3/17/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 26:1-51, Luke 2:36-52, Psalm 60:1-12, Proverbs 11:15

Today is the 17th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, as we continue our journey. We’re taking the next step forward in the Scriptures, picking up right where we left off, gathering around the Global Campfire to be together, as we take this next step…next step forward. And our next step leads us back into the Book of Numbers. Today we will read Numbers chapter 26 versus 1 through 51.

Commentary:

Okay so, in the Gospel of Luke today, and we’re just in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, so we’re just kinda getting moved in and we’re moving through the birth narratives. And so, we went to the…the birth narrative of John the Baptist and then we’ve been going through the birth narrative of Jesus, the Lord. And we get this rare and small glimpse into Jesus childhood in the Gospel of Luke today. And this precious little in the Scriptures that depict or give us clues into Jesus childhood. But we did get glimpses yesterday and today. So, Jesus, just an infant yesterday, but He is taken into the temple where circumcision would take place and the offering would be given, and there are a couple of encounters that take place. One with a man named Simeon, a righteous and devout person, who’s looking for what God was going to do next with this people. And according to the Gospel of Luke, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that He wouldn’t die before he saw the Lord’s Messiah. So, he’s in the temple when Jesus comes into the temple. And he is able to hold the baby. He is able to bless the baby. And then we also have this scene today in the temple of a prophetess named Anna, who lives in the temple and was married for seven years. She’s in her 80s now. The rest of the time she’s been serving the Lord and so, she also comes to Mary and Joseph and their infant baby Jesus, and she begins to praise God and to speak over the child. This is happening in the temple. So, if we just pause right here for just a second. Just think back to Zechariah the priest and his wife Elizabeth. And how Zechariah was in the temple worshiping before the Lord, burning incense before the Lord when he is the angelic visitation, and there’s this foretelling of John’s coming and all of the miraculous things that happen around that, not the least of which Zechariah is struck mute and he can’t speak until the baby is born. So, when we were talking about John, we were just saying, he didn’t just appear out of the wilderness in a vacuum. There was something going on with him from the very beginning and this had been something that people talked about. Now, we’re with Jesus in the temple complex and seeing that there are words of praise, prophetic utterances, and rejoicing over the coming of this child. This is happening in the temple. This is something that people would talk about. And then now, we have to skip forward a long way until Jesus is 12 years old and we were told in our reading today that every year, it was their custom to go to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. So, when Jesus is 12 years old, they’re making this journey. This would’ve been a journey that would’ve been done kind of in caravans, in families. Nazareth to Jerusalem is over 100 miles walking and it’s mostly uphill. They could have gone down into the Jordan Valley and taken kind of the…the flatter route until…until Jericho and then up to Jerusalem. But this would’ve been something that they traveled kind of in families. And so, when Mary and Joseph leave, after the festival is over, they’re assuming that Jesus is with the cousins, with whoever. Like is with the friends, is all in the group and they get all whole day’s journey and realize Jesus is nowhere to be found. Any parent, like any parent thinking of this story, like that would be a terrifying thing to discover. I mean Jerusalem is a big city, that’s like lost in New York City, lost in Mexico City, like lost in any big city. And they gotta go back, and it’s gonna take a whole, like a whole day’s journey just to get back, just to start searching. So, what if He’s been kidnapped, what if, what if he’s not even Jerusalem, what if He’s been taken away into slavery somewhere, what if He’s been trafficked. And they get back to Jerusalem, and for 3 days, 3 days they’re looking for their son. I think about that as a parent, and as a father and it’s like I don’t even know like, how many days before you start losing hope and, and as you’re losing hope of finding your son, the terror of what’s happening. I just, it’s hard to wrap my mind around but Mary and Joseph are dealing with this as they search through Jerusalem for a missing Jesus, who they end up finding in the temple. And I quote now from the Gospel of Luke, “After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” So, even though we have precious little details in the Gospels about Jesus childhood, we can see here from the Gospel of Luke that Jesus didn’t happen in a vacuum either. In this scene alone, we see Jesus in the temple, in Jerusalem, with the best of the best. The best scholars, the ones in Jerusalem, among the teachers, being taught, asking questions. And everybody is amazed at His understanding and His answers. And this is Jesus at 12. So, when Jesus shows up later and begins to, to do his ministry, some of the people who knew about Jesus as a child, would remember that is the kid, remember the kid. His parents came back to Jerusalem, looking all over for him. This is that kid. Which is why, when we read the Gospels, we see why there is so much musing and wondering about Him. And so, the Gospel of Luke has given us insight both into John and Jesus arrival, not only by angelic visitation, but all that surrounded their birth and early life, and how that that would’ve invoked a lot of discussion about what will become of these kids, by those who saw them, and were able to witness the circumstances around them. Which adds to the tapestry of the story and our understanding of the circumstances, and the culture, and the time in which Jesus did His ministry upon earth.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for that. We thank You for all that we can glean and learn from Your word. Whether it’s being applied directly to circumstances in our lives or confronting postures of our hearts or simply giving us insight into the kinds of things that You saw, and the kinds of things that You dealt with as You navigated earth, giving us insight into how to live. We are grateful for Your word, we are thankful for the presence of Your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us each and every day. And so, we say again, lead us into all truth, Holy Spirit, as we surrender and humble ourselves before You. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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And that’s it for today. Happy St. Patrick’s Day by the way, I am Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning, DAB family. It’s Alexis, the Psalmist on the Prayer Wall. Fast forward, I just want to say thank you for all the prayers for my sister, who was having issues along the way in her pregnancy. To the glory of God I can testify that she has continued to carry well, and I believe that she’ll carry this pregnancy to full term. So, thank you for your prayers. Today, I wanted to ask a prayer request for myself. Which I’m not sure if I’ve done before. But yeah, so, we’re coming up to the one-year anniversary since my cousin was killed by a truck driver. And the two-year anniversary since my uncle suddenly passed away due to a liver disease that we didn’t know about. And the maybe 7-year anniversary since my cousin was a killed by ___ and my colleague, two of my colleagues passed away last week. So, this season carries a lot of grief processing. And I just want to ask for your prayers as I go through that. As I process, I want to stay in God. My prayer life has been attacked in this season. So, I’m just asking guys for you to just lift me up, Alexis the Psalmist, and I can be like David and continue to rejoice in no matter what the season. Thanks.

Hello, my name is Jason. I’m a first-time caller. It’s Monday, March 13th. I’m just calling to request prayer in my marriage. My wife has left and is over a false church that she’s in and the pastor has stopped going too. And she has made her decision not to stop going and to leave me. So, I pray that God removes the vail from her eyes and that He restores our marriage. Thank you.

This is Jill from Arkansas. Join me in prayer for our sister Sinai from PA from March 9th and her request. She will be discharged from the hospital soon and sit up and walk on her own, to be restored to her family. Lord Jesus, we lift up our sister to You. And we come to You Lord, and we believe, as if it has already happened, that You will restore her to full health. Lord, that You would teach her how to care for herself moving forward. And how to make that a priority, Lord, so that she can serve You and she can serve others and take care of her family, Lord. Stress has a powerful effect on our bodies. It can incapacitate use to where we can’t even take care of ourselves in daily living, Lord. I have seen that in my own body, and I’ve seen it reversed in my own body, Lord. But it came with believing that I don’t have to live that way. I don’t have to accept the diagnosis that was given to me, Lord. And neither does our friend Sinai, our sister, our dear beloved. I can hear it in her voice how exhausted she is. Lord, we lift up her arms, we hold her up to You. The strength of her spirit and the strength of her body, to fully recover, Lord. Give her hope and expectation Lord, that You are gonna do mighty, mighty things. Help her to see this progress daily. Help her to know what it is that she can do. Lord, and the people caring for her in the rehab facility, Lord. We just wait to hear …

Hey DAB, it’s Valiant Val here in Vegas. I just wanted to say, good morning and send in a praise report. Jesus is on the throne. He woke me up this morning in my right mind, with all my faculties, in a place to live with air conditioning and heat, with food and water, with smile and grace and a good attitude. Oh, family, if you have that, you have most, you have more than most of the world. Oh, our God is on the throne. He is victory, He is abundance, and He is love. That’s Val. He is all of that, a bag of chips, honey bun and a fruit salad for ya girl. Oh, thank You, Father, that love is the greatest of these. Oh, God, I’m sending a praise report of good things to come. You know the plans for my life, Father. Plans to prosper me and not to harm me. Oh, Lord, I’m ringing in victory, in the mighty and majestic name of Jesus. I’m thinking about our girl Lee Lee that called and said right now, in this moment, just chose to live in victory. Chose to live happy. Make a choice to understand that our God can do everything but fail. In the mighty name of Jesus. I’m ringing in love and victory, right now. Oh, go Heavenly Father. Put it on them, Father. Sprinkle a little joy and peace on that unspeakable joy and peace. In the name of Jesus. Muah.

He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees me when I’ve fallen and hears me when I call. He knows my name is the name of a caller who, as soon as I heard your name, I smiled. I smiled so big. Because that one, in itself just personalizes our relationship with God. And then your call, your prayer request really hit me. You called because you’re angry. You’re angry at your husband, you’re angry at your ex and I just want to encourage you that your walking through the first step of your healing. That God said, let not the sun go down on your anger, however, there is no condemnation to them who are in within Christ. He, He sees you. He knows your name. And so, He alone calls on you right now and speaks to that anger like a storm and He says peace be still. In the name of Jesus. Father God, I take your daughter, I walk with her before your throne of grace. You said we should come boldly before your throne of grace. God, we lay down that anger and we replace it, oh, Father God, with a joy so deep, so unspeakable, so unexplainable. Father, I thank you, Lord. For You are Holy and Righteous. Peace be still. In the name of Jesus. Thank you.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday March 17, 2023 (NIV)

Numbers 26:1-51

Moses Takes Another Census of Israel

26 After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar, son of the priest Aaron, “Take a census of the whole community of Israel by households. List those who are at least 20 years old and eligible for military duty.”

So Moses and the priest Eleazar spoke to the Israelites on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho. They said, “Take a census of those at least 20 years old, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

These are the Israelites who came from Egypt:

Reuben was Israel’s firstborn. The descendants of Reuben were the family of Hanoch, the family of Pallu, the family of Hezron, and the family of Carmi.

These were the families of Reuben. The total number of men was 43,730.

Eliab was the son [a] of Pallu, and Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. (It was Dathan and Abiram, men chosen by the community, who defied Moses and Aaron’s authority. They joined Korah’s followers when they defied the Lord’s authority. 10 The ground opened up and swallowed them along with Korah. They and their followers died when the fire consumed the 250 men. This was a warning. 11 But the descendants of Korah didn’t die.)

12 The families descended from Simeon were the family of Nemuel, the family of Jamin, the family of Jakin, 13 the family of Zerah, and the family of Shaul.

14 These were the families of Simeon. The total number of men was 22,200.

15 The families descended from Gad were the family of Zephon, the family of Haggi, the family of Shuni, 16 the family of Ozni, the family of Eri, 17 the family of Arodi,[b] and the family of Areli.

18 These were the families of Gad’s descendants. The total number of men was 40,500.

19 Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan. 20 The families descended from Judah were the family of Shelah, the family of Perez, and the family of Zerah.

21 The descendants of Perez were the family of Hezron and the family of Hamul.

22 These were the families of Judah. The total number of men was 76,500.

23 The families descended from Issachar were the family of Tola, the family of Puah,[c] 24 the family of Jashub, and the family of Shimron.

25 These were the families of Issachar. The total number of men was 64,300.

26 The families descended from Zebulun were the family of Sered, the family of Elon, and the family of Jahleel.

27 These were the families of Zebulun. The total number of men was 60,500.

28 The families descended from Joseph ⌞through⌟ Manasseh and Ephraim were 29 (from Manasseh) the family of Machir (Machir was the father of Gilead) and the family of Gilead.

30 The descendants of Gilead were the family of Iezer, the family of Helek, 31 the family of Asriel, the family of Shechem, 32 the family of Shemida, and the family of Hepher. 33 (Zelophehad, son of Hepher, had no sons—only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.)

34 These were the families of Manasseh. The total number of men was 52,700.

35 The families descended from Ephraim were the family of Shuthelah, the family of Beker, and the family of Tahan.

36 The descendants of Shuthelah were the family of Eran.

37 These were the families of Ephraim’s descendants. The total number of men was 32,500.

These were the families descended from Joseph.

38 The families descended from Benjamin were the family of Bela, the family of Ashbel, the family of Ahiram, 39 the family of Shupham,[d] and the family of Hupham.

40 The descendants of Bela (⌞through⌟ Ard and Naaman) were the family of Ard and the family of Naaman.

41 These were the families descended from Benjamin. The total number of men was 45,600.

42 The family descended from Dan was the family of Shuham.

This was the family descended from Dan. 43 The total number of men in all the family of Shuham was 64,400.

44 The families descended from Asher were the family of Imnah, the family of Ishvi, and the family of Beriah.

45 The descendants Beriah were the family of Heber and the family of Malchiel.

46 (Asher had a daughter named Serah.)

47 These were the families of Asher’s descendants. The total number of men was 53,400.

48 The families descended from Naphtali were the family of Jahzeel, the family of Guni, 49 the family of Jezer, and the family of Shillem.

50 These were the families of Naphtali. The total number of men was 45,400.

51 The total number of Israelite men was 601,730.

Footnotes:

  1. 26:8 Ancient scribal tradition; Masoretic Text “sons.”
  2. 26:17 Genesis 46:16, Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek, Syriac; Masoretic Text “Arod.”
  3. 26:23 Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek, Syriac, Latin; Masoretic Text “Puvah.”
  4. 26:39 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Samaritan Pentateuch, Greek, Syriac, Targum, Latin; Masoretic Text “Shephupham.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Luke 2:36-52

Anna’s Prophecy

36 Anna, a prophet, was also there. She was a descendant of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was now very old. Her husband had died seven years after they were married, 37 and she had been a widow for 84 years. Anna never left the temple courtyard but worshiped day and night by fasting and praying. 38 At that moment she came up to Mary and Joseph and began to thank God. She spoke about Jesus to all who were waiting for Jerusalem to be set free.

39 After doing everything the Lord’s Teachings required, Joseph and Mary returned to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. 40 The child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor [a] was with him.

Mary and Joseph Find Jesus with the Teachers in the Temple Courtyard

41 Every year Jesus’ parents would go to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. 42 When he was 12 years old, they went as usual.

43 When the festival was over, they left for home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t know it. 44 They thought that he was with the others who were traveling with them. After traveling for a day, they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they didn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.

46 Three days later, they found him in the temple courtyard. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. 47 His understanding and his answers stunned everyone who heard him.

48 When his parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother asked him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been worried sick looking for you!”

49 Jesus said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you realize that I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they didn’t understand what he meant.

51 Then he returned with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them.

His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 Jesus grew in wisdom and maturity. He gained favor from God and people.

Footnotes:

  1. 2:40 Or “grace.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Psalm 60

For the choir director; according to shushan eduth; [a] a miktam by David; for teaching. When David fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and ⌞when⌟ Joab came back and killed 12,000 men from Edom in the Dead Sea region.

60 O God, you have rejected us.
You have broken down our defenses.
You have been angry.
Restore us!
You made the land quake.
You split it wide open.
Heal the cracks in it
because it is falling apart.
You have made your people experience hardships.
You have given us wine that makes us stagger.
Yet, you have raised a flag for those who fear you
so that they can rally to it
when attacked by bows ⌞and arrows⌟. Selah
Save ⌞us⌟ with your powerful hand, and answer us
so that those who are dear to you may be rescued.[b]

God has promised the following through his holiness:
“I will triumph!
I will divide Shechem.
I will measure the valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine.
Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is the helmet on my head.
Judah is my scepter.
Moab is my washtub.
I will throw my shoe over Edom.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”

Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Isn’t it you, O God, who rejected us?
Isn’t it you, O God, who refused to accompany our armies?

11 Give us help against the enemy
because human assistance is worthless.
12 With God we will display great strength.
He will trample our enemies.

Footnotes:

  1. 60:0 Unknown musical term.
  2. 60:5 Verses 5–12 are virtually identical in wording to Psalm 108:6–13.
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 11:15

15 Whoever guarantees a stranger’s loan will get into trouble,
but whoever hates the closing of a deal remains secure.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

03/16/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 24:1-25:18, Luke 2:1-35, Psalms 59:1-17, Proverbs 11:14

Today is the 16th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today, wonderful to be around the Global Campfire gathering and taking another step forward together. And our next step forward will lead us back into the book of Numbers and back into the story of Moab’s king Balak and Balaam who has been invited to curse the Israelites on behalf of Moab, which he hasn’t been able to do. And, so, we pick up the story. Numbers chapters 24 and 25 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have gotten through this…this drama with Moab’s king Balak and this prophetic voice, this person who can bless and curse named Balaam who was sent for to come and curse the children of Israel out in the wilderness. Because the children of Israel have been wandering around in the wilderness as we know, and that is causing disruption in the nations surrounding them. No nation will let them pass through to get somewhere else. So, they’re kind of out in the wilderness until finally they get attacked. And they win. And, so, they have some territory that they’re settling into, but it happens to be right next to Moab. So, this place is Moab. They’re freaking out about this people moving in, which is why Balaam is summoned in the first place. Come here and see this people out in the wilderness and curse them for me, they’re too strong for me, they’re moving in next to me. We’ve got to do something about them. And, so, Balaam is summoned and Ballam consults the Lord about what he should do. And the Lord tells him, don’t go. Like, I’m not in this. Don’t go. And, so, he comes and tells the people I can’t go. The Lord won’t let me go. And, so, the officials of Moab went back to king Balak and said Balaam…Balaam refuses to come. The Lord won’t let him come. So, king Balak sends more officials, more high-ranking officials back to Balaam and tells Balaam again, the king Balak needs you to come at once with us right now. And Balaam’s like…I mean..I…I already had emissaries sent from Balak and I already gave my answer, but spend the night here and I’ll go talk to the Lord and see what the Lord says. And, so, Balaam goes before the Lord again and God speaks to Balaam again and says go with them this time. Go with them but do only what I tell you to do. And we can read the story and go, man, that’s redundant. What? Like why not just tell him that in the first place the first time the people came to get him? Why does he take this second trip? And now why was he not allowed on the first trip, but he is allowed on the second trip? We were able to get glimpses and see why. God was impressing upon Balaam there’s nothing else for you to do here but exactly what I tell you to do and you need to do exactly what you are instructed to do. There is no wiggle room here. What we end up noticing is that Balaam’s looking for wiggle room. So, it’s almost as if Balaam is like…well…I couldn’t go but now I can. And, so, maybe there is opportunity here. And, so, God reiterates, you have nothing to do but what I tell you to do. So, the next morning Balaam gets up and he leaves with all the people and is riding on his donkey and there’s an angel of the Lord following along and stands in the road blocking the path. And, so, the donkey turns into a field when it sees…when he sees the angel. And they continue on a little bit more then the angel is front of the donkey and the donkey can see it but Balaam cannot see it. And the angel’s blocking a pathway into a vineyard. And, so, the donkey’s trying to get around the angel, but in the process kind of scratches Balaam’s leg against the wall. So, Balaam gets mad. He starts beating the donkey. And they got on a little bit more and then the angel blocks the path altogether. There’s nowhere for the donkey to maneuver. And, so, the donkey just lays down underneath Balaam who is serious and begins to beat the donkey some more. And that is when the talking…talking donkey happens. That’s when the mouth of the donkey is opened. What have I done to you? Why would you hit me these three times? And then Balaam reveals his heart. First of all, he responds to the donkey. Like, he’s so angry. The donkey is talking to him and he’s talking back. He’s not struck silent. He’s not freaking out that he’s talking to a donkey. He’s just angry. So, he’s answering back to the donkey I’d kill you. Like, if I had a sword, I would kill you. And why is Balaam so mad? I quote, “because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand. I would kill you right now.” That is very revealing and goes right down into the heart of Balaam and his motives. He doesn’t want to look like a fool. He doesn’t want to be made of. Even though he’s been instructed that he can only say what God has told him to say he’s also very worried about the optics, what this looks like. He doesn’t want to look like a fool. That’s when Balaam’s eyes are opened, and he sees the angel and the point is made. Balaam you have a job to do. Nothing more, nothing less, exactly what I tell you to say, nothing else. And Balaam seems to have gotten the message because he’s like look, if you want me to go home, I’ll go home. I didn’t know there was an angel here. But God reiterates, “go with the man but speak only what I tell you to speak.” And, so, Balaam does get to Balak. Balak is like, why didn’t you come the first time and all of that. And Balaam has got the message loud and clear. I can only do what I’m told to do. And, so, there are offerings offered on altars and Balaam looks at the children of Israel and seeks the Lord and comes back and essentially says, I cannot curse these people they are blessed by God. Balak doesn’t take kindly to that. I brought you here to curse my enemies. You’re doing nothing but blessing them. And Balaam’s like, I…I can only say what I’m allowed to say. And, so, we see Balak doing something really interesting. Come with me to another place and you can look at the children of Israel from this other place and maybe God will let you curse them from there. And, so, they do that. More offerings, more sacrifices, more seeking the Lord. There is nothing but blessing for Israel. And, so, king Balak is like, don’t bless them. If you can’t curse them don’t bless them. Just don’t do anything. And then Balak says, let’s go to another place. Maybe…maybe you can…maybe God will let you curse them from there. Of course, the Lord won’t curse His chosen people. He will only bless them, which is what happens in the end. But there are so many lessons for us. We can seek God. We can get a no. We can seek God again and maybe He says, okay. Yes. But only what I told you. And we can very easily forget about all that. We can just think, yes, I got a yes, I got a yes. I’m off to the races. I’m off to do the thing that I wanted to do. I got a yes. But then we can get into a situation where we feel foolish, or we feel condemned or we feel whatever we feel and we want to change the script because of what it’s going to make us look like or we can find ourselves in king Balak wants his enemies cursed. You can send for a professional to do it, and the professional comes and says there is no curse for this people only blessing. And, so, what does Balak do? Like here…let's…let’s go over here and look at this whole thing from another angle. Let’s see what the Lord has to say from this other angle. Of course, it’s only blessing and not cursing. And, so, what does Balak do? Well…let’s…let’s go over here to this other place. Let’s look at it from this angle. Maybe from this angle, the Lord will change His mind. We do the same kinds of things. We try to force through what it is that we want even though we may look like fools in the end. And what we’re watching is…well under normal circumstances, we would say this is very manipulative. It just so happens that in this case its manipulative…manipulation toward God. As if we wouldn’t do that too. And, so, there are some deep lessons about motives, the why we do what we do and what we’re willing to do to try to get what we want embedded in this story. The way that this particular drama ends is that Balaam can’t curse the children of Israel. Balak is displeased about it, but in the end Balaam just goes back home. Immediately following that story, we begin moving into how the people did cause the children of Israel to stumble and fall. They were not over calm by warfare in battle. Rather, they sent the women and began fraternizing and the people began going back and forth in intermingling and that led them to the place that God had warned them about. They were bowing down and giving their hearts in worship to the false God Baal. So, they could not defeat them with sword and shield and bow and arrow and sling, and whatever other warfare utensils that they were using. They chose a more seductive form of warfare and were successful. And we can think like, well Balaam didn’t have anything to do that but as we will see…and you’ll have to remember this story because we will come back to a very very short reference back to this time as we continue forward in the Scriptures, and we will find that on his way out it seems as if Balaam gave some advice. He couldn’t curse the children of Israel, but the suggestion of how they might defeat the children of Israel through seduction was planted and what we end up finding out is that Balaam ends up getting killed.

Prayer:

Father, it’s a disruptive story to go through but we have the whole story and we’ve spent the last few days moving through the story in the book of Numbers. And, so, it gives us pause to reflect. And as we place ourselves in the story and consider our thoughts, our motivations, our way of trying to finagle the things that we want, our way of looking for every vantage point to get what we want our way of just trying to…to live on the margins instead of under the shelter of Your wings it becomes apparent and we realize that we look at the story…it’s a pretty dramatic story and we can find ourselves there and it’s humbling. And, so, we ask for forgiveness, and we ask Your Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth, that we might not find ourselves in a position that we’re willing to manipulate anyone, including You if we could, to get what we want. Come Holy Spirit into that we pray as we humble ourselves before You and declare once again, we are utterly dependent upon You. You are our source of life and when we look for a source outside of You, we are walking the wrong path for the wrong reasons with the wrong motivations. Set us aright we pray in Jesus’ name. 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:

On March 9th Sinai from PA called regarding her medical condition in which she said her brain was not allowing her legs to work. She was being transferred from a hospital to a longer-term care facility. At the same time she had to make the difficult decision of putting her mom in an assisted care facility. Her voice was worn and weary and tinged I’m sure with a little bit of fear. And I just want to lift her up to you dear Lord. Although Lord Sinai is in a very challenging place with her own health as well as responsibilities with her mother. Lord, we know that your desire is to mold us and shape us more into the image of your Son, our Jesus who exemplified every fruit of the spirit. And unfortunately, because I hate this fruit of the spirit this long-suffering. Obviously, I’m being facetious in that. But the long-suffering Lord, we know You are long-suffering in that we get to understand what it’s like to have Your heart to be hurt and crushed and broken and still press on. We move forward to love others, to keep relationship with You. So, Lord I left Siani up to You right now and I ask that You would just touch her spiritual body from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. We obviously want her physical body to be touched but Lord our bodies are not as important as our spirit man. So, we thank You for whatever work You’re going to do and her and that You’re gonna do for her mother. We thank You dear Jesus. Amen.

Hey DAB family this is the mother that had gestational diabetes that was feeling overwhelmed at the end of her pregnancy. I guess I’m calling in a praise report. Everything of course worked out in the end. By the last couple days, we…sorry…we settled on an induction date and the last couple of days before the induction date I was able to find peace and be prepared and get ready for the baby and even went on an outing with family just before the baby was born. And she’s this beautiful happy healthy baby was born on the 27th of February. And we’re just loving having her here. And I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers. So, thank you. Bye.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community to be a Blessing in California. I have not been sleeping well it’s about 4:30 on Monday morning and I just would like to ask that you would pray for me. I know casting my cares on Jesus for he cares for me. I know promises and I believe them but for whatever reason I’m not able to shake loose some of the concerns this morning, concerns for my brother who sounding more despondent, more sad, more hopeless. And I’m just asking that you would pray that God would break through the darkness and that he would experience a desire to invite joy into his life and joy is Jesus and that you would pray for me to know how to minister to my brother at this time. Also praying for my community. We’ve had more than 40 inches of rain since the beginning of the year and more year rain is coming and the ground is saturated. There’s really nowhere for the water to go except into the community. I’m in a flood zone. My neighbors are in a flood zone. And, so, praise God our homes have been spared. And I’m just asking that God would continue to spare our homes. Also, for those who have lost their homes because of the flooding. Just ask that God would be with them as well. My stepbrother has multiple sclerosis and has had a relapse. So, prayers for him in a very special way. Young man taking care of his family. And lastly a friend of mines son committed suicide over the weekend. So, if you would pray for Jack and his fiancé Jacqueline as they go through this grieving process and God would be with them. Thank you so much.

Hello, DABbers this is Artie from Arkansas. This morning I’m listening to March 7th ‘s broadcast and podcast and there was a young lady Rochelle who had called in on…on the 25th of February and aired today. Wow! Rochelle, Rochelle that was so beautiful, so beautiful. Another young man David also was on this day. He too was a young adult and now he has come back. He’s come back to the Bible, to God, to counting on Him for…for his…his blessings, counting on Him for his walk, counting on Him for prayers for other people and for themselves. Please let’s continue to pray for Rochelle. Rochelle your words are amazing. You…you spoke as if you…as if you were completely involved with your Lord and Savior your entire life and strong and convicted. David, please know you will be prayed for as well. And we just lift you both up. And also Rochelle, the lady and her daughter that you are concerned with, we lift them up.

This message is for Susie in California who called about her eight-year-old nephew with autism who’s been running out into the street into the traffic escaping from school escaping from the home and running out into traffic. Susie your…your story touches me close. My…my son has…he’s on the spectrum as well. He’s doing much better now but he didn’t do this, but he did some things. And this story just also brought my mind straight to…to…to Mark 9 where…where the father brings her…his son to…to Jesus. His son has been dealing with epilepsy all his life and he said that it would have a tendency to throw the boy into the ground and into the fire and into the water and try to kill him. Jesus also cast the spirit out. He said sometimes this kind only comes out with prayer and fasting. So, I’ll be praying for your…for your nephew. Encourage your…your sister, the…the…the boy’s mother, the parents to read this passage. It was affective with my son as well. OK. Praying for you Susie. Thank you for calling in.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday March 16, 2023 (NIV)

Numbers 24-25

Balaam’s Third Prophecy

24 When Balaam saw that the Lord wanted to bless Israel, he didn’t look for omens as he had done before. He turned toward the desert, looked up, and saw Israel’s camp grouped by tribes. The Spirit of God entered him, and he delivered this message:

“This is the message of Balaam, son of Beor.
This is the message of the man whose eyesight is clear.
This is the message of the one who hears God’s words,
has a vision from the Almighty,
and falls ⌞into a trance⌟ with his eyes open:
How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,
and the places where you live, Israel.
Your tents spread out like rivers,
like gardens by a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars by the water.
Water will flow from their buckets,
and their crops will have plenty of water.
Their king will be greater than Agag,
and their kingdom will be considered the best.
The God who brought them out of Egypt
has the strength of a wild bull.
He will devour nations that are his enemies,
crush their bones,
and pierce them with arrows.
His people lie down ⌞and⌟ rest like a lion.
They are like a lioness. Who dares to disturb them?
Those who bless you will be blessed!
Those who curse you will be cursed!”

Balaam’s Fourth Prophecy

10 Balak became angry with Balaam. He clapped his hands and said, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, and now you have blessed them three times. 11 Get out of here! Go home! I said I’d reward you richly, but the Lord has made you lose your reward.”

12 Balaam answered Balak, “I told the messengers you sent me, 13 ‘Even if Balak would give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I couldn’t disobey the Lord’s command no matter how good or bad the request might seem to me. I must say only what the Lord says.’ 14 Even though I’m going back to my people, I’ll give you some advice. I’ll tell you what these people will do to your people in the days to come.”

15 Then Balaam delivered this message:

“This is the message of Balaam, son of Beor.
This is the message of the man whose eyesight is clear.
16 This is the message of the one who hears God’s words,
receives knowledge from the Most High,
has a vision from the Almighty,
and falls ⌞into a trance⌟ with his eyes open:
17 I see someone who is not here now.
I look at someone who is not nearby.
A star will come from Jacob.
A scepter will rise from Israel.
He will crush the heads of the Moabites
and destroy all the people of Sheth.[a]
18 Edom will be conquered,
and Seir, his enemy, will be conquered.
So Israel will become wealthy.
19 He will rule from Jacob
and destroy whoever is left in their cities.”

20 Then Balaam saw the Amalekites and delivered this message:

“Amalek was first among the nations,
but in the end it will be destroyed.”

21 Then he saw the Kenites and delivered this message:

“You have a permanent place to live.
Your nest is built in a rock.
22 But it is destined to be burned, you ⌞descendants of⌟ Cain,
when Assyria takes you as prisoners of war.” [b]

23 He delivered this message:

“Oh no! Who will live when God decides to do this?
24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus.
They will conquer Assyria and Eber.
But they, too, will be totally destroyed.”

25 Then Balaam got up and went back home, and Balak also went on his way.

Israel Commits Idolatry

25 While Israel was staying at Shittim, the men began to have sex with Moabite women who invited the people to the sacrifices offered to their gods. The people ate the meat from the sacrifices and worshiped these gods. Since the Israelites joined in worshiping the god Baal of Peor, the Lord became angry with Israel.

The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people, and execute them in broad daylight in the Lord’s presence. This will turn the Lord’s anger away from Israel.”

So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill the men who have joined in worshiping the god Baal of Peor.”

One of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to his brothers. He did this right in front of Moses and the whole community of Israel while they were crying at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, saw this. So he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand, and went into the tent after the Israelite man. He drove the spear through the man and into the woman’s body. Because of this, the plague that the Israelites were experiencing stopped. However, 24,000 people died from that plague.

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, turned my fury away from the Israelites. Since he stood up for me, I didn’t have to stand up for myself and destroy them. 12 So tell Phinehas that I’m making a promise of peace to him. 13 My promise is that he and his descendants will be priests permanently because he stood up for his God and he made peace with the Lord for the Israelites.”

14 The name of the Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri, son of Salu. (Salu was the leader of a family from Simeon.) 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, daughter of Zur. (Zur was the head of a family from the Midianite tribes.)

16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Treat the Midianites as your enemies, and kill them 18 because they treated you as enemies. They plotted to trick you in the incident that took place at Peor. They used their sister Cozbi, daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed on the day of the plague caused by the incident at Peor.”

Footnotes:

  1. 24:17 Or “all the descendants of Seth.”
  2. 24:21–22 There is a play on words here among Hebrew qeyniy (Kenite   ), qinneka (your nest), and qayin (Cain).
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Luke 2:1-35

Jesus Is Born

At that time the Emperor Augustus ordered a census of the Roman Empire. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All the people went to register in the cities where their ancestors had lived.

So Joseph went from Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a Judean city called Bethlehem. Joseph, a descendant of King David, went to Bethlehem because David had been born there. Joseph went there to register with Mary. She had been promised to him in marriage and was pregnant.

While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have her child. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there wasn’t any room for them in the inn.

Angels Announce the Birth of Jesus

Shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem. They were taking turns watching their flock during the night. An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. The glory of the Lord filled the area with light, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. 11 Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city. 12 This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, a large army of angels appeared with the angel. They were praising God by saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those who have his good will!”

15 The angels left them and went back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.”

16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph with the baby, who was lying in a manger. 17 When they saw the child, they repeated what they had been told about him. 18 Everyone who heard the shepherds’ story was amazed.

19 Mary treasured all these things in her heart and always thought about them.

20 As the shepherds returned to their flock, they glorified and praised God for everything they had seen and heard. Everything happened the way the angel had told them.

Jesus’ Parents Obey Moses’ Teachings

21 Eight days after his birth, the child was circumcised and named Jesus. This was the name the angel had given him before his mother became pregnant.

22 After the days required by Moses’ Teachings to make a mother clean [a] had passed, Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem. They took Jesus to present him to the Lord. 23 They did exactly what was written in the Lord’s Teachings: “Every firstborn boy is to be set apart as holy to the Lord.” 24 They also offered a sacrifice as required by the Lord’s Teachings: “a pair of mourning doves or two young pigeons.”

Simeon’s Prophecy

25 A man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. He lived an honorable and devout life. He was waiting for the one who would comfort Israel. The Holy Spirit was with Simeon 26 and had told him that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Messiah, whom the Lord would send.

27 Moved by the Spirit, Simeon went into the temple courtyard. Mary and Joseph were bringing the child Jesus into the courtyard at the same time. They brought him so that they could do for him what Moses’ Teachings required. 28 Then Simeon took the child in his arms and praised God by saying,

29 “Now, Lord, you are allowing your servant to leave in peace
as you promised.
30 My eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people to see.
32 He is a light that will reveal ⌞salvation⌟ to the nations
and bring glory to your people Israel.”

33 Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child is the reason that many people in Israel will be condemned and many others will be saved. He will be a sign that will expose 35 the thoughts of those who reject him. And a sword will pierce your heart.”

Footnotes:

  1. 2:22 Clean   ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is presentable to God.
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Psalm 59

For the choir director; al tashcheth; a miktam by David when Saul sent men to watch David’s home and kill him.

59 Rescue me from my enemies, O my God.
Protect me from those who attack me.
Rescue me from troublemakers.
Save me from bloodthirsty people.
They lie in ambush for me right here!
Fierce men attack me, O Lord,
but not because of any disobedience,
or any sin, or any guilt on my part.
They hurry to take positions against me.
Wake up, and help me; see ⌞for yourself⌟.
O Lord God of Armies, God of Israel,
arise to punish all the nations.
Have no pity on any traitors. Selah

They return in the evening.
They howl like dogs.
They prowl the city.

See what pours out of their mouths—
swords from their lips!
⌞They think,⌟ “Who will hear us?”
O Lord, you laugh at them.
You make fun of all the nations.

O my strength, I watch for you!
God is my stronghold, my merciful God!

10 God will come to meet me.
He will let me gloat over those who spy on me.
11 Do not kill them.
Otherwise, my people may forget.
Make them wander aimlessly by your power.
Bring them down, O Lord, our shield,
12 ⌞because of⌟ the sins from their mouths
and the words on their lips.
Let them be trapped by their own arrogance
because they speak curses and lies.
13 Destroy them in your rage.
Destroy them until not one of them is left.
Then they will know that God rules Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah

14 They return in the evening.
They howl like dogs.
They prowl the city.

15 They wander around to find something to eat.
If they are not full enough,
they will stay all night.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
In the morning I will joyfully sing about your mercy.
You have been my stronghold
and a place of safety in times of trouble.
17 O my strength, I will make music to praise you!
God is my stronghold, my merciful God!

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 11:14

14 A nation will fall when there is no direction,
but with many advisers there is victory.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

3/15/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 22:21-23:30, Luke 1:57-80, Psalm 58:1-11, Proverbs 11:12-13

Today is the 15th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today, as we gather together and take the next step forward together. And we have been working our way through the Book of Numbers and we have just begun to encounter a story between the king of Moab, his name is Balak, and a person who speaks to God, who hears from God, but is also known to have the ability to bless and curse things. And Balak summons Balaam to curse God’s people, the children of Israel, because they’re more powerful than Moab and they are making Moab very nervous. So, Balaam inquired of the Lord and the Lord told him not to go. And so, he sent the emissaries away. And they sent another group to them. You gotta come, you gotta come curse these people. And so, he goes back to the Lord, who tells him that he can go with these people, the next batch of people, but he can only do what he is told to do. And that is where we pick up the story, Numbers chapter 22 verse 21 through 23 verse 30 today.

Commentary:

Okay so, we still have an unfolding story Balaam and Balak and the children of Israel and who gets to curse who. And we will continue that story as we move forward tomorrow and then talk about it. We also have this unfolding story in the Gospel of Luke, and we talked how the angel Gabriel had given to Annunciation’s, two announcements about the birth of two different children, one that would become John the Baptist and one that would be Jesus, the Lord. And we talked about the reactions to those announcements. The fact that Zechariah was a priest and happened to be in the temple of the most high God burning incense when he had this revelation. And how he was struck dumb, he could not speak, he could not speak about what he had seen until it had been fulfilled. And in today’s reading, John is born. Everyone assumed that he would be named Zechariah after his father. It’s their firstborn son and it’s they’re, they’re older like this is probably their only son, so he should take the name of his father forward. But he declares what he had heard from the angel and writes it down, his name is John. And everybody’s amazed by this and then immediately Zechariah’s mouth is opened and he began to speak praises to God. So they’re amazed that the boy’s name will be John and then fear comes over them when his mouth is opened and he begins to praise God. And according to the Gospel of Luke, all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said what then will this child become, for indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. And then Zechariah gets a prophecy over his son. We know John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord and that he shows up at the Jordan and he’s baptizing people and calling people to repentance. What we see here, once again in the Gospels, is that it didn’t happen in a vacuum. John didn’t just appear out of the wilderness at the Jordan crying out to the people to turn their hearts back to God. We’re looking at what’s happening. John is born and he is born to a priest of the most high God, who has done work in the temple in Jerusalem, so he’s not obscure, he’s a priest who has had the opportunity to serve God in Jerusalem in the temple. And when he was serving God in the temple, he received a vision and when he came out of the temple, people were waiting for him, and he couldn’t talk. So, the rumors begin there. And then Elizabeth in her old age gets pregnant and then any number of rumors or jokes or whatever, like there in the dialogue of the people that are in their community, people are talking about this. Because Zechariah is a priest who can’t talk and he can do other things because his wife gets pregnant, but he still can’t talk. So, there’s probably plenty of talk about them. And then the baby is born and Zechariah names him John, which is unusual, and the people are shocked by it, but once he does, once he does this act of obedience, his mouth is open, and he begins to worship God and prophesy and freaks the people out. That’s the context for John the Baptist. And so years later, after he’s gone through his childhood and grown into adulthood and he shows up at the Jordan, people are going to find out what’s going on because that was the kid, that was the kid that Zechariah and Elizabeth had, and Zechariah couldn’t talk and then he named him John and everybody was talking about it, and everybody was wondering what’s going to become of this kid. Or to quote the Gospel of Luke, “What then will this child become.” So, they’re wondering. There’s almost this prophetic aura around John his whole life. And so, when he shows up, calling people to repentance, he’s not just showing up like a mirage in the wilderness. They’ve wondered what…what God was going to do through this John. Of course, we know that what he’s going to do is prepare the way of the Lord. And we will watch that unfold as we continue through the Gospel of Luke.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we invite You into all that we’ve read today, all that we read in the Book of Numbers between Balak and Balaam. And all that we’ve read here in the Gospel of Luke, of the arrival of John the Baptist to prepare the way. We ask that You continue to open our hearts, may they be wide open to You and may You lead us into the truth, and may we have eyes to see and ears to hear all that You are speaking into our story, transforming us. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, humbly, we wouldn’t be here if we were not in this together and so thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning DAB Family, this is Abba’s Child in Southwest Florida. I’m calling to respond to a few people that just called in for prayer today on March 11th. The first one is Beloved in Texas whose 12-year-old daughter is suffering from depression. Oh, sweet girl, my daughters 34 and suffers from depression. I had called in and asked for prayer and someone responded to my prayer, his name was Steve. He and his wife suffered with their own daughter with her depression and her anxiety disorder. I am praying for you, dear on. It’s so hard when our kids are suffering, especially with something that we can’t physically fix. Mental illness is such a curse. And all we can do is trust. And I’m telling you now, the crisis that my daughter just went through, I have learned to truly trust. So, I hope that my prayer for you is that you can have peace in knowing that Jesus has the wheel. And Sparky, you called in today too, to remind us to ask for prayer, that everyone has problems. We all suffer the same issues big and small. And none of them are too small or too big to ask for prayer about. And last but not least, PA Chappy, the pastor whose celebrating his very first year at his new church that has gone from 60 members to 90 members, who was suicidal 8 years ago. God bless you man. I just love hearing stories like that. God is so good, and I will pray for you and your church. I love you all, I love this community. In Jesus …

Hey DABers, this is Emily of Emily and Jim. Sorry to bother you again and hopefully this recording will actually work. I had to call though for the mother of the 12-year-old girl who was diagnosed with major depression. And is being diagnosed with ADHD. I had ADHD, I was diagnosed when I was 46, I’m 53 now. But from ages 10 to 12, to 13 I’m sorry, I was suicidal every single day. I was bullied. I didn’t fit in because kids with ADHD don’t fit in generally. And ADHD wasn’t a thing then and especially not with girls. So, I just want to, first of all, encourage you that it was in clinging to Jesus. My family weren’t even believers. But if somehow reaching out to Jesus and the word, that kept me alive. I’m here today. And so, I want to pray for your daughter because God is going to work in her life. The enemy is not going to have her. And I pray, Father God, for this…this 12-year-old girl, Lord, that you would give her hope. Lord, that she would cling to Jesus. Lord, that Your Holy Spirit would fill her up and fill her with joy. Father, we pray for the right diagnosis, Lord, and Father, the right coping mechanisms. Whatever she needs, Father. But I thank You Lord God, that she will have life, I speak life to her, I speak the joy of the Lord, which is her strength. And, Lord, I thank You, that You have my life as a testimony that the enemy will not prevail. The enemy will not prevail in this 12-year-old girls’ life. Thank You, Lord God, for Your faithfulness. And I pray these things, I pray life and joy and hope for this girl. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Hello, my wonderful DAB family. This is Rosie, aka Great to Be Free in Jesus. And I’m calling in regarding the prayer request, Winnie called in about her nephew who lost his wife and lost his home. And I just want you to know that I’m praying for him. Cause I’m sure he’s got a broken heart. I went through a really hard time when I lost my husband. I had never known such grief. And when I would cry, it felt like the tears were coming from the very pit of my stomach. And it was so painful. I was stuck on the question, why. And I was on that question for two years. And people kept saying to me, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. And it took me two years to finally do that. I finally just told Lord, Lord, I don’t know why my husband died because You told us to move from Indiana to Oklahoma. And now I don’t have a husband. And I don’t know why he died but You do, and I don’t have to know why. I trust You. And once I did that, all those tears no longer felt like they were coming from the very pit of my stomach. And I also had children at home that I had to finish raising. It was a very hard time. I just wanted you to know, he’s got a broken heart. And I’m praying for him. I love you my DAB family. God bless you.

Hi DAB family, this is God Knows My Name. I’m calling to ask for prayers please. I need prayers for this anger that I’m feeling. I feel so angry. I am pregnant. And I, I’m aware that you know, the hormones get some pregnant women to, to be like that. Sometimes and my anger is started towards my husband. Not for something that he did. And even though I have given some proposals on how we can manage it, including maybe seeking counseling, he prefers to just pretend like everything’s okay. And basically, not address the proposals I’ve given and not propose anything for me and it just makes me even angrier. I don’t know if it’s the hormones. I’m so angry. I’m angry at my daughter’s father. He has refused to talk to her for a very long time and I don’t know why. And I’m so angry because I kept her out of her life for so long and he begged, and I finally let him into her life and now he is just breaking her and me. He just popped in and now he’s just popped out. And I’m so angry that I exposed her to that. And I don’t know why he’s doing that to her, she’ just 11-years-old. She’ll be 11 next month. So, please just pray for me. I don’t want to feel this way.

Hi, this is Victorious Soldier, just calling to pray for some of the DABers. I want to pray for Tim from New Hampshire, and I want to pray for his wife to be strengthened. I want to pray for Dennis from Anis, Texas. She’s the mayor there, there was an unexplained death of her, of her, I think it was her brother or someone in the family. I wanna pray for that family. And they found out that it was no foul play but just pray for that family and the loss of that loved one. I wanna pray for Audrie and I wanna pray for Matthew who needs a miracle for their nephew and the 8-year-old with autism. I wanna pray for them. I also wanna pray for the lady who lost her, her mother, she called on the 9th of March and she lost her precious mother. I wanted to pray for her. And I wanted to pray for those families who are going through who called in on that March 9th. Gracious Father, we just ask You to have Your way. Father, we just ask You to heal. We ask You to deliver. Lord, that precious baby, the lady that is pregnant with her baby and she is going through the, through some challenges, Father. We just ask You to pray, to bless her and bless that family, Father. We just ask You to give life and favor, Lord. We just ask You to open doors, we just ask You to bless those marriages, 30 and 31 years, Lord, we ask You to bless those marriages. Bless those families. Bless those children that are trying to take them with astrology and all of this wicked stuff. Father, You have Your way, the devil wants to take our children, but You have already prayed for them. Father, we just ask You to continue to have a support of our kids, what You have for them, Lord. So that the devil don’t have an opportunity to pull anything else. And Lord, we give You the glory. We just thank You for Brian, we thank You for them being back and getting through with the jet lag and we just thank You for Your grace and Your mercy. We just thank you for Your amazing blessing.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday March 15, 2023 (NIV)

Numbers 22:21-23:30

Balaam’s Journey to Moab

21 When Balaam got up in the morning, he saddled his donkey and left with the Moabite princes.

22 God became angry that he was going. So the Messenger of the Lord stood in the road to stop him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. 23 When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn, the donkey turned off the road into a field. Balaam hit the donkey to get it back on the road.

24 Where the road went through the vineyards, it was narrow, with stone walls on both sides. Now the Messenger of the Lord stood there. 25 When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord, it moved over and pinned Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam hit the donkey again.

26 Then the Messenger of the Lord moved ahead and stood in a narrower place where there was no room to turn to the right or the left. 27 When the donkey saw the Messenger of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam. Balaam became so angry he hit the donkey with his stick. 28 Then the Lord made the donkey speak, and it asked Balaam, “What have I done to make you hit me three times?”

29 Balaam answered, “You’ve made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I’d kill you right now.”

30 The donkey said to Balaam, “I’m your own donkey. You’ve always ridden me. Have I ever done this to you before?”

“No,” he answered.

31 Then the Lord let Balaam see the Messenger of the Lord who was standing in the road with his sword drawn. So Balaam knelt, bowing with his face touching the ground.

32 The Messenger of the Lord asked him, “Why have you hit your donkey three times like this? I’ve come here to stop you because the trip you’re taking is evil. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, I would certainly have killed you by now but spared the donkey.”

34 Balaam said to the Messenger of the Lord, “I’ve sinned. I didn’t know you were standing there in the road to stop me. If you still think this trip is evil, I’ll go back.”

35 The Messenger of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but say only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s princes.

36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at Ir Moab, in the region of the Arnon Valley, right on the border of Moab. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Why didn’t you come when I summoned you? You knew I’d be able to reward you.”

38 Balaam replied, “Well, I’ve come to you now. But I can’t say whatever I want to. I can only say what God tells me to say.”

39 Balaam went with Balak to Kiriath Huzoth. 40 Balak sacrificed cattle, sheep, and goats, and sent some of the meat to Balaam and the princes who were with him.

41 The next morning Balak took Balaam up to Bamoth Baal. From there he could see the outskirts of the Israelites’ camp.

Balaam’s First Prophecy

23 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” Balak did what Balaam told him, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I’m gone. Maybe the Lord will come and meet with me. I will tell you whatever he reveals to me.” Then Balaam went off to a higher place where there were no trees.

God came to him, and Balaam said, “I have set up seven altars, and I offered a bull and a ram on each altar.”

The Lord told Balaam, “Go back to Balak, and give him my message.”

So he went back to Balak and found him standing beside his burnt offering with all the princes of Moab. Then Balaam delivered this message:

“Balak brought me from Aram.
The king of Moab summoned me from the eastern mountains.
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,’ he said.
‘Come, condemn Israel.’
How can I curse those whom God hasn’t cursed?
How can I condemn those whom the Lord hasn’t condemned?
I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
I look at them from the hills.
I see a nation that lives by itself,
people who do not consider themselves
to be like other nations.
10 The descendants of Jacob are like specks of dust.
Who can count them
or number even one-fourth of the people of Israel?
Let me die the death of innocent people.
Let my end be like theirs.”

11 Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, but all you’ve done is bless them!”

12 Balaam answered, “I must say what the Lord tells me to say.”

Balaam’s Second Prophecy

13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, where you can see the Israelites. You will see only some of them, not all of them. Curse them for me from there.”

14 So he took him to the Field of Zophim [a] on top of Mount Pisgah, where he built seven altars. He offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet with God over there.”

16 The Lord came to Balaam and told him, “Go back to Balak, and give him my message.”

17 He came to Balak and found him standing beside his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?” 18 Then Balaam delivered this message:

“Stand up, Balak, and listen!
Hear me, son of Zippor!
19 God is not like people. He tells no lies.
He is not like humans. He doesn’t change his mind.
When he says something, he does it.
When he makes a promise, he keeps it.
20 I have received a command to bless.
He has blessed, and I can’t change it.
21 He doesn’t want any trouble for the descendants of Jacob.
He sees no misfortune for the people of Israel.
The Lord their God is with them,
praised as their king.
22 The God who brought them out of Egypt
has the strength of a wild bull.
23 No spell can curse the descendants of Jacob.
No magic can harm the people of Israel.
Now it will be said of Jacob and Israel:
‘See what God has done!’
24 Here is a nation that attacks like a lioness
and is as ferocious as a lion.
It doesn’t lie down until it eats its prey
and drinks the blood of its victim.”

25 Balak said to Balaam, “If you won’t curse them, then at least don’t bless them!”

26 Balaam answered, “Didn’t I tell you that I must do whatever the Lord says?”

27 Balak said to Balaam, “Come, let me take you to another place. Maybe God wants you to curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, which overlooks Jeshimon.

29 Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me.” 30 Balak did what Balaam told him, and he offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Footnotes:

  1. 23:14 Or “to a lookout point.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Luke 1:57-80

John Is Born

57 When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her, and they shared her joy.

59 When the child was eight days old, they went ⌞to the temple⌟ to circumcise him. They were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother spoke up, “Absolutely not! His name will be John.”

61 Their friends said to her, “But you don’t have any relatives with that name.”

62 So they motioned to the baby’s father to see what he wanted to name the child. 63 Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed.

64 Suddenly, Zechariah was able to speak, and he began to praise God.

65 All their neighbors were filled with awe. Throughout the mountain region of Judea, people talked about everything that had happened. 66 Everyone who heard about it seriously thought it over and asked, “What does the future hold for this child?” It was clear that the Lord was with him.

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,

68 “Praise the Lord God of Israel!
He has come to take care of his people
and to set them free.
69 He has raised up a mighty Savior for us
in the family of his servant David.
70 He made this promise through his holy prophets long ago.
71 He promised to save us from our enemies
and from the power of all who hate us.
72 He has shown his mercy to our ancestors
and remembered his holy promise,[a]
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.
74 He promised to rescue us from our enemies’ power
so that we could serve him without fear
75 by being holy and honorable as long as we live.

76 “You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High.
You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way.
77 You will make his people know that they can be saved
through the forgiveness of their sins.
78 A new day will dawn on us from above
because our God is loving and merciful.
79 He will give light to those who live in the dark
and in death’s shadow.
He will guide us into the way of peace.”

80 The child John grew and became spiritually strong. He lived in the desert until the day he appeared to the people of Israel.

Footnotes:

  1. 1:72 Or “covenant.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Psalm 58

For the choir director; al tashcheth; a miktam by David.

58 Do you rulers really give fair verdicts?
Do you judge Adam’s descendants fairly?
No, you invent new crimes on earth,
and your hands spread violence.

⌞Even⌟ inside the womb wicked people are strangers ⌞to God⌟.
From their birth liars go astray.
They have poisonous venom like snakes.
They are like a deaf cobra that shuts its ears
so that it cannot hear the voice of a snake charmer
or of anyone trained to cast spells.

O God, knock the teeth out of their mouths.
Break the young lions’ teeth, O Lord.
Let them disappear like water that drains away.
When they aim their bows, let their arrows miss the target.
Let them become like a snail that leaves behind a slimy trail
or like a stillborn child who never sees the sun.
Let ⌞God⌟ sweep them away
faster than a cooking pot is heated by burning twigs.

10 Righteous people will rejoice when they see ⌞God⌟ take revenge.
They will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people.
11 Then people will say,
“Righteous people certainly have a reward.
There is a God who judges on earth.”

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 11:12-13

12 A person who despises a neighbor has no sense,
but a person who has understanding keeps quiet.
13 Whoever gossips gives away secrets,
but whoever is trustworthy in spirit can keep a secret.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday March 14, 2023 (NIV)

Numbers 21:1-22:20

The King of Arad Is Defeated

21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim, he fought them and took some of them as prisoners. Then the Israelites made this vow to the Lord: “If you will hand these people over to us, we’ll destroy their cities because you’ve claimed them.” The Lord listened to the Israelites and handed the Canaanites over to them. They destroyed the Canaanites and their cities. So they called the place Hormah [Claimed for Destruction].

The Bronze Snake

Then they moved from Mount Hor, following the road that goes to the Red Sea, in order to get around Edom. The people became impatient on the trip and criticized God and Moses. They said, “Why did you make us leave Egypt—just to let us die in the desert? There’s no bread or water, and we can’t stand this awful food!”

So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we criticized the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake, and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. People looked at the bronze snake after they were bitten, and they lived.[a]

Israel Travels Past Edom to Moab

10 The Israelites moved and set up camp at Oboth. 11 Next they moved from Oboth and set up camp at Iye Abarim in the desert west of Moab. 12 From there they moved and set up camp at the Zered River. 13 They moved from there and set up camp on the other side of the Arnon Valley in the desert that extends into Amorite territory. (The Arnon Valley is the border between Moab and the Amorites.) 14 This is how it’s described in the Book of the Wars of the Lord:

“… Waheb in Suphah and the valleys,
15 Arnon and the slopes of the valleys
that go down to the site of Ar
and lie along the border of Moab….”

16 From there they went to Beer [Well]. This is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people, and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song about the well:

“Make your water spring up!
Sing to the well,
18 the well dug by princes,
dug out by the nobles of the people
with their scepters and staffs.”

From the desert they went to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where Mount Pisgah overlooks Jeshimon.

Sihon and Og Defeated

21 Then Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon of the Amorites, 22 “Let us go through your country. We won’t go through any of your fields or vineyards or drink any of the water from your wells. We’ll stay on the king’s highway until we’ve passed through your territory.”

23 Sihon wouldn’t let Israel pass through his territory. Sihon gathered all his troops and came out into the desert to attack Israel. When Sihon’s troops came to Jahaz, they fought against Israel. 24 But Israel defeated them in battle and took possession of their land from the Arnon Valley to the Jabbok River. ⌞They stopped at⌟ the border of the Ammon because it was fortified. 25 Israel took all those Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages, and lived in them. 26 Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. He had fought the former king of Moab and had taken all his land up to the Arnon Valley.

27 This is why the poets say:

“Come to Heshbon! Rebuild it!
Restore Sihon’s city!
28 Fire came out of Heshbon,
flames from Sihon’s city.
They destroyed Ar of Moab,
the rulers of Arnon’s worship sites.[b]
29 How horrible it is for you, Moab!
You are destroyed, you people of the god Chemosh.
Chemosh let his sons become refugees
and he let his daughters become prisoners
of King Sihon of the Amorites.
30 But we shot the Amorites full of arrows.
From Heshbon to Dibon they all died.
We destroyed everyone and everything
between Nophah and Medeba.”

31 So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. 32 After Moses sent spies to Jazer, the Israelites captured its cities and villages and forced out the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and followed the road that goes to Bashan. King Og of Bashan and all his troops came out to fight the Israelites at Edrei.

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Don’t be afraid of him. I’ll hand him, all his troops, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.” 35 The Israelites defeated him, his sons, and all his troops, leaving no survivors. And they took possession of his land.

Balaam Is Hired to Curse Israel

22 Then the Israelites moved and set up camp across from Jericho, on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan River.

Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. The Moabites were very afraid because there were so many Israelites. Besides, the Moabites couldn’t stand these people.

So the Moabites said to the leaders of Midian, “All those people will eventually eat up everything around us the same way an ox eats up the grass in a field.”

At that time Balak, son of Zippor, was king of Moab. He sent messengers to summon Balaam, son of Beor, who was at Pethor, on the Euphrates River, in the land where his people lived. Balak’s message was, “A nation has just come here from Egypt. They’ve spread out all over the countryside and are setting up their camp here in front of me. Please come and curse these people for me, because they are too strong for me. Maybe then I’ll be able to defeat them and force them out of the country. I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed.”

The leaders of Moab and Midian left, taking money with them to pay for Balaam’s services. They came to Balaam and told him what Balak had said.

“Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I’ll report to you what the Lord tells me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

10 Balaam answered, “Balak, son of King Zippor of Moab, sent them with this message: 11 ‘Some people have just come from Egypt and are spreading out all over the countryside. Now come and curse them for me. Maybe I’ll be able to fight them and force them out.’ ”

12 But God said to Balaam, “Don’t go with them! Don’t curse these people, because they are blessed.”

13 When Balaam got up in the morning, he said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your own country, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

14 So the Moabite princes went back to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

15 Balak sent a larger group of more highly respected princes. 16 When they came to Balaam, they said to him, “This is what Balak, son of Zippor, says: Don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. 17 I will make sure you are richly rewarded, and I will do whatever you ask. Please, come and curse these people for me.”

18 But Balaam answered Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I couldn’t disobey the command of the Lord my God no matter whether the request was important or not. 19 Now, why don’t you stay here tonight, as the others did, and I’ll find out what else the Lord may have to tell me.”

20 That night God came to Balaam and said, “If these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”

Footnotes:

  1. 21:9 There is a play on words here between Hebrew nachash (snake   ) and nechosheth (bronze   ).
  2. 21:28 Masoretic Text; Greek “it consumed Arnon’s worship sites.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Luke 1:26-56

The Angel Gabriel Comes to Mary

26 Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. 27 The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28 When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.”

29 She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.

30 The angel told her,

“Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor [a] with God.
31 You will become pregnant, give birth to a son,
and name him Jesus.
32 He will be a great man
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his ancestor David.
33 Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever,
and his kingdom will never end.”

34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be? I’m a virgin.”

35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God.

36 “Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant with a son in her old age. People said she couldn’t have a child. 37 But nothing is impossible for God.”

38 Mary answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.”

Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 Soon afterward, Mary hurried to a city in the mountain region of Judah. 40 She entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.

41 When Elizabeth heard the greeting, she felt the baby kick. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She said in a loud voice, “You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child that you will have. 43 I feel blessed that the mother of my Lord is visiting me. 44 As soon as I heard your greeting, I felt the baby jump for joy. 45 You are blessed for believing that the Lord would keep his promise to you.”

Mary Praises God

46 Mary said,

“My soul praises the Lord’s greatness!
47 My spirit finds its joy in God, my Savior,
48 because he has looked favorably on me, his humble servant.

“From now on, all people will call me blessed
49 because the Almighty has done great things to me.
His name is holy.
50 For those who fear him,
his mercy lasts throughout every generation.

51 “He displayed his mighty power.
He scattered those who think too highly of themselves.
52 He pulled strong rulers from their thrones.
He honored humble people.
53 He fed hungry people with good food.
He sent rich people away with nothing.

54 “He remembered to help his servant Israel forever.
55 This is the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his descendants.”

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

Footnotes:

  1. 1:30 Or “grace.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Psalm 57

For the choir director; al tashcheth; [a] a miktam by David when he fled from Saul into the cave.

57 Have pity on me, O God. Have pity on me,
because my soul takes refuge in you.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until destructive storms pass by.
I call to God Most High,
to the God who does everything for me.
He sends his help from heaven and saves me.
He disgraces the one who is harassing me. Selah
God sends his mercy and his truth!
My soul is surrounded by lions.
I must lie down with man-eating lions.
Their teeth are spears and arrows.
Their tongues are sharp swords.
May you be honored above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.

⌞My enemies⌟ spread out a net to catch me.
(My soul is bowed down.)
They dug a pit to trap me,
but then they fell into it. Selah
My heart is confident, O God.
My heart is confident.
I want to sing and make music.[b]
Wake up, my soul! [c]
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I want to wake up at dawn.
I want to give thanks to you among the people, O Lord.
I want to make music to praise you among the nations
10 because your mercy is as high as the heavens.
Your truth reaches the skies.

11 May you be honored above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.

Footnotes:

  1. 57:0 Unknown musical term.
  2. 57:7 Verses 7–11 are virtually identical in wording to Psalm 108:1–5.
  3. 57:8 Or “my glory.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 11:9-11

With his talk a godless person can ruin his neighbor,
but righteous people are rescued by knowledge.

10 When righteous people prosper, a city is glad.
When wicked people die, there are songs of joy.
11 With the blessing of decent people a city is raised up,
but by the words of wicked people, it is torn down.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

03/14/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 21:1-22:20, Luke 1:26-56, Psalms 57:1-11, Proverbs 11:9-11

Today is the 14th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today around the Global Campfire. And I’ve got my steamy cup of Windfarm coffee here to my left. That’s what I was in the middle of doing when I turned the mic on. So, sorry about that. But what I have before me is our next step forward and that next step will lead us back into the book of Numbers. The children of Israel have turned away from the promised land and are wandering in the wilderness at this point. But it’s a lot of people and it’s disrupting all of the nations around them as we will soon see. Numbers chapter 21 verse 1 through 22 verse 20 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Numbers we have a story being set up here. The children of Israel are moving around in the wilderness. They’re kind of in a no man’s land and nobody will let them pass through. So, their stuck until they get attacked and win. And then they win some territory. So, they have this base of operations but that happens to be next to Moab and the Moabite king, Balak is starting to freak out. And, so, he sends for a person named Balaam to come and curse Israel. And, so, we’re just kind of getting that story set up, but the last words in our reading from the book of Numbers today are the imperative ones in the story. God tells Balaam who has been summoned to curse Israel, “do only what I tell you to do.” And we will see more of this story unfold tomorrow.

Then we flip over into the gospel of Luke and we see an enunciation, an angelic visitation by the angel Gabriel who was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, according to the gospel of Luke. And he was sent to a girl named Mary. And he told Mary that she would be with child and give birth to a son that was to be named Jesus and that He would reign over the house of Jacob forever, and that His kingdom would have no end. Mary’s ultimate response to the angelic visitation was, “here am I the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.” Interestingly though, because we’re just…we’re in chapter 1 of the gospel, we’re just getting going, we met a man named Zechariah as we began Luke. And he was a priest, and his wife Elizabeth had no children. They were barren and they were old, and they were righteous, very, very much parallel between Abraham and Sarah who were old and righteous but barren. And Zechariah receives an angelic visitation. And it’s a pretty poignant one because it’s Zechariah’s turn to serve in the temple. This a like a rotating duty, and it’s his turn to be in the temple burning incense before the Lord when he receives this angelic visitation. So, he is in the temple of the most-high God receiving an angelic visitation that tells him he’s going to have a son, and that this son is to be named John. So, what we have here are two annunciations. The angel Gabriel gave two announcements about forthcoming children, one in the temple of the most-high God to Zechariah who would be the father of John who would come to be known as John the Baptist, the other to a maiden in Nazareth named Mary who was told she will become the mother of God and she is to name her baby Jesus. The thing that makes this kind of interesting is the responses to the angelic visitation. John the priest, a priest of the most-high God is in the temple of the most-high God burning incense when he receives an angelic visitation from the most-high God telling him that he will be a father and he should name his son John. His response to this announcement was, “how can I know that this will happen, for I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years?” The result of that statement was that Zechariah was no longer able to speak until the child was born and named. On the other hand, same angel, different town, Mary is visited and her response to the announcement is, “here am I the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.” These are very different responses to very similar announcements because they reveal different postures. And, so, the Scriptures invite us to look at this and place ourselves in the story and look into our own hearts, so we feel impressed by God of a direction, of the path forward. Let’s even imagine that it is confirmed, maybe even buy like an angelic visitation. This is happening to Zechariah and his response is, how can you prove to me that this is true? How can I know that this will happen because you’re telling me something that’s not possible? How can you prove it to me? What Mary was being told by Gabriel is even less possible than what Zechariah was being told, and Mary’s response is, I…I don’t know how this can be but here am I the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word. Both of these people who received angelic visitation were told things that were impossible, things that couldn’t happen. The educated priest wanted proof and certainty. The lowly maiden wanted to be available to serve God even if it was impossible if she could. In both of the enunciation a son was born, and John the Baptist and Jesus came into the world. It’s just that Zechariah was struck dumb so that he couldn’t say another word until the promise was fulfilled. And, so, where do we land in this story? Are we the person that’s like going to need some certainty. Can you show me something that would give me confidence and proof that this is real? The other posture is, I don’t understand what I’m being told. I don’t understand what’s being revealed but I am a vessel. I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be done as you say. The gospel of Luke is giving us an opportunity to check in with our own hearts.

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that as we check in and just consider the stories here and the announcements here and the responses to those announcements and just consider where we would…we would fall in that. Would we be Zechariah who imitates so much of the story of the children of Israel as we’re going through it right now or Mary, a person with eyes to see that things are going on beyond our understanding, and that if You are in it nothing is impossible. Holy Spirit, come. Help us locate our hearts in this and may they begin to move in trust and utter dependence on You. We pray this in Your beautiful name, the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is where you find out what is going on around here.

But I do have something to tell you that’s going on around you. So, I’m just gonna tell you because you won’t find it at dailyaudiobible.com. I think I’m the last one…I think I’m the last one to say this. I’ve been waiting to make sure. I didn’t want to jump any guns. So, it has been…it has been told here in the Hardin clan, here around our family that expansion is his ongoing, is continuing, and that we would…would be able to be adding another member to the family yet this year, and this announcement came from our daughter China and her husband Ben who are expecting their second child. They have a daughter named Reagan who we are smitten with, very smitten with and love very much and she will turn two next month. And this new little one is due to arrive we believe in October. And, so, certainly want to bring that to the community here so we can jump up and rejoice together. China grew up…like she grew up on…under the shadow of the Daily Audio Bible. That’s the thing. Like, she’s been a part of this since she was 10 years old. And, so, yeah, more…more…more life than not has been spent around the community here and through all of the travels over all the years to all of the places all over the world. And see she pioneered Daily Audio Bible Kids and grew all the way through that into Daily Audio Bible Chronological with her mom. So, certainly very proud of her, certainly excited to rejoice about a new grandchild and simply letting you know and just asking you to pray over her pregnancy as she continues to read through Chronological and continues to do all of the work that’s involved there as well as the work of being a mom of a toddler, which is a lot of work and then the work in her body of…of nurturing and giving life to another life that will come into this world. And, so, thank you for your prayers over that. I just wanted to let you know that we have another Daily Audio baby coming this year and we’ll be excited to keep you informed about all of the progress along the way. But thank you for your prayers.

And if you have a…a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app. That’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is Bertie your brother in Christ calling in today to lift up David from Kansas in prayer. Dear Lord I thank You for David and I pray that You can bless him in his efforts to serve You Lord at children’s church in __ . Lord I pray that he could be motivated to continue to serve You. Even though he has this brain injury Lord I pray that You can help him to remember Your promises Lord, how You love him and are with him always and to not be afraid Lord. I pray that You can heal him of this injury Lord and if it is Your will Lord to work through him to continue to bless other people. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Brother I’d just like to encourage you. I can understand having moments of fear where you seem to forget everything you’ve read and the promises you know that…that God has given to us. But one verse that’s very near and dear to my heart of some 56 verses 3 and 4. When I’m afraid I put my trust in you, in God whose word I praise. In God I trust. I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? And in second Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 God tells us that we aren’t supposed to have a spirit of fear but a spirit of love and of self-control and of power. Brother I hope you’re encouraged today and I hope you can continue to remember that you have the Holy Spirit with you at all times and that ultimately God is using you and everything that you’re going through to bless other people. Goodbye.

Hello, DAB I am a first-time caller. I’ve been listening to DAB for the last couple of years but this year I’ve been committed to listening to it every day and it truly is my oxygen in each day and I really appreciate this ministry. I could use some help. My name is Christy and I need to go to the psych ward and pick up my son. He has been in for about a week and we know there are some issues. He’s an adult son. So all I can do is be there for him, pray that I have the strength to be solid for him, and to not be pushy when I need to __ stand back. And he’s not following the Lord. He’s really following deconstructionism. And, so, he's…he doesn’t have that to lean on and this last year has been a bad year for him. He’s made a lot of poor choices. So, one of my prayers is that he would…we would be able to get him a full psych eval and help him to get back on the feet and understand what his challenges are instead of feeling shamed by them. We love our son, but we also know that he…he can’t continue on the way it is and he needs some help. So, pray for me to be strong for him and that Jesus would just reveal himself to him in a way that he cannot deny, and he can embrace. Thank you.

Good evening family I wanted to tell you about something that happened the other day. We had a thunderstorm here where I live in the early hours of the morning before it was light outside. I was up getting ready for work and there was a particularly bright flash of lightning. And when I went back through the house after that flash of lightning, I found one of our small solar lamps was lit and it had been dark when I got up. Apparently the flash of lightning was bright enough to power that solar lantern for a couple of minutes. And I got to thinking when the light of Jesus is shining through your life no matter how brief your contact is who’s swallowed in darkness even a brief flash of the love of God in your life - a smile, a pat on the back, a cheerful good morning, even the slightest touch of the light of God on someone’s life - can be enough to eliminate their darkness. So go out there and be the light. This is hands to heaven. God bless you all.

Hey DAB family this is Minnesota Aruka buchina. Have not called in a while but just want to let you know that I love this community. I love this family and I thank you so much for all of the prayers and the answered prayers __. I’ve told you in the past about my son who has struggled with alcohol and drug issues and he’s been in prison for…off and on for the last 13 years and hasn’t been to Minnesota back in 13 years because of his addiction and…and jail time. But he is actually getting out. We’ve gotten the OK and authorization to bring him back to Minnesota. So on Monday the 13th he’s actually gonna…my husband’s gonna pick him up and he’s gonna be living with us to begin to kind of get back on his feet. So, he just ask for prayer. So let us pray. Heavenly father I just thank you so much for Brian and this platform and this amazing community and family that is all over the world and how we stand unified. So, father I just ask that you be with my husband as he leaves on Sunday to go pick up our son Lord. The name Aruka means to restore and renew. So, Lord I pray that You stir up a restoring and a renewing in Tori’s heart and in any of us that struggle with children in this community, the struggle with issues and bondages. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that this renewing begins to happen here and today in all of these people’s lives. And we just give You the glory. I pray for protection upon this family and this transition Lord. Help us to be able to stay strong in You and to be able to be as strong example for Tori’s life giving You the glory and the honor.

Hello DAB family this is Widespread Jesus out of Omaha NE. It’s been since November since I called and I just wanna say God is good. I asked for a prayer for my niece Chloe, and she had a breakthrough in her living arrangements and in her work. She had a recent surgery and she’s recovering well and just thank you for the prayers for her. Praise God. I also…my job situation I formally transitioned on February 1st. It’s been tough but it’s going well it’s getting better each day. Thank you for the prayers for making that transition in my career. And then also an update on Nick our friend. He’s out of the hospital praise God but he’s still struggling. He has some bed sores and such that need to be killed and he’s waiting for a liberal transplant. But he’s still fighting Lord and we just thank you for the prayers and continued prayers for breakthrough in that he could be fully healed in Jesus’ name. What prompted me to call today is 3 months out from my wedding to marry my bride. I’m so excited and we are both excited but it’s just a lot of stress that’s coming up a lot of anxiety with all the wedding planning and it just seems like our communication skills are lacking where we can talk through things and we get in some frustrations and we just discourage us from the whole wedding planning and we know this is God’s will for us to be together and we just want to pray for peace and comfort through this process pray for unity that we can come together and over the next three months and just have excitement and joy about our upcoming wedding and we pray against any attacks from the enemy Lord. I just pray that you can lift up us over the next three months as we approach our wedding day. Thank you DAB family. I love you. Have a wonderful day. Amen.

3/13/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 19:1-20:29, Luke 1:1-25, Psalm 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8

Today is the 13th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s wonderful, wonderful to be here with you today. Wonderful to be around the Global Campfire today together, as we continue to move in and through this brand-new week. As we continue to move in and through all the territory that is in the Scriptures. When we reach the New Testament today, we will begin the Gospel of Luke and I we’ll talk about that when we get there. We are still working our way through the Book of Numbers, in the Old Testament, and so, we return to the children of Israel in the wilderness. They had been on the threshold of moving into the Promised Land, but as we know, that didn’t work out, and so, they are in the wilderness. And we have been hearing different statutes and laws reaffirmed and being given. There is a new generation arising in ancient Israel in the wilderness. So, let’s pick up the story, Numbers chapters 19 and 20, today.

Introduction to the Book of Luke:

Okay so, this brings us to a new threshold, we are opening the door and walking into the Gospel of Luke, the third of the Gospels. A very well written Gospel and an intriguing story. Luke is part of what we know as the synoptic Gospels. And we talked about this before because we read Matthew and Mark, and so, Luke is, well those are the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. And they’re called that because they’re very similar in their composition. They’re very similar in the way that they’re laid out and the stories that they tell about Jesus, so familiar that most scholars believe that the one gospel couldn’t really exist without the other. They were written at different times, to different people, for different purposes. But they provided source material for each other. Most scholars believing that the Gospel of Mark, the one that we just finished yesterday, is the earliest Gospel narrative of the life and ministry of Jesus. Not that everybody agrees on that. But not everybody agrees on anything. So, regarding Luke, the scholarly opinion is that Luke didn’t write only the gospel of Luke. Luke is the first of two a two-volume set. The volume two, is the book of Acts. So, if you’re listening to scholars, you often hear them referred to as Luke/Acts. And it’s thought that Luke borrows, just as Matthew does, from the Gospel of Mark. We find a lot of the same stories. And there is vigorous discussion among scholars that maybe there was a document even before any of the synoptic Gospels, that all of them are borrowing from. That’s just speculation though, like there isn’t such a document that has ever been discovered. Which certainly doesn’t mean it didn’t exist, we just don’t have it. And so, scholars call this this supposed document Q, and believe that it did exist and that it wasn’t in narrative form. It wasn’t like a Gospel; it wasn’t like a story that we read. It was a chronicling of all of the sayings of Jesus that anyone could ever remember. Like, again, we don’t have such a document, it’s just scholars looking at the similarities and going, how did this, how, what was, what was the backdrop for all of this coming to be written down? A document that’s extra biblical, so it’s not in the Canon of Scripture. We’re not going to be reading it this year. It’s not part of the…the Bible as we know it. Does have some similarities to this idea…idea of Q and that would be a document called the Gospel of Thomas, which does have a lot of sayings or purported sayings of Jesus in them. Some of the sayings very much identical and very similar to things we find in the Gospels. Other things, not really compatible with what we’re reading in the Gospels. And those sayings probably come more from a Gnostic perspective and origin. And so, this isn’t this lost Q document, this supposedly lost Q document. But all of this, all of the speculation, all of this research and study and digging and unearthing, is part of the process for trying to date when a text was written. Where, perhaps, the text was written. Why a text was written. To whom a text was written. And so, all of the stuff that I’m saying about the Gospel of Thomas or Q or whatever, this is just part of scholarship because if we know when a text was written, then we have at least a glimpse of the history, like what was going on in the world at the time. If we know to whom a text was written, then we can be more specific about what was going on with those people. If we understand some of these things, then we know how to approach a text to interpret correctly what God is saying through His word. What we can say is that Luke is written to a Gentile audience, whereas the first Gospel that we read, like the Gospel of Matthew is very clearly written to a Jewish audience. So, whereas Matthew reveals to Hebrew people that Jesus is for, is the foretold Messiah, the foretold anointed one. A Gentile doesn’t necessarily care about that in the first century. Luke reveals the Gospel of Jesus is inclusive, is open to everyone in the world, is not only a Hebrew centric religion, but the entire world is also welcomed into the family of God. And so, we begin with the beautiful Gospel of Luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 25 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another day, another step forward. We thank You for bringing us to be able to step into the Gospel of Luke and start over again and walk alongside You Jesus, as You ministered and modeled what humanity can and is supposed to look like. So, we are grateful for the journey ahead and we are grateful for the journey that has brought us to this point. And we ask, as we so often do, that You would continue to lead us into all truth. We have come here to seek the counsel of the Scriptures in our lives, so that we might be transformed, so that we might live our lives as they were intended, so that we would grow in our knowledge and intimacy with You. And we can’t do that, if we’re not walking on the narrow path that leads to life and walking in the truth. And You have promised in the Scriptures, to lead us into the truth and so lead us. We pray, as we move onward, in the journey forward, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that is home base and that is where you can find what’s happening around here. The Daily Audio Bible app puts that in the palm of your hands, so download the app from the, from the App Store that works with your device. Just look for Daily Audio Bible and you can download it from there. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources that are available in the Shop that are there for the journey that we are on, whether they are things to wear, things to read, things to watch, things to listen to, things to have, things to enjoy, things to journal with, like there’s a bunch of stuff there, that really over the years have been developed for the journey through the Bible in a year in community like we are, so check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, humbly for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. So, thank you. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello, beautiful Daily Audio Bible Family, this is Asia from the City of Angels. And I have to send a prayer up, right now, to our Father in heaven who hears all of our prayers. For Winnie, who called in on the 8th, today of March. And just again giving an update regarding what’s going on with her family. Her, I believe it’s her nephew’s wife passed. And now the family is left with three children, one baby and two girls. And this nephew has just pretty much abandoned his family. Whether he’s bereaved, whatever he’s going through, he is not present in their lives and this duty of raising these children and taking care of is falling on the elderly family members, including her mother and father in their 80s. And herself as well, she works full time. So, we just pray, Father God, that You open the eyes and the ears and the heart of this young man during a time as this, such a suffering time as this, that he may truly step into his role as a father and raise his kids biblically to know the Lord, as it says in Your word, Father. And we pray, Father God, that You gird him up with the full armor of God and that in this time, You bless him, you bless his children with stability, with love, with healing. And that they can see their fathers change as a true testament of the faith, that will become part of their testimony one day. And that, You, together, heal this family. And we say all of this in the name of our glorious Healer, our mighty Counselor, our good Shephard, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ name. Amen.

Hi DAB family, this is Annie who called a couple months ago in regard of my brother Wo Wo. And I promised I would call back to say what God has done for me and for the family. And Wo Wo of course. And I’m very thankful for all of you who prayed for my brother and everyone who thought, brought the time to go pray for him. And he is doing much better as now, it’s exactly a month when he came back. And I just thank you, everyone, so much who pray for him. And I hope that the Lord, will bless you in return.

Hey DAB, good morning. It’s Val. Sorry, it’s super early everyone. My voice is a little crazy but hey I gotta call this one in. This one is for my little brother, my half-brother, he’s in Washington. And he’s in prison. And I don’t think he’ll mind me sharing that. I’m gonna call him One Blessed Man. Lord God Jesus, thank You for my reconnection with my brother, Lord. I’m so grateful, Lord. God Lord Jesus, God and protect him, Father. Lord, I wanna say thank You for how You’re repairing this relationship, Lord. It feels like a Esau and Jacob moment, God. Lord, thank You, thank You, Father, for where he’s at spiritually, Lord. He might not be where I want him to be physically, Lord, but we know that God, all things are possible with You, Lord. And Heavenly Father, I’m putting a blessing on his life right now, Lord. I decree and declare that once he’s released, he shall never see the inside of a prison again, Lord. Lord, I decree and declare, every promise that Your word has for my brother, One Blessed Man. God Lord Jesus, this is Your son Father, and You love him God. And You have a purpose and a calling on his life. And Lord, I’m putting it into the atmosphere, and I need all the saints to lift him up, please, for me. One Blessed Man in Washington. I love you brother, I love you. He’s listening to the DAB family.

Hey, this is Mindy, I’m calling from Ohio, and I was calling to encourage Sheila that had called on March 7th and to encourage her cousin too, that had just recently witnessed to their family, their Hindu family, to a big group of them, 15 of them. And just praying alongside you for God to water the seeds that you have planted. And I just wanted to encourage you because last year, my son was in third grade, and we were studying seeds. And I was just so amazed at God’s design of seeds. And all seeds have these parts, all seeds have a seed coat, the seed coat protects the seed until it’s ready to grow. All seeds have stored food, the stored food helps the baby plant to grow and the food builds, the food is built into the seed, and it can use it when it’s underground before it breaks through the surface of the soil. And then, all seeds have a baby plant built into that little seed. And it has a root, which will grow down and leaves that will grow up and those are the first leaves that the plant will use when it breaks through the soil to bring in energy from the sun, to make food for itself. And so, I’ve just been so encouraged, knowing that when we plant seeds, that God has already designed that seed to have so much in it to provide for that seed to grow. So, be encouraged by that. We’ll be praying alongside you for your family to, like you said, to humble themselves and come to the Lord. So, have a great day. Bye.

Hey beautiful DAB family, this is your sister Prisoner of Hope. I am lifting up Not Shaken. Your daughter made an announcement like your prayers are not being answered. She’s fighting for custody and is having a lot of anxiousness and you just sound absolutely desperate. And I just wanna remind you that sometimes it’s seems like our prayers go unanswered and that the Lord is just drawing out of our faith a deeper reliance and trust in Him. And that should bring out a deeper sense of gratitude and love and humility. I hope that is what it’s doing for you. You said that you just need God’s power. And I just want to assure you, you already have God’s power. He may be doing something different that you don’t agree with or, just trust Him. I am just begging you to trust Him in all this. And Lord, I pray that You would give them that, give them a sense of knowing that You are moving. That Your power is involved here. That You are fighting for these children and that You are fighting for Minnie Mouse and You want peace and goodness and blessings over their life. I am liftin up Tyler from Kentucky. You said you were in jail for the last 17 months falsely, but you also had a chance to listen to DAB and you’ve moved closer to God. So, I thank You, Lord, for that. He also wants his marriage to be restored, Lord. He’s been separated for four years and she’s seeing someone else. But we want You to save this marriage, please. Please bring restoration and may this all be to Your glory. I’m praying for Sheila. You’re looking for a job. Lord, I pray that You would provide that for her. She wants to bless others. Her and her cousin had an opportunity to witness to about 15 family members from the Hindu faith. Lord, they brought about persecution from that. So, I would pray that You would move them, soften their harden hearts and draw them to Jesus. And then, David from Kansas, I’m just praying for your fearful, frequent panic attacks. And the brain injury that’s left you anxious and weak. Lord, please bring healing to him. Please continue to encourage him with Your word and Your love and Your goodness. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday March 13, 2023 (NIV)

Numbers 19-20

The Water of Cleansing

19 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer(A) without defect or blemish(B) and that has never been under a yoke.(C) Give it to Eleazar(D) the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp(E) and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle(F) it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines.(G) The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop(H) and scarlet wool(I) and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water.(J) He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer(K) and put them in a ceremonially clean place(L) outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing;(M) it is for purification from sin.(N) 10 The man who gathers up(O) the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening.(P) This will be a lasting ordinance(Q) both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.(R)

11 “Whoever touches a human corpse(S) will be unclean for seven days.(T) 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day;(U) then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean.(V) 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse,(W) they defile the Lord’s tabernacle.(X) They must be cut off from Israel.(Y) Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean;(Z) their uncleanness remains on them.

14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, 15 and every open container(AA) without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.

16 “Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death,(AB) or anyone who touches a human bone(AC) or a grave,(AD) will be unclean for seven days.(AE)

17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes(AF) from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water(AG) over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop,(AH) dip it in the water and sprinkle(AI) the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave(AJ) or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle(AK) those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them.(AL) Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes(AM) and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean. 20 But if those who are unclean do not purify themselves, they must be cut off from the community, because they have defiled(AN) the sanctuary of the Lord.(AO) The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, and they are unclean.(AP) 21 This is a lasting ordinance(AQ) for them.

“The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening. 22 Anything that an unclean(AR) person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening.”

Water From the Rock

20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin,(AS) and they stayed at Kadesh.(AT) There Miriam(AU) died and was buried.

Now there was no water(AV) for the community,(AW) and the people gathered in opposition(AX) to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled(AY) with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead(AZ) before the Lord!(BA) Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness,(BB) that we and our livestock should die here?(BC) Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.(BD) And there is no water to drink!(BE)

Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting(BF) and fell facedown,(BG) and the glory of the Lord(BH) appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff,(BI) and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.(BJ) You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

So Moses took the staff(BK) from the Lord’s presence,(BL) just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together(BM) in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”(BN) 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water(BO) gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy(BP) in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”(BQ)

13 These were the waters of Meribah,[a](BR) where the Israelites quarreled(BS) with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(BT)

Edom Denies Israel Passage

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh(BU) to the king of Edom,(BV) saying:

“This is what your brother Israel says: You know(BW) about all the hardships(BX) that have come on us. 15 Our ancestors went down into Egypt,(BY) and we lived there many years.(BZ) The Egyptians mistreated(CA) us and our ancestors, 16 but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry(CB) and sent an angel(CC) and brought us out of Egypt.(CD)

“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.(CE) 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.(CF)

18 But Edom(CG) answered:

“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.(CH)

19 The Israelites replied:

“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock(CI) drink any of your water, we will pay for it.(CJ) We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”

20 Again they answered:

“You may not pass through.(CK)

Then Edom(CL) came out against them with a large and powerful army. 21 Since Edom refused to let them go through their territory,(CM) Israel turned away from them.(CN)

The Death of Aaron

22 The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh(CO) and came to Mount Hor.(CP) 23 At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom,(CQ) the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people.(CR) He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command(CS) at the waters of Meribah.(CT) 25 Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor.(CU) 26 Remove Aaron’s garments(CV) and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people;(CW) he will die there.”

27 Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor(CX) in the sight of the whole community. 28 Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar.(CY) And Aaron died there(CZ) on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, 29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died,(DA) all the Israelites mourned for him(DB) thirty days.

Footnotes:

  1. Numbers 20:13 Meribah means quarreling.

Cross references:

  1. Numbers 19:2 : S Ge 15:9; Heb 9:13
  2. Numbers 19:2 : S Lev 22:19-25
  3. Numbers 19:2 : Dt 21:3; 1Sa 6:7
  4. Numbers 19:3 : Nu 3:4
  5. Numbers 19:3 : S Ex 29:14
  6. Numbers 19:4 : S Lev 4:17
  7. Numbers 19:5 : S Ex 29:14
  8. Numbers 19:6 : ver 18; Ps 51:7
  9. Numbers 19:6 : S Lev 14:4
  10. Numbers 19:7 : S Lev 11:25; S 14:8
  11. Numbers 19:9 : Heb 9:13
  12. Numbers 19:9 : S Ex 29:31; S Lev 4:12
  13. Numbers 19:9 : ver 13; Nu 8:7
  14. Numbers 19:9 : S Ge 35:2
  15. Numbers 19:10 : Lev 15:10
  16. Numbers 19:10 : Lev 14:46
  17. Numbers 19:10 : Lev 3:17
  18. Numbers 19:10 : S Lev 22:18
  19. Numbers 19:11 : S Lev 21:1
  20. Numbers 19:11 : S Lev 8:33; Nu 31:19
  21. Numbers 19:12 : ver 19; Nu 31:19
  22. Numbers 19:12 : ver 20; 2Ch 26:21
  23. Numbers 19:13 : S Lev 21:11
  24. Numbers 19:13 : S Lev 15:31; 2Ch 36:14; Ps 79:1
  25. Numbers 19:13 : Lev 7:20; 22:3
  26. Numbers 19:13 : ver 22; Hag 2:13
  27. Numbers 19:15 : S Lev 6:28
  28. Numbers 19:16 : Nu 31:19
  29. Numbers 19:16 : 1Ki 13:2; 2Ki 23:14; Eze 6:5
  30. Numbers 19:16 : 2Ki 23:6; Mt 23:27
  31. Numbers 19:16 : S Lev 5:3
  32. Numbers 19:17 : ver 9
  33. Numbers 19:17 : S Nu 8:7
  34. Numbers 19:18 : S ver 6; S Ex 12:22
  35. Numbers 19:18 : S Lev 4:17
  36. Numbers 19:18 : ver 16
  37. Numbers 19:19 : S Lev 16:14-15
  38. Numbers 19:19 : Nu 31:19; Eze 36:25; Heb 10:22
  39. Numbers 19:19 : S Ge 35:2
  40. Numbers 19:20 : Ps 74:7
  41. Numbers 19:20 : S Lev 15:31
  42. Numbers 19:20 : S ver 12; S Lev 14:8
  43. Numbers 19:21 : S Ex 27:21
  44. Numbers 19:22 : S Lev 5:2; 15:4-12
  45. Numbers 20:1 : Nu 13:21
  46. Numbers 20:1 : ver 14; Nu 13:26; 33:36; Dt 1:46; Jdg 11:17; Ps 29:8
  47. Numbers 20:1 : S Ex 15:20
  48. Numbers 20:2 : S Ex 15:22
  49. Numbers 20:2 : Ex 17:1
  50. Numbers 20:2 : S Nu 16:19
  51. Numbers 20:3 : ver 13; S Ge 13:7; Ex 17:2; 21:18
  52. Numbers 20:3 : S Ex 5:21
  53. Numbers 20:3 : S Nu 14:2; 16:31-35
  54. Numbers 20:4 : S Nu 14:2
  55. Numbers 20:4 : S Ex 14:11; Nu 14:3; 16:13
  56. Numbers 20:5 : Nu 13:23; 16:14
  57. Numbers 20:5 : S Ex 17:1
  58. Numbers 20:6 : S Ex 40:2
  59. Numbers 20:6 : Nu 14:5
  60. Numbers 20:6 : S Nu 16:19
  61. Numbers 20:8 : S Ex 4:2; S 10:12-13
  62. Numbers 20:8 : Ex 17:6; Isa 41:18; 43:20; Jer 31:9
  63. Numbers 20:9 : Nu 17:2
  64. Numbers 20:9 : Nu 17:10
  65. Numbers 20:10 : ver 8
  66. Numbers 20:10 : Ps 106:32, 33
  67. Numbers 20:11 : S Ex 17:6; S Isa 33:21
  68. Numbers 20:12 : Nu 27:14; Dt 32:51; Isa 5:16; 8:13
  69. Numbers 20:12 : ver 24; Dt 1:37; 3:27
  70. Numbers 20:13 : S Ex 17:7
  71. Numbers 20:13 : S ver 3
  72. Numbers 20:13 : S Lev 10:3
  73. Numbers 20:14 : S ver 1
  74. Numbers 20:14 : S ver 16; S Ge 25:30; S 36:16
  75. Numbers 20:14 : Ge 24:3; Dt 4:39; Jos 2:11; 9:9
  76. Numbers 20:14 : S Ex 18:8
  77. Numbers 20:15 : S Ge 46:6
  78. Numbers 20:15 : S Ge 15:13
  79. Numbers 20:15 : S Ex 1:14
  80. Numbers 20:16 : S Ge 16:11; S 21:17; S Ex 2:23
  81. Numbers 20:16 : Ex 14:19
  82. Numbers 20:16 : Ex 12:42; Dt 26:8
  83. Numbers 20:16 : ver 14, 23; Nu 33:37
  84. Numbers 20:17 : ver 20; Nu 21:22; Dt 2:27; Jdg 11:17
  85. Numbers 20:18 : ver 14
  86. Numbers 20:18 : Nu 21:23
  87. Numbers 20:19 : Ex 12:38
  88. Numbers 20:19 : Dt 2:6, 28
  89. Numbers 20:20 : S ver 17, 18
  90. Numbers 20:20 : ver 14
  91. Numbers 20:21 : Nu 21:23
  92. Numbers 20:21 : Nu 21:4; Dt 2:8; Jdg 11:18
  93. Numbers 20:22 : Dt 1:46
  94. Numbers 20:22 : Nu 33:37; 34:7; Dt 32:50
  95. Numbers 20:23 : S ver 16
  96. Numbers 20:24 : S Ge 25:8
  97. Numbers 20:24 : S ver 10
  98. Numbers 20:24 : S Ex 17:7
  99. Numbers 20:25 : Nu 33:38
  100. Numbers 20:26 : Ex 28:1-4; 40:13; S Lev 16:4
  101. Numbers 20:26 : ver 24; Nu 27:13; 31:2
  102. Numbers 20:27 : Nu 33:38
  103. Numbers 20:28 : S Ex 29:29
  104. Numbers 20:28 : ver 26; Nu 33:38; Dt 10:6; 32:50
  105. Numbers 20:29 : Dt 32:50
  106. Numbers 20:29 : S Ge 27:41; S Lev 10:6; S Dt 34:8
New International Version (NIV)

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Luke 1:1-25

Introduction(A)

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[a] among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first(B) were eyewitnesses(C) and servants of the word.(D) With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account(E) for you, most excellent(F) Theophilus,(G) so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.(H)

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

In the time of Herod king of Judea(I) there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah;(J) his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.(K) But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,(L) he was chosen by lot,(M) according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.(N) 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.(O)

11 Then an angel(P) of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.(Q) 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.(R) 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid,(S) Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.(T) 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,(U) 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,(V) and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit(W) even before he is born.(X) 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord,(Y) in the spirit and power of Elijah,(Z) to turn the hearts of the parents to their children(AA) and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(AB)

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this?(AC) I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”(AD)

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel.(AE) I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak(AF) until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs(AG) to them but remained unable to speak.

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace(AH) among the people.”

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 1:1 Or been surely believed
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Psalm 56

Psalm 56[a]

For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.

Be merciful to me,(A) my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;(B)
all day long they press their attack.(C)
My adversaries pursue me all day long;(D)
in their pride many are attacking me.(E)

When I am afraid,(F) I put my trust in you.(G)
In God, whose word I praise—(H)
in God I trust and am not afraid.(I)
What can mere mortals do to me?(J)

All day long they twist my words;(K)
all their schemes are for my ruin.
They conspire,(L) they lurk,
they watch my steps,(M)
hoping to take my life.(N)
Because of their wickedness do not[c] let them escape;(O)
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.(P)

Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll[d](Q)
are they not in your record?(R)
Then my enemies will turn back(S)
when I call for help.(T)
By this I will know that God is for me.(U)

10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?

12 I am under vows(V) to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death(W)
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.(X)

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 56:1 In Hebrew texts 56:1-13 is numbered 56:2-14.
  2. Psalm 56:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  3. Psalm 56:7 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text does not have do not.
  4. Psalm 56:8 Or misery; / put my tears in your wineskin
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Proverbs 11:8

The righteous person is rescued from trouble,
and it falls on the wicked instead.(A)

Cross references:

  1. Proverbs 11:8 : Pr 21:18
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.