The Daily Audio Bible
The Pillars of Cloud and Fire
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer, for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.”(A) 18 So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness bordering the Red Sea.[a] The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle. 19 And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had required a solemn oath of the Israelites, saying, “God will surely come to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.”(B) 20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.(C) 21 The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.(D) 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Crossing the Red Sea
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea.(E) 3 Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.’ 4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.(F)
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him; 7 he took six hundred elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly.(G) 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.(H)
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord.(I) 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?(J) 12 Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again.(K) 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”(L)
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16 But you lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground.(M) 17 Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.(N) 18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.”(O)
19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them.(P) 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.(Q) 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.(R) 23 The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the Lord, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic.(S) 25 He clogged[b] their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”(T)
The Pursuers Drowned
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea.(U) 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained.(V) 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.(W)
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.(X) 31 Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.(Y)
The Song of Moses
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.(Z)
2 The Lord is my strength and my might,[c]
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him;
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.(AA)
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.(AB)
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his elite officers were sunk in the Red Sea.[d](AC)
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.(AD)
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—
your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.(AE)
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you sent out your fury; it consumed them like stubble.(AF)
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.(AG)
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue; I will overtake;
I will divide the spoil; my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’(AH)
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.(AI)
11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, doing wonders?(AJ)
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;
you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.(AK)
14 The peoples heard; they trembled;
pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.(AL)
15 Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
trembling seized the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.(AM)
16 Terror and dread fell upon them;
by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone
until your people, O Lord, passed by,
until the people whom you acquired passed by.(AN)
17 You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,
the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.(AO)
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”(AP)
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”(A) 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for all regard John as a prophet.”(B) 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’(C) 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father[a] went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.(D) 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him.(E)
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away.(F) 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.(G) 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.(H) 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. 37 Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’(I) 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”(J)
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[b]
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?(K)
43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits.(L) 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”[c]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.(M)
Psalm 26
Plea for Justice and Declaration of Righteousness
Of David.
1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.(A)
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
test my heart and mind.(B)
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you.[a](C)
4 I do not sit with the worthless,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;(D)
5 I hate the company of evildoers
and will not sit with the wicked.(E)
6 I wash my hands in innocence
and go around your altar, O Lord,(F)
7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving
and telling all your wondrous deeds.(G)
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,(A)
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that hurry to run to evil,(B)
19 a lying witness who testifies falsely,
and one who sows discord in a family.(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.