The Daily Audio Bible
Vows Made by Men
30 [a] Moses told the leaders[b] of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what[c] the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man[d] makes a vow[e] to the Lord or takes an oath[f] of binding obligation on himself,[g] he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised.[h]
Vows Made by Single Women
3 “If a young[i] woman who is still living[j] in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord or places herself under an obligation, 4 and her father hears of her vow or the obligation to which she has pledged herself, and her father remains silent about her,[k] then all her vows will stand,[l] and every obligation to which she has pledged herself will stand. 5 But if her father overrules her when he hears[m] about it, then none[n] of her vows or her obligations that she has pledged for herself will stand. And the Lord will release[o] her from it, because her father overruled her.
Vows Made by Married Women
6 “And if she marries a husband while under a vow,[p] or she uttered anything impulsively[q] by which she has pledged herself, 7 and her husband hears about it but remains silent about her when he hears about it, then her vows will stand and her obligations that she has pledged for herself will stand. 8 But if when her husband hears it he overrules her, then he will nullify[r] the vow she has taken,[s] and whatever she uttered impulsively that she has pledged for herself. And the Lord will release her from it.
Vows Made by Widows
9 “But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman which she has pledged for herself will remain intact.[t] 10 If she made the vow in her husband’s house or put herself under obligation with an oath, 11 and her husband heard about it, but remained silent about her, and did not overrule her, then all her vows will stand, and every obligation which she pledged for herself will stand. 12 But if her husband clearly nullifies[u] them when he hears them, then whatever she says[v] by way of vows or obligations will not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her from them.
13 “Any vow or sworn obligation that would bring affliction to her,[w] her husband can confirm or nullify.[x] 14 But if her husband remains completely silent[y] about her from day to day, he thus confirms all her vows or all her obligations which she is under; he confirms them because he remained silent about her when he heard them. 15 But if he should nullify them after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.”[z]
16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses, relating to[aa] a man and his wife, and a father and his young daughter who is still living in her father’s house.
The Midianite War
31 [ab] The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Exact vengeance[ac] for the Israelites from the Midianites[ad]—after that you will be gathered to your people.”[ae]
3 So Moses spoke to the people: “Arm[af] men from among you for the war, to attack the Midianites and to execute[ag] the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You must send to the battle 1,000 men from every tribe throughout all the tribes of Israel.”[ah] 5 So 1,000 from every tribe, 12,000 armed for battle in all, were provided out of the thousands of Israel.
Campaign Against the Midianites
6 So Moses sent them to the war, 1,000 from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge[ai] of the holy articles[aj] and the signal trumpets. 7 They fought against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed every male.[ak] 8 They killed the kings of Midian in addition to those slain—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—five Midianite kings.[al] They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.[am]
9 The Israelites took the women of Midian captive along with their little ones, and took all their herds, all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. 10 They burned[an] all their towns[ao] where they lived and all their encampments. 11 They took all the plunder and all the spoils, both people and animals. 12 They brought the captives and the spoils and the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the rift valley plains[ap] of Moab, along the Jordan River[aq] across from Jericho.[ar] 13 Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp.
The Death of the Midianite Women
14 But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live?[as] 16 Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor—which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord! 17 Now therefore kill every boy,[at] and kill every woman who has been intimate with a man in bed.[au] 18 But all the young women[av] who have not experienced a man’s bed[aw] will be yours.[ax]
Purification After Battle
19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day. 20 You must purify each garment and everything that is made of skin, everything made of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”[ay]
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone into the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded Moses: 22 ‘Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that may stand the fire, you are to pass through the fire,[az] and it will be ceremonially clean, but it must still be purified with the water of purification. Anything that cannot withstand the fire you must pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be ceremonially clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.’”
The Distribution of Spoils
25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 26 “You and Eleazar the priest, and all the family leaders of the community, take the sum[ba] of the plunder that was captured, both people and animals. 27 Divide the plunder into two parts, one for those who took part in the war—who went out to battle—and the other for all the community.
28 “You must exact[bb] a tribute for the Lord from the fighting men who went out to battle: one life out of 500, from the people, the cattle, and from the donkeys and the sheep. 29 You are to take it from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest for a raised offering to the Lord. 30 From the Israelites’ half share you are to take one portion out of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep—from every kind of animal—and you are to give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The spoil that remained of the plunder that the fighting men[bc] had gathered[bd] was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000[be] young women who had not experienced a man’s bed.[bf]
36 The half portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep; 37 the Lord’s tribute from the sheep was 675. 38 The cattle numbered[bg] 36,000; the Lord’s tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. 40 The people were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 people.[bh]
41 So Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lord’s raised offering, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 From the Israelites’ half share that Moses had separated from the fighting men,[bi] 43 there were 337,500 sheep from the portion belonging to the community, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 people.
47 From the Israelites’ share Moses took one of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders over thousands and the commanders over hundreds, approached Moses 49 and said to him,[bj] “Your servants have taken a count[bk] of the men who were in the battle, who were under our authority,[bl] and not one is missing. 50 So we have brought as an offering for the Lord what each man found: gold ornaments, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves[bm] before the Lord.”[bn] 51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all of it in the form of ornaments. 52 All the gold of the offering they offered up to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds weighed 16,750 shekels.[bo] 53 Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. 54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders[bp] of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial[bq] for the Israelites before the Lord.
The Temptation of Jesus
4 Then[a] Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River[b] and was led by the Spirit[c] in[d] the wilderness,[e] 2 where for forty days he endured temptations[f] from the devil. He[g] ate nothing[h] during those days, and when they were completed,[i] he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If[j] you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”[k] 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man[l] does not live by bread alone.’”[m]
5 Then[n] the devil[o] led him up[p] to a high place[q] and showed him in a flash all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he[r] said to him, “To you[s] I will grant this whole realm[t]—and the glory that goes along with it,[u] for it has been relinquished[v] to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. 7 So then, if[w] you will worship[x] me, all this will be[y] yours.” 8 Jesus[z] answered him,[aa] “It is written, ‘You are to worship[ab] the Lord[ac] your God and serve only him.’”[ad]
9 Then[ae] the devil[af] brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand[ag] on the highest point of the temple,[ah] and said to him, “If[ai] you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’[aj] 11 and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”[ak] 12 Jesus[al] answered him,[am] “It is said, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”[an] 13 So[ao] when the devil[ap] had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time.[aq]
The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee
14 Then[ar] Jesus, in the power of the Spirit,[as] returned to Galilee, and news about him spread[at] throughout the surrounding countryside.[au] 15 He[av] began to teach[aw] in their synagogues[ax] and was praised[ay] by all.
Rejection at Nazareth
16 Now[az] Jesus[ba] came to Nazareth,[bb] where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue[bc] on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.[bd] He[be] stood up to read,[bf] 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He[bg] unrolled[bh] the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed[bi] me to proclaim good news[bj] to the poor.[bk]
He has sent me[bl] to proclaim release[bm] to the captives
and the regaining of sight[bn] to the blind,
to set free[bo] those who are oppressed,[bp]
19 to proclaim the year[bq] of the Lord’s favor.”[br]
20 Then[bs] he rolled up[bt] the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on[bu] him. 21 Then[bv] he began to tell them, “Today[bw] this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”[bx] 22 All[by] were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They[bz] said, “Isn’t this[ca] Joseph’s son?” 23 Jesus[cb] said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’[cc] and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum,[cd] do here in your hometown too.’” 24 And he added,[ce] “I tell you the truth,[cf] no prophet is acceptable[cg] in his hometown. 25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,[ch] when the sky[ci] was shut up three and a half years, and[cj] there was a great famine over all the land. 26 Yet[ck] Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.[cl] 27 And there were many lepers[cm] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha,[cn] yet[co] none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”[cp] 28 When they heard this, all the people[cq] in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, forced[cr] him out of the town,[cs] and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that[ct] they could throw him down the cliff.[cu] 30 But he passed through the crowd[cv] and went on his way.[cw]
Psalm 63[a]
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.[b]
63 O God, you are my God. I long for you.[c]
My soul thirsts[d] for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched[e] land where there is no water.
2 Yes,[f] in the sanctuary I have seen you,[g]
and witnessed[h] your power and splendor.
3 Because[i] experiencing[j] your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
4 For this reason[k] I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.[l]
5 As with choice meat[m] you satisfy my soul.[n]
My mouth joyfully praises you,[o]
6 whenever[p] I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
7 For you are my deliverer;[q]
under your wings[r] I rejoice.
8 My soul[s] pursues you;[t]
your right hand upholds me.
9 Enemies seek to destroy my life,[u]
but they will descend into the depths of the earth.[v]
10 Each one will be handed over to the sword;[w]
their corpses will be eaten by jackals.[x]
11 But the king[y] will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name[z] will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up.[aa]
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