18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at (A)Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. (B)As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and (C)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took (D)the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon's Ephod

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; (E)the Lord will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, (F)because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels[a] of gold, besides (G)the crescent ornaments and (H)the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon (I)made an ephod of it and put it in his city, (J)in Ophrah. And all Israel (K)whored after it there, and it became a (L)snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. (M)And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death of Gideon

29 (N)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had (O)seventy sons, his own offspring,[b] for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine (P)who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died (Q)in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, (R)at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 (S)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and (T)whored after the Baals and made (U)Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel (V)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 (W)and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech's Conspiracy

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

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, (AB)“He is our brother.” And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of (AC)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired (AD)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. And he went to his father's house at (AE)Ophrah (AF)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. And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all (AG)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of (AH)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. (AI)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, (AJ)‘Reign over us.’ 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 (AK)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 (AL)take refuge in my shade, but if not, (AM)let fire come out of the bramble and devour (AN)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 (AO)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him (AP)as his deeds deserved— 17 for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, 18 and you have risen up against my father's house this day (AQ)and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made (AR)Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, (AS)because he is your relative— 19 if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then (AT)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. 20 But if not, (AU)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 (AV)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  2. Judges 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins

The Death of Jesus

44 (A)It was now about the sixth hour,[a] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,[b] 45 while the sun's light failed. And (B)the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, (C)calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, (D)into your hands I (E)commit my spirit!” And having said this (F)he breathed his last. 47 Now (G)when the centurion saw what had taken place, (H)he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home (I)beating their breasts. 49 And all (J)his acquaintances and (K)the women who had followed him from Galilee (L)stood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus Is Buried

50 (M)Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he (N)was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and (O)laid him in a tomb cut in stone, (P)where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of (Q)Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.[c] 55 (R)The women (S)who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and (T)prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested (U)according to the commandment.

The Resurrection

24 (V)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, (W)taking the spices they had prepared. And they found (X)the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, (Y)two (Z)men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were (AA)frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, (AB)while he was still in Galilee, (AC)that the Son of Man (AD)must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and (AE)be crucified and on (AF)the third day rise.” And (AG)they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they (AH)told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was (AI)Mary Magdalene and (AJ)Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and (AK)they did not believe them. 12 But (AL)Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw (AM)the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Footnotes

  1. Luke 23:44 That is, noon
  2. Luke 23:44 That is, 3 p.m.
  3. Luke 23:54 Greek was dawning

The Lord Our God Is Holy

99 (A)The Lord reigns; (B)let the peoples tremble!
    He (C)sits enthroned upon the cherubim; (D)let the earth quake!
The Lord is (E)great in Zion;
    he is (F)exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your (G)great and awesome name!
    (H)Holy is he!
(I)The King in his might (J)loves justice.[a]
    You have established equity;
you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
(K)Exalt the Lord our God;
    (L)worship at his (M)footstool!
    (N)Holy is he!

(O)Moses and Aaron were among his (P)priests,
    Samuel also was among those who (Q)called upon his name.
    They (R)called to the Lord, and he answered them.
In (S)the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
    they (T)kept his testimonies
    and the statute that he gave them.

O Lord our God, you answered them;
    you were (U)a forgiving God to them,
    but (V)an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Exalt the Lord our God,
    and worship at his (W)holy mountain;
    for the Lord our God is holy!

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 99:4 Or The might of the King loves justice

(A)Fools mock at the guilt offering,
    but the upright enjoy acceptance.[a]
10 The heart knows its own (B)bitterness,
    and no stranger shares its joy.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:9 Hebrew but among the upright is acceptance

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