The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday March 15, 2024 (NIV)

Numbers 22:21-23:30

²¹So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.^(A)

Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel

²²God’s anger was kindled because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³The donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand, so the donkey turned off the road and went into the field, and Balaam struck the donkey, to turn it back onto the road.^(B) ²⁴Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.^(C) ²⁵When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it scraped against the wall and scraped Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck it again. ²⁶Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. ²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”^(D) ²⁹Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand! I would kill you right now!”^(E) ³⁰But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?” And he said, “No.”^(F)

³¹Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed down, falling on his face.^(G) ³²The angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? I have come out as an adversary because your way is perverse^[a] before me. ³³The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let it live.” ³⁴Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now therefore, if it is displeasing to you, I will return home.”^(H) ³⁵The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you to speak.” So Balaam went on with the officials of Balak.^(I)

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, on the boundary formed by the Arnon, at the farthest point of the boundary. ³⁷Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to summon you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?”^(J) ³⁸Balaam said to Balak, “I have come to you now, but do I have power to say just anything? The word God puts in my mouth, that is what I must say.”^(K) ³⁹Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent them to Balaam and to the officials who were with him.

Balaam’s First Oracle

⁴¹On the next day Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he could see part of the people of Israel.^[b]^(L) 23 ¹Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”^(M) ²Balak did as Balaam had said and offered^[c] a bull and a ram on each altar.^(N) ³Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offerings while I go aside. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height.^(O)

⁴Then God met Balaam, and Balaam^[d] said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and have offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”^(P) ⁵The Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you must say.”^(Q) ⁶So he returned to Balak,^[e] who was standing beside his burnt offerings with all the officials of Moab. ⁷Then Balaam^[f] uttered his oracle, saying,

“Balak has brought me from Aram,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me.
Come, denounce Israel!’^(R)
⁸How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?^(S)
⁹For from the top of the crags I see him;
from the hills I behold him.
Here is a people living alone
and not reckoning itself among the nations!^(T)
¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the dust cloud^[g] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”^(U)

¹¹Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but now you have done nothing but bless them.”^(V) ¹²He answered, “Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth?”^(W)

Balaam’s Second Oracle

¹³So Balak said to him, “Come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only part of them and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there.” ¹⁴So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah. He built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.^(X) ¹⁵Balaam^[h] said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offerings, while I meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶The Lord met Balaam, put a word into his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall say.”^(Y) ¹⁷When he came to him, he was standing beside his burnt offerings with the officials of Moab. Balak said to him, “What has the Lord said?” ¹⁸Then Balaam^[i] uttered his oracle, saying,

“Rise, Balak, and hear;
listen to me, O son of Zippor:
¹⁹God is not a human being, that he should lie,
or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it?
Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?^(Z)
²⁰See, I received a command to bless;
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.^(AA)
²¹He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
acclaimed as a king among them.^(AB)
²²God, who brings them out of Egypt,
is like the horns of a wild ox for them.^(AC)
²³Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘See what God has done!’
²⁴Look, a people rising up like a lioness
and rousing itself like a lion!
It does not lie down until it has eaten the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”^(AD)

²⁵Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” ²⁶But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Whatever the Lord says, that is what I must do’?”^(AE)

²⁷So Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.”^(AF) ²⁸So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.^[j] ²⁹Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.”^(AG) ³⁰So Balak did as Balaam had said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Footnotes:

22.32 Meaning of Heb uncertain
22.41 Heb lacks of Israel
23.2 Heb mss Gk: MT reads Balak and Balaam offered
23.4 Heb he
23.6 Heb him
23.7 Heb he
23.10 Or fourth part
23.15 Heb he
23.18 Heb he
23.28 Or overlooks Jeshimon

Cross references:

22.21 : 2 Pet 2.15
22.23 : 2 Pet 2.16
22.24 : Judg 6.12
22.28 : 2 Pet 2.16
22.29 : Prov 12.10
22.30 : 2 Pet 2.16
22.31 : Josh 5.13–15
22.34 : Num 14.40; 1 Sam 15.24, 30; 2 Sam 12.13
22.35 : v 20
22.37 : v 17; Num 24.11
22.38 : v 18; Num 23.26; 24.13
22.41 : Deut 12.2
23.1 : v 29
23.2 : vv 14, 30
23.3 : v 15
23.4 : v 16
23.5 : v 16; Num 22.35; Deut 18.18; Jer 1.9
23.7 : v 18; Num 22.6; 24.3, 15, 23; Job 27.1; 29.1; Ps 78.2
23.8 : Num 22.12
23.9 : Ex 33.16; Deut 32.8; 33.28
23.10 : Gen 13.16; Ps 116.15
23.11 : Num 24.10
23.12 : Num 22.20, 38
23.14 : vv 1, 2
23.16 : Num 22.20
23.19 : 1 Sam 15.29; Mal 3.6; Rom 11.29; Titus 1.2; Jas 1.17
23.20 : Isa 43.13
23.21 : Ex 29.45, 46; Ps 32.2, 5; 89.15; Isa 40.2; Rom 4.7, 8
23.22 : Num 24.8
23.24 : Gen 49.9, 27
23.26 : v 12; Num 22.38
23.27 : v 13
23.29 : v 1

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Luke 1:57-80

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.^(A)

⁵⁹On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father.^(B) ⁶⁰But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” ⁶¹They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” ⁶²Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. ⁶³He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. ⁶⁴Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.^(C)

Zechariah’s Prophecy

⁶⁷Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:^(D)

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on^[a] his people and redeemed them.^(E)
⁶⁹He has raised up a mighty savior^[b] for us
in the house of his child David,^(F)
⁷⁰as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,^(G)
⁷¹that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
⁷²Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors
and has remembered his holy covenant,^(H)
⁷³the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us ⁷⁴that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,^(I) ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness
in his presence all our days.^(J)
⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,^(K)
⁷⁷to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.^(L)
⁷⁸Because of the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break^[c] upon^[d] us,
⁷⁹to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”^(M)

⁸⁰The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.^(N)

Footnotes:

1.68 Or has visited
1.69 Gk a horn of salvation
1.78 Other ancient authorities read has broken
1.78 Gk will visit

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Psalm 58

Prayer for Vengeance

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam.

¹Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge people fairly?^(A)
²No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.^(B)

³The wicked go astray from the womb;
they err from their birth, speaking lies.^(C)
⁴They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,^(D)
⁵so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.^(E)

⁶O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!^(F)
⁷Let them vanish like water that runs away;
like grass let them be trodden down^[a] and wither.^(G)
⁸Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.^(H)
⁹Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!^(I)

¹⁰The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.^(J)
¹¹People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges^[b] on earth.”^(K)

Footnotes:

58.7 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
58.11 Or there are gods who judge

Cross references:

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

Proverbs 11:12-13

¹²Whoever belittles another lacks sense,
but an intelligent person remains silent.^(A)
¹³A gossip goes about telling secrets,
but one who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a confidence.^(B)

Cross references:

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)