The Daily Audio Bible
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The Family Groups in Camp
2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “The people of Israel will set up their tents, each by his own flag and beside that of their fathers’. They will set up their tents to face the meeting tent on every side. 3 Those who stay in their tents on the east side toward the sunrise will have the flag of Judah by their armies. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 4 The number of all his army is 74,600. 5 The family of Issachar will set up their tents next to Judah. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel the son of Zuar. 6 The number of his army is 54,400. 7 The family of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab the son of Helon. 8 The number of his army is 57,400. 9 The whole number among the tents of Judah is 186,400, by their armies. They will be first to move on.
10 “On the south side will be the tents of Reuben by their armies with their flags. The leader of the people of Reuben is Elizur the son of Shedeur. 11 The number of his army is 46,500. 12 The family of Simeon will set up their tents next to him. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 13 The number of his army is 59,300. 14 The family of Gad will be next. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 15 The number of his army is 45,650. 16 The whole number among the tents of Reuben is 151,450 by their armies. They will be second to move on.
17 “Then the meeting tent will go out with the Levites among the people. In the same way that they set up their tents, so they will leave to move on, every man in his place, by his flags.
18 “On the west side will be the flag of the tents of Ephraim by their armies. The leader of the people of Ephraim is Elishama the son of Ammihud. 19 The number of his army is 40,500. 20 The family of Manasseh will be next to him. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 21 The number of his army is 32,200. 22 The family of Benjamin will be next. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan the son of Gideoni. 23 The number of his army is 35,400. 24 The whole number among the tents of Ephraim is 108,100, by their armies. They will be third to move on.
25 “On the north side will be the flag of the tents of Dan by their armies. The leader of the people of Dan is Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 The number of his army is 62,700. 27 The family of Asher will set up their tents next to him. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel the son of Ochran. 28 The number of his army is 41,500. 29 The family of Naphtali will be next. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira the son of Enan. 30 The number of his army is 53,400. 31 The whole number among the tents of Dan is 157,600. They will be last to move on with their flags.”
32 These are the numbers of the men of Israel by their fathers’ houses. The whole number among all the tents, by their armies, was 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not numbered with the people of Israel, just as the Lord had told Moses. 34 So the people of Israel did all that the Lord had told Moses. They set up their tents by their flags. And they left to move on in the same way, every one by his family and by his father’s house.
The Sons of Aaron
3 These are the people of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 The names of the sons of Aaron are Nadab the first-born, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the chosen religious leaders. Aaron set them apart to work as religious leaders. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they made a fire that was not holy to the Lord in the Desert of Sinai. And they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar worked as religious leaders during the life-time of their father Aaron.
The Levites Serve in the Meeting Tent
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, 6 “Bring the family of Levi near. Set them in front of Aaron the religious leader so they may serve him. 7 They will do the duties for him and for all the people in front of the meeting tent. They will do the work around the meeting tent, 8 and will keep all the things that belong to the meeting tent. They will take care of the duties for the people of Israel as they work around the meeting tent. 9 You will give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. They are all given to him from among the people of Israel. 10 Set apart Aaron and his sons to do the work of religious leaders. But if anyone comes near who is not a religious leader, he must be put to death.”
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “See, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born among the people of Israel. The Levites will be Mine. 13 For all the first-born are Mine. On the day that I killed all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I set apart for My own all the first-born in Israel, both man and animal. They will be Mine. I am the Lord.”
The Levites Are Numbered
14 Then the Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, 15 “Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses and by their families. Number every male a month old and older.” 16 So Moses numbered them just as he had been told by the word of the Lord. 17 The names of the sons of Levi are Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 18 The names of the sons of Gershon by their families are Libni and Shimei. 19 The sons of Kohath by their families are Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 The sons of Merari by their families are Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses.
21 Of Gershon were the families of the Libnites and the Shimeites. These were the families of the Gershonites. 22 The number of their men, every male a month old and older, was 7,500. 23 The families of the Gershonites were to set up their tents behind the meeting tent on the west side. 24 The leader of the fathers’ houses of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25 The sons of Gershon were to take care of the meeting tent, its covering, and the curtain for the door of the meeting tent. 26 And they were to take care of the curtains for the door of the open space, and all curtains around the meeting tent and the altar and their ropes. They did all the work having to do with them.
27 Of Kohath were the families of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites and the Uzzielites. These were the families of the Kohathites. 28 The number of every male a month old and older was 8,600. They did the duties of the holy place. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to set up their tents on the south side of the meeting tent. 30 The leader of the fathers’ houses of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31 They took care of the special box with the Law, and the table, the lamp-stand, the altars, the things used in the holy place, and the curtain. They did all the work having to do with them. 32 Eleazar, the son of Aaron the religious leader, was the head of the leaders of Levi. He watched over those who did the duties of the holy place.
33 Of Merari were the families of the Mahlites and the Mushites. These were the families of Merari. 34 The number of their men, every male a month old and older, was 6,200. 35 The leader of the fathers’ houses of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to set up their tents on the north side of the meeting tent. 36 The duties given to the sons of Merari were to take care of the parts made of wood of the meeting tent, its cross pieces, its pillars, its bases, and all the pieces that had to do with them. They took care of all these things, 37 and of the pillars around the open space and their bases and their nails and their ropes.
38 Moses and Aaron and his sons were to set up their tents on the east side in front of the meeting tent, toward the sunrise. They did the duties of the meeting tent, whatever had to be done for the people of Israel. But the one who came near who was not a religious leader was to be put to death. 39 The number of all the Levite men a month old and older, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by their families as the Lord told them, was 22,000.
Levites Take the Place of First-Born Sons
40 The Lord said to Moses, “Number every first-born male of the sons of Israel a month old and older. Write down their names. 41 Take the Levites for Me, instead of all the first-born among the sons of Israel. I am the Lord. And take the cattle of the Levites instead of all the first-born among the cattle of the people of Israel.” 42 So Moses numbered all the first-born among the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had told him. 43 The number of names of all the first-born males a month old and older was 22,273.
44 Then the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the first-born sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites. The number of the Levites will be Mine. I am the Lord. 46 There are 273 first-born of the sons of Israel, who are more in number than the Levites. You must pay the price for each of them. 47 Take five pieces of silver for each, by the weight of silver agreed upon for the meeting tent. 48 Give the money, the price of those who are more in number than the Levites, to Aaron and his sons.” 49 So Moses took the money to pay for those who were more in number than the Levites. 50 He took the money from the first-born sons of Israel, by the weight agreed upon for the meeting tent. He took 1,365 pieces of silver. 51 Then Moses gave the money to Aaron and his sons, just as the Lord had told Moses by His Word.
27 They came again to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking around in the house of God. The religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and other leaders came to Him. 28 They asked, “How do You have the right and the power to do these things? Who gave You the right and the power to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing also. If you tell Me, then I will tell you by what right and power I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Tell Me.” 31 They talked among themselves. They said, “If we say from heaven, He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 32 But how can we say, ‘From men’?” They were afraid of the people because everyone believed that John was one who spoke for God. 33 So they said, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you by what right and power I do these things.”
The Picture-Story of the Grape-Field (A)
12 Jesus began to teach them by using picture-stories, saying, “There was a man who planted grapes in a field. He put a fence around it and made a place for making wine. He built a tower to look over the field. Then he let farmers rent it and went into another country.
2 “The time came for gathering the grapes. He sent his servant to the farmers to get some of the grapes. 3 The farmers took him and beat him. They sent him back with nothing. 4 The owner sent another servant. The farmers threw stones at him and hit him on the head and did other bad things to him. 5 Again the owner sent another servant. The farmers killed that one. Many other servants were sent. They beat some and they killed others.
6 “He had a much-loved son to send yet. So last of all he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 The farmers said to themselves, ‘This is the one who will get everything when the owner dies. Let us kill him and we will get everything.’ 8 They took him and killed him. They threw his body outside the field. 9 What will the owner of the field do? He will come and kill the farmers. He will give the field to other farmers.
10 “Have you not read what the Holy Writings say? ‘The Stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important Stone in the corner of the building. 11 The Lord has done this. It is great in our eyes.’” (B) 12 The leaders wanted to take Him but they were afraid of the people. They knew He had told the picture-story against them. They left Him and went away.
They Try to Trap Jesus (C)
13 Some of the proud religious law-keepers and Herod’s men were sent to trap Jesus in His talk. 14 They came to Him and said, “Teacher, we know You are true. We know You are not afraid of what men think or say about You. You teach the way of God in truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or not pay?” Jesus knew how they pretended to be someone they were not. He said to them, “Why do you try to trap Me? Bring Me a small piece of money so I may look at it.” 16 They brought Him one. He asked them, “Whose picture is this? Whose name is on it?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. Pay to God the things that belong to God.” They were surprised and wondered at Him.
God—the King of the Earth
47 Show your happiness, all peoples! Call out to God with the voice of joy! 2 For the Lord Most High is to be feared. He is a great King over all the earth. 3 He sets people under us, and nations under our feet. 4 He chooses for us what is to be ours, the pride of Jacob, whom He loves.
5 God has gone up with a loud voice, the Lord with the sound of a horn. 6 Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our King. Sing praises. 7 For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with a well written song. 8 God rules over the nations. God sits on His holy throne. 9 The rulers of the people have gathered together as the people of the God of Abraham. For the powers of the earth belong to God. He is much honored.
24 What the sinful man is afraid of will come upon him, and what is wanted by the man who is right with God will be given to him.
25 When the storm passes, the sinful man is no more, but the man who is right with God has a place to stand forever.
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