²⁴ Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.^(A)

²⁷ Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel

³⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf,^(A)

²⁸ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

⁵ Then the Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever one of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,”^(A)

²⁷ When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. ²⁸ He said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and allowed no one to cross over.^(A)