The Daily Audio Bible

Moses dies on Mount Nebo

34 Then Moses went up from Moab's desert land. He climbed up Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah mountain. Jericho city was on the other side of the Jordan River. The Lord showed him the whole land, from the region of Gilead to Dan in the north. ² He saw all the land that would belong to Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah, as far as the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ³ He saw the Negev desert in the south. He saw the valley that goes from Jericho as far as Zoar. Jericho is called ‘The city of palm trees’.

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘This is the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I told them that I would give it to their descendants. Now I have let you see the land, but you will not go across the river into it.’

⁵ So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in Moab. The Lord had said that this would happen. ⁶ The Lord buried Moses in a valley in Moab, near the town of Beth-Peor. But even today, no one knows the place where God buried him.

⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died. But he could still see well. His body was still strong. ⁸ The Israelites wept for 30 days because of Moses' death. They wept in Moab's desert land until the time for them to be sad came to an end.

⁹ Moses had already chosen Nun's son, Joshua, to take his place as the leader of the Israelites. So the Lord had filled Joshua with wisdom. The Israelites listened to Joshua. They obeyed the commands that the Lord had given to Moses.

¹⁰ There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses. The Lord spoke to him, face to face. ¹¹ Moses did the miracles that the Lord had sent him to do in Egypt. Those miracles showed the Lord's power to Pharaoh and his officers, and to all the people in his country. ¹² No other prophet has shown such great power and authority for all the Israelites to see.

God tells Joshua what to do

1 The Lord's servant, Moses, had died.^[a] Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun, who had helped Moses in his work. ² The Lord said to Joshua,

‘Moses, my servant, is dead. Now you and all these people must get ready to cross the Jordan River. Lead the people of Israel into the land that I am giving to them. ³ I have given to you every part of the ground that you walk on. I promised Moses that I would do this. ⁴ You will have all the land from the desert in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north. It will be from the river Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. You will have all the land of the Hittite people. ⁵ No one can stop you from taking this land as long as you live. As I was with Moses, I will always be with you. I will never leave you alone.

⁶ Be strong and do not be afraid. You will lead these people to take the land. That is the land that I promised to give to their ancestors. ⁷ Be strong and do not be afraid. Be very careful to do all the things that Moses commanded you to do. Then everything will go well with you, everywhere that you go. ⁸ You must keep on speaking about the words of God's law. Think about what it says, all the time. Be careful to obey it. Then you will do well, and you will win. ⁹ Remember that I have told you this: Be strong and do not be afraid. Do not be weak but be brave. I, the Lord your God, will be with you, everywhere that you go.’

Joshua speaks to the Israelites

¹⁰ So Joshua commanded the leaders of the people, ¹¹ ‘Go through all the places where the people live. Tell them to get food ready for a journey. In three days, you will cross the Jordan River. You will begin to take the land for yourselves. This is the land that the Lord your God is ready to give to you.’

¹² Joshua said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, ¹³ ‘Remember what Moses, the Lord's servant, told you. The Lord your God is giving to you a place to rest safely.^[b] He has given this land to you. ¹⁴ Your wives, children and animals can stay in this land that Moses gave to you, on the east side of the Jordan River. But your strong men must cross the river, with their weapons. They must go in front of the other Israelite tribes. You must help them ¹⁵ until the Lord gives them a place to rest, as he has already given to you. When all the other tribes are safe in the land, you may return to the land east of the Jordan. Moses gave this land to you.’

¹⁶ The people said to Joshua, ‘We will do whatever you tell us. And we will go wherever you send us. ¹⁷ As we always obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. The Lord your God was with Moses. So we pray that the Lord will be with you too. ¹⁸ If anyone turns against you and he does not obey your commands, we will make sure that he dies. You must be very strong and brave.’

Rahab helps two men of Israel

2 Then Joshua sent two men to go out from Shittim. He sent them in secret to see what the land was like. He told them, ‘Go! Look at all the land. Look very carefully at Jericho city.’

When they came to Jericho city, they arrived at the house of a prostitute. Her name was Rahab. They stayed there.^[c]

² Some people told the king of Jericho, ‘Look! Some Israelite men have come here tonight to see what our land is like.’ ³ So the king of Jericho sent a message to Rahab. He said, ‘Bring out the men who are staying in your house. They have come secretly to see what all our land is like!’

⁴ But Rahab had hidden the two men. She replied, ‘Yes, some men did come to me. I did not know where they had come from. ⁵ When it was nearly time to close the gate of the city for the night, they left. I do not know where they went. If you chase after them quickly, you may catch them.’ ⁶ But she had taken the men up to the roof. She had hidden them under some straw that she had put there.

⁷ So the king's officers went out of the city to try to find the two Israelite men. They went along the road to the Jordan River, to the place where the road crosses the river. As soon as they had left, people shut the city gate.

⁸ Rahab went up to the roof of her house. She spoke to the men as they prepared to sleep. ⁹ She said to them, ‘I know that the Lord has given this land to you. Everyone here is afraid of you Israelites. Everyone who lives in this land is very frightened. ¹⁰ We heard how the Lord caused the water of the Red Sea to become dry. In that way he brought you out of Egypt. We heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites. We heard how you destroyed them completely on the east side of the Jordan River. ¹¹ When we heard what you had done, we were very frightened. We know that we are not strong enough to fight against you because the Lord, your God, is God. He rules everything in heaven and on earth.

¹² Now, please use the Lord's name to make a strong promise. I have been kind to you. So promise me that you will be kind to my family. Show me that you will certainly do what you have promised. ¹³ When you attack this city, do not kill my family. Save the lives of my father, my mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families.’

¹⁴ The men replied, ‘We promise to do that. If anyone kills you or your family, may we die too! Do not tell anyone about us. When the Lord gives us this land, we will be kind to you. We will save your lives.’

¹⁵ So Rahab put a rope out through the window of her house. (The house that she lived in was part of the city wall.) The men climbed down the rope. ¹⁶ Rahab told them, ‘Go to the hills. The men who are chasing you will not find you there. Hide there for three days until they return to this city. Then you can go back to your people.’

¹⁷ The men said to her, ‘If you do what we say, we will do what we have promised. ¹⁸ We will soon attack this land. So tie this red string in the window that we came through.^[d] Bring your father, your mother, your brothers and sisters and all your family into your house. ¹⁹ If any of them leaves your house, they may die. If that happens, we will not be guilty. We will only be guilty if our soldiers hurt anyone who is in your house. ²⁰ But if you tell anyone about us, we do not have to do what we have promised to you.’

²¹ Rahab said, ‘I agree with what you have said.’ She sent the men away. When they had gone, she tied the red string in her window.

²² The two Israelite men went into the hills and they hid there. The king's officers looked along the road for them for three days. They did not find them, so they returned to Jericho. ²³ Then the two men came down from the hills and they crossed the Jordan River. They went back to Joshua. They told him everything that had happened. ²⁴ They said to him, ‘We are sure that the Lord has given us the whole land. All the people there are very frightened of us.’

A story about a narrow door

²² Jesus was continuing his journey towards Jerusalem. On the way, he went through towns and villages. In each one, he taught the people. ²³ One day, somebody asked him, ‘Sir, will God only save a small number of people?’

²⁴ Jesus said to the people there, ‘Do your best to go in through the narrow door. I tell you that many people will want to get in there. But they will not be able to go through it. ²⁵ Soon the master of the house will get up and he will shut the door. And then you may still be standing outside the door. You will knock and you will say, “Master, please open the door for us to come in.”

But the master will reply, “I do not know you. I do not know where you come from.” ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, “But Master, we had meals with you. You taught us in the streets of our villages.”

²⁷ But he will tell you, “No! I really do not know you. I do not know where you come from. You have done very bad things, so go away from me, all of you!”

²⁸ Then you will weep very much because you are standing outside. You will bite your teeth together.^[a] You will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the place where God rules. You will also see all God's prophets there. But God will shut you outside. ²⁹ At that time, people will come from everywhere in the world, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They will all come to take their place in the kingdom of God. There they will sit down together to eat a great meal. ³⁰ Listen! At that time, some people that are not important now will become the most important. And some people that are now the most important will not be important then.’

³¹ At that moment, some Pharisees came to Jesus. ‘Go away from here,’ they said to him. ‘Go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.’

³² ‘Herod is a bad man,’ Jesus replied. ‘Tell him this: “I am still causing bad spirits to come out of people. I am still making sick people well again. I will continue to do all these things for some more days. On the third day I will have finished my work.” ³³ Anyway, I need to continue my journey for some more days. If they want to kill a prophet from God, it has to happen in Jerusalem.

³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed God's prophets. And they have thrown stones to kill other people that God has sent to you. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of your people near to me. A female bird covers her babies with her body to make them safe. But you would not let me keep you from danger like that. ³⁵ So listen! Your place will now become like a wilderness where nobody lives.^[b] I tell you this. You will not see me again until the day when you say, “May the Lord God bless the man who comes with his authority!” ’

Jesus goes to the house of a Pharisee

14 One Jewish day of rest, Jesus went into the house of a leader of the Pharisees. This man had asked him to come and to eat a meal with him. The people there were all watching him carefully. ² A sick man came up to Jesus. His arms and legs had grown fat, because they were full of water. ³ So Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and to the teachers of God's Law. He asked them, ‘Is it right for us to make someone well on our day of rest, or not?’ ⁴ But they would not say anything. So Jesus took the sick man and he made him well again. Then he let him go away.

⁵ Then Jesus asked the people, ‘Maybe one of you has a son or an animal that falls into a well on our day of rest. What will you do? You will pull the child or the animal out of the well immediately.’ ⁶ When Jesus said this, they could not say anything else.

Asaph wrote this psalm.

God, help us!^[a]