The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel’s Failure to Complete the Conquest of Canaan
1 After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?”(A) 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up. I hereby give the land into his hand.” 3 Judah said to his brother Simeon, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; then I, too, will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him.(B) 4 Then Judah went up, and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated ten thousand of them at Bezek.(C) 5 They came upon Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has paid me back.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
8 Then the people of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it. They put it to the sword and set the city on fire.(D) 9 Afterward the people of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. 10 Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.(E)
11 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir (the name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher). 12 Then Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, I will give him my daughter Achsah as wife.” 13 And Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife.(F) 14 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”(G) 15 She said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also Gulloth-mayim.”[a] So Caleb gave her Upper Gulloth and Lower Gulloth.
16 The descendants of Hobab[b] the Kenite, Moses’s father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad. Then they went and settled with the Amalekites.[c](H) 17 Judah went with his brother Simeon, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the city was called Hormah.(I) 18 Judah took Gaza with its territory, Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 19 The Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country but could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain, because they had chariots of iron.(J) 20 Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove out from it the three sons of Anak.(K) 21 But the Benjaminites did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived in Jerusalem among the Benjaminites to this day.(L)
22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 The house of Joseph sent out spies to Bethel (the name of the city was formerly Luz).(M) 24 When the spies saw a man coming out of the city, they said to him, “Show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 So he showed them the way into the city, and they put the city to the sword, but they let the man and all his family go.(N) 26 So the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz; that is its name to this day.
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of[d] Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, but the Canaanites continued to live in that land.(O) 28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor but did not in fact drive them out.
29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, but the Canaanites lived among them in Gezer.(P)
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol, but the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Mahalab,[e] or of Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob,(Q) 32 but the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed the Danites back into the hill country; they did not allow them to come down to the plain.(R) 35 The Amorites continued to live in Har-heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor. 36 The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.(S)
Israel’s Disobedience
2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.(T) 2 For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!(U) 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become adversaries[f] to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”(V) 4 When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5 So they named that place Bochim,[g] and there they sacrificed to the Lord.
Death of Joshua
6 When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites all went to their own inheritances to take possession of the land.(W) 7 The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. 9 So they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.(A) 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.(B)
Exhortation to Watch
34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly,(C) 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”(D)
37 Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called.(E) 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near.(F) 2 The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus[a] to death, for they were afraid of the people.(G)
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve;(H) 4 he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. 5 They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money.(I) 6 So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.
The Preparation of the Passover
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.(J) 8 So Jesus[b] sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.”(K) 9 They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” 10 “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” 13 So they went and found everything as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
Book IV
(Psalms 90–106)
Psalm 90
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place[a]
in all generations.(A)
2 Before the mountains were brought forth
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.(B)
3 You turn us[b] back to dust
and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”(C)
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past
or like a watch in the night.(D)
5 You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;(E)
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.(F)
7 For we are consumed by your anger;
by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your countenance.(G)
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
our years come to an end[c] like a sigh.(H)
10 The days of our life are seventy years
or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span[d] is only toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.(I)
11 Who considers the power of your anger?
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.(J)
12 So teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.(K)
13 Turn, O Lord! How long?
Have compassion on your servants!(L)
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.(M)
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants
and your glorious power to their children.(N)
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands!(O)
Psalm 91
Assurance of God’s Protection
1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,[e](P)
2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”(Q)
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the hunter
and from the deadly pestilence;(R)
4 he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and defense.(S)
5 You will not fear the terror of the night
or the arrow that flies by day(T)
6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.(U)
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.(V)
9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,[f]
the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.(W)
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.