The Daily Audio Bible
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The Israelites destroy the Canaanites
21 The king of Arad city lived in the Negev desert. That was in the south part of Canaan. People told him that the Israelites were coming on the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and he caught some of them. 2 The Israelites made this promise to the Lord: ‘If you put these people under our power, we will destroy their towns for you.’ 3 The Lord accepted the Israelites' promise. He put the Canaanites under their power. The Israelites destroyed them and all their towns. After that, the place was called Hormah.[a]
The bronze snake
4 The Israelites left Hor mountain. They travelled round the edge of Edom to the Red Sea. As they travelled, the people were upset. 5 They complained to God and to Moses, ‘You should not have brought us from Egypt to die here in the desert. There is nothing to eat. There is no water to drink. We do not like this bad food, manna.’
6 Then the Lord sent snakes among the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. 7 So the people came to Moses and they said, ‘We did a bad thing when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord on our behalf. Ask him to remove the snakes from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a model of a snake and put it up high on a pole. When a snake bites anyone, they must look at the bronze snake. Then they will not die.’ 9 Moses made a bronze snake and he put it on a pole. When a snake bit anyone and they looked at the bronze snake, they did not die.
The Israelites travel to Moab
10 The Israelites put up their tents at Oboth. 11 Then they travelled from Oboth, and they put up their tents at Iye-Abarim, in the desert. That place is on the east border of the country called Moab. 12 Then they put up their tents in Zered valley. 13 Then they left there and they put up their tents on the north side of the River Arnon. The River Arnon is the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. 14 You can read about this in the Book of the Lord's Wars. It talks about Waheb in Suphah and about the valleys of the River Arnon. 15 It also speaks about the sides of the valleys on the border of Moab that lead to the town of Ar.
16 From there, the Israelites continued to travel until they arrived at Beer. That is the well where the Lord had said to Moses, ‘Bring the people together. Then I will give water to them.’ 17 The Israelites sang this song at that well:
‘Sing to this well.
Ask it to give water to us.
18 This was the well that our rulers dug.
Our leaders dug it with their sceptres and their ruler's sticks.’
After that, the Israelites went from the desert to Mattanah. 19 Then they went from Mattanah to Nahaliel. They went from Nahaliel to Bamoth. 20 They went from Bamoth to the valley in the region of Moab. They put up their tents near the top of Pisgah mountain that is high above the desert.[b]
The Israelites fight against Sihon and Og
21 The Israelites sent men with a message to Sihon, the king of the Amorites. 22 They said, ‘Please let us travel through your country. We will not go through any fields or through any vineyards. We will not even drink water from your wells. We will go along the main road. We will not leave that road on either side until we have gone through all your land.’
23 But Sihon would not let the Israelites travel through his land. Sihon and his army marched to Jahaz, in the desert. They attacked the Israelites there. 24 The Israelites fought against the army of Sihon and they won. They got power over the land from the River Arnon to the River Jabbok. But the border of the Ammonites' land had strong towns, so they could not go beyond them. 25 They got power over all the cities of the Amorites. Those cities included Heshbon and the towns round it. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had fought against the king of Moab. He took from the king of Moab the land as far as the River Arnon. 27 So the people who write songs wrote this:
‘Come to Heshbon and build it up again.
Build the city of Sihon again.
28 An army that was like a fire went out from Heshbon.
It was like a flame that went out from Sihon's city.
It destroyed Ar in Moab,
and everything on the hills near the River Arnon.
29 It will be very bad for you, people of Moab.
Sihon has killed you people who worship the god Chemosh.
Your god has let the king of the Amorites put you in prison.
30 But now, we have won against them!
We have destroyed Heshbon, and as far as Dibon.
We have killed them from Nophah to Medeba.’
31 So the Israelites stayed in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent men to find the best way to attack Jazer. Then the Israelites attacked Jazer and the towns round it. They caused the Amorites who lived there to run away.
33 After that, the Israelites travelled towards Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, marched out with his army to fight against them at Edrei.
34 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid of Og. I will put him under your power, as well as his army and his land. Attack him in the same way that you attacked Sihon, the king of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon.’
35 So they killed Og and his sons and all his army. Nobody was left alive. Their land became the Israelites' land.
King Balak asks Balaam to help him
22 The Israelites travelled to Moab. They lived in tents at the side of the Jordan River. Jericho city was on the other side of the river.
2 The king of Moab at that time was Balak, the son of Zippor. He had seen what the Israelites did to the Amorites. 3 The people in Moab were afraid because there were so many Israelites. All the people in Moab became very afraid of the Israelites.
4 So the Moabites said to the leaders of the Midianites, ‘This large group of people will destroy everything round us. They will be like a bull that eats all the grass in a field!’
So Balak, the king of Moab, 5 sent men to get Balaam, the son of Beor. Balaam was living near the Euphrates river at Pethor. Balak told the men to say to Balaam, ‘A large group of people has come here from Egypt. They cover all the ground, everywhere. They have put up their tents near our land. 6 They are more powerful than I am. Come here and put a curse on them. If you do that, maybe I will win against them. Then I can chase them away from our land. I know that you have the authority to bless people or to curse them.’
7 The leaders of Moab and Midian went to find Balaam. They took the money to pay for Balaam's work. When they found him, they told him what Balak had said. 8 Balaam said to them, ‘Stay here tonight. I will talk to the Lord. Tomorrow, I will tell you his answer.’ So the Moabite officers stayed with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and he asked, ‘Who are these men who are staying with you?’
10 Balaam said to God, ‘Zippor's son Balak, the king of Moab, has sent a message to me. 11 He said, “A big group of people has come from Egypt and they cover all the ground. So please come and curse them for me. Then perhaps I will be able to fight them and send them away.” ’
12 God said to Balaam, ‘Do not agree to go with them. You must not curse those people. They are special people. I have blessed them.’
13 The next day, Balaam said to the officers from Moab, ‘Go back to Moab. The Lord told me that I should not go with you.’ 14 So the officers went back to Moab. They told King Balak that Balaam would not come with them.
15 Then Balak sent other officers to speak to Balaam. These officers were even more important than the first group, and there were more of them. 16 They said to Balaam, ‘King Balak says, “Do not let anything stop you from coming to me. 17 I will certainly make you rich and famous. I will do for you anything that you want. So please come and curse these people for me.” ’
18 Balaam said to them, ‘No, I will only do what the Lord tells me. I can do no more than that, and no less. Even if Balak gives me his house, all his gold and all his silver, I will only do what the Lord says. 19 Stay here tonight, as the other men did. I will talk to the Lord and see if he has anything more to tell me.’
20 That night, God said to Balaam, ‘These men have asked you to go with them, so go with them. But only do what I tell you.’
What happened before Jesus was born
26 When Elizabeth's baby had grown inside her for nearly six months, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. Nazareth is a town in Galilee. 27 Gabriel went there to visit a young woman. Her name was Mary. She had never had sex with anyone. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. He belonged to the family of King David.[a]
28 Gabriel went to Mary and said, ‘Hello, Mary. The Lord God loves you very much. He is very near to you.’
29 Mary had a lot of problems in her mind about Gabriel's message. She did not understand what he meant. 30 Then Gabriel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary. God has been kind to you. 31 Listen! A baby boy will grow inside you. When he is born, you will call him Jesus. 32 He will be great. People will call him the Son of the powerful God who is over all. The Lord God will make him king. He will rule as his ancestor King David ruled.[b] 33 He will rule over the family of Jacob for all time.[c] He will be king for all time, without end.’
34 Mary asked, ‘How can this happen? I have never had sex with anyone.’ 35 Gabriel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of God who is over all will cover you like a shadow. So your child will be special to God. He will be completely good. He will be called God's Son. 36 Another thing! Your cousin, Elizabeth, is very old. People said that she could not have a baby. Listen! She also will have a son. The baby has grown inside her now for nearly six months. 37 There is nothing that God cannot do.’
38 Mary answered, ‘I am the servant of the Lord. I have heard what you have said. I want it to happen to me just like that.’ Then the angel left her.
Mary visits Elizabeth
39 After that, Mary prepared herself to travel. She hurried to a town in the hills of Judea. 40 When she arrived at the home of Zechariah, she said ‘hello’ to Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, she felt her baby move quickly inside her. The Holy Spirit filled her. 42 She spoke to Mary in a loud voice, ‘God has made you very happy. He has been good and kind to you more than to other women. He has also been good and kind to your baby. 43 You are the mother of my Lord and I am not an important person. So it is very good that you have visited me. 44 Listen! When I heard you say, “Hello” to me, my baby moved quickly inside me. He was very happy. 45 The Lord has told you what will happen. And you believed what he told you. Because of that, God has made you a happy person.’
Mary's song
46 Then Mary said,
‘All of me wants to praise God and say,
“Lord, how good and great you are!”
47 I thank God because he is the one who saves me.
48 I know that I am not an important person.
God knows this, and he has been kind to me.
Listen! From now on, all people will say that God has made me happy.
49 Yes, God has done great things for me.
He is very powerful and strong. He is good in every way.
50 He is kind to people who respect and obey him.
He will always be kind to people like that.
51 He has shown how strong he is to do great things.
Some people think that they are very important.
But he has sent them away in different directions.
52 Some people were ruling countries.
But he has taken their power away from them.
He has given power to people who do not feel important.
53 He has fed hungry people with good things to eat.
But he has sent rich people away with nothing.
54 He promised that he would be kind to his people, Israel.
Now he has come and helped them.
55 He made a promise to Abraham and to our other ancestors.
Now he has done what he promised.’[d]
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home.
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer when he ran away from King Saul to hide in a cave.
A prayer for help[a]
57 God, please be kind to me and help me!
Please help me!
I have come to you to keep me safe.
Until the danger has gone, keep me near to you,
in the way that birds protect their babies under their wings.
2 I will call to the Most High God to help me.
He is the God who stands beside me.
3 He will send help from heaven
and he will save me.
He will punish the people who attack me.
Selah.
God will show me his faithful love,
and he will do what he has promised.
4 My enemies are all round me,
like hungry lions!
I must lie down among wild animals,
that want to eat me!
They are men who use spears and arrows
to bite like teeth.
They use their tongues to hurt people,
like sharp swords.
5 God, show how great you are,
high above the sky!
Let everybody on the earth see your glory!
6 My enemies have prepared a trap to catch me.
That makes me very upset.
They have dug a deep hole on the path where I walk.
But they have fallen into it themselves!
Selah.
7 God, I have decided to trust you always.
Yes, I will trust you!
I will sing songs to praise you!
8 I will wake up now!
I will pick up my harp and my lyre.
I will make music as the sun rises![b]
9 My Lord, I will thank you
in front of all the people.
I will sing to praise you,
so that all nations hear.
10 Your faithful love is great,
higher than the skies.
Your truth reaches beyond the clouds.
11 God, show how great you are,
high above the sky!
Let everybody on the earth see your glory!
9 People who do not respect God say things that destroy their friends.
But the knowledge that righteous people have keeps them safe.
10 When righteous people do well, everyone in the city is happy.
And people shout with joy when wicked people die.
11 A city becomes great when honest men bring God's blessing to it.
But when wicked people give bad advice, they will destroy the city.
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