The Daily Audio Bible
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Moses Makes New Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke.(A) 2 Be ready in the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.(B) 3 No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain, and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.”(C) 4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The Lord.”[a](D) 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,(E)
7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,[b]
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children
to the third and the fourth generation.”(F)
8 And Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped.(G) 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, my Lord, I pray, let my Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”(H)
The Covenant Renewed
10 He said, “I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels, such as have not been done[c] in all the earth or in any nation, and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.(I)
11 “Observe what I command you today. See, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.(J) 12 Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, or it will become a snare among you.(K) 13 Rather, you shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down their sacred poles,[d](L) 14 for you shall worship no other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.(M) 15 You shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, someone among them will invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice,(N) 16 and you will take wives from among their daughters for your sons, and their daughters who prostitute themselves to their gods will make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods.(O)
17 “You shall not make cast idols.(P)
18 “You shall keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.(Q)
19 “All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male[e] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.(R) 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.
“No one shall appear before me empty-handed.(S)
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest.(T) 22 You shall observe the Festival of Weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the Festival of Ingathering at the turn of the year.(U) 23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.(V) 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the sacrifice of the festival of the Passover shall not be left until the morning.(W)
26 “The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”(X)
27 The Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”(Y) 28 He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.[f](Z)
The Shining Face of Moses
29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.(AA) 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.(AB) 33 When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face,(AC) 34 but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out, and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,(AD) 35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining, and Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him.
Sabbath Regulations
35 Moses assembled all the congregation of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:(AE)
2 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.(AF) 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”(AG)
Preparations for Making the Tabernacle
4 Moses said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded:(AH) 5 Take from among you an offering to the Lord; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and fine leather;[g] acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece.
Barabbas or Jesus?
15 Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Jesus[a] Barabbas. 17 So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus[b] Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”[c] 18 For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. 19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.”(A) 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.(B) 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”[d] All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
Pilate Hands Jesus Over to Be Crucified
24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood;[e] see to it yourselves.”(C) 25 Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”(D) 26 So he released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus he handed him over to be crucified.(E)
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,[f] and they gathered the whole cohort around him.(F) 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”(G) 30 They spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.(H) 31 After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.(I)
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.(A)
13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.(B)
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.(C)
16 A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.(D)
17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.(E)
18 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,(F)
19 to deliver their soul from death
and to keep them alive in famine.(G)
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in him
because we trust in his holy name.(H)
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Wisdom’s Feast
9 Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.(A)
2 She has slaughtered her animals; she has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.(B)
3 She has sent out her female servants; she calls
from the highest places in the town,(C)
4 “You who are simple, turn in here!”
To those without sense she says,(D)
5 “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.(E)
6 Lay aside immaturity and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”(F)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.