The Daily Audio Bible
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16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A cloud covered the mountain, and a very loud horn sounded. All the people among the tents shook with fear. 17 Then Moses brought the people from among the tents to meet God. They stood at the base of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord came down upon it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a stove. And the whole mountain shook. 19 The sound of the horn became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. 20 Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and tell the people not to break through to look at the Lord. For then many of them would be destroyed. 22 Have the religious leaders who come near to the Lord set themselves apart to be holy. Or the Lord will go against them.” 23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai. For You told us, ‘Set places around the mountain that must not be passed, and set it apart as holy.’” 24 Then the Lord said to him, “Go down, and then come up with Aaron. But do not let the religious leaders and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will go against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
God’s Ten Great Laws
20 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house where you were servants.
3 “Have no gods other than Me.
4 “Do not make for yourselves a god to look like anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.
5 “Do not worship them or work for them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children, even the great-grandchildren, for the sins of their fathers who hate Me. 6 But I show loving-kindness to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Laws.
7 “Do not use the name of the Lord your God in a false way. For the Lord will punish the one who uses His name in a false way.
8 “Remember the Day of Rest, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you will do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Day of Rest to the Lord your God. You, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your cattle, or the traveler who stays with you, must not do any work on this day. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them. And He rested on the seventh day. So the Lord gave honor to the Day of Rest and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so your life may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.
13 “Do not kill other people.
14 “Do not do sex sins.
15 “Do not steal.
16 “Do not tell a lie about your neighbor.
17 “Do not have a desire for your neighbor’s house. Do not have a desire for his wife or his male servant, his female servant, or his bull or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 All the people heard and saw the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they shook with fear and stood far away. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen. But do not let God speak to us or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so you may have enough fear of Him to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people stood far away, while Moses came near to the cloud where God was.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 Do not make any gods other than Me. Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. 24 Make an altar of earth for Me, and on it give your burnt and peace gifts in worship, your sheep and cattle. In every place where My name is to be remembered, I will come to you and bring good to you. 25 If you make an altar of stone for Me, do not build it of cut stones. For if you use an object to cut it, it will be unclean. 26 And do not go up on steps to My altar, so no part of your body may be seen without being covered.’
Laws about Servants
21 “Now these are the Laws which you are to give them. 2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he will work for six years. In the seventh year he will go free, paying nothing. 3 If he comes alone, he will leave by himself. If he is married, then his wife will leave with him. 4 If his owner gives him a wife and she gives birth to his sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her owner, and he will leave by himself. 5 But if the servant says, ‘I love my owner, my wife and my children; I do not care to go free,’ 6 then his owner will bring him to the judges. And he will bring him to the door or the side of the door. There his owner will make a hole in his ear with a sharp object. And he will serve him all his life.
7 “If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she is not to go free as the male servants do. 8 If she does not please her owner who has taken her for himself, he will take pay for her to be set free. He does not have the right to sell her to a strange people, because he has not been fair to her. 9 If he takes her for his son, he will act toward her as with a daughter. 10 If he marries again, her food, clothing and marriage rights are to stay the same. 11 And if he will not do these three things for her, then she may go free, without paying any money.
Laws about Fighting and Killing
12 “Whoever hits a man so that he dies will be put to death. 13 But if he did not plan to hurt him, but God allowed it to happen, then I will give you a place where he may run to be safe. 14 But if a man wants to hurt his neighbor and he plans to kill him, then you take him away from My altar and put him to death.
15 “Whoever hits his father or his mother will be put to death.
16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, or keeps him for himself, will be put to death. 17 Whoever curses his father or his mother will be put to death.
18 “When men argue and one hits the other with a stone or with his hand, and he does not die but has to stay in bed because of it, 19 then if he gets up and walks around outside using his walking stick, the one who hit him will not be punished. He will only pay for the loss of his time. And he will take care of him until he is healed.
20 “When a man hits his male or female servant with a stick so that he or she dies, he will be punished. 21 But if he or she lives a day or two, he will not be punished, for his servant belongs to him.
Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keepers
13 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You keep men from going into the holy nation of heaven. You are not going in yourselves, and you do not allow those to go in who are about to go in. 14 It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! (*You take houses from poor women whose husbands have died. Then you try to cover it up by making long prayers. You will be punished all the more because of this.) 15 It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You go over land and sea to win one follower. When you have him, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “It is bad for you, blind leaders! You say, ‘Whoever makes a promise by the house of God, his promise is worth nothing. But whoever makes a promise by the gold of the house of God, then his promise has to be kept.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the house of God that makes the gold holy? 18 You say, ‘Whoever will promise by the altar, his promise does not have to be kept. But whoever makes a promise by the gift on the altar, then his promise has to be kept.’ 19 You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Whoever makes a promise by the altar, promises by it and by everything on it. 21 Whoever makes a promise by the house of God, promises by it and by Him Who is in it. 22 Whoever makes a promise by heaven, promises by the throne of God and by Him Who sits there.
23 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You give one-tenth part of your spices, and have not done the most important things of the Law, such as thinking what is right and wrong, and having pity and faith. These you should have done and still have done the other things also. 24 You blind leaders, you take a small bug out of your cup but you swallow a camel!
25 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but leave the inside full of strong bad desires and are not able to keep from doing sinful things. 26 You blind proud religious law-keepers! Clean the inside of the cup and plate, then the outside will be clean also.
27 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You are like graves that have been made white and look beautiful on the outside. But inside you are full of the bones of dead men and of every sinful thing. 28 As men look at you, you seem to be good and right but inside you are full of sin. You pretend to be someone you are not.
29 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You make buildings for the graves of the early preachers, and you make the graves beautiful of those who are right with God. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our early fathers, we would not have helped kill the early preachers.’ 31 In this way, you are showing that you are the sons of those who killed the early preachers. 32 You might as well finish what your early fathers did. 33 You snakes! You family of snakes! How can you be kept from hell?
34 “Because of this, I am going to keep on sending to you men who speak for God and wise men and teachers of the Law. Some of them you will kill and nail to a cross. Some of them you will beat in your places of worship. You will make it very hard for them as they go from city to city. 35 Because of this, you will be guilty of the blood of all those right with God on the earth. It will be from the blood of Abel who was right with God to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachias. He was the one you killed between the house of God and the altar. 36 For sure, I tell you, all these things will come on the people of this day.
Jesus Sorrows Over Jerusalem
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the men who speak for God and throw stones at those who were sent to you. How many times I wanted to gather your children around Me, as a chicken gathers her young ones under her wings. But you would not let Me. 38 See! Your house is empty. 39 I say to you, you will not see Me again until you will say, ‘Great is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Prayer for Help—Praise for the Answer
28 O Lord, to You I call. O my Rock, listen to me. If You will not hear me, I will be like those who have gone down to the grave. 2 Hear my cry for loving-kindness as I call to You for help, and when I lift up my hands to Your holy place. 3 Do not drag me away with the sinful and with those who do bad things. They speak peace with their neighbors, while sin is in their hearts. 4 Pay them for their work and for the sins they do. Pay them for the works of their hands. Give them what they have earned. 5 They do not think about the works of the Lord and what His hands have done. So He will pull them down and not build them up again.
6 May honor and thanks be given to the Lord, because He has heard my prayer. 7 The Lord is my strength and my safe cover. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. So my heart is full of joy. I will thank Him with my song. 8 The Lord is the strength of His people. He is a safe place for His chosen one. 9 Save Your people and bring good to what is Yours. Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
The Talk of a Sinful Woman
7 My son, keep my words, and hold together my teachings within you. 2 Keep my words and live. Keep my teachings as you would your own eye. 3 Tie them upon your fingers. Write them upon your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister.” Call understanding your special friend. 5 They will keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger with her smooth words.
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