The Daily Audio Bible

The Tower of Babel

11 Now^[a] the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated^[b] from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to each other,^[c] “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.”^[d] And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ Then^[e] Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that humankind^[f] was building. ⁶ And Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people with one language,^[g] and this is only the beginning of what they will do.^[h] So^[i] now nothing that they intend to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s language.”^{[j] 8} So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Descendants of Shem

¹⁰ These are the generations^[k] of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old,^[l] he fathered Arphaxad, two years after the flood. ¹¹ And Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arphaxad, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹² When Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, he fathered Shelah. ¹³ And Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ When Shelah had lived thirty years, he fathered Eber. ¹⁵ And Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁶ When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷ And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁸ When Peleg had lived thirty years, he fathered Reu. ¹⁹ And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he fathered Serug. ²¹ And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²² When Serug had lived thirty years, he fathered Nahor. ²³ And Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁴ When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he fathered Terah. ²⁵ And Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁶ When Terah had lived seventy years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Descendants of Terah

²⁷ Now^[m] these are the generations^[n] of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ And Haran died in the presence of Terah his father in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of the wife of Abram was Sarai, and the name of the wife of Nahor was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ And Sarai was barren; she had no child. ³¹ And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson,^[o] and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to Haran, and they settled there. ³² And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

The Call of Abram

12 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. ³ And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

Abram’s Journey

⁴ And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old^[p] when he went out from Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew,^[q] and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan. ⁶ And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh. ⁹ And Abram kept moving on,^[r] toward the Negev. ¹⁰ And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ And it happened that as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, ¹² and it shall happen that, if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ then they will kill me but let you live. ¹³ Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. Then I will live^[s] on account of you.” ¹⁴ And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. ¹⁶ And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷ Then^[t] Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that was with him away.

The Parting of Abram and Lot

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that was with him. And Lot went with him to the Negev. ² Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he went according to his journey from the Negev, then to Bethel, to the place where his tent was at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place where he had made an altar at the beginning. And Abram called on the name of Yahweh there.

The Sermon on the Mount: The Beatitudes

5 Now when he^[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain and after he^[b] sat down, his disciples approached him. ² And opening his mouth he began to teach them, saying,

The Sermon on the Mount: Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It is good for nothing any longer except to be thrown outside and^[c] trampled under foot by people. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city located on top of a hill cannot be hidden, ¹⁵ nor do they light a lamp and place it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The Sermon on the Mount: The Law and the Prophets Fulfilled

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all takes place. ¹⁹ Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps them and teaches them, this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I say to you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The Sermon on the Mount: Anger Toward Others

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people of old,^[d] ‘Do not commit murder,’^[e] and ‘whoever commits murder will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Stupid fool!’^[f] will be subject to the council, and whoever says, ‘Obstinate fool!’^[g] will be subject to fiery hell. ²³ Therefore if you present your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and first go be reconciled to your brother, and then come and^[h] present your gift. ²⁵ Settle the case quickly with your accuser^[i] while you are with him on the way, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, you will never come out of there until you have paid back the last penny!

A Prayer for Guidance and Protection

For the music director; with the flutes. A psalm of David.^[a]