¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And ^(A)he gave them the names that his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar ^(B)quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,^[a] because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.^{[b] 22} And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,^[c] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

²³ From there he went up to Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, ^(C)“I am the God of Abraham your father. ^(D)Fear not, for ^(E)I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” ²⁵ So he ^(F)built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

²⁶ When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and ^(G)Phicol the commander of his army, ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and ^(H)have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. ^(I)You are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they rose early and ^(J)exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. ³² That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ He called it Shibah;^[d] therefore the name of the city is ^(K)Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took ^(L)Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, ³⁵ and ^(M)they made life bitter^[e] for Isaac and Rebekah.

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside ^(B)the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, ^(C)by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, ^(D)lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ^(E)‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

⁴ And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, ^(F)“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸ So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him ^(G)in the valley.

⁹ That same ^(H)night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(I)for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. ^11 (J)And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” ^(K)Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ^(L)all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, ^(M)as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. ¹³ When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”

¹⁵ As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ^(N)torches inside the jars. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ^(O)‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Defeats Midian

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. ^(P)And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Every man stood in his place around the camp, ^(Q)and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. ^22 (R)When they blew the 300 trumpets, ^(S)the Lord set ^(T)every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[a] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

^24 (U)Gideon sent messengers throughout ^(V)all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ^(W)Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured ^(X)the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ^(Y)at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(Z)across the Jordan.

The Ransomed Shall Return

Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

25 Then ^(A)Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

The Death of John the Baptist

14 ^(A)At that time ^(B)Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, ² and he said to his servants, ^(C)“This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ For ^(D)Herod had seized John and bound him and ^(E)put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,^{[a] 4} because John had been saying to him, ^(F)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ And though he wanted to put him to death, ^(G)he feared the people, because they held him to be ^(H)a prophet. ⁶ But when Herod's ^(I)birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, ⁷ so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. ¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² And ^(J)his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

⁸ Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was ^(A)crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and ^(B)seeing that he had faith to be made well,^{[a] 10} said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he ^(C)sprang up and began walking. ¹¹ And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ^(D)“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” ¹² Barnabas they called ^(E)Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ And the priest of ^(F)Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and ^(G)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^(H)tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, ¹⁵ “Men, ^(I)why are you doing these things? We also are men, ^(J)of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that ^(K)you should turn from these ^(L)vain things to ^(M)a living God, ^(N)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶ In past generations he ^(O)allowed all the nations ^(P)to walk in their own ways. ¹⁷ Yet ^(Q)he did not leave himself without witness, for he ^(R)did good by ^(S)giving you rains from heaven and ^(T)fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with ^(U)food and ^(V)gladness.” ¹⁸ Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Paul Stoned at Lystra

^19 (W)But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, ^(X)they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. ²⁰ But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.