The Daily Audio Bible
Organization of the Camps
2 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 2 “The Israelites are to camp under their respective banners beside the flags of their ancestral families.[a] They are to camp around the tent of meeting at a distance from it:
3 Judah’s military divisions(A) will camp on the east side toward the sunrise under their banner. The leader of the descendants of Judah is Nahshon(B) son of Amminadab. 4 His military division numbers 74,600. 5 The tribe of Issachar will camp next to it. The leader of the Issacharites is Nethanel son of Zuar. 6 His military division numbers 54,400. 7 The tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the Zebulunites is Eliab son of Helon. 8 His military division numbers 57,400. 9 The total number in their military divisions who belong to Judah’s encampment is 186,400; they will move out first.
10 Reuben’s military divisions will camp on the south side under their banner. The leader of the Reubenites is Elizur son of Shedeur. 11 His military division numbers 46,500. 12 The tribe of Simeon will camp next to it. The leader of the Simeonites is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 13 His military division numbers 59,300. 14 The tribe of Gad will be next. The leader of the Gadites is Eliasaph son of Deuel.[b] 15 His military division numbers 45,650. 16 The total number in their military divisions who belong to Reuben’s encampment is 151,450; they will move out second.
17 The tent of meeting is to move out with the Levites’ camp, which is in the middle of the camps. They are to move out just as they camp, each in his place,[c] with their banners.
18 Ephraim’s military divisions will camp on the west side under their banner. The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud. 19 His military division numbers 40,500. 20 The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 21 His military division numbers 32,200. 22 The tribe of Benjamin will be next. The leader of the Benjaminites is Abidan son of Gideoni. 23 His military division numbers 35,400. 24 The total in their military divisions who belong to Ephraim’s encampment number 108,100; they will move out third.
25 Dan’s military divisions will camp on the north side under their banner. The leader of the Danites is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26 His military division numbers 62,700. 27 The tribe of Asher will camp next to it. The leader of the Asherites is Pagiel son of Ochran. 28 His military division numbers 41,500. 29 The tribe of Naphtali will be next. The leader of the Naphtalites is Ahira son of Enan. 30 His military division numbers 53,400. 31 The total number who belong to Dan’s encampment is 157,600; they are to move out last, with their banners.”
32 These are the Israelites registered by their ancestral families. The total number in the camps by their military divisions is 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not registered among the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.(C)
34 The Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; they camped by their banners in this way and moved out the same way, each man by his clan and by his ancestral family.[d](D)
Aaron’s Sons and the Levites
3 These are the family records of Aaron and Moses at the time the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.(E) 2 These are the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord’s presence when they presented unauthorized fire(F) before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests under the direction of Aaron their father.(G)
5 The Lord spoke to Moses: 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near and present them to the priest Aaron to assist him. 7 They are to perform duties for[e] him and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 8 They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting(H) and perform duties for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle. 9 Assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been assigned exclusively to him[f] from the Israelites.(I) 10 You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”(J)
11 The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “See, I have taken the Levites from the Israelites in place of every firstborn Israelite from the womb.(K) The Levites belong to me, 13 because every firstborn belongs to me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt,(L) I consecrated every firstborn in Israel to myself, both man and animal. They are mine; I am the Lord.”(M)
The Levitical Census
14 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: 15 “Register the Levites by their ancestral families[g] and their clans. You are to register every male one month old or more.” 16 So Moses registered them in obedience to the Lord as he had been commanded:
17 These were Levi’s sons by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18 These were the names of Gershon’s sons by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 Kohath’s sons by their clans were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 Merari’s sons by their clans were Mahli and Mushi. These were the Levite clans by their ancestral families.(N)
21 The Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan came from Gershon; these were the Gershonite clans. 22 Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 7,500. 23 The Gershonite clans camped behind the tabernacle on the west side,(O) 24 and the leader of the Gershonite families[h] was Eliasaph son of Lael. 25 The Gershonites’ duties(P) at the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting,(Q) 26 the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance(R) to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, and the tent ropes—all the work relating to these.
27 The Amramite clan, the Izharite clan, the Hebronite clan, and the Uzzielite clan came from Kohath; these were the Kohathites. 28 Counting every male one month old or more, there were 8,600[i] responsible for the duties of[j] the sanctuary. 29 The clans of the Kohathites camped on the south side of the tabernacle,(S) 30 and the leader of the families of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 Their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sanctuary utensils that were used with these, and the screen[k](T)—and all the work relating to them.(U) 32 The chief of the Levite leaders was Eleazar(V) son of Aaron the priest; he had oversight of those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.
33 The Mahlite clan and the Mushite clan came from Merari; these were the Merarite clans. 34 Those registered, counting every male one month old or more, numbered 6,200. 35 The leader of the families of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they camped on the north side of the tabernacle.(W) 36 The assigned duties of Merari’s descendants involved the tabernacle’s supports, crossbars, pillars, bases, all its equipment, and all the work related to these,(X) 37 in addition to the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes.
38 Moses, Aaron, and his sons, who performed the duties of[l] the sanctuary as a service on behalf of the Israelites, camped in front of the tabernacle on the east,(Y) in front of the tent of meeting toward the sunrise. Any unauthorized person who came near it was to be put to death.(Z)
39 The total number of all the Levite males one month old or more that Moses and Aaron[m] registered by their clans at the Lord’s command was 22,000.
Redemption of the Firstborn
40 The Lord told Moses, “Register every firstborn male of the Israelites(AA) one month old or more, and list their names. 41 You are to take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of every firstborn among the Israelites’ cattle.” 42 So Moses registered every firstborn among the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him. 43 The total number of the firstborn males one month old or more listed by name was 22,273.
44 The Lord spoke to Moses again: 45 “Take the Levites in place of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the Levites’ cattle in place of their cattle. The Levites belong to me; I am the Lord.(AB) 46 As the redemption price for the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, 47 collect five shekels for each person, according to the standard sanctuary shekel—twenty gerahs to the shekel.[n](AC) 48 Give the silver to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are in excess among the Israelites.”
49 So Moses collected the redemption amount from those in excess of the ones redeemed by the Levites. 50 He collected the silver from the firstborn Israelites: 1,365 shekels[o] measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. 51 He gave the redemption silver to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 They(A) came again to Jerusalem.(B) As he was walking in the temple,(C) the chief priests, the scribes,(D) and the elders(E) came 28 and asked him, “By what authority(F) are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”
29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question;(G) then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism(H) from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”
31 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe(I) him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet.(J) 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Vineyard Owner
12 He(K) began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard,(L) put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 2 At harvest time he sent(M) a servant(N) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit(O) of the vineyard from them. 3 But they took him, beat(P) him, and sent him away empty-handed.(Q) 4 Again he sent another servant to them, and they[a] hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.[b] 5 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He still had one to send, a beloved(R) son. Finally(S) he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner[c](T) of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture:(U)
The(V) stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.(W)
11 This came about from the Lord(X)
and is wonderful in our eyes?”[d]
12 They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.
God and Caesar
13 Then(Y) they sent some of the Pharisees(Z) and the Herodians(AA) to Jesus to trap him in his words.(AB) 14 When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality(AC) but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes(AD) to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
15 But knowing their hypocrisy,(AE) he said to them, “Why are you testing(AF) me? Bring me a denarius[e](AG) to look at.” 16 They brought a coin. “Whose image(AH) and inscription(AI) is this?” he asked them.
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”(AJ) And they were utterly amazed(AK) at him.
Psalm 47
God Our King
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;(A)
shout to God with a jubilant cry.(B)
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awe-inspiring,
a great King over the whole earth.(C)
3 He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.(D)
4 He chooses for us our inheritance—
the pride of Jacob, whom he loves.(E)Selah
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