The Daily Audio Bible
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Adoni-bezek Is Taken
1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel asked the Lord, “Who will be first to go up and fight against the Canaanites for us?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah will go up. See, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 Then Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come with me into the land which is given to me. Let us fight against the Canaanites together. Then I will go with you into the land which is given to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands. They killed 10,000 men at Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they won the war against the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek tried to run away, but they went after him and caught him. They cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off had to gather their food under my table. Now God has paid me for what I have done.” So they brought him to Jerusalem and there he died.
8 Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it. They destroyed it with the sword and set the city on fire. 9 After this the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev and in the plains. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron. (The name of Hebron was Kiriath-arba before.) They won the war against Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.
11 From there Judah went against the people of Debir. (The name of Debir was Kiriath-sepher before.) 12 Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah as a wife to the one who fights against Kiriath-sepher and takes it.” 13 Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took the city. So Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah for a wife. 14 When she came to Othniel, she talked him into asking her father for a field. As she came down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 15 She said to him, “Give me a special gift. You have given me the land of the Negev. Give me the wells of water also.” So Caleb gave her the wells in the high land and in the valley.
16 The children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went with the people of Judah from Jericho to the desert of Judah south of Arad. They went and lived with the people. 17 Then Judah went with his brother Simeon. They killed the Canaanites living in Zephath and destroyed the whole city. The name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Judah took Gaza with its land, Ashkelon with its land, and Ekron with its land. 19 The Lord was with Judah. They took the hill country for their own. They could not drive out the people living in the valley, because they had iron war-wagons. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had promised, and he drove out the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. So the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
22 The men of the family of Joseph went up against Bethel. And the Lord was with them. 23 Those of the family of Joseph spied out Bethel. (The name of the city was Luz before.) 24 The men who were spying out Bethel saw a man coming out of the city. They said to him, “Show us the way into the city, and we will be kind to you.” 25 So he showed them the way into the city. They destroyed the city with the sword. But they let the man and all his family go free. 26 The man went into the land of the Hittites. He built a city there and gave it the name of Luz. That is its name to this day.
Some of the People Were Not Driven Out of the Land
27 But the men of Manasseh did not take for their own Bethshean and its towns or Taanach and its towns. They did not drive out the people of Dor and its towns, or of Ibleam and its towns, or of Megiddo and its towns. So the Canaanites stayed in that land. 28 When Israel became strong, they made the Canaanites work for them. But they did not drive all of them out.
29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer. So the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not drive out the people of Kitron or the people of Nahalol. So the Canaanites lived among them and were made to work.
31 Asher did not drive out the people of Acco, or the people of Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the people of the land. For they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the people of Beth-shemesh or the people of Beth-anath. But they lived among the Canaanites, the people of the land. The people of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath were made to work for them.
34 The Amorites drove the people of Dan into the hill country. They did not let them come down to the valley. 35 The Amorites would not leave Mount Heres, Aijalon or Shaalbim. But when the family of Joseph became strong, they made the Amorites work for them. 36 The land of the Amorites was from the hill-side of Akrabbim, up from Sela.
The Angel of the Lord Speaks to Israel
2 The angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land I promised your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break My agreement with you. 2 Do not make any agreement with the people of this land. Tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done? 3 So now I say, ‘I will not drive them away from you. They will be like thorns in your sides. Their gods will be a trap to you.’” 4 When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people cried in a loud voice. 5 So they called that place Bochim. And there they gave gifts in worship to the Lord.
The Death of Joshua
6 When Joshua sent the people of Israel away, each one went home to his own land. 7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the leaders who lived longer than Joshua and who had seen all the great works the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was 110 years old. 9 They buried him within his land in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
The Picture-Story of the Fig Tree
29 Jesus told them a picture-story. He said, “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. 30 When you see their leaves coming out, you know summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know the holy nation of God is near. 32 For sure, I tell you, that the people of this day will not die before all these things happen.
33 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away. 34 Watch yourselves! Do not let yourselves be loaded down with too much eating and strong drink. Do not be troubled with the cares of this life. If you do, that day will come on you without you knowing it. 35 It will come on all people over all the earth. 36 Be sure you watch. Pray all the time so that you may be able to keep from going through all these things that will happen and be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 Everyday Jesus taught in the house of God. At night He went to the Mount of Olives and stayed there. 38 Early in the morning all the people came to the house of God to hear Him.
They Look for a Way to Put Jesus to Death (A)
22 The time for the supper of bread without yeast was near. It was the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. 2 The religious leaders and the teachers of the Law looked for a way to kill Jesus. But they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan came into the heart of Judas who was called Iscariot. He was one of the twelve followers. 4 Judas went away and talked with the religious leaders and the leaders of the people. He talked about how he might hand Jesus over to them. 5 They were glad and promised to pay him money. 6 Judas promised to do this and then looked for a way to hand Jesus over when there were no people around.
Getting Ready for the Special Supper (B)
7 The day of bread without yeast came. It was the day when the lamb had to be killed and given on the altar in worship in the house of God. It was the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John and said, “Go and get this special supper ready for us that we may eat.” 9 They said to Him, “Where do You want us to get it ready?” 10 He answered, “See, when you go into the city, you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him into the house where he goes. 11 Say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the room you keep for friends where I may eat this special supper with My followers?”’ 12 He will take you to a large room on the second floor with everything in it. Make it ready for us.”
13 They went and found everything as Jesus had said. They got ready for the special supper.
God Is Forever—Man’s Short Life
90 Lord, You have been the place of comfort for all people of all time. 2 Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, forever and ever, You are God.
3 You change man into dust again, and say, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday when it passes by, or like the hours of the night. 5 You carry men away as with a flood. They fall asleep. In the morning they are like the new grass that grows. 6 It grows well in the morning, but dries up and dies by evening.
7 For we are burned up by Your anger. By Your anger we are troubled and afraid. 8 You have set our wrong-doing before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face. 9 For all our days pass away in Your anger. We finish our years with a quiet cry. 10 The days of our life are seventy years, or eighty if we have the strength. Yet the best of them are only hard work and sorrow. For they are soon gone and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of Your anger? Your anger is as great as the fear that we should have for You. 12 Teach us to understand how many days we have. Then we will have a heart of wisdom to give You.
13 Return, O Lord. How long will it be? Have pity upon those who work for You. 14 Fill us in the morning with Your loving-kindness. Let us sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as You have made us suffer, and for the years we have seen trouble. 16 Let Your work be shown to Your servants. And let Your wonderful greatness be shown to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. And make the work of our hands stand strong. Yes, make the work of our hands stand strong.
The Lord—the One We Trust
91 He who lives in the safe place of the Most High will be in the shadow of the All-powerful. 2 I will say to the Lord, “You are my safe and strong place, my God, in Whom I trust.” 3 For it is He Who takes you away from the trap, and from the killing sickness. 4 He will cover you with His wings. And under His wings you will be safe. He is faithful like a safe-covering and a strong wall.
5 You will not be afraid of trouble at night, or of the arrow that flies by day. 6 You will not be afraid of the sickness that walks in darkness, or of the trouble that destroys at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But it will not come near you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes, and see how the sinful are punished. 9 Because you have made the Lord your safe place, and the Most High the place where you live, 10 nothing will hurt you. No trouble will come near your tent.
11 For He will tell His angels to care for you and keep you in all your ways. 12 They will hold you up in their hands. So your foot will not hit against a stone. 13 You will walk upon the lion and the snake. You will crush under your feet the young lion and the snake.
14 Because he has loved Me, I will bring him out of trouble. I will set him in a safe place on high, because he has known My name. 15 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will take him out of trouble and honor him. 16 I will please him with a long life. And I will show him My saving power.
24 He who does not punish his son when he needs it hates him, but he who loves him will punish him when he needs it.
25 The man who is right with God has all the food he needs, but the stomach of the sinful man never has enough.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.