The Daily Audio Bible
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The People Complain
41 But the next day all the assembly of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the Lord.”
42 When the assembly was gathered against Moses and Aaron, they looked toward the tent of meeting. The cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Moses and Aaron went before the tent of meeting. 44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get up from among this assembly, that I may destroy them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.
46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from off the altar, and put in incense, and go quickly to the assembly, and make an atonement for them, because wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.” 47 Aaron took it as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the assembly, where the plague had begun among the people. He put in incense and made an atonement for the people. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those that died concerning the thing of Korah. 50 Aaron returned to Moses, to the door of the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.
The Budding of Aaron’s Rod
17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and take from them a rod, a rod for the house of their fathers, from all their leaders according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 You will write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi, because one rod will be for each father’s house. 4 You will lay them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 It will be that the rod of the man whom I choose will bud. Thus I will rid myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, that they have been making against you.
6 Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each one of their leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7 Moses laid the rods before the Lord in the tent of witness.
8 When Moses went into the tent of witness the next day, the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi, had sprouted. It brought forth buds, produced blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel, and they looked, and each man took his rod.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Return the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a warning to rebels, that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die.” 11 Moses did so. As the Lord commanded him, so he did.
12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we expire, we perish, we all perish. 13 Anyone approaching the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all to perish?”
Duties of Priests and Levites
18 And the Lord said to Aaron: You and your sons and your father’s house with you will bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you will bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2 Your brothers also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring with you, and let them be joined with you, and minister to you. But you and your sons with you will minister before the tent of witness. 3 They will perform duties for you and for the whole tent; but they will not come near the vessels of the sanctuary or the altar, so that neither they nor you die. 4 They will be joined to you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no foreigner will come near you.
5 You yourselves will perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never come upon the children of Israel again. 6 I Myself have taken your brothers, the Levites, from among the children of Israel; they are given to you as a gift from the Lord to perform the service of the tent of meeting. 7 And you and your sons with you will attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar, and within the veil, and you will serve. I have given your priesthood to you as a gift service, and the foreigner that comes near will be put to death.
Offerings for Priests and Levites
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron: I have certainly given you the charge of the offerings made to Me, all the hallowed gifts of the children of Israel. To you and to your sons have I given them as a portion, as an ordinance forever. 9 This will be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: All of their offerings, all of their grain offerings and all of their sin offerings, and all of their guilt offerings, which they render to Me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. 10 In a most holy place shall you eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
11 This is yours: the offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as an eternal statute. Everyone who is clean in your house will eat of it.
12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of what they will offer to the Lord, those have I given to you. 13 The first ripe fruit of all which is in their land, which they will bring to the Lord, will be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house will eat of it.
14 Everything devoted in Israel will be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the Lord, whether it is of men or animals, will be yours. However, you will surely redeem the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of unclean beasts you will redeem. 16 Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, is five shekels,[a] after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
17 But the firstborn of a herd animal, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you will not redeem. They are holy. You will splash their blood on the altar and will burn their fat as a fire offering, as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 Their flesh will be yours, as the wave breast and as the right shoulder are yours. 19 All the offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel offer to the Lord I have given to you, and to your sons and your daughters with you, as an eternal statute. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord, to you and to your seed with you.
20 The Lord said to Aaron: You will not have an inheritance in their land, nor will you have any territory among them. I am your territory and your inheritance among the children of Israel.
Tithes for Supporting the Levites
21 I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service, which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. 22 Hereafter, the children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23 But the Levites will do the service of the tent of meeting, and they will bear their iniquity. It will be an eternal statute throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. 24 But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit. Therefore I have said to them, among the children of Israel they will have no inheritance.
The Tithe of the Levites
25 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 26 You will speak to the Levites, and say to them: When you take from the children of Israel the tithes that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you will offer up an offering of it to the Lord, even one-tenth of the tithe. 27 And this offering will be counted to you, as though it was the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28 Thus you also will set apart an offering to the Lord from all the tithes which you receive from the children of Israel. Out of them you will give the offering of the Lord to Aaron the priest. 29 Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the best of them, the consecrated part of them.
30 You will say to them: When you have offered the best from it, then it will be counted to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the winepress. 31 You will eat it in every place, you and your households, because it is your reward for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 You will bear no sin because of it, when you have offered the best of it. The holy things of the children of Israel you will not pollute, and you will not die.
The Resurrection of Jesus(A)
16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun. 3 They said among themselves, “Who will roll the stone away from the door of the tomb for us?”
4 But when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. For it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white robe. And they were frightened.
6 He said to them, “Do not be frightened. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, as He told you.”
8 They went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
The Appearance to Mary Magdalene(B)
9 Now when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept. 11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
The Appearance to Two Disciples(C)
12 After that He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
The Commissioning of the Disciples(D)
14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven as they sat at supper, and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
The Ascension(E)
19 After the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Psalm 55
For the Music Director. With stringed instruments. A Contemplative Maskil of David.
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint, and I murmur,
3 because of the voice of the enemy,
because of the pressure of the wicked,
for they cause trouble to drop on me,
and in wrath they have animosity against me.
4 My heart is in pain within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling come into me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
For then I would fly away and be at rest.
7 Indeed, then I would wander far off,
and remain in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hasten my escape
from the windy storm and tempest.”
9 Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls;
trouble and sorrow are in its midst.
11 Destruction is in its midst;
oppression and treachery do not depart from its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
then I could hide from him.
13 But it was you, my peer,
my guide, and my acquaintance.
14 We took pleasant counsel together,
and walked to the house of God in company.
15 May death surprise them,
and may their lives go down to Sheol,
for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
16 As for me, I will call on God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon,
I will make my complaint and murmur,
and He will hear my voice.
18 He has ransomed my life in peace
from the battle against me,
for there were many against me.
19 God will hear and afflict them,
even He who sits enthroned from of old. Selah
Because they do not change,
therefore they do not fear God.
20 My friend has set his hands against those at peace with him;
he has violated his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
but battle was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
and He will sustain you;
He will never allow
the righteous to be moved.
23 But You, O God, will cast the wicked down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and deceitful men
will not live out half their days.
But I will trust in You.
7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,
and the hope of unjust men perishes.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.