The Daily Audio Bible

21 Then the family heads of the Levites came to Eleazar the religious leader, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the family groups of Israel. ² They said to them at Shiloh in Canaan, “The Lord said through Moses to give us cities to live in, as well as fields around them for our cattle.” ³ So the sons of Israel gave these cities and fields of their land to the Levites, as the Lord had said. ⁴ The name drawn first was for the families of the Kohathites. The Levites who were children of Aaron the religious leader received thirteen cities from the families of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. ⁵ The rest of the sons of Kohath by drawing names received ten cities from the families of Ephraim and Dan and the half-family group of Manasseh. ⁶ The sons of Gershon by drawing names received thirteen cities from the families of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-family group of Manasseh in Bashan. ⁷ The sons of Merari received twelve cities from the families of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun. ⁸ The sons of Israel by drawing names gave these cities with their fields to the Levites, as the Lord had said through Moses.

⁹ They gave from the families of Judah and Simeon the cities given here by name. ¹⁰ They were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi. For their name was drawn first. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) with the fields around it in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹² But the city’s fields and towns had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his own.

¹³ So to the sons of Aaron the religious leader they gave Hebron and Libnah with their fields. Hebron was the city where one who killed a man could go to be safe. ¹⁴ And they gave them Jattir with its fields, Eshtemoa with its fields, ¹⁵ Holon with its fields, Debir with its fields, ¹⁶ Ain with its fields, Juttah with its fields, and Bethshemesh with its fields. There were nine cities from these two family groups. ¹⁷ From the family of Benjamin were given Gibeon with its fields, Geba with its fields, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its fields, and Almon with its fields, four cities. ¹⁹ For the sons of Aaron, the religious leaders, there were thirteen cities in all, with their fields.

²⁰ Then cities from the family of Ephraim were given to the rest of the families of the people of Kohath, the Levites. ²¹ They gave them Shechem with its fields in the hill country of Ephraim. A man who killed another person could run to Shechem to be safe. And they gave them Gezer with its fields, ²² Kibzaim with its fields, and Beth-horon with its fields, four cities. ²³ From the family of Dan were given Eletke with its fields, Gibbethon with its fields, ²⁴ Aijalon with its fields, and Gath-rimmon with its fields, four cities. ²⁵ From the half-family group of Manasseh were given Taanach with its fields, and Gathrimmon with its fields, two cities. ²⁶ There were ten cities in all, with their fields, for the rest of the families of the Kohathites.

²⁷ From the half-family group of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan and Be-eshterah and their fields to the sons of Gershon, one of the Levite families. A man who killed another person could run to Golan in Bashan to be safe. They were given two cities. ²⁸ From the family of Issachar were given Kishion with its fields, Daberath with its fields, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its fields, and Engannim with its fields, four cities. ³⁰ From the family of Asher were given Mishal with its fields, Abdon with its fields, ³¹ Helkath with its fields, and Rehob with its fields, four cities. ³² From the family of Naphtali were given Kedesh in Galilee with its fields, Hammoth-dor with its fields, and Kartan with its fields, three cities. A man who killed another man could run to Kedesh to be safe. ³³ The cities for the families of the Gershonites were thirteen in all, with their fields.

³⁴ They gave cities to the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the family of Zebulun. They gave them Jokneam with its fields, Kartah with its fields, ³⁵ Dimnah with its fields, and Nahalal with its fields, four cities. ³⁶ From the family of Reuben were given Bezer with its fields, Jahaz with its fields, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its fields, and Mephaath with its fields, four cities. ³⁸ From the family of Gad was given Ramoth in Gilead with its fields. A man who killed another person could run to Ramoth in Gilead to be safe. And they gave them Mahanaim with its fields, ³⁹ Heshbon with its fields, and Jazer with its fields, four cities in all. ⁴⁰ There were twelve cities in all given to the families of the people of Merari, the rest of the families of the Levites.

⁴¹ The cities of the Levites among the land of the people of Israel were forty-eight cities in all, with their fields. ⁴² Each one of these cities had its fields around it. So it was with all these cities.

⁴³ The Lord gave Israel all the land He had promised to give to their fathers. They took it for their own, and lived in it. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them peace on every side, just as He had promised their fathers. Not one of all those who hated them could stand in front of them. The Lord gave all those who hated them into their hand. ⁴⁵ Every good promise which the Lord had made to the people of Israel came true.

22 Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-family group of Manasseh. ² He said to them, “You have done all that the Lord’s servant Moses told you to do. You have obeyed me in all I have told you to do. ³ You have not left your brothers alone even to this day. But you have been careful to do what the Lord your God has told you. ⁴ Now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He promised them. So go now. Return to your homes in your own land, which the Lord’s servant Moses gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ⁵ Only be very careful to obey the Law which the Lord’s servant Moses told you. Love the Lord your God. Walk in all His ways. Obey His Laws. Stay close to Him, and work for Him with all your heart and soul.” ⁶ Joshua prayed that good would come to them, and sent them away. Then they went to their homes.

⁷ Moses had given land in Bashan to the half-family group of Manasseh. But Joshua gave land west of the Jordan to the other half of the family among their brothers. Joshua prayed that good would come to them when he sent them away to their homes. ⁸ He said to them, “Return to your homes with much riches, many animals, silver, gold, brass, iron, and very many clothes. Share with your brothers the riches taken from those who fought against you.” ⁹ The sons of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh returned home. They left the people of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and went to their own land of Gilead. They had taken this land by the word of the Lord through Moses.

¹⁰ The sons of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh came to the Jordan River. Before they crossed the Jordan, they built a very large altar on the Canaan side of the Jordan. ¹¹ The people of Israel heard the news, “See, the people of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh have built an altar in the land of Canaan by the Jordan. It stands on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” ¹² When the people of Israel heard about it, all the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

¹³ Then the sons of Israel sent Phinehas the son of the religious leader Eleazar into the land of Gilead to the people of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh. ¹⁴ With him were ten leaders, one leader from each ruling house in every family of Israel. Each one was the head of his father’s house among the families of Israel. ¹⁵ They came to the people of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, and said to them, ¹⁶ “All the people of the Lord say, ‘What sin is this that you have done against the God of Israel? You have turned away from following the Lord this day, by building yourselves an altar. Today you have gone against the Lord. ¹⁷ Is not the sin of Peor enough for us? We have made ourselves unclean from that to this day, and much trouble has come upon the people of the Lord. ¹⁸ Now to add to that sin, this day you have turned away from following the Lord. If you go against the Lord today, He will be angry with all the people of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹ Now if the land you have been given is unclean, cross over into the Lord’s land. There stands the meeting tent of the Lord. Take land for yourselves among us. But do not go against the Lord, or against us, by building an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ Did not Zerah’s son Achan sin by taking things that should have been destroyed? Anger came upon all the people of Israel. He did not die alone for his sin.’”

They Ask Jesus Who Gave Him the Power to Do These Things ^(A)

20 As He was teaching and preaching the Good News, the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and the elders came. ² They said to Him, “Tell us, by what right and power are You doing these things? Who gave You the right and the power?” ³ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question also. You answer Me. ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”

⁵ They said to themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ then all the people will throw stones at us because they believe John was one who spoke for God.” ⁷ They said that they did not know where John’s baptism came from. ⁸ Jesus said to them, “And I will not tell you where I get the right and the power to do these things.”

The Picture-Story of the Grape-Field ^(B)

⁹ Jesus began to tell the people a picture-story, saying, “There was a man who planted a grape-field. He rented it to farmers. Then he went to a country far away for a long time. ¹⁰ At the time of gathering fruit he sent one of his servants to the farmers to get some of the fruit. But the farmers beat him and sent him away without fruit. ¹¹ He sent another servant. The farmers beat him also. They made it very hard for him and sent him away without fruit. ¹² He sent a third servant. They hurt him and threw him out of the grape-field.

¹³ “Then the owner of the grape-field said, ‘What should I do? I will send my much-loved son. They might respect him.’ ¹⁴ The farmers saw the son. They said to themselves, ‘This is the one who will get everything when the owner dies. Let us kill him, and we will get everything.’ ¹⁵ They put him out of the grape-field and killed him. Now what will the owner of the grape-field do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and kill those farmers. Then he will rent the grape-field to other farmers.”

When they heard this, they said, “May this never be done!” ¹⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “What does this writing mean, ‘The Stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important Stone in the building’? ^{(C) 18} Whoever falls on this Stone will be broken. And on the one it falls, it will make him like dust.” ^(D)

They Try to Trap Jesus ^(E)

¹⁹ At this time the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law tried to take Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. These leaders knew Jesus had told this picture-story against them. ²⁰ They watched Jesus and they sent men who pretended to be good people to watch Him. They wanted to trap Him in something He said. Then they could give Him over to the leader of the people who had the right and the power to say what to do with Him.

²¹ These men who were sent asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know what You say and teach is right. We know You do not show more respect to one person than to another. We know You teach the truth about God. ²² Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ²³ Jesus knew they were trying to trap Him. He said, ²⁴ “Show Me a piece of money. Whose picture is this? Whose name is on it?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. Pay to God the things that belong to God.” ²⁶ They could find nothing wrong with what He taught. They were surprised and wondered about what He told the people, so they said nothing more.

God’s Promise to David

89 I will sing of the loving-kindness of the Lord forever. I will make known with my mouth how faithful You are to all people. ² For I said, “Loving-kindness will be built up forever. You will make known how faithful You are in the heavens.”

³ You said, “I have made an agreement with My chosen one. I have promised to David, Your servant. ⁴ I will make your seed last forever. I will build up your throne for all the children-to-come.”

⁵ O Lord, the heavens will praise Your great works and how faithful You are in the meeting of the holy ones. ⁶ For who in the heavens is like the Lord? Who among the sons of the powerful is like the Lord? ⁷ God is honored with fear in the meeting of the holy ones. He is honored with fear more than all who are around Him. ⁸ Lord God of all, powerful Lord, who is like You? All around You we see how faithful You are. ⁹ You rule over the rising sea. When its waves rise, You quiet them. ¹⁰ You have crushed Rahab like one who is killed. You have destroyed those who hate You with Your powerful arm.

¹¹ The heavens are Yours; and the earth is Yours. You have made the world and all that is in it. ¹² You have made from nothing the north and the south. Tabor and Hermon call out for joy at Your name. ¹³ You have a strong arm. Your hand is powerful. Your right hand is honored.

¹⁵ Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the sinful is hard.

¹⁶ Every wise man acts with much learning, but a fool makes his foolish way known.