The Daily Audio Bible
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Those Who Cannot Go into the Meeting of the Lord
23 “No man who has his sex part crushed or cut off will go into the meeting of the Lord. 2 No one who was born to parents who were not married will go into the meeting of the Lord. And none of his children will go into the meeting of the Lord, even to the children’s children of ten families in the future. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite will go into the meeting of the Lord. None of their children will go into the meeting of the Lord, even to the children’s children of ten families of the future, 4 because they did not meet you with food and water on your way from Egypt, and they paid Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. Instead He changed the curse into good for you, because the Lord your God loves you. 6 Do nothing for their peace or their well-being all your days.
7 “Do not hate an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not hate an Egyptian. For you were a stranger in his land. 8 Their great-grandchildren may go into the meeting of the Lord.
The Camp Is to Be Clean
9 “When you go as an army against those who hate you, keep yourself away from every sinful thing. 10 If there is any man among you who is unclean because he had a flow from his body during the night, he must go away from the tents. He must not come among the tents. 11 When evening comes he must wash his body with water. And when the sun goes down he may return to the tents.
12 “You should have a place to go away from the tents. 13 You should have a tool there to dig with. Use it to dig a hole when you sit down outside. Then use it to cover the waste from your body. 14 Because the Lord your God walks among your tents to set you free and make you win the battle against those who hate you, the place where your tents are must be holy. He must not see anything among you that is unclean and turn away from you.
Different Laws
15 “If a servant runs away from his owner and comes to you, do not return him to his owner. 16 Let him stay with you, in the place he chooses in one of your towns, where it pleases him. Do not make it hard for him.
17 “No daughter of Israel is to sell the use of her body in worship to a strange god. And no son of Israel is to sell the use of his body for a strange god. 18 You must not bring the pay of a woman who sells the use of her body or of a man who does sex sins into the house of the Lord your God for any promised gift. For the Lord your God hates both of these. 19 Do not make your brothers pay you for the use of money, food, or anything you might give them to use. 20 You may make a stranger pay you for the use of money, but not your brother. So the Lord your God may bring good to you in all you do in the land you are going into to have for your own.
21 “When you make a promise to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it. It would be sin in you, for the Lord your God will be sure to ask you for it. 22 But if you do not make a promise, it would not be sin in you. 23 Be careful to do what you say you are going to do. Keep the promise you have made to the Lord your God because you want to.
24 “When you go into your neighbor’s grape-field, you may eat grapes until you are full. But do not put any in your basket. 25 When you go into your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick the heads with your hand. But do not cut down any of your neighbor’s standing grain.
24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and he does not like her because he finds something bad in her, he will write her a paper of divorce and give it to her and send her away from his house. 2 When she leaves his house, she may go and become another man’s wife. 3 If the second husband turns against her and gives her a paper of divorce and sends her out of his house, or if the second husband dies who took her for his wife, 4 then her first husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her for his wife again, because she has become unclean. It is a hated thing to the Lord and you must not bring sin on the land the Lord your God is giving you.
5 “When a man takes a new wife, he must not go with the army or be given any other work. He should be free to be at home one year to make the wife he has taken happy.
6 “No one should take a man’s stones that he uses to crush grain as a promise to pay what he owes, for he would be taking away a man’s living.
7 “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the sons of Israel, and makes it hard for him, or sells him, then that robber must die. You must get rid of the sin from among you.
8 “When there is a very bad skin disease, be careful to do all the Levite religious leaders tell you to do. Be careful to do what I have told them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt.
10 “When you let your neighbor use anything of yours, do not go into his house to take what he would give you to make his promise sure. 11 Stay outside. The man who is using something of yours will bring the object out to you. 12 If he is a poor man, do not keep what he gives you through the night. 13 Return his coat to him when the sun goes down so he may sleep in it and be thankful for you. You will be doing what is right before the Lord your God.
14 “Do not make it hard for a paid servant who is poor and in need, if he is one of your brothers or one of the strangers who is living in one of your towns. 15 Give him his pay on the day he earns it before the sun goes down. He is poor and he needs it. Then he will not cry to the Lord against you and you would be guilty of sin.
16 “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children. Children are not to be put to death for their fathers. Each man will be put to death for his own sin.
17 “Do what is fair for a stranger or a child whose parents are dead. Do not take the clothing of a woman whose husband has died to make sure she will pay what she owes. 18 Remember that you were servants in Egypt, and that the Lord your God set you free. So I am telling you to do this.
19 “When you gather the grain in your field and have forgotten some of it, do not return to the field to get it. Leave it for the stranger, the child whose parents have died, and the woman whose husband has died. Then the Lord your God will bring good to you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, do not beat the branches a second time. Leave the fruit for the stranger, the child whose parents have died, and the woman whose husband has died. 21 When you gather the grapes from your vines, do not gather a second time. Leave them for the stranger, the child whose parents have died, and the woman whose husband has died. 22 Remember that you were servants in the land of Egypt. Because of this, I am telling you to do this.
25 “Two men might argue and go to court. The judges will decide between them, saying that the right man is not guilty and that the sinful man is guilty. 2 If the sinful man should be beaten, the leader will make him lie down and be beaten in front of him. The number of times he is beaten will be decided upon by how bad his sin is. 3 The number may be as much as forty, but no more. If he is beaten more than this, your brother would be put to much shame in your eyes.
4 “When the bull is made to walk on the grain to break it open, do not stop him from eating some.
5 “When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the dead man’s wife must not be married outside the family to a strange man. The husband’s brother will take her as his wife and do what he should for her as a brother-in-law. 6 The first son born to her will take the name of the dead brother so his name will not be forgotten in Israel. 7 But the man might not want to take his brother’s wife. Then his brother’s wife should go to the leaders at the gate and say, ‘My husband’s brother will not make his brother’s name to be remembered in Israel. He is not willing to do the duty of a brother-in-law to me.’ 8 Then the leaders of his city will call him and speak to him. If he still says, ‘I do not want to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife will come to him in front of the leaders. She will pull his shoe off his foot and spit in his face. And she will say, ‘This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s house.’ 10 In Israel his name will be called, ‘The house of him whose shoe is pulled off.’
11 “If two men are fighting together and the wife of one comes to save her husband from the one who is hitting him and if she puts out her hand and takes hold of his sex part, 12 you must cut off her hand. Do not show pity.
13 “You must not have two different weights in your bag, one large and one small. 14 You must not have in your house different ways of showing how big or small something is. 15 You must have a full and fair weight. You must have a fair way to show how big something is. Then you will live long in the land the Lord your God gives you. 16 For the Lord hates everyone who does such things, who lies and is not fair.
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt. 18 He met you on the way when you were weak and tired. And he fought with those who were behind. He did not fear God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all those around you who hate you, in the land the Lord your God gives you for your own, you must forget all about Amalek, so no one under heaven will remember him. Do not forget to do this.
13 “It is bad for you, city of Chorazin! It is bad for you, town of Bethsaida! For if the powerful works which were done in you had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon they would have turned from their sins long ago. They would have shown their sorrow by putting on clothes made from hair and would have sat in ashes. 14 It will be better for Tyre and Sidon on the day men stand before God and be told they are guilty than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, are you to be lifted up into heaven? You will be taken down to hell. 16 Whoever listens to you, listens to Me. Whoever has nothing to do with you, has nothing to do with Me. Whoever has nothing to do with Me, has nothing to do with the One Who sent Me.”
The Seventy Came Back
17 The seventy came back full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used Your name.” 18 Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Listen! I have given you power to walk on snakes. I have given you power over small animals with a sting of poison. I have given you power over all the power of the one who works against you. Nothing will hurt you. 20 Even so, you should not be happy because the demons obey you but be happy because your names are written in heaven.”
The Joy of the Holy Spirit
21 At this time Jesus was full of the joy of the Holy Spirit. He said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You have kept these things hidden from the wise and from those who have much learning. You have shown them to little children. Yes, Father, it was what you wanted done.
22 “Everything has been given to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son but the Father. No one knows the Father but the Son and the Son makes the Father known to those He chooses.”
23 Then He turned to His followers and said without anyone else hearing, “Happy are those who see what you see! 24 I tell you, many early preachers and kings have wanted to see the things you are seeing, but they did not see them. They have wanted to hear the things you are hearing, but they did not hear them.”
Jesus Talks to the Man Who Knew the Law
25 A man stood up who knew the Law and tried to trap Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to have life that lasts forever?” 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? What does the Law say?” 27 The man said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart. You must love Him with all your soul. You must love Him with all your strength. You must love Him with all your mind. You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.” 28 Jesus said to him, “You have said the right thing. Do this and you will have life.” 29 The man tried to make himself look good. He asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
The Picture-Story of the Good Samaritan
30 Jesus said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to the city of Jericho. Robbers came out after him. They took his clothes off and beat him. Then they went away, leaving him almost dead. 31 A religious leader was walking down that road and saw the man. But he went by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a man from the family group of Levi was walking down that road. When he saw the man who was hurt, he came near to him but kept on going on the other side of the road. 33 Then a man from the country of Samaria came by. He went up to the man. As he saw him, he had loving-pity on him. 34 He got down and put oil and wine on the places where he was hurt and put cloth around them. Then the man from Samaria put this man on his own donkey. He took him to a place where people stay for the night and cared for him. 35 The next day the man from Samaria was ready to leave. He gave the owner of that place two pieces of money to care for him. He said to him, ‘Take care of this man. If you use more than this, I will give it to you when I come again.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten by the robbers?” 37 The man who knew the Law said, “The one who showed loving-pity on him.” Then Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
God Puts Down the Proud and Lifts Up Those Who Are Right with Himself
75 We give thanks to You, O God. We give thanks that Your name is near. Men tell about the great things You have done. 2 You say, “When the right time has come, I will be right and fair in deciding who is guilty or not. 3 When the earth and all its people shake, it is I Who will hold it together. 4 I said to the proud, ‘Do not speak with pride.’ And I said to the sinful, ‘Do not lift up the horn. 5 Do not lift your horn up high. Do not speak in your pride.’”
6 For honor does not come from the east or the west or from the desert. 7 But God is the One Who decides. He puts down one and brings respect to another. 8 For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand. It is full of strong wine that is well mixed. He pours out from it, and all the sinful people of the earth must drink all of it.
9 But as for me, I will tell of it forever. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10 He will cut off all the horns of the sinful. But the horns of those who are right with God will be lifted up.
12 The sinful man wants what sinful men have, but the root of those who are right with God gives fruit.
13 A sinful man is trapped by the sin of his lips, but those who are right with God will get away from trouble.
14 A man will be filled with good from the fruit of his words, and the work of a man’s hands will return to him.
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