Month: February 2020

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday February 11, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 32-33

The Gold Calf

32 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”

6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.

7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”

11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.[a] You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”

14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

15 Then Moses turned and went down the mountain. He held in his hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.[b] They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. 16 These tablets were God’s work; the words on them were written by God himself.

17 When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!”

18 But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”

19 When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf they had made and burned it. Then he ground it into powder, threw it into the water, and forced the people to drink it.

21 Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded, “What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”

22 “Don’t get so upset, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know how evil these people are. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.’ When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire—and out came this calf!”

25 Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.[c] 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come here and join me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.

27 Moses told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone—even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” 28 The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.

29 Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have ordained yourselves[d] for the service of the Lord, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Today you have earned a blessing.”

Moses Intercedes for Israel

30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin, but I will go back up to the Lord on the mountain. Perhaps I will be able to obtain forgiveness[e] for your sin.”

31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”

33 But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about. Look! My angel will lead the way before you. And when I come to call the people to account, I will certainly hold them responsible for their sins.”

35 Then the Lord sent a great plague upon the people because they had worshiped the calf Aaron had made.

33 The Lord said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ 2 And I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3 Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

4 When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes. 5 For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.” 6 So from the time they left Mount Sinai,[f] the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.

7 It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting[g] and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. 9 As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10 When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. 11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

Moses Sees the Lord’s Glory

12 One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me, ‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ 13 If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.”

14 The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.”

15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”

17 The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”

18 Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”

19 The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,[h] before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. 20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 The Lord continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. 22 As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”

Footnotes:

  1. 32:13 Hebrew Israel. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
  2. 32:15 Hebrew the two tablets of the Testimony; see note on 25:16.
  3. 32:25 Or out of control, and they mocked anyone who opposed them. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  4. 32:29 As in Greek and Latin versions; Hebrew reads Today ordain yourselves.
  5. 32:30 Or to make atonement.
  6. 33:6 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
  7. 33:7 This “Tent of Meeting” is different from the Tabernacle described in chapters 26 and 36.
  8. 33:19 Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH that is sometimes rendered “Jehovah”; in this translation it is usually rendered “the Lord” (note the use of small capitals).
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Matthew 26:69-27:14

Peter Denies Jesus

69 Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”

70 But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

71 Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.[a]”

72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said.

73 A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.”

74 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed.

75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.

Judas Hangs Himself

27 Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. 2 Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”

“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

5 Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

6 The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.”[b] 7 After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. 8 That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. 9 This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,

“They took[c] the thirty pieces of silver—
the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,
10 and purchased the potter’s field,
as the Lord directed.[d]”

Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

12 But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. 13 “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. 14 But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

Footnotes:

  1. 26:71 Or Jesus the Nazarene.
  2. 27:6 Greek since it is the price for blood.
  3. 27:9 Or I took.
  4. 27:9-10 Greek as the Lord directed me. Zech 11:12-13; Jer 32:6-9.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 33:1-11

Psalm 33

1 Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord;
it is fitting for the pure to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre;
make music for him on the ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing a new song of praise to him;
play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.
4 For the word of the Lord holds true,
and we can trust everything he does.
5 He loves whatever is just and good;
the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.

6 The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
7 He assigned the sea its boundaries
and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
8 Let the whole world fear the Lord,
and let everyone stand in awe of him.
9 For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command.

10 The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations
and thwarts all their schemes.
11 But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 8:33-36

33 Listen to my instruction and be wise.
Don’t ignore it.
34 Joyful are those who listen to me,
watching for me daily at my gates,
waiting for me outside my home!
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the Lord.
36 But those who miss me injure themselves.
All who hate me love death.”

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday February 10, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 30:11-31:18

Money for the Tabernacle

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them. 13 Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the Lord. (This payment is half a shekel,[a] based on the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.) 14 All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this sacred offering to the Lord. 15 When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making you right with him,[b] the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less. 16 Receive this ransom money from the Israelites, and use it for the care of the Tabernacle.[c] It will bring the Israelites to the Lord’s attention, and it will purify your lives.”

Plans for the Washbasin

17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. 19 Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. 20 They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord—or they will die! 21 They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be observed from generation to generation.”

The Anointing Oil

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Collect choice spices—12 1⁄2 pounds of pure myrrh, 6 1⁄4 pounds of fragrant cinnamon, 6 1⁄4 pounds of fragrant calamus,[d] 24 and 12 1⁄2 pounds of cassia[e]—as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. Also get one gallon of olive oil.[f] 25 Like a skilled incense maker, blend these ingredients to make a holy anointing oil. 26 Use this sacred oil to anoint the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and all its accessories, the incense altar, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the washbasin with its stand. 29 Consecrate them to make them absolutely holy. After this, whatever touches them will also become holy.

30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons also, consecrating them to serve me as priests. 31 And say to the people of Israel, ‘This holy anointing oil is reserved for me from generation to generation. 32 It must never be used to anoint anyone else, and you must never make any blend like it for yourselves. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. 33 Anyone who makes a blend like it or anoints someone other than a priest will be cut off from the community.’”

The Incense

34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather fragrant spices—resin droplets, mollusk shell, and galbanum—and mix these fragrant spices with pure frankincense, weighed out in equal amounts. 35 Using the usual techniques of the incense maker, blend the spices together and sprinkle them with salt to produce a pure and holy incense. 36 Grind some of the mixture into a very fine powder and put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant,[g] where I will meet with you in the Tabernacle. You must treat this incense as most holy. 37 Never use this formula to make this incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the Lord, and you must treat it as holy. 38 Anyone who makes incense like this for personal use will be cut off from the community.”

Craftsmen: Bezalel and Oholiab

31 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. 4 He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. 5 He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!

6 “And I have personally appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make:

7 the Tabernacle;[h]
the Ark of the Covenant;[i]
the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement;
all the furnishings of the Tabernacle;
8 the table and its utensils;
the pure gold lampstand with all its accessories;
the incense altar;
9 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils;
the washbasin with its stand;
10 the beautifully stitched garments—the sacred garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to wear as they minister as priests;
11 the anointing oil;
the fragrant incense for the Holy Place.

The craftsmen must make everything as I have commanded you.”

Instructions for the Sabbath

12 The Lord then gave these instructions to Moses: 13 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. 15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. 16 The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. 17 It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’”

18 When the Lord finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant,[j] written by the finger of God.

Footnotes:

  1. 30:13 Or 0.2 ounces [6 grams].
  2. 30:15 Or to make atonement for your lives; similarly in 30:16.
  3. 30:16 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 30:18, 20, 26, 36.
  4. 30:23 Hebrew 500 [shekels] [5.7 kilograms] of pure myrrh, 250 [shekels] [2.9 kilograms] of fragrant cinnamon, 250 [shekels] of fragrant calamus.
  5. 30:24a Hebrew 500 [shekels] [5.7 kilograms] of cassia.
  6. 30:24b Hebrew 1 hin [3.8 liters] of olive oil.
  7. 30:36 Hebrew in front of the Testimony; see note on 25:16.
  8. 31:7a Hebrew the Tent of Meeting.
  9. 31:7b Hebrew the Ark of the Testimony.
  10. 31:18 Hebrew the two tablets of the Testimony; see note on 25:16.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Matthew 26:47-68

Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested

47 And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. 48 The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” 49 So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss.

50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.”

Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.

52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands[a] of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”

55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. 56 But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Jesus before the Council

57 Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered. 58 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end.

59 Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council[b] were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. 60 But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward 61 who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

64 Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand[c] and coming on the clouds of heaven.”[d]

65 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your verdict?”

“Guilty!” they shouted. “He deserves to die!”

67 Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him, 68 jeering, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?”

Footnotes:

  1. 26:53 Greek twelve legions.
  2. 26:59 Greek the Sanhedrin.
  3. 26:64a Greek seated at the right hand of the power. See Ps 110:1.
  4. 26:64b See Dan 7:13.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 32

Psalm 32

A psalm[a] of David.

1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,[b]
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude

6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

Footnotes:

  1. 32:Title Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.
  2. 32:2 Greek version reads of sin. Compare Rom 4:8.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 8:27-32

27 I was there when he established the heavens,
when he drew the horizon on the oceans.
28 I was there when he set the clouds above,
when he established springs deep in the earth.
29 I was there when he set the limits of the seas,
so they would not spread beyond their boundaries.
And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,
30 I was the architect at his side.
I was his constant delight,
rejoicing always in his presence.
31 And how happy I was with the world he created;
how I rejoiced with the human family!

32 “And so, my children,[a] listen to me,
for all who follow my ways are joyful.

Footnotes:

  1. 8:32 Hebrew my sons.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


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02/09/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 29:1-30:10, Matthew 26:14-46, Psalms 31:19-24, Proverbs 8:14-26

Today is the 9th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you at the threshold where we can step through together into this brand-new week and it’s a fresh start. So, no matter what happened last week, this is new week. And as we enter into this new week and consider what we were considering last week, following and listening to the voice of wisdom, and we can begin to do that by slowing down enough to consider what the right choices would be that we’re making. So, let’s practice that this week. And one of the right choices would be to allow God’s word to wash over us each and every day and speak into our lives which is why we meet here around this Global Campfire every day. So, we gotta a brand-new week and we’ll read from the New Living Translation this week. Today Exodus chapter 29 verse one through 30 verse 10.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us safely, successfully here into the brand-new beginning of a new week and we are encountering now the story of Your Passion, Jesus story of Your betrayal and arrest and trial and…and Your death and Your resurrection and this is the first time we’re encountering this this year. And, so, we…we note that and we pay attention to that and we open our hearts to this story, the story that brings us the good news of salvation. So, we invite Your Holy Spirit to help us to meditate upon this today and to treat it somberly because although there is fantastic rejoicing at the end of the story, we see You. Jesus we’ve been walking with You since the beginning of the year through the book of Matthew. We see You now in anguish and great distress as You contemplate what is before You. And we see that You endured the hardships of life and all of the emotional upheaval that can go along with it, like all of us. There’s nothing You can’t identify with in us. You were willing to endure it all in order to show us what walking the narrow path that leads to life looks like and modeling that for us in Your life and then making it all completely accessible, available and possible for us through Your death and resurrection. And, so, we love You Jesus and we thank You and we move through this day with a heart deep and abiding gratitude. Come Holy Spirit into this week ahead. And may we carry this gratitude through each and every choice, conversation, and thought in our lives. We pray this in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. Amen.

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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:

Hey, you DABbers this is Emi from Illinois. Just calling in. My husband just told me last night that he’s going to file for divorce this week. I am sitting in our truck waiting to head to church this morning and hoping and praying that God will do a miracle at church today. We serve, we volunteer, we’re in leadership. And while people knew something was going on a few months ago they think everything’s okay right now. I can’t say anything. God please, just heal our marriage, do a work today. Thank you.

Good morning DAB family this is Danny from Southern Oregon. I am sitting in LA right now in my childhood home. Came to visit my parents and my siblings and got in really late last night so I haven’t even seen my mom yet. She’s still sleeping. I guess she didn’t have a very good night. Anyway, I’m gonna be here for two weeks and I’m really thankful that I have the opportunity to spend this time with my parents because they are 87 and almost 89. But I wonder if you would just pray for my husband and my kids. I have three teenagers at home and my teenage boys are 16 and 14 Micah Daniel and Isaiah 53 and they have both made some really bad choices of the last year and the relationship between my husband and the boys is really strained and it just as a lot of my husband and he’s not…he doesn’t have the faith that I do where I just gave up my kids to the Lord and what happens happens. I just pray for them and know I’m not in control, but my husband really is overwhelmed by everything and my son Isaiah 53 is going to be arrested on Tuesday and spend some time in detention for probation violation and is only 14. He’s never been in before in it’s just really hard on us. I’m…I’m just ask that you would lift them up and that they would come to know the Lord. I talk about Him all the time and that they were made for a purpose and this is in it. Please pray for them. Thank you.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Dawn calling from California. Just finished listening to today’s reading and I had to call in when I heard Charisse prayer request at the end of today’s reading. Charisse, I just upon hearing your voice I actually thought it was me. I had a car accident myself 48 hours after you and I thought I had called in while I was in the ICU. When I heard your voice, my heart was connected with you. I know what it is to still be in pain and still be in therapy. But my heart is with you on the loss of your husband and wanting to be with your children. And, so, we your DAB family we are lifting you up, we are covering you, we are asking God to send you a strong and powerful miracle and that for the top of your head to the soul of your feet God will restore and heal you and make you better, that your femur, your spleen, as well as anything else that’s not right in your body is touched right here and right now. We love you sis and we thank God that He brought you here to the DAB family six months ago. And, so, He gave you what you would need before you knew that you needed it. And, so, we will continue to call out your name in glory and we love you much. And to the rest of the family we do the same and cover it up all your prayer request as well. I myself am doing much better and hearing this word everyday continues to strengthen me and encourage me. I love you DAB. Thank you for all you do family. Thank you, Brian so much for this awesome, life-changing ministry. Love you DAB family.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family it is Dr. John from Jordan New York. God smiles, oh God bless you. You have the most joyful voice. I love listening to you and I love your hearing especially with Bob the budgie backup singer. That’s what I named him. So, you were singing away, and Bob was happily chirping in the background. That was awesome. So, I just wanted to say thank you for your calls. You definitely make me smile. Family I wanted to thank you for praying for my daughter Phoebe. She did really well on her part two of the boards with your prayers and that has given her a lot of peace in terms of where she’s going. She still needs prayers for salvation and her trusting in Jesus and for someone to bring…for God to bring a Christian man into her life. She really needs that because there’s…for her there’s still quite a bit of bitterness and I don’t know where that comes from. So, please pray for Phoebe and I appreciate your prayers for her for her boards, they went fantastic and we’ll find out in March where she’s going for residency. Unfortunately, at this point it looks like it might be across the country in Boise Idaho. If we’ve got a Boise Idaho listeners who want to pray for Phoebe as she heads out there for residency I’d really appreciate it. All right. Love you guys. Take care. Bye-bye.

Hi, my name is Vicki from Fallbrook. I want to say thank you my dear family for praying for my dear better half. He had massive tumor in his spinal cord and he also had cancer throughout his chest. I want you to know. Thank you for the prayers. My dear friend passed away January 29th, but I know he’s home with the Lord and I want to say family thank you again for praying for him and I know he’s with God and he has a new body. So, my dear family I want to tell you, don’t give up, look up. God is there with us. He will take care of us. No matter what we need we need to ask Him and seek Him and wait patiently for His answer and He will answer. My dear family, again, don’t give up, look up. And again, thank you for all the prayers. Without those prayers I would not have made it. I know He hears our prayers. So, don’t give up, look up. Thank you and God bless you. And thank you DAB for I’m listening to you. This is my first year and I am getting stronger by listening to the word. Thank you again.

Hello DAB family this is Denise and I just wanted to give a shout out, a praise, a thank you Jesus for putting these two people in my Daily Audio Bible lives. Kingdom Seeker Daniel, your connection and words for Norm and for Harold just absolutely forward me while I was working out this evening and then you saying to the young ladies you are so beautiful to Jesus. I just…I was just crying in the gym and I wanted to believe that was also for me too. I just really need of those words. Thank you. And, you know, you said you were so excited you heard Harold that, you know, you screamed while you were installing an air freshener. And the people who do work like that on my office building are not that exciting. And so I know we’re near the Chicago area but I’m just so grateful that people who you work for, you know, and get the benefit of your services get such an encouraging happy person to work for them and praise Jesus and I hope they see the light that we get to see every day because what a gift you are. And I just…for Harold. Harold you must be slightly overwhelmed at how many messages are directed to you. And I just want to affirm to your heart that one, Jesus is using you, that you are the Harold of all the Harold’s that aren’t calling in. So, you are representing a community that are…that have not been able to call, or they didn’t feel comfortable and I know that your words are working miracles in the ears of people who aren’t calling in. And secondly, I just want to tell you because God put this in my heart, that it…it’s not just about you and Jesus it’s about the people around you and Jesus. God is not just going after you. There must be some really powerful wonderful people that He wants to bring into his kingdom and He’s starting with you. And, so, Harold I want you to look at this as this is big brother. You are you are wanted and loved by him.

Hello, my name is Christina, and this is in response to Anonymous who called in. I don’t know the day you called in but I’m receiving this on February 4th, and you call in about being in an abusive your relationship with your husband and having a lot of fear about leaving. I was in a similar situation almost 30 years ago. I had two little children I was just terrified. It was just…he was a lawyer, he threatened to take everything. It was just awful. And I have to say that you’ll get through it. God is bigger than your husband. God is bigger than your marriage. God is bigger than you. God can conquer all things. What you need more than anything is a strong backup team and that means being involved with the church of believers who will back you up and help you and support you as well as getting good legal counsel and get a good therapist behind you. But you’ll get through it. God does not want any of his children to be abused, not a single one, not you either. He’s stronger than all of this so just put your faith in Him, don’t let go, hang on to Him. You’ll get through it just like I did. You can make it. You can make it through to the other side. You’ll be fine. God bless you. Amen.

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday February 9, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 29:1-30:10

Dedication of the Priests

29 “This is the ceremony you must follow when you consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams with no defects. 2 Then, using choice wheat flour and no yeast, make loaves of bread, thin cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers spread with oil. 3 Place them all in a single basket, and present them at the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams.

4 “Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle,[a] and wash them with water. 5 Dress Aaron in his priestly garments—the tunic, the robe worn with the ephod, the ephod itself, and the chestpiece. Then wrap the decorative sash of the ephod around him. 6 Place the turban on his head, and fasten the sacred medallion to the turban. 7 Then anoint him by pouring the anointing oil over his head. 8 Next present his sons, and dress them in their tunics. 9 Wrap the sashes around the waists of Aaron and his sons, and put their special head coverings on them. Then the right to the priesthood will be theirs by law forever. In this way, you will ordain Aaron and his sons.

10 “Bring the young bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head. 11 Then slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 12 Put some of its blood on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, and burn it all on the altar. 14 Then take the rest of the bull, including its hide, meat, and dung, and burn it outside the camp as a sin offering.

15 “Next Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the head of one of the rams. 16 Then slaughter the ram, and splatter its blood against all sides of the altar. 17 Cut the ram into pieces, and wash off the internal organs and the legs. Set them alongside the head and the other pieces of the body, 18 then burn the entire animal on the altar. This is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord.

19 “Now take the other ram, and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head. 20 Then slaughter it, and apply some of its blood to the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. 21 Then take some of the blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and on their garments. In this way, they and their garments will be set apart as holy.

22 “Since this is the ram for the ordination of Aaron and his sons, take the fat of the ram, including the fat of the broad tail, the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, along with the right thigh. 23 Then take one round loaf of bread, one thin cake mixed with olive oil, and one wafer from the basket of bread without yeast that was placed in the Lord’s presence. 24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons to be lifted up as a special offering to the Lord. 25 Afterward take the various breads from their hands, and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering. It is a pleasing aroma to the Lord, a special gift for him. 26 Then take the breast of Aaron’s ordination ram, and lift it up in the Lord’s presence as a special offering to him. Then keep it as your own portion.

27 “Set aside the portions of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons. This includes the breast and the thigh that were lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. 28 In the future, whenever the people of Israel lift up a peace offering, a portion of it must be set aside for Aaron and his descendants. This is their permanent right, and it is a sacred offering from the Israelites to the Lord.

29 “Aaron’s sacred garments must be preserved for his descendants who succeed him, and they will wear them when they are anointed and ordained. 30 The descendant who succeeds him as high priest will wear these clothes for seven days as he ministers in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place.

31 “Take the ram used in the ordination ceremony, and boil its meat in a sacred place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons will eat this meat, along with the bread in the basket, at the Tabernacle entrance. 33 They alone may eat the meat and bread used for their purification[b] in the ordination ceremony. No one else may eat them, for these things are set apart and holy. 34 If any of the ordination meat or bread remains until the morning, it must be burned. It may not be eaten, for it is holy.

35 “This is how you will ordain Aaron and his sons to their offices, just as I have commanded you. The ordination ceremony will go on for seven days. 36 Each day you must sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering to purify them, making them right with the Lord.[c] Afterward, cleanse the altar by purifying it[d]; make it holy by anointing it with oil. 37 Purify the altar, and consecrate it every day for seven days. After that, the altar will be absolutely holy, and whatever touches it will become holy.

38 “These are the sacrifices you are to offer regularly on the altar. Each day, offer two lambs that are a year old, 39 one in the morning and the other in the evening. 40 With one of them, offer two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quart of pure oil of pressed olives; also, offer one quart of wine[e] as a liquid offering. 41 Offer the other lamb in the evening, along with the same offerings of flour and wine as in the morning. It will be a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord.

42 “These burnt offerings are to be made each day from generation to generation. Offer them in the Lord’s presence at the Tabernacle entrance; there I will meet with you and speak with you. 43 I will meet the people of Israel there, in the place made holy by my glorious presence. 44 Yes, I will consecrate the Tabernacle and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, 46 and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God.

Plans for the Incense Altar

30 “Then make another altar of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 Make it 18 inches square and 36 inches high,[f] with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself. 3 Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar. 4 Make two gold rings, and attach them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold molding to hold the carrying poles. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 Place the incense altar just outside the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant,[g] in front of the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that covers the tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.[h] I will meet with you there.

7 “Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. 8 And each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn incense in the Lord’s presence. This must be done from generation to generation. 9 Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid offerings.

10 “Once a year Aaron must purify[i] the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to purify the people from their sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord’s most holy altar.”

Footnotes:

  1. 29:4 Hebrew Tent of Meeting; also in 29:10, 11, 30, 32, 42, 44.
  2. 29:33 Or their atonement.
  3. 29:36a Or to make atonement.
  4. 29:36b Or by making atonement for it; similarly in 29:37.
  5. 29:40 Hebrew 1⁄10 [of an ephah] [2.2 liters] of choice flour . . . 1⁄4 of a hin [1 liter] of pure oil . . . 1⁄4 of a hin of wine.
  6. 30:2 Hebrew 1 cubit [46 centimeters] long and 1 cubit wide, a square, and 2 cubits [92 centimeters] high.
  7. 30:6a Or Ark of the Testimony; also in 30:26.
  8. 30:6b Hebrew that covers the Testimony; see note on 25:16.
  9. 30:10 Or make atonement for; also in 30:10b.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Matthew 26:14-46

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

14 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests 15 and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

The Last Supper

17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

18 “As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.

20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table[a] with the Twelve. 21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”

22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”

23 He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24 For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”

25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?”

And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant[b] between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,

‘God will strike[c] the Shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[d] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

Footnotes:

  1. 26:20 Or Jesus reclined.
  2. 26:28 Some manuscripts read the new covenant.
  3. 26:31 Greek I will strike. Zech 13:7.
  4. 26:42 Greek If this cannot pass.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 31:19-24

19 How great is the goodness
you have stored up for those who fear you.
You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,
blessing them before the watching world.
20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
safe from those who conspire against them.
You shelter them in your presence,
far from accusing tongues.

21 Praise the Lord,
for he has shown me the wonders of his unfailing love.
He kept me safe when my city was under attack.
22 In panic I cried out,
“I am cut off from the Lord!”
But you heard my cry for mercy
and answered my call for help.

23 Love the Lord, all you godly ones!
For the Lord protects those who are loyal to him,
but he harshly punishes the arrogant.
24 So be strong and courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord!

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 8:14-26

14 Common sense and success belong to me.
Insight and strength are mine.
15 Because of me, kings reign,
and rulers make just decrees.
16 Rulers lead with my help,
and nobles make righteous judgments.[a]

17 “I love all who love me.
Those who search will surely find me.
18 I have riches and honor,
as well as enduring wealth and justice.
19 My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold,
my wages better than sterling silver!
20 I walk in righteousness,
in paths of justice.
21 Those who love me inherit wealth.
I will fill their treasuries.

22 “The Lord formed me from the beginning,
before he created anything else.
23 I was appointed in ages past,
at the very first, before the earth began.
24 I was born before the oceans were created,
before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
25 Before the mountains were formed,
before the hills, I was born—
26 before he had made the earth and fields
and the first handfuls of soil.

Footnotes:

  1. 8:16 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version read and nobles are judges over the earth.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


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02/08/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 28:1-43, Matthew 25:31-26:13, Psalms 31:9-18, Proverbs 8:12-13

Today is the 8th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you as we close down another one of our weeks together. I’m grateful that we have the opportunity to…yeah…to finish well. So, we’ve been reading from the Voice translation this week, which is what we will continue to do today. And we are still at Mount Sinai, the mountain of God with the children of Israel and God is upon the mountain explaining to Moses what He would like this new culture that is being built, His chosen people, what He would like this to look like. Today, Exodus chapter 28.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for bringing us through another week successfully. We are so grateful for all that You are speaking to…into our lives thus far this year. So, as we seal this week and close the door and it becomes a part of our past, a part of our history, we look forward to all that You have yet to speak to us in the coming days and in the coming weeks. So, we worship You and we give You our gratitude. We love You and we thank You and we pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s…well…it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. It’s our virtual home for our Global Campfire community. And, so, yeah there are resources there in the Shop that are created just for the journey that we are on. And definitely links to different places to interact.

And it’s to remind you that the Daily Audio Bible is a family of programs. Like, maybe if English isn’t your native language, there’s Daily Audio Bible in Espanola or French or Japanese or any number of languages but there’s also other English programs like Daily Audio Bible Chronological. My daughter, China is just doing a fantastic job. She’s been at this with me…I mean only a couple years less than me. Her whole life has been centered around reading the Bible. And, so, she’s growing up and leading a community through to the Bible in chronological order.

There’s also Daily Audio Bible Psalm and Daily Audio Bible Proverbs. Those are like vitamins because like listening to the Daily Audio Bible we’re going through a section of Scripture each day, we’re talking about it, we’re applying it to our lives, we’re getting history, we’re getting context. But the Psalms and the Proverbs, it’s like a chapter a day. So, you can go through the entire book of Proverbs in a month. It’ll take you like less than five minutes a day to do it, or the Psalms is just a couple of minutes. And, so, they’re like vitamins that we can have throughout the day. Just get the Scriptures speaking into our lives and transforming us. So, check all that out. It’s a…it’s a big roaring Global Campfire that warms us and there's…there’s plenty of warmth to go around. So, check that out.

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

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can press the Hotline button in the app, the little red button that’s right next to the Give button in the upper right-hand corner and begin to share from there or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s all 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 __ and I have been a DABber for about 10 years and this is the first time I’ve called in. Today I am asking for prayer for my son who is in his 40s and he’s morbidly obese and starting to develop the disease processes that occur with obesity. I have prayed for years and all things only become worse. I can see the road ahead will be difficult for him if things do not change. I’m asking all to flood the heavens with prayer and petition asking for God’s intervention. Please pray for diet change, exercise, healing, sleep, and stress relief all things needed to obtain the goal of healthy living. Thank you so very much.

Good morning it is February 1st this is Sheryl from southeastern Washington. I just got through listening to the Daily Audio Bible for February 1. I thank you Brian and Joe for this ministry. I just heard a prayer request from Charisse who’s 32 years old and was in an accident January 6th who lost her husband and has little ones at home. Charisse I just wanted to let you know I’m praying for you and I know there are many, many, many other DAB family members who are praying for you also. I have hardly…no words to say but just to let you know that we’re praying for you and we will be praying for you, keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. And just keep in touch with us to let us know how you’re doing. Thank you. Love you all DAB family. Love you Charisse. Bye.

Constantine my name is Leslie I live in Missouri and I’m praying for you. I am so very sorry that you lost your sweet husband and I am praying for you that you and your children will heal and recover and have peace in the middle of this awful, awful tragedy. I am so sorry sister. I love you and I’m praying for you.

Help me dear Lord as I go through this day
to glorify you in every available way
and not bring reproach by the things that I say
to believe in your word and just trust and obey
there’s darkness around me Lord please give me your light
let me know father that everything is all right
dispel all the shadows make everything clear
and when I get lonely father please linger near
strengthen my faith God and let me shine bright
knowing that in all things I’m truly alright
and when there’s sadness Lord help me to smile
to believe and to hope with the faith of a child
dependent in all ways just like life is to the sun
not my will father but thy will be done

blindtony1016@gmail.com. I’d like to give a special shout out to Donny Vice. Thank you so much for your prayers, your love and continuous support. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep flowing y’all.

Hello family DAB this is Timothy Pitt from Edinburgh in Scotland in the UK. I have called in before but so rarely that by way of introduction I first started listening to DAB in 2010. I was just desperate to listen to the Bible. I wanted to do it every day. I wanted it to be Audio and I wanted it of course to be the Bible. So, believe it not the words I actually typed in in my search were Daily Audio Bible and there it was. And I listened since 2010 although I’ve got a back catalog from 2006 in the origins. I’ve done DAB kids with my boys. I’m a double DABber with China and Ben as well. The main point of calling is along with the God of Your Story book, just to encourage everyone to stick at it. It is such an amazing resource to be able to listen to the Bible, to see the story, God’s story for us, and set out throughout the whole year. And the God of Your Story book, yes it absolutely encapsulates everything over the whole history a of DAB. The prayer community is flourishing, is tremendous. The Prayer Wall, wow! But yeah, just a quick encouragement to everyone. Everyone who, like me, rarely or never calls in, just put up your silent prayers, your local prayers, just put up your prayers. God hears us all. God loves us all and through this wonderful community of DAB we can come together to God. So, blessings to everyone.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family my name is Michael Davis I am one of the sons of Diana Davis the one that’s going through stage IV brain cancer right now. And, so, I’m calling in because I heard to prayer 2 requests on behalf of my mom one on January 30th I think and then the first prayer request of the February 1st prayer line. And, so, thank you so much for that. Whoever did call in to request prayers for my mom, thank you whether it was my mom herself or one of her our family members because I tried sending my prayer request in on January 9th or 10th but I don’t think mine went through, either that or I was just like asleep during one of the Daily Audio Bible broadcasts and didn’t get to hear prayers or something like that. But anyway, the story about my mom right now to give an update, as of February 2nd 12:56 AM she’s going through some irregular breathing patterns and she is just really unconscious. She can’t eat or drink anything. And, so, she’s probably about to pass away soon. And, so, if you guys can just keep praying about my mom and keep praying over our family that would be greatly appreciated because if my mom passes away, I want to make sure that my brother and I don’t get separated. I don’t really consider myself autistic anymore because I feel like I’ve healed myself through just eating a lot of watery rich fruits. And, so, my brother he’s on the middle part of the spectrum of autism though and my mom and dad are separated. I can talk to my dad anytime I want to on FaceTime so could my mom if she is, you know, ends up being conscious and whatnot. But it’s just our family is separated. Anyway if you guys could pray over my brother and I and especially my mom just make sure we’re not separated I would heavily appreciate that because of my brother and I got separated that it be very, very devastating for me especially.

Hello Daily Audio Bible I’m calling for Charisse who recently lost her husband in a motor vehicle accident and she herself has had three surgeries and is still in the hospital. Charisse, I am so, so, so sorry for what you have walked through and I want to lift you up to the Lord and I want to remind you that when Mary lost her brother Lazarus that Jesus wept with her, that you not only have the Daily Audio Bible praying for you but you also have our Lord praying for you. And that is my prayer, that He not only brings you all the comfort and the healing and the compassion and the strength that you need to get through this but also that you would be reminded every time you hug your twins and you hug your six-year-old that He’s holding you too, through each and every moment of this journey that you are now on. This world is broken, and we suffer in ways that are unimaginable at times, but Jesus never changes. He’s always faithful and He always remains ready to walk us through absolutely everything. Again, I’m so, so sorry but I will continue to lift you up in prayer as will the rest of the DAB family. I pray God blesses you and comforts you today dear friend. This is All the Treasures from Wyoming.

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday February 8, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 28

28 Eternal One: Have your brother, Aaron, and his sons (Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar) brought to you and appoint them to serve Me as priests for the people of Israel. 2 In order to reflect the glory and beauty of their office, create sacred garments for your brother, Aaron. 3 Talk with all the skilled workers—those whom I have gifted with talent and the spirit of wisdom—and instruct them to create distinct garments that set Aaron apart from others whenever he is serving Me as priest. 4 Here are the ceremonial garments they need to make: a breast piece, a special vest, a robe, a checkered tunic, a turban, and a sash. The craftsmen are to make these sacred items for Aaron your brother and his sons to wear when they come before Me in priestly service. 5 They are to make the garments out of similar materials used for the congregation tent: gold, finely woven linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet thread.

6 Skilled workers are to make the special vest worn by the high priest out of finely woven linen embroidered with gold and with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. 7 It is to be made of two pieces joined together at the shoulders so that front and back form one piece. 8 The waistband should also be made by skilled workers from the finest quality materials: from gold; from blue, purple, and scarlet thread; and from finely woven linen. 9 Then take two onyx stones and engrave the names of Israel’s twelve sons upon them. 10 Carve six names onto each stone in the order of their birth. 11 Engrave the twelve names upon the two stones, just as a jeweler would engrave a seal. Mount each stone into ornamental gold settings, and 12 fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the vest to represent Israel’s sons. Aaron must wear the names on both shoulders as a memorial before Me. 13 Create ornamental gold settings at the shoulders of the vest 14 and attach to them two chains made of pure gold braided together like cords.

15 Have your skilled workers make a breast piece of judgment out of the same quality materials and in the same style as the vest. Use finely woven linen; blue, purple, and scarlet thread; and gold. 16 Make it square and fold it over to double the material, and create a pouch nine inches by nine inches. 17 Attach four rows of stones to the breast piece. The first row is to be a ruby, topaz, and emerald; 18 the second row is turquoise, sapphire, and diamond; 19 the third row is jacinth, agate, and amethyst; 20 the fourth row is beryl, onyx, and jasper. Attach all the stones to the breast piece with ornamental gold settings. 21 These stones stand for the twelve tribes of Israel. Each will be engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. 22 Also braid strands of gold into chains and attach them to the breast piece. 23 Fashion two gold rings for the breast piece as well and attach them to the two ends. 24 Fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the ends of the breast piece. 25 Fasten the loose ends of the chains on the two ornamental gold settings to the shoulders of the special vest. 26 Fashion two more gold rings and attach them to the breast piece at the inside edge next to the vest. 27 Make two additional gold rings and attach them to the front of the vest below the shoulders near the seam just above the waistband. 28 Connect the rings on the breast piece to the rings on the vest using a blue cord. This way, it will be attached above the waistband and not come loose from the vest. 29 Aaron must keep the names of the tribes of Israel in the breast piece of judgment over his heart whenever he enters the holy place; and this will serve as a memorial before the Eternal One, a constant reminder of the covenant.

Whenever Aaron and his sons enter into God’s presence, they wear these heavy ceremonial garments covered with the names of the tribes of Israel to remind them of their holy calling; they come before God to represent His people, not their own interests. But these stones, carved with the names of the twelve tribes, are there to remind God as well. It is not that God forgets, but as our story shows there are times—sometimes long seasons—when the heavens seem silent while God’s people are suffering. The Scriptures tell us that when God’s covenant people call on Him, He remembers His promises and comes to save them. These stones sit prominently on the shoulders of Aaron and later high priests as a memorial, as unspoken prayers calling out and calling upon God to act on behalf of His people.

Eternal One: 30 Keep the Urim and Thummim in a special pouch on the front of the breast piece of judgment. Aaron must wear these two objects over his heart whenever he enters My presence. This way he will always have with him a way to know My will and make sound decisions for the people of Israel.

31 Make the robe worn under the vest blue. 32 Make a hole for the head in the center of it. Form a collar around the hole by lining it with an extra layer of woven material so it will not tear. 33 Embroider pomegranates out of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and attach them to the hem of the robe. Fashion bells out of gold, and place them all around the hem between the pomegranates. 34 Use an alternating pattern: bell, pomegranate, bell, pomegranate, and so on. 35 Whenever he serves as priest, Aaron must wear the robe so that he will not die, because the tinkling of the bells will announce that he intends to enter or leave My presence in the holy place.

36 Make a medallion out of pure gold, and engrave it like you were engraving a seal with the inscription: “Holy to the Eternal.” 37 Fasten it with a blue cord to the front of Aaron’s turban. 38 Aaron must wear it on his forehead in order to take on any guilt from the sacred gifts—regardless of what they are—which the Israelites dedicate to Me. Aaron must always wear it on his forehead, so that the gifts they offer may be acceptable to Me.

The richly detailed description of the high priest’s attire reflects key aspects of God’s relationship with His people. The engraved onyx stones on the vest remind the priest that he stands before God representing the people of Israel. The Urim and Thummim offer assurance that God will direct and guide His people through difficult times and decisions in the future. The beautifully embroidered robe worn under the breast piece represents the riches and beauty of God’s provision. The medallion on the front of the turban announces that Israel must be holy in order to serve the Lord.

Eternal One: 39 The tunic is to be made of finely woven checkered linen. Make the turban out of fine linen as well, and have skilled workers embroider the sash. 40 As for the rest of Aaron’s sons, make tunics, sashes, and special caps to reflect the glory and beauty of their office. 41 When they serve as priests, dress Aaron, your brother, and his sons in these ceremonial garments; anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them. 42 Furnish them with linen undergarments, so that they are covered from their waists to their thighs. 43 Aaron and his sons are to put them on whenever they go into the congregation tent or go near the altar to minister in the holy place. They must do this so that they don’t incur guilt and die. This directive stands forever for Aaron and all those who come after him.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 25:31-26:13

31 When the Son of Man comes in all His majesty accompanied by throngs of heavenly messengers, His throne will be wondrous. 32 All the nations will assemble before Him, and He will judge them, distinguishing them from one another as a shepherd isolates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put some, the sheep, at His right hand and some, the goats, at His left. 34 Then the King will say to those to His right,

King: Come here, you beloved, you people whom My Father has blessed. Claim your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of creation. 35 You shall be richly rewarded, for when I was hungry, you fed Me. And when I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was alone as a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your homes and into your lives. 36 I was naked, and you gave Me clothes to wear; I was sick, and you tended to My needs; I was in prison, and you comforted Me.

37 Even then the righteous will not have achieved perfect understanding and will not recall these things.

Righteous: Master, when did we find You hungry and give You food? When did we find You thirsty and slake Your thirst? 38 When did we find You a stranger and welcome You in, or find You naked and clothe You? 39 When did we find You sick and nurse You to health? When did we visit You when You were in prison?

King: 40 I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to Me.

41 At that He will turn to those on His left hand.

King: Get away from Me, you despised people whom My Father has cursed. Claim your inheritance—the pits of flaming hell where the devil and his minions suffer. 42 For I was starving, and you left Me with no food. When I was dry and thirsty, you left Me to struggle with nothing to drink. 43 When I was alone as a stranger, you turned away from Me. When I was pitifully naked, you left Me unclothed. When I was sick, you gave Me no care. When I was in prison, you did not comfort Me.

Unrighteous: 44 Master, when did we see You hungry and thirsty? When did we see You friendless or homeless or excluded? When did we see You without clothes? When did we see You sick or in jail? When did we see You in distress and fail to respond?

King: 45 I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother hungry or cold, when you saw a sister weak and without friends, when you saw the least of these and ignored their suffering, so you ignored Me.

46 So these, the goats, will go off to everlasting punishment. But the beloved, the sheep (the righteous), will go into everlasting life.

26 And so this is what happened, finally. Jesus finished all His teaching, and He said to His disciples,

Jesus: 2 The feast of Passover begins in two days. That is when the Son of Man is handed over to be crucified.

3 And almost as He spoke, the chief priests were getting together with the elders at the home of the high priest, Caiaphas. 4 They schemed and mused about how they could trick Jesus, sneak around and capture Him, and then kill Him.

Chief Priests: 5 We shouldn’t try to catch Him at the great public festival. The people would riot if they knew what we were doing.

6 Meanwhile Jesus was at Bethany staying at the home of Simon the leper. 7 While He was at Simon’s house, a woman came to see Him. She had an alabaster flask of very valuable ointment with her, and as Jesus reclined at the table, she poured the ointment on His head. 8 The disciples, seeing this scene, were furious.

Disciples: This is an absolute waste! 9 The woman could have sold that ointment for lots of money, and then she could have given it to the poor.

10 Jesus knew what the disciples were saying among themselves, so He took them to task.

Jesus: Why don’t you leave this woman alone? She has done a good thing. 11 It is good that you are concerned about the poor, but the poor will always be with you—I will not be. 12 In pouring this ointment on My body, she has prepared Me for My burial. 13 I tell you this: the good news of the kingdom of God will be spread all over the world, and wherever the good news travels, people will tell the story of this woman and her good discipleship. And people will remember her.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 31:9-18

9 Show me Your grace, Eternal One, for I am in a tight spot.
My eyes are aching with grief;
my body and soul are withering with miseries.
10 My life is devoured by sorrow,
and my years are haunted with mourning.
My sin has sapped me of all my strength;
my body withers under the weight of this suffering.

11 To all my enemies I am an object of scorn.
My neighbors especially are ashamed of me.
My friends are afraid to be seen with me.
When I walk down the street, people go out of their way to avoid me.
12 I am as good as dead to them. Forgotten!
Like a shattered clay pot, I am easily discarded and gladly replaced.
13 For I hear their whispered plans;
terror is everywhere!
They conspire together,
planning, plotting, scheming to take my life.

14 But I pour my trust into You, Eternal One.
I’m glad to say, “You are my God!”
15 I give the moments of my life over to You, Eternal One.
Rescue me from those who hate me and who hound me with their threats.
16 Look toward me, and let Your face shine down upon Your servant.
Because of Your gracious love, save me!
17 Spare me shame, O Eternal One,
for I turn and call to You.
Instead, let those who hate me be shamed;
let death’s silence claim them.
18 Seal their lying lips forever,
for with pride and contempt boiling in their hearts,
they speak boldly against the righteous and persecute those who poured their trust into You.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 8:12-13

12 Lady Wisdom: I make my home with prudence;
I obtain knowledge and sound judgment.
13 If you respect the Eternal, you will grow to despise evil.
I despise wretched, vile talk
and ways of pride and arrogance.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

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02/07/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 26:1-27:21, Matthew 25:1-30, Psalms 31:1-8, Proverbs 8:1-11

Today is the 7th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you as we take the next step in our journey. And we…we’ve wound our way to the end of another week friends. They just keep moving by day by day step-by-step. So, during this week we arrived at the mountain of God in the Sinai Peninsula and the children of Israel, over a million people are surrounding this mountain and Moses is on the top of the mountain receiving instructions from God and He is, God, is orchestrating the construction of what will be known as the tabernacle. What God is revealing here is that it is His intention to dwell among His people. So, He’s giving instructions for what that should look like. We’re reading from the Voice this week. Today Exodus chapters 26 and 27.

Commentary:

Alright. Let’s talk about Proverbs today. The voice of wisdom, which is a feminine voice in the Scriptures clearly outlined. In this translation she’s called Lady wisdom. She’s speaking today and when she speaks, honestly, we should listen. So, let’s just look at this eighth chapter of Proverbs. Lady wisdom is calling and she says, “listen”, right? So, we should. “Don’t to hear the voice of understanding crying out. She’s taken her stand at the highest place in the city at the crossroads where everyone can see her.” There and at the gates at the entrance to the city right in front of the city doors she cries out.” So, what we’re being told here is that she is not hidden. Wisdom is not hidden. It’s right in front of everyone. It’s at every crossroads and it is. We come to junctures in our lives every single day, crossroads, big and small, and wisdom is there at those crossroads. The question becomes whether or not we slow down enough to listen or whether we just zoom by making whatever turn we’re gonna make, but we’re clearly being told that wisdom is available. And then she goes on. “oh people, I am calling to you. I have a message for all humanity. You, gullible people, acquire insight. You, naïve ones.” And she’s not…she’s not being…she’s not shaming us. She’s calling out to naïve and gullible people who are confused about the way to go. I can raise my hand. I know lots of things but I’m naïve in lots of areas and I’d like to think I’m not gullible, but everybody can be tricked. But wisdom, she’s saying, “yeah, but I could help you with that if you would listen to me.” In fact, she goes on to say, “what I’m about to say to you will set things right.” And then she begins to pour out herself for us to see wisdom. She says, “I despise evil.” So, in other words, wisdom despises evil. If we’re participating in any sort of evil, then we are not walking with wisdom, we are participating in foolishness. She says, “evil will not pass through her lips.” So, wisdom does not speak evil. Speaking evil is foolishness. She says, “everything I say promotes justice.” Okay, wisdom promotes justice in every way. So then, participating in injustice is participating in foolishness that leads to destruction. And she says, “not one word is crooked, and nothing is distorted. Wisdom is not conniving, is not manipulative, is not deceptive, and is not this honest, right? If your words are crooked and distorted, then they are not straight and true. And wisdom says that she will only speak the truth. She’s not nuancing things to be manipulative, to get something, or to hide something. Wisdom doesn’t do that. Doing that is foolishness. She says, “each and every word is straight talk to perceptive people, upright and honest to knowledge seekers.” Okay. So, the perceptive upright honest knowledge seekers understand clearly what wisdom says. So, we’re invited to consider whether we are slowing down enough to be perceptive people, whether we are walking an upright and honest life, whether we do seek wisdom’s knowledge or whether we keep getting trapped in our own folly. She says to accept her correction and of value and treasure it as our most prized possession. The correction of wisdom is the most valuable treasure we can possess for navigating life. She says that we should treasure authentic knowledge. In other words, the truth more than pure gold. She tells us that nothing that we can acquire, nothing that we can acquire will be more valuable than she is to our lives. And we could look at this and go, “well…yeah…but I’m just…I’m trying to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, like God is more valuable to me than wisdom. But we’re gonna find in the book of Proverbs from the lips of wisdom herself is that she was with God in the beginning and witnessed His creation. He used her to create the world. In other words, through wisdom God created the world and the wisdom of God permeates the world and everything that He has created. It’s at every juncture. It’s available at every crossroads of our lives, the question is whether or not we listen. I want her. I know that sounds odd. I want a relationship with wisdom because the Bible is telling me that is more valuable than any other thing I can acquire, and I’ve lived long enough to know that that is true. In fact, for me I think wisdom is the only thing, the only companion in life that…that will make things make sense. And it might sound like I’m like personifying a concept like the collection of all the knowledge that we could attain and personifying that as female but I’m not the one doing it. It's…this is how the Bible reads. So, she is here, she is available, she is at every crossroads, she’s screaming from every height, she is not unavailable or hidden. And if we acquire her, if we acquire wisdom then we can acquire anything. And we know that, you know, we haven’t got to the story of King Solomon yet, but it’s a famous story that he’s the wise man, he’s the wisest one because he asked for wisdom from God instead of anything else that he could’ve asked for. He was the king after all, he could’ve asked for anything. But God told him, “since you asked for wisdom, I will give you wisdom and everything else you could’ve asked for.” So, my friends, we may want to pay attention to this. This may change the rest of our year. Maybe that job promotion is less important than acquiring wisdom this year. Maybe all of the experiences that you’re trying to arrange to have inside of this year are way a less important than acquiring wisdom. She’s telling us that nothing we desire could compare to her. So, let’s do this. And this isn’t something that’s just going to happen to us. Wisdom doesn’t operate that way. But if we start practicing, we’ll get good. And all we have to do is slow down in those curves, right? Crossroads are…are upon us every day. We have to make choices continually and those choices write the story of our day. What if we slowed down enough just to consider wisdom? Is this the right choice right now? Is this true? Am I saying crooked and distorted words to hide or to manipulate? Is this thing that I am deciding just and true? These are the questions wisdom asks. And when we find ourselves out of alignment with wisdom then she tells us to accept her correction as being more valuable than our most prized possession. In other words, if we’ll listen to her, she is rescuing us from a bad road. I want this. I want this in my life more than ever, don’t you? I mean, let’s become wise together as we move through the Scriptures this year. Let’s actually for once believe that wisdom is to be desired more than gold, more than gems, more than anything we could want and see what happens to our lives in the process by the end of the year because we don’t have to overcomplicate this. We just have to slow down and make the next right choice and keep doing that.

Prayer:

Father, we invite Your Holy Spirit into this. We desire a relationship with wisdom, and she is calling from everywhere. So, it’s not like we can’t find her. Holy Spirit lead us on the path of wisdom today. Help us to slow down and listen for her. And we acknowledge we’re not going to hear with our physical ears. We’re going to come to a crossroads where we need to make a choice and we’re either going to just make it and keep going or we’re gonna slow down and listen for what is wise. Help us to make the next right choice again and again and again and again, over and over and over until it is absolutely our lifestyle, until we wouldn’t ever make a choice without considering wisdom. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and it’s the website. So, it’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. You’ve gotta have a home for a virtual community and it’s got to be on the Internet. So, that’s home. So, stay tuned and stay connected to…to the different things that are happening there, the different initiatives, like our pilgrimage to Israel for next year 2021. That’s available.

Check out the Community section, where you find the different links to social media channels that we participate in. I want to remind you that if you’re a woman and if you’re not a part of the Daily Audio Bible Facebook group for women, that is a fantastic resource for you. And you can find the link in the Community section at dailyaudiobible.com. My wife Jill is just amazing. Those of you who are part of that, you already know that. Like, she’s just not willing to be a poser. She’s just not that kind of a person. She just has very little tolerance for what is obviously fake. And, so, she’s honest and creating an honest space there on the Internet. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link and it lives on the homepage. Thank you. I thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner right next to the Hotline button 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 encouragement there are number of numbers that you can dial or if you’re using the app you can just press the Hotline button, the little red button at the top. But if you want to use the phone you can dial 877-942-4253 if you’re in the Americas. In the UK or Europe, you can dial 44-20-3608-8078 or if you are in Australia or the lands down under you can dial 61-3-8820-5459

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

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday February 7, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 26-27

The valuable materials used to make the congregation tent and its furnishings are provided by the Egyptians when the Israelites make their exodus.

26 Eternal One: Make the interior of the congregation tent out of 10 curtains made of the finest woven linens. Decorate it with blue, purple, and scarlet threads, beautifully embroidered by skilled workers with images of winged guardians. 2 Make each curtain 42 feet long and 6 feet wide. 3 Attach five of the curtains together to form one larger curtain. Then take the other five, and attach them to form a second curtain. 4 Make loops out of material dyed blue and attach them on the outer edge of both sets of curtains. 5 Attach 50 more loops to the long edge on both sets of curtains so that the loops match up with one another. 6 Make 50 gold clasps to connect the curtains together so that all the curtains for the interior of the congregation tent form one continuous piece.

7 Next make 11 panels of tent fabric out of goat hair to cover the congregation tent and protect the beautiful embroidered curtains inside. 8 Each of the 11 panels is to be 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. 9 Attach five panels together to form a single wide panel. Then attach the remaining six to form a second panel. Fold the larger panel over at the front of the tent. 10 Make 50 loops on the long edge of each of these panels and 11 50 bronze clasps to connect the panels together, so that this covering for the congregation tent may function as one continuous piece. 12 The extra length of the leather tent panels—the remaining half panel—will hang over the back of the congregation tent. 13 The extra length in the sides of the tent panels should be left to overlap so that the tent is covered completely. 14 You must add two more layers to protect the congregation tent: an inner layer made of red-dyed rams’ skins and an outer layer made of sea-cow hides.

15 Construct the supporting frame panels for the congregation tent out of the acacia wood. 16 Each panel should be 15 feet high and 27 inches wide. 17 For every panel, carve two tenons so that one panel fits perfectly into the next. 18 You will need 20 frame panels for the south wall of the congregation tent. 19 Make 40 silver bases to support the 20 frame panels, two bases beneath each panel so that each fits securely into the bases for support.

20 Make 20 frame panels for the north[a] wall of the tent as well, 21 sitting on 40 silver bases—two bases beneath each of the 20 panels.

22 For the back wall of the congregation tent (the side that faces west), make six frame panels. 23 Make two special panels for each corner on the back side of the tent. 24 They are to come together with the side panels at the bottom to make a strong corner and attach at the top to the first ring. This is how both corner panels should be made. 25 So there are to be eight frame panels on the back wall that fit into 16 silver bases—two bases beneath each panel.

26-27 Make five crossbars of acacia wood to connect the frame panels on each of three sides of the tent: north, south, and west. 28 Run one bar from corner to corner in the middle, halfway up the panels. 29 Overlay the frame panels with gold and make gold rings to hold the crossbars. Overlay the crossbars with gold as well. 30 Set up the congregation tent according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

31 As for the interior of the congregation tent, have your skilled workers take the blue, purple, and scarlet threads, as well as the finest woven linens, and make a veil that is richly decorated with images of winged guardians. 32 Erect four posts made of acacia wood overlaid with gold onto four silver bases. When the veil is complete, hang it on the four posts using gold hooks 33 suspended beneath the clasps that hold together the curtains; and place the covenant chest, which holds the sacred tablets, behind the veil. The veil will separate the two rooms and serve to divide the holy place from the most holy place.

At the very center of Israel’s camp is the congregation tent. It is the heart of the nation, a place of unique revelation, and a constant reminder of God’s presence and actions which create and form His people. Everything must be portable because this is not a settled population but a people on the move. God describes exactly how this large tent and its furnishings are to be constructed. Each layer covering the tent and the detailed work on the covenant chest, the seat of mercy, the table of presence, the lampstand, and all the utensils are physical reminders of deep, spiritual realities. The building, assembling, disassembling, and reassembling of the tent are labor-intensive; yet it is a work of obedience and devotion calling Israel to remember their special relationship with God. These are signs—located right in the center of the camp—that point to the fact that His graciousness is ever before them.

34 Place the seat of mercy—where sins are atoned—on top of the covenant chest in the most holy place. 35 Put the table outside the veil on the north side of the tent, and set the lampstand facing it on the south side.

36 As for the entrance to the congregation tent, have your skilled workers take the blue, purple, and scarlet threads, as well as the finest woven linens, and make another richly embroidered curtain. 37 Erect five posts made of acacia overlaid with gold onto five bases cast in bronze. Hang the richly embroidered curtain on the five posts using gold hooks.

27 Eternal One: Make the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It should be square and measure seven and a half feet by seven and a half feet. Make it four and a half feet high. 2 Construct it with horns on each of the four corners so that the top forms one whole piece, and overlay it with bronze. 3 Fashion buckets and shovels for the ashes, basins, forks, and fire pans out of bronze. 4 Make a grate out of bronze, and attach four bronze rings at each of its four corners. 5 Place the grate beneath the ledge of the altar, halfway up from the base. 6 Make poles out of acacia wood for the altar, and overlay them with bronze. 7 Slide the poles through the rings on both sides of the altar so that it can be moved. 8 Make the altar out of wooden planks, and make it hollow—exactly like the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

9-10 Then enclose the courtyard in front of the congregation tent with large fabric panels made of finely woven linen on the south side that run 150 feet on silver hooks and rings supported by 20 bronze posts set securely into 20 bronze bases. 11 The north side is to be made the same way: hang a series of panels for 150 feet on silver hooks and rings supported by 20 bronze posts set securely into 20 bronze bases. 12 The fabric panels on the west end of the court are to run 75 feet (10 posts set into 10 bases). 13 The east end of the court facing the sunrise is to be 75 feet wide. 14-15 Fabric panels, measuring 22½ feet wide, are to be hung on each end of the east entrance, held up by three posts set into three bases. 16 The entrance to the court is to be a 30-foot fabric screen, made out of finely woven linen richly embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. It is to be held up by four posts set into four bases.

17 All the posts that define the courtyard are to have silver bands and silver hooks, and be set into bronze bases. 18 The courtyard itself is to be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. The finely woven linen panels should be seven and a half feet high including the height of the bronze bases. 19 As for the items used in the ceremonies held in the congregation tent and the tent pegs used both inside and outside the tent, they are to be made of bronze.

20 Direct the Israelites to bring you oil from olives whipped until it is clear in order to keep the lamps burning continually and producing the best light possible. 21 From dusk till dawn—inside the tent but outside the veil shrouding the most holy place—Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning in My presence. This directive stands forever and must be carried out by the priests and people of Israel throughout all generations.

Footnotes:

  1. 26:20 Greek manuscripts read “south.”
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 25:1-30

25 Jesus: Or picture the kingdom of heaven this way. It will be like ten bridesmaids who each picked up a lantern and went out to meet a certain bridegroom. 2-4 Five of these women were sensible, good with details, and remembered to bring small flasks of oil for their lanterns. But five of them were flighty, too caught up in the excitement of their jaunt, and forgot to bring oil with them. 5 The bridegroom did not turn up right away. Indeed, all the women, while waiting, found themselves falling asleep. 6 And then in the middle of the night, they heard someone call, “The bridegroom is here, finally! Wake up and greet him!” 7 The women got up and trimmed the wicks of their lanterns and prepared to go greet the groom. 8 The five women who had no oil turned to their friends for help.

Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Please give us some of your oil! Our lanterns are flickering and will go out soon.

9 But the five women who’d come prepared with oil said they didn’t have enough.

Prepared Bridesmaids: If we give you some of our oil, we’ll all run out too soon! You’d better go wake up a dealer and buy your own supply.

10 So the five ill-prepared women went in search of oil to buy, and while they were gone, the groom arrived. The five who stood ready with their lanterns accompanied him to the wedding party, and after they arrived, the door was shut.

11 Finally the rest of the women turned up at the party. They knocked on the door.

Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Master, open up and let us in!

Bridegroom (refusing): 12 I certainly don’t know you.

13 So stay awake; you neither know the day nor hour [when the Son of Man will come].[a]

Jesus provides a picture of the coming reality of the kingdom of heaven. As they approach the time of His sacrifice, Jesus makes sure the disciples know that soon it will be too late; the door of opportunity will close, and for many the door will remain shut. He gives them another image of the same reality to bring the picture into focus. Once they were bridesmaids waiting for their bridegroom; now they are slaves waiting for their Master. This time they are given responsibilities that will be rewarded. The blessings of the Kingdom bring risks along with the benefits.

Jesus: 14 This is how it will be. It will be like a landowner who is going on a trip. He instructed his slaves about caring for his property. 15 He gave five talents to one slave, two to the next, and then one talent to the last slave—each according to his ability. Then the man left.

16 Promptly the man who had been given five talents went out and bartered and sold and turned his five talents into ten. 17 And the one who had received two talents went to the market and turned his two into four. 18 And the slave who had received just one talent? He dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money there.

19 Eventually the master came back from his travels, found his slaves, and settled up with them. 20 The slave who had been given five talents came forward and told his master how he’d turned five into ten; then he handed the whole lot over to his master.

Master: 21 Excellent. You’ve proved yourself not only clever but loyal. You’ve executed a rather small task masterfully, so now I am going to put you in charge of something larger. But before you go back to work, come join my great feast and celebration.

22 Then the slave who had been given two talents came forward and told his master how he’d turned two into four, and he handed all four talents to his master.

Master: 23 Excellent. You’ve proved yourself not only clever but loyal. You’ve executed a rather small task masterfully, so now I am going to put you in charge of something larger. But before you go back to work, come join my great feast and celebration.

24 Finally the man who had been given one talent came forward.

Servant: Master, I know you are a hard man, difficult in every way. You can make a healthy sum when others would fail. You profit when other people are doing the work. You grow rich on the backs of others. 25 So I was afraid, dug a hole, and hid the talent in the ground. Here it is. You can have it.

26 The master was furious.

Master: You are a pathetic excuse for a servant! You have disproved my trust in you and squandered my generosity. You know I always make a profit! 27 You could have at least put this talent in the bank; then I could have earned a little interest on it! 28 Take that one talent away, and give it to the servant who doubled my money from five to ten.

29 You see, everything was taken away from the man who had nothing, but the man who had something got even more. 30 And as for the slave who made no profit but buried his talent in the ground? His master ordered his slaves to tie him up and throw him outside into the utter darkness where there is miserable mourning and great fear.

Footnotes:

  1. 25:13 The earliest manuscripts omit this portion.
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 31:1-8

Psalm 31

For the worship leader. A song of David.

1 You are my shelter, O Eternal One—my soul’s sanctuary!
Shield me from shame;
rescue me by Your righteousness.
2 Hear me, Lord! Turn Your ear in my direction.
Come quick! Save me!
Be my rock, my shelter,
my fortress of salvation!

3 You are my rock and my fortress—my soul’s sanctuary!
Therefore, for the sake of Your reputation, be my leader, my guide, my navigator, my commander.
4 Save me from the snare that has been secretly set out for me,
for You are my protection.
5 I entrust my spirit into Your hands.[a]
You have redeemed me, O Eternal, God of faithfulness and truth.

6 I despise the people who pay respect to breathless idols,
and I trust only in You, Eternal One.
7 I will gladly rejoice because of Your gracious love
because You recognized the sadness of my affliction.
You felt deep compassion when You saw the pains of my soul.
8 You did not hand me over to the enemy,
but instead, You liberated me
and made me secure in a good and spacious land.

Footnotes:

  1. 31:5 Luke 23:46
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 8:1-11

8 Isn’t Lady Wisdom calling?
Listen; don’t you hear the voice of understanding crying out?
2 She’s taken her stand at the highest place in the city,
at the crossroads where everyone can see her.
3 There, and at the gates, at the entrance to the city,
right in front of the city doors she cries out:

4 Lady Wisdom: O people! I am calling to you;
I have a message for all humanity.
5 You gullible people, acquire insight.
You naive ones, cultivate a heart that truly understands.
6 Listen, for I am about to tell you of unparalleled excellence and beauty;
what I am about to say will set things right.
7 I will only speak the truth;
I despise evil, so it will not pass through my lips.
8 Everything I say promotes justice;
not one word is crooked, and nothing is distorted.
9 Each and every word is straight talk to perceptive people,
upright and honest to knowledge-seekers.
10 Accept my correction as being more valuable than your prized possession,
authentic knowledge more valuable than pure gold.

11 You see, no gem is more precious than Lady Wisdom—
your most extravagant desire doesn’t come close to her.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

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02/06/2020 DAB Transcript

Exodus 23:14-25:40, Matthew 24:29-51, Psalms 30:1-12, Proverbs 7:24-27

Today is the 6th day of…I almost said January, but it is, indeed February, the 6th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we just us…ahhhh…do that. Let’s take a deep breath just to exhale. We’re entering a new space in our day right now. This is…this is a safe space and we’re not alone. We’re here around this Global Campfire together and we’ve come to just let God’s word speak to us. Maybe it’s been a chaotic day, maybe it’s been a hectic week. We just exhale all that. It’ll still be there if you want to go pick it back up, it’ll be right where you left it. We give ourselves permission to have peace right now as God’s word speaks to us. And maybe as we reenter the day or the evening we go back with fresh perspective. So, we’re reading from the Voice this week. God is giving some initial regulations and laws. They are at Mount Sinai in the wilderness. People are down below and Moses at the top of the mountain communing with God. And God is giving Moses the regulations that will form the people. They don’t really have a form. They…they’ve been slaves for 400 years and they’ve operated in a slave system inside the culture of Egypt. They don’t have their own way of doing things. And God is out in the wilderness, laying out the plans that form this people, and in the process dramatically pulling things forward among the cultures of the time. So, we pick up that story in Exodus chapter 23 verse 14 and we will read through 25 verse 40 today.

Commentary:

Okay, let’s look at a truth that is emerging out of the Scriptures In…in the book of Exodus God is…is giving laws and regulations and stipulations and how…I mean He’s building the infrastructure of a culture that will be His chosen people. And as we’ve already learned, like the children of Egypt didn’t leave Egypt and take the most direct route into Canaan and just defeat Canaan and take over. That’s not how it went. They went into the desert and they are in the middle of the desert and they’re at the very beginning of their desert journey. But God is forming them and He gives instructions today about what He’s gonna do when they go into the land and then He tells them this isn’t gonna all happen at once. Like, you need to grow and increase so that you can handle the land. Little by little, I will drive them out in front of you, and before any of that can happen, they will be spending time in the wilderness. So, they’re in the wilderness and they’re going to have to stay in the wilderness to learn the lessons of the wilderness before they can enter into the promise.

So, then we go into Matthew’s gospel and Jesus is talking about things that will happen on the earth at the end. The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, the powers in the heavens will be shaken, there will be deep, deep morning upon the earth among the people before all things are made new. So, we see that we long for all things to be made new or we long to get ahead of this wilderness season that we find our lives in. We want out of here. And, so, we spend most of our energy and effort trying to find the most direct path out of whatever it is that’s going on. And yet the most direct path at least in our understanding is usually not the path that God leads us upon. We don’t like the idea that things might get more difficult before they get better. We don’t like the idea that we might have to endure until we see that promise. I don’t. I don’t…I mean…I’ll just out myself here. I don’t like that. I’m learning. I’m learning to observe and understand what’s going on but I don’t like enduring but I am going to try to learn to love little by little, day by day because this seems to be the way of things, right? Like Jesus in yesterday’s reading was saying, “when you see the hardships, when you see these things come, they’re signs, they’re…they’re…they’re birthing pangs. New birth, the new is being born. Alright. We should take that metaphor and apply it to just about anything in our lives. I mean just physical childbirth, which I have never…which I have never had or endured but I have been involved several times. And, so, I have watched my wife endure. I have watched her work. I have watched her absorb the pain into herself. I have watched her because something new was being born and when it was born I don't…by some sheer magic or grace all that pain is worth it and it dissipates. But if we stick to that metaphor for the most part in our lives, we want the baby, but we want nothing to do with the labor. And yet I…I point this out now because this rhythm of being willing to endure and to endure by actually relaxing, sitting back in God’s lap and relaxing while we endure whatever we’re enduring is a huge, huge irreplaceable part of this spiritual journey. And believe me when I tell you this because I’m telling you this at the beginning of the year. By the time that we get to the end of the year the theme of endurance will be so prevalent that we will not be able to miss it. We can spend our entire lives trying to avoid it or we could understand that it is a part of this life and we can learn to embrace it and save ourselves enormous amounts of wasted energy and time and anguish.

Prayer:

Jesus, we recognize this and I guess that…that this was lived out most vividly in the coming pages that…that we’ll be reading when we hear You say, “not my will but Yours be done.” And, so, Father that’s a difficult posture when we are so full of our own desires and our own objectives and hidden motives. It’s hard for us to say, “I don’t have a will anymore. I want Your will in all things.” And yet this is one of the big lessons that the Bible is teaching us now? Who do we trust? What do we trust in? Do we trust in ourselves? Is this…is this working out for us? Are we just killing it at life? Or is this not working out and every time we try to grab the reins, we drive into a brick wall? Maybe our will isn’t getting us anywhere. But we are told the Yours will lead us to life, will illuminate a narrow path. And so, although this is a process, we surrender our will to You and Your ways, and even as that happens, for some of us it just…it just doesn't…it doesn’t feel right to let go of control. It feels so scary and all of this is exposing where our trust is. Thank You for that. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that’s where you find out what’s going on around here because it’s home base for the Global Campfire.

It's…wow…it’s a week from today that we will begin the journey that will end us in Tel Aviv and then all over the land of the Bible. And it’s been an annual thing for a while. And, so, it’s a virtual trip. So, I hope…hope your packing. I mean it’s a physical trip. Many of us will be there in person, but there’s plenty of room in my suitcase. I can put you all in there just bring your toothbrush and we’ll be taking this journey. And it’s always a very special time in the community because it draws us together as we kind of peer into what were actually doing there, but we’re posting so much, so many pictures, so many videos that it becomes a…it becomes a community experience as we get to look at these places that we’re visiting in the Bible, see what they look like, see what it feels like. So, you know, that’s coming up and I’m looking at it going “wow. We’ve got a lot to do here to get ready”, but it always gets done. But we thank you for your prayers and just raising a canopy a prayer over all that we will be doing and we’ll pray for this all during the time because there’s just a lot involved with so much travel from so many points in the world and so many logistics to do it. So, asking for your prayers as we begin to prepare for this journey. I will mention that we have committed and are intending to take a trip in 2021 to the land of the Bible. We’re gonna do it I think about a week earlier than we are this time. But all of the details for the 21…2021 pilgrimage to the land of the Bible with the Daily Audio Bible are dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Israel 2021. And , so, registration for that, holding your spot for that is now available, like I said, in the Initiatives section in Israel 2021. And all of the details, everything that you…all of the kind of questions that you would want to know as you explore that, they’re…they’re all there. So, check that out. Just letting you know that’s open now and that usually fills up fast. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link and it lives on the homepage and I thank you profoundly, profoundly with all humility. We just would not be doing this if we were not in this together. And it’s been such a humbling thing that we’ve been in this together for all these years. And, so…so deeply, deeply grateful for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can use the Give button and that’s in the upper right-hand corner of the app or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request a comment 877-942-4253 is a number to dial or just hit that Hotline button in the app and…and just start share from there. It’s a wonderful thing that we have a Hotline. It’s a wonderful thing that in the palm of our hands we can push a button and reach out. And that’s why it was created. So, it’s there for us for this community.

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

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday February 6, 2020 (NIV)

Exodus 23:14-25:40

14 I want you to celebrate a feast in My honor three times a year. 15 First, celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I instructed you before, you are to eat only bread made without yeast for the seven feast days beginning at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for that is when you fled out of Egypt. During this time, no one is to come before Me without some offering. 16 Second, celebrate the Feast of Harvest in the spring when you bring to Me the first and best of the wheat crop you planted in the field. Third, celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the harvest season when you gather your crops from the fields, orchards, and groves. 17 All of your men must come before the Eternal your Lord, these three times a year.

18 When you make offerings before Me, do not present any bread made with yeast along with an animal sacrifice. Do not let the fat of the sacrifice remain until the next morning. 19 Bring only the best crops from your first harvest into the house of the Eternal your God. You must not boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk.

20 Look! I am going to send a heavenly messenger before you to protect you during your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you. 21 Pay attention to all he shows you and obey whatever he tells you. Do not cause him any trouble. He will not forgive you if you rebel against him for he carries My name in him.

The Hebrews follow a lunar calendar that has 11 fewer days than the solar calendar. Since it has only 354 days in the year, an extra month (a “leap” month) is added periodically to bring the dates into alignment with the seasons. Within this annual cycle, God sets aside several great feasts for the people to celebrate. The people are to honor their God by having days of pure rejoicing as they recall their rescue from Egypt and God’s ongoing provision. In keeping with the needs of an agricultural people, these feasts are situated around the harvests: first, the collection of the winter grains; second, the harvest of the other grains 50 days later; third, the gathering of the main crops of the field.

MonthLengthDate of CelebrationModern Months
Nisan3014 PassoverMarch/April
15-21 Unleavened Bread
16 Firstfruits
Iyyar29April/May
Sivan306 Pentecost (Weeks)May/June
Tammuz29June/July
Ab30July/August
Elul29August/September
Tishri301-2 Rosh Hashanah (New Year)September/October
10 Day of Atonement
15 Ingathering (7 days)
Heshvan29 or 30October/November
Chislev29 or 3025 (8 days) HanukkahNovember/December
Tebeth29December/January
Shebat30January/February
Adar29 or 3014-15 PurimFebruary/March
Veadar*29February/March

* (added 7 of every 19 years)

22 If you are obedient to his voice and follow all of My instructions, then I will be an enemy to all of those who are against you, and I will oppose all those who oppose you. 23 When My messenger moves ahead of you and leads you to the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites—I will annihilate them. 24 Do not bow down to their gods, worship, or serve them in any way. Do not engage in any of their wicked practices. Instead, you must destroy every idol you find and shatter their sacred pillars into tiny pieces.

25 Worship and serve only the Eternal your God, and I will bless you with an ample supply of wholesome food and clean water. I will take away all sickness from you, 26 prevent miscarriages and barrenness, and give you long, productive lives. 27 My fear and My dread will move ahead of you, and wherever you go people will greet you with panic and confusion. I will see to it that all of your enemies turn and run from you. 28 I will unleash hornets ahead of you; and they will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites from the land before you. 29 Now I will not do all this in a single year, because the land would become a wasteland, overpopulated with wild animals that would roam unchecked. 30 Rather, I will drive them out a little at a time—a few here, a few there—until your numbers grow and you are strong enough to take over the land and its care. 31 I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea west of where the Philistines live and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give to you all those who inhabit the land, and you will drive them all out. 32 But do not make a covenant-treaty with them or agree to serve their gods. 33 They must not be allowed to live in your land; otherwise they will cause you to sin against Me, the only True God. If you serve their gods, you will be trapped and be drawn into sin.

24 Eternal One (to Moses): Come up the mountain to Me, Moses, and this time bring with you Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel. These may come, but you must worship from a distance. 2 Only Moses is permitted to approach Me; but be careful, for the others must stay at a distance. The rest of the people of Israel must stay below; they are not to come up the mountain with you.

3 Moses then went and told the people exactly what the Eternal had said, and he carefully laid out God’s instructions. All the people answered as if they had one, single voice.

People (answering together): We will do all that the Eternal has asked us to do!

4 Moses wrote down in great detail everything that the Eternal had said. Then early the next morning he woke up and constructed an altar at the foot of the mountain and erected twelve stone pillars.[a] Each pillar represented one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 Moses directed some of the young men of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the Eternal. 6 He gathered half of the blood from the animals and filled the basins with it. He sprinkled the other half of the blood against the altar. 7 Then Moses took the book of the covenant—the very instructions spoken to him by God—and read it aloud so all the people could hear.

People (responding): We will do all that the Eternal has said! We will obey every word of His command!

8 Moses took the blood of the sacrifices and sprinkled it on the gathered people.

Moses (to the people): Look! Here is the blood signifying the covenant that God has established with you according to all He has said and all we have promised.

9 Then Moses took Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s elders and went up the mountain. 10 There they saw Israel’s God. Beneath His feet, there appeared to be paving stones of sapphire, as pure and clear as the sky above. 11 But God did not raise His hand against the leaders of Israel to strike them down. They beheld the True God, and they feasted and drank in His presence.

Eternal One (to Moses): 12 Come up the mountain to Me and stay here with Me for a while. I will give you stone tablets inscribed with My law and commandments in order to provide instruction and guidance for the people.

13 So Moses and his assistant, Joshua, got up and began the long climb up toward the summit of the mountain of God.

Moses (to the elders): 14 Wait here for our return. Aaron and Hur will stay with you. If anyone has a complaint, then they can speak to them.

15-16 Moses[b] made his way up the mountain. A thick cloud blanketed the mountain because the Eternal’s glory had settled upon it. The cloud stayed there for six days; and when the seventh day arrived, the Eternal spoke to Moses from the cloud.

17 For the Israelites below, the Eternal’s glory appeared to be a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. 18 As Moses walked further toward the top, he was swallowed by the cloud of God’s glory, and he remained there for a total of 40 days and 40 nights.

From above God’s glory appears as a cloud. From below it appears as a fire. As with the burning bush earlier on Mount Sinai, the mountain seems to burn but is not consumed.

25 Then the Eternal spoke to Moses.

Eternal One (to Moses): 2-3 Instruct the Israelites to bring Me a sacred offering. All those whose hearts move them are to make an offering to the One who delivered them from bondage. You should accept only the finest things: gold, silver, and bronze metals; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fabric; fine linen and goat-hair garments; 5 ram skins (dyed red) and sea-cow[c] leathers; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the lamps; spices for anointing oil and incense; and 7 onyx and other gems for the ceremonial vestment and the breast piece worn by the high priest.

8 Direct them to build a holy sanctuary in My honor so that I can dwell among them. 9 Instruct the people to follow the pattern I am about to show you for the congregation tent and its furnishings.

10 I want them to build a covenant chest made from acacia wood. It should be 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 11 Overlay it inside and out with pure gold, and decorate it with gold trim around the outside. 12 Cast four gold rings and attach them to the four corners—two rings on each side. 13 Also, make poles out of acacia wood and overlay them with pure gold. 14 Slide the poles through the rings on the chest in order to carry it. 15 The poles must remain in the rings of the chest at all times; they are not to be removed. 16 Inside the chest you are to store the stone tablets that I will give you as a witness to our agreement. 17 Build a cover for the chest out of pure gold. It will be known as the seat of mercy—where sins are atoned—and it should be 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. 18-19 Fashion two winged guardians[d] out of hammered gold, and place them at both ends of the seat of mercy. Put one winged guardian at each end, but have your artisans make them appear as one solid piece with the cover. 20 The guardians must face one another with bowed heads, their wings spread so that they reach up and cover the seat of mercy. 21 After you put the stone tablets that I will give you as a witness to our agreement in the chest, place the seat of mercy—where sins are atoned—as a lid to cover the chest. 22 I will meet with you there. I will speak to you from above the seat of mercy between the two winged creatures that sit atop the covenant chest. From there, I will speak to you about all the commands and instructions I have for the people of Israel.

23 I want you to build a table made of acacia wood. It should be 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 24 Overlay it with pure gold, and decorate it with gold trim around the edge. 25 Put a three-inch-wide[e] rim around it, and place gold trim around the rim. 26 Then make four gold rings, and attach them to each of the table’s four corners at its four legs. 27 The rings need to be near the rim, so that they can hold the poles that carry the table. 28 Make the poles out of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You will use them to carry the table.

29 Have your artisans make different kinds of dishes for the table—platters, pans, pitchers, and bowls—out of pure gold. 30 Place the bread of the Presence on the table and keep it before Me at all times.

This table is to be placed in a special room of the congregation tent with the elements symbolic of God’s place among His people. One of the major elements is the bread of the Presence; it is arranged in two rows of six flat loaves representing the twelve sons of Israel. There is also a pan for holding incense and pitchers for fine wine; all these elements remind God’s people of His loving grace. The golden lampstand stands nearby, bathing the room and its contents in warm light. This special room and all it contains stimulate the senses—sight, smell, touch, and taste—and serve to remind those who enter of God’s tangible blessings.

Eternal One: 31 Fashion a lampstand out of pure, hammered gold. Make it and all its parts—its base, trunk, branches, decorative buds and blossoms, and lamp cups—out of one solid piece. 32 Six branches will extend from the trunk’s sides—three on one side and three on the other. 33 Each of the six branches will have three decorative cups shaped like almond blossoms whose buds have just flowered. 34 On the trunk of the lampstand, there are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms whose buds have just flowered. 35 A single almond bud will sit beneath each pair of branches extending out from the trunk of the lampstand. 36 All the buds and branches are to be crafted out of pure, hammered gold and made to look as one solid piece. 37 Make seven lamps for the lampstand, and position them so that they illuminate the area in front of it. 38 The tools and accessories for trimming the wicks and caring for the lamps are to be made of pure gold as well. 39 The lampstand and all its accessories will require 75 pounds[f] of your finest gold. 40 Be sure that you make the covenant chest, table, lampstand and all their accessories according to the pattern I have shown you on the mountain.[g]

Footnotes:

  1. 24:4 Other manuscripts read, “stones.”
  2. 24:15-16 Greek manuscripts add, “and Joshua.”
  3. 25:5 The exact type of animal skin is uncertain.
  4. 25:18–19 Hebrew, cherubim
  5. 25:25 Hebrew handbreadth is about 3 inches.
  6. 25:39 Or one talent of gold
  7. 25:40 Hebrews 8:5
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Matthew 24:29-51

29 And as the prophets have foretold it: after the distress of those days,

The sun will grow dark,
and the moon will be hidden.
The stars will fall from the sky,
and all the powers in the heavens will be dislodged and shaken from their places.[a]

30 That is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming; they will see Him powerful and glorious, riding on chariots of clouds in the sky. 31 With a loud trumpet call, He will send out battalions of heavenly messengers; and they will gather His beloved faithful elect from the four corners of creation, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now think of the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and greenish, as soon as it begins to sprout leaves, you know to expect summer. 33 In the same way, when you see the wars and the suffering and the false liberators and the desolations, you will know the Son of Man is near—right at the door. 34 I tell you this: this generation will see all these things take place before it passes away. 35 My words are always true and always here with you. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

36 No one knows the hour or the day, not even the messengers in heaven, not even the Son. Only the Father knows. 37 As it was at the time of Noah, so it will be with the coming of the Son of Man. 38 In the days before the flood, people were busy making lives for themselves: they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, making plans and having children and growing old, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39 Those people had no idea what was coming; they knew nothing about the floods until the floods were upon them, sweeping them all away. That is how it will be with the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be plowing a field: one will be taken, and the other will be left in the field. 41 Two women will be somewhere grinding at a mill: one will be taken, and the other will be left at the mill.

42 So keep watch. You don’t know when your Lord will come. 43 But you should know this: If the owner of a house had known his house was about to be broken into, he would have stayed up all night, vigilantly. He would have kept watch, and he would have thwarted the thief. 44 So you must be ready because you know the Son of Man will come, but you can’t know precisely when.

45 The trustworthy servant is the one whom the master puts in charge of all the servants of his household; it is the trustworthy servant who not only oversees all the work, but also ensures the servants are properly fed and cared for. 46 And it is, of course, crucial that a servant who is given such responsibility performs his responsibility to his master’s standards—so when the master returns he finds his trust has been rewarded. 47 For then the master will put that good servant in charge of all his possessions. 48 But imagine that the master’s trust was misplaced, that the supposedly responsible servant is actually a thief who says to himself, “My master has been gone so long, he is not possibly coming back.” 49 Then he beats his fellow servants and dines and drinks with drunkards. 50 Well, when the master returns—as certainly he will—the servant will be caught unawares. The master will return on a day and at an hour when he isn’t expected. 51 And he will cut his worthless servant into pieces and throw him out into darkness with the hypocrites, where there is weeping and grinding of teeth.

Footnotes:

  1. 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 30

Psalm 30

A song of David. For the dedication of the temple.

1 I praise You, Eternal One. You lifted me out of that deep, dark pit
and denied my opponents the pleasure of rubbing in their success.
2 Eternal One, my True God, I cried out to You for help;
You mended the shattered pieces of my life.
3 You lifted me from the grave with a mighty hand,
gave me another chance,
and saved me from joining those in that dreadful pit.

4 Sing, all you who remain faithful!
Pour out your hearts to the Eternal with praise and melodies;
let grateful music fill the air and bless His name.
5 His wrath, you see, is fleeting,
but His grace lasts a lifetime.
The deepest pains may linger through the night,
but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.

6 When things were quiet and life was easy, I said in arrogance,
“Nothing can shake me.”
7 By Your grace, Eternal,
I thought I was as strong as a mountain;
But when You left my side and hid away,
I crumbled in fear.

8 O Eternal One, I called out to You;
I pleaded for Your compassion and forgiveness:
9 “I’m no good to You dead! What benefits come from my rotting corpse?
My body in the grave will not praise You.
No songs will rise up from the dust of my bones.
From dust comes no proclamation of Your faithfulness.
10 Hear me, Eternal Lord—please help me,
Eternal One—be merciful!”

11 You did it: You turned my deepest pains into joyful dancing;
You stripped off my dark clothing
and covered me with joyful light.
12 You have restored my honor. My heart is ready to explode, erupt in new songs!
It’s impossible to keep quiet!
Eternal One, my God, my Life-Giver, I will thank You forever.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 7:24-27

24 This is why it is so important that you listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to all I am telling you.
25 Do not let your mind wonder about her ways;
do not lose yourself and drift down her path,
26 For she’s claimed one life after another,
victim after victim, too many to count.
27 Her house is the gateway to the grave;
every step toward her is a step toward death’s dark chamber.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.