The Daily Audio Bible

The Division of the Earth

11 The whole earth had one language and a single vocabulary. ² As people traveled in the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there. ³ They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used mud brick instead of stone for building material, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If this is the first thing they are doing as one people, who all have one language, then nothing that they intend to do will be too difficult for them. ⁷ Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language, so that they cannot understand one another’s speech.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ It was named Babel,^[a] because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Ancestors of Abraham

¹⁰ This is the account about the development of the family of Shem.

Shem was 100 years old and became the father of Arphaxad two years after the flood. ¹¹ Shem lived 500 years after he became the father of Arphaxad, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

¹² Arphaxad lived 35 years and became the father of Shelah. ¹³ Arphaxad lived 403 years after he became the father of Shelah, and he became the father of sons and daughters.^[b]

¹⁴ Shelah lived 30 years and became the father of Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah lived 403 years after he became the father of Eber, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived 34 years and became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷ Eber lived 430 years after he became the father of Peleg, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived 30 years and became the father of Reu. ¹⁹ Peleg lived 209 years after he became the father of Reu, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived 32 years and became the father of Serug. ²¹ Reu lived 207 years after he became the father of Serug, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived 30 years and became the father of Nahor. ²³ Serug lived 200 years after he became the father of Nahor, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived 29 years and became the father of Terah. ²⁵ Nahor lived 119 years after he became the father of Terah, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived 70 years and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Development of the Family of Terah

²⁷ Now this is the account about the development^[c] of the family of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ Haran died before his father Terah. He died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. ³⁰ Sarai was barren. She had no child.

³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, who was the wife of his son Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. ³² The days of Terah were 205 years. Terah died in Haran.

The Call of Abram

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Get out of your country and away from your relatives and from your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse anyone who dishonors you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to travel to the land of Canaan. Eventually they arrived in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram passed through the land until he came to the Oak of Moreh at the place called Shechem. The Canaanites were in the land at that time.

⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.”^[d] Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸ He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent there, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and proclaimed^[e] the name of the Lord. ⁹ Abram pulled out from there and kept traveling toward the Negev.^[f]

The First Trip to Egypt

¹⁰ There was a famine in the land. So Abram went down into Egypt to stay there for a while, because the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman. ¹² It might happen that when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will keep you alive. ¹³ Please say that you are my sister, so that it will go well for me because of you, and that my life may be preserved on account of you.”

¹⁴ So it happened that when Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians did see that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake. Abram received sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with severe diseases^[g] because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Here is your wife. Take her and go.”

²⁰ Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, so they sent him on his way with his wife and all that he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev. He went with his wife and with all that he had, and with Lot too. ² Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³ He went on his journeys from the Negev to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. ⁴ He went to the site of the altar that he had made there earlier. There Abram proclaimed^[h] the name of the Lord.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up onto a mountain. When he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² He opened his mouth and began to teach them. He said these things:

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. In fact, that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? Then it is no good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. No, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament

¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ Amen^[a] I tell you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything is fulfilled. ¹⁹ So whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ Indeed I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and experts in the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Sinful Anger

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,^[b] and whoever murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause^[c] will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’^[d] will have to answer to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of hell^[e] fire.

²³ “So if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ “If someone accuses you, reach an agreement with him quickly, while you are with him on the way. Otherwise your accuser may bring you to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Amen I tell you: You will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Psalm 5

With You the Wicked Cannot Dwell

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For the choir director. For flutes. A psalm by David.

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Lying Tongues

Praising Tongues