The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the CEB. Switch to the CEB to read along with the audio.
The Law of Sin Offerings
4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them— 3 if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer to the Lord a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.(A) 4 He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, and shall lay his hand on the bull’s head [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice] and kill the bull before the Lord. 5 Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting; 6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord in front of the veil (curtain) of the sanctuary. 7 The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting. All the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of the burnt offering which is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 8 He shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, 9 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys 10 (just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings), and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the hide of the bull and all its meat, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its refuse, 12 that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on a fire of wood. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.(B)
13 ‘Now if the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they have done any one of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty; 14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the congregation shall offer a young bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. 15 Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord [to transfer symbolically the congregation’s guilt to the sacrifice], and they shall kill the bull before the Lord. 16 The anointed priest is to bring some of the bull’s blood to the Tent of Meeting, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil [which screens off the Holy of Holies and the ark of the covenant]. 18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar [of incense] which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 19 He shall remove all its fat from the bull and offer it up in smoke on the altar. 20 He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; that is what he shall do with this. So the priest shall make atonement for [the sin of] the people, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then the priest is to bring the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the congregation.
22 ‘When a ruler or leader sins and unintentionally does any one of the things the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, 23 if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring a goat, a male without blemish as his offering. 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 And he shall offer all its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat from the sacrifice of peace offerings; so the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven.
27 ‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing any of the things the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, 28 if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring a goat, a female without blemish as his offering for the sin which he has committed. 29 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it at the place of the burnt offering. 30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and shall pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
32 ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. 33 He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the sacrifice], and kill it as a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and all the rest of the blood of the lamb he shall pour out at the base of the altar. 35 Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to the sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.(C)
The Law of Guilt Offerings
5 ‘If anyone sins after he hears a [a]public adjuration (solemn command to testify) when he is a witness, whether he has seen or [otherwise] known [something]—if he fails to report it, then he will bear his guilt and be held responsible. 2 Or if someone touches any [ceremonially] unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of an unclean domestic animal or the carcass of unclean creeping things—even if he is unaware of it, he has become unclean, and he will be guilty. 3 Or if he touches human uncleanness—whatever kind it may be—and he becomes unclean, but he is unaware of it, when he recognizes it, he will be guilty. 4 Or if anyone swears [an oath] thoughtlessly or impulsively [b]aloud that he will do either evil or good, in whatever manner a person may speak thoughtlessly or impulsively with an oath, but he is unaware of it, when he recognizes it, he will be guilty in one of these.(D) 5 So it shall be when a person is guilty in one of these, that he shall confess the sin he has committed. 6 He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
7 ‘But if he [c]cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons as his guilt offering for his sin to the Lord, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. 8 He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer first the one for the sin offering, and shall nip its head at the front of its neck, but shall not sever it [completely]. 9 He shall also sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering. 10 The second [bird] he shall prepare as a burnt offering, according to the ordinance. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for the sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him.
11 ‘But if he cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for his sin the tenth part of an [d]ephah of fine flour as a sin offering; he shall not put [olive] oil or incense on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 He shall bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering. 13 In this way the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed in one of these things, and it will be forgiven him; then the rest shall be for the priest, like the grain offering.’”
14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If a person commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally against the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, valued by you in shekels of silver, that is, the shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering. 16 He shall make restitution for the sin which he has committed against the holy thing, and shall add a fifth [of the ram’s value] to it, and give it to the priest. The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.
17 “Now if anyone sins and does any of the things which the Lord has forbidden, though he was not aware of it, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.(E) 18 He is then to bring to the priest a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering. In this way the priest shall make atonement for him regarding the error which he committed unintentionally and did not know it, and he shall be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the Lord.”
13 Jesus went out again along the [Galilean] seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.
Levi (Matthew) Called
14 As He was passing by, He saw Levi (Matthew) the son of Alphaeus sitting in the [a]tax collector’s booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” And he got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].(A)
15 And it happened that Jesus was [b]reclining at the table in Levi’s house, and many tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were eating with Him and His disciples; for there were many of them and they were [c]following Him. 16 When the scribes [belonging to the sect] of the [d]Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with the sinners [including non-observant Jews] and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat and drink with [e]tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard this, He said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but [only] those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [who recognize their sin and humbly seek forgiveness].”
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting [as a ritual]; and they came and asked Jesus, “Why are John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fasting, but Your disciples are not doing so?” 19 Jesus answered, “The attendants of the bridegroom [f]cannot fast while the bridegroom is [still] with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom is [forcefully] [g]taken away from them, and they will fast at that time.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 22 No one puts new wine into old [h]wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
Question of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath He was walking along [with His disciples] through the grainfields, and as they went along, His disciples began picking the heads of grain.(B) 24 The Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why are they doing what [i]is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and his companions;(C) 26 how he went into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and how he also gave it to the men who were with him?”(D) 27 Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.(E) 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath [and He has authority over it].”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
3 Again Jesus went into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was [j]withered.(F) 2 The Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him [in the Jewish high court]. 3 He said to the man whose hand was withered, “Get up and come forward!” 4 He asked them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 After looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness and arrogance of their hearts, He told the man, “Hold out your hand.” And he held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the [k]Herodians [to plot] against Him, as to how [l]they might [fabricate some legal grounds to] put Him to death.
Wickedness of Men and Lovingkindness of God.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.
36 Transgression speaks [like an oracle] to the wicked (godless) [deep] within his heart;
There is no fear (dread) of God before his eyes.(A)
2
For he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes
Thinking that his sinfulness will not be discovered and hated [by God].
3
The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4
He plans wrongdoing on his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not reject or despise evil.
5
Your lovingkindness and graciousness, O Lord, extend to the skies,
Your faithfulness [reaches] to the clouds.
6
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
Your judgments are like the great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
7
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
8
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You allow them to drink from the river of Your delights.
9
For with You is the fountain of life [the fountain of life-giving water];
In Your light we see light.(B)
10
O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness (salvation) to the upright in heart.
11
Do not let the foot of the proud [person] overtake me,
And do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12
There those who [are perverse and] do evil have fallen;
They have been thrust down and cannot rise.
Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish [stubborn] son [who refuses to learn] is a grief to his mother.
2
Treasures of wickedness and ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness and moral integrity in daily life rescues from death.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.