The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday February 4, 2018 (NIV)

^16 (A)On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled with fear. ¹⁷ Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord had come down on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people trembled violently. ¹⁹ The sound of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. Moses went up ²¹ and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die. ²² Even the priests who come near me must purify themselves, or I will punish them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it.”

²⁴ The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron back with you. But the priests and the people must not cross the boundary to come up to me, or I will punish them.” ²⁵ Moses then went down to the people and told them what the Lord had said.

The Ten Commandments^(B)

20 God spoke, and these were his words: ² “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.

³ “Worship no god but me.

^4 (C)“Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. ^5 (D)Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation. ⁶ But I show my love to thousands of generations^[a] of those who love me and obey my laws.

^7 (E)“Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.

^8 (F)“Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. ^9 (G)You have six days in which to do your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work—neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. ^11 (H)In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.

^12 (I)“Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.

^13 (J)“Do not commit murder.

^14 (K)“Do not commit adultery.

^15 (L)“Do not steal.

^16 (M)“Do not accuse anyone falsely.

^17 (N)“Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns.”

The People's Fear^(O)

^18 (P)When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. ¹⁹ They said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.”

²⁰ Moses replied, “Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin.” ²¹ But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.

Laws about Altars

²² The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: “You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven. ²³ Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to me. ²⁴ Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burned and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you. ^25 (Q)If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use. ²⁶ Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.

The Treatment of Slaves^(R)

21 “Give the Israelites the following laws: ^2 (S)If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years. In the seventh year he is to be set free without having to pay anything. ³ If he was unmarried when he became your slave, he is not to take a wife with him when he leaves; but if he was married when he became your slave, he may take his wife with him. ⁴ If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the woman and her children belong to the master, and the man is to leave by himself. ⁵ But if the slave declares that he loves his master, his wife, and his children and does not want to be set free, ⁶ then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he is to make him stand against the door or the doorpost and put a hole through his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to be set free, as male slaves are. ⁸ If she is sold to someone who intends to make her his wife, but he doesn't like her, then she is to be sold back to her father; her master cannot sell her to foreigners, because he has treated her unfairly. ⁹ If a man buys a female slave to give to his son, he is to treat her like a daughter. ¹⁰ If a man takes a second wife, he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothing and the same rights that she had before. ¹¹ If he does not fulfill these duties to her, he must set her free and not receive any payment.

Laws about Violent Acts

^12 (T)“Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death. ^13 (U)But if it was an accident and he did not mean to kill him, he can escape to a place which I will choose for you, and there he will be safe. ¹⁴ But when someone gets angry and deliberately kills someone else, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety.

¹⁵ “Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be put to death.

^16 (V)“Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death.

^17 (W)“Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

^18-19 “If there is a fight and someone hits someone else with a stone or with his fist, but does not kill him, he is not to be punished. If the one who was hit has to stay in bed, but later is able to get up and walk outside with the help of a cane, the one who hit him is to pay for his lost time and take care of him until he gets well.

²⁰ “If a slave owner takes a stick and beats his slave, whether male or female, and the slave dies on the spot, the owner is to be punished. ²¹ But if the slave does not die for a day or two, the master is not to be punished. The loss of his property is punishment enough.

Jesus Condemns Their Hypocrisy^(A)

¹³ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you allow in those who are trying to enter! ^14 [a]

¹⁵ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!

¹⁶ “How terrible for you, blind guides! You teach, ‘If someone swears by the Temple, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.’ ¹⁷ Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple which makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ You also teach, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound.’ ¹⁹ How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy? ²⁰ So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it; ²¹ and when he swears by the Temple, he is swearing by it and by God, who lives there; ^22 (B)and when someone swears by heaven, he is swearing by God's throne and by him who sits on it.

^23 (C)“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!

²⁵ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too!

^27 (D)“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.

Jesus Predicts Their Punishment^(E)

²⁹ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives; ³⁰ and you claim that if you had lived during the time of your ancestors, you would not have done what they did and killed the prophets. ³¹ So you actually admit that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets! ³² Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started! ^33 (F)You snakes and children of snakes! How do you expect to escape from being condemned to hell? ³⁴ And so I tell you that I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers; you will kill some of them, crucify others, and whip others in the synagogues and chase them from town to town. ^35 (G)As a result, the punishment for the murder of all innocent people will fall on you, from the murder of innocent Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you indeed: the punishment for all these murders will fall on the people of this day!

Jesus' Love for Jerusalem^(H)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! ^38 (I)And so your Temple will be abandoned and empty. ^39 (J)From now on, I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, ‘God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

A Prayer for Help^[a]

7 My child, remember what I say and never forget what I tell you to do. ² Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes. ³ Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart. ⁴ Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend. ⁵ They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words.