The Daily Audio Bible
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18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God(A)—do this and you will live. 19 If you are honest, let one of you[a] be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. 20 Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.
21 Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”(B)
22 But Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy?(C) But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!” [b]
23 They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. 25 Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out. 26 They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.
The Brothers Return Home
27 At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver there at the top of his bag. 28 He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What has God done to us?”
29 When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: 30 “The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. 31 But we told him, ‘We are honest and not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of the same[c] father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34 Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’”
35 As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid.
36 Their father Jacob said to them, “It’s me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!”
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care,[d] and I will return him to you.”
38 But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left.(D) If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”(E)
Decision to Return to Egypt
43 Now the famine in the land was severe.(F) 2 When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”
3 But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’”(G)
6 “Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?”
7 They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents. 9 I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable![e] If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever.(H) 10 If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.(I) 12 Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. 14 May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”(J)
The Return to Egypt
15 The men took this gift, double the amount of silver, and Benjamin. They immediately went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph’s house.
18 But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” 19 So they approached Joseph’s steward[f] and spoke to him at the doorway of the house.
20 They said, “My lord, we really did come down here the first time only to buy food. 21 When we came to the place where we lodged for the night and opened our bags of grain, each one’s silver was at the top of his bag!(K) It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us. 22 We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in the bags.”
23 Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The steward brought the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet,(L) and got feed for their donkeys. 25 Since the men had heard that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon. 26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him.
27 He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?”
28 They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him.
29 When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure,(M) he said, “Serve the meal.”
32 They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them.(N) 33 They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. 34 Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs.(O) They drank and became drunk with Joseph.
The Parable of the Net
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,(A) 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,(B) 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.(C)
The Storehouse of Truth
51 “Have you understood all these things?”[a]
They answered him, “Yes.”
52 “Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law[b] who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”(D)
Rejection at Nazareth
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left there. 54 He went to his hometown(E) and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?(F) 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?(G) Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James,(H) Joseph,[c] Simon, and Judas?(I) 56 And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?” 57 And they were offended by him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”(J) 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 At that time(K) Herod the tetrarch(L) heard the report about Jesus. 2 “This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.”(M)
3 For Herod had arrested John, chained[d] him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,(N) 4 since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful(O) for you to have her.” 5 Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.(P)
6 When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them[e] and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” 9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. 10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came, removed the corpse,[f] buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
16 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.(A)
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.(B)
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.(C)
19 He brought me out to a spacious place;(D)
he rescued me because he delighted in me.(E)
20 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;(F)
he repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.(G)
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.(H)
22 Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me[a]
and have not disregarded his statutes.(I)
23 I was blameless toward him(J)
and kept myself from my iniquity.
24 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,(K)
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.(L)
25 With the faithful
you prove yourself faithful,
with the blameless
you prove yourself blameless,
26 with the pure
you prove yourself pure,
but with the crooked
you prove yourself shrewd.(M)
27 For you rescue an oppressed people,(N)
but you humble those with haughty eyes.(O)
28 Lord, you light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.(P)
29 With you I can attack a barricade,[b]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.(Q)
30 God—his way is perfect;(R)
the word of the Lord is pure.(S)
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.(T)
31 For who is God besides the Lord?(U)
And who is a rock? Only our God.(V)
32 God—he clothes me with strength(W)
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer(X)
and sets me securely on the heights.[c](Y)
34 He trains my hands for war;(Z)
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AA)
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand upholds me,(AB)
and your humility exalts me.
36 You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,(AC)
and my ankles do not give way.(AD)
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