ropes/cords from us].”
4 But the one who sits in heaven [C God] laughs;
the Lord ·makes fun of [ridicules; derides] them.
5 Then the Lord ·warns them [L speaks to them in anger]
and frightens them with his ·anger [fury].
6 He says, “I have ·appointed [installed; set] my own king
over my holy mountain, Zion [C the location of the Temple in Jerusalem; 9:11; 48:2, 11; 50:2; 1 Kin. 8:1].”
7 Now I will ·tell [recount to] you what the Lord has ·declared [decreed]:
He said to me, “You are my son.
Today I have become your father [2 Sam. 7:14; Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; Acts 13:32–33; Heb. 1:5].
8 ·If you ask me [L Ask of me], I will give you the nations as your inheritance;
all the ·people on [L ends of the] earth will be ·yours [L your possession].
9 You will rule over them with an iron ·rod [scepter; C a symbol of royal authority; Rev. 12:5; 19:15].
You will ·break [dash] them into pieces like pottery.”
10 ·So [Now], kings, be wise;
·rulers [L rulers/judges of the earth], ·learn this lesson [be warned].
11 ·Obey [Serve] the Lord with great fear.
·Be happy [Rejoice], ·but tremble [L with trembling].
12 ·Show that you are loyal to his [L Kiss the] son,
or ·you will be destroyed by his anger [L he will be angry and you will perish on the way],
because he can quickly become angry.
But ·happy [blessed] are those who ·trust him for protection [find refuge in him].
7 Knowledge begins with ·respect [fear; awe] for the Lord,
but fools ·hate [despise] wisdom and ·discipline [self-control; instruction].
Warnings Against Evil
8 My ·child [L son], listen to your father’s ·teaching [instruction; discipline]
and do not ·forget [neglect] your mother’s ·advice [instruction].
9 [L For] ·Their teaching [L It] will be like ·flowers in your hair [L a gracious garland on your head]
or ·a necklace [L beads] around your neck.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.