The Daily Audio Bible

⁵² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵³ “^[a]Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names. ^54 (A)To a larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to a smaller group you shall decrease their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance corresponding to the total of those who were numbered of them. ⁵⁵ But the land shall be ^(B)divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. ⁵⁶ Corresponding to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

^57 (C)These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ⁵⁸ These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. ^(D)Kohath fathered Amram. ⁵⁹ And the name of Amram’s wife ^(E)was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and their sister Miriam. ^60 (F)And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^61 (G)But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered ^[b]strange fire before the Lord. ⁶² Those who were numbered of them were ^(H)twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward, for ^(I)they were not numbered among the sons of Israel ^(J)since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

⁶³ These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ^64 (K)But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For the Lord had said ^[c]of them, “^(L)They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, ^(M)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

A Law of Inheritance

27 Then ^(N)the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came forward; and these are ^(O)the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, before the leaders, and all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, ³ “Our father ^(P)died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the group of those who gathered together against the Lord, in the group of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and ^(Q)he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family simply because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s brothers.” ^5 (R)So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

⁶ Then the Lord said to ^[d]Moses, ⁷ “^(S)The daughters of Zelophehad are right about their statements. You shall certainly give them hereditary property among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. ⁸ Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹ And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it; and it shall be a ^(T)statutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.’”

^12 (U)Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this ^(V)mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. ¹³ When you have seen it, you too ^(W)will be gathered to your people, ^(X)just as Aaron your brother ^[e]was; ¹⁴ for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, ^(Y)you rebelled against My ^[f]command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

Joshua to Succeed Moses

¹⁵ Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ “^(Z)May the Lord, the God of the spirits of ^[g]humanity, appoint a man over the congregation, ¹⁷ who ^(AA)will go out ^[h]and come in before them, and lead them out and ^[i]bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be ^(AB)like sheep that have no shepherd.” ¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “^[j]Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man ^(AC)in whom is the Spirit, and ^(AD)lay your hand on him; ¹⁹ and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and ^(AE)commission him in their sight. ²⁰ And you shall put some of your ^[k]authority on him, so that all the congregation of the sons of Israel will obey him. ²¹ Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him ^(AF)by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his ^[l]command they shall go out, and at his ^[m]command they shall come in, both he and all the sons of Israel with him, all the congregation.” ²² Then Moses did just as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and ^(AG)commissioned him, just as the Lord had spoken ^[n]through Moses.

Laws for Offerings

28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present to Me My offering, My ^(AH)food for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.’ ^3 (AI)And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. ⁴ You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer ^[o]at twilight; ⁵ also ^(AJ)a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a ^(AK)grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a ^[p]hin of pure oil. ⁶ It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained on Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ⁷ Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb; ^(AL)in the Holy Place pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord. ⁸ The other lamb you shall offer ^[q]at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the Lord.

⁹ ‘Then on the Sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ^[r]ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: ¹⁰ This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath in addition to the ^(AM)continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

¹¹ ‘Then ^(AN)at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two ^[s]bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; ^12 (AO)and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for the one ram; ¹³ and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. ¹⁴ Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull and a third of a hin for the ram and a fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵ And one male goat as a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the ^(AP)continual burnt offering.

John the Baptist Preaches

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when ^(A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and ^(B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² in the high priesthood of ^(C)Annas and ^(D)Caiaphas, ^(E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all ^(F)the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^[a]for the forgiveness of sins; ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “^(K)You ^[d]offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore produce fruits that are consistent with repentance, and ^(L)do not start saying ^[e]to yourselves, ‘^(M)We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ But indeed the axe is already being laid at the root of the trees; so ^(N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “^(O)Then what are we to do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two ^[f]tunics is to ^(P)share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² Now even ^(Q)tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “^[g]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “What are we to do, we as well?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone, nor ^[h](R)harass anyone, and ^(S)be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and they all were thinking carefully in their hearts about John, ^(T)whether he himself perhaps was the ^[i]Christ, ^16 (U)John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you ^[j]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His ^(V)winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with ^(W)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. ¹⁹ But when ^(X)Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him regarding ^(Y)Herodias, his brother’s wife, and regarding all the evil things which ^(Z)Herod had done, ²⁰ Herod also added this to them all: ^(AA)he locked John up in prison.

Jesus Is Baptized

^21 (AB)Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while He was ^(AC)praying, heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: “^(AD)You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”

Confidence in God’s Protection.

For the music director; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David.