The Daily Audio Bible
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The Passover
16 Celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God during the month of Abib, because it was during Abib that he brought you out of Egypt at night. 2 As the sacrifice for the Passover to the Lord your God, offer an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose to be worshiped. 3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast. But for seven days eat bread made without yeast, the bread of suffering, because you left Egypt in a hurry. So all your life you will remember the time you left Egypt. 4 There must be no yeast anywhere in your land for seven days. Offer the sacrifice on the evening of the first day, and eat all the meat before morning; do not leave it overnight.
5 Do not offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town the Lord your God gives you, 6 but offer it in the place he will choose to be worshiped. Offer it in the evening as the sun goes down, which is when you left Egypt. 7 Roast the meat and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. The next morning go back to your tents. 8 Eat bread made without yeast for six days. On the seventh day have a special meeting for the Lord your God, and do not work that day.
The Feast of Weeks
9 Count seven weeks from the time you begin to harvest the grain, 10 and then celebrate the Feast of Weeks for the Lord your God. Bring an offering as a special gift to him, giving to him just as he has blessed you. 11 Rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose to be worshiped. Everybody should rejoice: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your town, the strangers, orphans, and widows living among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully obey all these laws.
The Feast of Shelters
13 Celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days, after you have gathered your harvest from the threshing floor and winepress. 14 Everybody should rejoice at your Feast: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites, strangers, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. 15 Celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God for seven days at the place he will choose, because the Lord your God will bless all your harvest and all the work you do, and you will be completely happy.
16 All your men must come before the Lord three times a year to the place he will choose. They must come at these times: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters. No man should come before the Lord without a gift. 17 Each of you must bring a gift that will show how much the Lord your God has blessed you.
Judges for the People
18 Appoint judges and officers for your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you; they must judge the people fairly. 19 Do not judge unfairly or take sides. Do not let people pay you to make wrong decisions, because that kind of payment makes wise people seem blind, and it changes the words of good people. 20 Always do what is right so that you will live and always have the land the Lord your God is giving you.
God Hates Idols
21 Do not set up a wooden Asherah idol next to the altar you build for the Lord your God, 22 and do not set up holy stone pillars. The Lord your God hates them.
17 If an ox or sheep has something wrong with it, do not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. He would hate that.
2 A man or woman in one of the towns the Lord gave you might be found doing something evil and breaking the Agreement. 3 That person may have served other gods and bowed down to them or to the sun or moon or stars of the sky, which I have commanded should not be done. 4 If someone has told you about it, you must look into the matter carefully. If it is true that such a hateful thing has happened in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gates and throw stones at that person until he dies. 6 There must be two or three witnesses that it is true before the person is put to death; if there is only one witness, the person should not be put to death. 7 The witnesses must be the first to throw stones at the person, and then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.
Courts of Law
8 Some cases that come before you, such as murder, quarreling, or attack, may be too difficult to judge. Take these cases to the place the Lord your God will choose. 9 Go to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who is on duty at that time. Ask them about the case, and they will decide. 10 You must follow the decision they give you at the place the Lord your God will choose. Be careful to do everything they tell you. 11 Follow the teachings they give you, and do whatever they decide, exactly as they tell you. 12 The person who does not show respect for the judge or priest who is there serving the Lord your God must be put to death. You must get rid of that evil from Israel. 13 Then everyone will hear about this and will be afraid, and they will not show disrespect anymore.
Choosing a King
14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, taking it as your own and living in it, you will say, “Let’s appoint a king over us like the nations all around us.” 15 Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be one of your own people. Do not appoint as your king a foreigner who is not a fellow Israelite. 16 The king must not have too many horses for himself, and he must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because the Lord has told you, “Don’t return that way again.” 17 The king must not have many wives, or his heart will be led away from God. He must not have too much silver and gold.
18 When he becomes king, he should write a copy of the teachings on a scroll for himself, a copy taken from the priests and Levites. 19 He should keep it with him all the time and read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to respect the Lord his God, and he will obey all the teachings and commands. 20 He should not think he is better than his fellow Israelites, and he must not stop obeying the law in any way so that he and his descendants may rule the kingdom for a long time.
Herod Is Confused About Jesus
7 Herod, the governor, heard about all the things that were happening and was confused, because some people said, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead.” 8 Others said, “Elijah has come to us.” And still others said, “One of the prophets who lived long ago has risen from the dead.” 9 Herod said, “I cut off John’s head, so who is this man I hear such things about?” And Herod kept trying to see Jesus.
More than Five Thousand Fed
10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then Jesus took them with him to a town called Bethsaida where they could be alone together. 11 But the people learned where Jesus went and followed him. He welcomed them and talked with them about God’s kingdom and healed those who needed to be healed.
12 Late in the afternoon, the twelve apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the people away. They need to go to the towns and countryside around here and find places to sleep and something to eat, because no one lives in this place.”
13 But Jesus said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
They said, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go buy food for all these people.” 14 (There were about five thousand men there.)
Jesus said to his followers, “Tell the people to sit in groups of about fifty people.”
15 So the followers did this, and all the people sat down. 16 Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish, and looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. Then he divided the food and gave it to the followers to give to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was gathered up, filling twelve baskets.
Jesus Is the Christ
18 One time when Jesus was praying alone, his followers were with him, and he asked them, “Who do the people say I am?”
19 They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah.[a] And others say you are one of the prophets from long ago who has come back to life.”
20 Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ from God.”
21 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone, saying, 22 “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He will be killed and after three days will be raised from the dead.”
23 Jesus said to all of them, “If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. 24 Those who want to save their lives will give up true life. But those who give up their lives for me will have true life. 25 It is worthless to have the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost. 26 If people are ashamed of me and my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some people standing here will see the kingdom of God before they die.”
A Prayer for the King
Of Solomon.
72 God, give the king your good judgment
and the king’s son your goodness.
2 Help him judge your people fairly
and decide what is right for the poor.
3 Let there be peace on the mountains
and goodness on the hills for the people.
4 Help him be fair to the poor
and save the needy
and punish those who hurt them.
5 May they respect you as long as the sun shines
and as long as the moon glows.
6 Let him be like rain on the grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Let goodness be plentiful while he lives.
Let peace continue as long as there is a moon.
8 Let his kingdom go from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let the people of the desert bow down to him,
and make his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the faraway lands
bring him gifts.
Let the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring their presents to him.
11 Let all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
12 He will help the poor when they cry out
and will save the needy when no one else will help.
13 He will be kind to the weak and poor,
and he will save their lives.
14 He will save them from cruel people who try to hurt them,
because their lives are precious to him.
15 Long live the king!
Let him receive gold from Sheba.
Let people always pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 Let the fields grow plenty of grain
and the hills be covered with crops.
Let the land be as fertile as Lebanon,
and let the cities grow like the grass in a field.
17 Let the king be famous forever;
let him be remembered as long as the sun shines.
Let the nations be blessed because of him,
and may they all bless him.
18 Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does such miracles.
19 Praise his glorious name forever.
Let his glory fill the whole world.
Amen and amen.
20 This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.
8 The wisdom of the wise wins praise,
but there is no respect for the stupid.
9 A person who is not important but has a servant is better off
than someone who acts important but has no food.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.