The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the ESV. Switch to the ESV to read along with the audio.
24 And Balaam seeth that [it is] good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he hath not gone as time by time to meet enchantments, and he setteth towards the wilderness his face;
2 and Balaam lifteth up his eyes, and seeth Israel tabernacling, by its tribes, and the Spirit of God is upon him,
3 and he taketh up his simile, and saith: `An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor -- And an affirmation of the man whose eyes are shut --
4 An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God -- Who a vision of the Almighty seeth, Falling -- and eyes uncovered:
5 How good have been thy tents, O Jacob, Thy tabernacles, O Israel;
6 As valleys they have been stretched out, As gardens by a river; As aloes Jehovah hath planted, As cedars by waters;
7 He maketh water flow from his buckets, And his seed [is] in many waters; And higher than Agag [is] his king, And exalted is his kingdom.
8 God is bringing him out of Egypt; As the swiftness of a Reem is to him, He eateth up nations his adversaries, And their bones he breaketh, And [with] his arrows he smiteth,
9 He hath bent, he hath lain down as a lion, And as a lioness: who doth raise him up? He who is blessing thee [is] blessed, And he who is cursing thee [is] cursed.'
10 And the anger of Balak burneth against Balaam, and he striketh his hands; and Balak saith unto Balaam, `To pierce mine enemies I called thee, and lo, thou hast certainly blessed -- these three times;
11 and now, flee for thyself unto thy place; I have said, I do greatly honour thee, and lo, Jehovah hath kept thee back from honour.'
12 And Balaam saith unto Balak, `Did I not also unto thy messengers whom thou hast sent unto me, speak, saying,
13 If Balak doth give to me the fulness of his house of silver and gold, I am not able to pass over the command of Jehovah, to do good or evil of mine own heart -- that which Jehovah speaketh -- it I speak?
14 and, now, lo, I am going to my people; come, I counsel thee [concerning] that which this people doth to thy people, in the latter end of the days.'
15 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor -- And an affirmation of the man whose eyes [are] shut --
16 An affirmation of him who is hearing sayings of God -- And knowing knowledge of the Most High; A vision of the Almighty he seeth, Falling -- and eyes uncovered:
17 I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not near; A star hath proceeded from Jacob, And a sceptre hath risen from Israel, And hath smitten corners of Moab, And hath destroyed all sons of Sheth.
18 And Edom hath been a possession, And Seir hath been a possession, [for] its enemies, And Israel is doing valiantly;
19 And [one] doth rule out of Jacob, And hath destroyed a remnant from Ar.'
20 And he seeth Amalek, and taketh up his simile, and saith: `A beginning of the Goyim [is] Amalek; And his latter end -- for ever he perisheth.'
21 And he seeth the Kenite, and taketh up his simile, and saith: `Enduring [is] thy dwelling, And setting in a rock thy nest,
22 But the Kenite is for a burning; Till when doth Asshur keep thee captive?'
23 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `Alas! who doth live when God doth this?
24 And -- ships [are] from the side of Chittim, And they have humbled Asshur, And they have humbled Eber, And it also for ever is perishing.'
25 And Balaam riseth, and goeth, and turneth back to his place, and Balak also hath gone on his way.
25 And Israel dwelleth in Shittim, and the people begin to go a-whoring unto daughters of Moab,
2 and they call for the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people eat, and bow themselves to their gods,
3 and Israel is joined to Baal-Peor, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel.
4 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them before Jehovah -- over-against the sun; and the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah doth turn back from Israel.'
5 And Moses saith unto the judges of Israel, `Slay ye each his men who are joined to Baal-Peor.'
6 And lo, a man of the sons of Israel hath come, and bringeth in unto his brethren the Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the company of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting;
7 and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand,
8 and goeth in after the man of Israel unto the hollow place, and pierceth them both, the man of Israel and the woman -- unto her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel;
9 and the dead by the plague are four and twenty thousand.
10 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
11 `Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, hath turned back My fury from the sons of Israel, by his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I have not consumed the sons of Israel in My zeal.
12 `Therefore say, Lo, I am giving to him My covenant of peace,
13 and it hath been to him and to his seed after him a covenant of a priesthood age-during, because that he hath been zealous for his God, and doth make atonement for the sons of Israel.'
14 And the name of the man of Israel who is smitten, who hath been smitten with the Midianitess, [is] Zimri son of Salu, prince of the house of a father of the Simeonite;
15 and the name of the woman who is smitten, the Midianitess, [is] Cozbi daughter of Zur, head of a people -- of the house of a father in Midian [is] he.
16 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
17 `Distress the Midianites, and ye have smitten them,
18 for they are adversaries to you with their frauds, [with] which they have acted fraudulently to you, concerning the matter of Peor, and concerning the matter of Cozbi, daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who is smitten in the day of the plague for the matter of Peor.'
2 And it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world be enrolled --
2 this enrollment first came to pass when Cyrenius was governor of Syria --
3 and all were going to be enrolled, each to his proper city,
4 and Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, that is called Bethlehem, because of his being of the house and family of David,
5 to enroll himself with Mary his betrothed wife, being with child.
6 And it came to pass, in their being there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth,
7 and she brought forth her son -- the first-born, and wrapped him up, and laid him down in the manger, because there was not for them a place in the guest-chamber.
8 And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock,
9 and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear.
10 And the messenger said to them, `Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people --
11 because there was born to you to-day a Saviour -- who is Christ the Lord -- in the city of David,
12 and this [is] to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.'
13 And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,
14 `Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men -- good will.'
15 And it came to pass, when the messengers were gone away from them to the heavens, that the men, the shepherds, said unto one another, `We may go over indeed unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that hath come to pass, that the Lord did make known to us.'
16 And they came, having hasted, and found both Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger,
17 and having seen, they made known abroad concerning the saying spoken to them concerning the child.
18 And all who heard, did wonder concerning the things spoken by the shepherds unto them;
19 and Mary was preserving all these things, pondering in her heart;
20 and the shepherds turned back, glorifying and praising God, for all those things they heard and saw, as it was spoken unto them.
21 And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, then was his name called Jesus, having been so called by the messenger before his being conceived in the womb.
22 And when the days of their purification were fulfilled, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present to the Lord,
23 as it hath been written in the Law of the Lord, -- `Every male opening a womb shall be called holy to the Lord,'
24 and to give a sacrifice, according to that said in the Law of the Lord, `A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons.'
25 And lo, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name [is] Simeon, and this man is righteous and devout, looking for the comforting of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him,
26 and it hath been divinely told him by the Holy Spirit -- not to see death before he may see the Christ of the Lord.
27 And he came in the Spirit to the temple, and in the parents bringing in the child Jesus, for their doing according to the custom of the law regarding him,
28 then he took him in his arms, and blessed God, and he said,
29 `Now Thou dost send away Thy servant, Lord, according to Thy word, in peace,
30 because mine eyes did see Thy salvation,
31 which Thou didst prepare before the face of all the peoples,
32 a light to the uncovering of nations, and the glory of Thy people Israel.'
33 And Joseph and his mother were wondering at the things spoken concerning him,
34 and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, `Lo, this [one] is set for the falling and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against --
35 (and also thine own soul shall a sword pass through) -- that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed.'
59 To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not,' by David. -- A secret treasure, in Saul's sending, and they watch the house to put him to death. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, From my withstanders set me on high.
2 Deliver me from workers of iniquity, And from men of blood save me.
3 For, lo, they laid wait for my soul, Assembled against me are strong ones, Not my transgression nor my sin, O Jehovah.
4 Without punishment they run and prepare themselves, Stir up to meet me, and see.
5 And Thou, Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel, Awake to inspect all the nations. Favour not any treacherous dealers of iniquity. Selah.
6 They turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And go round about the city.
7 Lo, they belch out with their mouths, Swords [are] in their lips, for `Who heareth?'
8 And Thou, O Jehovah dost laugh at them, Thou dost mock at all the nations.
9 O my Strength, unto Thee I take heed, For God [is] my tower -- the God of my kindness.
10 God doth go before me, He causeth me to look on mine enemies.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget, Shake them by Thy strength, And bring them down, O Lord our shield.
12 The sin of their mouth [is] a word of their lips, And they are captured in their pride, And from the curse and lying they recount.
13 Consume in fury, consume and they are not, And they know that God is ruling in Jacob, To the ends of the earth. Selah.
14 And they turn back at evening, They make a noise like a dog, And they go round about the city.
15 They -- they wander for food, If they are not satisfied -- then they murmur.
16 And I -- I sing [of] Thy strength, And I sing at morn [of] Thy kindness, For thou hast been a tower to me, And a refuge for me in a day of adversity.
17 O my Strength, unto Thee I sing praise, For God [is] my tower, the God of my kindness!
14 Without counsels do a people fall, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counsellors.