The Daily Audio Bible
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30 And Moses said to the heads or leaders of the tribes of Israel, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:
2 If a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break and profane his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
3 Also when a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, being in her father’s house in her youth,
4 And her father hears her vow and her pledge with which she has bound herself and he offers no objection, then all her vows shall stand and every pledge with which she has bound herself shall stand.
5 But if her father refuses to allow her [to carry out her vow] on the day that he hears about it, not any of her vows or of her pledges with which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her because her father refused to let her [carry out her purpose].
6 And if she is married to a husband while her vows are upon her or she has bound herself by a rash utterance
7 And her husband hears of it and holds his peace concerning it on the day that he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her pledge with which she bound herself shall stand.
8 But if her husband refuses to allow her [to keep her vow or pledge] on the day that he hears of it, then he shall make void and annul her vow which is upon her and the rash utterance of her lips by which she bound herself, and the Lord will forgive her.
9 But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, with which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.
10 And if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath
11 And her husband heard it and did not oppose or prohibit her, then all her vows and every pledge with which she bound herself shall stand.
12 But if her husband positively made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has annulled them, and the Lord will forgive her.
13 Every vow and every binding oath to humble or afflict herself, her husband may establish it or her husband may annul it.
14 But if her husband altogether holds his peace [concerning the matter] with her from day to day, then he establishes and confirms all her vows or all her pledges which are upon her. He establishes them because he said nothing to [restrain] her on the day he heard of them.
15 But if he shall nullify them after he hears of them, then he shall be responsible for and bear her iniquity.
16 These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while in her youth in her father’s house.
31 The Lord said to Moses,
2 Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your [departed] people.
3 And Moses said to the people, Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian and execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian [for seducing Israel].(A)
4 From each of the tribes of Israel you shall send 1,000 to the war.
5 So there were provided out of the thousands of Israel 1,000 from each tribe, 12,000 armed for war.
6 And Moses sent them to the war, 1,000 from each tribe, together with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, with the [sacred] vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets to blow the alarm in his hand.
7 They fought with Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and slew every male,
8 Including the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba; also Balaam son of Beor they slew with the sword.(B)
9 And the Israelites took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and all their cattle, their flocks, and their goods as booty.
10 They burned all the cities in which they dwelt, and all their encampments.
11 And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast.
12 Then they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the Israelites at the camp on the plains of Moab by Jordan at Jericho.
13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes or leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.
14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, who served in the war.
15 And Moses said to them, Have you let all the women live?
16 Behold, these caused the Israelites by the counsel of Balaam to trespass and act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so a [smiting] plague came among the congregation of the Lord.(C)
17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who is not a virgin.
18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.
19 Encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.
20 You shall purify every garment, all that is made of skins, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.
21 And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses:
22 Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 Everything that can stand fire, you shall make go through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water of impurity; and all that cannot stand fire [such as fabrics] you shall pass through water.
24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and you shall be clean; then you shall come into the camp.
25 And the Lord said to Moses,
26 Take the count of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation.
27 Divide the booty into two [equal] parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.
28 And levy a tribute to the Lord from the warriors who went to battle, one out of every 500 of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, and the flocks.
29 Take [this tribute] from the warriors’ half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord.
30 And from the Israelites’ half [of the booty] you shall take one out of every fifty of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, the flocks, and of all livestock, and give them to the Levites who have charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.
31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 The prey, besides the booty which the men of war took, was 675,000 sheep,
33 And 72,000 cattle,
34 And 61,000 donkeys,
35 And 32,000 persons in all, of the women who were virgins.
36 And the half share, the portion of those who went to war, was: 337,500 sheep,
37 And the Lord’s tribute of the sheep was 675;
38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72;
39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61;
40 The persons were 16,000, of whom the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons.
41 And Moses gave the tribute which was the Lord’s offering to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 And the Israelites’ half Moses separated from that of the warriors’—
43 Now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep,
44 And 36,000 cattle,
45 And 30,500 donkeys,
46 And 16,000 persons—
47 Even of the Israelites’ half, Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites, who had charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
48 And the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, came to Moses.
49 They told [him], Your servants have counted the warriors under our command, and not one man of us is missing.
50 We have brought as the Lord’s offering what each man obtained—articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, neck ornaments—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all the wrought articles.
52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds was 16,750 shekels.
53 For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.
54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.
4 Then Jesus, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit
2 For (during) forty days in the wilderness (desert), where He was tempted ([a]tried, tested exceedingly) by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.(A)
3 Then the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, order this stone to turn into a loaf [of bread].
4 And Jesus replied to him, It is written, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone [b]but by every word and expression of God.(B)
5 Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [[c]in the twinkling of an eye].
6 And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.
7 Therefore if You will do homage to and worship me [[d]just once], it shall all be Yours.
8 And Jesus replied to him, [e]Get behind Me, Satan! It is written, You shall do homage to and worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.(C)
9 Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on [f]a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;
10 For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;
11 And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.(D)
12 And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, [g]test exceedingly) the Lord your God.(E)
13 And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, [h]stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.
14 Then Jesus went back full of and under the power of the [Holy] Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of Him spread through the whole region round about.
15 And He Himself conducted [[i]a course of] teaching in their synagogues, being [j]recognized and honored and praised by all.
16 So He came to Nazareth, [[k]that Nazareth] where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day. And He stood up to read.
17 And there was handed to Him [the roll of] the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,(F)
18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],
19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day [l]when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].(G)
20 Then He rolled up the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.
21 And He began to speak to them: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled [m]while you are present and hearing.
22 And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s [n]Son?
23 So He said to them, You will doubtless quote to Me this proverb: Physician, heal Yourself! What we have learned by hearsay that You did in Capernaum, do here also in Your [own] town.
24 Then He said, Solemnly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town (country).
25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months, so that there came a great famine over all the land;
26 And yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.(H)
27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and yet not one of them was cleansed [by being healed]—but only Naaman the Syrian.(I)
28 When they heard these things, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage.
29 And rising up, they pushed and drove Him out of the town, and [laying hold of Him] they led Him to the [projecting] upper part of the hill on which their town was built, that they might hurl Him headlong down [over the cliff].
30 But passing through their midst, He went on His way.
Psalm 63
A Psalm of David; when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is.
2 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary to see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
4 So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips
6 When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.
7 For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.
8 My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek and demand my life to ruin and destroy it shall [themselves be destroyed and] go into the lower parts of the earth [into the underworld of the dead].
10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a prey for foxes and jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him [that is, who binds himself by God’s authority, acknowledging His supremacy, and devoting himself to His glory and service alone; every such one] shall glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
20 They who are willfully contrary in heart are extremely disgusting and shamefully vile in the eyes of the Lord, but such as are blameless and wholehearted in their ways are His delight!
21 Assuredly [I pledge it] the wicked shall not go unpunished, but the multitude of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be delivered.
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