Abimelech's Conspiracy

9 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to ^(A)his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, ² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(B)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that ^(C)I am ^(D)your bone and your flesh.”

³ And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ^(E)“He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of ^(F)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired ^(G)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father's house at ^(H)Ophrah ^(I)and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all ^(J)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(K)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^8 (L)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ^(M)‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that ^(N)cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and ^(O)take refuge in my shade, but if not, ^(P)let fire come out of the bramble and devour ^(Q)the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(R)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him ^(S)as his deeds deserved—

¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(A)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(B)let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to ^(C)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

^13 (A)Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ But seeing the man who was healed ^(B)standing beside them, ^(C)they had nothing to say in opposition. ¹⁵ But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, ¹⁶ saying, ^(D)“What shall we do with these men? For that ^(E)a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them ^(F)to speak no more to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸ So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, ^(G)“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, ²⁰ for ^(H)we cannot but speak of what ^(I)we have seen and heard.” ²¹ And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, ^(J)because of the people, for all were praising God ^(K)for what had happened. ²² For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

The Believers Pray for Boldness

²³ When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard it, they lifted their voices ^(L)together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, ^(M)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,^[a] said by the Holy Spirit,

²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your ^(Q)holy servant Jesus, ^(R)whom you anointed, both ^(S)Herod and ^(T)Pontius Pilate, along ^(U)with the Gentiles and ^(V)the peoples of Israel, ^28 (W)to do whatever your hand and ^(X)your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, ^(Y)look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all ^(Z)boldness, ³⁰ while ^(AA)you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed ^(AB)through the name of your ^(AC)holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, ^(AD)the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and ^(AE)they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and ^(AF)continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

The Wedding at Cana

2 On ^(A)the third day there was a wedding at ^(B)Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with ^(C)his disciples. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus said to her, ^(D)“Woman, ^(E)what does this have to do with me? ^(F)My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Now there were six stone water jars there ^(G)for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty ^(H)gallons.^{[a] 7} Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast tasted ^(I)the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested ^(J)his glory. And ^(K)his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and ^(L)his brothers^[b] and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.