The Daily Audio Bible

The Tower of Babel

11 At first everyone spoke the same language, ² but after some of them moved from the east^[a] and settled in Babylonia,^{[b] 3-4} they said:

Let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We'll become famous, and we won't be scattered all over the world.

⁵ But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower, ⁶ he said:

These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. ⁷ Let's go down and confuse them! We'll make them speak different languages, and they won't be able to understand each other.

^8-9 So the people had to stop building the city, because the Lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That's how the city of Babel^[c] got its name.

The Descendants of Shem

^10-11 Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of 600. This is a list of his descendants:

¹² When Arpachshad was 35, he had a son named Shelah. ¹³ Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of 438.

¹⁴ When Shelah was 30, he had a son named Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah had more children and died at the age of 433.

¹⁶ When Eber was 34, he had a son named Peleg. ¹⁷ Eber had more children and died at the age of 464.

¹⁸ When Peleg was 30, he had a son named Reu. ¹⁹ Peleg had more children and died at the age of 239.

²⁰ When Reu was 32 he had a son named Serug. ²¹ Reu had more children and died at the age of 239.

²² When Serug was 30, he had a son named Nahor. ²³ Serug had more children and died at the age of 230.

²⁴ When Nahor was 29, he had a son named Terah. ²⁵ Nahor had more children and died at the age of 148.

The Descendants of Terah

^26-28 After Terah was 70 years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah's sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea,^[d] and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah's descendants.

^29-30 Abram married Sarai, but she was not able to have children. And Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of Haran and the sister of Iscah.

³¹ Terah decided to move from Ur to the land of Canaan. He took along Abram and Sarai and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. But when they came to the city of Haran,^[e] they settled there instead. ³² Terah lived to be 205 years old and died in Haran.

The Lord Chooses Abram

12 ^(A) The Lord said to Abram:

Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. ^3 (B) I will bless those who bless you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.^[f]

^4-5 Abram was 75 years old when the Lord told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had acquired while in Haran.

When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, ^7 (C) but the Lord appeared to Abram and promised, “I will give this land to your family forever.” Abram then built an altar there for the Lord.

⁸ Abram traveled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshiped the Lord. ⁹ Later, Abram started out toward the Southern Desert.

Abram in Egypt

^10-11 The crops failed, and there was no food anywhere in Canaan. So Abram and his wife Sarai went to live in Egypt for a while. But just before they got there, Abram said, “Sarai, you are really beautiful! ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you. ^13 (D) Please save my life by saying you are my sister.”

¹⁴ As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was. ¹⁵ The king's^[g] officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house. ¹⁶ The king was good to Abram because of Sarai, and Abram was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.

¹⁷ Because of Sarai, the Lord struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases. ¹⁸ Finally, the king sent for Abram and said to him, “What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you make me believe she was your sister? Now I've married her. Take her and go! She's your wife.”

²⁰ So the king told his men to let Abram and Sarai take their possessions and leave.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 Abram and Sarai took everything they owned and went to the Southern Desert. Lot went with them.

² Abram was very rich. He owned many cattle, sheep, and goats, and had a lot of silver and gold. ³ Abram moved from place to place in the Southern Desert. And finally, he went north and set up his tents between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ where he had earlier camped and built an altar. There he worshiped the Lord.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the side of a mountain and sat down.^[a]

Blessings

(Luke 6.20-23)

Jesus' disciples gathered around him, ² and he taught them:

^11 (F) God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. ^12 (G) Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.

Salt and Light

(Mark 9.50; Luke 14.34,35)

^13 (H) You are the salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.

^14 (I) You are the light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, ^15 (J) and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a clay pot. Instead, it is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. ^16 (K) Make your light shine, so others will see the good you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

The Law of Moses

¹⁷ Don't suppose I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets.^[e] I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. ^18 (L) Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen.

¹⁹ If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. ²⁰ You must obey God's commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don't, I promise you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

^21 (M) You know our ancestors were told, “Do not murder” and “A murderer must be brought to trial.” ²² But I promise you if you are angry with someone,^[f] you will have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court. And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of hell.

²³ So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.

²⁵ Before you are dragged into court, make friends with the person who has accused you of doing wrong. If you don't, you will be handed over to the judge and then to the officer who will put you in jail. ²⁶ I promise you will not get out until you have paid the last cent you owe.

(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use flutes.)

A Prayer for Help