The Daily Audio Bible
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Acceptable Offerings
17 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites and say to them: When anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens residing in Israel presents an offering, whether in payment of a vow or as a freewill offering that is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, 19 to be acceptable on your behalf it shall be a male without blemish, of the cattle or the sheep or the goats.(A) 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable on your behalf.(B)
21 “When anyone offers a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or from the flock, to be acceptable it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.(C) 22 Anything blind or injured or maimed or having a discharge or an itch or scabs—these you shall not offer to the Lord or put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire[a] to the Lord. 23 An ox or a lamb that is deformed or stunted you may present for a freewill offering, but it will not be accepted for a vow. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord; such you shall not do within your land, 25 nor shall you accept any such animals from a foreigner to offer as food to your God; since they are mutilated, with a blemish in them, they shall not be accepted on your behalf.”(D)
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as the Lord’s offering by fire.[b](E) 28 But you shall not slaughter, from the herd or the flock, an animal with its young on the same day.(F) 29 When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf.(G) 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning: I am the Lord.(H)
31 “Thus you shall keep my commandments and observe them: I am the Lord.(I) 32 You shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the Israelites: I am the Lord; I sanctify you,(J) 33 I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord.”(K)
Appointed Festivals
23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed festivals.(L)
The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread
3 “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a Sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements.(M)
4 “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, that you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them.(N) 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,[c] there shall be a Passover offering to the Lord,(O) 6 and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.(P) 8 For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;[d] on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations.”
The Offering of First Fruits
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.(Q) 11 He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall raise it. 12 On the day when you raise the sheaf, you shall offer a lamb a year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two-tenths of an ephah of choice flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire[e] of pleasing odor to the Lord, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.(R) 14 You shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements.
The Festival of Weeks
15 “And from the day after the Sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count seven full weeks.(S) 16 You shall count until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord.(T) 17 You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering, each made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of choice flour, baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord.(U) 18 You shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, along with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire[f] of pleasing odor to the Lord. 19 You shall also offer one male goat for a purification offering and two lambs a year old as a sacrifice of well-being.(V) 20 The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you shall make proclamation; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a statute forever in all your settlements throughout your generations.(W)
22 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.”(X)
The Festival of Trumpets
23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the Israelites, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts.(Y) 25 You shall not work at your occupations, and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.”[g]
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall humble yourselves[h] and present the Lord’s offering by fire,[i](Z) 28 and you shall do no work during that entire day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 For those who do not humble themselves[j] during that entire day shall be cut off from the people.(AA) 30 And anyone who does any work during that entire day, such a one I will destroy from the midst of the people.(AB) 31 You shall do no work. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your settlements. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves;[k] on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.”
The Festival of Booths
33 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the Israelites, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and lasting seven days, there shall be the Festival of Booths[l] to the Lord.(AC) 35 The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. 36 Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire;[m] on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire;[n] it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.(AD)
37 “These are the appointed festivals of the Lord that you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire[o]—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day(AE)— 38 apart from the Sabbaths of the Lord and apart from your gifts and apart from all your votive offerings and apart from all your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.
39 “Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord, lasting seven days, a complete rest on the first day and a complete rest on the eighth day.(AF) 40 On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic[p] trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.(AG) 41 You shall keep it as a festival to the Lord lasting seven days in the year; you shall keep it in the seventh month as a statute forever throughout your generations. 42 You shall live in booths for seven days; all who are native-born in Israel shall live in booths,(AH) 43 so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
44 Thus Moses declared to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.(AI)
Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”(A) 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.(B)
Who Is the Greatest?
33 Then they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.(C) 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”(D) 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms he said to them,(E) 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”(F)
Another Exorcist
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,[a] and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”(G) 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us.(H) 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.(I)
Temptations to Sin
42 “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me[b] to sin,[c] it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.(J) 43 If your hand causes you to sin,[d] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,[e] to the unquenchable fire.[f](K) 45 And if your foot causes you to sin,[g] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.[h][i](L) 47 And if your eye causes you to sin,[j] tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,[k](M) 48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.(N)
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire.[l](O) 50 Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?[m] Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”(P)
Teaching about Divorce
10 He left that place and went to the region of Judea and[n] beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him, and, as was his custom, he again taught them.(Q)
2 Some,[o] testing him, asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”(R) 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’(S) 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,[p](T) 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.(U) 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her,(V) 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Psalm 44
National Lament and Prayer for Help
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Maskil.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our ancestors have told us
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:(A)
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;(B)
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm give them victory,
but your right hand, and your arm,
and the light of your countenance,
for you delighted in them.(C)
4 You are my King and my God;
you command[a] victories for Jacob.
5 Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down our assailants.(D)
6 For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to confusion those who hate us.(E)
8 In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah(F)
19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but the prudent are restrained in speech.(A)
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.