The Daily Audio Bible
The Assurance of Deliverance
22 [a] Moses returned[b] to the Lord, and said, “Lord,[c] why have you caused trouble for this people?[d] Why did you ever[e] send me? 23 From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused trouble[f] for this people, and you have certainly not rescued[g] them!”[h]
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh,[i] for compelled by my strong hand[j] he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”[k]
2 God spoke[l] to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.[m] 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as[n] God Almighty,[o] but by my name ‘the Lord’[p] I was not known to them.[q] 4 I also established my covenant with them[r] to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners.[s] 5 I[t] have also heard[u] the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving,[v] and I have remembered my covenant.[w] 6 Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out[x] from your enslavement to[y] the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose,[z] and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God.[aa] Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to[ab] the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land I swore to give[ac] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—and I will give it to you[ad] as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
9 [ae] Moses told this[af] to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him[ag] because of their discouragement[ah] and hard labor. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt that he must release[ai] the Israelites from his land.” 12 But Moses replied to[aj] the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then[ak] how will Pharaoh listen to me, since[al] I speak with difficulty?”[am]
13 The Lord spoke[an] to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge[ao] for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
The Ancestry of Moses and Aaron
14 [ap] These were the heads of their fathers’ households:[aq]
The sons[ar] of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans[as] of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
16 Now these were the names of the sons of Levi, according to their records:[at] Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (The length of Levi’s life was 137 years.)
17 The sons of Gershon, by their families, were Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (The length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.)
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records.
20 Amram married[au] his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (The length of Amram’s life was 137 years.)
21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.
22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.
25 Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas.
These were the heads of the fathers’ households[av] of Levi according to their clans.
26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.”[aw] 27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.
The Authentication of the Word
28 [ax] When[ay] the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said to him,[az] “I am the Lord. Tell[ba] Pharaoh king of Egypt all that[bb] I am telling[bc] you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty,[bd] why should Pharaoh listen to me?”
7 So the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God[be] to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.[bf] 2 You are to speak[bg] everything I command you,[bh] and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release[bi] the Israelites from his land. 3 But I will harden[bj] Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply[bk] my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you.[bl] I will reach into[bm] Egypt and bring out my regiments,[bn] my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 Then[bo] the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I extend my hand[bp] over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 The Lord said[bq] to Moses and Aaron,[br] 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do[bs] a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down[bt] before Pharaoh,’ it will become[bu] a snake.” 10 When[bv] Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them—Aaron threw down[bw] his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake.[bx] 11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers,[by] and the magicians[bz] of Egypt by their secret arts[ca] did the same thing. 12 Each man[cb] threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard,[cc] and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
Plague One: Water to Blood
14 [cd] The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard;[ce] he refuses to release[cf] the people. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when[cg] he goes out to the water. Position yourself[ch] to meet him by the edge of the Nile,[ci] and take[cj] in your hand the staff[ck] that was turned into a snake. 16 Tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say,[cl] “Release my people, that they may serve me[cm] in the wilderness!” But until now[cn] you have not listened.[co] 17 This is what the Lord has said: “By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike[cp] the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood.[cq] 18 Fish[cr] in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable[cs] to drink water from the Nile.”’” 19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters—over their rivers, over their canals,[ct] over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs[cu]—so that it becomes[cv] blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in[cw] the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.” 20 Moses and Aaron did so,[cx] just as the Lord had commanded. He raised[cy] the staff[cz] and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes[da] of Pharaoh and his servants,[db] and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.[dc] 21 When the fish[dd] that were in the Nile died, the Nile began[de] to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood[df] everywhere in the land of Egypt! 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same[dg] by their secret arts, and so[dh] Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[di] and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron[dj]—just as the Lord had predicted. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this.[dk] 24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink,[dl] because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
Plague Two: Frogs
25 [dm] Seven full days passed[dn] after the Lord struck[do] the Nile.
21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother[a] who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times![b]
The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave
23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.[c] 24 As[d] he began settling his accounts, a man who owed 10,000 talents[e] was brought to him. 25 Because[f] he was not able to repay it,[g] the lord ordered him to be sold, along with[h] his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. 26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground[i] before him, saying,[j] ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’ 27 The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 After[k] he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 silver coins.[l] So[m] he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him,[n] saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’[o] 29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him,[p] ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt. 31 When[q] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. 32 Then his lord called the first slave[r] and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! 33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him[s] until he repaid all he owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your[t] brother[u] from your heart.”
Questions About Divorce
19 Now when[v] Jesus finished these sayings, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River.[w] 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Then some Pharisees[x] came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful[y] to divorce a wife for any cause?”[z] 4 He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female,[aa] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?[ab] 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”[ac] 8 Jesus[ad] said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts,[ae] but from the beginning it was not this way. 9 Now I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery.” 10 The[af] disciples said to him, “If this is the case of a husband with a wife, it is better not to marry!” 11 He[ag] said to them, “Not everyone can accept this statement, except those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth,[ah] and some who were made eunuchs[ai] by others,[aj] and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”
Psalm 23[a]
A psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd,[b]
I lack nothing.[c]
2 He takes me to lush pastures,[d]
he leads me to refreshing water.[e]
3 He restores my strength.[f]
He leads me down[g] the right paths[h]
for the sake of his reputation.[i]
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,[j]
I fear[k] no danger,[l]
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.[m]
5 You prepare a feast before me[n]
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh[o] my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.[p]
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness[q] will pursue[r] me all my days,[s]
and I will live in[t] the Lord’s house[u] for the rest of my life.[v]
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