The Daily Audio Bible
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Expiation of a Crime
21 “If someone is found slain, lying in the field, in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has killed him, 2 then your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the dead person. 3 It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the dead man shall take a heifer of the herd, one which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a [river] valley with running water, which has not been plowed or planted, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall approach, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the Name (Presence) of the Lord; and every dispute and every assault (violent crime) shall be settled by them. 6 All the elders of that city nearest to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond, and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. 8 Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not put the guilt of innocent blood among Your people Israel.’ And the guilt of blood shall be forgiven them. 9 So shall you remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
Domestic Relations
10 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you lead them away captive, 11 and you see a beautiful woman among the captives, and desire her and would take her as your wife, 12 then you shall bring her [home] to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails [in preparation for mourning]. 13 She shall take off the clothes of her captivity and remain in your house, and weep (mourn) for her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 But it shall be that if you have no delight and take no pleasure in her, then you shall let her go [a]wherever she wishes. You certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not deal with her as a slave or mistreat her, because you have humbled her [by forced marriage].
15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other [b]unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have born him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the unloved wife, 16 then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he cannot treat the son of his loved wife as firstborn in place of the son of the unloved wife—the [actual] firstborn. 17 Instead he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved as the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he was the beginning of his strength (generative power); to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
18 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or of his mother, and when they reprimand and discipline him, he will not listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall take hold of him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. 20 They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’(A) 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
22 “And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death and [[c]afterward] you hang him on a tree [as a public example],(B) 23 his body shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall most certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed by God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.(C)
Various Laws
22 “You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away or being stolen, and [d]ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly take them back to him.(D) 2 If your countryman is not nearby or you do not know him, you shall bring the animal to your house, and it shall stay with you until he searches for it; then you shall return it to him. 3 You shall do this with his donkey or with his garment or with anything that your countryman has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to ignore [your duty to help] them. 4 You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and ignore [your duty to help] them; you shall certainly help him lift it up.
5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord your God.
6 “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother [bird] is sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7 You shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a railing (parapet) around your [flat] roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of [innocent] blood on your house if someone falls from it.
9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or everything produced by the seed which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard will become defiled [and banned for use].
10 “You shall not plow with an ox [a clean animal] and a donkey [an unclean animal] [e]together.(E)
11 “You shall not wear a fabric made of wool and linen blended together [a fabric pagans believed to be magical].(F)
12 “You shall make tassels for yourself on the four corners of your outer garment with which you cover yourself.(G)
Laws on Morality
13 “If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then scorns and hates her, 14 and charges her [without cause] with shameful behavior and [f]publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the young woman’s father and her mother shall get and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city at the gate [where court is held]. 16 The father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her and has turned against her; 17 and behold, he has made baseless charges against her, saying, “I did not find in your daughter the evidence of her virginity.” But this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread out the [g]garment before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and reprimand him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the father of the young woman, because he [h]publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to divorce her as long as he lives.
20 “But if this charge is true that the evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring her out to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed a deliberate sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father’s house. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
22 “If a man is [i]intimate with a woman who is another man’s wife, they shall both be put to death, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
23 “If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged (legally betrothed) to a man, and another man finds her in the city and is intimate with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out for help [though she was] in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s [promised] wife. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
25 “However, if the man finds the girl who is engaged (legally betrothed) in the [open] field, and seizes her and is intimate with her [by force], then only the man who lies with her shall be put to death. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no sin worthy of death, for this is the same as when a man attacks his neighbor and murders [j]him. 27 When he found her in the [open] field, the engaged girl [may have] cried out for help, but there was no one to [hear and] save her.
28 “If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and is intimate with her and they are discovered, 29 then the man who was intimate with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the girl’s father, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he can [k]never divorce her.
30 “[l]A man shall not take his father’s [former] wife, so that he will not [m]expose his father’s wife.
51 Now when the time was approaching for Him to be taken up [to heaven], He was determined to go to Jerusalem [to fulfill His purpose]. 52 He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went into a Samaritan village to make arrangements for Him; 53 but the people would not welcome Him, [a]because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them?”(A) 55 But He turned and rebuked them [b][and He said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they journeyed on to another village.
Exacting Discipleship
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”(B) 58 And Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” 59 He said to another, “Follow Me [accepting Me as Master and Teacher].” But he said, “Lord, allow me first to go and [c]bury my father.”(C) 60 But He said to him, “Allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and spread the news about the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord [as Your disciple]; but first let me say goodbye to those at my home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The Seventy Sent Out
10 Now after this the Lord appointed [d]seventy others, and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every city and place where He was about to go. 2 He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; listen carefully: I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not carry a money belt, a provision bag, or [extra] sandals; and do not [e]greet anyone along the way [who would delay you]. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘[f]Peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God] to this house.’ 6 And if anyone of peace is there [someone who is sweet-spirited and hospitable], your [blessing of] peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not move from house to house.(D) 8 Whenever you go into a city and they welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick [authenticating your message], and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you [breaking all ties]; yet understand this, that the kingdom of God has come near [and you rejected it].’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable in that day [of judgment] for Sodom than for that city.(E)
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2
Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;
Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
3
Turn your footsteps [quickly] toward the perpetual ruins;
The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4
In the midst of Your meeting place Your enemies have roared [with their battle cry];
They have set up their own emblems for signs [of victory].
5
It seems as if one had lifted up
An axe in a forest of trees [to set a record of destruction].
6
And now all the carved work [of the meeting place]
They smash with hatchets and hammers.
7
They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have profaned the dwelling place of Your [a]name.
8
They said in their heart, “Let us completely subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9
We do not see our symbols;
There is no longer any prophet [to guide us],
Nor does any among us know for how long.
10
O God, how long will the adversary scoff?
Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?
11
Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand [from judging the enemy]?
Remove Your hand from Your chest, destroy them!
12
Yet God is my King of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13
You divided the [Red] Sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the [b]sea monsters in the waters.(A)
14
You crushed the heads of [c]Leviathan (Egypt);
You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.(B)
15
You broke open fountains and streams;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.(C)
16
The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.
17
You have defined and established all the borders of the earth [the divisions of land and sea and of the nations];
You have made summer and winter.(D)
18
Remember this, O Lord, the enemy has scoffed,
And a foolish and impious people has spurned Your name.
19
Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast;
Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20
Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],
For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21
Let not the oppressed return dishonored;
Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.
22
Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man scoffs at You all day long.
23
Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,
The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].
11
He who tills his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who follows worthless things lacks common sense and good judgment.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.