The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the ESV. Switch to the ESV to read along with the audio.
Moses Complains to God
22 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you brought this trouble on your people? Is this why you sent me here? 23 I went to the king and said what you told me to say. But ever since that time he has made the people suffer. And you have done nothing to save them.”
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to the king of Egypt. I will use my great power against him, and he will let my people go. Because of my power, he will force them out of his country.”
2 Then God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name, God All-Powerful. But they did not know me by my name, the Lord. 4 I also made my agreement with them to give them the land of Canaan. They lived in that land, but it was not their own land. 5 Now I have heard the cries of the Israelites. The Egyptians are treating them as slaves. And I remember my agreement. 6 So tell the people of Israel that I say to them, ‘I am the Lord. I will save you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. I will make you free. You will not be slaves to the Egyptians. I will free you by my great power. And I will punish the Egyptians terribly. 7 I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God. I am the One who saves you from the hard work the Egyptians force you to do. 8 I will lead you to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I will give you that land to own. I am the Lord.’”
9 So Moses told this to the people of Israel. But they would not listen to him. They were discouraged, and their slavery was hard.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go tell the king of Egypt that he must let the Israelites leave his land.”
12 But Moses answered, “The Israelites will not listen to me. So surely the king will not listen to me, either. I am not a good speaker.”
13 But the Lord told Moses and Aaron to talk to the king. He commanded them to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Families of Israel
14 These are the leaders of the families of Israel:
Israel’s first son, Reuben, had four sons. They were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These are the family groups of Reuben.
15 Simeon’s sons were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul. Shaul was the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the family groups of Simeon.
16 Levi lived 137 years. These are the names of his sons according to their family history: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
17 Gershon had two sons, Libni and Shimei, with their families.
18 Kohath lived 133 years. The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These are the family groups of Levi, according to their family history.
20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed. Jochebed gave birth to Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
21 Izhar’s sons were Korah, Nepheg and Zicri.
22 Uzziel’s sons were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba. She was the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon. Elisheba gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the family groups of the Korahites.
25 Eleazar son of Aaron married a daughter of Putiel. And she gave birth to Phinehas.
These are the leaders of the family groups of the Levites.
26 This was the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord spoke. He said, “Lead my people out of Israel in their divisions.” 27 Aaron and Moses are the ones who talked to the king of Egypt. They told him to let the people of Israel leave Egypt.
God Repeats His Call to Moses
28 The Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt. 29 He said, “I am the Lord. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30 But Moses answered, “I am not a good speaker. The king will not listen to me.”
7 The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you like God to the king of Egypt. And your brother Aaron will be like a prophet for you. 2 Tell Aaron your brother everything that I command you. Then let him tell the king of Egypt to let the Israelites leave his country. 3 But I will make the king stubborn. Then I will do many miracles in Egypt. 4 But he will still refuse to listen. So then I will punish Egypt terribly. And I will lead my divisions, my people the Israelites, out of that land. 5 I will punish Egypt with my power. And I will bring the Israelites out of that land. Then they will know I am the Lord.”
6 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. 7 Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83, when they spoke to the king.
Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “The king will ask you to do a miracle. When he does, Moses, you tell Aaron to throw his walking stick down in front of the king. It will become a snake.”
10 So Moses and Aaron went to the king as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers. And it became a snake.
11 So the king called in his wise men and his magicians. With their tricks the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing. 12 They threw their walking sticks on the ground, and their sticks became snakes. But then Aaron’s stick swallowed theirs. 13 But the king was stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Water Becomes Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The king is being stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15 In the morning the king will go out to the Nile River. Go meet him by the edge of the river. Take with you the walking stick that became a snake. 16 Tell him this: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go worship me in the desert.’ Until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: ‘This is how you will know that I am the Lord. I will strike the water of the Nile River with this stick in my hand. And the water will change into blood. 18 Then the fish in the Nile will die, and the river will begin to stink. And the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile.’”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to stretch the walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, ponds and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood everywhere in Egypt. There even will be blood in the wooden buckets and stone jars.”
20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron raised his walking stick and struck the water in the Nile River. He did this in front of the king and his officers. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink. So the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.
22 Using their tricks, their magicians of Egypt did the same thing. So the king was stubborn and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord had said. 23 The king turned and went into his palace. He ignored what Moses and Aaron had done. 24 The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile. So all of them dug along the bank of the river. They were looking for water to drink.
The Frogs
25 Seven days passed after the Lord changed the Nile River.
An Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my brother sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as 7 times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than 7 times. You must forgive him even if he does wrong to you 70 times 7.
23 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. 24 So the king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several million dollars. 25 But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. The money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed.
26 “But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt sorry for his servant. So the master told the servant he did not have to pay. He let the servant go free.
28 “Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed the other servant around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me. I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. 31 All the other servants saw what happened. They were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened.
32 “Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! You begged me to forget what you owed. So I told you that you did not have to pay anything. 33 I had mercy on you. You should have had the same mercy on that other servant.’ 34 The master was very angry, and he put the servant in prison to be punished. The servant had to stay in prison until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Jesus Teaches About Divorce
19 After Jesus said all these things, he left Galilee. He went into the area of Judea on the other side of the Jordan River. 2 Large crowds followed Jesus, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any reason he chooses?”
4 Jesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: When God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’[a] 5 And God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife. And the two people will become one body.’[b] 6 So the two are not two, but one. God joined the two people together. No person should separate them.”
7 The Pharisees asked, “Why then did Moses give a command for a man to divorce his wife by giving her divorce papers?”
8 Jesus answered, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you refused to accept God’s teaching. But divorce was not allowed in the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery.[c] The only reason for a man to divorce and marry again is if his first wife has been unfaithful to him.”
10 The followers said to him, “If that is the only reason a man can divorce his wife, then it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus answered, “Not everyone can accept this truth about marriage. But God has made some able to accept it. 12 There are different reasons why some men cannot marry. Some men were born without the ability to become fathers. Others were made that way later in life by other people. And other men have given up marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. But the person who can marry should accept this teaching about marriage.”[d]
The Lord the Shepherd
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I have everything I need.
2 He gives me rest in green pastures.
He leads me to calm water.
3 He gives me new strength.
For the good of his name,
he leads me on paths that are right.
4 Even if I walk
through a very dark valley,
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort me.
5 You prepare a meal for me
in front of my enemies.
You pour oil of blessing on my head.[a]
You give me more than I can hold.
6 Surely your goodness and love will be with me
all my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
22 An evil man will be caught in his evil ways.
He will be tied up by his sins as if they were ropes.
23 He will die because he does not control himself.
He will be held captive by his own foolishness.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.