The Daily Audio Bible
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The people turn against Moses
14 Then all the people started to weep loudly. And they cried all night. 2 All the Israelites spoke bad words against Moses and Aaron. All the people said to them, ‘We would rather have died in Egypt, or even in this desert! 3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land? Its people will kill us all with swords. They will take our wives and our children for themselves. We think that it would be better for us to return to Egypt.’ 4 So they said to each other, ‘We should choose a new leader instead of Moses. Then we should return to Egypt.’
5 Then Moses and Aaron threw themselves on the ground in front of the whole group of the Israelites. 6 Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, were two of the men who had explored the land. They were very upset and they tore their clothes.[a] 7 Joshua and Caleb said to all the Israelites, ‘The land that we travelled through to explore is a very good land. 8 If the Lord is happy with us, he will bring us into this land. And he will give it to us. In that land there is plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone. 9 But do not refuse to obey the Lord. Do not be afraid of the people in that land. They are ready for us to fight against them and win! They have no place to hide! The Lord is with us to help us. So do not be afraid of them.’
10 Then all the people wanted to throw stones at Joshua and Caleb to kill them. But the glory of the Lord appeared over the Tent of Meeting. All the Israelites could see that.
11 The Lord said to Moses, ‘These people continue to turn away from me. I did great miracles to show them my power. But still they will not trust me. 12 I will send a disease to kill them. They will not get any of the good things that I wanted to give to them. Then I will make you, Moses, the ancestor of a nation greater and more powerful than they are.’
13 Moses said to the Lord, ‘Please do not do that! You used your great power to bring these people out of Egypt. If you destroy them, the Egyptians will hear about it. 14 Then they will tell the people who live in this land about it. They know that you, Lord, are among your people. They know that you meet with your people. They know that your cloud stays over them. They know that you lead them as a pillar of cloud during the day and as a pillar of fire during the night. 15 The people in other nations have heard of your power. So now, if you kill all your people together, the people in those nations will say, 16 “The Lord could not bring those people into the land that he had seriously promised to give to them. So he killed all of them in the desert.”
17 But now, I pray that you will show how powerful you are. You yourself have said, 18 “The Lord does not quickly become angry. His faithful love for his people continues for ever. He forgives people when they turn against him and they do bad things. But if someone is guilty, he surely punishes them. And he punishes their children, their grandchildren and their grandchildren's children.”
19 So please forgive the very bad thing that these people have done. Do that because your faithful love is so great. You have forgiven these people since they left Egypt until now. So please be kind and forgive them again now.’
20 Then the Lord said, ‘I have forgiven them as you asked me to do. 21 As surely as I live, and all the earth will be full of my glory, I tell you this. 22 All these people have seen my glory. They have seen the miracles that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they have tested me many times now to see if I would punish them. They still do not obey me. 23 So I tell you, none of them will ever see the land that I promised to give to their ancestors. None of those men who did not trust me will see that place. 24 But my servant Caleb has thought differently, and he has obeyed me completely. So I will bring him into the land that he explored. It will belong to his descendants. 25 The Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys now. So tomorrow you must turn back. You must travel through the desert towards the Red Sea.’
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 ‘These evil people have complained against me too many times! I have heard the bad things that the Israelites have said against me. 28 Tell them this: “I, the Lord, have heard your words. I promise you, as surely as I live, I will certainly do to you as you have said. 29 Your dead bodies will fall to the ground in this desert. All the men that Moses counted will die. Those were the men who were 20 years old or older when he counted them. They complained against me and now they will die in this desert. 30 None of them will go into the land that I promised to give to you to live in. The only men who will go in are Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun. 31 You said that the people in Canaan would take your children to be their slaves. But I will bring those children into the land. You did not want that land for yourselves, but now it will belong to your children. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall to the ground in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the desert for 40 years. Because you did not trust me, your children will have trouble. That will continue until all your dead bodies are lying in the desert. 34 You explored the land of Canaan for 40 days. Now you will have trouble for 40 years, because of your sins. Each day becomes one year! You will know that I am not with you, but I am against you. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do all these things to punish these evil people. That is because they have all joined together to speak against me. In this desert they will die. Yes, that will be the end of them!” ’
36-37 The men who had given a bad report to the people about the land of Canaan died immediately. Moses had sent them to explore the land, but they had caused all the people to turn against the Lord. So the Lord sent a bad disease to kill those men. 38 Only two men who had gone to explore the land did not die. They were Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.
39 When Moses gave God's message to all the Israelites, the people were very sad. 40 But the next morning, they got up early. They went up to the top of the hills near there. They said, ‘We have certainly done a bad thing. But now we are ready! We will go to the place that the Lord has promised to give to us.’
41 But Moses said, ‘You are still not obeying the Lord's command. Why is that? It will not happen as you want. 42 Do not go into that land. The Lord is not with you. So your enemies will win against you. 43 The Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you. They will kill you with their swords. That will happen because you have refused to obey the Lord. So the Lord will not be with you to help you.’
44 But the people did not listen to Moses. Moses and the Lord's Covenant Box stayed in the camp. But still the men went up to the top of the hills. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills ran down. They attacked the Israelite men and they chased them to Hormah.[b]
Rules about sacrifices
15 The Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Say to the Israelites, “You will go into the land that I am giving to you. 3 When you are living there, you can sacrifice bulls, male sheep or goats to the Lord. You will burn them on the altar as a burnt offering. You may offer special sacrifices to the Lord when you have promised to do it. Or you may offer sacrifices because you choose to do it. Also, you will give sacrifices during your regular festivals. The smell of these sacrifices as they burn will please the Lord. 4 The person who gives the gift to the Lord must also give a gift of flour. He must mix the flour with oil. It should be 1 kilogram of your best flour. Mix this flour with 1 litre of olive oil. 5 You must also give 1 litre of wine for each lamb. You must give that as a drink offering with each burnt offering or sacrifice.
6 If the animal is a male sheep, you must also offer 2 kilograms of flour. Mix this flour with 1.5 litres of olive oil. 7 Also, you must pour 1.5 litres of wine on the altar as a drink offering. The smell of the smoke from this sacrifice will please the Lord.
8 A person can give a young bull as a burnt offering. This may be a special sacrifice that he has promised to give to God. Or it may be a friendship offering to the Lord. 9 Also, you must offer 3 kilograms of flour. Mix this flour with 2 litres of olive oil. Do that if the bull is a burnt offering, or a friendship offering. Do the same if you offer this sacrifice because of a promise. 10 Also, you must pour 2 litres of wine on the altar as a drink offering. The smell of this smoke will please the Lord.
11 You must do the same thing for each bull or for each male sheep. And you must do the same thing for each male lamb or for each young goat. 12 You must do that for every animal that you offer as a gift to God. 13 All the Israelites must do that when they burn sacrifices. The smell of them as they burn will please the Lord. 14 A stranger who is living in your land may want to give a gift by fire to the Lord. He must do the same as you do now, and for all future time. 15 These rules will be the same for the Israelites and for all foreign people who live with them. These rules are for now and for all future time. Both you and the foreign person must obey the Lord's rules. 16 There is the same law for you and for the foreign person who is living among you. There is only one set of rules.” ’
The most important priest asks Jesus questions
53 The men took Jesus to the house of the most important priest. All the leaders of the priests met together there with the important Jews and with the teachers of God's Law.[a]
54 Peter followed Jesus into the yard of Caiaphas's house. But he did not go near Jesus. He sat down in the yard with the guards and he made himself warm by the fire.
55 The leaders of the priests and all the Jewish leaders wanted to punish Jesus with death. So they tried to find some people who would say things against Jesus. But they did not find anyone who could help them. 56 Many people said things against Jesus that were not true. But they did not agree with each other in what they said.[b]
57 Then some men stood up and they said something false against Jesus. 58 They said, ‘We heard Jesus say, “I will destroy the temple, which men have built. In three days I will build another House for God. It will not be people who build this new house.” ’ 59 Even then, these people who were speaking against Jesus did not say the same thing.
60 Then Caiaphas stood up in front of everyone. He said to Jesus, ‘You must reply now to what these men have said against you. Are the things that they are saying true?’ 61 But Jesus did not reply. He did not say anything.
So again, Caiaphas asked Jesus, ‘Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?’
62 ‘I am,’ Jesus replied. ‘And you will all see the Son of Man. He will be sitting in the most important place at the right side of the Most Powerful God. You will see him coming to earth. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky.’
63 Then Caiaphas tore his clothes to show that he was angry.[c] ‘We do not need anyone else to speak against Jesus,’ he said. 64 ‘You have heard the bad words that he has spoken against God. Do you think that he is guilty?’
Everyone agreed that Jesus deserved to die.
65 Then some of the men began to spit on Jesus. They covered his eyes with a cloth and they hit him many times with their fists. They said, ‘Show us that you are a prophet! Tell us who hit you!’ Then the guards took hold of Jesus and they beat him.
Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus
66 Peter was still sitting outside in the yard. One of the young women who was a servant of the most important priest came there. 67 She saw Peter, who was making himself warm by the fire.
She looked at him and she said, ‘You also were a friend of Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’
68 Peter replied, ‘That is not true! I do not even know what you are talking about!’ Then Peter went out to the gate of the yard. At that moment a cockerel sang.
69 The young woman watched him, and again she said to the other people there, ‘He is one of the men who were friends of Jesus.’ 70 But Peter again said that it was not true.
After a little time, the other people who were standing there said to Peter, ‘We know you are from Galilee.[d] So we are sure that you are one of those men.’
71 Then Peter began to speak very strongly to them. He said, ‘I do not know this man that you are talking about. God will surely punish me if this is not true!’ 72 Immediately a cockerel sang loudly for a second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: ‘You will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the cockerel sings for the second time.’
When Peter thought about this, he wept very much.
David wrote this special song for the music leader. Use the music called Mahalath.
People are wicked[a]
53 A fool thinks that there is no God.
People like that are bad.
They do evil things.
None of them does anything that is good.
2 God looks down from heaven
at the people on earth.
He wants to see if there is anyone who is really wise
and who wants to know God.
3 But they have all turned away.
They have all become evil.
Nobody does anything that is good,
not even one person.
4 People who do wicked things understand nothing.
They destroy my people
as easily as they eat bread.
They never pray to God.
5 But now they are very afraid
when there is nothing to be afraid of!
God has completely won against his enemies,
the people that attack you, his people.
God has turned against them,
so you are able to make them ashamed!
6 God, you are the one who saves your people, Israel!
Leave your home in Zion
and make your people strong again!
When God blesses his people,
Jacob's descendants will sing!
Yes, Israel's people will be very happy![b]
4 When it is time for God to punish you, money will not help you to escape.
But if you are righteous, that will save you from death.
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