The Daily Audio Bible
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The Eighth Plague: Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine among them(A) 2 and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them—so that you may know that I am the Lord.”(B)
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may serve me.(C) 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country.(D) 5 They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the last remnant left you after the hail, and they shall devour every tree of yours that grows in the field.(E) 6 They shall fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and of all the Egyptians—something that neither your parents nor your grandparents have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.(F)
7 Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long shall this fellow be a snare to us? Send the people away, so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?”(G) 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God! But which ones are to go?”(H) 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we have the Lord’s festival to celebrate.”(I) 10 He said to them, “The Lord indeed will be with you, if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No, never! Your men may go and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.(J)
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may come upon it and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.”(K) 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came upon all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before nor ever shall be again.(L) 15 They covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was black, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or on the plants in the fields, in all the land of Egypt.(M) 16 Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.(N) 17 Do forgive my sin this once, and pray to the Lord your God that at the least he remove this deadly thing from me.”(O) 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 19 The Lord changed the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea;[a] not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.(P)
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.”(Q) 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was dense darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.(R) 23 People could not see one another, and for three days they could not move from where they were, but all the Israelites had light where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your little ones may go with you.”(S) 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them to serve the Lord our God, and we will not know what to use to serve the Lord until we arrive there.”(T) 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.(U) 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take care that you do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.”(V) 29 Moses said, “Just as you say! I will never see your face again.”(W)
Warning of the Final Plague
11 The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterward he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away.(X) 2 Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.”(Y) 3 The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people.(Z)
4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I will go out through Egypt.(AA) 5 Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill and all the firstborn of the livestock.(AB) 6 Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again.(AC) 7 But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites—not at people, not at animals—so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’(AD) 8 Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me and bow low to me, saying, ‘Leave us, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.(AE)
9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”(AF) 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.(AG)
The First Passover Instituted
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.(AH) 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.(AI) 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.(AJ) 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.(AK) 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire.(AL) 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord.(AM) 12 I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.(AN) 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
The Laborers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.(A) 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’(B) 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’(C) 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?(D) 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[a](E) 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”[b](F)
A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
17 While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves and said to them on the way, 18 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death;(G) 19 then they will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”(H)
The Request of the Mother of James and John
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him.(I) 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”(J) 22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”[c] They said to him, “We are able.”(K) 23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”(L)
24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.(M) 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.(N) 26 It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,(O) 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”(P)
Psalm 25
Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance
Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.(A)
2 O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.(B)
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.(C)
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.(D)
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.(E)
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.(F)
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!(G)
8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.(H)
9 He leads the humble in what is right
and teaches the humble his way.(I)
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.(J)
11 For your name’s sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.(K)
12 Who are they who fear the Lord?
He will teach them the way that they should choose.
6 Go to the ant, you lazybones;
consider its ways and be wise.(A)
7 Without having any chief
or officer or ruler,
8 it prepares its food in summer
and gathers its sustenance in harvest.(B)
9 How long will you lie there, O lazybones?
When will you rise from your sleep?(C)
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.(D)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.