The Daily Audio Bible

The Lamp

24 The Lord spoke to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelis that they are to bring to you pure oil made from beaten olives in order to keep the lamp burning continuously. ³ Outside the Canopy of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to arrange it continually in the Lord’s presence from evening until morning as an eternal ordinance throughout your generations. ⁴ He is to arrange the lamps so that they burn continuously on a ceremonially pure lamp stand in the Lord’s presence. ⁵ Take fine flour and bake twelve cakes using two tenths of a measure^[a] for each cake. ⁶ Arrange them in two rows—six in each row—on a ceremonially pure table in the Lord’s presence. ⁷ Put pure frankincense on each row for a memorial offering. It will serve as an offering made by fire to the Lord. ⁸ They are to be arranged every Sabbath day^[b] in the Lord’s presence as a gift^[c] from the Israelis—an eternal covenant. ⁹ This gift^[d] will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they are to eat it in a sacred place, because it’s the most holy thing for him of all the offerings made by fire to the Lord. This is to be an eternal ordinance.”

A Case History of Blasphemy

¹⁰ Now a son of an Israeli woman and an Egyptian man^[e] went out among the Israelis. The Israeli woman’s son got into a fight with an Israeli man in the camp. ¹¹ Then the Israeli woman’s son blasphemed the Name and cursed, so they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, from the tribe of Dan. ¹² They placed him in custody until a decision would be made^[f] to them according to the word^[g] of the Lord. ¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁴ “Take the one who cursed outside the camp. Everyone who heard him is to lay their hands on his head. Then the entire congregation is to stone him to death. ¹⁵ Moreover, tell the Israelis that anyone who curses his God will bear the consequences of his own sin, ¹⁶ because the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord is certainly to be put to death. The entire congregation is to stone him to death. As it is for the resident alien, so it is to be with the native born: when he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death.

¹⁷ “If a man beats a human being^[h] to death,^[i] he is certainly to be executed, ¹⁸ but whoever beats an animal to death is to replace it—life for life. ¹⁹ If a man disfigures his fellow, whatever he did is to be done to him also. ²⁰ Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth—just as he had caused a disfigurement against another man, so it is to be done against him. ²¹ Whoever beats an animal to death is to replace it, but whoever beats a human being to death^[j] is to be put to death. ²² You are to have for yourselves consistent^[k] procedures in deciding a case. As it is for the resident alien, so it is for the native born. I am the Lord your God.”

²³ So Moses spoke to the Israelis and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him to death with boulders. The Israelis did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Sabbatical Years

25 The Lord told Moses on Mount Sinai, ² “Tell the Israelis that when you enter the land that I’m about to give you, you are to let the land observe a Sabbath to the Lord. ³ For six years you may plant your fields, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. ⁴ But the seventh year is to be a Sabbath of rest for the land—a Sabbath for the Lord. You are not to plant your field or prune your vineyard. ⁵ You are not to gather what grows from the spilled kernels of your crops. You are not to pick the grapes of your untrimmed vines. Let it be a year of Sabbath for the land. ⁶ You may take the Sabbath produce^[l] of the land for your food—you, your male and maid servants, your hired laborers, and the resident alien with you. ⁷ The cattle and the wild animals in your land—everything it produces—are for your food.

⁸ “Count for yourselves seven years of Sabbaths—seven times seven years. This set of seven weeks of years total 49 years for you. ⁹ Sound a horn on the tenth day of the seventh month of this fiftieth year.^[m] Likewise, on the Day of Atonement, sound the horn throughout your land. ¹⁰ Set aside and consecrate the fiftieth year to declare liberty throughout the land for all of its inhabitants. It is to be a jubilee for you. Every person^[n] is to return to his own land that he has inherited. Likewise, every person is to return to his tribe. ¹¹ The fiftieth year is to be a year of jubilee for you. You are not to sow or harvest the spilled kernels that grow of themselves or pick grapes from the untrimmed vines ¹² because it’s the jubilee—it’s sacred for you. But you may eat its produce from the field.

¹³ “During this year of jubilee, each person is to return to his own land that he has inherited. ¹⁴ So if you had sold property^[o] to a neighbor or had acquired land from your neighbor, you are not to cheat one another. ¹⁵ According to the number of years after the jubilee, you may buy from your neighbor. And according to the number of years with crops, he may sell to you. ¹⁶ If the number of years after the jubilee^[p] is more, increase the selling price. If the number of years after the jubilee^[q] is few, decrease its selling price, because he’s selling to you according to the potential production volume^[r] of the land.^{[s] 17} No one is to cheat his neighbor. Instead, you are to fear your God, because I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ “Observe my statutes and keep my ordinances. Do them so that you may live securely in the land. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield its fruit and you’ll eat to your satisfaction and live securely.

²⁰ “Now if you ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year? After all, we may not plant or even gather our produce!’ ²¹ I’ll command my blessing on you during the sixth year so that it will yield produce for three years! ²² That way, you are to sow in the eighth year, eating the produce from the old harvest. Until the ninth year when its produce comes in, you’ll eat from the old harvest.”

Land Redemption

²³ “The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You’re sojourners and travelers^[t] with me. ²⁴ So throughout all of your land inheritance,^[u] grant the right of redemption for the land.

²⁵ “If your brother becomes so poor that he has to a sell portion of his inheritance, then his nearest kinsman redeemer is to come and redeem what his brother has sold. ²⁶ If a person^[v] doesn’t have a kinsman redeemer, but has become rich^[w] and found sufficient means for his redemption, ²⁷ then let him account for the years for which it was sold, return the excess to the person to whom it was sold, and then return to his property. ²⁸ If he’s not able to redeem it back for himself,^[x] then what he sold is to remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee, it is to be returned so he may return to his property.

²⁹ “If a person sells a residential house in a walled city, he is to redeem it within the year in which it was sold. He may have right to its redemption for a full year. ³⁰ But if it’s not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house next to which is a wall is to belong in perpetuity to the one who bought it throughout his generations. It is not to be returned in the jubilee. ³¹ However, the houses in the villages that don’t have walls around them are to be categorized along with the fields of the land—they may be redeemed and returned in the jubilee. ³² Nevertheless, the cities that belong to the descendants of Levi—that is, the houses in the cities that belong to them—are to belong to the descendants of Levi perpetually as part of their^[y] right of redemption. ³³ If someone from the descendants of Levi redeems the houses in the cities that they own, they are to be returned in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the descendants of Levi are to remain their property among the Israelis. ³⁴ Also, the open land of their cities is not to be sold, because it is to remain their perpetual inheritance.”

Treatment of Poor Israelis

³⁵ “If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you,^[z] then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler. ³⁶ You are not to take interest or profit from him. Instead, you are to fear your God and let your relative live with you. ³⁷ You are not to loan him money with interest or sell him your food at a profit. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

³⁹ “If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave.^{[aa] 40} Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee. ⁴¹ Then he and his children with him may leave^[ab] to return to his family and his ancestor’s inheritance. ⁴² Since they’re my servants whom I’ve brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. ⁴³ You are not to rule over them with harshness. You are to fear your God.”

Release of Slaves

⁴⁴ “As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations. ⁴⁵ You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property. ⁴⁶ You may give them as inherited property to your children^[ac] after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness.

Jesus Blesses the Little Children^(A)

¹³ Some people^[a] were bringing little children to Jesus^[b] to have him touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought^[c] them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he became furious and told them, “Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these. ¹⁵ I tell all of you^[d] with certainty, whoever doesn’t receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ Then after he had hugged the children,^[e] he tenderly blessed them as he laid his hands on them.

A Rich Man Comes to Jesus^(B)

¹⁷ As Jesus^[f] was setting out again,^[g] a man ran up to him, knelt down in front of him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Nobody is good except for one—God. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Never murder.’^[h] ‘Never commit adultery.’^[i] ‘Never steal.’^[j] ‘Never give false testimony.’^[k] ‘Never cheat.’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”^[l]

²⁰ The man^[m] replied to him, “Teacher, I have obeyed all of these since I was a young man.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then he told him, “You’re missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money^[n] to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.” ²² Shocked at this statement, the man^[o] went away sad, because he had many possessions.

Salvation and Reward^(C)

²³ Then Jesus looked around and told his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples were startled by these words, but Jesus told them again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in their wealth^[p] to get into the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ The disciples^[q] were utterly amazed and asked one another,^[r] “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them intently and said, “For humans it’s impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”

²⁸ Then Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹ Jesus said, “I tell all of you^[s] with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields because of me and the gospel ³⁰ who will not receive a hundred times as much here in this world—homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields, along with persecution—as well as eternal life in the age to come. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”