The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday March 8, 2017 (NIV)

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to use for calling the people together and for breaking camp. ³ When long blasts are sounded on both trumpets, the whole community is to gather around you at the entrance to the Tent of my presence. ⁴ But when only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders of the clans are to gather around you. ⁵ When short blasts are sounded, the tribes camped on the east will move out. ⁶ When short blasts are sounded a second time, the tribes on the south will move out. So short blasts are to be sounded to break camp, ⁷ but in order to call the community together, long blasts are to be sounded. ⁸ The trumpets are to be blown by Aaron's sons, the priests.

“The following rule is to be observed for all time to come. ⁹ When you are at war in your land, defending yourselves against an enemy who has attacked you, sound the signal for battle on these trumpets. I, the Lord your God, will help you and save you from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also on joyful occasions—at your New Moon Festivals and your other religious festivals—you are to blow the trumpets when you present your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings. Then I will help you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites Break Camp

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year after the people left Egypt, the cloud over the Tent of the Lord's presence lifted, ¹² and the Israelites started on their journey out of the Sinai Desert. The cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³ They began to march at the command of the Lord through Moses, ¹⁴ and each time they moved, they were in the same order. Those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Judah started out first, company by company, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command. ¹⁵ Nethanel son of Zuar was in command of the tribe of Issachar, ¹⁶ and Eliab son of Helon was in command of the tribe of Zebulun.

¹⁷ Then the Tent would be taken down, and the clans of Gershon and Merari, who carried it, would start out.

¹⁸ Next, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Reuben would start out, company by company, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was in command of the tribe of Simeon, ²⁰ and Eliasaph son of Deuel was in command of the tribe of Gad.

²¹ Then the Levite clan of Kohath would start out, carrying the sacred objects. By the time they arrived at the next camp, the Tent had been set up again.

²² Next, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Ephraim would start out, company by company, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command. ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was in command of the tribe of Manasseh, ²⁴ and Abidan son of Gideoni was in command of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵ Finally, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Dan, serving as the rear guard of all the divisions, would start out, company by company, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ochran was in command of the tribe of Asher, ²⁷ and Ahira son of Enan was in command of the tribe of Naphtali. ²⁸ This, then, was the order of march, company by company, whenever the Israelites broke camp and set out.

²⁹ Moses said to his brother-in-law Hobab son of Jethro the Midianite, “We are about to start out for the place which the Lord said he would give us. He has promised to make Israel prosperous, so come with us, and we will share our prosperity with you.”

³⁰ Hobab answered, “No, I am going back to my native land.”

³¹ “Please don't leave us,” Moses said. “You know where we can camp in the wilderness, and you can be our guide. ³² If you come with us, we will share with you all the blessings that the Lord gives us.”

The People Set Out

³³ When the people left Sinai, the holy mountain, they traveled three days. The Lord's Covenant Box always went ahead of them to find a place for them to camp. ³⁴ As they moved on from each camp, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day.

^35 (A)Whenever the Covenant Box started out, Moses would say, “Arise, Lord; scatter your enemies and put to flight those who hate you!” ³⁶ And whenever it stopped, he would say, “Return, Lord, to the thousands of families of Israel.”^[a]

The Place Named Taberah

11 The people began to complain to the Lord about their troubles. When the Lord heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp. ² The people cried out to Moses for help; he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. ³ So the place was named Taberah,^[b] because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

Moses Chooses Seventy Leaders

⁴ There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: “If only we could have some meat! ⁵ In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? ⁶ But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat—nothing but this manna day after day!”

(^7 (B)Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. ^8-9 (C)It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.)

¹⁰ Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, ¹¹ and he said to the Lord, “Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? ¹² I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? ¹³ Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. ¹⁴ I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! ¹⁵ If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. ¹⁸ Now tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. ¹⁹ You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.’”

²¹ Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? ²² Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?”

²³ “Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered. “You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!”

The Plot against Jesus^(A)

14 ^(B)It was now two days before the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ² “We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people might riot.”

Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany^(C)

^3 (D)Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. While Jesus was eating, a woman came in with an alabaster jar full of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus' head. ⁴ Some of the people there became angry and said to one another, “What was the use of wasting the perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins^[a] and the money given to the poor!” And they criticized her harshly.

⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a fine and beautiful thing for me. ^7 (E)You will always have poor people with you, and any time you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body to prepare it ahead of time for burial. ⁹ Now, I assure you that wherever the gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus^(F)

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were pleased to hear what he had to say, and promised to give him money. So Judas started looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal with His Disciples^(G)

¹² On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the day the lambs for the Passover meal were killed, Jesus' disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and get the Passover meal ready for you?”

¹³ Then Jesus sent two of them with these instructions: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him ¹⁴ to the house he enters, and say to the owner of the house: ‘The Teacher says, Where is the room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover meal?’ ¹⁵ Then he will show you a large upstairs room, fixed up and furnished, where you will get everything ready for us.”

¹⁶ The disciples left, went to the city, and found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

¹⁷ When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve disciples. ^18 (H)While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you that one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ The disciples were upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely you don't mean me, do you?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “It will be one of you twelve, one who dips his bread in the dish with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will; but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

^(A)A Prayer for Forgiveness^[a]

³¹ Righteous people speak wisdom, but the tongue that speaks evil will be stopped.

³² Righteous people know the kind thing to say, but the wicked are always saying things that hurt.