The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
Three Great Suppers
14 “Three times a year you will have a special supper to honor Me. 15 You will have the special supper of bread without yeast. For seven days you are to eat bread without yeast at the time I tell you in the month of Abib. For you came out of Egypt during this month. And no one will come before Me with nothing in his hands. 16 You will have the special supper of the gathering time of the first-fruits of your work, of all you plant in the field. And you will have the special supper of gathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your work from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males will come before the Lord God.
18 “Do not give the blood of My gift of worship with bread made with yeast. And the fat of My special supper is not to be kept all night until morning. 19 Bring the best first-fruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil the meat of a young goat in its mother’s milk.
The Angel and the Promises
20 “See, I am sending an angel before you to keep you safe on the way. He will bring you to the place I have made ready. 21 Listen to him and obey his voice. Do not turn against him, for he will not forgive your sins, because My name is in him. 22 But if you obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will hate those who hate you and fight against those who fight against you. 23 For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. And I will destroy them. 24 Do not worship their gods, or serve them, or act like them. But you are to destroy them and break their pillars of worship to pieces. 25 Serve the Lord your God and He will give you bread and water. And I will take sickness from among you. 26 Women in your land will not lose their babies before they are born, and will be able to give birth. I will give you a full life. 27 I will send My fear before you. The people you meet will be afraid. And I will make all those who hate you run away from you. 28 I will send hornets before you. They will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites before you come. 29 I will not move them out of your way in one year. So the land will not become a waste, and the animals of the field become too many for you. 30 I will drive them out a few at a time, until you become many and take the land for your own. 31 I will give you the land from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. For I will give you power over the people of the land. And you will drive them away from you. 32 Make no agreement with them or their gods. 33 They are not to live in your land, or they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, for sure it will be a trap to you.”
Israel Agrees
24 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the leaders of Israel and worship from far away. 2 But Moses alone may come near the Lord. The others should not come near and should not come up with him.”
3 Moses came and told the people all the Lord said and all the Laws. All the people answered with one voice, saying, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” 4 Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars, one for each of the twelve families of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of Israel, who gave burnt gifts and killed young bulls as gifts of peace given in worship to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in pots. The other half of the blood he put upon the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Agreement and read it for the people to hear. They said, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken. We will obey.” 8 So Moses took the blood and put some on the people. He said, “See, the blood of the agreement, which the Lord has made with you in these words.”
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the leaders of Israel. 10 And they saw the God of Israel. The ground under His feet looked like sapphire stone, as clear as the sky itself. 11 He did not let His hand come against the leaders of Israel. But they saw God, and ate and drank.
Moses on Mount Sinai
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there. I will give you the pieces of stone with the Law which I have written for you to teach the people.” 13 Then Moses got up with his helper Joshua, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the leaders, “Wait here until we return to you. See, Aaron and Hur are with you. Let whoever has a problem go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, which was covered with a cloud. 16 The shining-greatness of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud. 17 To the people of Israel, the shining-greatness of the Lord looked like a fire that destroys on the mountain top. 18 Moses went into the cloud as he went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Gifts Given in Worship
25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to take a gift for Me. Receive the gift for Me from every person whose heart makes him willing. 3 This is the gift you are to receive from them: Gold, silver and brass, 4 blue, purple and red cloth, fine linen, goat hair, 5 rams’ skins made red, badgers’ skins, acacia wood, 6 lamp oil, spices for the oil used in worship and for perfumes, 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the clothing of the religious leaders. 8 Let them make a holy place for Me, so I may live among them. 9 Make the meeting tent and all that is in it like the plans I am going to show you.
The Special Box of the Agreement
10 “They will make a special box of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits tall. 11 Cover it inside and out with pure gold. And make a piece of gold to put on it all around. 12 Make four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet. Put two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side. 13 Cut long pieces of acacia wood for carrying and cover them with gold. 14 Then put the pieces of wood through the rings on the sides of the box, for carrying the box. 15 The long pieces will stay in the rings of the box. They must not be taken out. 16 Put into the special box the Law which I will give you. 17 Then make a mercy-seat from pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. 18 Make two cherubim out of beaten gold. Make them at the two ends of the mercy-seat. 19 Make one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end. Make the top of the mercy-seat, with the cherubim at each end, of one piece. 20 The wings of the cherubim should spread up over the mercy-seat. Their faces should be toward each other, and toward the mercy-seat. 21 Put the mercy-seat on top of the box. Put the Law which I will give you into the box. 22 I will meet with you there. Between the two cherubim which are upon the special box of the Law, I will speak to you about all the Laws I will give you for the people of Israel.
The Table for the Holy Bread
23 “Make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and a half cubits tall. 24 Cover it with pure gold and make a gold piece around it. 25 Make a piece around it as wide as a hand and put gold on the side of this piece all around. 26 Make four rings of gold for it. Put them on the four corners that are on the table’s four legs. 27 The rings will be close to the sides, to hold the long pieces of wood used to carry the table. 28 Cut the long, straight pieces of acacia wood and cover them with gold. The table will be carried with these. 29 Make its plates, its pots and its jars, for pouring your gifts of drink. Make them of pure gold. 30 And set the holy bread on the table before Me all the time.
31 “Then make a lamp-stand of pure gold. The lamp-stand and its base are to be made of beaten gold. Its cups, its buds, and its flowers will be of one piece with it. 32 Six branches will go out of its sides, three branches of the lamp-stand out of one side, and three branches out of its other side. 33 Three cups will be made to look like almond flowers, each with bud and flower on one branch, and three on the next branch. This is to be done for all six branches going out of the lamp-stand. 34 Four cups made to look like almond flowers, with their buds and flowers, will be put on the lamp-stand’s base. 35 Make a bud under each of the six branches going out from the place where the lamp-stand is put. 36 Their buds and their branches will all be one piece with the lamp-stand of pure, beaten gold. 37 Then make the seven lamps and put them where they will give light to the space in front of it. 38 The objects for putting out the light and their dishes will be of pure gold. 39 Make it and all the objects for it out of a piece of gold about half the weight of a man. 40 See that you make them by following the plan for them that was shown to you on the mountain.
Jesus Will Come Again in His Shining-Greatness
29 “As soon as those days of trouble and pain and sorrow are over, the sun will get dark. The moon will not give light. The stars will fall from the sky. The powers in the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then something special will be seen in the sky telling of the Son of Man. All nations of the earth will have sorrow. They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky with power and shining-greatness. 31 He will send His angels with the loud sound of a horn. They will gather God’s people together from the four winds. They will come from one end of the heavens to the other.
The Picture-Story of the Fig Tree
32 “Now learn something from the fig tree. When the branch begins to grow and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things happen, you know the Son of Man is near, even at the door. 34 For sure, I tell you, the people of this day will not pass away before all these things have happened.
No One Knows When Jesus Will Come Again
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 But no one knows the day or the hour. No! Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as when Noah lived. 38 In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were marrying and being given in marriage. This kept on until the day Noah went into the large boat. 39 They did not know what was happening until the flood came and the water carried them all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working in a field. One will be taken and the other will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain. One will be taken and the other will be left.
42 “Because of this, watch! You do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: If the owner of a house had known when the robber was coming, he would have watched. He would not have allowed his house to have been broken into. 44 You must be ready also. The Son of Man is coming at a time when you do not think He will come.
Faithful Servants and Servants Who Are Not Faithful
45 “Who is the faithful and wise servant whom his owner has made boss over the other servants? He is to have food ready for them at the right time. 46 That servant is happy who is doing what his owner wants him to do when he comes back. 47 For sure, I tell you, he will make him boss over all that he has. 48 But if that servant is bad, he will think, ‘The owner will not come soon.’ 49 He will beat the others. He will eat and drink with those who are drunk. 50 The owner will come on a day and at an hour when the servant is not looking for him. 51 The owner will punish the servant and will give him his place with those who pretend to be someone they are not. There will be loud crying and grinding of teeth.
Prayer of Thanks
30 I will lift You up, O Lord, for You have lifted me up. You have not let those who hate me stand over me in joy. 2 O Lord my God, I cried to You for help and You healed me. 3 O Lord, You have brought me up from the grave. You have kept me alive, so that I will not go down into the deep. 4 Sing praise to the Lord, all you who belong to Him. Give thanks to His holy name. 5 For His anger lasts only a short time. But His favor is for life. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes with the new day.
6 As for me, when all was going well, I said, “I will never be moved.” 7 O Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong. But when You hid Your face, I was troubled. 8 I cried to You, O Lord. I begged the Lord for loving-kindness. 9 What good will come from my blood, if I go down to the grave? Will the dust thank You? Will it tell how You are faithful?
10 Hear, O Lord. And show me loving-kindness. O Lord, be my Helper. 11 You have turned my crying into dancing.You have taken off my clothes made from hair, and dressed me with joy. 12 So my soul may sing praise to You, and not be quiet. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
24 So, my sons, listen to me. Listen to the words of my mouth. 25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not turn aside into her paths. 26 For she has hurt many and destroyed many others. She has killed a great number. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the rooms of death.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.