The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel Is Commanded to Destroy the Canaanites and Their Idols
7 The Lord your God will bring you to the land you’re about to enter and take possession of. He will force many nations out of your way: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—seven nations larger and more powerful than you. 2 When the Lord your God gives them to you and you defeat them, destroy every one of them because they have been claimed by the Lord. Don’t make any treaties with them or show them any mercy. 3 Never marry any of them. Never let your daughters marry their sons or your sons marry their daughters. 4 These people will turn your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord will get very angry with you and will quickly destroy you.
5 But this is what you must do to these people: Tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols. 6 You are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. He chose you to be his own special possession out of all the nations on earth.
7 The Lord set his heart on you and chose you, even though you didn’t outnumber all the other people. You were the smallest of all nations. 8 You were chosen because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors. So he used his mighty hand to bring you out. He freed you from slavery under Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). 9 Keep in mind that the Lord your God is ⌞the only⌟ God. He is a faithful God, who keeps his promise [a] and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he sends destruction to pay back everyone who hates him. He never takes long to pay back anyone who hates him.
11 So obey the commands, laws, and rules I’m giving you today.
12 If you listen to these rules and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his promise to you and be merciful to you, as he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you, and increase the number of your descendants. He will bless you with children. He will bless your land with produce: grain, new wine, and olive oil. He will bless your herds with calves, and your flocks with lambs and kids. This will all happen in the land the Lord will give you, as he swore to your ancestors. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people. Your men and women will be able to have children, and your animals will be able to have offspring. 15 The Lord will keep you from having any kind of illness. He will not strike you with any of the terrible diseases you experienced in Egypt. Instead, he will strike all those who hate you. 16 You must destroy all the people the Lord your God hands over to you. Have no pity on them, and never worship their gods, because they will be a trap for you.
17 You may say to yourselves, “These nations outnumber us. How can we force them out?” 18 Don’t be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt. 19 You saw with your own eyes the terrible plagues, the miraculous signs, and the amazing things the Lord did. He used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring you out. He will do the same thing to all the people you’re afraid of. 20 The Lord your God will spread panic among them until they all die. There will be no one left—not even those who were hiding from you. 21 Don’t be afraid of them, because the Lord your God is with you. He is a great and awe-inspiring God. 22 Little by little he will force these nations out of your way. You won’t be able to wipe them out quickly. Otherwise, you would be overrun with wild animals. 23 The Lord your God will hand these people over to you and will throw them into a great panic until they’re destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and no one on earth will even remember their names. No one will be able to stop you. You will destroy them all. 25 Burn their idols. Don’t ever long for the silver and gold on these idols or take any of it for yourselves. It might be a trap for you. Besides, these idols are disgusting to the Lord your God. 26 Never bring a disgusting idol into your house. If you do, you and the idol will be destroyed. Consider it detestable and disgusting. It must be destroyed.”
Israel Told Never to Forget God
8 Be careful to obey every command I give you today. Then you will live, and your population will increase. You will enter and take possession of the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors with an oath.
2 Remember that for 40 years the Lord your God led you on your journey in the desert. He did this in order to humble you and test you. He wanted to know whether or not you would wholeheartedly obey his commands. 3 So he made you suffer from hunger and then fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had seen before. He did this to teach you that a person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that the Lord speaks. 4 Your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t swell these past 40 years. 5 Learn this lesson by heart: The Lord your God was disciplining you as parents discipline their children. 6 Obey the commands of the Lord your God. Follow his directions, and fear him.
7 The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. It is a land with rivers that don’t dry up. There are springs and underground streams flowing through the valleys and hills. 8 The land has wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates. The land has honey and olive trees for olive oil. 9 The land will have enough food for you, and you will have everything you need. The land has rocks with iron ore, and you will be able to mine copper ore in the hills. 10 When you have eaten all you want, thank the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God. Don’t fail to obey his commands, rules, and laws that I’m giving you today. 12 You will eat all you want. You will build nice houses and live in them. 13 Your herds and flocks, silver and gold, and everything else you have will increase. 14 When this happens, be careful that you don’t become arrogant and forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 15 He was the one who led you through that vast and dangerous desert—a thirsty and arid land, with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He was the one who made water come out of solid rock for you. 16 He was the one who fed you in the desert with manna, which your ancestors had never seen. He did this in order to humble you and test you. But he also did this so that things would go well for you in the end. 17 You may say to yourselves, “I became wealthy because of my own ability and strength.” 18 But remember the Lord your God is the one who makes you wealthy. He’s confirming the promise [b] which he swore to your ancestors. It’s still in effect today.
19 I warn you today that if you forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, and if you serve them and bow down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. 20 The Lord is going to destroy other nations as you enter the land. You will be destroyed like them if you don’t obey the Lord your God.
A Sinful Woman Receives Forgiveness
36 One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went to the Pharisee’s house and was eating at the table.
37 A woman who lived a sinful life in that city found out that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she took a bottle of perfume 38 and knelt at his feet. She was crying and washed his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them over and over again, and poured the perfume on them.
39 The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and thought, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know what sort of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner.”
40 Jesus spoke up, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
Simon replied, “Teacher, you’re free to speak.”
41 ⌞So Jesus said,⌟ “Two men owed a moneylender some money. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. 42 When they couldn’t pay it back, he was kind enough to cancel their debts. Now, who do you think will love him the most?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the largest debt canceled.”
Jesus said to him, “You’re right!” 44 Then, turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “You see this woman, don’t you? I came into your house. You didn’t wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You didn’t give me a kiss. But ever since I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You didn’t put any olive oil on my head. But she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 That’s why I’m telling you that her many sins have been forgiven. Her great love proves that. But whoever receives little forgiveness loves very little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 The other guests thought, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace!”
Women Who Supported Jesus
8 After this, Jesus traveled from one city and village to another. He spread the Good News about God’s kingdom. The twelve apostles were with him. 2 Also, some women were with him. They had been cured from evil spirits and various illnesses. These women were Mary, also called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; 3 Joanna, whose husband Chusa was Herod’s administrator; Susanna; and many other women. They provided financial support for Jesus and his disciples.
For the choir director; according to shoshannim; by David.
69 Save me, O God!
The water is already up to my neck!
2 I am sinking in deep mud.
There is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water.
A flood is sweeping me away.
3 I am exhausted from crying for help.
My throat is hoarse.
My eyes are strained ⌞from⌟ looking for my God.
4 Those who hate me for no reason
outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me are mighty.
They have no reason to be my enemies.
I am forced to pay back what I did not steal.
5 O God, you know my stupidity,
and the things of which I am guilty are not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who wait with hope for you
be put to shame because of me, O Almighty Lord of Armies.
Do not let those who come to you for help
be humiliated because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Indeed, for your sake I have endured insults.
Humiliation has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my ⌞own⌟ brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 Indeed, devotion for your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 I cried and fasted, but I was insulted for it.
11 I dressed myself in sackcloth, but I became the object of ridicule.
12 Those who sit at the gate gossip about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.
13 May my prayer come to you at an acceptable time, O Lord.
O God, out of the greatness of your mercy,
answer me with the truth of your salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mud.
Do not let me sink ⌞into it⌟.
I want to be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let floodwaters sweep me away.
Do not let the ocean swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, because your mercy is good.
Out of your unlimited compassion, turn to me.
17 I am in trouble, so do not hide your face from me.
Answer me quickly!
18 Come close, and defend my soul.
Set me free because of my enemies.
12 Whoever loves discipline loves to learn,
but whoever hates correction is a dumb animal.
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