Midian Oppresses Israel

6 ^(A)The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of ^(B)Midian seven years. ² And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and ^(C)the caves and the strongholds. ³ For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and ^(D)the Amalekites and ^(E)the people of the East would come up against them. ⁴ They would encamp against them ^(F)and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come ^(G)like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. ⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel ^(H)cried out for help to the Lord.

⁷ When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, ⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(I)I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. ⁹ And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and ^(J)drove them out before you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; ^(K)you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash ^(L)the Abiezrite, while his son ^(M)Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And ^(N)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ^(O)“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are ^(P)all his wonderful deeds ^(Q)that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord^[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; ^(R)do not I send you?” ¹⁵ And he said to him, ^(S)“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, ^(T)my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, ^(U)“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ¹⁷ And he said to him, ^(V)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, then ^(W)show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸ Please ^(X)do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

¹⁹ So Gideon went into his house ^(Y)and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah^[b] of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. ²⁰ And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them ^(Z)on this rock, and ^(AA)pour the broth over them.” And he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. ^(AB)And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. ²² Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, ^(AC)“Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” ²³ But the Lord said to him, ^(AD)“Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, ^(AE)The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at ^(AF)Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

²⁵ That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down ^(AG)the Asherah that is beside it ²⁶ and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the ^(AH)stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” ²⁷ So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

²⁸ When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. ²⁹ And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” ³⁰ Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” ³¹ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” ³² Therefore on that day Gideon^[c] was called ^(AI)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

³³ Now ^(AJ)all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in ^(AK)the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But ^(AL)the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, ^(AM)and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. ^35 (AN)And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. ^(AO)And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

^36 (AP)Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷ behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, ^(AQ)“Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^(A)our forefather according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^(B)not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? ^(C)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now ^(D)to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but ^(E)believes in^[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then only for ^(H)the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^(I)For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ^11 (J)He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^(K)to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For ^(L)the promise to Abraham and his offspring ^(M)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ^14 (N)For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For ^(O)the law brings wrath, but ^(P)where there is no law ^(Q)there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(R)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(S)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(T)who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, ^(U)“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^(V)who gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^(W)the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^(X)“So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^(Y)as good as dead (^(Z)since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^(AA)the barrenness^[b] of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that ^(AB)God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But ^(AC)the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^(AD)who believe in ^(AE)him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ^25 (AF)who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^(AG)for our justification.

Peace with God Through Faith

5 ^(AH)Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^(AI)we^[c] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also ^(AJ)obtained access by faith^[d] into this grace ^(AK)in which we stand, and ^(AL)we^[e] rejoice^[f] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we ^(AM)rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^(AN)produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and ^(AO)hope does not put us to shame, because God's love ^(AP)has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ For ^(AQ)while we were still weak, at the right time ^(AR)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but ^(AS)God shows his love for us in that ^(AT)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, ^(AU)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^(AV)the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if ^(AW)while we were enemies ^(AX)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^(AY)his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(AZ)reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹² Therefore, just as ^(BA)sin came into the world through one man, and ^(BB)death through sin, and ^(BC)so death spread to all men^[g] because ^(BD)all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but ^(BE)sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ^(BF)like the transgression of Adam, ^(BG)who was a type of ^(BH)the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for ^(BI)many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For ^(BJ)the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought ^(BK)justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ^(BL)reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass^[h] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness^[i] leads to justification and life for ^(BM)all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man's ^(BN)disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's ^(BO)obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now ^(BP)the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, ^(BQ)grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, ^(BR)as sin reigned in death, ^(BS)grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? ^(BT)Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can ^(BU)we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us ^(BV)who have been baptized ^(BW)into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were ^(BX)buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as ^(BY)Christ was raised from the dead by ^(BZ)the glory of the Father, we too might walk in ^(CA)newness of life.

⁵ For ^(CB)if we have been united with him in ^(CC)a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that ^(CD)our old self^{[j] (CE)}was crucified with him in order that ^(CF)the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For ^(CG)one who has died ^(CH)has been set free^[k] from sin. ⁸ Now ^(CI)if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that ^(CJ)Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^(CK)death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, ^(CL)once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves ^(CM)dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not ^(CN)sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ^13 (CO)Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ^(CP)present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For ^(CQ)sin ^(CR)will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(CS)Are we to sin ^(CT)because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves ^(CU)to anyone as obedient slaves,^[l] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(CV)thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the ^(CW)standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, ^(CX)having been set free from sin, ^(CY)have become slaves of righteousness. ^19 (CZ)I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For ^(DA)just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members ^(DB)as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

^20 (DC)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ^21 (DD)But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things ^(DE)of which you are now ashamed? ^(DF)For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you ^(DG)have been set free from sin and ^(DH)have become slaves of God, ^(DI)the fruit you get leads to sanctification and ^(DJ)its end, eternal life. ^23 (DK)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.