The Daily Audio Bible
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The Agreement in Moab
29 These are the words of the agreement the Lord told Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, as well as the agreement He had made with them at Mount Sinai.
2 Moses called all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all the Lord did in front of you in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land. 3 You have seen great tests and powerful works. 4 Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, or eyes to see, or ears to hear. 5 I have led you forty years in the desert. Your clothes did not wear out. And your shoes did not wear out on your feet. 6 You did not eat bread, or drink wine or strong drink, so you might know that I am the Lord your God. 7 When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came to meet us to fight. But we won the fight. 8 We took their land and gave it as a gift to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half family group of Manasseh. 9 So be careful to keep the words of this agreement and obey them so all that you do will go well.
10 “Today you all stand before the Lord your God, you, your rulers, your families, your leaders, all the men of Israel, 11 your children, your wives, the stranger who is among your tents, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who gets your water. 12 You are here to take part in the agreement with the Lord your God, and in His promise which the Lord your God is making with you today. 13 So today He will make you His people. He will be your God, just as He told you and as He promised your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
14 “I am not making this agreement and this promise with you alone. 15 I am making them with those who stand here with us today before the Lord our God, and with those who are not here with us today. 16 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the land of the nations on our way here. 17 You have seen their sinful things and their gods of wood, stone, silver and gold, which they had with them. 18 Be careful not to have any man or woman or family or group among you whose heart turns away from the Lord our God today to go and worship the gods of those nations. Do not let there be a root among you giving poison fruit and bad-tasting plants. 19 When one hears the words of this curse, he will say in his pride, ‘I have peace even though I am strong-willed in my heart.’ This will destroy the land that is watered along with the dry land. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive him. But the Lord will be jealous and His anger will burn against that man. Every curse written in this book will be upon him. And the Lord will take out his name from under heaven. 21 The Lord will set him apart for trouble from all the families of Israel, with all the curses of the agreement which are written in this book of the Law.
22 “The children to come, your sons who grow up after you, and the stranger who comes from a land far away, will see the troubles and diseases the Lord has sent upon the land. And they will say, 23 ‘The whole land is sulphur and salt, a burning waste, not planted and not giving any plants, and no grass grows in it. It is like Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in His anger.’ 24 All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was He so angry?’ 25 Then men will say, ‘It is because they did not keep the agreement of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they had not known and whom He had not given to them. 27 So the anger of the Lord burned against that land. Every curse was brought upon it that is written in this book. 28 The Lord drove them from their land in much anger. And He sent them into another land, as it is today.’
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God. But the things that are made known belong to us and to our children forever, so we may obey all the words of this Law.
Good Comes to Those Who Return to the Lord
30 “When all these things have come upon you, the good things and the curses which I have told you about, you will remember them in all the nations where the Lord your God has sent you. 2 When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul by all I have told you today, 3 then the Lord your God will have you return from where you were held. He will have loving-pity for you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has sent you. 4 Even if you are driven to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers lived in and it will be yours. He will bring good to you and make you more in number than your fathers. 6 The Lord your God will take away the sin from your heart and from the heart of your children. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so you may live. 7 Then the Lord your God will send all these curses upon those who hate you and upon those who made it hard for you. 8 You will obey the Lord again, and keep all His Laws which I tell you today. 9 And the Lord your God will bring much good upon all the work you do, and upon your children, and the young of your cattle, and the food of your field. For the Lord will again be happy to bring good to you, just as He was happy with your fathers. 10 But you must obey the Lord your God to keep His Laws which are written in this book of the Law. You must turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.
Life or Death
11 “For this Law I give you today is not too hard for you, or too far from you. 12 It is not in heaven. You do not need to say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to make us hear it, so we may obey it?’ 13 It is not farther than the sea. You do not need to say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us to make us hear it, so we may obey it?’ 14 But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.
15 “See, I have put in front of you today life and what is good, and death and what is bad. 16 I tell you today to love the Lord your God. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and all that He has decided. Then you will live and become many. And the Lord your God will bring good to you in the land you are going in to take. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but leave to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I tell you today that you will die for sure. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan which you are about to take for your own. 19 I call heaven and earth to speak against you today. I have put in front of you life and death, the good and the curse. So choose life so you and your children after you may live. 20 Love the Lord your God and obey His voice. Hold on to Him. For He is your life, and by Him your days will be long. You will be allowed to live in the land the Lord promised to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keeper
37 As Jesus was talking, a proud religious law-keeper asked Him to eat with him. Jesus went to the man’s house and took His place at the table. 38 The proud religious law-keeper was surprised and wondered why Jesus had not washed before He ate. 39 But the Lord said to him, “You proud religious law-keepers make the outside of the cup and plate clean, but inside you are full of stealing and sinning. 40 You are foolish. Did not He that made the outside make the inside also? 41 Give yourself as a gift and then you will be clean.
42 “It is bad for you, proud religious law-keepers! You give one-tenth part of your spices. But you give no thought to what is right and to the love of God. You should do both of these.
43 “It is bad for you, proud religious law-keepers! For you like to have the important seats in the places of worship. You like to have people speak good-sounding words to you as you are in the center of town where people gather. 44 It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers and you who pretend to be someone you are not! For you are like graves that are hidden. Men walk on graves without knowing they are there.”
Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Men Who Knew the Law
45 One of the men who knew the Law said to Jesus, “Teacher, You are making us look bad when You speak like this.” 46 Jesus said, “It is bad for you also, you men who know the Law! For you put heavy loads on the shoulders of men. But you will not even put your finger on one of these loads to help them. 47 It is bad for you! For you make beautiful buildings for the graves of the early preachers your fathers killed. 48 You are saying what your fathers did was good, because they killed the early preachers and you are making their graves.
49 “For this reason the wisdom of God has said, ‘I will send them early preachers and missionaries. Some they will kill and some they will make it very hard for.’ 50 The blood of all the early preachers from the beginning of the world is on the people of this day. 51 It will be from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, the one who died between the altar and the house of God. For sure, I tell you, the people of this day will be guilty for this.
52 “It is bad for you men who know the Law! For you have locked the door to the house of learning. You are not going in yourselves and you do not allow those to go in who are about to go in.”
53 As Jesus went away from there, the teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers were very angry and tried to make Him say many things. 54 They planned against Jesus and tried to trap Him with something He might say.
Jesus Teaches His Followers and Thousands of Other People
12 At that time thousands of people gathered together. There were so many that they walked on each other. Jesus spoke to His twelve followers first, saying, “Look out! Have nothing to do with the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers which is pretending to be something it is not. 2 For there is nothing covered up that will not be seen. There is nothing hidden that will not be known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. What you have said in a low voice in a closed room will be spoken with a loud voice from the top of houses.
4 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then can do no more. 5 I will tell you the one to be afraid of. Be afraid of Him Who has power to put you into hell after He has killed you. Yes, I say to you, be afraid of Him!
6 “Are not five small birds sold for two small pieces of money? God does not forget even one of the birds. 7 God knows how many hairs you have on your head. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many small birds.
God Is Good to His People
78 O my people, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in picture-stories. I will tell things which have been kept secret from long ago, 3 which we have heard and known because our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children. But we will tell the children-to-come the praises of the Lord, and of His power and the great things He has done.
5 For He has made His will known to Jacob. He made the Law in Israel, which He told our fathers to teach their children. 6 So the children-to-come might know, even the children yet to be born. So they may rise up and tell it to their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God and not forget the works of God. And they would keep His Law. 8 They would not be like their fathers, who were not right with God and would not obey Him or be faithful to Him.
9 The sons of Ephraim were ready with their bows. But they turned away in the day of fighting. 10 They did not keep the agreement of God. And they would not walk in His Law. 11 They forgot what He had done and His great works that He had shown them. 12 He did powerful works in front of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and made them pass through it. He made the water stand up like a wall. 14 He led them with the cloud during the day, and with a light of fire during the night. 15 He broke the rocks in the desert, and gave them water as if it flowed from the sea. 16 He made water come out of the rock. He made the water flow down like rivers.
17 But they still kept on sinning against Him. They did not obey the Most High in the desert. 18 They tested God in their hearts by asking for the food they wanted. 19 Then they spoke against God, saying, “Can God set a table in the desert? 20 See, He hit the rock and water poured out and rivers flowed over. Can He give bread also? Will He give meat to His people?”
21 The Lord was full of anger when He heard them. And a fire was set against Jacob. His anger went up against Israel, 22 because they did not believe in God. They did not trust in Him to save them. 23 Yet He spoke to the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven. 24 He sent down bread from heaven for them to eat. He gave them food from heaven. 25 Men ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens. And He brought in the south wind by His power. 27 He sent meat down on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea. 28 He let them fall in the place where they were staying, all around their tents. 29 So they ate until they were full. He gave them what they wanted. 30 But before they had eaten all they wanted, even while it was still in their mouths, 31 the anger of God came upon them. And He killed the strongest of them. He cut down the young men of Israel.
19 Lips that tell the truth will last forever, but a lying tongue lasts only for a little while.
20 Lying is in the heart of those who plan what is bad, but those who plan peace have joy.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.