The Daily Audio Bible

The Amalekites Fight Israel

⁸ At Rephidim the Amalekites came and fought the Israelites. ⁹ So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men and go and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill. I will hold the stick God gave me to carry.”

¹⁰ Joshua obeyed Moses and went to fight the Amalekites. At the same time Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelites would win the fight. But when Moses put his hands down, the Amalekites would win. ¹² Later, Moses’ arms became tired. So the men put a large rock under Moses, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands. Aaron was on one side of Moses, and Hur was on the other side. They held his hands up like this until the sun went down. ¹³ So Joshua defeated the Amalekites in this battle.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write about this battle in a book so people will remember. And be sure to tell Joshua. Tell him because I will completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth.”

¹⁵ Then Moses built an altar. He named it The Lord is my Banner. ¹⁶ Moses said, “I lifted my hands toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will fight against the Amalekites forever.”

Jethro Visits Moses

18 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was the priest of Midian. He heard about everything that God had done for Moses and his people, the Israelites. Jethro heard how the Lord had led the Israelites out of Egypt. ² Moses had sent his wife Zipporah to Jethro, his father-in-law. ³ Moses had also sent his two sons. The first son was named Gershom.^[a] When he was born, Moses said, “I am a stranger in a foreign country.” ⁴ The other son was named Eliezer.^[b] When he was born, Moses said, “The God of my father is my help. He saved me from the king of Egypt.”

⁵ So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, went to Moses. Moses was camped in the desert near Sinai, the mountain of God. Moses’ wife and his two sons came with Jethro. ⁶ Jethro had sent a message ahead to Moses. He said, “I am Jethro, your father-in-law. I am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

⁷ So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. Moses bowed down and then kissed him. The two men asked about each other’s health. Then they went into Moses’ tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to the king and the Egyptians. The Lord had done these things to help Israel. Moses told about all the problems they had faced along the way. And Moses told him how the Lord had saved them.

⁹ Jethro was very happy when he heard all the good things the Lord had done for Israel. He was happy because the Lord had saved them from the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Jethro said, “Praise the Lord. He has saved all of you from the Egyptians and their king. He has saved the people from the power of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know the Lord is greater than all gods. He did this to those who looked down on Israel.” ¹² Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, gave a whole burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to Moses’ father-in-law. They ate the holy meal together before God.

¹³ The next day Moses solved disagreements among the people. So the people stood around Moses from morning until night. ¹⁴ Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people. He asked, “What is all this you are doing for the people? Why are you the only one to solve disagreements? All the people are standing around you from morning until night!”

¹⁵ Then Moses said to his father-in-law, “It is because the people come to me for God’s help in solving their disagreements. ¹⁶ When people have a disagreement, they come to me. I decide who is right. And I tell them God’s laws and teachings.”

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “You are not doing this right. ¹⁸ You and the people who come to you will get too tired. This is too much work for you. You can’t do it by yourself. ¹⁹ Now listen to me. I will give you some advice. I want God to be with you. You must talk to God for the people. You must tell him about their disagreements. ²⁰ You should tell them the laws and teachings. Tell them the right way to live and what they should do. ²¹ But choose some capable men from among the people. Choose men who respect God and who can be trusted. They will not change their decisions for money. Make these men officers over groups of 1,000, 100, 50 and 10 people. ²² Let these officers solve the disagreements among the people all the time. They can bring the hard cases to you. But they can decide the simple cases themselves. That will make it easier for you. These men will share the work with you. ²³ Do this if it is what God commands. Then you will be able to do your job. And all the people will go home with their disagreements solved.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ He chose capable men from all the Israelites. He made them leaders over the people. They were officers over groups of 1,000, 100, 50 and 10 people. ²⁶ These officers solved disagreements among the people all the time. They brought the hard cases to Moses. But they decided the simple cases themselves.

²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law leave. And Jethro went back to his own home.

Israel at Sinai

19 Exactly three months after the Israelites had left Egypt, they reached the Desert of Sinai. ² They had left Rephidim and had come to the Desert of Sinai. The Israelites camped in the desert in front of Mount Sinai. ³ Then Moses went up on the mountain to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain. The Lord said, “Say this to the family of Jacob. And tell this to the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘Every one of you has seen what I did to the people of Egypt. You saw how I carried you out of Egypt. I did it as an eagle carries her young on her wings. And I brought you here to me. ⁵ So now obey me and keep my agreement. Do this, and you will be my own possession, chosen from all nations. Even though the whole earth is mine, ⁶ you will be my kingdom of priests. You will be a nation that belongs to me alone.’ You must tell the Israelites these words.”

⁷ So Moses went down and called the elders of the people together. He told them all the words the Lord had commanded him to say. ⁸ And all the people answered together, “We will do everything he has said.” Then Moses took their answer back to the Lord.

⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud. I will speak to you. The people will hear me talking to you. I will do this so the people will always trust you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and have them spend today and tomorrow preparing themselves. They must wash their clothes ¹¹ and be ready by the day after tomorrow. On that day I, the Lord, will come down on Mount Sinai. And all the people will see me. ¹² But you must set a limit around the mountain. The people are not to cross it. Tell the people not to go up on the mountain. Tell them not to touch the foot of it. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death. ¹³ He must be put to death with stones or shot with arrows. No one is allowed to touch him. Whether it is a person or an animal, he will not live. But the trumpet will make a long blast. Only then may the people go up on the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He made them prepare themselves for service to God. And the people washed their clothes. ¹⁵ Then Moses said to the people, “Be ready in three days. Do not have physical relations during this time.”

The Most Important Command

³⁴ The Pharisees learned that the Sadducees could not argue with Jesus’ answers to them. So the Pharisees met together. ³⁵ One Pharisee was an expert in the law of Moses. That Pharisee asked Jesus a question to test him. ³⁶ The Pharisee asked, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.’^{[a] 38} This is the first and most important command. ³⁹ And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’^{[b] 40} All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”

Jesus Questions the Pharisees

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were together, Jesus asked them a question. ⁴² He asked, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

The Pharisees answered, “The Christ is the Son of David.”

⁴³ Then Jesus said to them, “Then why did David call him ‘Lord’? David was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. David said,

⁴⁵ David calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

⁴⁶ None of the Pharisees could answer Jesus’ question. And after that day no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.

Jesus Accuses the Leaders

23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his followers. Jesus said, ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says. ³ So you should obey and follow whatever they tell you. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do the things themselves. ⁴ They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.

⁵ “The reason they do good things is so other people will see them. They make the boxes^[c] of Scriptures that they wear bigger and bigger. And they make their special prayer clothes very long so that people will notice them. ⁶ Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at the feasts. And they love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. ⁷ They love people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. And they love to have people call them ‘Teacher.’

⁸ “But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all brothers and sisters together. You have only one Teacher. ⁹ And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. ¹⁰ And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Christ. ¹¹ He who serves you as a servant is the greatest among you. ¹² Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.