The Daily Audio Bible
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4 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
2 Take a census of the Kohathite division among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
3 From thirty years old and up to fifty years old, all who can enter the service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
4 This shall be the responsibility of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting: the most holy things.
5 When the camp prepares to set forward, Aaron and his sons shall take down the veil [screening the Holy of Holies] and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,
6 And shall put on it the covering of dolphin or porpoise skin, and shall spread over that a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in place the poles of the ark.
7 And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, the flagons for the drink offering, and also the continual showbread.
8 And they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet, and put over that a covering of dolphin or porpoise skin, and put in place the poles [for carrying].
9 And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light and its lamps, its snuffers, its ashtrays, and all the oil vessels from which it is supplied.
10 And they shall put the lampstand and all its utensils within a covering of dolphin or porpoise skin and shall put it upon the frame [for carrying].
11 And upon the golden [incense] altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of dolphin or porpoise skin, and shall put in place its poles [for carrying].
12 And they shall take all the utensils of the service with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and cover them with a covering of dolphin or porpoise skin, and shall put them on the frame [for carrying].
13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar [of burnt offering] and spread a purple cloth over it.
14 And they shall put upon it all its vessels and utensils with which they minister there, the firepans, the fleshhooks or forks, the shovels, the basins, and all the vessels and utensils of the altar, and they shall spread over it all a covering of dolphin or porpoise skin, and shall put in its poles [for carrying].
15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all its furniture, as the camp sets out, after all that [is done but not before], the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them. But they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the Tent of Meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.
16 And Eleazar son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the continual cereal offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of all the tabernacle and of all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its utensils.
17 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
18 [Since] the tribe of the families of the Kohathites [are only Levites and not priests], do not [by exposing them to the sin of touching the most holy things] cut them off from among the Levites.
19 But deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his work and to his burden [to be carried on the march].
20 But [the Kohathites] shall not go in to see the sanctuary [the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies] or its holy things, even for an instant, lest they die.
21 And the Lord said to Moses,
22 Take a census of the sons of Gershon, by their fathers’ houses, by their families.
23 From thirty years old and up to fifty years old you shall number them, all who enter for service to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
24 This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens [when on the march]:
25 And they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of dolphin or porpoise skin that is on top of it, and the hanging or screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,
26 And the hangings of the court, and the hanging or screen for the entrance of the gate of the court which is around the tabernacle and the altar [of burnt offering], and their cords, and all the equipment for their service; whatever needs to be done with them, that they shall do.
27 Under the direction of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all they have to carry and in all they have to do; and you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry [on the march].
28 This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting; and their work shall be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the [high] priest.
29 As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families and their fathers’ houses;
30 From thirty years old up to fifty years old you shall number them, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.
31 And this is what they are assigned to carry and to guard [on the march], according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the boards or frames of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets or bases,
32 And the pillars of the court round about with their sockets or bases, and pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories for service; and you shall assign to them by name the articles which they are to carry [on the march].
33 This is the work of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their tasks in the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the [high] priest.
34 And Moses and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families and their fathers’ houses,
35 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who enters the service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting;
36 And those who were numbered of them by their families were 2,750.
37 These were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who did service in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the command of the Lord through Moses.
38 And those that were numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers’ houses,
39 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered the service to do the work of the Tent of Meeting,
40 Those who were enrolled of them, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, were 2,630.
41 These were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered as the Lord commanded.
42 And those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,
43 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service for work in the Tent of Meeting,
44 Even those who were numbered of them by their families, were 3,200.
45 These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the command of the Lord by Moses.
46 All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted by their families and by their fathers’ houses,
47 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could enter to do the work of service and of burden bearing in the Tent of Meeting,
48 Those that were numbered of them were 8,580.
49 According to the command of the Lord through Moses, they were assigned each to his work of serving and carrying. Thus they were numbered by him, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
5 The Lord said to Moses,
2 Command the Israelites that they put outside the camp every leper and everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is defiled by [coming in contact with] the dead.
3 Both male and female you shall put out; without the camp you shall put them, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.
4 The Israelites did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord said to Moses, so the Israelites did.
5 And the Lord said to Moses,
6 Say to the Israelites, When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person is guilty,
7 Then he shall confess the sin which he has committed, and he shall make restitution for his wrong in full, and add a fifth to it, and give it to him whom he has wronged.
8 But if the man [wronged] has no kinsman to whom the restitution may be made, let it be given to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement with which atonement shall be made for the offender.
9 And every offering of all the holy things of the Israelites which they bring to the priest shall be his.
10 And every man’s hallowed things shall be the priest’s; whatever any man gives the priest shall be his.
11 And the Lord said to Moses,
12 Say to the Israelites, If any man’s wife goes astray and commits an offense of guilt against him,
13 And a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and it is kept secret though she is defiled, and there is no witness against her nor was she taken in the act,
14 And if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he is jealous and suspicious of his wife who has defiled herself—or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he is jealous and suspicious of his wife though she has not defiled herself—
15 Then shall the man bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; but he shall pour no oil upon it nor put frankincense on it [symbols of favor and joy], for it is a cereal offering of jealousy and suspicion, a memorial offering bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord.
17 And the priest shall take holy water [probably from the sacred laver] in an earthen vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman’s head hang loose, and put the meal offering of remembrance in her hands, which is the jealousy and suspicion offering. And the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings the curse.
19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, and say to the woman, If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness with another instead of your husband, then be free from any effect of this water of bitterness which brings the curse.
20 But if you have gone astray and you are defiled, some man having lain with you beside your husband,
21 Then the priest shall make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman, The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people when the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell.
22 May this water that brings the curse go into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away. And the woman shall say, So let it be, so let it be.
23 The priest shall then write these curses in a book and shall wash them off into the water of bitterness;
24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her [to try her] bitterly.
25 Then the priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy and suspicion out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the offering before the Lord and offer it upon the altar.
26 And the priest shall take a handful of the cereal offering as the memorial portion of it and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27 And when he has made her drink the water, then if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, the curse water which she drank shall be bitterness and cause her body to swell and her thigh to fall away, and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
28 But if the woman is not defiled and is clean, then she shall be free [from the curse] and be able to have children.
29 This is the law of jealousy and suspicion when a wife goes aside to another instead of her husband and is defiled,
30 Or when the spirit of jealousy and suspicion comes upon a man and he is jealous and suspicious of his wife; then shall he set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute on her all this law.
31 The [husband] shall be free from iniquity and guilt, and that woman [if guilty] shall bear her iniquity.
18 And [some] Sadducees came to Him, [of that party] who say there is no resurrection, and they asked Him a question, saying,
19 Teacher, Moses gave us [a law] that if a man’s brother died, leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.(A)
20 Now there were seven brothers; the first one took a wife and died, leaving no children.
21 And the second [brother] married her, and died, leaving no children; and the third did the same;
22 And all seven, leaving no children. Last of all, the woman died also.
23 Now in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven were married to her.
24 Jesus said to them, Is not this where you wander out of the way and go wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?
25 For when they arise from among the dead, [men] do not marry nor are [women] given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven.
26 But concerning the dead being raised—have you not read in the book of Moses, [in the passage] about the [burning] bush, how God said to him, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?(B)
27 He is not the God of [the] dead, but of [the] living! You are very wrong.
28 Then one of the scribes came up and listened to them disputing with one another, and, noticing that Jesus answered them fitly and admirably, he asked Him, Which commandment is first and most important of all [[a]in its nature]?
29 Jesus answered, The first and principal one of all commands is: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord;
30 And you shall love the Lord your God [b]out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your [c]life) and out of and with all your mind (with [d]your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. [e]This is the first and principal commandment.(C)
31 The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.(D)
32 And the scribe said to Him, Excellently and fitly and admirably answered, Teacher! You have said truly that He is One, and there is no other but Him;
33 And to love Him out of and with all the heart and with all the understanding [with the [f]faculty of quick apprehension and intelligence and keenness of discernment] and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.(E)
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered intelligently (discreetly and [g]having his wits about him), He said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And after that no one ventured or dared to ask Him any further question.
35 And as Jesus taught in [a [h]porch or court of] the temple, He said, How can the scribes say that the Christ is David’s Son?
36 David himself, [inspired] in the Holy Spirit, declared, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies [a footstool] under Your feet.(F)
37 David himself calls Him Lord; so how can it be that He is his Son? Now the great mass of the people heard [Jesus] gladly [listening to Him with delight].
Psalm 48
A song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain,
2 Fair and beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth—[a]Mount Zion [the City of David], to the northern side [Mount Moriah and the temple], the [whole] city of the Great King!(A)
3 God has made Himself known in her palaces as a Refuge (a High Tower and a Stronghold).
4 For, behold, the kings assembled, they came onward and they passed away together.
5 They looked, they were amazed; they were stricken with terror and took to flight [affrighted and dismayed].
6 Trembling took hold of them there, and pain as of a woman in childbirth.
7 With the east wind You shattered the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it forever. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
9 We have thought of Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness and justice).
11 Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your [righteous] judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her, number her towers (her lofty and noble deeds of past days),
13 Consider well her ramparts, go through her palaces and citadels, that you may tell the next generation [and cease recalling disappointments].
14 For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide [even] until death.
26 As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who employ and send him.
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