The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NLT. Switch to the NLT to read along with the audio.
10 Now that whole generation, the generation that had walked with Moses—the generation that saw the walls of Jericho fall—that generation passed on, and another generation grew up after them, a generation that did not know the Eternal and had not seen the great works He had done for Israel. 11 Consequently this new generation served the gods of Canaan—the Baals[a] as they were called—doing what the Eternal God considered evil. 12 They abandoned the Eternal One, the True God of their ancestors, who brought them safely out of Egypt. Instead, they began to serve the gods of their neighbors, the Canaanites, bowing low before their images, causing the Eternal to burn with anger.
13 The Israelites abandoned the worship of the Eternal One and turned to serve Baal and his consort the moon goddess, Ashtaroth. 14 So the Eternal’s anger burned hot against them, and He caused them to be overcome by those around them, using their enemies to plunder them so that the Israelites could no longer stand against their enemies. 15 Whenever they marched out to battle, the hand of the Eternal One was raised against them in evil, as He had warned and promised them, and they were in anguish.
16 But the Eternal appointed judges among them, leaders and liberators who rescued the Israelites from their enemies who plundered them. 17 Even then the people of Israel did not listen to their judges, but instead passionately pursued other gods and bowed down to them. How quickly they turned from the faithfulness exhibited by their ancestors in obeying the Eternal’s commandments. This younger generation did not follow their ancestors’ example.
18 Still, whenever the Eternal appointed judges among the Israelites, He was with each one, saving the Israelites from their enemies as long as that leader lived, for He was moved to compassion by the groans of His people when they were persecuted and oppressed. 19 But when the judge died, then the people would fall away from their faithfulness, and the next generation behaved even worse than their ancestors, pursuing and serving other gods, and bowing down before them. They would not change their bad habits but clung to them stubbornly.
20 So the Eternal’s anger burned hot against the people of Israel.
Eternal One: Since these people have violated the covenant I gave as a commandment to their ancestors and no longer listen to My voice, 21 I will no longer drive out from their path any of the nations who still remained in this land when Joshua died. 22 I will put My people to the test to see whether or not they will walk the faithful way of the Eternal as their ancestors did.
23 So God did as He promised. He left those pagan nations in the land of Canaan. He did not drive them away immediately, nor did He give them into the hands of Joshua and his armies.
3 Here is a list of the nations that the Eternal left in the land to test those Israelites who had not gone to war in Canaan, 2 so that those who had not experienced war personally might know it: 3 the five Philistine capital cities, all the Canaanite tribes, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Lebo-hamath. 4 They were intended to test the Israelites, to determine whether they would follow the commandments that the Eternal gave to their ancestors through Moses.
After Joshua dies, the people of Israel are left without a leader. How will they know what to do? They are still surrounded by hostile peoples; there is still land to be fought for and won.
The people of God have some military success, but they are not able to drive out all the people of Canaan. They are forced to live among the pagans; and their ways, women, and gods become a temptation to the people of God. This situation is the catalyst for the next 1,000 years of Israel’s cyclical unfaithfulness and repentance.
5 The people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6 They took the pagans’ daughters as wives, gave their own daughters to the pagans’ sons to marry, and worshiped pagan gods. 7 Israel committed what the Eternal considered evil: they forgot the Eternal, their True God, and instead worshiped the Baal and Asherah deities,[b] the various local gods of the people of Canaan.
8 So the Eternal’s anger burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, a king of Mesopotamia. The Israelites toiled like slaves for Cushan-rishathaim for 8 years; 9 but when they cried out to the Eternal, He raised up a liberator from among them—Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb. 10 The Spirit of the Eternal came upon Othniel, and he became a judge over Israel. In God’s power, he emancipated Israel and went to war for them. The Eternal then delivered Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, to Othniel, and Othniel’s army defeated him. 11 Afterward this territory had peace for 40 years. Then Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died.
12 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of the Eternal, so He gave Eglon, king of Moab, power against the Israelites because they did what He viewed as evil. 13 Eglon allied with the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they went to battle against Israel and defeated them, and they captured the city of palm trees. 14 The Israelites toiled for Eglon, king of Moab, for 18 years; 15 but when the people of Israel cried to the Eternal for relief, He raised up a left-handed liberator from among them: Ehud, son of Gera the Benjaminite.
The Israelites sent Ehud to bring tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. 16 Before he set out, Ehud made for himself a double-edged sword about 18 inches in length, and he fastened it onto his right thigh, hidden under his clothes.
17 Ehud brought the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, who was a very fat man; 18 and when he was done with the presentation of the tribute to the king, he sent away those who carried it. 19 Ehud stopped on his homeward journey at the engraved idols near Gilgal and returned to speak with Eglon.
Ehud: I have a secret message for you, O king.
Eglon: Be silent.
Eglon sent his attendants away; 20 and Ehud came in to the king, who sat alone in a cool, private, upstairs room supported by beams.
Ehud: I have here a message for you from the True God.
As the king got up from his throne, 21 Ehud reached beneath his robes with his left hand, took the sword strapped to his right thigh, and thrust it deep into Eglon’s belly, 22 so deep, in fact, that the hilt followed the blade, and he did not remove the sword because the fat closed over the blade, and the contents of Eglon’s intestines spilled out. 23 So Ehud locked the doors of the roof area himself and exited through the porch. 24 After he had escaped, eventually the servants came to check on their master. When they saw that the doors to the upstairs room were locked, they assumed Eglon was relieving himself in the upstairs chamber. 25 They stood around waiting until their embarrassment grew too great. When Eglon didn’t open the doors, at last, they opened the doors with the key, and there was their master, lying dead on the floor.
26 Ehud took advantage of the delay. He passed the idols of Gilgal and escaped to Seirah. 27 Reaching safety, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of the tribe of Ephraim, and the Israelites followed him back down the mountain.
Ehud: 28 Follow me, because the Eternal has given your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands.
So they followed him, and together they captured the crossings of the river Jordan into Moab, not allowing anyone to pass. 29 At that time, they killed an army of 10,000 Moabites, all of them strong and well-equipped warriors. No one escaped.
30 So Israel defeated Moab on that day, and this region experienced rest from war for 80 years. 31 When Ehud was gone, Shamgar, the son of Anath, was also a liberator of Israel, killing 600 Philistines with an ox goad.
14 When the meal was prepared, Jesus sat at the table, joined by His emissaries.[a]
The meal that Jesus and His disciples shared is still celebrated today among followers of Jesus. We surround it with varied rituals and music, but the original meal took place in the midst of great drama and tension. The disciples were arguing, and Jesus was teaching them yet another lesson about life in the kingdom of God. Jesus even spoke of His own suffering and their betrayal and denial. Yet through it all, Jesus’ focus remained on the central theme of His life and mission: the coming of the kingdom of God.
Jesus: 15 It has been My deep desire to eat this Passover meal with you before My suffering begins. 16 Know this: I will not eat another Passover meal until its meaning is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
17 He took a cup of wine and gave thanks for it.
Jesus: Take this; share it among yourselves. 18 Know this: I will not drink another sip of wine until the kingdom of God has arrived in fullness.
19 Then He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and shared it with them.
Jesus: This is My body, My body given for you. Do this to remember Me.
20 And similarly, after the meal had been eaten, He took the cup.
Jesus: This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant, made in My blood. 21 But even now, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on this table. 22 As it has been determined, the Son of Man, that firstfruit of a new generation of humanity, must be betrayed, but how pitiful it will be for the person who betrays Him.
23 They immediately began questioning each other.
Disciples: Which one of us could do such a horrible thing?
24 Soon they found themselves arguing about the opposite question.
Disciples: Which one of us is the most faithful, the most important?
Jesus (interrupting): 25 The authority figures of the outsiders play this game, flexing their muscles in competition for power over one another, masking their quest for domination behind words like “benefactor” or “public servant.” 26 But you must not indulge in this charade. Instead, among you, the greatest must become like the youngest and the leader must become a true servant. 27 Who is greater right here as we eat this meal—those of us who sit at the table, or those who serve us? Doesn’t everyone normally assume those who are served are greater than those who serve? But consider My role among you. I have been with you as a servant.
28 You have stood beside Me faithfully through My trials. 29 I give you a kingdom, just as the Father has given Me a kingdom. 30 You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will have authority over the twelve tribes of Israel.
31 Simon, Simon, how Satan has pursued you, that he might make you part of his harvest. 32 But I have prayed for you. I have prayed that your faith will hold firm and that you will recover from your failure and become a source of strength for your brothers here.
Peter: 33 Lord, what are You talking about? I’m going all the way to the end with You—to prison, to execution—I’m prepared to do anything for You.
Jesus: 34 No, Peter, the truth is that before the rooster crows at dawn, you will have denied that you even know Me, not just once, but three times.
Psalm 92
A song for the Sabbath Day.
Psalm 92 gives thanks to God for His salvation. The superscription provides the only reference to the Sabbath in the Book of Psalms.
1 How good it is to give thanks to the Eternal
and to praise Your name with song, O Most High;
2 To speak of Your unfailing love in the morning
and rehearse Your faithfulness as night begins to fall.
3 How good it is to praise to the sound of strings—lute and harp—
the stirring melodies of the lyre.
4 Because You, O Eternal One, thrill me with the things You have done,
I will sing with joy in light of Your deeds.
5 Your works are marvelous, O Eternal One!
Your thoughts are unfathomable.
6 But a weak-minded man can’t understand this;
foolish people are unable to see
7 That evil men sprout like grass
and wicked men flourish,
only so that they will be doomed forever.
8 But You, O Eternal One, are above all, forever.
9 As for Your enemies, O Eternal One,
their fate is obvious:
those who hate You will not survive;
those who practice evil will be broken in pieces.
10 But You have made me strong as a wild ox,
anointed me with the refreshing oil of Your blessing.
11 And I have seen with my own eyes my enemies defeated;
I have heard with my own ears my attackers cut down.
12 Those who are devoted to God will flourish like budding date-palm trees;
they will grow strong and tall like cedars in Lebanon.
13 Those planted in the house of the Eternal
will thrive in the courts of our God.
14 They will bear fruit into old age;
even in winter, they will be green and full of sap
15 To display that the Eternal is righteous.
He is my rock, and there is no shadow of evil in Him.
Psalm 93
1 The Eternal reigns, clothed in majesty;
He is dressed in power;
He has surrounded Himself with strength.
He has established the world, and it will never be toppled.
2 Your throne was established from the beginning of the world, O God,
and You are everlasting.
3 The waters have risen, O Eternal One;
the sound of pounding waves is deafening.
The waters have roared with power.
4 More powerful than the thunder of mighty rivers,
more powerful than the mighty waves in the ocean
is the Eternal on high!
5 Your teachings are true;
Your decrees sure.
Sacredness adorns Your house, O Eternal One, forevermore.
14 A wise woman builds her house,
but a foolish one picks it to splinters with her own hands.
2 Whoever travels through life with integrity respects the Eternal,
but whoever turns from it hates Him.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.