The Daily Audio Bible
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Laws about Agreements
30 Then Moses said to the heads of the families of the sons of Israel, “This is what the Lord has said. 2 If a man makes a promise to the Lord, or swears that he will keep his promise, he must not break his word. He must do all that he said he would do. 3 If a woman makes a promise to the Lord, and swears to keep her promise in her father’s house when she is young, 4 and if her father hears her promise and how she has sworn to keep it, and says nothing to her, then all her promises must be kept. She must keep every promise she has sworn to keep. 5 But if her father does not allow her to keep her promise on the day he hears of it, then she does not need to keep any of the promises she has sworn to keep. The Lord will forgive her because her father would not allow it.
6 “If she gets married and has promises to keep because of what she swore without thinking, 7 and if her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears, then she must keep the promises she has sworn to keep. 8 But if on the day he hears of it, her husband does not allow her to keep her promise, then she will not have to keep the promise that she had sworn to keep when she was not thinking. The Lord will forgive her.
9 “A woman whose husband has died or left her must keep the promises she has sworn to keep. 10 But if she has made a promise in her husband’s house, and she has sworn to keep a promise there 11 and if her husband hears of it, and does not go against her or say anything to her, then she must keep all the promises she had sworn to keep. 12 But if her husband does not allow her to keep her promises on the day he hears of them, then she does not have to keep the promises she had sworn to keep. If her husband will not let her keep them, the Lord will forgive her.
13 “Her husband has the right to have her keep, or not keep, any promise she has sworn to keep. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then she must keep all her promises. He made her promises so they could not be changed, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard of them. 15 But if he will not allow her to keep her promises after he has heard of them, then her guilt will be on him.”
16 These are the Laws which the Lord told Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter, while she is young and in her father’s house.
War against Midian
31 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Punish the Midianites for the people of Israel. After that you will be buried with your people.” 3 Then Moses said to the people, “Take men from among you and make them ready for war against Midian. They will punish Midian for the Lord. 4 Send to the war 1,000 men from each of all the family groups of Israel.” 5 So 1,000 men came from each of the family groups of the thousands of Israel. There were 12,000 ready for war. 6 Moses sent them, 1,000 from each family group, to the war. Phinehas the son of Eleazar the religious leader went to the war with them. In his hand were the holy objects and the horns for blowing the sound of coming danger. 7 So the men made war against Midian, just as the Lord had told Moses, and they killed every male. 8 They killed the five kings of Midian with the sword also, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 The people of Israel took the women of Midian and their little ones, and all their cattle, all their flocks, and all the good things that belonged to them. 10 Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their tents. 11 They took all that was left of both man and animal. 12 And they brought the people they had taken and the animals and whatever belonged to them to Moses, and to Eleazar the religious leader, and to the people of Israel. Their tents were on the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.
13 Moses and Eleazar the religious leader and all the leaders of the people went out from the tents to meet them. 14 Moses was angry with the leaders of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, who had fought in the war. 15 He said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16 See, these women listened to Balaam and caused the people of Israel to sin against the Lord in what happened at Peor. So the very bad disease came to the people of the Lord. 17 Now kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had a man. 18 But keep alive for yourselves all the girls who have not had a man. 19 Stay away from the tents for seven days. If you have killed any person or have touched any dead body, you must make yourself and those you have taken clean, on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You must clean every piece of clothing, everything made of leather, everything made of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the religious leader said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the Law which the Lord has told Moses. 22 Take the gold, silver, brass, iron, tin and lead, 23 everything that can last through fire. Pass it through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must be made pure with the water for cleaning. Whatever cannot last through fire you must pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be clean. Then you may come among the tents.”
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the religious leader and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people should number all that was taken from the battle, both of man and animal. 27 Divide what was taken between the men of war who went to battle and all the people. 28 Then take a tax for the Lord from the men of war who went out to battle. Take one out of 500 of the persons and the cattle and the donkeys and the sheep. 29 Take this from their half and give it to Eleazar the religious leader, as a gift to the Lord. 30 From the half belonging to the people of Israel, take one out of every fifty of the persons and cattle and donkeys and sheep and all the animals. Give them to the Levites who take care of the meeting tent of the Lord.” 31 Moses and Eleazar the religious leader did just as the Lord had told Moses.
32 What was left from that which the men of war had taken was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, of women who had never had a man. 36 The half taken by those who went out to war was 337,500 sheep. 37 The Lord’s tax was 675 sheep. 38 There were 36,000 cattle, from which the Lord’s tax was seventy-two. 39 There were 30,500 donkeys, from which the Lord’s tax was sixty-one. 40 And there were 16,000 persons, from whom the Lord’s tax was thirty-two. 41 Moses gave the tax, which was the Lord’s gift, to Eleazar the religious leader, just as the Lord had told Moses.
42 Moses divided the people of Israel’s half from the men who had gone to war. 43 The people’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons. 47 Moses took one out of every fifty of both man and animal from the people of Israel’s half. He gave them to the Levites, who took care of the meeting tent of the Lord, just as the Lord had told Moses.
48 Then the leaders of the thousands of the army, the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds, came to Moses. 49 They said to him, “Your servants have numbered the men of war whom we lead. Not one man is missing from us. 50 We have brought as a gift to the Lord what each man found, objects of gold, things to be worn on the arms and fingers and ears and necks. They are to pay for our sins before the Lord.” 51 Moses and Eleazar the religious leader took the gold from them, all the objects made of beaten gold. 52 All the gold of the gift they gave to the Lord from the heads of thousands and the heads of hundreds was worth 16,750 gold pieces. 53 For the men of war had taken things from the battle, every man for himself. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the religious leader took the gold from the heads of thousands and of hundreds. They brought it to the meeting tent so that the people of Israel would be remembered before the Lord.
Jesus Was Tempted (A)
4 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when He returned from the Jordan River. Then He was led by the Holy Spirit to a desert. 2 He was tempted by the devil for forty days and He ate nothing during that time. After that He was hungry. 3 The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to be made into bread.” 4 Jesus said to him, “It is written, ‘Man is not to live by bread alone.’” (B) 5 The devil took Jesus up on a high mountain. He had Jesus look at all the nations of the world at one time. 6 The devil said to Jesus, “I will give You all this power and greatness. It has been given to me. I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If You will worship me, all this will be Yours.” 8 Jesus said to the devil, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You must worship the Lord your God. You must obey Him only.’” (C) 9 Then the devil took Jesus up to Jerusalem. He had Jesus stand on the highest part of the house of God. The devil said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written, ‘He has told His angels to care for You and to keep You. 11 In their hands they will hold You up. Then Your foot will not hit against a stone.’” (D) 12 Jesus said to the devil, “It is written, ‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’” (E) 13 When the devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he went away from Jesus for awhile.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee (F)
14 Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. People talked about Him so much that He was well-known through all the country. 15 Jesus taught in their places of worship and was honored by all people.
In Nazareth They Do Not Believe in Jesus
16 Jesus came to Nazareth where He had grown up. As He had done before, He went into the Jewish place of worship on the Day of Rest. Then He stood up to read. 17 Someone handed Him the book of the early preacher Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me. He has put His hand on Me to preach the Good News to poor people. He has sent Me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent Me to tell those who are being held that they can go free. He has sent Me to make the blind to see and to free those who are held because of trouble. 19 He sent Me to tell of the time when men can receive favor with the Lord.” (G)
20 Jesus closed the book. Then He gave it back to the leader and sat down. All those in the Jewish place of worship kept their eyes on Him. 21 Then He began to say to them, “The Holy Writings you have just heard have been completed today.”
22 They all spoke well of Jesus and agreed with the words He spoke. They said, “Is not this the son of Joseph?” 23 He said to them, “I wonder if you will tell this old saying to Me, ‘Doctor, heal Yourself. What You did in the city of Capernaum, do in Your own country!’” 24 He said, “A man who speaks for God is not respected in his own country. 25 It is true that there were many women whose husbands had died in the Jewish land when Elijah lived. For three and a half years there was no rain and there was very little food in the land. 26 Elijah was sent to none of them, but he was sent to a woman in the city of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. This woman’s husband had died. 27 There were many people in the Jewish land who had a bad skin disease when the early preacher Elisha lived. None of them was healed. But Naaman from the country of Syria was healed.”
28 All those in the Jewish place of worship were angry when they heard His words. 29 They got up and took Jesus out of town to the top of a high hill. They wanted to throw Him over the side. 30 But Jesus got away from among them and went on His way.
Giving Thanks to God
63 O God, You are my God. I will look for You with all my heart and strength. My soul is thirsty for You. My flesh is weak wanting You in a dry and tired land where there is no water. 2 So I have seen You in the holy place. And I have seen Your power and Your shining-greatness. 3 My lips will praise You because Your loving-kindness is better than life. 4 So I will give honor to You as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul will be filled as with rich foods. And my mouth praises You with lips of joy.
6 On my bed I remember You. I think of You through the hours of the night. 7 For You have been my help. And I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. 8 My soul holds on to You. Your right hand holds me up.
9 But those who want to take my life and destroy it will go deep into the earth. 10 They will be given over to the power of the sword. They will become food for foxes. 11 But the king will be full of joy in God. All who are faithful to God will be full of joy. For the mouth of those who speak lies will be stopped.
20 The Lord hates those who are sinful in heart, but those who walk without blame are His joy.
21 Know for sure that the sinful man will not go without being punished, but the children of those who are right with God will be saved.
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