Paul at Ephesus

19 And it happened, while ^(A)Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through ^(B)the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples ² he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So they said to him, ^(C)“We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So they said, ^(D)“Into John’s baptism.”

⁴ Then Paul said, ^(E)“John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized ^(F)in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had ^(G)laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and ^(H)they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷ Now the men were about twelve in all.

^8 (I)And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading ^(J)concerning the things of the kingdom of God. ⁹ But ^(K)when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil ^(L)of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ And ^(M)this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles Glorify Christ

¹¹ Now ^(N)God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, ^12 (O)so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. ^13 (P)Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists ^(Q)took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^[a]“We ^[b]exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul ^(R)preaches.” ¹⁴ Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

¹⁵ And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

¹⁶ Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, ^[c]overpowered them, and prevailed against ^[d]them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and ^(S)fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. ¹⁸ And many who had believed came ^(T)confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹ Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ^20 (U)So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Tola

10 After Abimelech there ^(A)arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel twenty-three years; and he died and was buried in Shamir.

Jair

³ After him arose Jair, a Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ Now he had thirty sons who ^(B)rode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns, ^(C)which are called ^[a]“Havoth Jair” to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. ⁵ And Jair died and was buried in Camon.

Israel Oppressed Again

⁶ Then ^(D)the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(E)served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, ^(F)the gods of Syria, the gods of ^(G)Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. ⁷ So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He ^(H)sold them into the hands of the ^(I)Philistines and into the hands of the people of ^(J)Ammon. ⁸ From that year they ^[b]harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the ^(K)land of the Amorites, in Gilead. ⁹ Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

^10 (L)And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have ^(M)sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”

¹¹ So the Lord said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you ^(N)from the Egyptians and ^(O)from the Amorites and ^(P)from the people of Ammon and ^(Q)from the Philistines? ¹² Also ^(R)the Sidonians ^(S)and Amalekites and ^[c]Maonites ^(T)oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. ^13 (U)Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. ¹⁴ “Go and ^(V)cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”

¹⁵ And the children of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! ^(W)Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” ^16 (X)So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And ^(Y)His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

¹⁷ Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and encamped in ^(Z)Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall ^(AA)be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah

11 Now ^(AB)Jephthah the Gileadite was ^(AC)a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. ² Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have ^(AD)no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³ Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of ^(AE)Tob; and ^(AF)worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

⁴ It came to pass after a time that the ^(AG)people of Ammon made war against Israel. ⁵ And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.”

⁷ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ^(AH)“Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in ^[d]distress?”

^8 (AI)And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have ^(AJ)turned^[e] again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be ^(AK)our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?”

¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ^(AL)“The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him ^(AM)head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words ^(AN)before the Lord in Mizpah.

¹² Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, ^(AO)“What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?”

¹³ And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^(AP)“Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from ^(AQ)the Arnon as far as ^(AR)the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.”

¹⁴ So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, ¹⁵ and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^(AS)‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; ¹⁶ for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and ^(AT)came to Kadesh. ¹⁷ Then ^(AU)Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” ^(AV)But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the ^(AW)king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^(AX)remained in Kadesh. ¹⁸ And they ^(AY)went along through the wilderness and ^(AZ)bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ Then ^(BA)Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please ^(BB)let us pass through your land into our place.” ^20 (BC)But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²¹ And the Lord God of Israel ^(BD)delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^(BE)defeated^[f] them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. ²² They took possession of ^(BF)all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

²³ ‘And now the Lord God of Israel has ^[g]dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? ²⁴ Will you not possess whatever ^(BG)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever ^(BH)the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. ²⁵ And now, are you any better than ^(BI)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? ²⁶ While Israel dwelt in ^(BJ)Heshbon and its villages, in ^(BK)Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷ Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord, ^(BL)the Judge, ^(BM)render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ” ²⁸ However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

²⁹ Then ^(BN)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. ³⁰ And Jephthah ^(BO)made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, ³¹ then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, ^(BP)shall surely be the Lord’s, ^(BQ)and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

³² So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. ³³ And he ^[h]defeated them from Aroer as far as ^(BR)Minnith—twenty cities—and to ^[i]Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

God Continues to Challenge Job