The Daily Audio Bible

4 And Moses answereth and saith, `And, if they do not give credence to me, nor hearken to my voice, and say, Jehovah hath not appeared unto thee?'

² And Jehovah saith unto him, `What [is] this in thy hand?' and he saith, `A rod;'

³ and He saith, `Cast it to the earth;' and he casteth it to the earth, and it becometh a serpent -- and Moses fleeth from its presence.

⁴ And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Put forth thy hand, and lay hold on the tail of it;' and he putteth forth his hand, and layeth hold on it, and it becometh a rod in his hand --

⁵ `-- so that they believe that Jehovah, God of their fathers, hath appeared unto thee, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob.'

⁶ And Jehovah saith to him again, `Put in, I pray thee, thy hand into thy bosom;' and he putteth in his hand into his bosom, and he bringeth it out, and lo, his hand [is] leprous as snow;

⁷ and He saith, `Put back thy hand unto thy bosom;' and he putteth back his hand unto his bosom, and he bringeth it out from his bosom, and lo, it hath turned back as his flesh --

⁸ `-- and it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence to thee, and hearken not to the voice of the first sign, that they have given credence to the voice of the latter sign.

⁹ `And it hath come to pass, if they do not give credence even to these two signs, nor hearken to thy voice, that thou hast taken of the waters of the River, and hast poured on the dry land, and the waters which thou takest from the River have been, yea, they have become -- blood on the dry land.'

¹⁰ And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `O, my Lord, I [am] not a man of words, either yesterday, or before, or since Thy speaking unto Thy servant, for I [am] slow of mouth, and slow of tongue.'

¹¹ And Jehovah saith unto him, `Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah?

¹² and now, go, and I -- I am with thy mouth, and have directed thee that which thou speakest;'

¹³ and he saith, `O, my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand Thou dost send.'

¹⁴ And the anger of Jehovah burneth against Moses, and He saith, `Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I have known that he speaketh well, and also, lo, he is coming out to meet thee; when he hath seen thee, then he hath rejoiced in his heart,

¹⁵ and thou hast spoken unto him, and hast set the words in his mouth, and I -- I am with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and have directed you that which ye do;

¹⁶ and he, he hath spoken for thee unto the people, and it hath come to pass, he -- he is to thee for a mouth, and thou -- thou art to him for God;

¹⁷ and this rod thou dost take in thy hand, with which thou doest the signs.'

¹⁸ And Moses goeth and turneth back unto Jethro his father-in-law, and saith to him, `Let me go, I pray thee, and I turn back unto my brethren who [are] in Egypt, and I see whether they are yet alive.' And Jethro saith to Moses, `Go in peace.'

¹⁹ And Jehovah saith unto Moses in Midian, `Go, turn back to Egypt, for all the men have died who seek thy life;'

²⁰ and Moses taketh his wife, and his sons, and causeth them to ride on the ass, and turneth back to the land of Egypt, and Moses taketh the rod of God in his hand.

²¹ And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `In thy going to turn back to Egypt, see -- all the wonders which I have put in thy hand -- that thou hast done them before Pharaoh, and I -- I strengthen his heart, and he doth not send the people away;

²² and thou hast said unto Pharaoh, Thus said Jehovah, My son, My first-born [is] Israel,

²³ and I say unto thee, Send away My son, and he doth serve Me; and -- thou dost refuse to send him away -- lo, I am slaying thy son, thy first-born.'

²⁴ And it cometh to pass in the way, in a lodging place, that Jehovah meeteth him, and seeketh to put him to death;

²⁵ and Zipporah taketh a flint, and cutteth off the foreskin of her son, and causeth [it] to touch his feet, and saith, `Surely a bridegroom of blood [art] thou to me;'

²⁶ and He desisteth from him: then she said, `A bridegroom of blood,' in reference to the circumcision.

²⁷ And Jehovah saith unto Aaron, `Go to meet Moses into the wilderness;' and he goeth, and meeteth him in the mount of God, and kisseth him,

²⁸ and Moses declareth to Aaron all the words of Jehovah with which He hath sent him, and all the signs with which He hath charged him.

²⁹ And Moses goeth -- Aaron also -- and they gather all the elders of the sons of Israel,

³⁰ and Aaron speaketh all the words which Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and doth the signs before the eyes of the people;

³¹ and the people believe when they hear that Jehovah hath looked after the sons of Israel, and that He hath seen their affliction; and they bow and do obeisance.

5 And afterwards have Moses and Aaron entered, and they say unto Pharaoh, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Send My people away, and they keep a feast to Me in the wilderness;'

² and Pharaoh saith, `Who [is] Jehovah, that I hearken to His voice, to send Israel away? I have not known Jehovah, and Israel also I do not send away.'

³ And they say, `The God of the Hebrews hath met with us, let us go, we pray thee, a journey of three days into the wilderness, and we sacrifice to Jehovah our God, lest He meet us with pestilence or with sword.'

⁴ And the king of Egypt saith unto them, `Why, Moses and Aaron, do ye free the people from its works? go to your burdens.'

⁵ Pharaoh also saith, `Lo, numerous now [is] the people of the land, and ye have caused them to cease from their burdens!'

⁶ And Pharaoh commandeth, on that day, the exactors among the people and its authorities, saying,

⁷ `Ye do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks, as heretofore -- they go and have gathered straw for themselves;

⁸ and the proper quantity of the bricks which they are making heretofore ye do put on them, ye do not diminish from it, for they are remiss, therefore they are crying, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God;

⁹ let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.'

¹⁰ And the exactors of the people, and its authorities, go out, and speak unto the people, saying, `Thus said Pharaoh, I do not give you straw,

¹¹ ye -- go ye, take for yourselves straw where ye find [it], for there is nothing of your service diminished.'

¹² And the people is scattered over all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw,

¹³ and the exactors are making haste, saying, `Complete your works, the matter of a day in its day, as when there is straw.'

¹⁴ And the authorities of the sons of Israel, whom the exactors of Pharaoh have placed over them, are beaten, saying, `Wherefore have ye not completed your portion in making brick as heretofore, both yesterday and to-day?'

¹⁵ And the authorities of the sons of Israel come in and cry unto Pharaoh, saying, `Why dost thou thus to thy servants?

¹⁶ Straw is not given to thy servants, and they are saying to us, Make bricks, and lo, thy servants are smitten -- and thy people hath sinned.'

¹⁷ And he saith, `Remiss -- ye are remiss, therefore ye are saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to Jehovah;

¹⁸ and now, go, serve; and straw is not given to you, and the measure of bricks ye do give.'

¹⁹ And the authorities of the sons of Israel see them in affliction, saying, `Ye do not diminish from your bricks; the matter of a day in its day.'

²⁰ And they meet Moses and Aaron standing to meet them, in their coming out from Pharaoh,

²¹ and say unto them, `Jehovah look upon you, and judge, because ye have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants -- to give a sword into their hand to slay us.'

18 At that hour came the disciples near to Jesus, saying, `Who, now, is greater in the reign of the heavens?'

² And Jesus having called near a child, did set him in the midst of them,

³ and said, `Verily I say to you, if ye may not be turned and become as the children, ye may not enter into the reign of the heavens;

⁴ whoever then may humble himself as this child, he is the greater in the reign of the heavens.

⁵ `And he who may receive one such child in my name, doth receive me,

⁶ and whoever may cause to stumble one of those little ones who are believing in me, it is better for him that a weighty millstone may be hanged upon his neck, and he may be sunk in the depth of the sea.

⁷ `Wo to the world from the stumbling-blocks! for there is a necessity for the stumbling-blocks to come, but wo to that man through whom the stumbling-block doth come!

⁸ `And if thy hand or thy foot doth cause thee to stumble, cut them off and cast from thee; it is good for thee to enter into the life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast to the fire the age-during.

⁹ `And if thine eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee; it is good for thee one-eyed to enter into the life, rather than having two eyes to be cast to the gehenna of the fire.

¹⁰ `Beware! -- ye may not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their messengers in the heavens do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens,

¹¹ for the Son of Man did come to save the lost.

¹² `What think ye? if a man may have an hundred sheep, and there may go astray one of them, doth he not -- having left the ninety-nine, having gone on the mountains -- seek that which is gone astray?

¹³ and if it may come to pass that he doth find it, verily I say to you, that he doth rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray;

¹⁴ so it is not will in presence of your Father who is in the heavens, that one of these little ones may perish.

¹⁵ `And if thy brother may sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone, if he may hear thee, thou didst gain thy brother;

¹⁶ and if he may not hear, take with thee yet one or two, that by the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may stand.

¹⁷ `And if he may not hear them, say [it] to the assembly, and if also the assembly he may not hear, let him be to thee as the heathen man and the tax-gatherer.

¹⁸ `Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.

¹⁹ `Again, I say to you, that, if two of you may agree on the earth concerning anything, whatever they may ask -- it shall be done to them from my Father who is in the heavens,

²⁰ for where there are two or three gathered together -- to my name, there am I in the midst of them.'

¹⁹ And Thou, O Jehovah, be not far off, O my strength, to help me haste.

²⁰ Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one.

²¹ Save me from the mouth of a lion: -- And -- from the horns of the high places Thou hast answered me!

²² I declare Thy name to my brethren, In the midst of the assembly I praise Thee.

²³ Ye who fear Jehovah, praise ye Him, All the seed of Jacob, honour ye Him, And be afraid of Him, all ye seed of Israel.

²⁴ For He hath not despised, nor abominated, The affliction of the afflicted, Nor hath He hidden His face from him, And in his crying unto Him He heareth.

²⁵ Of Thee my praise [is] in the great assembly. My vows I complete before His fearers.

²⁶ The humble do eat and are satisfied, Praise Jehovah do those seeking Him, Your heart doth live for ever.

²⁷ Remember and return unto Jehovah, Do all ends of the earth, And before Thee bow themselves, Do all families of the nations,

²⁸ For to Jehovah [is] the kingdom, And He is ruling among nations.

²⁹ And the fat ones of earth have eaten, And they bow themselves, Before Him bow do all going down to dust, And he [who] hath not revived his soul.

³⁰ A seed doth serve Him, It is declared of the Lord to the generation.

³¹ They come and declare His righteousness, To a people that is borne, that He hath made!

¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, Even flowing ones out of thine own well.

¹⁶ Let thy fountains be scattered abroad, In broad places rivulets of waters.

¹⁷ Let them be to thee for thyself, And not to strangers with thee.

¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed, And rejoice because of the wife of thy youth,

¹⁹ A hind of loves, and a roe of grace! Let her loves satisfy thee at all times, In her love magnify thyself continually.

²⁰ And why dost thou magnify thyself, My son, with a stranger? And embrace the bosom of a strange woman?

²¹ For over-against the eyes of Jehovah are the ways of each, And all his paths He is pondering.