Daily Readings and Commentary from the Daily Audio Bible
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16 When the men(A) got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham(B) what I am about to do?(C) 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,(D) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[a] 19 For I have chosen him(E), so that he will direct his children(F) and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord(G) by doing what is right and just,(H) so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”(I)
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom(J) and Gomorrah is so great(K) and their sin so grievous(L) 21 that I will go down(M) and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men(N) turned away and went toward Sodom,(O) but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[b](P) 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?(Q) 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?(R) 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing(S)—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous(T) and the wicked alike.(U) Far be it from you! Will not the Judge(V) of all the earth do right?”(W)
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.(X)”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,(Y) 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,(Z) but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.(AA) What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten,(AB) I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking(AC) with Abraham, he left,(AD) and Abraham returned home.(AE)
19 The two angels(AF) arrived at Sodom(AG) in the evening, and Lot(AH) was sitting in the gateway of the city.(AI) When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.(AJ) 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet(AK) and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”(AL)
3 But he insisted(AM) so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.(AN) He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,(AO) and they ate.(AP) 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom(AQ)—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”(AR)
6 Lot went outside to meet them(AS) and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”(AT)
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner,(AU) and now he wants to play the judge!(AV) We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men(AW) inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness(AX) so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?(AY) Get them out of here, 13 because we(AZ) are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great(BA) that he has sent us to destroy it.”(BB)
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[d] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!(BC)” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.(BD)
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away(BE) when the city is punished.(BF)”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters(BG) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.(BH) 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!(BI) Don’t look back,(BJ) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!(BK) Flee to the mountains(BL) or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[e] please! 19 Your[f] servant has found favor in your[g] eyes,(BM) and you[h] have shown great kindness(BN) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;(BO) this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request(BP) too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.[i](BQ))
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar,(BR) the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur(BS) on Sodom and Gomorrah(BT)—from the Lord out of the heavens.(BU) 25 Thus he overthrew those cities(BV) and the entire plain,(BW) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.(BX) 26 But Lot’s wife looked back,(BY) and she became a pillar of salt.(BZ)
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.(CA) 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.(CB)
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,(CC) he remembered(CD) Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe(CE) that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.(CF)
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar(CG) and settled in the mountains,(CH) for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line(CI) through our father.”(CJ)
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.(CK)
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”(CL) 35 So they got their father to drink wine(CM) that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.(CN)
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.(CO) 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab[j];(CP) he is the father of the Moabites(CQ) of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi[k]; he is the father of the Ammonites[l](CR) of today.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry(B) about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.(C) Are you not much more valuable than they?(D) 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?(E)
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor(F) was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?(G) 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.(H) 33 But seek first his kingdom(I) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.(J) 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.(L) 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.(M)
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
7 “Ask and it will be given to you;(O) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;(P) and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts(Q) to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,(R) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.(S)
13 “Enter through the narrow gate.(T) For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name(A) in all the earth!
You have set your glory(B)
in the heavens.(C)
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold(D) against your enemies,
to silence the foe(E) and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,(F)
the work of your fingers,(G)
the moon and the stars,(H)
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c](I)
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e](J)
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.(K)
6 You made them rulers(L) over the works of your hands;(M)
you put everything under their[g] feet:(N)
7 all flocks and herds,(O)
and the animals of the wild,(P)
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,(Q)
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(R)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;(A)
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(B)
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield(C) to those whose walk is blameless,(D)
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.(E)
9 Then you will understand(F) what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,(G)
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.(H)
12 Wisdom will save(I) you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,(J)
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,(K)
15 whose paths are crooked(L)
and who are devious in their ways.(M)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
16 Now Sarai,(A) Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.(B) But she had an Egyptian slave(C) named Hagar;(D) 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children.(E) Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”(F)
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan(G) ten years,(H) Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar,(I) and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.(J) 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”(K)
6 “Your slave is in your hands,(L)” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated(M) Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord(N) found Hagar near a spring(O) in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.(P) 8 And he said, “Hagar,(Q) slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”(R)
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”(S)
11 The angel of the Lord(T) also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.(U)
You shall name him(V) Ishmael,[a](W)
for the Lord has heard of your misery.(X)
12 He will be a wild donkey(Y) of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward[b] all his brothers.(Z)”
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,(AA)” for she said, “I have now seen[c] the One who sees me.”(AB) 14 That is why the well(AC) was called Beer Lahai Roi[d];(AD) it is still there, between Kadesh(AE) and Bered.
15 So Hagar(AF) bore Abram a son,(AG) and Abram gave the name Ishmael(AH) to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old(AI) when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,(AJ) the Lord appeared to him(AK) and said, “I am God Almighty[e];(AL) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.(AM) 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you(AN) and will greatly increase your numbers.”(AO)
3 Abram fell facedown,(AP) and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you:(AQ) You will be the father of many nations.(AR) 5 No longer will you be called Abram[f]; your name will be Abraham,[g](AS) for I have made you a father of many nations.(AT) 6 I will make you very fruitful;(AU) I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.(AV) 7 I will establish my covenant(AW) as an everlasting covenant(AX) between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God(AY) and the God of your descendants after you.(AZ) 8 The whole land of Canaan,(BA) where you now reside as a foreigner,(BB) I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;(BC) and I will be their God.(BD)”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,(BE) you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.(BF) 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.(BG) 11 You are to undergo circumcision,(BH) and it will be the sign of the covenant(BI) between me and you. 12 For the generations to come(BJ) every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised,(BK) including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.(BL) My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.(BM) 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised(BN) in the flesh, will be cut off from his people;(BO) he has broken my covenant.(BP)”
15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai(BQ) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.(BR) 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.(BS) I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations;(BT) kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown;(BU) he laughed(BV) and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?(BW) Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”(BX) 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael(BY) might live under your blessing!”(BZ)
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,(CA) and you will call him Isaac.[h](CB) I will establish my covenant with him(CC) as an everlasting covenant(CD) for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.(CE) He will be the father of twelve rulers,(CF) and I will make him into a great nation.(CG) 21 But my covenant(CH) I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you(CI) by this time next year.”(CJ) 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.(CK)
23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household(CL) or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.(CM) 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old(CN) when he was circumcised,(CO) 25 and his son Ishmael(CP) was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household(CQ), including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
18 The Lord appeared to Abraham(CR) near the great trees of Mamre(CS) while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent(CT) in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up(CU) and saw three men(CV) standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.(CW)
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,(CX) my lord,[i] do not pass your servant(CY) by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet(CZ) and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat,(DA) so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[j] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”(DB)
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf(DC) and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds(DD) and milk(DE) and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them.(DF) While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?”(DG) they asked him.
“There, in the tent,(DH)” he said.
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,(DI) and Sarah your wife will have a son.”(DJ)
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old,(DK) and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.(DL) 12 So Sarah laughed(DM) to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord(DN) is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’(DO) 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?(DP) I will return to you at the appointed time next year,(DQ) and Sarah will have a son.”(DR)
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.(A) If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.(B)
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing(D) in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father,(E) who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling(F) like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.(G) 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need(H) before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father(I) in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom(J) come,
your will be done,(K)
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.(L)
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.(M)
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a](N)
but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’(O)
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.(P) 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.(Q)
16 “When you fast,(R) do not look somber(S) as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.(T)
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,(V) where moths and vermin destroy,(W) and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,(X) where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.(Y) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.(Z)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.(AA)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Lord my God, I take refuge(B) in you;
save and deliver me(C) from all who pursue me,(D)
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion(E)
and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue(F) me.
3 Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands(G)—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause(H) have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake(I) me;
let him trample my life to the ground(J)
and make me sleep in the dust.[c](K)
6 Arise,(L) Lord, in your anger;
rise up against the rage of my enemies.(M)
Awake,(N) my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
while you sit enthroned over them on high.(O)
8 Let the Lord judge(P) the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,(Q)
according to my integrity,(R) O Most High.(S)
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure—(T)
you, the righteous God(U)
who probes minds and hearts.(V)
10 My shield[d](W) is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.(X)
11 God is a righteous judge,(Y)
a God who displays his wrath(Z) every day.
12 If he does not relent,(AA)
he[e] will sharpen his sword;(AB)
he will bend and string his bow.(AC)
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.(AD)
14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
conceives trouble and gives birth(AE) to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit(AF) they have made.(AG)
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
their violence comes down on their own heads.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;(AH)
I will sing the praises(AI) of the name of the Lord Most High.(AJ)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
2 My son,(A) if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding(B)—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight(C)
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,(D)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(E)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
5 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. 6 But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. 7 So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
8 Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. 12 So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. 13 But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord.
14 After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. 15 I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants[a] as a permanent possession. 16 And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! 17 Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the Lord.
14 About this time war broke out in the region. King Amraphel of Babylonia,[b] King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim 2 fought against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar).
3 This second group of kings joined forces in Siddim Valley (that is, the valley of the Dead Sea[c]). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to King Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.
5 One year later Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived and defeated the Rephaites at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites at Ham, the Emites at Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites at Mount Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (now called Kadesh) and conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites living in Hazazon-tamar.
8 Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea.[d] 9 They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains. 11 The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies. 12 They also captured Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned.
13 But one of Lot’s men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram’s allies.
14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15 There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.
17 After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High,[e] brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered.”
22 Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I solemnly swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept only what my young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of the goods to my allies—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.”
15 Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”
8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?”
9 The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.”
17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt[f] to the great Euphrates River— 19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
27 “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your eye—even your good eye[b]—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand[c]—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
31 “You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’[d] 32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.
33 “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’[e] 34 But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. 35 And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. 37 Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.
38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’[f] 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile,[g] carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.
43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[h] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![i] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends,[j] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
1 O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your rage.
2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 I am sick at heart.
How long, O Lord, until you restore me?
4 Return, O Lord, and rescue me.
Save me because of your unfailing love.
5 For the dead do not remember you.
Who can praise you from the grave?[b]
6 I am worn out from sobbing.
All night I flood my bed with weeping,
drenching it with my tears.
7 My vision is blurred by grief;
my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.
8 Go away, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord will answer my prayer.
10 May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.
May they suddenly turn back in shame.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
29 For they hated knowledge
and chose not to fear the Lord.
30 They rejected my advice
and paid no attention when I corrected them.
31 Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
choking on their own schemes.
32 For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
33 But all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
11 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia[a] and settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel,[b] because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
10 This is the account of Shem’s family.
Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of[c] Arphaxad. 11 After the birth of[d] Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13 After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.[e]
14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. 15 After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. 17 After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. 19 After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. 21 After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. 23 After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25 After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. 29 Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.) 30 But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.
31 One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. 32 Terah lived for 205 years[f] and died while still in Haran.
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.[g]” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. 9 Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.
10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
14 And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. 15 When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. 16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!” 20 Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.
13 So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned. 2 (Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.) 3 From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before. 4 This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
5 One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, 2 and he began to teach them.
3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,[a]
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,[b]
for they will be satisfied.
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’[c] 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone,[d] you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot,[e] you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone,[f] you are in danger of the fires of hell.[g]
23 “So if you are presenting a sacrifice[h] at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
25 “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.[i]
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
1 O Lord, hear me as I pray;
pay attention to my groaning.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I pray to no one but you.
3 Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
4 O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;
you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
5 Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence,
for you hate all who do evil.
6 You will destroy those who tell lies.
The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.
7 Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.
8 Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.
9 My enemies cannot speak a truthful word.
Their deepest desire is to destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with flattery.[a]
10 O God, declare them guilty.
Let them be caught in their own traps.
Drive them away because of their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them,
that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
12 For you bless the godly, O Lord;
you surround them with your shield of love.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
24 “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
25 You ignored my advice
and rejected the correction I offered.
26 So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,
and anguish and distress overwhelm you.
28 “When they cry for help, I will not answer.
Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
8 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede. 2 The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped. 3 So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth. After 150 days, 4 exactly five months from the time the flood began,[a] the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 Two and a half months later,[b] as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible.
6 After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat 7 and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. 8 He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. 10 After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. 11 This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. 12 He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back.
13 Noah was now 601 years old. On the first day of the new year, ten and a half months after the flood began,[c] the floodwaters had almost dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the covering of the boat and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 Two more months went by,[d] and at last the earth was dry!
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. 17 Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.”
18 So Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives left the boat. 19 And all of the large and small animals and birds came out of the boat, pair by pair.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.[e] 21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. 22 As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. 2 All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. 4 But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.
5 “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. 6 If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings[f] in his own image. 7 Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”
8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9 “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10 and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11 Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) 19 From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth.
20 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 21 One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.
24 When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. 25 Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham:
“May Canaan be cursed!
May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”
26 Then Noah said,
“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be blessed,
and may Canaan be his servant!
27 May God expand the territory of Japheth!
May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem,[g]
and may Canaan be his servant.”
28 Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood. 29 He lived 950 years, and then he died.
10 This is the account of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah. Many children were born to them after the great flood.
2 The descendants of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
3 The descendants of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 The descendants of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.[h] 5 Their descendants became the seafaring peoples that spread out to various lands, each identified by its own language, clan, and national identity.
6 The descendants of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
7 The descendants of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, who was the first heroic warrior on earth. 9 Since he was the greatest hunter in the world,[i] his name became proverbial. People would say, “This man is like Nimrod, the greatest hunter in the world.” 10 He built his kingdom in the land of Babylonia,[j] with the cities of Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh. 11 From there he expanded his territory to Assyria,[k] building the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12 and Resen (the great city located between Nineveh and Calah).
13 Mizraim was the ancestor of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites, and the Caphtorites, from whom the Philistines came.[l]
15 Canaan’s oldest son was Sidon, the ancestor of the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Hittites,[m] 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The Canaanite clans eventually spread out, 19 and the territory of Canaan extended from Sidon in the north to Gerar and Gaza in the south, and east as far as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha.
20 These were the descendants of Ham, identified by clan, language, territory, and national identity.
21 Sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth.[n] Shem was the ancestor of all the descendants of Eber.
22 The descendants of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
23 The descendants of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,[o] and Shelah was the father of Eber.
25 Eber had two sons. The first was named Peleg (which means “division”), for during his lifetime the people of the world were divided into different language groups. His brother’s name was Joktan.
26 Joktan was the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were descendants of Joktan. 30 The territory they occupied extended from Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern mountains.
31 These were the descendants of Shem, identified by clan, language, territory, and national identity.
32 These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 13 He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali,
beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River,
in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,
16 the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
a light has shined.”[a]
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[b]”
18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
23 Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 24 News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. 25 Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns,[c] Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
1 Answer me when I call to you,
O God who declares me innocent.
Free me from my troubles.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people ruin my reputation?
How long will you make groundless accusations?
How long will you continue your lies? Interlude
3 You can be sure of this:
The Lord set apart the godly for himself.
The Lord will answer when I call to him.
4 Don’t sin by letting anger control you.
Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude
5 Offer sacrifices in the right spirit,
and trust the Lord.
6 Many people say, “Who will show us better times?”
Let your face smile on us, Lord.
7 You have given me greater joy
than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
20 Wisdom shouts in the streets.
She cries out in the public square.
21 She calls to the crowds along the main street,
to those gathered in front of the city gate:
22 “How long, you simpletons,
will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
How long will you fools hate knowledge?
23 Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
and make you wise.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
It’s a beautiful book containing some of the most heartfelt poetry and musical poetry ever written and every emotion that we explore in our human experience is explored in the Psalms. There are like heart cries that are so passionate and broken, it’s like hard, it’s hard to believe that they came from thousands of years ago because they feel so immediate, we know what that feels like. And they bridge the gap of time, and we realize that the human heart and the things that we go through are the same. We’re wearing different clothes and using different technology, but the things that go on inside of us are the same. And we’ll also see these mountaintop experiences of absolute tangible presence of God in the Psalms. David, who we haven’t met yet, he’s a king of Israel. And we’ll get to know him really, really well, as we move forward. He was a master musician and so most of the Psalms were penned by him, and even though we’ll get a pretty good biographical sketch of King David as…as we move forward, his heart is really exposed in his art and his craft in the way that he expresses himself. But there are other writers in Psalms too: Solomon, the sons of Kora, Asaph, Ethan and then there are a number of anonymously written or unknown authors that are in the Psalms. But ultimately the purpose of the Psalms is to bring the people together and give them language and to enrich their worship experience and the songs that would’ve been song in the public and in their private homes as they went around and did their business and went about their daily lives. And they’re collected together, and they’ve stood the test of time, and we sing and quote from them now. They’re power is unmatched, it’s some of the beautiful, most beautiful literature in all of the world. Scholars think that Psalms were written over, like a long period of time, maybe from about a thousand years before Christ, until maybe about a hundred and 70 years after. Three different periods in Israel are covered, the first would be during the reign of David and Solomon, which we’ll read, all of their poetry. The second would contain songs written when the children of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon and getting very close up story, picture of that, that exile when we get there. And then the third section would be writings from when they were able to leave exile and return to their land and rebuild. So, we have a large time span, different cultural points in their existence, but the Psalms are cohesive in their purpose: to bring glory and honor to God in authentic, heartfelt way and every conceivable situation that we face in life. So, we started the Psalms a couple days ago, now we’re moving into them. Today we will read Psalm chapter 3, a Psalm of David, regarding the time David fled from his son Absalom.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the first few days, we have a bit of a context for the stories that are unfolding in front of us in the different sections of the Bible. Yesterday, in Genesis, we learned about the fall of mankind from a place of perfection. What we would know as shalom or peace and wholeness, the way things are supposed to be with complete intimacy…intimacy with God. We watched murder, we watched death come into the story. Things that we were never supposed to experience. So, in Genesis today, we jump a thousand years into the future, and we saw how devastating the results had become. The human race had become so corrupted that they were acting like animals with only evil intentions. So much so that God’s heart is broken, and He regretted making them. To see us so far from what the plan was, to see us so far from the perfection that He had made and the intimacy that He had offered, it grieved him. But then we met Noah, the one righteous man. And we saw this thread of redemption start to pull its way into the Bible right here. And this thread of redemption weaves its way through the rest of the Bible. We saw the earth being reset in a great flood.
And as we’re reading in the gospel of Matthew, we’re meeting Jesus. And so, we followed him as he went into the wilderness because we had met John the Baptist and Jesus was baptized. So, we saw Jesus go into the wilderness where He is tempted by the evil one. And while in the… in the wilderness the evil one was tempting Jesus with an invitation to not go through with His mission. So, basically take the easy way out. I’ll give You everything You came here to get. All You have to do is bow down and worship me. We understand what’s going on here though. We just read about Adam and Eve right, just a couple days ago. And they were perfect. There was nothing bad going on and then they rebelled right. We haven’t seen a perfect person upon the earth until now, here in the gospel of Matthew, we’re looking at Jesus, the first perfect person to be upon the earth since Adam, which is why we’ll find Jesus called the second Adam in Scripture. He is a perfect representation of how things were supposed to be. If we remember in the garden of Eden, there was a tremendous deception. What we’re watching in the Gospel of Matthew is this same sort of humanity distorting, temptation and deception being put before Jesus. But we’re just seeing Jesus make a different choice. He stayed true. He was faithful and loyal to the Father. He rebuked the evil one and sent him away. All we have to do though friends is understand that’s not just Jesus, that we are confronting similar deceptions and distortions of who we are and what we are every day. And we’ll either respond like Adam and hide right, Adam and Eve and be naked and ashamed and hiding, or like Jesus and casting away, turning away from what will distort us and deceive us and ruin us. Each day we…we have plenty of forbidden fruit right, and all sorts of various shapes and sizes and in all kinds of categories. We have forbidden fruit. Or we can know God. Right, we can have our knowledge, or we can have God and walk with Him and live with Him intimately in every thought and word and deed. And so, that might be a big thing to think about for life but what about just like today. Is it forbidden fruit today or is it to know God today. And we can make that choice and see how things play out.
Prayer:
And Father, we invite You into that. Come near to us, Holy Spirit and allow us to see the truth before us, allow us to see the path that we are walking. Show us where that is leading. Help us to find the narrow path that leads to life. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, it’s the website. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app does that and much more. It puts it in the palm of your hand. So, just search for Daily Audio Bible at the App Store that works with your device and jump in from there. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources for our journey that we are on. Check out the Community Section. This is where to get connected and it’s also where the Prayer Wall lives. So, get familiar with that. It is a resource always available to us around the Global Campfire here.
And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. If this mission that we share to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day, and offered freely to anybody who will listen, wherever they may be on this planet, or wherever they may be in their lives, and to build community around the rhythm of just showing up here each day to take another step forward. If that is life-giving to you, then thank you, humbly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, TN 37174.
And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.
And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Genesis 5:1-7:24, Matthew 3:7-4:11, Psalm 3:1-8, Proverbs 1:10-19
Today is the third day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is wonderful to be here with you as we take our third step. We got 362 more steps after this to get our way through the year together in community, and all the way through the Bible, but we’re here and we’re in a great part of the story where everything begins to unfold for us. So, let’s dive in and take that next step forward, that will lead us back into the book of Genesis. And today we will read Genesis 5, 6 and 7.
Introduction to the Book of Psalms:
Okay, that brings us to our reading from the Psalms today, and like we said on day one, we’re kind of moving in here this first week. Just getting acclimated, getting used to, sort of the rhythm of things. And so, we started in the Old Testament in Genesis, and we talked about that. And then we talked about Matthew yesterday, because we’re in the gospel of Matthew. So, let’s talk about the Psalms today. The Hebrew word for Psalms is Tehillim, which means praises. And what we read when we’re reading from the Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and hymns and different congregational singings and individual songs and poems of worship. It's…it’s basically five books in one and they’re classified by who wrote them or the theme or the purpose of their use. Some of them give praise to God. Others speak of God and His character or His abilities and actions. Some are songs of repentance and lament, others are songs of thanksgiving, some are songs of the sense to go up to Jerusalem and worship. No matter what the circumstance, the book of Psalms is meant to bring praise and glory, adoration, reverence, honor to God in all of the circumstances of our lives, whatever it is that we’re facing, even if we’re crying out in anguish, there’s language for this, purpose for this. And that is found in Psalms.
5 This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings,[a] he made them to be like himself. 2 He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”
3 When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth. 4 After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5 Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.
6 When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of[b] Enosh. 7 After the birth of[c] Enosh, Seth lived another 807 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 8 Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.
9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the father of Kenan. 10 After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 11 Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.
12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he became the father of Mahalalel. 13 After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan lived another 840 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.
15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became the father of Jared. 16 After the birth of Jared, Mahalalel lived another 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 17 Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.
18 When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch. 19 After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 20 Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived 365 years, 24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.
25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 27 Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.
28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son. 29 Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief[d] from our work and the painful labor of farming this ground that the Lord has cursed.” 30 After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived another 595 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 31 Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.
32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6 Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of God saw the beautiful women[e] and took any they wanted as their wives. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with[f] humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”
4 In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.
5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.
9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. 10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. 13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!
14 “Build a large boat[g] from cypress wood[h] and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.[i] 16 Leave an 18-inch opening[j] below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.
17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”
22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
7 When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. 2 Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice,[k] and take one pair of each of the others. 3 Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. 4 Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”
5 So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. 7 He went on board the boat to escape the flood—he and his wife and his sons and their wives. 8 With them were all the various kinds of animals—those approved for eating and for sacrifice and those that were not—along with all the birds and the small animals that scurry along the ground. 9 They entered the boat in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
11 When Noah was 600 years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the underground waters erupted from the earth, and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 12 The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights.
13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.
17 For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. 18 As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. 19 Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, 20 rising more than twenty-two feet[l] above the highest peaks. 21 All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. 22 Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. 23 God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. 24 And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize,[a] he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9 Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 10 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize with[b] water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.[c] 12 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.[d]” So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened[e] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3 During that time the devil[f] came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[g]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[h]”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[i]”
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’[j]”
11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
1 O Lord, I have so many enemies;
so many are against me.
2 So many are saying,
“God will never rescue him!” Interlude[a]
3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
4 I cried out to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy mountain. Interlude
5 I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the Lord was watching over me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies
who surround me on every side.
7 Arise, O Lord!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people. Interlude
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
10 My child, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them!
11 They may say, “Come and join us.
Let’s hide and kill someone!
Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!
12 Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave[a];
let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.
13 Think of the great things we’ll get!
We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.
14 Come, throw in your lot with us;
we’ll all share the loot.”
15 My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths.
16 They rush to commit evil deeds.
They hurry to commit murder.
17 If a bird sees a trap being set,
it knows to stay away.
18 But these people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Genesis 1:1-2:25, Matthew 1:1-2:12, Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 1:1-6
Today is the first day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is awesome to be here with you today, as we gather around a place that we will gather for the next 365 days around the Global Campfire, where we gather in a nice, peaceful, oasis each day, to allow the Scriptures to kind of wash into our lives, orient us to God, and give us the direction and clarity that we need. Sometimes that is the rescue that we need. Sometimes it is the word that we need. Sometimes it is the correction that we need, but it will always be what we need. So, it is great to be here with you today, as we embark on our 19th voyage around the sun, our 19th voyage through the Bible together. This begins year 19 of the Daily Audio Bible. So, that is exciting. It is exciting to be here with you, those of you who have been here all these years, those of you who’ve been here for maybe half of these years, those of you who have been here for a year and those of you who are brand-new today, welcome to the family. Over the next couple of months, as we can settle into the rhythm here, we will become that, a community, a family showing up for each other every day, loving one another, praying for one another and involving ourselves in each other’s stories, as we find our story in the Bible. So, how this works, if this is brand-new for you, is that we will read a little bit of the Old Testament, a little bit of the New Testament. We’ll read from the Psalms and we’ll read from the Proverbs each day and we will make our way through the entire Bible, reading every book, every chapter, every verse as we move through and there’s so much treasure for life out in front of us and we need to dive in. We need to set sail or whatever it is, we’ve all landed here. Here we are. So, let’s begin.
Introduction to the Book of Genesis:
And obviously we have to begin every story at the beginning, and that’s how the story begins in the book of Genesis, that we will begin in a minute. In the beginning and it’s an important first step to us because it gives us the orientation about where we’ve come from and the context that we need to observe our lives and understand where it’s going. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and that will launch us into this adventure. And we’ll travel through all the miles. We’re gonna meet so many fascinating people who will become friends of ours, our spiritual ancestors, their stories and their hearts will be revealed to us, and we’ll find ourselves in their stories. And since we’re about to begin, we need to orient ourselves to the territory that we encounter in the Old Testament. When we think about the book of Genesis, normally we think about the creation story. The irony is that Genesis covers more time than any other book in the Bible. So, there’s the creation story and then about 2500 years pass within the pages of Genesis, which is more time than the rest of the Old Testament combined. So, as we begin Genesis, we have these first 11 chapters and we cover a couple thousand years and a couple thousand miles and then we’ll slow things down and we’ll meet specific generations of people and it’s the family that we watch get shaped in the book of Genesis that influences the rest of the Bible and influences our world until today. And then also, Genesis is a part of a larger grouping of writings that encompass the first five books of the Bible. That’s Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And this grouping is called the Torah. And so, we are beginning with the Torah or the Pentateuch, right now as we begin Genesis chapters 1 and two today.
Commentary:
Okay, so, this is day one of 365 days. And we’re just getting going and so, we talked about the book of Genesis. We probably noticed that we started four books, today, Matthew, Psalms and Proverbs as well. And it would just be a really, really long thing to try to orient ourselves to everything we’re reading all at once. And so, tomorrow we’ll talk about Matthew, just give ourselves little birds eye view of what reading in Matthew. And then we’ll do the Psalms and then we’ll do the Proverbs. And after a couple days here, we’ll be moved in and we’ll be kind of out into the deep and setting sail. And we’ll just get oriented to the community here and all that’s going on over the next few days. But on this first day, as we read in the beginning, we see that God was careful and intentional with His creation, and that our experience as human beings have been fashioned after the image of God. And that the life source within us is from the breath of God Himself. So, according to the Scriptures, we’re being told that this just didn’t all just happen by chance, this happened with intentionality. Each of us are supposed to be here. We each bare the image of God, who is, is intertwined as we’ll see from the Scriptures, so deeply intertwined with our story, that it’s deeper than cells and atoms. And also also, as we’re reading today, we got this amazing, rare view that will not last all the way. Like tomorrow, it’s all going to change. And so, today, on day one, we get this rare view of how things were supposed to be for us. How humans were supposed to be before the story got shifted, a perfect world, perfect people, created in God’s image. So, if we just take a small step back and look around us, then we get this sobering sense that the story somehow shifted over the last several thousand years. And we will get to that over the next few days.
Prayer:
But Father, we thank You for Your word, we invite Your Holy Spirit into this year, into every day, every verse, everything that we do and say, we invite You to lead us into all truth. This is what we have come for, to surrender, to orient ourselves to You, to get clarity and to fall in love with You, as You have loved us. So, come Holy Spirit into this year, into this community. Hover over us, lead us in the way that we should go. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
Alright, so dailyaudiobible.com is the website, that’s where you can find out what is going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app is also available, and you can download that from whatever app store works with your device, just search for Daily Audio Bible, put that on your phone and you can kind of track your progress. All kinds of things are in the app, so check that out and stay connected.
There are places to get connected when you go to the website or the app. One of those is the Community Section, and I’ll talk about that today. The Community Section is definitely where you can get connected on social media, but it is also the place where a very unique thing to this community lives and it’s called the Prayer Wall. And that is always there and it is always on and always available. So, as we begin our journey through the year, we always have a place to reach, we’re not alone. And if the bottom falls out, we can go and share our story, and our brothers and sisters will come around us and encourage and pray for us. And if we are having a mountaintop experience and we remember what the deep valleys feel like, we can go pray for those who are in the valleys, holding each other up, building each other up, loving each other. As we literally stay on the same page as a community, because we’re going through the Bible, and that’s what we’re here to do and that’s pretty much what we do. And so, get connected, stay connected in any way that you can, in any way that you will.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, and thank you, profoundly for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. So, thank you for that.
And let’s just take a deep breath, here we are. We have just left the dock like, we can still see the land if we go out and look. We’ll be out in the deep soon enough, where we won’t see land for a long time, but we’re just leaving on this journey. And it’s gonna be, it’s going to be amazing because the Scriptures are alive, they tell us they’re alive and sharper than any two-edged sword, and that is true, they will become a mirror. They will force us to face ourselves and that is what we need, to face ourselves. We can go through the Scriptures and look at what everybody else should be doing, until we realize oh, this is about me. I should be making these changes. So, the Bible will challenge us to grow and so, I give the challenge on the 1st of January, go look in the mirror, give a good long look. Really look at yourself until maybe you want to look away. Just see where you are today, because this is where you are today. But if every day is immersed in the Scriptures, if you take that one-year journey every day, when we get to December 31st which was like yesterday. When we get there this year, you can look in the mirror again, and you will be looking at a different person. You will be shocked at how things have changed in the way that you view the world and your place in it. And so, I encourage you, buckle up. This is the adventure of a lifetime and I’m excited to be here. And it really doesn’t matter where you are or where you are in life. You may think I’m here, like I’m around a bunch of spiritual people. You’re not. Some people have been believers and reading the Bible for their entire lives, and some of you have just stumbled here. You’re so hung over from last night, you can’t believe what you’ve done. You can’t live with yourself as you go into the new year. So, you stumbled here looking for God for something, for someone, somewhere, for some kind of clarity. That’s great, you’re right where you’re supposed to be. Welcome to the family. All of us are absolutely, completely broken and we’ve come here because these words show us that there is a path to wholeness, and it doesn’t have to stay this way. And it doesn’t have to be this way. And so, let’s lock arms, let’s lock hands, let’s lock hearts, and let’s do this together. We don’t have to stay where we are. We can go forward from here, into a life that is beyond imaginable.