Abimelek

9 Abimelek^(A) son of Jerub-Baal^(B) went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, ² “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.^(C)”

³ When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” ⁴ They gave him seventy shekels^[a] of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith,^(D) and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels,^(E) who became his followers. ⁵ He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers,^(F) the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham,^(G) the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding.^{(H) 6} Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo^(I) gathered beside the great tree^(J) at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.

⁷ When Jotham^(K) was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim^(L) and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. ⁸ One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’

⁹ “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹⁰ “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹¹ “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹² “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹³ “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine,^(M) which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹⁴ “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹⁵ “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;^(N) but if not, then let fire come out^(O) of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’^(P)

¹⁶ “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? ¹⁷ Remember that my father fought for you and risked^(Q) his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. ¹⁸ But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons^(R) on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. ¹⁹ So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today?^(S) If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! ²⁰ But if you have not, let fire come out^(T) from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem^(U) and Beth Millo,^(V) and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”

²¹ Then Jotham^(W) fled, escaping to Beer,^(X) and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.

²² After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, ²³ God stirred up animosity^(Y) between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. ²⁴ God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons,^(Z) the shedding^(AA) of their blood, might be avenged^(AB) on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him^(AC) murder his brothers. ²⁵ In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelek.

²⁶ Now Gaal son of Ebed^(AD) moved with his clan into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. ²⁷ After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden^(AE) them, they held a festival in the temple of their god.^(AF) While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek. ²⁸ Then Gaal son of Ebed^(AG) said, “Who^(AH) is Abimelek, and why should we Shechemites be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub-Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the family of Hamor,^(AI) Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? ²⁹ If only this people were under my command!^(AJ) Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’”^[b](AK)

³⁰ When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. ³¹ Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, “Gaal son of Ebed and his clan have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. ³² Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait^(AL) in the fields. ³³ In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, seize the opportunity to attack them.^(AM)”

³⁴ So Abimelek and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. ³⁵ Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance of the city gate^(AN) just as Abimelek and his troops came out from their hiding place.^(AO)

³⁶ When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

Zebul replied, “You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men.”

³⁷ But Gaal spoke up again: “Look, people are coming down from the central hill,^[c] and a company is coming from the direction of the diviners’ tree.”

³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your big talk now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelek that we should be subject to him?’ Aren’t these the men you ridiculed?^(AP) Go out and fight them!”

³⁹ So Gaal led out^[d] the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelek. ⁴⁰ Abimelek chased him all the way to the entrance of the gate, and many were killed as they fled. ⁴¹ Then Abimelek stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his clan out of Shechem.

⁴² The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek. ⁴³ So he took his men, divided them into three companies^(AQ) and set an ambush^(AR) in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them. ⁴⁴ Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance of the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the fields and struck them down. ⁴⁵ All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city^(AS) and scattered salt^(AT) over it.

⁴⁶ On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple^(AU) of El-Berith. ⁴⁷ When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there, ⁴⁸ he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon.^(AV) He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, “Quick! Do what you have seen me do!” ⁴⁹ So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.

⁵⁰ Next Abimelek went to Thebez^(AW) and besieged it and captured it. ⁵¹ Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city—had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. ⁵² Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, ⁵³ a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.^(AX)

⁵⁴ Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me,^(AY) so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his servant ran him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home.

⁵⁶ Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness.^(AZ) The curse of Jotham^(BA) son of Jerub-Baal came on them.

Tola

10 After the time of Abimelek,^(BB) a man of Issachar^(BC) named Tola son of Puah,^(BD) the son of Dodo, rose to save^(BE) Israel. He lived in Shamir,^(BF) in the hill country of Ephraim. ² He led^[e] Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.

Jair

³ He was followed by Jair^(BG) of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys.^(BH) They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair.^{[f](BI) 5} When Jair^(BJ) died, he was buried in Kamon.

Jephthah

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord.^(BK) They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths,^(BL) and the gods of Aram,^(BM) the gods of Sidon,^(BN) the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites^(BO) and the gods of the Philistines.^(BP) And because the Israelites forsook the Lord^(BQ) and no longer served him, ⁷ he became angry^(BR) with them. He sold them^(BS) into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead,^(BT) the land of the Amorites. ⁹ The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah,^(BU) Benjamin and Ephraim;^(BV) Israel was in great distress. ¹⁰ Then the Israelites cried^(BW) out to the Lord, “We have sinned^(BX) against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.”^(BY)

¹¹ The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians,^(BZ) the Amorites,^(CA) the Ammonites,^(CB) the Philistines,^{(CC) 12} the Sidonians, the Amalekites^(CD) and the Maonites^[g](CE) oppressed you^(CF) and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? ¹³ But you have forsaken^(CG) me and served other gods,^(CH) so I will no longer save you. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save^(CI) you when you are in trouble!^(CJ)”

¹⁵ But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best,^(CK) but please rescue us now.” ¹⁶ Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord.^(CL) And he could bear Israel’s misery^(CM) no longer.^(CN)

¹⁷ When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.^{(CO) 18} The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever will take the lead in attacking the Ammonites will be head^(CP) over all who live in Gilead.”

11 Jephthah^(CQ) the Gileadite was a mighty warrior.^(CR) His father was Gilead;^(CS) his mother was a prostitute.^{(CT) 2} Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob,^(CU) where a gang of scoundrels^(CV) gathered around him and followed him.

⁴ Some time later, when the Ammonites^(CW) were fighting against Israel, ⁵ the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”

⁷ Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?^(CX) Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”

⁸ The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head^(CY) over all of us who live in Gilead.”

⁹ Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”

¹⁰ The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness;^(CZ) we will certainly do as you say.” ¹¹ So Jephthah went with the elders^(DA) of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated^(DB) all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.^(DC)

¹² Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”

¹³ The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon^(DD) to the Jabbok,^(DE) all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”

¹⁴ Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, ¹⁵ saying:

²⁸ The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.

²⁹ Then the Spirit^(EE) of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah^(EF) of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.^{(EG) 30} And Jephthah made a vow^(EH) to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph^(EI) from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.^(EJ)”

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. ³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith,^(EK) as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing^(EL) to the sound of timbrels!^(EM) She was an only child.^(EN) Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes^(EO) and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.^(EP)”

³⁶ “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised,^(EQ) now that the Lord has avenged you^(ER) of your enemies,^(ES) the Ammonites. ³⁷ But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

³⁸ “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. ³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition ⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.^(A) Jesus’ mother^(B) was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman,^[a](C) why do you involve me?”^(D) Jesus replied. “My hour^(E) has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”^(F)

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,^(G) each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[b]

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.^(H) He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs^(I) through which he revealed his glory;^(J) and his disciples believed in him.^(K)

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum^(L) with his mother^(M) and brothers^(N) and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts^(O)

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,^(P) Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(Q) 14} In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,^(R) and others sitting at tables exchanging money.^{(S) 15} So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house^(T) into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”^[c](U)

¹⁸ The Jews^(V) then responded to him, “What sign^(W) can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”^(X)

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”^(Y)

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body.^{(Z) 22} After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.^(AA) Then they believed the scripture^(AB) and the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,^(AC) many people saw the signs^(AD) he was performing and believed^(AE) in his name.^{[d] 24} But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind,^(AF) for he knew what was in each person.^(AG)