The Daily Audio Bible
40 The king of Arad, the Canaanite king who lived in the south of the land of Canaan, heard about the approach of the Israelites.
41 They traveled from Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 They traveled from Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 They traveled from Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 They traveled from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab. 45 They traveled from Iim[a] and camped in Dibon Gad. 46 They traveled from Dibon Gad and camped in Almon Diblathaim. 47 They traveled from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim before Nebo. 48 They traveled from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the rift valley plains[b] by Moab along the Jordan River[c] across from Jericho. 49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth as far as Abel Shittim in the rift valley plains of Moab.
At the Border of Canaan
50 The Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab along the Jordan, across from Jericho. He said: 51 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images, all their molten images,[d] and demolish their high places. 53 You must dispossess the inhabitants of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess it. 54 You must divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families. To a larger group you must give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group you must give a smaller inheritance. Everyone’s inheritance must be in the place where his lot falls. You must inherit according to your ancestral[e] tribes. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living. 56 And what I intended to do to them I will do to you.’”
The Southern Border of the Land
34 [f] Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Give these instructions[g] to the Israelites, and tell them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance,[h] the land of Canaan with its borders, 3 your southern border[i] will extend from the wilderness of Zin along the Edomite border, and your southern border will run eastward to the extremity of the Salt Sea, 4 and then the border will turn from the south to the Scorpion Ascent,[j] continue to Zin, and then its direction[k] will be from the south to Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon. 5 There the border will turn from Azmon to the Stream of Egypt, and then its direction is to the sea.[l]
The Western Border of the Land
6 “‘And for a western border[m] you will have the Great Sea.[n] This will be your western border.
The Northern Border of the Land
7 “‘And this will be your northern border: From the Great Sea you will draw a line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you will draw a line to Lebo Hamath,[o] and the direction of the border will be to Zedad. 9 The border will continue to Ziphron, and its direction will be to Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.
The Eastern Border of the Land
10 “‘For your eastern border you will draw a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Kinnereth.[p] 12 Then the border will continue down the Jordan River[q] and its direction will be to the Salt Sea. This will be your land by its borders that surround it.’”
13 Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land that you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given[r] to the nine-and-a-half tribes, 14 because the tribe of the Reubenites by their families,[s] the tribe of the Gadites by their families, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. 15 The two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
Appointed Officials
16 The Lord said to Moses: 17 “These are the names of the men who are to allocate the land to you as an inheritance:[t] Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 18 You must take one leader from every[u] tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance.[v] 19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; 22 and from the tribe of the Danites, a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. 23 From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh; 24 from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; 25 from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach; 26 from the tribe of the Issacharites, a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan; 27 from the tribe of the Asherites, a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi; 28 and from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide up the inheritance among the Israelites in the land of Canaan.
The Levitical Cities
35 [w] Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains[x] of Moab along the Jordan near Jericho. He said: 2 “Instruct the Israelites to give[y] the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites[z] will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards[aa] from the town wall.
5 “You must measure[ab] from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards,[ac] and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle.[ad] This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee.[ae] And you must give them forty-two other towns.
7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.
The Cities of Refuge
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River[af] into the land of Canaan, 11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge.
14 “‘You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the resident foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
16 “‘But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies,[ag] he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 19 The avenger[ah] of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him.
20 “‘But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally[ai] so that he dies, 21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.
22 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, 23 or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, 24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. 25 The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there[aj] until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. 26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 28 because the slayer[ak] should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. 29 So these things must be a statutory ordinance[al] for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live.
30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony[am] of witnesses, but one witness cannot[an] testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.[ao]
33 “‘You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.’”
Healing a Leper
12 While[a] Jesus[b] was in one of the towns,[c] a man came[d] to him who was covered with[e] leprosy.[f] When[g] he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground[h] and begged him,[i] “Lord, if[j] you are willing, you can make me clean.” 13 So[k] he stretched out his hand and touched[l] him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Then[m] he ordered the man[n] to tell no one,[o] but commanded him,[p] “Go[q] and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering[r] for your cleansing, as Moses commanded,[s] as a testimony to them.”[t] 15 But the news about him spread even more,[u] and large crowds were gathering together to hear him[v] and to be healed of their illnesses. 16 Yet Jesus himself[w] frequently withdrew[x] to the wilderness[y] and prayed.
Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic
17 Now on[z] one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees[aa] and teachers of the law[ab] sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem),[ac] and the power of the Lord was with him[ad] to heal. 18 Just then[ae] some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man[af] on a stretcher.[ag] They[ah] were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.[ai] 19 But[aj] since they found[ak] no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof[al] and let him down on the stretcher[am] through the roof tiles[an] right[ao] in front of Jesus.[ap] 20 When[aq] Jesus[ar] saw their[as] faith he said, “Friend,[at] your sins are forgiven.”[au] 21 Then[av] the experts in the law[aw] and the Pharisees began to think[ax] to themselves,[ay] “Who is this man[az] who is uttering blasphemies?[ba] Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived[bb] their hostile thoughts,[bc] he said to them,[bd] “Why are you raising objections[be] within yourselves? 23 Which is easier,[bf] to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know[bg] that the Son of Man[bh] has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man[bi]—“I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher[bj] and go home.”[bk] 25 Immediately[bl] he stood up before them, picked[bm] up the stretcher[bn] he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying[bo] God. 26 Then[bp] astonishment[bq] seized them all, and they glorified[br] God. They were filled with awe,[bs] saying, “We have seen incredible[bt] things[bu] today.”[bv]
The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners
27 After[bw] this, Jesus[bx] went out and saw a tax collector[by] named Levi[bz] sitting at the tax booth.[ca] “Follow me,”[cb] he said to him. 28 And he got up and followed him, leaving everything[cc] behind.[cd]
Psalm 65[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
65 Praise awaits you,[b] O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
2 You hear prayers;[c]
all people approach you.[d]
3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,[e]
but you forgive[f] our acts of rebellion.
4 How blessed[g] is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts.[h]
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house—
your holy palace.[i]
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior.[j]
All the ends of the earth trust in you,[k]
as well as those living across the wide seas.[l]
6 You created the mountains by your power,[m]
and demonstrated your strength.[n]
7 You calmed the raging seas[o]
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations.[p]
8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts;[q]
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you.[r]
9 You visit the earth and give it rain;[s]
you make it rich and fertile.[t]
God’s streams are full of water;[u]
you provide grain for the people of the earth,[v]
for you have prepared the earth in this way.[w]
10 You saturate[x] its furrows,
and soak[y] its plowed ground.[z]
With rain showers you soften its soil,[aa]
and make its crops grow.[ab]
11 You crown the year with your good blessings,[ac]
and you leave abundance in your wake.[ad]
12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,[ae]
and the hills are clothed with joy.[af]
13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
23 The desire of the righteous is only good,
but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.[a]
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