The Daily Audio Bible
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The Arrangement of Israel’s Camp
2 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 2 “The Israelites will put up their tents with each family under the flag that symbolizes its household. They will put their tents around the tent of meeting, facing it.
3 “On the east side, facing the rising sun, the armies led by Judah will camp under their flag. The leader for the people of Judah is Nahshon, son of Amminadab. 4 The total number of men in his army is 74,600.
5 “Next to them will be the tribe of Issachar. The leader for the people of Issachar is Nethanel, son of Zuar. 6 The total number of men in his army is 54,400.
7 “Then ⌞will be⌟ the tribe of Zebulun. The leader for the people of Zebulun is Eliab, son of Helon. 8 The total number of men in his army is 57,400.
9 “The grand total of all the troops in Judah’s camp is 186,400. They will be the first group to move out.
10 “On the south side the armies led by Reuben will camp under their flag. The leader for the people of Reuben is Elizur, son of Shedeur. 11 The total number of men in his army is 46,500.
12 “Next to them will be the tribe of Simeon. The leader for the people of Simeon is Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai. 13 The total number of men in his army is 59,300.
14 “Then ⌞will be⌟ the tribe of Gad. The leader for the people of Gad is Eliasaph, son of Deuel. 15 The total number of men in his army is 45,650.
16 “The grand total of all the troops in Reuben’s camp is 151,450. They will be the second group to move out.
17 “When the tent of meeting is moved, the Levites will stay in the middle of the groups. The tribes will move out in the same order as they are in the camp, everyone in place under his own flag.
18 “On the west side the armies led by Ephraim will camp under their flag. The leader for the people of Ephraim is Elishama, son of Ammihud. 19 The total number of men in his army is 40,500.
20 “Next to them will be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader for the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel, son of Pedahzur. 21 The total number of men in his army is 32,200.
22 “Then ⌞will be⌟ the tribe of Benjamin. The leader for the people of Benjamin is Abidan, son of Gideoni. 23 The total number of men in his army is 35,400.
24 “The grand total of all the troops in Ephraim’s camp is 108,100. They will be the third group to move out.
25 “On the north side the armies led by Dan will camp under their flag. The leader for the people of Dan is Ahiezer, son of Ammishaddai. 26 The total number of men in his army is 62,700.
27 “Next to them will be the tribe of Asher. The leader for the people of Asher is Pagiel, son of Ochran. 28 The total number of men in his army is 41,500.
29 “Then ⌞will be⌟ the tribe of Naphtali. The leader for the people of Naphtali is Ahira, son of Enan. 30 The total number of men in his army is 53,400.
31 “The grand total of all the men in Dan’s camp is 157,600. They will be the last group to move out. They will travel under their own flag.”
32 This is the total number of Israelites, counted by households. The grand total of all the troops in the camps was 603,550. 33 As the Lord had commanded Moses, the Levites were not registered along with the other Israelites.
34 So the Israelites did everything as the Lord had commanded Moses. They set up camp under their flags, and each person traveled with his own family and household.
The Tribe of Levi Is Registered and Assigned Duties
3 This is the list of Aaron and Moses’ descendants at the time when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.
2 The names of Aaron’s sons are Nadab (the firstborn), Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests. 4 Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord’s presence because they offered unauthorized fire in his presence in the Desert of Sinai. They had no children. So only Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.
5 The Lord said to Moses, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi, and have them stand in front of the priest Aaron to assist him. 7 They will work for him and the whole community in front of the tent of meeting, doing what needs to be done for the inner tent. 8 They will take care of all the furnishings in the tent of meeting and work for the Israelites, doing what needs to be done for the inner tent. 9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons. The Levites will be the only Israelites given to them. 10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. Anyone else who tries to do the priests’ duties must be put to death.”
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “Out of all the Israelites, I have taken the Levites to be substitutes for every firstborn male offspring among them. The Levites are mine, 13 because every firstborn is mine. The day I killed every firstborn male in Egypt, I set apart as holy every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They will be mine. I am the Lord.”
14 The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, 15 “Count the Levites by households and families. Count every male who is at least one month old.” 16 So Moses did what the Lord said and registered them as he had been commanded.
17 Gershon, Kohath, and Merari were the sons of Levi.
18 Libni and Shimei were the sons of Gershon. Their families were named after them.
19 Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel were the sons of Kohath. Their families were named after them.
20 Mahli and Mushi were the sons of Merari. Their families were named after them.
These were the households of Levite families.
21 To Gershon belonged the families descended from Libni and Shimei. These were the families descended from Gershon. 22 The total number of all the males at least one month old was 7,500. 23 The families descended from Gershon put up their tents on the west side behind the tent of meeting. 24 The leader of the Gershonite households was Eliasaph, son of Lael. 25 At the tent of meeting the Gershonites were in charge of the inner tent, the outer tent and cover, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26 the curtains for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the inner tent and the altar, and the ropes. They took care of all these things.
27 To Kohath belonged the families descended from Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. These were the families descended from Kohath. 28 The number of all the males at least one month old was 8,600. They were in charge of the holy place. 29 The families descended from Kohath put up their tents on the south side of the tent of meeting. 30 The leader of the Kohathite families and households was Elizaphan, son of Uzziel. 31 They were in charge of the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the utensils used in the holy place, and the screen. They took care of all these things.
32 The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar, son of the priest Aaron. It was Eleazar’s duty to supervise those who were in charge of the holy place.
33 To Merari belonged the families descended from Mahli and Mushi. These were the families descended from Merari. 34 The total number of all the males at least one month old was 6,200. 35 The leader of the Merarite families and households was Zuriel, son of Abihail. They put up their tents on the north side of the tent of meeting. 36 It was the duty of the Merarites to be in charge of the framework of the inner tent, the crossbars, posts, sockets, and all the equipment. They took care of all these things. 37 They also took care of the posts for the surrounding courtyard, the bases, pegs, and ropes.
38 Moses, Aaron, and his sons put up their tents on the east side in front of the tent of meeting. They were in charge of the holy place on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who tried to do the Levites’ duties had to be put to death.
39 The grand total of Levites that Moses and Aaron counted at the Lord’s command, by families, every male who was at least one month old, was 22,000.
40 The Lord said to Moses, “Register every firstborn male of the Israelites who is at least one month old, and make a list of their names. 41 I am the Lord. Take the Levites for me to be substitutes for all firstborn Israelites. Also take the animals of the Levites to be substitutes for all firstborn animals of the Israelites.”
42 So Moses registered all the firstborn Israelites as the Lord commanded him. 43 The total of all the firstborn males at least one month old was 22,273. They were listed by name.
44 The Lord said to Moses, 45 “Take the Levites to be substitutes for all the firstborn Israelites and the animals of the Levites to be substitutes for their animals. The Levites will be mine. I am the Lord. 46 There are 273 more firstborn male Israelites than there are Levites. 47 It will cost you two ounces of silver per person (using the standard weight of the holy place) to buy them back. 48 Give the silver to Aaron and his sons. It will buy back those Israelites who outnumber the Levites.”
49 So Moses took this ransom money from the Israelites who outnumbered the Levites. 50 The silver Moses collected for the firstborn Israelites weighed 34 pounds, using the standard weight of the holy place. 51 Then Moses did what the Lord said and gave Aaron and his sons this ransom money as he had been commanded.
Jesus’ Authority Challenged(A)
27 Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple courtyard, the chief priests, the experts in Moses’ Teachings, and the leaders came to him. 28 They asked him, “What gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”
29 Jesus said to them, “I’ll ask you a question. Answer me, and then I’ll tell you why I have the right to do these things. 30 Did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans? Answer me!”
31 They discussed this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘from humans,’ ⌞then what will happen⌟?” They were afraid of the people. All the people thought of John as a true prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.”
A Story about a Vineyard(B)
12 Then, using this illustration, Jesus spoke to them. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, made a vat for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to vineyard workers and went on a trip.
2 “At the right time he sent a servant to the workers to collect from them a share of the grapes from the vineyard. 3 The workers took the servant, beat him, and sent him back with nothing. 4 So the man sent another servant to them. They hit the servant on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 The man sent another, and they killed that servant. Then he sent many other servants. Some of these they beat, and others they killed.
6 “He had one more person to send. That person was his son, whom he loved. Finally, he sent his son to them. He thought, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But those workers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the workers and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you never read the Scripture passage:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
11 The Lord has done this,
and it is amazing for us to see’?”
12 They wanted to arrest him but were afraid of the crowd. They knew that he had directed this illustration at them. So they left him alone and went away.
A Question about Taxes(C)
13 The leaders sent some of the Pharisees and some of Herod’s followers to Jesus. They wanted to trap him into saying the wrong thing. 14 When they came to him, they said, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth. You don’t favor individuals because of who they are. Rather, you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay taxes to the emperor or not? Should we pay taxes or not?”
15 Jesus recognized their hypocrisy, so he asked them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a coin so that I can look at it.”
16 They brought a coin. He said to them, “Whose face and name is this?”
They told him, “The emperor’s.”
17 Jesus said to them, “Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and give God what belongs to God.”
They were surprised at his reply.
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with a loud, joyful song.
2 We must fear the Lord, the Most High.
He is the great king of the whole earth.
3 He brings people under our authority
and ⌞puts⌟ nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has gone up with a joyful shout.
The Lord has gone up with the sound of a ram’s horn.
6 Make music to praise God.
Play music for him!
Make music to praise our king.
Play music for him!
7 God is the king of the whole earth.
Make your best music for him!
8 God rules the nations.
He sits upon his holy throne.
9 The influential people from the nations gather together
as the people of the God of Abraham.
The rulers of the earth belong to God.
He rules everything.
Righteous People Contrasted to Wicked People
24 That which wicked people dread happens to them,
but ⌞the Lord⌟ grants the desire of righteous people.
25 When the storm has passed, the wicked person has vanished,
but the righteous person has an everlasting foundation.
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