Judges 5

New International Version

The Song of Deborah

5 On that day Deborah^(A) and Barak son of Abinoam^(B) sang this song:^(C)

²“When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer^(D) themselves—
praise the Lord!^(E)

³“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing to^[a] the Lord;^(F)
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.^(G)

⁴“When you, Lord, went out^(H) from Seir,^(I)
    when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,^(J) the heavens poured,
    the clouds poured down water.^(K)
⁵The mountains quaked^(L) before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
    before the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,^(M)
    in the days of Jael,^(N) the highways^(O) were abandoned;
    travelers took to winding paths.^(P)
⁷Villagers in Israel would not fight;
    they held back until I, Deborah,^(Q) arose,
    until I arose, a mother in Israel.
⁸God chose new leaders^(R)
    when war came to the city gates,^(S)
but not a shield or spear^(T) was seen
    among forty thousand in Israel.
⁹My heart is with Israel’s princes,
    with the willing volunteers^(U) among the people.
    Praise the Lord!

¹⁰“You who ride on white donkeys,^(V)
    sitting on your saddle blankets,
    and you who walk along the road,
consider ¹¹the voice of the singers^[b] at the watering places.
    They recite the victories^(W) of the Lord,
    the victories of his villagers in Israel.

“Then the people of the Lord
    went down to the city gates.^(X)
¹²‘Wake up,^(Y) wake up, Deborah!^(Z)
    Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!^(AA)
    Take captive your captives,^(AB) son of Abinoam.’

¹³“The remnant of the nobles came down;
    the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
¹⁴Some came from Ephraim,^(AC) whose roots were in Amalek;^(AD)
    Benjamin^(AE) was with the people who followed you.
From Makir^(AF) captains came down,
    from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s^[c] staff.
¹⁵The princes of Issachar^(AG) were with Deborah;^(AH)
    yes, Issachar was with Barak,^(AI)
    sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
    there was much searching of heart.
¹⁶Why did you stay among the sheep pens^[d]^(AJ)
    to hear the whistling for the flocks?^(AK)
In the districts of Reuben
    there was much searching of heart.
¹⁷Gilead^(AL) stayed beyond the Jordan.
    And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher^(AM) remained on the coast^(AN)
    and stayed in his coves.
¹⁸The people of Zebulun^(AO) risked their very lives;
    so did Naphtali^(AP) on the terraced fields.^(AQ)

¹⁹“Kings came^(AR), they fought,
    the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,^(AS)
    they took no plunder of silver.^(AT)
²⁰From the heavens^(AU) the stars fought,
    from their courses they fought against Sisera.
²¹The river Kishon^(AV) swept them away,
    the age-old river, the river Kishon.
    March on, my soul; be strong!^(AW)
²²Then thundered the horses’ hooves—
    galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.^(AX)
²³‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.
    ‘Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the Lord,
    to help the Lord against the mighty.’

²⁴“Most blessed of women^(AY) be Jael,^(AZ)
    the wife of Heber the Kenite,^(BA)
    most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
²⁵He asked for water, and she gave him milk;^(BB)
    in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
²⁶Her hand reached for the tent peg,
    her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
    she shattered and pierced his temple.^(BC)
²⁷At her feet he sank,
    he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
    where he sank, there he fell—dead^(BD).

²⁸“Through the window^(BE) peered Sisera’s mother;
    behind the lattice she cried out,^(BF)
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
    Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
²⁹The wisest of her ladies answer her;
    indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
³⁰‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:^(BG)
    a woman or two for each man,
colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
    colorful garments embroidered,
highly embroidered garments^(BH) for my neck—
    all this as plunder?^(BI)’

³¹“So may all your enemies perish,^(BJ) Lord!
But may all who love you be like the sun^(BK)
when it rises in its strength.”^(BL)

Then the land had peace^(BM) forty years.

Footnotes

Judges 5:3 Or of
Judges 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Judges 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Judges 5:16 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags

1 Kings 19:1-18

New International Version

Elijah Flees to Horeb

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel^(A) everything Elijah had done and how he had killed^(B) all the prophets with the sword. ²So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely,^(C) if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”^(D)

³Elijah was afraid^[a] and ran^(E) for his life.^(F) When he came to Beersheba^(G) in Judah, he left his servant there, ⁴while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,^(H) sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life;^(I) I am no better than my ancestors.” ⁵Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.^(J)

All at once an angel^(K) touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” ⁶He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

⁷The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” ⁸So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty^(L) days and forty nights until he reached Horeb,^(M) the mountain of God. ⁹There he went into a cave^(N) and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”^(O)

¹⁰He replied, “I have been very zealous^(P) for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,^(Q) torn down your altars,^(R) and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,^(S) and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹¹The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain^(T) in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”^(U)

Then a great and powerful wind^(V) tore the mountains apart and shattered^(W) the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake came a fire,^(X) but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.^(Y) ¹³When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face^(Z) and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,^(AA) and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹⁵The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael^(AB) king over Aram. ¹⁶Also, anoint^(AC) Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha^(AD) son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah^(AE) to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael,^(AF) and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.^(AG) ¹⁸Yet I reserve^(AH) seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed^(AI) him.”

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Footnotes

1 Kings 19:3 Or Elijah saw

Mark 6:53-7:23

New International Version

⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.^(A) ⁵⁴As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak,^(B) and all who touched it were healed.

That Which Defiles^(C)

7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ²and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled,^(D) that is, unwashed. ³(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.^(E) ⁴When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.^[a])^(F)

⁵So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders^(G) instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

⁶He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁷They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’^[b]^(H)

⁸You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”^(I)

⁹And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe^[c] your own traditions!^(J) ¹⁰For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’^[d]^(K) and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[e]^(L) ¹¹But you say^(M) that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— ¹²then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. ¹³Thus you nullify the word of God^(N) by your tradition^(O) that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

¹⁴Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ^[16]^[f]

¹⁷After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him^(P) about this parable. ¹⁸“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods^(Q) clean.)^(R)

²⁰He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²²adultery, greed,^(S) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Footnotes

Mark 7:4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts set up
Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.

Acts 20:17-38

New International Version

¹⁷From Miletus,^(A) Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders^(B) of the church. ¹⁸When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you,^(C) from the first day I came into the province of Asia.^(D) ¹⁹I served the Lord with great humility and with tears^(E) and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.^(F) ²⁰You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything^(G) that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹I have declared to both Jews^(H) and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance^(I) and have faith in our Lord Jesus.^(J)

²²“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,^(K) not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me^(L) that prison and hardships are facing me.^(M) ²⁴However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;^(N) my only aim is to finish the race^(O) and complete the task^(P) the Lord Jesus has given me^(Q)—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.^(R)

²⁵“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom^(S) will ever see me again.^(T) ²⁶Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.^(U) ²⁷For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.^(V) ²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock^(W) of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.^(X) Be shepherds of the church of God,^[a]^(Y) which he bought^(Z) with his own blood.^[b]^(AA) ²⁹I know that after I leave, savage wolves^(AB) will come in among you and will not spare the flock.^(AC) ³⁰Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples^(AD) after them. ³¹So be on your guard! Remember that for three years^(AE) I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.^(AF)

³²“Now I commit you to God^(AG) and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance^(AH) among all those who are sanctified.^(AI) ³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.^(AJ) ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.^(AK) ³⁵In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.^(AL) ³⁷They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.^(AM) ³⁸What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.^(AN) Then they accompanied him to the ship.^(AO)