¹⁷ “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!”^(A) Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”^(B)

²⁶ The next spring^(A) Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek^(B) to fight against Israel.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness^(A) to those who are perishing,^(B) but to us who are being saved^(C) it is the power of God.^(D)

¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash^(A) yourself seven times^(B) in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

¹¹ But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand^(C) over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters^(D) of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.^(E)

¹³ Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father,^(F) if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times,^(G) as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored^(H) and became clean like that of a young boy.^(I)

³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”^(A)

⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe,^(B) you will see the glory of God?”^(C)

⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up^(D) and said, “Father,^(E) I thank you that you have heard me.

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

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

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,

²⁴ As soon as you hear the sound^(A) of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front^(B) of you to strike the Philistine army.”

4 And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer,^(A) and the Philistines at Aphek.^(B)

⁹ During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.^{(A) 10} If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah ¹¹ and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. ¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites^(B) and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.^(C) Their camels^(D) could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.^(E)

¹³ Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

¹⁴ His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash,^(F) the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped.^(G) He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”^{(H) 16} Dividing the three hundred men^(I) into three companies,^(J) he placed trumpets^(K) and empty jars^(L) in the hands of all of them, with torches^(M) inside.

¹⁷ “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. ¹⁸ When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets,^(N) then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

¹⁹ Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars^(O) that were in their hands. ²⁰ The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches^(P) in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword^(Q) for the Lord and for Gideon!”