The Daily Audio Bible
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40 (A) It was then that the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Southern Desert of Canaan, heard that Israel was headed that way.
41-47 The Israelites left Mount Hor and headed toward Moab. Along the way, they camped at Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iye-Abarim in the territory of Moab, Dibon-Gad, Almon-Diblathaim, at a place near Mount Nebo in the Abarim Mountains, 48 and finally in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. 49 Their camp stretched from Beth-Jeshimoth to Acacia.
The Lord's Command To Conquer Canaan
50 While Israel was camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Lord told Moses 51 to give the people of Israel this message:
When you cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan, 52 you must force out the people living there. Destroy their idols and tear down their altars. 53 Then settle in the land—I have given it to you as your own.
54 (B) I will show you[a] how to divide the land among the tribes, according to the number of clans in each one, so that the larger tribes will have more land than the smaller ones.
55 If you don't force out all the people there, they will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your back. They will always be trouble for you, 56 and I will treat you as severely as I planned on treating them.
Israel's Borders
34 The Lord told Moses 2 to tell the people of Israel that their land in Canaan would have the following borders:
3 The southern border will be the Zin Desert and the northwest part of Edom. This border will begin at the south end of the Dead Sea. 4 It will go west from there, but will turn southward to include Scorpion Pass, the village of Zin, and the town of Kadesh-Barnea. From there, the border will continue to Hazar-Addar and on to Azmon. 5 It will run along the Egyptian Gorge and end at the Mediterranean Sea.
6 The western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.
7 The northern border will begin at the Mediterranean, then continue eastward to Mount Hor.[b] 8 After that, it will run to Lebo-Hamath and across to Zedad, which is the northern edge of your land. 9 From Zedad, the border will continue east to Ziphron and end at Hazar-Enan.
10 The eastern border will begin at Hazar-Enan in the north, then run south to Shepham, 11 and on down to Riblah on the east side of Ain. From there, it will go south to the eastern hills of Lake Galilee,[c] 12 then follow the Jordan River down to the north end of the Dead Sea.
The land within those four borders will belong to you.
13 (C)(D) Then Moses told the people, “You will receive the land inside these borders. It will be yours, but the Lord has commanded you to divide it among the nine and a half tribes. 14 The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh have already been given their land 15 across from Jericho, east of the Jordan River.”
The Leaders Who Will Divide the Land
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun will divide the land for the Israelites. 18 One leader from each tribe will help them, 19-28 and here is the list of their names:
Caleb son of Jephunneh
from Judah,
Shemuel son of Ammihud
from Simeon,
Elidad son of Chislon
from Benjamin,
Bukki son of Jogli
from Dan,
Hanniel son of Ephod
from Manasseh,
Kemuel son of Shiphtan
from Ephraim,
Elizaphan son of Parnach
from Zebulun,
Paltiel son of Azzan
from Issachar,
Ahihud son of Shelomi
from Asher,
and Pedahel son of Ammihud
from Naphtali.”
29 These are the men the Lord commanded to help Eleazar and Joshua divide the land for the Israelites.
The Towns for the Levites
35 (E) While the people of Israel were still camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Lord told Moses 2 to say to them:
When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe. 3 That way, the Levites will have towns to live in and pastures for their animals. 4-5 The pasture around each of these towns must be in the shape of a square, with the town itself in the center. The pasture is to measure 900 meters on each side, with 450 meters of land outside each of the town walls. This will be the Levites' pastureland.
6 Six of the towns you give them will be Safe Towns where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. But you will also give the Levites 42 other towns, 7 so they will have a total of 48 towns with their surrounding pastures.
8 Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel's own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.
The Safe Towns
(Deuteronomy 19.1-13; Joshua 20.1-9)
9 (F) The Lord then told Moses 10 to tell the people of Israel:
After you have crossed the Jordan River and are settled in Canaan, 11 choose Safe Towns, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. 12 If the victim's relatives think it was murder, they might try to take revenge.[d] Anyone accused of murder can run to one of these Safe Towns for protection and not be killed before a trial is held.
13 There are to be six of these Safe Towns, 14 three on each side of the Jordan River. 15 They will be places of protection for anyone who lives in Israel and accidentally kills someone.
Laws about Murder and Accidental Killing
The Lord said:
16-18 Suppose you hit someone with a piece of iron or a large stone or a dangerous wooden tool. If that person dies, then you are a murderer and must be put to death 19 by one of the victim's relatives. He will take revenge[e]for his relative's death as soon as he finds you.
20-21 Or suppose you get angry and kill someone by pushing or hitting or by throwing something. You are a murderer and must be put to death by one of the victim's relatives.
22-24 But if you are not angry and accidentally kill someone in any of these ways, the townspeople must hold a trial and decide if you are guilty. 25 If they decide that you are innocent, you will be protected from the victim's relative and sent to stay in one of the Safe Towns until the high priest dies. 26 But if you ever leave the Safe Town 27 and are killed by the victim's relative, he cannot be punished for killing you. 28 You must stay inside the town until the high priest dies; only then can you go back home.
29 The community of Israel must always obey these laws.
30 (G) Death is the penalty for murder. But no one accused of murder can be put to death unless there are at least two witnesses to the crime. 31 You cannot give someone money to escape the death penalty; you must pay with your own life! 32 And if you have been proven innocent of murder and are living in a Safe Town, you cannot pay to go back home; you must stay there until the high priest dies.
33-34 I, the Lord, live among you people of Israel, so your land must be kept pure. But when a murder takes place, blood pollutes the land, and it becomes unclean. If that happens, the murderer must be put to death, so the land will be clean again. Keep murder out of Israel!
Jesus Heals a Man
(Matthew 8.1-4; Mark 1.40-45)
12 Jesus came to a town where there was a man who had leprosy.[a] When the man saw Jesus, he knelt down to the ground in front of Jesus and begged, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
13 Jesus put his hand on him and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man's leprosy disappeared. 14 (A) Jesus told him, “Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest. Offer a gift to the priest, just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”[b]
15 News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk
(Matthew 9.1-8; Mark 2.1-12)
17 One day some Pharisees and experts in the Law of Moses sat listening to Jesus teach. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem.
God had given Jesus the power to heal the sick, 18 and some people came carrying a man on a mat because he could not walk. They tried to take him inside the house and put him in front of Jesus. 19 But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. So they went up on the roof,[c] where they removed some tiles and let the mat down in the middle of the room.
20 When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the experts began arguing, “Jesus must think he is God! Only God can forgive sins.”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, “Why are you thinking this? 23 Is it easier for me to tell this man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk? 24 But now you will see that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth.” Jesus then said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk home.”
25 At once the man stood up in front of everyone. He picked up his mat and went home, giving thanks to God. 26 Everyone was amazed and praised God. What they saw surprised them, and they said, “We have seen a great miracle today!”
Jesus Chooses Levi
(Matthew 9.9-13; Mark 2.13-17)
27 Later, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector[d] named Levi sitting at the place for paying taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 28 Levi left everything and went with Jesus.
(A psalm by David and a song for the music leader.)
God Answers Prayer
1 Our God, you deserve[a] praise
in Zion, where we keep
our promises to you.
2 Everyone will come to you
because you answer prayer.
3 When our sins get us down,
you forgive us.
4 You bless your chosen ones,
and you invite them
to live near you
in your temple.
We will enjoy your house,
the sacred temple.
5 Our God, you save us,
and your fearsome deeds answer
our prayers for justice!
You give hope to people
everywhere on earth,
even those across the sea.
6 You are strong,
and your mighty power
put the mountains in place.
7 You silence the roaring waves
and the noisy shouts
of the nations.
8 People far away marvel
at your fearsome deeds,
and all who live under the sun
celebrate and sing
because of you.
9 You take care of the earth
and send rain to help the soil
grow all kinds of crops.
Your rivers never run dry,
and you prepare the earth
to produce abundant grain.
10 You water all its fields
and level the lumpy ground.
You send showers of rain
to soften the soil
and help the plants sprout.
11 Wherever your footsteps
touch the earth,
a rich harvest is gathered.
12 Desert pastures blossom,
and mountains celebrate.
13 Meadows are filled
with sheep and goats;
valleys overflow with grain
and echo with joyful songs.
23 Good people want what is best,
but troublemakers
hope to stir up trouble.[a]
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