The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday January 31, 2018 (NIV)

¹⁴ “This day shall be ^(A)for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a ^(B)statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. ^15 (C)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, ^(D)that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day you shall hold a ^(E)holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. ¹⁷ And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for ^(F)on this very day I brought your ^(G)hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. ^18 (H)In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ^19 (I)For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, ^(J)that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, ^(K)whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

²¹ Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves ^(L)according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of ^(M)hyssop and ^(N)dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch ^(O)the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. ^(P)None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ^23 (Q)For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on ^(R)the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and ^(S)will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. ²⁴ You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. ²⁵ And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, ^(T)as he has promised, you shall keep this service. ²⁶ And ^(U)when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ you shall say, ^(V)‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people ^(W)bowed their heads and worshiped.

²⁸ Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

^29 (X)At midnight the ^(Y)Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, ^(Z)from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. ³⁰ And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was ^(AA)a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. ³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, ^(AB)both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. ^32 (AC)Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

^33 (AD)The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. ³⁵ The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had ^(AE)asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ^36 (AF)And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that ^(AG)they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ And the ^(AH)people of Israel journeyed from ^(AI)Rameses to Succoth, ^(AJ)about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ A ^(AK)mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because ^(AL)they were thrust out of Egypt and ^(AM)could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

⁴⁰ The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of ^(AN)430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a ^(AO)night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

Institution of the Passover

⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every slave^[a] that is ^(AP)bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. ^45 (AQ)No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. ⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and ^(AR)you shall not break any of its bones. ^47 (AS)All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ^48 (AT)If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he ^(AU)shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ There shall be ^(AV)one law for the native and for the ^(AW)stranger who sojourns among you.”

⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the ^(AX)Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their ^(AY)hosts.

Consecration of the Firstborn

13 The Lord said to Moses, ^2 (AZ)“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

³ Then Moses said to the people, ^(BA)“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ^(BB)for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. ^(BC)No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ Today, in the month of ^(BD)Abib, you are going out. ⁵ And when the Lord brings you into ^(BE)the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which ^(BF)he swore to your fathers to give you, a land ^(BG)flowing with milk and honey, ^(BH)you shall keep this service in this month. ^6 (BI)Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. ^8 (BJ)You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ And it shall ^(BK)be to you as a sign on your hand and as ^(BL)a memorial ^(BM)between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. ^10 (BN)You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, ^(BO)as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, ^12 (BP)you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. ^13 (BQ)Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ^(BR)firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ^14 (BS)And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ^(BT)‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of ^(BU)slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the ^(BV)Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but ^(BW)all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ^16 (BX)It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for ^(BY)by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

^29 (A)And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰ And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord,^[a] have mercy on us, ^(B)Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd ^(C)rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³² And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³ They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

The Triumphal Entry

21 ^(D)Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^(E)the Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^(F)sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place ^(G)to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd ^(J)spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^(K)“Hosanna to ^(L)the Son of David! ^(M)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^(N)in the highest!” ¹⁰ And ^(O)when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is ^(P)the prophet Jesus, ^(Q)from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^12 (R)And Jesus entered the temple^[c] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^(S)the money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^(T)pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ^(U)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ^(V)you make it a den of robbers.”

^14 (W)And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ^15 (X)But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^(Y)“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^(Z)have you never read,

¹⁷ And ^(AC)leaving them, he ^(AD)went out of the city to ^(AE)Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18 (AF)In the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^(AG)he became hungry. ^19 (AH)And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered them, ^(AI)“Truly, I say to you, ^(AJ)if you have faith and ^(AK)do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^(AL)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(AM)whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^(AN)if you have faith.”