The Daily Audio Bible
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A new generation turns away from the Lord
10 All the people of Joshua's generation died. The younger people no longer served the Lord. They themselves had not seen the great things that he had done to help Israel. 11 The Israelites did things that the Lord saw were evil. They worshipped the idols of Baal. 12 They turned away from the Lord God that their ancestors had worshipped. He was the one who had brought them safely out of Egypt. Instead, they served the false gods of the people who lived near them. They worshipped those gods and the Lord became very angry. 13 They turned away from the Lord and they worshipped the idols of Baal and Ashtoreth instead.
14 The Lord was very angry with the Israelites and he punished them. He sent robbers to attack them and take their animals and their food. He put them under the power of their enemies who lived around them. They were not strong enough to fight against their enemies. 15 When the Israelites went to fight against their enemies, the Lord turned against them. He punished them, as he said he would do. So the Israelites were in great trouble.
God chooses leaders for his people
16 After that, the Lord chose judges to lead his people. These leaders rescued the Israelites from their enemies who were robbing them. 17 But the people did not obey their leaders. They refused to serve the Lord faithfully. Instead, they worshipped false gods. They did not live in the way that their ancestors had lived. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord's commands, but they refused to obey him.
18 Every time that the Lord chose a judge to lead them, the Lord helped the leader to rescue them from their enemies. While the leader was still alive, the Lord was kind to them. When the Israelites called out to the Lord for help, he was sorry for them. He saw the cruel things that their enemies were doing to give them pain.
19 But when the leader died, the people would stop serving the Lord. They would do even more wicked things than their fathers had done. They would serve false gods and they would worship them. They refused to stop doing the wicked things that they wanted to do.
20 Because of this, the Lord became very angry with the Israelites. He said, ‘This nation of my people has not obeyed the covenant that I made with their ancestors. 21 So I will not chase out the nations that are still living in the land. They are the people who were still there when Joshua died. 22 I will use those nations to test the Israelites. I will see if my people will live carefully, in the way that I have shown them. That is the way that their ancestors lived.’
23 So the Lord let some of the Canaanite nations continue to live in the land. He did not chase them all away. He did not put them all under Joshua's power.
3 The Lord allowed some nations to stay in Canaan. He would use them to test the Israelites who had not yet fought wars in Canaan. 2 He wanted to teach the young men of Israel how to fight their enemies, because they had not fought battles before. 3 The nations who remained were:
the Philistines, with their five kings,
all the Canaanites,
the Sidonians,
the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon mountains, from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo-Hamath.
4 These nations were still there to test the Israelites. The Lord wanted to know if his people would obey his commands. Those were the commands that he had told Moses to give to the ancestors of the Israelites.
5 So the Israelites lived among those other nations, the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 Some Israelites married young women from these nations. They also let their daughters marry Canaanite men. As a result, the Israelites started to worship the Canaanite gods.[a]
Othniel
7 The Israelites forgot to serve the Lord their God. They did things that he saw were evil. They worshipped idols of Baal and Asherah. 8 The Lord was very angry with the Israelites. He let King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim attack them. They were under his power for eight years.
9 Then the Israelites called out to the Lord for help. So he chose Othniel to be their leader. He was the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. Othniel rescued them from their enemies. 10 The Lord's Spirit gave Othniel power to lead Israel. Othniel led them to fight against King Cushan-Rishathaim of Aram. The Lord helped Othniel to win the battle against the king. 11 As a result, the land of Israel had peace for 40 years. Then Kenaz's son Othniel died.
Ehud
12 Once again the Israelites did things that the Lord saw were evil. Because of this, the Lord gave Eglon, the king of Moab, power over Israel. 13 King Eglon made an agreement with the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join together to attack Israel. They attacked Jericho, ‘The City of Palm Trees’, and they took it for themselves. 14 The Israelites were under King Eglon's power for 18 years.
15 Again the Israelites called out to the Lord for help. He chose Ehud to be their leader. He was the son of Gera, from Benjamin's tribe. Ehud's strong hand was his left hand. The Israelites sent him to pay their taxes to King Eglon of Moab.
16 Ehud made a short sword that was sharp on both sides.[b] He tied it to the top of his right leg and he hid it under his coat. 17 He took the money to give to King Eglon, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had given the money to the king, he sent back home the men who had carried it. 19 But when Ehud reached the stone idols at Gilgal, he turned round to go back to the king. He said to King Eglon, ‘I have a secret message for you, sir!’ So the king said, ‘Leave us alone.’ All his servants went out. 20 The king was now sitting alone in his cool room on the roof of the palace. Ehud went near to the king and he said, ‘I have a message from God for you.’ The king started to get up from his chair. 21 Then Ehud used his left hand to take the sword from his right leg. He pushed it deep into the king's stomach. 22 The king's fat covered the whole sword, even its handle. Its point came out through the king's back. Ehud did not pull out the sword. He left it there. 23 Ehud went out of the room and he locked the doors. Then he escaped from the palace.
24 The king's servants came up to the room on the roof. They saw that the doors were locked. They thought that the king was using the toilet inside. 25 They waited for a long time and they started to worry. But the king still did not open the doors of his room. So they took the key and they opened the doors. Then they saw their master, the king! He was lying on the floor and he was dead.
26 While the servants were waiting outside the king's room, Ehud had escaped. He went past the stone idols, and he ran to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there in the hill country of Ephraim, he made a loud noise with a trumpet. He led the Israelites down from the hills. 28 He said to them, ‘Follow me! The Lord will put your enemy, the Moabites, under your power!’ The Israelites followed him to the Jordan River, near the border of Moab. They would not let anyone go across the river. 29 That day they killed about 10,000 Moabite soldiers. They were all strong, brave fighters, but none of them escaped. 30 The Israelites won the fight against Moab that day. The land of Israel had peace for 80 years.
Shamgar
31 After this, Anath's son Shamgar became Israel's leader. One time, he used a stick with a sharp point to kill 600 Philistines.[c] He rescued the Israelites from their enemies, as Ehud had done.
14 When it was time to eat the meal, Jesus arrived. He sat down with his apostles to eat it. 15 He said to them, ‘I have wanted very much to eat this Passover meal with you. It has to happen before I die. 16 I tell you this: I will not eat another Passover meal in this world. Now it is a picture. But when God begins to rule in his kingdom, then this meal will become real. I will eat it again then.’
17 Then Jesus took a cup and he thanked God for the wine. ‘Take this cup,’ he said to them. ‘Each of you drink some wine from it. 18 I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until God begins to rule in his kingdom.’
19 Then he took a loaf of bread and he thanked God for it. He broke the bread into pieces and he gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘This is my body. I am giving it to save you. When you eat this meal from now on, remember me.’[a]
20 After supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and did the same thing. He said to the disciples, ‘This cup shows the new promise that God makes because of my death. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. I will do that for you. 21 But look! The person who will give me to the rulers is sitting at the table with me. He is eating the same food as I am. 22 The Son of Man must die in the way that God says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies.’
23 The 12 apostles asked each other, ‘Who is the man that would do this thing?’
Jesus tells who is most important
24 Then the apostles began to argue among themselves. They were arguing about which of them seemed to be the most important. 25 Jesus said to them, ‘Kings of other countries use great authority over their people. Leaders of those countries want people to say good things about them. 26 You must not be like that. The most important person among you must become like the least important person. The person who is your leader must become like your servant. 27 Tell me, which person is the more important one? Is it the person who sits at the table to eat? Or is it the servant that puts out the meal for him? Yes, it is the person who sits at the table. But I am here to be your servant.
28 You have never left me. You have been by my side when trouble came to me. 29 So now I tell you that you will rule with me. My Father has said that I will rule with him in his kingdom. I also say to you that you will rule with me. 30 In my kingdom you will sit at my table. You will eat and drink with me. You will sit like kings on thrones. You will judge the people of the 12 tribes of Israel.’
Jesus tells Peter what will happen
31 Jesus then said, ‘Simon, Simon, be careful to listen to me! Satan has asked to have authority over you all. He will shake you as a farmer shakes seeds.[b] 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that you will continue to believe in me. And this is what you must do: When you have turned back to me, you must help your brothers to be strong again.’
33 But Simon replied, ‘Master, I am ready to go to prison with you. I am even ready to die with you!’ 34 Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you this, Peter. Very soon, you will say that you do not know me. You will say that three times before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’
This psalm is a song to sing on Sabbath days.
A song to praise God
92 It is good to thank the Lord!
We sing to praise your name, Most High God.
2 We sing in the morning
to thank you for your faithful love.
We sing at night
to say that you are always faithful.
3 We make beautiful music
with lutes, harps and lyres.[a]
4 The things that you do, Lord,
make me very happy.
I sing with joy
because of the things that your hands have made!
5 Yes, Lord, you have done great things!
Your thoughts are more than we can understand!
6 Here is something that stupid people do not know.
Fools do not understand it.
7 Wicked people may continue to grow,
like green grass.
Evil people may grow like weeds.
But in the end you will destroy them
and they will never grow again.[b]
8 You, Lord, will rule as King for ever!
9 Yes, Lord, look at your enemies!
Your enemies will all die!
Those people who do evil things will all disappear!
10 You have made me as strong as a wild bull.
You have poured pure olive oil on me.[c]
11 With my own eyes,
I have seen my enemies fall.
With my own ears,
I have heard them cry out in pain.
12 Righteous people will do well,
like a palm tree that makes new leaves.
They will become strong,
like a tall cedar tree in Lebanon.
13 They are like trees that someone has planted in the Lord's house.
They grow well in the yard of our God's temple.
14 When they are old,
they will still give fruit!
They will always be strong,
with fresh, green leaves.
15 They will tell everyone,
‘The Lord always does what is right.
He is my strong, safe rock.
There is nothing bad in him.’
The Lord is King![d]
93 The Lord rules as King!
He wears royal power as his clothes.
His strength is like a belt round his body.[e]
So the world is safe and strong.
Nothing can shake it from its place.
2 You, Lord, have always ruled as King,
since before the beginning of time.
3 The floods of water have risen up, Lord.
They have risen with a loud noise.
Their waves beat against the land.[f]
4 But the Lord rules as King
high above everything!
He rules over the powerful waves of the sea,
with all their great noise!
5 Lord, your rules remain strong and true.
Your house will always be holy,
because you are holy.
14 Every wise woman makes her home strong.
But a foolish woman destroys her home with her own hands.
2 An honest person respects and obeys the Lord.
But anyone who deceives other people shows that he does not respect the Lord.
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