The Daily Audio Bible
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Shares for Priests and Levites
18 The priests are from the tribe of Levi. That tribe will not receive a share of the land with the Israelites. They will eat the offerings made to the Lord by fire. That is their share. 2 They will not inherit any of the land like their brothers. They will inherit the Lord himself. This is what he promised them.
3 When you offer a bull or sheep as a sacrifice, you must share with the priests. Give them the shoulder, the cheeks and the inner organs. 4 Give them the first of your grain, new wine and oil. Give them the first wool you cut from your sheep. 5 The Lord your God has chosen the priests and their descendants out of all your tribes. They are to stand and serve the Lord always.
6 A Levite might move from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he lives. He is sincere and comes to the place the Lord will choose. 7 He may serve the Lord his God. He will be like his fellow Levites who serve there before the Lord. 8 They all will have an equal share of the food. This is separate from what he has received from the sale of family possessions.
Do Not Follow Other Nations
9 You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. But don’t learn to do the terrible things the other nations do. 10 Don’t let anyone among you offer his son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire. Don’t let anyone use magic or witchcraft. No one should try to explain the meaning of signs. 11 Don’t let anyone try to control others with magic. Don’t let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people. 12 The Lord hates anyone who does these things. The other nations do these things. That is why the Lord your God will force them out of the land ahead of you. 13 You must be innocent in the presence of the Lord your God.
The Lord’s Special Prophet
14 The nations you will force out listen to people who use magic and witchcraft. But the Lord your God will not let you do those things. 15 The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. Listen to him. 16 This is what you asked the Lord your God to do. You were gathered at Mount Sinai. You said, “Don’t make us listen to the voice of the Lord our God again. Don’t make us look at this terrible fire anymore. We will die.”
17 So the Lord said to me, “What they have said is good. 18 So I will give them a prophet like you. He will be one of their own people. I will tell him what to say. And he will tell them everything I command. 19 This prophet will speak for me. Anyone who does not listen when he speaks will answer to me. 20 But a prophet might say something I did not tell him to say. And he might say he is speaking for me. Or a prophet might speak in the name of other gods. That prophet must be killed.”
21 You might be thinking, “How can we know if a message is not from the Lord?” 22 What a prophet says in the name of the Lord might not happen. If it doesn’t, it is not the Lord’s message. That prophet was speaking his own ideas. Don’t be afraid of him.
Cities of Safety
19 The Lord your God is giving you land that belongs to other nations. He will destroy those nations. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses. 2 Then choose three cities. They must be in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. 3 Build roads to those cities. And divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts. Then someone who kills another person may run to these cities.
4 This is the rule for someone who kills another person. He may run to one of these cities to save his life. But he must have killed his neighbor without meaning to kill him. He did not hate his neighbor. 5 A man might go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood. The man swings his ax to cut down a tree. But the ax head flies off the handle. It hits his neighbor and kills him. The man who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life. 6 Otherwise, the dead man’s relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. And the relative might catch him if the city is far away. The relative might kill the man. But the man should not be killed because he did not mean to kill his neighbor. 7 This is why I command you to choose these three cities.
8-9 Carefully obey all these laws I’m giving you today. Love the Lord your God. Always do what he wants you to do. Then the Lord your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors. He will give you the whole land he promised to them. After that, choose three more cities of safety. 10 This is so that innocent people will not be killed in your land. The Lord your God is giving it to you to own. By doing this you will not be guilty of murder.
11 But a person might hate his neighbor. And he might hide and wait for him. He might attack and kill him and then run to one of these cities for safety. 12 The elders of his own city should send for him. They should bring him back from the city of safety. And they should hand him over to the relative who has the duty of punishing the murderer. 13 Give him no mercy. You must remove from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people. Then things will go well for you.
14 Do not move the stone that marks the border of your neighbor’s land. People long ago set them in place. They mark what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.
Rules About Witnesses
15 One witness is not enough to accuse a man of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.
16 A witness might lie and accuse a person of a crime. 17 The two people who are arguing must stand before the Lord. They must stand before the priests and judges who are on duty. 18 The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness might be a liar. He might be lying about his fellow Israelite. 19 If so, he must be punished as he wanted his brother punished. You must get rid of the evil among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. No one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. 21 Give him no mercy. A life must be paid for a life. It must be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.
Laws for War
20 When you go to war against your enemies, you might see horses and chariots. Their army might be bigger than yours. But don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will be with you. He brought you out of Egypt. 2 The priest must come and speak to the army before you go into battle. 3 He should say, “Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage or be afraid. Don’t panic or be frightened. 4 The Lord your God goes with you. He will fight for you against your enemies. And he will save you.”
5 The officers should say to the army, “Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would get to give his house to God. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would enjoy his vineyard. 7 Is any man engaged to a woman and not yet married to her? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would marry her.” 8 Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home. Then he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.” 9 When the officers finish speaking to the army, they should appoint commanders to lead it.
10 You will march up to attack a city. First, make them an offer of peace. 11 They might accept your offer and open their gates to you. If that happens, all the people of that city will become your slaves. They will work for you. 12 But they might not make peace with you. They might fight you in battle. Then you should surround that city. 13 The Lord your God will give you the city. Then kill all the men with your swords. 14 You may take everything else in the city for yourselves. Take the women and children and animals. And you may use these things the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 Do this to all the cities that are far away. They do not belong to the nations nearby.
16 But leave nothing alive in the cities of the land. This is the land the Lord your God is giving you. 17 Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods. And if you do these terrible things, you will sin against the Lord your God.
19 You might surround and attack a city for a long time, trying to capture it. But do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees. Do not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy. So don’t make war against them. 20 But you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may use them to build devices to attack the city walls. You may do this until the city is captured.
Jesus with Moses and Elijah
28 About eight days after Jesus said these things, he took Peter, James, and John and went up on a mountain to pray. 29 While Jesus was praying, his face was changed, and his clothes became shining white. 30 Then two men were talking with Jesus. The men were Moses and Elijah.[a] 31 They appeared in heavenly glory, talking with Jesus about his death which would happen in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and the others were asleep. But they woke up and saw the glory of Jesus. They also saw the two men who were standing with him. 33 When Moses and Elijah were about to leave, Peter said, “Master, it is good that we are here. We will put three tents here—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Peter did not know what he was saying.)
34 While Peter was saying these things, a cloud came down all around them. Peter, James, and John became afraid when the cloud covered them. 35 A voice came from the cloud. The voice said, “This is my Son. He is the One I have chosen. Obey him.”
36 When the voice finished speaking, only Jesus was there. Peter, James, and John said nothing. At that time they told no one about what they had seen.
Jesus Heals a Sick Boy
37 The next day, Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain. A large crowd met Jesus. 38 A man in the crowd shouted to Jesus, “Teacher, please come and look at my son. He is the only child I have. 39 An evil spirit comes into my son, and then he shouts. He loses control of himself, and he foams at the mouth. The evil spirit keeps on hurting him and almost never leaves him. 40 I begged your followers to make the evil spirit leave my son, but they could not do it.”
41 Jesus answered, “You people who live now have no faith. Your lives are all wrong. How long must I be with you and be patient with you?” Then Jesus said to the man, “Bring your son here.”
42 While the boy was coming, the demon threw him on the ground. The boy lost control of himself. But Jesus gave a strong command to the evil spirit. Then the boy was healed, and Jesus gave him back to his father. 43 All the people were amazed at the great power of God.
Jesus Talks About His Death
The people were all wondering about the things Jesus did. But he said to his followers, 44 “Don’t forget the things I tell you now: The Son of Man will be handed over into the control of men.” 45 But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant. The meaning was hidden from them so that they could not understand it. But they were afraid to ask Jesus about what he said.
The Most Important Person
46 Jesus’ followers began to have an argument about which one of them was the greatest. 47 Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he took a little child and stood the child beside him. 48 Then Jesus said, “If anyone accepts a little child like this in my name, then he accepts me. And when he accepts me, he accepts the One who sent me. He who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”
Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us
49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone using your name to force demons out of people. We told him to stop because he does not belong to our group.”
50 Jesus said to him, “Don’t stop him. If a person is not against you, then he is for you.”
Book 3
Psalms 73—89
Should the Wicked Be Rich?
A song of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those who have pure hearts.
2 But I had almost stopped believing this truth.
I had almost lost my faith
3 because I was jealous of proud people.
I saw wicked people doing well.
4 They are not suffering.
They are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like the rest of us.
They don’t have problems like other people.
6 So they wear pride like a necklace.
They put on violence as their clothing.
7 They are looking for profits.
They do not control their selfish desires.
8 They make fun of others and speak evil.
Proudly they speak of hurting others.
9 They brag to the sky.
Their mouths gossip on the earth.
10 So their people turn to them
and give them whatever they want.
11 They say, “How can God know?
What does God Most High know?”
12 These people are wicked,
always at ease and getting richer.
13 So why have I kept my heart pure?
Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?
14 I have suffered all day long.
I have been punished every morning.
15 God, if I had decided to talk about this,
I would have let your people down.
16 I tried to understand all this.
But it was too hard for me to see
17 until I went to the Temple of God.
Then I understood what will happen to them.
18 You have put them in danger.
You cause them to be destroyed.
19 They are destroyed in a moment.
They are swept away by terrors.
20 It will be like waking from a dream.
Lord, when you come, they will disappear.
21 When my heart was sad and
I was angry,
22 I was senseless and stupid.
I acted like an animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you.
You have held my hand.
24 You guide me with your advice.
And later you will receive me in honor.
25 I have no one in heaven but you.
I want nothing on earth besides you.
26 My mind and my body may become weak.
But God is my strength.
He is mine forever.
27 Those who are far from God will die.
You destroy those who are unfaithful.
28 But I am close to God, and that is good.
The Lord God is my protection.
I will tell all that you have done.
10 A good man takes care of his animals.
But even the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.