A Walk Through The Word

April 1, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday April 1, 2018 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 18-20

Provision for Priests and Levites

18 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, ^(A)shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They ^(B)shall eat the Lord's food offerings^[a] as their^[b] inheritance. ²They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. ³And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: ^(C)they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. ⁴^(D)The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. ⁵For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes ^(E)to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.

⁶“And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, ^(F)where he lives—and he may come when he desires^[c]—^(G)to the place that the Lord will choose, ⁷and ministers in the name of the Lord his God, ^(H)like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord, ⁸then he may have equal ^(I)portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.^[d]

Abominable Practices

⁹“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^(J)you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. ¹⁰There shall not be found among you anyone ^(K)who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,^[e] anyone who ^(L)practices divination or ^(M)tells fortunes or interprets omens, or ^(N)a sorcerer ¹¹or a charmer or ^(O)a medium or a necromancer or ^(P)one who inquires of the dead, ¹²^(Q)for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And ^(R)because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. ¹³You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, ¹⁴for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

A New Prophet like Moses

¹⁵^(S)“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb ^(T)on the day of the assembly, when you said, ^(U)‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷And the Lord said to me, ^(V)‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸^(W)I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. ^(X)And I will put my words in his mouth, and ^(Y)he shall speak to them all that I command him. ¹⁹^(Z)And whoever will ^(AA)not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. ²⁰^(AB)But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or^[f] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ ²¹And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— ²²^(AC)when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; ^(AD)the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

19 “When ^(AE)the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, ²^(AF)you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. ³You shall measure the distances^[g] and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.

⁴“This is the provision for ^(AG)the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— ⁵as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, ⁶lest ^(AH)the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. ⁷Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. ⁸^(AI)And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, ^(AJ)as he has sworn to your fathers, and ^(AK)gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— ⁹provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—^(AL)then you shall add three other cities to these three, ¹⁰lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

¹¹“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him ^(AM)and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, ¹²then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. ¹³^(AN)Your eye shall not pity him, ^(AO)but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood^[h] from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

Property Boundaries

¹⁴^(AP)“You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

¹⁵“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. ^(AQ)Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. ¹⁶If ^(AR)a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, ¹⁷then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, ^(AS)before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. ¹⁸The judges shall ^(AT)inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, ¹⁹^(AU)then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil^[i] from your midst. ²⁰And the rest ^(AV)shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. ²¹^(AW)Your eye shall not pity. ^(AX)It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Laws Concerning Warfare

20 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see ^(AY)horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is ^(AZ)with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. ²And when you draw near to the battle, ^(BA)the priest shall come forward and speak to the people ³and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, ⁴for the Lord your God is he who goes with you ^(BB)to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ ⁵Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. ⁶And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not ^(BC)enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. ⁷^(BD)And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ ⁸And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ^(BE)‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ ⁹And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.

¹⁰“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, ^(BF)offer terms of peace to it. ¹¹And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. ¹²But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. ¹³And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, ^(BG)you shall put all its males to the sword, ¹⁴^(BH)but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you ^(BI)shall take as plunder for yourselves. And ^(BJ)you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. ¹⁵Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. ¹⁶But ^(BK)in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, ¹⁷but ^(BL)you shall devote them to complete destruction,^[j] the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, ¹⁸that ^(BM)they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you ^(BN)sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, ^(BO)you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? ²⁰Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the Lord
Deuteronomy 18:1 Hebrew his
Deuteronomy 18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically
Deuteronomy 18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Deuteronomy 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire
Deuteronomy 18:20 Or and
Deuteronomy 19:3 Hebrew road
Deuteronomy 19:13 Or the blood of the innocent
Deuteronomy 19:19 Or evil person
Deuteronomy 20:17 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Luke 9:28-50

The Transfiguration

²⁸^(A)Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^(B)Peter and John and James and ^(C)went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^(D)altered, and ^(E)his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,^[a] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and those who were with him ^(F)were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^(G)they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(H)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—^(I)not knowing what he said. ³⁴As he was saying these things, ^(J)a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And ^(K)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, ^(L)my Chosen One;^[b] ^(M)listen to him!” ³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^(N)And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

³⁷^(O)On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for ^(P)he is my only child. ³⁹And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. ⁴⁰And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but ^(Q)they could not.” ⁴¹Jesus answered, “O ^(R)faithless and twisted generation, ^(S)how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus ^(T)rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and ^(U)gave him back to his father. ⁴³And all were astonished at ^(V)the majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^(W)But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus^[c] said ^(X)to his disciples, ⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: ^(Y)The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵^(Z)But they did not understand this saying, and ^(AA)it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

⁴⁶^(AB)An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸and said to them, ^(AC)“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^(AD)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^(AE)he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

⁴⁹^(AF)John answered, “Master, we saw someone ^(AG)casting out demons in your name, and ^(AH)we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ^(AI)for the one who is not against you is for you.”

Footnotes:

Luke 9:31 Greek exodus
Luke 9:35 Some manuscripts my Beloved
Luke 9:43 Greek he

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 73

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

73 Truly God is good to ^(B)Israel,
to those who are ^(C)pure in heart.
²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
³^(D)For I was ^(E)envious of the arrogant
when I saw the ^(F)prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not ^(G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶Therefore pride is ^(H)their necklace;
violence covers them as ^(I)a garment.
⁷Their ^(J)eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸They scoff and ^(K)speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find ^(L)no fault in them.^[a]
¹¹And they say, ^(M)“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹²Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they ^(N)increase in riches.
¹³All in vain have I ^(O)kept my heart clean
and ^(P)washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴For all the day long I have been ^(Q)stricken
and ^(R)rebuked ^(S)every morning.
¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed ^(T)the generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me ^(U)a wearisome task,
¹⁷until I went into ^(V)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their ^(W)end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in ^(X)slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹How they are destroyed ^(Y)in a moment,
swept away utterly by ^(Z)terrors!
²⁰Like ^(AA)a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when ^(AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
²²I was ^(AC)brutish and ignorant;
I was like ^(AD)a beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you ^(AE)hold my right hand.
²⁴You ^(AF)guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will ^(AG)receive me to glory.
²⁵^(AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
²⁶^(AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is ^(AJ)the strength^[b] of my heart and my ^(AK)portion ^(AL)forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are ^(AM)far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is ^(AN)unfaithful to you.
²⁸But for me it is good to ^(AO)be near God;
I have made the Lord God my ^(AP)refuge,
that I may ^(AQ)tell of all your works.

Footnotes:

Psalm 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them
Psalm 73:26 Hebrew rock

Cross references:

Psalm 73:1 : See Ps. 50, title
Psalm 73:1 : John 1:47
Psalm 73:1 : See Ps. 24:4
Psalm 73:3 : See Job 21:7
Psalm 73:3 : Ps. 37:1; Prov. 23:17
Psalm 73:3 : [Ps. 37:7; 92:7; Jer. 12:1]
Psalm 73:5 : [Isa. 53:4]
Psalm 73:6 : [Judg. 8:26]
Psalm 73:6 : [Ps. 109:18]
Psalm 73:7 : See Job 15:27
Psalm 73:8 : [2 Pet. 2:18; Jude 16]
Psalm 73:10 : [Job 15:16]
Psalm 73:11 : See Job 22:13
Psalm 73:12 : [ver. 3]
Psalm 73:13 : [ver. 1]; See Job 34:9
Psalm 73:13 : See Ps. 26:6
Psalm 73:14 : [See ver. 5 above]; [Isa. 53:4]
Psalm 73:14 : Rev. 3:19
Psalm 73:14 : [Ps. 101:8]
Psalm 73:15 : [Ps. 14:5]
Psalm 73:16 : Eccles. 8:17
Psalm 73:17 : Ps. 20:2
Psalm 73:17 : Ps. 37:38
Psalm 73:18 : Ps. 35:6
Psalm 73:19 : [Num. 16:21]
Psalm 73:19 : See Job 18:11
Psalm 73:20 : See Job 20:8
Psalm 73:20 : Ps. 78:65
Psalm 73:22 : See Ps. 49:10
Psalm 73:22 : Job 18:3; [Job 11:12]
Psalm 73:23 : Ps. 63:8; [Ps. 41:12]
Psalm 73:24 : Ps. 32:8
Psalm 73:24 : See Ps. 49:15
Psalm 73:25 : Ps. 16:2; [Phil. 3:8]
Psalm 73:26 : Ps. 40:12; See Ps. 84:2
Psalm 73:26 : Ps. 18:2
Psalm 73:26 : See Ps. 16:5
Psalm 73:26 : [Dan. 12:3]
Psalm 73:27 : Ps. 119:155
Psalm 73:27 : Ps. 106:39; Ex. 34:15; Num. 15:39; James 4:4
Psalm 73:28 : James 4:8; [Heb. 10:22]
Psalm 73:28 : See Ps. 14:6
Psalm 73:28 : See Ps. 118:17

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 12:10

¹⁰^(A)Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

Cross references:

Proverbs 12:10 : [Deut. 25:4]

English Standard Version (ESV)

April 1, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday April 1, 2018 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 18-20

Provision for Priests and Levites

Abominable Practices

A New Prophet like Moses

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

Property Boundaries

¹⁴^(AP)“You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

Laws Concerning Warfare

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the Lord
Deuteronomy 18:1 Hebrew his
Deuteronomy 18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically
Deuteronomy 18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Deuteronomy 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire
Deuteronomy 18:20 Or and
Deuteronomy 19:3 Hebrew road
Deuteronomy 19:13 Or the blood of the innocent
Deuteronomy 19:19 Or evil person
Deuteronomy 20:17 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Luke 9:28-50

The Transfiguration

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

Who Is the Greatest?

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

Footnotes:

Luke 9:31 Greek exodus
Luke 9:35 Some manuscripts my Beloved
Luke 9:43 Greek he

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 73

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me ^(U)a wearisome task,
¹⁷until I went into ^(V)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their ^(W)end.

Footnotes:

Psalm 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them
Psalm 73:26 Hebrew rock

Cross references:

Psalm 73:1 : See Ps. 50, title
Psalm 73:1 : John 1:47
Psalm 73:1 : See Ps. 24:4
Psalm 73:3 : See Job 21:7
Psalm 73:3 : Ps. 37:1; Prov. 23:17
Psalm 73:3 : [Ps. 37:7; 92:7; Jer. 12:1]
Psalm 73:5 : [Isa. 53:4]
Psalm 73:6 : [Judg. 8:26]
Psalm 73:6 : [Ps. 109:18]
Psalm 73:7 : See Job 15:27
Psalm 73:8 : [2 Pet. 2:18; Jude 16]
Psalm 73:10 : [Job 15:16]
Psalm 73:11 : See Job 22:13
Psalm 73:12 : [ver. 3]
Psalm 73:13 : [ver. 1]; See Job 34:9
Psalm 73:13 : See Ps. 26:6
Psalm 73:14 : [See ver. 5 above]; [Isa. 53:4]
Psalm 73:14 : Rev. 3:19
Psalm 73:14 : [Ps. 101:8]
Psalm 73:15 : [Ps. 14:5]
Psalm 73:16 : Eccles. 8:17
Psalm 73:17 : Ps. 20:2
Psalm 73:17 : Ps. 37:38
Psalm 73:18 : Ps. 35:6
Psalm 73:19 : [Num. 16:21]
Psalm 73:19 : See Job 18:11
Psalm 73:20 : See Job 20:8
Psalm 73:20 : Ps. 78:65
Psalm 73:22 : See Ps. 49:10
Psalm 73:22 : Job 18:3; [Job 11:12]
Psalm 73:23 : Ps. 63:8; [Ps. 41:12]
Psalm 73:24 : Ps. 32:8
Psalm 73:24 : See Ps. 49:15
Psalm 73:25 : Ps. 16:2; [Phil. 3:8]
Psalm 73:26 : Ps. 40:12; See Ps. 84:2
Psalm 73:26 : Ps. 18:2
Psalm 73:26 : See Ps. 16:5
Psalm 73:26 : [Dan. 12:3]
Psalm 73:27 : Ps. 119:155
Psalm 73:27 : Ps. 106:39; Ex. 34:15; Num. 15:39; James 4:4
Psalm 73:28 : James 4:8; [Heb. 10:22]
Psalm 73:28 : See Ps. 14:6
Psalm 73:28 : See Ps. 118:17

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 12:10

¹⁰^(A)Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

Cross references:

Proverbs 12:10 : [Deut. 25:4]

English Standard Version (ESV)

March 31, 2018

03/31/2018 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20, Luke 9:7-27, Psalms 72:1-20, Proverbs 12:8-9

Today is the 31^st day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and here we are at the end of another week. Today is known as Holy Saturday. Today is also Passover. It’s also the final day in the season of Lent. Today we’re…I mean…all of these days are days of contemplation, but this is a day where we consider Jesus body laying in a tomb, cold and dead, and how hopeless the world would be if that was the end of the story. And we consider how hopeless how black how dead our lives are without the rest of the story. Of course, I mentioned today is Passover. And we’re familiar with Passover, even as we move through the book of Deuteronomy and the children of Israel preparing to go into the promised land. That story started way, way, way back with a man named Abraham. But on Passover, this was the last day of slavery for the Hebrew people who were enslaved in Egypt. And the parallels to our own lives, last day of slavery to darkness for all who believe is very apparent. So, it is an important day of contemplation indeed. And one of the ways that we do this contemplation is keep the rhythm, keep the rhythm of the Scriptures alive in our hearts and lives and allow God to speak through His word every day. And, so, that’s what we’ll do. We’ve been reading from the Common English Bible this week. And, of course, today’s the last day of the week. Deuteronomy chapter 16 and 17 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another week in the rhythm the day by day brings us through the entirety of the Scriptures. And on this day we contemplate and we resettle our spirits in the fact that this day represents the last day of slavery and darkness. This being Passover commemorates the end of slavery for the children of Israel, whose story we’re immersed in the Scriptures. And this day represents the last day of hopeless separation from You. And, so, we once again immerse ourselves in the story. We once again consider what it cost to bring us such freedom and to offer the freedom so freely. We so easily take this for granted. We so easily participate and partake of the blessings and benefits while forgetting what it took to bring this to us. And, so, we use this time and we use this day to consider what it was like before we entered into this relationship, to consider how aimless, hopeless and dark things were for us. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to guide and lead our thoughts and musings today. Come, Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Commentary:

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And that’s it for today. I am Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello, good morning, this is James and I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible since 2012. And it’s really a blessing to me. So, the least expression is kind of like my church away from church. But, actually I’m experiencing some difficulties. Things have gone on in my life…decisions I make…and I’m actually reaping…I’m sure…consequences but at the same time I would just like to request prayer, that God will strengthen me and that he would help me in my time of need because I know there’s strength in prayer and when people are praying together. I listen to the people praying every day and I know that since there are people praying, one for another, I found myself praying for people who they had call in for prayer. And, so, now’s my time. And I’m asking the body of Christ to pray with me and that God get me through this issue, this dilemma that I’m facing. You know, it seems like it’s just lingering on. I don’t know how He’s gonna do it, I don’t need to know, I just need to be reinforced and strengthened and people praying with me. So, with that I’m just going to say thank you Brian, Jill for everything you guys are doing. Thank you for obeying God to this Daily Audio…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Christy in New York. I wanted to call in and Easter greetings. We all called in our Christmas greetings to each other, but, you know, Easter’s just, you know, victory, is just so exciting, it’s such a great celebration. So, I’m going to celebrate by singing this lovely United Methodist hymn:

[Singing]
Low in the grave He lay
Jesus my Savior!
Waiting the coming day
Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
[Singing stops]

Happy Easter family. Kristi in New York. Bye.

Hey what’s up everybody. It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa. The Lord has placed it on my heart to count down to Easter Sunday, to pray for us as a community and the church as we approach Sunday through this holy week. So, I’m praying on the morning of March 27^th. I invite you to pray with me. Jesus, you showed me in Your word this morning that not all who cry out Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And that such a haunting verse, it really is. And may it place a burden on our hearts as the church. And we pray for those that maybe for the first time this year, the first time in their lives, or maybe returning…I don’t know…the people that are coming to church that maybe they said Lord Lord with their lips but haven’t cried out in our hearts. Jesus capture hearts this weekend. Capture hearts on Easter. You show us in Your word that’s not even about doing miracles or performing works in your name, but it’s about having a foundation that’s you on the solid rock. Jesus lay new foundations this weekend. Lay the foundations on Easter 2018. We know that’s Your heart. We know that’s what You want to do. So, we stand before You as laborers asking to be sent to the harvest field. Praise be to the kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning DAB family. This is Paula calling from Albuquerque. I hope you all are doing well. Couple of things. Today is Tuesday 3/27/18. Sorry, looking at my computer. Couple of things. I just want to thank God for Melody Faith and for the anonymous caller…I…or at least didn’t get your name…calling in for the children, for our children. My son…I don’t know that it’s addiction so much but I just believe that he’s not facing what he needs to face. And, so, I had to ask for forgiveness after listening to Melody’s call this morning. She mentioned Ezekiel 36:26, I believe, about a new heart. And I know that, as parents, sometimes we do fall back into that and I got defensive and I…anyway…I had to ask for forgiveness for my reaction to him last night. So, thank you Melody and thank you for the anonymous caller who called in about our children. It was prayed yesterday. And just praising God for all the men and women that have been calling about their marriages and exposing that sin in their life and taking that power back from the evil one because I do believe that that is where that comes from when we continue to hold onto it. I love you all and I am praying for all of you as I listen. I just thank God for you. Have a great Holy Week and look forward to resurrection Sunday. Amen.

Good afternoon DAB family. It’s been a while since I’ve called. This is Richard, Strong in His Grace. I know some of you remember me, some of you are new. I had pneumonia back in February. That kind of threw me off of my Bible readings. But I just want to say that it doesn’t matter if you wake up at 4:30 and listen to DAB reading podcast. It doesn’t matter if you do it at 2 o’clock in the afternoon or at midnight. But just so that you get into the word. And, so, get the word and let it wash over your mind as the blessing you will get no matter what time of day it is. I know I beat myself up because I don’t wake up at 530 in the morning like I used to. And I was in the hospital and that kind of just threw everything off when I used to wake up at 530. But praise God that we can come together as a family and lift each other up. And I thank you Father for this glorious time and actually to lift up each member that You would touch them with the powerful anointing of Your Holy Spirit in Jesus name.

March 31, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday March 31, 2018 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 16-17

Passover celebration

16 Wait for the month of Abib,^[a] at which time you must perform the Passover for the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt at nighttime during the month of Abib. ²Offer a Passover sacrifice from the flock or herd to the Lord your God at the location the Lord selects for his name to reside. ³You must not eat anything containing yeast along with it.^[b] Instead, for seven days you must eat unleavened bread, bread symbolizing misery, along with it because you fled Egypt in a great hurry. Do this so you remember the day you fled Egypt for as long as you live. ⁴No dough with yeast should appear in any of your territory for seven days. Furthermore, none of the meat that you sacrificed on the first night should remain until morning. ⁵You are not permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice in any of the cities that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁶Instead, you must offer the Passover sacrifice at the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside, at evening time, when the sun sets, which was the time you fled Egypt. ⁷Cook it and eat it in the location that the Lord your God selects. The next morning you can return to your tents. ⁸For six days you will eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a celebration for the Lord your God. Don’t do any work.

Festival of Weeks

⁹Count out seven weeks, starting the count from the beginning of the grain harvest. ¹⁰At that point, perform the Festival of Weeks for the Lord your God. Offer a spontaneous gift in precise measure with the blessing the Lord your God gives you. ¹¹Then celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God—you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites who live in your cities, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—in the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. ¹²Remember how each of you was a slave in Egypt, so follow these regulations most carefully.

Festival of Booths

¹³Once you have collected the food and drink you need, perform the Festival of Booths for seven days. ¹⁴Celebrate your festival: you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who live in your cities. ¹⁵Seven days you must perform the festival for the Lord your God in the location the Lord selects because the Lord your God will bless you in all you do and in all your work. You will be overjoyed.

¹⁶Three times a year every male among you must appear before the presence of the Lord your God in the location he will select: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. They must not appear before the Lord’s presence empty-handed. ¹⁷Each one should have his gift in hand, in precise measure with the blessing the Lord your God gives you.

Judges and officials

¹⁸Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every city that the Lord your God gives you. They must judge the people fairly. ¹⁹Don’t delay justice; don’t show favoritism. Don’t take bribes because bribery blinds the vision of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰Righteousness! Pursue righteousness so that you live long and take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Rules for worship

²¹Don’t plant any tree to serve as a sacred pole^[c] next to the altar you make for the Lord your God. ²²Don’t set up any sacred stone either, because the Lord your God hates such things.

17 Don’t sacrifice to the Lord your God any oxen or sheep that have defects of any kind, because that is detestable to the Lord your God.

Capital punishment

²If someone, whether male or female, is found in your community—in one of the cities the Lord your God is giving you—who does evil in the Lord your God’s eyes, by breaking God’s covenant, ³by following and serving other gods, and by bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly bodies that I haven’t permitted— ⁴and you hear news about it, then you must look into this situation very carefully. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in Israel, ⁵then you must bring out the man or woman who has done this evil thing to the gates of the city. Stone that person until he or she is dead.

⁶Capital punishment must be decided by two or three witnesses. No one may be executed on the basis of only one testimony. ⁷In the execution, the hands of the witnesses must be against the guilty person from the start; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. Remove^[d] such evil from your community!

Legal disputes

⁸If some legal dispute in your cities is too difficult for you to decide—say, between different kinds of bloodshed, different kinds of legal ruling, or different kinds of injury—then take it to the location the Lord your God selects. ⁹Go to the levitical priests and to the head judge in office at that time and look into things there. They will announce to you the correct ruling. ¹⁰You must then act according to the ruling they announced to you from that location, the one the Lord selects. You must follow very carefully everything they instruct you to do. ¹¹Act precisely according to the instruction they give you and the ruling they announce to you. Don’t deviate even a bit from the word they announce. ¹²And whoever acts rashly by not listening to the priest who is in office serving the Lord your God or to the head judge will die. Remove^[e] such evil from Israel! ¹³All the people will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t act arrogantly anymore.

Law of the king

¹⁴Once you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you and you have taken possession of it and settled down in it, you might say: “Let’s appoint a king over us, as all our neighboring nations have done.” ¹⁵You can indeed appoint over you a king that the Lord your God selects. You can appoint over you a king who is one of your fellow Israelites. You are not allowed to appoint over you a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. ¹⁶That granted, the king must not acquire too many horses, and he must not return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, because the Lord told you: “You will never go back by that road again.” ¹⁷The king must not take numerous wives so that his heart doesn’t go astray. Nor can the king acquire too much silver and gold. ¹⁸Instead, when he sits on his royal throne, he himself must write a copy of this Instruction on a scroll in the presence of the levitical priests. ¹⁹That Instruction must remain with him, and he must read in it every day of his life so that he learns to revere the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this Instruction and these regulations, by doing them, ²⁰by not being overbearing toward his fellow Israelites, and by not deviating even a bit from the commandment. If the king does all that, he will ensure lasting rule in Israel for himself and for his successors.

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 16:1 March–April; called Nisan in post-exilic period
Deuteronomy 16:3 It, the Passover sacrifice
Deuteronomy 16:21 Heb asherah, perhaps an object devoted to the goddess Asherah
Deuteronomy 17:7 Or burn
Deuteronomy 17:12 Or burn

Common English Bible (CEB)

Luke 9:7-27

Herod’s confusion

⁷Herod the ruler^[a] heard about everything that was happening. He was confused because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. ⁹Herod said, “I beheaded John, so now who am I hearing about?” Herod wanted to see him.

Jesus feeds the five thousand

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they described for Jesus what they had done. Taking them with him, Jesus withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. ¹¹When the crowds figured it out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about God’s kingdom, and healed those who were sick.

¹²When the day was almost over, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in a deserted place.”

¹³He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

But they said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴(They said this because about five thousand men were present.)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Seat them in groups of about fifty.” ¹⁵They did so, and everyone was seated. ¹⁶He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷Everyone ate until they were full, and the disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftovers.

Following Christ

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”

²⁰He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ sent from God.”

²¹Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. ²²He said, “The Human One^[b] must suffer many things and be rejected—by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts—and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴ All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them. ²⁵ What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Human One^[c] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see God’s kingdom.”

Footnotes:

Luke 9:7 Or tetrarch
Luke 9:22 Or Son of Man
Luke 9:26 Or Son of Man

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

72 God, give your judgments to the king.
Give your righteousness to the king’s son.
²Let him judge your people with righteousness
and your poor ones with justice.
³Let the mountains bring peace to the people;
let the hills bring righteousness.
⁴Let the king bring justice to people who are poor;
let him save the children of those who are needy,
but let him crush oppressors!
⁵Let the king live^[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon,
generation to generation.
⁶Let him fall like rain upon fresh-cut grass,
like showers that water the earth.
⁷Let the righteous flourish throughout their lives,
and let peace prosper until the moon is no more.
⁸Let the king rule from sea to sea,
from the river to the ends of the earth.
⁹Let the desert dwellers bow low before him;
let his enemies lick the dust.
¹⁰Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute;
let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts.
¹¹Let all the kings bow down before him;
let all the nations serve him.

¹²Let it be so, because he delivers the needy who cry out,
the poor, and those who have no helper.
¹³He has compassion on the weak and the needy;
he saves the lives of those who are in need.
¹⁴He redeems their lives from oppression and violence;
their blood is precious in his eyes.

¹⁵Let the king live long!
Let Sheba’s gold be given to him!
Let him be prayed for always!
Let him be blessed all day long!
¹⁶Let there be abundant grain in the land.
Let it wave on the mountaintops.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon.
Let it thrive like grass on the land.
¹⁷Let the king’s name last forever.
Let his name endure as long as the sun.
Let all the nations be blessed through him and call him happy.

¹⁸Bless the Lord God, the God of Israel—
the only one who does wondrous things!
¹⁹Bless God’s glorious name forever;
let his glory fill all the earth!
Amen and Amen!

²⁰The prayers of David, Jesse’s son, are ended.

Footnotes:

Psalm 72:5 LXX; MT May they fear you.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 12:8-9

⁸A person is praised for his insight,
but a warped mind leads to contempt.
⁹Better to be held in low regard and have a servant
than to be conceited and lack food.

Common English Bible (CEB)

March 31, 2018

03/30/2018 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23, Luke 8:40-9:6, Psalms 71:1-24, Proverbs 12:5-7

Today is the 30^th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a pleasure to be here with you on this Good Friday, a day intended for some serious contemplation as we consider Jesus death on a cross on our behalf. And we’ll talk about that in a little bit, but one of the ways that we honor this is to immerse ourselves in God’s word each day. And, so, that’s exactly what we’ll do. We’ll take the next step forward. And we’ve been reading from the Common English Bible this week. Today, Deuteronomy chapter 13, 14, and 15.

Commentary:

Okay. It’s hard to reconcile what today represents, the crucifixion of Jesus, with what we read about in the gospel of Luke today with Jesus healing people, bringing life back to that which had died. It’s difficult to go from that to a naked savaged body hanging from a cross bleeding to death in agony, right? I mean, how could such good and at the hands of such evil? And yet, this picture shows us just how far we have fallen. That story that we read way back on just like the second day of this year, Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve and a deception that caused a rebellion that separated humanity and divinity. And we’ve been watching this unfold the whole year up to this point. And everything that we’ve read, we can easily say it was never supposed to be that way. It just wasn’t supposed to be that way. We were supposed to experience wholeness continuously in perfect alignment, in perfect intimacy with God. And we see God in the middle of all of the stories that we’ve read so far and we’ll see God in the middle of all the stories that we will read. He is ever present, attempting to lead people back. And over and over and over and over we see people taking different paths away from God and where those paths lead. And they lead us to this day. They lead us to this man hanging from a cross in agony, this person who was true and this person who called out for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear, to experience the truth. And the truth set people free and brought back to life where there was no life, and brought restoration were always devastated, but the truth could have unsettled everything around Him and was unsettling everything around Him. And, so we have the greatest irony, we have God’s people all the way up to the high priest in the temple of God Almighty, colluding with the very people that they wanted out of their land, right? The Roman people, colluding with them in order to extinguish this voice, this light, this truth. And we celebrate, you know, these days, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, this happens every year and we get all dressed up for church and wear our best and go to church on Sunday and rejoice that He is risen. And that’s good. It’s important that we do that because we’re celebrating the most monumental moment in human history. But it’s easy for us to just kind of move through the story. The way to really, really, access what’s going on is to try to put ourselves in the position of those who had been following along with Jesus, the oppressed, the hopeless, those who’d been hanging on to His words, those who would been moving toward the truth, those who had experienced restoration in His words and His deeds and His friends who had been with Him every step of the way, because even though Jesus had very clearly stated how this was going to go, they just did not fully understand the implications of what He was talking about. And, so, on this day that we commemorate this event, we put ourselves in their position, hearing the sharp thud of hammer on nail as it is driven through flash into wood, hearing agonizing cries from a human voice that had done nothing wrong. Watching a cross raised up for all to see. The awful price of rebellion against Rome and the price of blasphemy against God, if you can even imagine that. We have to put ourselves in the position of those who were nearby, watching from a distance and those who were close enough to talk to Jesus as he gasped for breath. His blood dripping and pooling at the base of the cross. We have to enter into their confusion. We have to watch their hope being erased as Jesus life drips away. We can’t just read this story or even consider this story and just skip to the end because were skipping all of the human points of it, we’re skipping all of the real gritty rawness of it. We just kind of cover it all over and give each other Easter eggs and its bigger than that. So many had put their hope and trust and faith in Jesus and had followed Him, many leaving everything behind to stay near Him. And it all comes down to this? These guys hadn’t celebrated this for years and years. They didn’t have an Easter Sunday. That hadn’t happened yet. Their watching their hope die along with the person that they had put their hope in, which is one of the things that makes this story so deeply compelling. And we find this theme over and over in the Scriptures, against all odds, when all hope seems to be lost rescue comes. So, on this day, Good Friday, we actually sit that. We put ourselves in that position, the position of confusion and hopelessness and sadness and disbelief that this could happen. We sit with the fact humanity had become so savage, so devolved, so fallen that it could not recognize God anymore. And all that was left was ritual and rules to follow that simply controlled people. And we can shake our heads. We can certainly shake our heads and say, I can’t believe this could even happen, because that’s what they would would’ve been doing, but what we’re seeing is the culmination of a human species trying to make life work devoid of God, separated apart from God. And it leads us to a cross where God is revealing His love and doing something remarkable. He’s taking all of the blackness, all of the darkness, all of the hatred, all of the envy, all of the jealousy, all of the conniving, all of the deceit, and rather than retaliating He’s sucking it out of the world. He’s taking it with Him into death, which makes Jesus words so much more meaningful - love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, if someone slaps you on one cheek turn to them the other also, if someone takes your coat do not withhold your shirt from them, give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you so not demand it back, do to others as you would have them do to you. We see this in stark reality when we consider the cross. And we can shake our heads in disbelief just not even imagining that something like this could happen until we try to put ourselves in the position and wonder, where would we be in this equation? Because how well were living up to what Jesus is saying really dictates where we would be in the situation. And unfortunately, we may find that we would have been yelling crucify Him. And as hard as that may be to acknowledge, we should. Because this salvation that experience cost something very precious. And in giving it the honor that it is do, we have to take the bitter with the sweet. Today is supposed to be a somber day. It is supposed to be sad. It is sad that things came that because it was never supposed to be this way for us. And today we acknowledge and sit with what it cost to give us freedom freely. So, I hope this will linger throughout this day. That’s what this day represents. That’s the point of Good Friday. This is where humanity goes when it is separated from God. This is where we go when we are separated from God. And in spite of it all, God still loves you.

Song:

Were You There - Sherry Muchira

Lyrics

Were you there when they crucified my Lord

Ohhhh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble

Were you there when they crucified my Lord

Where you there when they nailed Him to the tree…

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb…

And the darkness fled, and my sin was gone

He is risen, He is risen

All my fear and shame buried in the grave

He is risen, He is risen

Death where is your sting, where’s your victory

He is risen, He is risen

Christ alive in me, behold the hope of glory

He is risen, He is risen

Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble

March 30, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday March 30, 2018 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 13-15

False prophets and false gods

13 ^[a] Now if a prophet or a dream interpreter appears among you and performs a sign or wonder for you, ²and the sign or wonder that was spoken actually occurs; if he says: “Come on! We should follow other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced—“and we should worship them,” ³you must not listen to that prophet’s or dream interpreter’s words, because the Lord your God is testing you to see if you love the Lord your God with all your mind and all your being. ⁴You must follow the Lord your God alone! Revere him! Follow his commandments! Obey his voice! Worship him! Cling to him—no other! ⁵That prophet or dream interpreter must be executed because he encouraged you to turn away from the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, who redeemed you from the house of slavery; they tried to lead you away from the path the Lord your God commanded you to take. Remove^[b] such evil from your community!

⁶Similarly, if one of your relatives—even one of your own siblings—or your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend entices you secretly, if someone like that says: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones that neither you nor your ancestors have experienced, ⁷gods from all the neighboring peoples, whether nearby or far away, from one end of the earth to the other— ⁸don’t give in to them! Don’t obey them! Don’t have any mercy on them! Don’t have compassion on them and don’t protect them! ⁹Instead, you must execute them. Your own hand must be against them from the beginning of the execution; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. ¹⁰Stone them until they are dead because they desired to lead you away from the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹All Israel will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again.

¹²Or if you hear about one of your towns the Lord your God is giving you to inhabit, that ¹³certain wicked people have gone out from your community and they’ve led the citizens of their town astray by saying: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced before; ¹⁴at that point you must look into this situation very carefully to see if it’s true. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in your community, ¹⁵you must completely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Place it and all that is in it under the ban.^[c] Put its animals to the sword. ¹⁶Gather all the plunder into the middle of the town’s square. Then burn the city and all of its plunder as an entirely burned offering to the Lord your God. It must remain a heap of rubble forever. It must not be rebuilt. ¹⁷Don’t hold on to any of the banned items—this will ensure that the Lord turns from his great anger and is compassionate to you, showing you mercy and multiplying you just like he swore to your ancestors. ¹⁸You must definitely obey the Lord your God’s voice, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you right now, by doing what is right in the Lord your God’s eyes!

Complete devotion to the Lord

14 You are the Lord’s children. Don’t cut yourselves and don’t shave your foreheads for the dead, ²because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. You are the ones whom the Lord selected to be his own, to be a treasured people out of all other people on earth.

Dietary laws

³Don’t eat any detestable thing. ⁴Here’s a list of animals you are allowed to eat: ox, sheep, goat, ⁵deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. ⁶You are also allowed to eat any animal with a divided hoof—the hoof being divided into two parts—and that rechews food among the various kinds of animals. ⁷However, here’s a list of animals that either rechew food or have hooves divided in two parts that you are not allowed to eat:

the camel, the hare, and the rock badger—because these rechew food but don’t have divided hoofs, they are off-limits for you;

⁸and the pig—because it has a divided hoof but doesn’t rechew food, it’s off-limits for you.

You may not eat these animals’ meat, and you must not touch their carcasses.

⁹Here’s a list of the water animals you are allowed to eat: you can eat anything that has fins and scales. ¹⁰But you aren’t allowed to eat anything that lacks scales or fins. These are off-limits for you.

¹¹You are allowed to eat any clean bird. ¹²Here’s a list of those you are not allowed to eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, ¹³the red kite, the black kite, and any kind of bird of prey, ¹⁴any kind of raven, ¹⁵the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁶the small owl and the large owl, the water hen, ¹⁷the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, ¹⁸the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.^[d]

¹⁹Also, all winged insects are off-limits for you. They are not to be eaten. ²⁰Any clean winged creature can be eaten, however.

²¹You must not eat any decayed animal flesh because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. You can give decayed animal flesh to the immigrants who live in your cities, and they can eat it; or you can sell it to foreigners.

Don’t cook a lamb in its own mother’s milk.

Tenth part

²²You must reserve a tenth part of whatever your fields produce each year. ²³Eat the tenth part of your grain, wine, oil, oldest offspring of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God in the location he selects for his name to reside so that you learn to fear the Lord your God at all times. ²⁴But if the trip is too long, because the location the Lord your God has selected to put his name is far away from where you live so that you can’t transport the tenth part—because the Lord your God will certainly bless you— ²⁵then you can convert it to money. Take the money with you and go to the location the Lord your God selects. ²⁶Then you can use the money for anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever else you might like. Then you should feast there and celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your entire household. ²⁷Only make sure not to neglect the Levites who are living in your cities because they don’t have a designated inheritance like you do.

²⁸Every third year you must bring the tenth part of your produce from that year and leave it at your city gates. ²⁹Then the Levites, who have no designated inheritance like you do, along with the immigrants, orphans, and widows who live in your cities, will come and feast until they are full. Do this so that the Lord your God might bless you in everything you do.

Year of canceled debts

15 Every seventh year you must cancel all debts. ²This is how the cancellation is to be handled: Creditors will forgive the loans of their fellow Israelites. They won’t demand repayment from their neighbors or their relatives because the Lord’s year of debt cancellation has been announced. ³You are allowed to demand payment from foreigners, but whatever is owed you from your fellow Israelites you must forgive. ⁴Of course there won’t be any poor persons among you because the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, ⁵but only if you carefully obey the Lord your God’s voice, by carefully doing every bit of this commandment that I’m giving you right now. ⁶Once the Lord your God has blessed you, exactly as he said he would, you will end up lending to many different peoples but won’t need to borrow a thing. You will dominate many different peoples, but they won’t dominate you.

⁷Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don’t be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. ⁸To the contrary! Open your hand wide to them. You must generously lend them whatever they need. ⁹But watch yourself! Make sure no wicked thought crosses your mind, such as, The seventh year is coming—the year of debt cancellation—so that you resent your poor fellow Israelites and don’t give them anything. If you do that, they will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. ¹⁰No, give generously to needy persons. Don’t resent giving to them because it is this very thing that will lead to the Lord your God’s blessing you in all you do and work at. ¹¹Poor persons will never disappear from the earth. That’s why I’m giving you this command: you must open your hand generously to your fellow Israelites, to the needy among you, and to the poor who live with you in your land.

¹²If any of your fellow Hebrews, male or female, sell themselves into your service, they can work for you for six years, but in the seventh year you must set them free from your service. ¹³Furthermore, when you set them free from your service, you must not let them go empty-handed. ¹⁴Instead, provide for them fully from your flock, food, and wine. You must give to them from that with which the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵Remember how each of you were slaves in Egypt and how the Lord your God saved you. That’s why I am commanding you to do this right now. (¹⁶Now if your male servant says to you: “I don’t want to leave your service” because he loves you and your family and because life is good for him in your service, ¹⁷then you may take a needle and pierce his ear with it into the doorframe. From that point on, he will be your permanent servant. Do the same thing for female servants.) ¹⁸Don’t consider it a hardship to set these servants free from your service, because they worked for you for six years—at a value double that of a paid worker. The Lord your God will bless you in everything that you do.

¹⁹You must devote every oldest male animal from your herds or flocks to the Lord your God. Don’t plow with your oldest male ox and don’t shear your oldest male sheep. ²⁰Year after year, you and your family are allowed to eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God, in the location the Lord selects. ²¹But if there is any defect in it, lameness, blindness, any flaw whatsoever, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²²You are allowed to eat those in your own cities, whether you are polluted or purified, just as you would eat gazelle or deer. ²³Even so, don’t consume any blood. Pour it out on the ground, like water.

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 13:1 13:2 in Heb
Deuteronomy 13:5 Or burn
Deuteronomy 13:15 See note at 2:34.
Deuteronomy 14:18 The species of many of the birds in 14:12-18 is uncertain.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Luke 8:40-9:6

Jesus heals two women

⁴⁰When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they had been waiting for him. ⁴¹A man named Jairus, who was a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He pleaded with Jesus to come to his house ⁴²because his only daughter, a twelve-year-old, was dying.

As Jesus moved forward, he faced smothering crowds. ⁴³A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent her entire livelihood on doctors, but no one could heal her. ⁴⁴She came up behind him and touched the hem of his clothes, and at once her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When everyone denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing in on you!”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.”

⁴⁷When the woman saw that she couldn’t escape notice, she came trembling and fell before Jesus. In front of everyone, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.

⁴⁸“Daughter, your faith has healed you,” Jesus said. “Go in peace.”

⁴⁹While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Don’t bother the teacher any longer.”

⁵⁰When Jesus heard this, he responded, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting, and she will be healed.”

⁵¹When he came to the house, he didn’t allow anyone to enter with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. ⁵²They were all crying and mourning for her, but Jesus said, “Don’t cry. She isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.”

⁵³They laughed at him because they knew she was dead.

⁵⁴Taking her hand, Jesus called out, “Child, get up.” ⁵⁵Her life returned and she got up at once. He directed them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶Her parents were beside themselves with joy, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.

The Twelve sent out

9 Jesus called the Twelve together and he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal sicknesses. ²He sent them out to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. ³He told them, “Take nothing for the journey—no walking stick, no bag, no bread, no money, not even an extra shirt. ⁴ Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place. ⁵ Wherever they don’t welcome you, as you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.” ⁶They departed and went through the villages proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 71

71 I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord.
Don’t let me ever be put to shame!
²Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness!
Bend your ear toward me and save me!
³Be my rock of refuge
where I can always escape.
You commanded that my life be saved
because you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked;
rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor
⁵because you are my hope, Lord.
You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.
⁶I’ve depended on you from birth—
you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb.
My praise is always about you.
⁷I’ve become an example to many people
because you are my strong refuge.
⁸My mouth is filled with your praise,
glorifying you all day long.
⁹Don’t cast me off in old age.
Don’t abandon me when my strength is used up!

¹⁰Yes, my enemies have been talking about me;
those who stalk me plot together:
¹¹“God has abandoned him!
Pursue him!
Grab him because no one will deliver him!”
¹²Don’t be far from me, God!
My God, hurry to help me!
¹³Let my accusers be put to shame,
completely finished off!
Let those who seek my downfall
be dressed in insults and disgrace!

¹⁴But me? I will hope. Always.
I will add to all your praise.
¹⁵My mouth will repeat your righteous acts
and your saving deeds all day long.
I don’t even know how many of those there are!
¹⁶I will dwell on your mighty acts, my Lord.
Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.
¹⁷You’ve taught me since my youth, God,
and I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds!
¹⁸So, even in my old age with gray hair,
don’t abandon me, God!
Not until I tell generations about your mighty arm,
tell all who are yet to come about your strength,
¹⁹and about your ultimate righteousness, God,
because you’ve done awesome things!
Who can compare to you, God?
²⁰You, who have shown me many troubles and calamities,
will revive me once more.^[a]
From the depths of the earth,
you will raise me up one more time.
²¹Please increase my honor
and comfort me all around.
²²Then I’ll give you thanks with a harp—
I will thank you for your faithfulness, my God.
I will make music for you with the lyre, holy one of Israel.
²³My lips will rejoice aloud when I make music for you;
my whole being,^[b] which you saved, will do the same.
²⁴My tongue, also, will tell of your righteousness all day long,
because those who seek my downfall
have been put to shame and disgraced.

Footnotes:

Psalm 71:20 Qere; Kethib who have shown us … will revive us
Psalm 71:23 Or soul

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 12:5-7

⁵The plans of the righteous are just,
but the guidance of the wicked is deceptive.
⁶The words of the wicked are a deathtrap,
but the speech of those who do right rescues them.
⁷The wicked are destroyed and are no more,
but the family of the righteous will endure.

Common English Bible (CEB)

March 30, 2018

03/29/2018 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23, Luke 8:40-9:6, Psalms 71:1-24, Proverbs 12:5-7

Today is the 29^th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a great to be here with you as we enter into this weekend of…I mean…if we really embrace this it’s gonna be all over the map emotionally from the depths of despair to the bright shining light of hope as we move through the passion story of Jesus. So, today, if you follow the Christian calendar is Maundy Thursday, which is simply a day of commemorating the fact that this would’ve been Jesus last supper, the last moments with His disciples where He would get down on His hands and knees and wash their feet and tell them, this is the model, this is the shape of life, to serve one another. I will talk about this a little bit more, maybe, as we get to the end of today, but let’s dive into the Scriptures, since we’re at the beginning of our time together today. We’ve been reading from the Common English Bible this week. Deuteronomy chapter 11 and 12 today.

Commentary:

Okay. Moses is reciting the statutes of the law and giving his counsel and exhortation and warning. And he’s talking about the blessings of this covenant with God, but the curses that will come from stepping outside of it. And he tells them that when they get into the land there’s a place that they should commemorate these blessings and cursing’s. And it’s interesting, in both Old and New Testaments today we visit places that…man…just like a month ago we were actually at. So, Moses talks about Mount Gerizim as the mount of blessing and Mount Ebal as the mount of cursing. And those two mountains, large hills, they’re situated just above the ancient town of Shechem, which is the modern town called Nablus. So you go on to the top of the mount of blessing, Mount Gerizim. And, so, even as I’m reading this…I’m like we were just standing on the top of that Mount.

And then in the book of Luke, Jesus sales to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and has this confrontation with a legion of demons who were cast into swine. And that place exists as well. It’s called Cursey and we were just there. So, you know, you go back on the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page and kind of scroll back and see those places. And we’ve also filmed them extensively and they’re contained in the Promise Land films that we have in the Daily Audio Bible shop as a resource. And just fascinating to know that these stories that we’re reading, they weren’t just made up out of whole cloth. They are actually rooted in a geography. And even from very, very ancient times they still exist until today, which is one of the reasons that we continue to make the effort to provide pilgrimage opportunities into the land of the Bible and root ourselves in the places where some of these stories happened. It’s fascinating to contemplate what happened in a place when you’re actually standing in the place. And I’ve mentioned that we’re planning to go back in 2019, in February 2019. I mentioned that a lot while we were there. You can check that all out at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Israel 2019. That pilgrimage is filling up. In fact, it’s well over half full now, but you check that out at dailyaudiobible.com.

And then I a mentioned at the very, very beginning. You know the next few days that we’re walking into are, perhaps, the most important days to commemorate that we have as believers. For the last, almost 6 weeks, we’ve been in this season known as Lent. I explained all that we began the season of Lent. And, you know, you don’t find lent in the Bible. So, it’s like not a command, you observe Lent and don’t eat candy bars or something for 40 days. That’s not really the point of it. It’s just a season that has been observed throughout almost the entirety of the Christian faith as a time to ponder, to focus our attentions on things that are out of alignment in our life, to sit with the true cost of sin. Because the true cost of sin was the life of Jesus, God in the flesh, just sitting with how profound of a love it would take for a God to condescend and become one of us, and model what life can and should look like and then offer His life to give us back our own is humbling and profound indeed. And, so, we’ve been kind of sitting with that if you’ve been observing Lent, but we come to this day, it’s called Maundy Thursday. Tomorrow, of course, is Good Friday. And Saturdays Holy Saturday and Sunday is Easter. Today is a day to just understand that this is the last day of freedom for Jesus, the last day that he will move about on his own. He shares of final meal with his friends. He crosses the Kedron Valley. Again, a place we were just at and moves into the olive groves on the side of the Mount of Olives known as Gethsemane. It’s still there. And He was arrested and taken to the quarters of Caiaphas the high priest. It’s still there. And He was abused verbally, physically. Lies were screamed at Him. He was accused of blasphemy and sentenced to die. Today commemorates those events. And, of course, tomorrow, tomorrow commemorates the day that Jesus was nailed to a cross and died. Then Saturday is a day that, we as believers, we sit with the fact that light, that life, that good news that Jesus embodied was out of the world and laying dead in a tomb. Saturday also happens to be Passover. So, we sit with all of that moving our way toward sunrise on Sunday morning where all hope is restored. So, I encourage you to just consider what each of these days represent and embrace them and enter into them and meditate upon them and invite God into that with you. Make it a rich experience, allowing you to understand what your salvation cost and the gift that it is that you cannot possibly earn, exactly what we were talking about yesterday in Moses’s teachings from Deuteronomy. Embrace these days they’re very, very important. And it’s important for us to never forget. And this is one of the themes that we see in Moses, well, throughout the Torah, but in Deuteronomy, a constant reminder of where we’ve come from, who we are, who God is, where we’re going. We can think, I’ve got this down cold, I know all this, but man do we live in it? It’s funny how quickly we forget things. And, so, we have these moments that come up on the Christian calendar to remind us, to do exactly that. And that’s what’s going on now. So, embrace these next few days. Sit with them. Allow them to sink deeply into your soul. Make them meaningful as you share them with the Holy Spirit’s guidance in your life.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite you to come into exactly that, all of these things that are commemorated over the next couple of days. We sit with them and invite you into them, drawing us close to you as we surrender ourselves and our agendas to your will in your ways, that we might walk the narrow path that leads to life, that we might have the benefits of the blessings that are commemorated by the existence of Mount Gerizim, all of these places rooted so that we won’t forget. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

I mentioned that will be going back to Israel in 2019. You can find that at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section.

Looking at the calendar, the 8^th of April we’ll be in Washington state at Columbia Community Church in the Tri-Cities.

And then on the 12^th of April, the More Gathering for women begins. And if you’ve been kind of holding out and still want to come, you can register. Just visit moregathering.com. Looking forward to that very much. And, as a community, we’re interceding in advance over all of it. So, thank you for your prayers.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link right on the homepage. If using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877 942 4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, my name is Nancy H. and I want to leave a praise report. The 19^th, last week, I have a little dog, he weighs 8 pounds and his name is Moe. And my son had him out front, which is not fenced, and normally he stays in the yard but that day he heard the bus coming and he ran toward it. Well, to make a long story short, I heard my son holler at him and it wasn’t good. And I went out there and he said Moe was hit by the bus. He’s 8 pounds. And he handed me Moe and he was lifeless, not breathing, his tongue was hanging out, and his eyes were closed over. And all I could do was say, Lord, don’t let my little Moe die today, don’t let me have to bury him. Well, I put my ear to his chest and I heard a faint heartbeat. And, so, I started praying. Thank you, Lord, he’s still living not dying. Thank you, Lord, he’s going to live and not die. And I pleaded the blood of Jesus over him. And when I took him inside so I could get ready to take him to the hospital I set him down and he got up and run around. So, I praise the Lord that this Sunday is resurrection Sunday. And the Lord raised my little dog up because if you saw him you’d of swore he was dead, but he lived and he’s very active. When I took him to the hospital he got a good report. Nothing wrong with him. So, I got to bring him home. And I just wanted to praise the Lord that my little Moe, the Lord loves animals and he raised him up. Thank you. And God bless you.

Hey. What’s up everybody? It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa. Thank you for those of you that have reminded me that I am a part of this community. Monica, from Kentucky, I heard you call in and leave a message that came through on one of the community prayer lines and several of you that have left comments on my Facebook posts asking for prayers over my work. I appreciate all of you. And, yeah, I do want to call in with a prayer request. And I have a lot of different things I could ask for prayer for but there’s an overarching theme that I want to ask for prayer over…and it’s this…the Lord has been unfolding for me a calling on my life. Some of you know that I am a worship leader and the Lord has been showing me that the burden for leading worship is further than just simply holding the guitar and singing in front of a church, but more of a pastoral sense of guiding the worship of the church to His holy name. And there’s much involved in that calling and it is continuing to unfold right in front of me. So, I ask for you to pray for that. And the Lord has shown me through His word, even in a word that was read just the other day in Luke when Jesus was talking about old wineskins, new wineskins. The Lord has showed me that He is preparing me to pour new wine into me and that there are a lot of pieces of old wineskin that still need to go. So, all my prayer requests that I could leave here have to do with that, that the old wineskins have to go, that there is a new wineskin that He is preparing for me, that He is continuing to make as part of me and that once that new wineskin is ready, new wine is coming. So, pray for my calling. Pray for my wineskin. Pray for me and all that’s involved in that. So, thank you guys. miguelfromsantarosa@gmail.com, by the way, for all of those who want to reach out. Thanks. Bye.

Hey DAB family. This is Michael from Mesa, now really sure to be from West Mesa as I’m closing in on the house that we’re going to purchase and move into. Thank you for those who have been praying for me. Thank you, Victoria S., for the prayers for my son Ryan and for the move and for all the rest of those who have not called that I know are praying. Thank you so much. I’m quickly calling in for Paul from Houston before I jump on my commute on the 202 to get home. Paul, marriage, I’m praying for you. You’ll be on my list. I’ll be keeping you in my prayers. And we go through so many seasons and in life with our spouses and it’s not easy to get through all of those together. And there, a lot of pain that can happen along the way. And it’s all about the pain that we choose to go through together as a husband and wife that keeps us together, that keeps us in oneness. And when that isn’t happening we try to separate ourselves and keep our real focus on Christ and then kind of come back together afterwards and say, okay, now that we have our own act together we can do better together. So, I would just pray that you and your wife would have good solid individual time with God and knowing who you are and knowing what commitment you made to Him first and to each other second and getting through your marriage. And I hope you are blessed abundantly and greatly in your opportunities to deepen your relationship with each other. So, love you all, praying for you all. Annette it’s good to hear your voice. Blind Tony good to hear your poems as always. Love you all. Take care. Bye-bye.

Hi guys this is jubilant perseverance, usually from Indonesia; however, today I’m calling you from Malaysia. I am calling after a very hectic spring break week that ended with losing my wallet in a bus terminal here in __ and having to find some friends of friends to stay with as I wait to get my passport and work visa replaced. It’s been a very…it’s a very long story…it’s been a stressful situation but I’m at peace. __ peace __ all understanding, guarding my heart and mind in Jesus Christ. Thanks to, I think, just a lot of just the Spirit’s presence and I think a lot of preparation and God has put me through before this happened that’s helped to make it less of a fearful kind of moment, but yeah, it’s stressful still. And the enemy just keeps piling on more and more. I don’t know what’s going on, but I was just telling friends on Facebook after showing them at pic up a mosquito bite that caused a really swollen knot to appear on my head yesterday. I was telling them the enemy is really coming at me hard. So, God must have something amazing on the horizon. So, I’m looking forward to a reporting great news soon.

Hello __ . It’s Lisa the Encourager. I just wanted to say I __ with the community I heard about this week. And, so, I’m just reaching out to those that are really feeling in those deep dark pits and they’re really struggling. And I just want to reach out to you and tell you that I love you right now. I love you and I’m sorry for what you’re going through and am praying for you because I want you to know and I want you to think about this, that the God that made the galaxy, the galaxy guys, He’s the God of the galaxy. The things that you’re going through on this earth, it’s not about that, it’s about your relationship with Him. So, just reach out, like I said before, remember this, He said this, are my arms not long enough to reach you? He is there for you. Please, please just seek Him out no matter what you’re going through. If you’re going through a divorce, your wife left you, you have a drug addiction, your children have a problem, He is your God, He loves you he hears you. Do not forget that. So, focus on that instead of the depression and the anxiety and the monstrous things that you’re going through on this earth and focus on your eternity and your relationship with Jesus and I promise you it will help you. And with that, I am praying for Matt tonight who found out that his wife had an eight-year affair and she’s drinking a lot and she’s letting his business go. And, so, I’m praying for Matt…

March 29, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday March 29, 2018 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 11-12

11 So love the Lord your God and follow his instruction, his regulations, his case laws, and his commandments always. ²And know right now what your children haven’t known or yet witnessed:^[a]

The Lord your God’s discipline, his power, his mighty hand and outstretched arm;

³the signs and the acts that he performed in the heart of Egyptian territory, against Egypt’s King Pharaoh and all his land;

⁴what God did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots—how he made the water of the Reed Sea^[b] flow over their heads when they chased after you, but the Lord destroyed them, and that’s how things stand right now;

⁵what the Lord did for you in the desert, until you arrived at this place;

⁶and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the descendants of Eliab the Reubenite, when the ground opened up its mouth and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and every living thing they possessed in the presence of all Israel.

⁷Your own eyes witnessed each of these powerful acts the Lord performed. ⁸So keep every part of the commandment that I am giving you today so that you stay strong to enter and take possession of the land that you are crossing over to possess, ⁹and so that you might prolong your life on the fertile land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants—a land full of milk and honey.

¹⁰The land you are about to enter and possess is definitely not like the land of Egypt, where you came from, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it by hand^[c] like a vegetable garden. ¹¹No, the land you are entering to possess is a land of hills and valleys, where your drinking water will be rain from heaven. ¹²It’s a land that the Lord cares for: the Lord’s eyes are on it constantly from the first of the year until the very end of the year.

¹³Now, if you completely obey God’s^[d] commandments that I am giving you right now, by loving the Lord your God and by serving him with all your heart and all your being, ¹⁴then he^[e] will provide rain for your land at the right time—early rain and late rain—so you can stock up your grain, wine, and oil. ¹⁵He^[f] will also make your fields lush for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied. ¹⁶But watch yourselves! Otherwise, your heart might be led astray so you stray away, serving other gods and worshipping them. ¹⁷Then the Lord’s anger would burn against you. He will close the sky up tight. There won’t be any rain, and the ground won’t yield any of its crops. You will quickly disappear off the wonderful land the Lord is giving to you.

¹⁸Place these words I’m speaking on your heart and in your very being. Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol.^[g] ¹⁹Teach them to your children, by talking about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. ²⁰Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates. ²¹Do all that so your days and your children’s days on the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors are many—indeed, as many as the number of days that the sky’s been over the earth!

²²It’s true: if you carefully keep all this commandment that I’m giving you, by doing it, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in all his ways, and by clinging to him, ²³then the Lord will clear out all these nations before you. You will inherit what belonged to nations that are larger and stronger than you are. ²⁴Every place you set foot on will be yours: your territory will run from the wilderness all the way to the Lebanon range, and from the Euphrates River all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵No one will be able to stand up to you. Just as he promised, the Lord your God will make the entire land deathly afraid of you wherever you advance in it.

Ceremony on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal

²⁶Pay attention! I am setting blessing and curse before you right now: ²⁷the blessing if you obey the Lord your God’s commandments that I am giving you right now, ²⁸but the curse if you don’t obey the Lord your God’s commandments and stray from the path that I am giving you today by following other gods that you have not known. ²⁹Now when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of, put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. (³⁰Aren’t both of these mountains across the Jordan River, down along the western road in the region of the Canaanites who live in the desert plain, across from Gilgal, next to the Moreh Oak Grove?)

³¹So then, once you cross the Jordan River to enter and possess the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you take possession of it, settling down in it, ³²you must carefully follow the regulations and the case laws that I am laying out before you right now.

Regulations and the case laws:

Worship at the location the Lord selects

12 These are the regulations and the case laws that you must carefully keep in the fertile land the Lord, your ancestors’ God, has given to you to possess for as long as you live on that land:

²You must completely destroy every place where the nations that you are displacing worshipped their gods—whether on high mountains or hills or under leafy green trees. ³Rip down their altars and shatter their sacred stones. Burn their sacred poles^[h] with fire. Hack their gods’ idols into pieces. Wipe out their names from that place.

⁴Don’t act like they did toward the Lord your God!

⁵Instead, you must search for the location the Lord your God will select from all your tribes to put his name there, as his residence, and you must go there. ⁶You must bring your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions,^[i] your payments for solemn promises, your spontaneous gifts, and the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks to that place. ⁷You will have a feast there, each of you and your families, in the Lord your God’s presence, and you will celebrate all you have done because the Lord your God has blessed you. ⁸Don’t act like we’ve been acting here lately—everyone doing what seems right to them— ⁹because up to this point you haven’t yet reached the place of rest or the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰But you are about to cross the Jordan River and will settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. Then he will give you rest from all your enemies on every side so that you live safely and securely. ¹¹At that point, you must bring all that I am commanding you, your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions, and all your best payments that you solemnly promised to the Lord, to the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. ¹²Then you will rejoice in the Lord your God’s presence: each of you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites who dwell in your cities because they have no designated inheritance.

¹³But watch yourself! Make sure you don’t offer up your entirely burned offerings in just any place you see. ¹⁴No, only at the location the Lord selects from one of your tribal areas—that’s where you must offer up your entirely burned offerings and that’s where you must perform everything I’m telling you. ¹⁵However, whenever you wish, you may slaughter and eat meat, as the Lord your God sees fit to bless you with such in your cities. People who are polluted and people who are purified can join in the feast, as they would if they were eating gazelle or deer. ¹⁶But you must not consume any of the animals’ blood. Pour it out on the ground, just like water.

¹⁷Within your cities you are not allowed to eat any of the following: your tenth-part gifts of grain, wine, and oil; the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks; any of the payments you have solemnly promised; your spontaneous gifts or your contributions. ¹⁸Only in the presence of the Lord your God, at the location the Lord your God selects, can you eat these things—that holds true for you, your son and daughter, your male and female servant, and the Levite who lives in your city. Then celebrate all you have done in the Lord your God’s presence. ¹⁹But watch yourself: as long as you are on the land, don’t forget about the Levites.

²⁰Once the Lord your God has enlarged your territory, as he promised you, and you think to yourself, I’d like to eat some meat (because you have the desire to do so), feel free to do so whenever you want. ²¹But if the location that the Lord your God will choose to put his name is far away from where you live, then slaughter an animal from your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and eat it in your cities whenever you wish. ²²But be sure to eat it as if it were gazelle or deer. People who are polluted and people who are purified can feast on it together.

²³Furthermore, make sure that you don’t consume any of the blood, because blood is life. You must not consume the life along with the meat. ²⁴You must not consume any of it. Pour it out on the ground, just like water. ²⁵You must not consume any of it so that things go well for you and for your children later because you did what was right in the Lord’s eyes.

²⁶Note that you must bring your sacred offerings and your payments for solemn promises to the location the Lord selects, ²⁷offering up your entirely burned sacrifices—both meat and blood—on the Lord your God’s altar. The blood from your sacrifices must be poured out on the Lord your God’s altar, but you are allowed to eat the meat. ²⁸Observe and obey all these words that I am commanding you so that things always go well for you and your children later because you did what was good and right in the Lord your God’s eyes.

²⁹Once the Lord your God has removed from before you all the nations that you are entering and taking possession of, and you have displaced them and are living in their land, ³⁰then watch yourself! Don’t be trapped by following their practices after they’ve been wiped out before you. Don’t go investigating their gods, thinking, How did these nations worship their gods? I want to do the very same thing!

³¹Don’t act like they did toward the Lord your God because they did things for their gods that are detestable to the Lord, which he hates. They even burned their own sons and daughters with fire for their gods!

³²^[j] Everything I’m commanding you, you must do it with utmost care! Don’t add anything to it or take anything away from it.

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 11:2 Heb uncertain
Deuteronomy 11:4 Or Red Sea
Deuteronomy 11:10 Or foot
Deuteronomy 11:13 LXX his; MT my
Deuteronomy 11:14 Sam, LXX, DSS (8QMez); Heb, Vulg, Syr, Tg, and several DSS I, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse.
Deuteronomy 11:15 Sam, LXX, two DSS; Heb, four DSS, Syr, Tg I, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse.
Deuteronomy 11:18 Heb uncertain; cf Exod 13:16; Syr sign or mark; Tg phylacteries
Deuteronomy 12:3 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah
Deuteronomy 12:6 Or the contribution of your hands; also in 12:11, 17
Deuteronomy 12:32 13:1 in Heb

Common English Bible (CEB)

Luke 8:22-39

Jesus calms the sea

²²One day Jesus and his disciples boarded a boat. He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail.

²³While they were sailing, he fell asleep. Gale-force winds swept down on the lake. The boat was filling up with water and they were in danger. ²⁴So they went and woke Jesus, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” But he got up and gave orders to the wind and the violent waves. The storm died down and it was calm.

²⁵He said to his disciples, “Where is your faith?”

Filled with awe and wonder, they said to each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”

Jesus frees a demon-possessed man

²⁶Jesus and his disciples sailed to the Gerasenes’ land, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him. The man was from the city and was possessed by demons. For a long time, he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless. ²⁸When he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down before him. Then he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ²⁹He said this because Jesus had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had taken possession of him, so he would be bound with leg irons and chains and placed under guard. But he would break his restraints, and the demon would force him into the wilderness.

³⁰Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had entered him. ³¹They pleaded with him not to order them to go back into the abyss.^[a] ³²A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission, ³³and the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

³⁴When those who tended the pigs saw what happened, they ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. ³⁵People came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully dressed and completely sane. They were filled with awe. ³⁶Those people who had actually seen what had happened told them how the demon-possessed man had been delivered. ³⁷Then everyone gathered from the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave their area because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and returned across the lake. ³⁸The man from whom the demons had gone begged to come along with Jesus as one of his disciples. Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹“Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” So he went throughout the city proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.

Footnotes:

Luke 8:31 Or underworld

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 70

For the music leader. Of David. For the memorial offering.

70 Hurry, God, to deliver me;
hurry, Lord, to help me!
²Let those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated!
Let them fall back and be disgraced—
those people who delight in my downfall!
³Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
stop because of their shameful behavior.
⁴But let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you,
and let those who love your saving help say again and again:
“God is great!”
⁵But me? I’m poor and needy.
Hurry to me, God!
You are my helper and my deliverer.
Oh, Lord, don’t delay!

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 12:4

⁴A strong woman is a crown to her husband,
but a disgraceful woman is like rot in his bones.

Common English Bible (CEB)

March 28, 2018

03/28/2018 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22, Luke 8:4-21, Psalms 69:19-36, Proverbs 12:2-3

Today is the 28^th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today for what we do every day. Another step. Another step forward as we move our way through the Scriptures. This week we’ve been reading from the Common English Bible and we’re in the book of Deuteronomy, which is Moses final sayings, final review. Just getting all of the people together and reminding them of everything that has happened during his leadership, all that God has spoken, all that God has commanded, how it is that they’re to set their hearts as they prepare to move toward the Promise Land because Moses won’t be accompanying them. And, so, that’s where we find ourselves. Deuteronomy chapter 9 and 10 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, as we’ve said several times, is giving his final instructions, discourse, blessing, words to the children of Israel who were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. But he’s not going along with them. So, he has plenty to say and he’s saying it with urgency because these are the last things he’s going to say to them. And he’s telling them why the time is now and why it is that they get to go into the land and it picks at some of the sensibilities and postures of heart that we have even today. So, first of all, he’s telling them, yeah, when you get there, the cities are going to have walls up to the sky and there are giants that like…you can’t do this on your own. But God is an all-consuming fire. He will do this. So, this certainly evokes confidence. And we love this kind of stuff because our God is a powerful, strong, sovereign Lord who is out in front of us. So, all those things are true, but they’re not Moses point. Moses point is, you will not be able to do this in your own strength, on your own. You will not be able to do this without God. God will have to do this for you. And then he clarifies his point. Once you get there, don’t think to yourself, it’s because I’m righteous that the Lord brought me in to possess this land. In other words, I deserve this. I’ve earned this. This is mine by, right? Moses has said head on, you aren’t entering and taking possession of their land because you are righteous or because your heart is especially virtuous. Rather, it’s because these nations are wicked. That’s why the Lord your God is removing them from before you. And because He wishes to establish the promise He made to your ancestors. In other words, you aren’t getting this because of your good behavior. You are inheriting something that was promised long ago and the wickedness of the people in the land continues to grow and grow in the wrong direction and time’s up. In other words, it’s not about you. And in fact, Moses goes on to explain how it’s not about them. How stubborn they are, how much they have rebelled, how much they don’t actually deserve this, but can only receive it as a gift. So, we can see clearly the story of redemption in this story. But when we put the Scriptures up as a mirror in front of our faces we see that we’ll find ourselves doing the same thing. If I can just get my act together, if I can just modify my behavior. If I can just stop that and start this. If I can just stay on this path and do that instead of this other thing. If I can stop falling down, then God will pay attention to me, then God will bless me. If I could just keep nice and shiny and clean for Jesus, then he’ll notice me and then he’ll give me nice gifts. What we can see from ancient times, all the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, all the way through the gospels and the story of our salvation through Christ is that there’s no way to earn this. We can only accept it as a gift. But this isn’t just our salvation, this is our lives, all of the issues of our lives. Walking the narrow path that the Lord puts before us, the one that leads to life will do exactly that. If we will walk that path, it will lead us to life. But not because we deserve anything. We don’t deserve anything at all. We’re no different from the people Moses was talking to. We’re stubborn, rebellious people who are easily seduced. Which shows us just how patient, just how kind, just how longsuffering, just how good God is. How His love transcends things that we would never get past. He loves us beyond it all. So, rather than thinking we can work ourselves into His good graces, thereby diminishing just how full of grace He is, we should be continually humbled by the gifts that He bestows upon us that we could never deserve. Again, I mean, we’re in this week where we’re headed toward Easter. We’re reaching the conclusion of the season of Lent, a season where we sit with the fact that it cost something very precious to offer us this gift. And when we think somehow we deserve this, we’re missing the point. We don’t. It is God’s profound, unspeakable love for us, as people and as individuals, that offers us the gift of true relationship with God for ever and ever. We don’t deserve it. We can only accept it. And how humbling is that? When we come face to face with that reality, there’s nothing I could ever do to deserve this, and yet it is given to me freely. That’s the kind of stuff that can melt a heart of stone. That’s the kind of stuff that can dissolve rebellion and stubbornness. That’s the kind of stuff that will lead us on the narrow path that leads to life.

Prayer:

And, so, Father, we accept this with humility. We commit to considering this today, how much we’re trying to earn that we could never earn, how much we’re throwing Your promises in Your face, saying You gotta do this, You promised, I deserve this, I’ve earned this - when it’s not true. We could never earn anything. We don’t deserve a nanosecond of Your presence, and yet You offer us Your presence continuously. And rather than pressing into that and devoting our entire lives to walking that path, the one that leads to You, the one that walks with You through life in collaboration, we so often are found looking for what we can get out of the deal. We are sorry. We humbly repent of such arrogance. Forgive us, Lord. We humble ourselves before You. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So be sure to check in.

Check the events section for things that are coming up. Check the community section for all the ways to connect on the different social media channels that we’re on. Stay connected to each other that way. Visit the prayer wall while you’re at it. And face outward, face toward one another. Pray for each other. Shoulder one another’s burdens. All of this can be found at dailyaudiobible.com and in the Daily Audio Bible app. Stay connected. We have to remind ourselves of these things continually. It’s crazy how quickly we forget. I mean, we watch this play out in the children of Israel’s life. We watch the ebb and flow. We watch how God shows up mightily in their midst. In like the next paragraph, they’re building an idol or doing something else rebellious. And we could look and it and go, how could you guys do this? Until we realize we’re doing the same thing. So, staying in community, staying in a place where we are continually reminding each other of who we are and where we’ve come from and where we’re going is an important part of this process of moving through the Bible in a year.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then thank you, humbly, profoundly, thank you. If what we’re doing as a community is bringing life into your life, then thank you for being life-giving back. Everything that we’ve done, we’ve done together from the beginning. So, thank you. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, there are a number of numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. If you are in the Americas, 877-942-4253 is the number. If you’re in the UK or Europe, 44-20-3608-8078 is the number. And if you are in Australia or the lands down under 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

I was standing in my own strength when suddenly I fell. My enemies surrounded me and began to rejoice in my demise. The waters of diversity rose higher than my head and I found myself drowning in a sea of internal despair. The ones you had given me began losing their faith and the one I esteemed above all of others simply wandered away. All my love, life, and love of music were all gone away. And even the light of my own smile was extinguished as I started to doubt within. In fact, the only good thing left within was a faint flicker of hope that came from Your word planted deep inside a long time ago but was still very much alive. And it began to exert its own power, groanings that I couldn’t comprehend or even understand. And I began to feel and hear faint whispers of your love which gave love rise to renewed hope and faith started to grow once again. My life was passing before my eyes as I watched in fear as my enemies encircled me like vultures surrounding the carcass of a falling dear. And just as they begin to move into the kill I cried out to the Lord for the depths of my heart. The one who had been appointed to defend me, my lawyer, my advocate, my deliverer was nowhere to be found. And those who had given me were having problems of their own and could only hope and pray in faith for the best. And the one whom I esteemed above all others decided it was time to start seeing somebody else. And my children, the fruit of my own loins couldn’t care less as to what happened to me because I had never really been a part of their lives anyway. And just as I was about to close my eyes in quiet acceptance of my fate, You stepped in and answered my prayer in such a spectacular display of Your power that not only were my enemies scattered and confounded, You turned my accusers into advocates for my defense. And praise the Lord, once again, there is no way my thanksgiving could ever appropriately match your deliverance but the life you gave back to me, I now give back to you.

Hi family. It’s Shannon from Texas and I was just sitting here getting ready listening to the community prayer and I heard the woman that called in. I don’t think you left your name but you said that you were praying for me and you were also praying for somebody that was…the woman that called about a son Brian. And as you are speaking…at the very moment that you are speaking…I was texting my mom…we were texting back and forth. I thought it was interesting that it was kind of at the same time and I was saying to her…that Amen-ed to what she was telling me, that I had canceled every negative and anti-Christ spirit in the holy name of Jesus Christ and that no enemy would prevail against us, no darkness shall overtake us, mercy shall encompass us, and love shall uphold us, and that we are delivered, and we are healed, and that we shall have dominion over all the earth. And I just want to thank everyone for praying for me. You know, I have my moments of relapse into despair but I have to make sure that I don’t stay in that place because I believe that we have the power of life and death and the words that say. So, I have to call and kind of cancel that out and just know that the enemy of course wants to take me out and wants me to say that I’m, you know, distraught and in despair and, oh my God. __ know why you want me to stop and focus on darkness and despair because of going into a very oppressed place and praying for every person in there. And, of course, the enemy doesn’t want that to happen but you lose and I win and we shall prevail. And I love all of you guys. I love you guys. I’m praying for all of you.

Glory be to the Lord. Thank you everyone for being here. Thank you for having this platform. I say thank you to Brian and Jill and God and all of the Daily Audio Bible team. I would like to say a prayer for a young lady, I don’t know how old she is, but she sounded like she was young. And I really didn’t catch her name but she called in saying that she was going to fly in to see her mom who has cancer and that she had been in the cold, kind of, separation between herself and her mother for years and that this cancer, kind of, is bringing her back to her mom. So, I just want to tell you that you really stirred my heart up and I felt like I really had to pray for you. So, Lord Jesus please hear my imperfect voice. Lord God, please, Father, bless this family, bless this woman and her mother, that they may be healed and feel love overflowing between them and all the people who they touch, and that through this love, this lady’s mama’s cancer will be gone completely. And that if there’s any forgiveness that needs to be done or dealt with, that they both may have the forgiveness in their heart, one for each other, to forgive whatever their…

Hello. My name is Bob. I’m a first-time caller. This is my fourth time with the DAB and first time, obviously, with DAB C. So, fourth time through the Bible with you guys. Just wanted to call in for praise report. I put a prayer out there on the prayer all the other day for my daughter’s pregnancy, which was fine throughout most of it and at the very end turned into a high risk, yet turned out just fine. So, baby and mom are just great. And, so, I appreciate prayers answered there. I also appreciate Brian and family coming to Louisville today. Good to see you there. Thanks again for coming. It’s great to see you guys face-to-face. And, obviously, thanks to everybody who I’ve been listening to for years, Blind Tony and Slave of Jesus and too many people to mention. While that’s probably all I need to say for today. So, thanks again for prayers answered. Bob from Kentucky. Bye.

March 28, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday March 28, 2018 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 9-10

Against false piety and immodesty

9 Listen, Israel! Today you will cross the Jordan River to enter and take possession of nations larger and more powerful than you, along with huge cities with fortifications that reach to the sky. ²These people are large and tall—they are the Anakim. You know and have heard what people say: “Who can stand up to the Anakim?” ³Know right now that the Lord your God, who is crossing over before you, is an all-consuming fire! He will wipe them out! He will subdue them before you! Then you will take possession of their land, eliminating them quickly, exactly as the Lord told you.

⁴Once the Lord your God has driven them out before you, don’t think to yourself, It’s because I’m righteous that the Lord brought me in to possess this land. It is instead because of these nations’ wickedness that the Lord is removing them before you. ⁵You aren’t entering and taking possession of their land because you are righteous or because your heart is especially virtuous; rather, it is because these nations are wicked—that’s why the Lord your God is removing them before you, and because he wishes to establish the promise he made to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Gold calf

⁶Know then that the Lord your God isn’t giving you this excellent land for you to possess on account of your righteousness—because you are a stubborn people! ⁷Remember—don’t ever forget!—how you made the Lord your God furious in the wilderness. From the very first day you stepped out of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebels against the Lord. ⁸Even at Horeb you angered the Lord! He was so enraged by you that he threatened to wipe you out. ⁹When I went up on the mountain to get the stone tablets, the covenant tablets that the Lord made with you, I was up there forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread, drank no water. ¹⁰The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by God’s finger, and on them were all the words that the Lord had said to you on the mountain, out of the very fire itself, on the day we assembled. ¹¹At the end of those forty days and nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets—the covenant tablets. ¹²Then the Lord said to me, “Get going! Get down from here quickly because your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have ruined everything! They couldn’t wait to turn from the path I commanded them! They’ve made themselves an idol out of cast metal.”

¹³The Lord said more to me: “I have seen this people. Look! What a stubborn people they are! ¹⁴Now stand back. I am going to wipe them out. I will erase their name from under heaven, then I will make a nation out of you—one stronger and larger than they were.”

¹⁵So I went down the mountain while it was blazing with fire. The two covenant tablets were in my two hands. ¹⁶It was then that I saw how you sinned against the Lord your God: you made yourselves a calf, an idol made of cast metal! You couldn’t wait to turn from the path the Lord commanded you! ¹⁷I grabbed the two tablets and threw them down with my own hands, shattering them while you watched. ¹⁸Then I fell before the Lord as I had done the previous forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water, all because of the sin that you had committed by doing such evil in the Lord’s sight, infuriating him. ¹⁹I was afraid of the massive anger and rage the Lord had for you—he was going to wipe you out! However, the Lord listened to me again in that moment.

²⁰But the Lord was furious with Aaron—he was going to wipe him out! So I also prayed hard for Aaron at that time. ²¹And as for that sinful thing you made, that calf, I took it and I burned it with fire. Then I smashed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as dust. Then I dumped the dust into the stream that ran down the mountain.

²²Also at Taberah, again at Massah, and then again at Kibroth-hattaavah, you have been the kind of people who make the Lord angry. ²³And then, when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, telling you: “Go up and take possession of the land that I’m giving you,” you disobeyed the Lord your God’s command. You didn’t trust him. You didn’t obey God’s voice. ²⁴You’ve been rebellious toward the Lord from the day I^[a] met you.

Moses’ intercessory prayer

²⁵But I fell on my knees in the Lord’s presence forty days and forty nights, lying flat out, because the Lord planned on wiping you out. ²⁶But I prayed to the Lord! I said: Lord, my Lord! Don’t destroy your people, your own possession, whom you saved by your own power, whom you brought out of Egypt with a strong hand! ²⁷Remember your servants: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Don’t focus on this people’s stubbornness, wickedness, and sin. ²⁸Otherwise, that land out of which you brought us will say: The Lord wasn’t strong enough to bring them into the land he’d promised them. Because he didn’t care for them in the least, he brought them out to die in the desert. ²⁹But these are your people! Your own possession! The people you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm!

New tablets

10 At that time the Lord told me: Carve two stone tablets, just like the first ones, and hike up the mountain to me. Construct a wooden chest as well. ²I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets—the ones you smashed—then you will place them in the chest.

³So I built a chest out of acacia wood and carved two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I hiked up the mountain holding the two tablets in my hands. ⁴God wrote on the new tablets what had been written on the first set: the Ten Commandments that the Lord spoke to you on the mountain, from the very fire itself, on the day we assembled there. Then the Lord gave them to me.

⁵So I came back down the mountain. I put the tablets in the chest that I’d made, and that’s where they are now, exactly as the Lord commanded me.

(⁶Now, the Israelites had set out from Beeroth-bene-jaakan^[b] to Moserah. It was there that Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar succeeded him in the priestly role. ⁷From there the Israelites traveled to Gudgodah, then from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, which is a land with flowing streams. ⁸At that time, the Lord selected the tribe of Levi to carry the chest containing the Lord’s covenant, to minister before the Lord, to serve him, and to offer blessings in his name. That’s the way things are right now. ⁹That’s why the Levites don’t have a stake or inheritance with the rest of their relatives. The Lord is the Levites’ inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised them.)

¹⁰Just as the first time, I remained on the mountain forty days and nights. And the Lord listened to me again in this instance. The Lord wasn’t willing to destroy you. ¹¹Then the Lord told me: Get going. Lead the people so they can enter and take possession of the land that I promised I’d give to their ancestors.

What the Lord requires

¹²Now in light of all that, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, by loving him, by serving the Lord your God with all your heart and being, ¹³and by keeping the Lord’s commandments and his regulations that I’m commanding you right now. It’s for your own good!

¹⁴Clearly, the Lord owns the sky, the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it. ¹⁵But the Lord adored your ancestors, loving them and choosing the descendants that followed them—you!—from all other people. That’s how things still stand now. ¹⁶So circumcise your hearts^[c] and stop being so stubborn, ¹⁷because the Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. ¹⁸He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. ²⁰Revere the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, swear by his name alone! ²¹He is your praise, and he is your God—the one who performed these great and awesome acts that you witnessed with your very own eyes. ²²Your ancestors went down to Egypt with a total of seventy people, but now look! The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the nighttime sky!

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 9:24 LXX, Sam he (God) met you
Deuteronomy 10:6 Or from the wells of the Jaakanites
Deuteronomy 10:16 Or the foreskin of your hearts; cf 30:6

Common English Bible (CEB)

Luke 8:4-21

Parable of the soils

⁴When a great crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one city after another, he spoke to them in a parable: ⁵“A farmer went out to scatter his seed. As he was scattering it, some fell on the path where it was crushed, and the birds in the sky came and ate it. ⁶ Other seed fell on rock. As it grew, it dried up because it had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorns grew with the plants and choked them. ⁸ Still other seed landed on good soil. When it grew, it produced one hundred times more grain than was scattered.” As he said this, he called out, “Everyone who has ears should pay attention.”

⁹His disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰He said, “You have been given the mysteries of God’s kingdom, but these mysteries come to everyone else in parables so that when they see, they can’t see, and when they hear, they can’t understand.^[a]

¹¹“The parable means this: The seed is God’s word. ¹²The seed on the path are those who hear, but then the devil comes and steals the word from their hearts so that they won’t believe and be saved. ¹³The seed on the rock are those who receive the word joyfully when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while but fall away when they are tempted. ¹⁴As for the seed that fell among thorny plants, these are the ones who, as they go about their lives, are choked by the concerns, riches, and pleasures of life, and their fruit never matures. ¹⁵The seed that fell on good soil are those who hear the word and commit themselves to it with a good and upright heart. Through their resolve, they bear fruit.

Sharing the light

¹⁶“No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand so that those who enter can see the light. ¹⁷ Nothing is hidden that won’t be exposed. Nor is anything concealed that won’t be made known and brought to the light. ¹⁸ Therefore, listen carefully. Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

Jesus’ family

¹⁹Jesus’ mother and brothers came to him but were unable to reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

²¹He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who listen to God’s word and do it.”

Footnotes:

Luke 8:10 Isa 6:9

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 69:19-36

¹⁹You know full well the insults I’ve received;
you know my shame and my disgrace.
All my adversaries are right there in front of you.
²⁰Insults have broken my heart.
I’m sick about it.
I hoped for sympathy,
but there wasn’t any;
I hoped for comforters,
but couldn’t find any.
²¹They gave me poison for food.
To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²²Let the table before them become a trap,
their offerings a snare.
²³Let their eyes grow too dim to see;
make their insides tremble constantly.
²⁴Pour out your anger on them—
let your burning fury catch them.
²⁵Let their camp be devastated;
let no one dwell in their tents.
²⁶Because they go after those you’ve already struck;
they talk about the pain of those you’ve already pierced.
²⁷Pile guilt on top of their guilt!
Don’t let them come into your righteousness!
²⁸Let them be wiped out of the scroll of life!
Let them not be recorded along with the righteous!
²⁹And me? I’m afflicted.
I’m full of pain.
Let your salvation keep me safe, God!

³⁰I will praise God’s name with song;
I will magnify him with thanks
³¹because that is more pleasing to the Lord than an ox,
more pleasing than a young bull with full horns and hooves.
³²Let the afflicted see it and be glad!
You who seek God—
let your hearts beat strong again
³³because the Lord listens to the needy
and doesn’t despise his captives.

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise God,
the oceans too, and all that moves within them!
³⁵God will most certainly save Zion
and will rebuild Judah’s cities
so that God’s servants can live there and possess it.
³⁶The offspring of God’s servants will inherit Zion,
and those who love God’s name will dwell there.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 12:2-3

²The Lord favors good people,
but he condemns schemers.
³No one is established by wicked acts,
but the roots of the righteous can’t be disturbed.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Deuteronomy 18-20

Provision for Priests and Levites

Abominable Practices

A New Prophet like Moses

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

Property Boundaries

Laws Concerning Witnesses

Laws Concerning Warfare

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Luke 9:28-50

The Transfiguration

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

Who Is the Greatest?

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 73

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of (A)Asaph.

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Proverbs 12:10

Cross references:

Deuteronomy 18-20

Provision for Priests and Levites

Abominable Practices

A New Prophet like Moses

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

Property Boundaries

Laws Concerning Witnesses

Laws Concerning Warfare

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Luke 9:28-50

The Transfiguration

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

Who Is the Greatest?

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 73

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of (A)Asaph.

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Proverbs 12:10

Cross references:

Deuteronomy 16-17

Passover celebration

Festival of Weeks

Festival of Booths

Judges and officials

Rules for worship

Capital punishment

Legal disputes

Law of the king

Footnotes:

Luke 9:7-27

Herod’s confusion

Jesus feeds the five thousand

Following Christ

Footnotes:

Psalm 72

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 12:8-9

Deuteronomy 13-15

False prophets and false gods

Complete devotion to the Lord

Dietary laws

Tenth part

Year of canceled debts

Footnotes:

Luke 8:40-9:6

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.