The Daily Audio Bible
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8 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. 2 If you refuse, then I will punish Egypt with frogs. 3 The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come from the river and enter your palace. They will be in your bedroom and your bed. The frogs will enter the houses of your officers and your people. They will enter your ovens and your baking pans. 4 The frogs will jump up all over you, your people and your officers.’”
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold his walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”
6 So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing. So even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.
8 So the king called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 Moses said to the king, “Please set the time that I should pray for you, your people and your officers. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the Nile.”
10 The king answered, “Tomorrow.”
Moses said, “What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officers and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”
12 Moses and Aaron left the king. Moses asked the Lord about the frogs he had sent to the king. 13 And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards and in the fields. 14 The Egyptians put them in piles. The whole country began to stink. 15 When the king saw that they were free of the frogs, he became stubborn again. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Gnats
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his walking stick and strike the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” 17 They did this. Aaron raised the walking stick that was in his hand and struck the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust changed into gnats. The gnats got on the people and animals. 18 Using their tricks, the magicians tried to do the same thing. But they could not make the dust change into gnats. The gnats remained on the people and animals. 19 So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them. This happened just as the Lord had said.
The Flies
20 The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning. Meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can worship me. 21 If you don’t let them go, I will send swarms of flies. I will send them into your houses. The flies will be on you, your officers and your people. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies. And they will be all over the ground, too. 22 But I will not treat the people of Israel the same as the Egyptian people. There will not be any flies in the land of Goshen, where my people live. By this you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will treat my people differently from your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.’”
24 So the Lord did as he had said. Great swarms of flies came into the king’s palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land. 25 The king called for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”
26 But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. They will see us offer sacrifices they hate. Then they will throw stones at us and kill us. 27 Let us make a three-day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there. This is what the Lord told us to do.”
28 The king said, “I will let you go. Then you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert. But you must not go very far away. Now go and pray for me.”
29 Moses said, “I will leave and pray to the Lord. He will take the flies away from you, your officers and your people tomorrow. But do not try to trick us again. Do not stop the people from going to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30 So Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. 31 And the Lord did as Moses asked. He removed the flies from the king, his officers and his people. Not one fly was left. 32 But the king became stubborn again and did not let the people go.
The Disease on the Farm Animals
9 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to worship me. 2 You might refuse to let them go and continue to hold them. 3 Then the Lord will punish you. He will send a terrible disease on all your farm animals. He will cause all of your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep to become sick. 4 But the Lord will treat Israel’s animals differently from the animals of Egypt. None of the animals that belong to the Israelites will die. 5 The Lord has set tomorrow as the time he will do this in the land.’” 6 The next day the Lord did as he promised. All the farm animals in Egypt died. But none of the animals belonging to Israelites died. 7 The king sent people to see what had happened to the animals of Israel. They found that not one of them had died. But the king was still stubborn. He did not let the people go.
The Boils
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Fill your hands with the ashes from a furnace. Moses, throw the ashes into the air in front of the king of Egypt. 9 The ashes will spread like dust through all the land of Egypt. The dust will cause boils to break out and become sores on the skin. These sores will be on people and animals everywhere in the land.”
10 So Moses and Aaron took ashes from a furnace. Then they went and stood before the king. Moses threw ashes into the air. It caused boils to break out and become sores on people and animals. 11 The magicians could not stand before Moses. This was because all the Egyptians had boils, even the magicians. 12 But the Lord made the king stubborn. So he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord had said.
The Hail
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and go to the king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go to worship me. 14 If you do not do this, this time I will punish you with all my power. I will punish you, your officers and your people. Then you will know that there is no one in the whole land like me. 15 By now I could have used my power and caused a bad disease. It would have destroyed you and your people from the earth. 16 But I have let you live for this reason: to show you my power. In this way my name will be talked about in all the earth. 17 You are still against my people. You do not want to let them go. 18 So at this time tomorrow, I will send a terrible hailstorm. It will be the worst in Egypt since it became a nation. 19 Now send for your animals and whatever you have in the fields. Bring them into a safe place. The hail will fall on every person or animal that is still in the fields. If they have not been brought in, they will die.’” 20 Some of the king’s officers respected the word of the Lord. They hurried to bring their slaves and animals inside. 21 But others ignored the Lord’s message. They left their slaves and animals in the fields.
22 The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky. Then the hail will start falling over all the land of Egypt. It will fall on people, animals and on everything that grows in the fields of Egypt.” 23 So Moses raised his walking stick toward the sky. And the Lord sent thunder and hail. And lightning flashed down to the earth. So he caused hail to fall upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail, and there was lightning flashing as it hailed. This was the worst hailstorm in Egypt since it had become a nation. 25 The hail destroyed everything that was in the fields in all the land of Egypt. The hail destroyed both people and animals. It also destroyed everything that grew in the fields. It broke all the trees in the fields. 26 The only place it did not hail was in the land of Goshen. The people of Israel lived there.
27 The king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right. And I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord. We have had enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go. You do not have to stay here any longer.”
29 Moses told the king, “When I leave the city, I will raise my hands to the Lord in prayer. And the thunder and hail will stop. Then you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know that you and your officers do not yet fear the Lord God.”
31 The flax was in bloom, and the barley had ripened. So these crops were destroyed. 32 But both wheat crops ripen later. So they were not destroyed.
33 Moses left the king and went outside the city. He raised his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and hail stopped. The rain also stopped falling to the ground. 34 The king saw that the rain, hail and thunder had stopped. Then he sinned again. He and his officers became stubborn again. 35 The king became stubborn and refused to let the Israelites go. This happened just as the Lord had said through Moses.
Jesus Welcomes Children
13 Then the people brought their little children to Jesus so that he could put his hands on them[a] and pray for them. When his followers saw this, they told the people to stop bringing their children to Jesus. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are like these children.” 15 After Jesus put his hands on the children, he left there.
A Rich Young Man’s Question
16 A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have life forever?”
17 Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. But if you want to have life forever, obey the commands.”
18 The man asked, “Which commands?”
Jesus answered, “‘You must not murder anyone. You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor in court. 19 Honor your father and mother.[b] Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”[c]
20 The young man said, “I have obeyed all these things. What else do I need to do?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, then go and sell all the things you own. Give the money to the poor. If you do this, you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!”
22 But when the young man heard this, he became very sad because he was very rich. So he left Jesus.
23 Then Jesus said to his followers, “I tell you the truth. It will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Yes, I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the followers heard this, they were very surprised. They asked, “Then who can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible. But for God all things are possible.”
27 Peter said to Jesus, “We left everything we had and followed you. So what will we have?”
28 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. When the new age comes, the Son of Man will sit on his great throne. And all of you who followed me will also sit on 12 thrones. And you will judge the 12 tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,[d] children, or farms to follow me will get much more than he left. And he will have life forever. 30 Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.
A Welcome for God into the Temple
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built it on the waters.
He set it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts.
They must not have worshiped idols.
They must not have made promises in the name of a false god.
5 It is they who will receive a blessing from the Lord.
The God who saves them will declare them right.
6 They try to follow God.
They look to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
8 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord, strong and mighty.
The Lord, the powerful warrior.
9 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
10 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord of heaven’s armies—
he is the glorious king. Selah
Dangers of Being Foolish
6 My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else.
Be careful about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2 You might get trapped by what you say.
You might be caught by your own words.
3 My child, you might do this and be under somebody’s control.
Then here is how to get free.
Go to your neighbor and don’t be proud.
Beg him to free you from your promise.
4 Don’t go to sleep.
Don’t even rest your eyes.
5 But free yourself like a deer running from a hunter.
Free yourself like a bird flying away from a trapper.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.