The Daily Audio Bible

The Trip Out of Egypt

¹⁷ Pharaoh made the people leave Egypt. God did not let the people take the road leading to the land of the Philistines. That road by the Mediterranean Sea is the shortest way, but God said, “If the people go that way they will have to fight. Then they might change their minds and go back to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led them another way through the desert by the Red Sea.^[a] The Israelites were dressed for war when they left Egypt.

Joseph Goes Home

¹⁹ Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him. Before Joseph died, he made the Israelites promise to do this for him. He said, “When God saves you, remember to carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”

The Lord Leads His People

²⁰ The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham. Etham was near the desert. ²¹ The Lord led the way. During the day, he used a tall cloud to lead the people. And during the night, he used a tall column of fire to lead the way. This fire gave them light so that they could also travel at night. ²² The cloud was always with them during the day, and the column of fire was always with them at night.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people to go back to Pi Hahiroth. Tell them to spend the night between Migdol and the Red Sea, near Baal Zephon. ³ Pharaoh will think that the Israelites are lost in the desert and that the people will have no place to go. ⁴ I will make Pharaoh brave, and he will chase you. But I will defeat Pharaoh and his army. This will bring honor to me. Then the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did what he told them.

Pharaoh Chases the Israelites

⁵ Pharaoh received a report that the Israelites had escaped. When he heard this, he and his officials changed their minds about what they had done. Pharaoh said, “Why did we let the Israelites leave? Why did we let them run away? Now we have lost our slaves!”

⁶ So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his men with him. ⁷ He took 600 of his best men and all of his chariots. There was an officer in each chariot.^{[b] 8} The Israelites were leaving with their arms raised in victory. But the Lord caused Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to become brave. And Pharaoh chased the Israelites.

⁹ The Egyptian army had many horse soldiers and chariots. They chased the Israelites and caught up with them while they were camped near the Red Sea at Pi Hahiroth, east of Baal Zephon.

¹⁰ When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming toward them, they were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here in the desert to die? We could have died peacefully in Egypt; there were plenty of graves in Egypt. ¹² We told you this would happen! In Egypt we said, ‘Please don’t bother us. Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to stay and be slaves than to come out here and die in the desert.”

¹³ But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. ¹⁴ You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you still crying to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving. ¹⁶ Raise the walking stick in your hand over the Red Sea, and the sea will split. Then the people can go across on dry land. ¹⁷ I have made the Egyptians brave, so they will chase you. But I will show you that I am more powerful than Pharaoh and all of his horses and chariots. ¹⁸ Then Egypt will know that I am the Lord. They will honor me when I defeat Pharaoh and his horse soldiers and chariots.”

The Lord Defeats the Egyptian Army

¹⁹ Then the angel of God moved to the back of the people. (The angel was usually in front of the people, leading them.) So the tall cloud moved from in front of the people and went to the back of the people. ²⁰ In this way the cloud stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites. There was light for the Israelites. But there was darkness for the Egyptians. So the Egyptians did not come any closer to the Israelites that night.

²¹ Moses raised his hand over the Red Sea, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. The wind blew all night long. The sea split, and the wind made the ground dry. ²² The Israelites went through the sea on dry land. The water was like a wall on their right and on their left. ²³ Then all of Pharaoh’s chariots and horse soldiers followed them into the sea. ²⁴ Early that morning the Lord looked down from the tall cloud and column of fire at the Egyptian army. Then he made them panic. ²⁵ The wheels of the chariots became stuck. It was very hard to control the chariots. The Egyptians shouted, “Let’s get out of here! The Lord is fighting against us. He is fighting for the Israelites.”

²⁶ Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea to make the water fall and cover the Egyptian chariots and horse soldiers.”

²⁷ So just before daylight, Moses raised his hand over the sea. And the water rushed back to its proper level. The Egyptians were running as fast as they could from the water, but the Lord swept them away with the sea. ²⁸ The water returned to its normal level and covered the chariots and horse soldiers. Pharaoh’s army had been chasing the Israelites, but that army was destroyed. None of them survived!

²⁹ But the Israelites crossed the sea on dry land. The water was like a wall on their right and on their left. ³⁰ So that day the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. Later, the Israelites saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians on the shore of the Red Sea. ³¹ The Israelites saw the great power of the Lord when he defeated the Egyptians. So the people feared and respected the Lord, and they began to trust the Lord and his servant Moses.

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the Israelites began singing this song to the Lord:

Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority^(A)

²³ Jesus went into the Temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to him. They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things you are doing? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ²⁵ Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God, or was it only from other people?”

The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ ²⁶ But we can’t say John’s baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”

Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.

Jesus Uses a Story About Two Sons

²⁸ “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹ “The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later he decided he should go, and he went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The Jewish leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “The truth is, you are worse than the tax collectors and the prostitutes. In fact, they will enter God’s kingdom before you enter. ³² John came showing you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw that happening, but you would not change. You still refused to believe him.

God Sends His Son^(B)

³³ “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and then left on a trip. ³⁴ Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes.

³⁵ “But the farmers grabbed the servants and beat one. They killed another one and then stoned to death a third servant. ³⁶ So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they did the first time. ³⁷ So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’

³⁸ “But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ³⁹ So the farmers took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰ “So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”

⁴¹ The Jewish priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to other farmers, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:

⁴³ “So I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do what God wants in his kingdom. ⁴⁴ Whoever falls on this stone will be broken. And it will crush anyone it falls on.”^[a]

⁴⁵ When the leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to do anything, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

A song of David.

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