The Daily Audio Bible
16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was over the mountain, and there was a very loud blast of a ram’s horn. All the people in the camp trembled. 17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 19 When the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in the thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, at the top of the mountain. The Lord then called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord. If they do, many of them will fall. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves so that the Lord does not break out against them.”
23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because you warned, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and treat it as holy.’”
24 The Lord said to him, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you, but the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, so that the Lord will not break out against them.”
25 So Moses went down to the people and told them these things.
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.[a]
3 You shall have no other gods beside me.[b] 4 You shall not make any carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to them or be subservient to them,[c] for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.[d] I follow up on[e] the guilt of the fathers with their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren, if they also hate me. 6 But I show mercy to thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
7 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not permit anyone who misuses his name to escape unpunished.
8 Remember the Sabbath day[f] by setting it apart as holy. 9 Six days you are to serve and do all your regular work, 10 but the seventh day shall be a sabbath rest to the Lord your God. Do not do any regular work, neither you, nor your sons or daughters, nor your male or female servants, nor your cattle, nor the alien who is residing inside your gates, 11 for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. In this way the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may spend many days on the land that the Lord your God is giving to you.
13 You shall not commit murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.[g]
18 All the people saw and heard the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the ram’s horn and the mountain smoking. The people saw,[h] and they trembled and stood far away. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, or we will die.”
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you may always fear him, so that you do not sin.”
21 The people stayed at a distance, but Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
22 Then the Lord told Moses to tell the people of Israel the following things:
You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver or gods of gold and place them beside me. You shall not make them for yourselves.
24 You are to make an altar of earth for me and to sacrifice your whole burnt offerings on it, as well as your fellowship offerings, your sheep, and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and I will bless you.
25 If you make a stone altar for me, you are not to build it out of cut stones, because by applying a tool to it you would pollute it.
26 You are not to go up to my altar by steps, so that your nakedness will not be uncovered upon it.
Civil Laws
21 Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:
Laws About Servants
2 If you purchase a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, but in the seventh he may go free without paying anything. 3 If he comes in by himself, he will go out by himself. If he is married when he comes in, then his wife will go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and the servant will go out by himself. 5 But if the servant formally declares, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I do not want to go out free,” 6 then his master shall bring him to the judges.[i] His master shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and he shall bore through his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve him for the rest of his life.
7 If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she may not be sent out of the household as the male servants may be. 8 If she does not please her master who has married her, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has not kept his commitment to her. 9 If he marries her to his son, he must deal with her as he would deal with a daughter. 10 If he takes a second wife for himself, he must not diminish the food, the clothing, or the marital rights[j] of the first wife. 11 If he does not do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.
Laws About Injuries
12 Anyone who strikes a man so that he dies must certainly be put to death. 13 However, if this was not done intentionally but rather was an act of God, for that kind of case I will appoint a place among you to which that man can flee. 14 But if a man plots and kills his neighbor deliberately, you shall take him from my altar, so that he may be put to death.
15 Anyone who strikes his father or his mother must certainly be put to death.
16 If anyone kidnaps someone and sells him, or if the kidnapped person is found in his possession, the kidnapper must certainly be put to death.
17 Anyone who curses his father or his mother must certainly be put to death.
18 If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and the victim does not die but is confined to bed— 19 if the victim gets up and can walk around outside with his staff, then the one who struck him shall not be punished, but he must pay for the victim’s lost work time while he is recuperating, until he is completely healed.
20 If a man strikes his male or his female servant with a club,[k] and the servant dies at his hand, he must certainly be punished. 21 However, if the servant gets up after a day or two,[l] the man shall not be punished, for the servant was his property.
Woes and Warnings
13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven right in front of people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you permit those who are trying to enter to do so.[a] 15 Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel the sea and the land to make one convert, and then when he is converted, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17 You blind fools! After all, which is greater: the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men! After all, which is greater: the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21 Also, whoever swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give ten percent of your mint, dill, and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. You should have done these things and not failed to do the other things. 24 Blind guides, you strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of a cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside may become clean too.
27 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of uncleanness. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape being condemned to hell?
34 “Look, this is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and experts in the law. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Amen I tell you: All these things will come upon this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will certainly not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[b]
Psalm 28
My Rock
Heading
By David.
Protect Me From the Wicked
1 O Lord, I keep calling to you.
My Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the sound of my plea for mercy when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those evildoers.
They speak peace to their neighbors but hide evil in their hearts.
Punish the Wicked
4 Give to them what they have done to others.
According to their evil actions,
according to the deeds of their hands,
punish them.
Repay to them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not recognize the works of the Lord
or the deeds of his hands,
he will tear them down and not build them up.
Then I Will Praise You
6 Blessed be the Lord,
because he has heard the sound of my plea for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield.
In him my heart trusts, and I am helped.
My heart also celebrates.
With my song I will give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed king.
9 Save your people, and bless the people that belong to you.
Shepherd them, and carry them forever.
Tenth Address to a Son:
Wisdom Protects You From Adultery and Death
7 My son, guard what I say.
Keep my commands with you.
2 Obey my commands so that you may live.
Protect my teachings like the pupil of your eye.
3 Tie them to your fingers.
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call Understanding your relative.[a]
5 She will keep you safe from an immoral woman,
from an unfaithful woman and her seductive words.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.