The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the GW. Switch to the GW to read along with the audio.
Purity in Public Worship
23 A man with crushed[a] or severed genitals[b] may not enter the assembly of the Lord.[c] 2 A person of illegitimate birth[d] may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so.[e]
3 No Ammonite or Moabite[f] may enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever[g] do so,[h] 4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired[i] Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed[j] the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves[k] you. 6 You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come. 7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative;[l] you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner[m] in his land. 8 Children of the third generation born to them[n] may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Purity in Personal Hygiene
9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure.[o] 10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission,[p] he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately. 11 When evening arrives he must wash himself with water, and then at sunset he may reenter the camp.
12 You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine.[q] 13 You must have a spade among your other equipment, and when you relieve yourself[r] outside you must dig a hole with the spade[s] and then turn and cover your excrement.[t] 14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat[u] your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent[v] among you and turn away from you.
Purity in the Treatment of the Unprivileged
15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you.[w] 16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages[x] he prefers; you must not oppress him.
Cultic Prostitution Banned
17 There must never be a sacred prostitute[y] among the young women[z] of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute[aa] among the young men[ab] of Israel. 18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute[ac] or the wage of a male prostitute[ad] into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.
Respect for Others’ Property
19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite,[ae] whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he[af] will surely[ag] hold you accountable as a sinner.[ah] 22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please,[ai] but you must not take away any in a container.[aj] 25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand,[ak] but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.
24 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent[al] in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 2 When she has left him[am] she may go and become someone else’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects[an] her and then divorces her,[ao] gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry[ap] her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord.[aq] You must not bring guilt on the land[ar] that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into[as] the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to[at] the wife he has married.
6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security.[au]
7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites,[av] and regards him as mere property[aw] and sells him, that kidnapper[ax] must die. In this way you will purge[ay] the evil from among you.
Respect for Human Dignity
8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely[az] all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam[ba] along the way after you left Egypt.
10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security.[bb] 11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security.[bc] 12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering.[bd] 13 You must by all means[be] return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just deed[bf] by the Lord your God.
14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites[bg] or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages.[bh] 15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children[bi] do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.
17 You must not pervert justice[bj] due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there,[bk] you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.[bl] 20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure;[bm] the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time;[bn] they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.
25 If controversy arises between people,[bo] they should go to court for judgment. When the judges[bp] hear the case, they shall exonerate[bq] the innocent but condemn[br] the guilty. 2 Then,[bs] if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating,[bt] the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves.[bu] 3 The judge[bv] may sentence him to forty blows,[bw] but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite[bx] with contempt.
4 You must not muzzle your[by] ox when it is treading grain.
Respect for the Sanctity of Others
5 If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her,[bz] and perform the duty of a brother-in-law.[ca] 6 Then[cb] the first son[cc] she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she[cd] must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!” 8 Then the elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists, saying, “I don’t want to marry her,” 9 then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face.[ce] She will then respond, “Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother’s family line!”[cf] 10 His family name will be referred to[cg] in Israel as “the family[ch] of the one whose sandal was removed.”[ci]
11 If two men[cj] get into a hand-to-hand fight, and the wife of one of them gets involved to help her husband against his attacker, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his private parts,[ck] 12 then you must cut off her hand—do not pity her.
13 You must not have in your bag different stone weights,[cl] a heavy and a light one.[cm] 14 You must not have in your house different measuring containers,[cn] a large and a small one. 15 You must have an accurate and correct[co] stone weight and an accurate and correct measuring container, so that your life may be extended in the land the Lord your God is about to give you. 16 For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent[cp] to the Lord your God.
Treatment of the Amalekites
17 Remember what the Amalekites[cq] did to you on your way from Egypt, 18 how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and tired; they were unafraid of God.[cr] 19 So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he[cs] is giving you as an inheritance,[ct] you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven[cu]—do not forget![cv]
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin![a] Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if[b] the miracles[c] done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,[d] they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.[e] 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon[f] in the judgment than for you! 15 And you, Capernaum,[g] will you be exalted to heaven?[h] No, you will be thrown down to Hades![i]
16 “The one who listens[j] to you listens to me,[k] and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects[l] the one who sent me.”[m]
17 Then[n] the seventy-two[o] returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to[p] us in your name!”[q] 18 So[r] he said to them, “I saw[s] Satan fall[t] like lightning[u] from heaven. 19 Look, I have given you authority to tread[v] on snakes and scorpions[w] and on the full force of the enemy,[x] and nothing will[y] hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that[z] the spirits submit to you, but rejoice[aa] that your names stand written[ab] in heaven.”
21 On that same occasion[ac] Jesus[ad] rejoiced[ae] in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise[af] you, Father, Lord[ag] of heaven and earth, because[ah] you have hidden these things from the wise[ai] and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.[aj] Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.[ak] 22 All things have been given to me by my Father.[al] No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides[am] to reveal him.”
23 Then[an] Jesus[ao] turned[ap] to his[aq] disciples and said privately, “Blessed[ar] are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see[as] what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 Now[at] an expert in religious law[au] stood up to test Jesus,[av] saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”[aw] 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?”[ax] 27 The expert[ay] answered, “Love[az] the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,[ba] and love your neighbor as yourself.”[bb] 28 Jesus[bc] said to him, “You have answered correctly;[bd] do this, and you will live.”
29 But the expert,[be] wanting to justify[bf] himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied,[bg] “A man was going down[bh] from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat[bi] him up, and went off, leaving him half dead.[bj] 31 Now by chance[bk] a priest was going down that road, but[bl] when he saw the injured man[bm] he passed by[bn] on the other side.[bo] 32 So too a Levite, when he came up to[bp] the place and saw him,[bq] passed by on the other side. 33 But[br] a Samaritan[bs] who was traveling[bt] came to where the injured man[bu] was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him.[bv] 34 He[bw] went up to him[bx] and bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil[by] and wine on them. Then[bz] he put him on[ca] his own animal,[cb] brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The[cc] next day he took out two silver coins[cd] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.’[ce] 36 Which of these three do you think became a neighbor[cf] to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 The expert in religious law[cg] said, “The one who showed mercy[ch] to him.” So[ci] Jesus said to him, “Go and do[cj] the same.”
Psalm 75[a]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph, a song.
75 We give thanks to you, O God. We give thanks.
You reveal your presence;[c]
people tell about your amazing deeds.
2 God says,[d]
“At the appointed times,[e]
I judge[f] fairly.
3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear,[g]
I make its pillars secure.”[h] (Selah)
4 [i] I say to the proud, “Do not be proud,”
and to the wicked, “Do not be so confident of victory.[j]
5 Do not be so certain you have won.[k]
Do not speak with your head held so high.[l]
6 For victory does not come from the east or west,
or from the wilderness.[m]
7 For God is the judge.[n]
He brings one down and exalts another.[o]
8 For the Lord holds in his hand a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices,[p]
and pours it out.[q]
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.”[r]
9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done;[s]
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 God says,[t]
“I will bring down all the power of the wicked;
the godly will be victorious.”[u]
12 The wicked person has desired[a] the stronghold[b] of the wicked,
but the root of the righteous will yield fruit.[c]
13 The evil person is ensnared[d] by the transgression of his speech,[e]
but the righteous person escapes out of trouble.[f]
14 A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words,[g]
and the work of his hands[h] will be rendered to[i] him.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.