The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the CSB. Switch to the CSB to read along with the audio.
28 Israel is a nation without wisdom.
They do not understand what will happen to them.
29 If they were wise, they would understand.
They would know what would happen to them in the end.
30 One man can chase away 1,000 of my people!
Two men can chase away 10,000 of them!
How can that happen? God, their strong Rock, has left them.
The Lord has given their enemies power over them.
31 The gods of our enemies are not strong like our Rock.
Even our enemies know that their own gods are weak.
32 Our enemies are like grapes full of poison.
They are like grapes that have grown in the fields of Sodom and Gomorrah.[a]
33 The wine from their grapes kills people,
like dangerous poison from snakes.
34 The Lord says, ‘I will not forget to punish Israel's enemies.
I have already decided what I will do, and I will do it!
35 When the right time comes,
I will punish them as they deserve.
They will suddenly fall
and great trouble will quickly destroy them.’
36 At that time, the Lord will bring justice for his people.
He will forgive his servants.
He will rescue them when he sees that they are weak,
and very few of them remain, as slaves or free people.
37 Then the Lord will ask his people,
‘Why could your gods not help you?
Those were the gods that you thought would keep you safe.
38 You fed them with the best part of your sacrifices.
You let them drink the wine from your offerings.
So they should be there to help you!
They should keep you safe!
39 Realize the truth! I alone am God.
There is no other god as well as me.
I can kill and I can give life.
I can hurt people and I can make them well again.
Nobody can stop me doing what I choose to do.
40 I lift up my hand to heaven and I make this strong promise:
“I promise you this, as surely as I live for ever:
41 I will make my sword very sharp.
It will move like lightning as I hold it in my hand.
I will punish my enemies as they deserve.
I will pay back everyone who hates me.
42 My arrows will have blood all over them.
My sword will cut into the bodies of my enemies.
Everyone that I take hold of will die.
I will cut off the heads of their leaders.” ’
43 So you people of other nations,
join with God's people to praise him!
He will punish those who have killed his servants.
He will punish all his enemies.
But he will forgive the sins of his people,
and he will make their land clean again.
Moses and Joshua warn the people
44 Moses went and he spoke all the words of this song to the Israelites. He did this together with Joshua, son of Nun. 45 When Moses had finished speaking all these words, 46 he said to the people, ‘Remember carefully the message that I have spoken to you today. You must teach these words to your children. They must learn to obey all the words of God's Law. 47 These are not just useless words. This is a message that gives life! If you obey it, you will live for many years in the land on the other side of the Jordan River. That is the land that will be your new home.’
Moses will die on Mount Nebo
48 On the same day, the Lord said to Moses, 49 ‘Go up into the hill country of Abarim in Moab's land. Climb Mount Nebo where you can see Jericho city on the other side of the river. Look at the land of Canaan. I am giving this land to the Israelites as their new home. 50 You will die on Mount Nebo, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor.[b] 51 Both of you refused to obey me at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Zin desert. You did not show the Israelites that you respected me as God. 52 So you will not go into the land that I am giving to the Israelites. You will only see it from far away.’
Be ready for Jesus to return
35 Jesus said, ‘Always be ready for my return. Be like people that are ready to start work at any time. They have put on their clothes so that they are ready for work.[a] And they have lit their lamps. 36 You must be like servants that are waiting for their master to arrive. When he returns home from the marriage party, he will knock on the door. His servants should be ready to open it for him immediately. 37 Those servants will be very happy if their master finds them awake. I tell you this: The master will dress himself to give them food. He will say to them, “Sit at the table. I will come to serve you.”
38 The master may arrive in the middle of the night. He may even arrive just before the sun rises. But, if the master finds them awake and ready, the servants will be happy.
39 You can be sure about this. The master of a house does not know when a man might come to rob him. If he knew the time, he would keep awake. He would not let the robber come into his house and take away his things.
40 You also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not thinking about it.’[b]
Be a good servant
41 Peter asked Jesus, ‘Master, are you only telling this story to us, your disciples? Or is this story for everyone to hear?’
42 Jesus replied, ‘Be a wise servant. Be someone that the master can trust. The master will choose a man like that. He will say to him, “I want you to rule my house and the other servants. Give them the food that they need at the right time.” 43 That servant will be very happy when his master comes home. His master will see that he has done everything well. 44 Let me tell you what will happen. The master will give that servant authority to rule over everything in his house. 45 But another servant might say to himself, “My master is very late. He will not come yet.” Then he begins to hit the other servants, both the men and the women. He eats too much, and he drinks too much. He even becomes drunk. 46 Then the master of that servant will come home and he will surprise the servant. He did not think that his master would come home on that day or at that time. Then the master will punish that servant a lot. He will put the servant with those people that do not obey him.
47 A servant may know what his master wants him to do. Then he should prepare himself and do that. If he does not, his master will punish him very much. He will hit him a lot. 48 But another servant perhaps does not know what his master wants him to do. So he does wrong things. The master will punish him because he did those wrong things. But he will not hit him as much. If God gives a lot to somebody, he will want a lot back in return. And God will want much more from the person to whom he has given authority over much more.
49 I came to start a fire on earth. I would be happy if that fire were already burning. 50 I have a baptism of pain to receive. I cannot rest until this has happened.[c]
51 I did not come into the world so that everyone will agree with each other. No, I tell you. I came to put people against one another. 52 From now on, because of me, five people in a family will be against each other. Two people will be against the other three. Three of them will be against the other two. 53 They will not agree together. The father will be against his son and the son will be against his father. The mother will be against her daughter and the daughter will be against her mother. The mother will be against her son's wife. And the son's wife will be against her husband's mother.’[d]
54 Then Jesus said to the crowd, ‘If you see a cloud that is rising in the west, immediately you say, “It will rain.” And the rain does come. 55 Sometimes you see that the south wind is blowing. So you say, “It will be very hot weather.” And the hot weather does come. 56 You are hypocrites! You look at the earth and the sky, and you know what weather will come. So look at the special things that are happening near you now. They show you what will soon happen. But you do not understand what they are showing you. Why not?[e]
57 You should know what is right. And you should do it. 58 This may happen to you: Someone says, “You have done something wrong against me.” So he takes hold of you to go to the judge.[f] Before you arrive at the office of the judge, try to agree with this man how to make things right again. If you do not agree together about the problem, it may be bad for you. The judge will give you to his officer. The officer will put you in prison. 59 I tell you. You will remain in prison until you have paid all the money, even the last small coin.’[g]
56 But the Israelites continued to test the Most High God,
and they turned against him.
They did not obey his commands.[a]
57 They turned away from him and they deceived him,
as their ancestors had done.
They were useless,
like a bow that would not shoot straight!
58 The places where they worshipped their idols
made God very angry.
59 God heard what they were doing,
and he became very angry.
He turned against the Israelite people.
60 He went away from his home at Shiloh.
That was the tent where he lived among people.[b]
61 He let Israel's enemies take away the Covenant Box,
that showed his power and his glory.[c]
62 He was so angry with his own people,
he let their enemies kill them in battle.
63 Fire killed their young men in war.
There was nobody for the young women to marry.
64 Their priests died in battle.
Their widows had no chance to weep.
24 If you work hard, you will become a leader.
But if you are lazy, you will become a slave.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.