The Daily Audio Bible
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Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel
21 So Balaam got up in the morning and got his donkey ready, and went with the leaders of Moab. 22 But God was angry because he was going. The angel of the Lord stood in the way against him. Balaam was sitting on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword in his hand, the donkey turned off the road and went into the field. But Balaam hit the donkey to turn her on the road again. 24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path in the grape-field, with a wall on each side. 25 The donkey saw the angel of the Lord. So she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against it, so he hit her again. 26 Then the angel of the Lord went farther. He stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. So Balaam was angry and hit the donkey with his stick. 28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you hit me these three times?” 29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have traveled all your life to this day? Have I ever done this to you before?” And Balaam said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword in his hand. And he bowed to the ground. 32 The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you hit your donkey these three times? See, I have come out against you, because your way was against me. 33 But the donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. If she had not turned from me, for sure I would have killed you, and let her live.” 34 Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. For I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. But now, if it does not please you, I will turn back.” 35 The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men. But speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the leaders of Balak.
36 Balak heard that Balaam was coming. He went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the Arnon, at the far side of the country. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send men to tell you to come? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “See, I have come to you! Am I able to speak anything at all? The Word that God puts in my mouth is what I must speak.” 39 Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriathhuzoth. 40 Balak killed bulls and sheep on the altar in worship, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.
41 The next morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places of Baal. From there he saw part of the people of Israel.
Balaam Tells What Will Happen the First Time
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here for me. And make ready seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam gave a bull and a ram on each altar in worship. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt gift, and I will go. It might be that the Lord will come to me. And whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went up to a hill without trees. 4 God met Balaam. Balaam said to Him, “I have made seven altars. And I have given a bull and a ram on each altar in worship.” 5 Then the Lord put words in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak. This is what you should say.” 6 So Balaam returned to Balak, and saw him and all the leaders of Moab standing beside his burnt gift. 7 Balaam began speaking and said, “Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east. ‘Come, curse Jacob for me,’ he said. ‘Come, say that Israel should be punished!’ 8 How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I say that those should be punished whom God has not said should be punished? 9 I see Israel from the top of the rocks. I look at them from the hills. See, the people live apart. They will not be thought of as one of the nations. 10 Who can number the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of those who are right and good. Let my end be like theirs!”
11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse those who hate me. But see, you have asked that good would come to them!” 12 Balaam answered, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam Tells What Will Happen the Second Time
13 Balak said to him, “I beg you, come with me to another place from where you will see them. But you will only see a part of them and not all of them. Curse them for me from there.” 14 So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and gave a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt gift, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 The Lord met Balaam and put words in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak. This is what you should say.” 17 So he returned to Balak, and saw him and all the leaders of Moab standing beside his burnt gift. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” 18 Then Balaam began speaking and said, “Rise, O Balak, and hear! Listen to me, O son of Zippor! 19 God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a son of man, that He should be sorry for what He has said. Has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not keep His Word? 20 See, I have been told to speak good of Israel. When He has spoken good of them, I cannot change it. 21 No hard times are seen in Jacob. No trouble is seen in Israel. The Lord their God is with them. And the cry of a king is among them. 22 God brings them out of Egypt. He is for them like the horns of the wild bull. 23 For there is no special thing that has been shown against Jacob. Nothing has told of a bad future for Israel. Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘Look what God has done!’ 24 See, people rise like a female lion. It lifts itself like a lion. It will not lie down until it eats the food it has killed, and drinks the blood of the kill.” 25 Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all or pray that good would come to them!” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you that I must do whatever the Lord says?”
Balaam Tells What Will Happen the Third Time
27 Then Balak said to Balaam, “I beg you, come. I will take you to another place. It might be that God will be pleased to have you curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor which looks over the desert. 29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here. And make ready seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 30 Balak did just as Balaam had said. He gave a bull and a ram on each altar in worship.
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 When the time came, Elizabeth gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and family heard how the Lord had shown loving-kindness to her. They were happy for her. 59 On the eighth day they did the religious act of the Jews on the child. They named him Zacharias, after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No! His name is John.” 61 They said to her, “No one in your family has that name.”
62 Then they talked to his father with their hands to find out what he would name the child. 63 He asked for something to write on. He wrote, “His name is John.” They were all surprised and wondered about it. 64 Zacharias was able to talk from that time on and he gave thanks to God.
65 All those who lived near them were afraid. The news of what had happened was told through all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all who heard those words remembered them and said, “What is this child going to be?” For the hand of the Lord was on him.
Zacharias’ Song of Thanks to God
67 Zacharias, the father of John, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He told what was going to happen, saying, 68 “Let us thank the Lord God of Israel. He has bought His people and made them free. 69 He has raised up from the family of David One Who saves people from the punishment of their sins. 70 His holy early preachers told us this long ago. 71 God told us that we should be saved from those who hate us and from all those who work against us. 72 He would show loving-kindness to our early fathers. He would remember His holy promise. 73 God promised this to our early father Abraham. 74 He promised that we would be saved from those who hate us and that we might worship Him without being afraid. 75 We can be holy and right with God all the days of our life.
76 “And you, my son, will be the one who speaks for the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to make the way ready for Him. 77 You will tell His people how to be saved from the punishment of sin by being forgiven of their sins. 78 Because the heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us, a light from heaven will shine on us. 79 It will give light to those who live in darkness and are under the shadow of death. It will lead our feet in the way of peace.”
80 The child grew and became strong in spirit. He lived in a desert until the day he started to preach to the Jews.
Prayer for God to Punish the Sinful
58 Do you speak what is right and good, O you powerful ones? Are you always right in how you judge, O sons of men? 2 No, in your heart you do what is wrong. You use your hands to hurt and destroy in the land. 3 The sinful go wrong as soon as they are born. Those who speak lies go the wrong way from birth. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake. They are like a cobra that cannot or will not listen. 5 It does not hear the voice of the man who has power over it, even if the man is very good in his work.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouth. Break out the teeth of the young lions, O Lord. 7 Let them flow away like water that pours. When he uses his arrows, let them have no heads. 8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes. Like a baby born dead, may they never see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns, He will blow them away with a storm, both the green and the burning ones.
10 The one who is right and good will be full of joy when he sees the sinful punished. He will wash his feet in their blood. 11 And men will say, “For sure there is pay for those who are right and good. For sure there is a God Who says who is guilty or not on the earth.”
12 He who hates his neighbor does not think well, but a man of understanding keeps quiet.
13 He who is always telling stories makes secrets known, but he who can be trusted keeps a thing hidden.
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